Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family)

by Seaton, Annie

  Her shoulders slumped and she pulled away from him. “I am sorry, Dougal. There is much in my life that makes it impossible for me to trust. I am not good for you and this… attraction between us can only lead to trouble.” Her eyes shone in the moonlight as tears threatened to spill. “I cannot speak of what is between us, but it cannot continue.” He moved closer to her and he lifted his hand letting his fingers wipe the single tear on her cheek.” Her sad eyes tugged at his heart and he vowed once more to protect this woman, not only from the evil men who were plotting her demise, but from the sadness consuming her. A missive from the Grand Master had been waiting for him at their lodgings in Salzburg with a warning that the demise of the target must be sooner rather than later; he had deliberately not told the leader of their final destination so the automatons could not be sent to follow.

  “We can be friends, Sofia? We will enjoy our time on the mountain with Edward and your little family. It can be a time full of laughter and joy and we will ignore those things worrying you.”

  She smiled up at him and peace stole over him despite the contents of the missive he’d received. He would trust in good triumphing over evil. All would be well.

  Chapter 10

  Two days passed and Edward and Dougal had hiked to the upper reaches of the mountain to look at the cattle each day. Sofia had her hands full looking after the boys and keeping them safe and thanked Mr. Grimoult many times each day for assisting her.

  “You are a pair of young devils.” She laughed as she removed a live frog from her pocket. “To-day, when we hike with Edward and Dougal, you must do as we say at all times. Is that clear?”

  Jory and Jago giggled and nodded. Sofia knew how much they were looking forward to going up into the snow. She glanced across at Mr. Grimoult and he nodded.

  “I am ready to go as well, Sofia. We are going to pick some flowers to take back for Indigo.” He turned to the twins. “Will you strong young men assist me to collect some botanicals for your mother’s laboratory?”

  They both groaned. “More smelly flowers for our mother to boil in her biome. We won’t see her for a week.” When Mr. Grimoult raised his bushy eyebrows at them, they agreed, albeit with moans of displeasure. Sofia smiled at him across the boys’ heads. He was setting up a good cover for her.

  The party set off after lunch. They had set aside time for the boys to play in the snow and Sofia planned to gather her moonflowers while they played under Mr. Grimoult’s watchful eye. She would trust her life to him, as well as the boys. He and his wife had been faithful retainers to her own father many years ago and had lived with Indigo in Cornwall since their father had been murdered.

  The cover was good; Sofia had told Dougal about the biome complex and Indigo’s work with pharmaceuticals and cosmecuticals. Herr Schwandt had advised them not to go too high as the clouds were building to the west and could bode a change in the weather. The excited chatter of the boys kept them entertained and the walk had passed quickly. Sofia’s legs ached and her calf muscles protested as she climbed the final steep section of the path.

  Ahead Dougal and Edward led the way and she smiled as the cold wind plastered Dougal’s kilt to his brawny thighs. He certainly looked at home in the outdoors, although he had been withdrawn and quiet since they had commenced the outing.

  For the first time since she had left Vienna, Sofia was certain she would succeed. Mr. Grimoult carried the containers for the moonflowers in his rucksack and Dougal and Edward had shown little interest in their talk of moonflowers. It was strange they were both preoccupied today. She had attempted to start a conversation with Dougal on two occasions and he had answered in monosyllables and kept walking.

  Now she hurried to catch up to Dougal. “Do you think the weather will hold out long enough for us to stay for a while?”

  He stopped and shaded his eyes with his hand, looking up to the peak.

  “Aye, it will be fine.” He turned away from her and she shrugged and kept walking along behind him. A sharp squeal came from Jago and she turned swiftly to him, but he was only expressing his delight at the snow ahead of them. Both boys raced past her and dived into the snow drift. Sofia shook her head— they did not see much snow in the Cornish winter, but they were still children and she took pleasure in their play. She smiled and spoke to Mr. Grimoult as he caught up to her, puffing and red-faced as a snowball came whistling toward them. She ducked and shook her finger at her nephews, laughing as Edward formed a snowball and caught Jory unexpectedly in the shoulder with a perfect shot. The boys squealed and giggled as Edward returned snowball for snowball, despite being outnumbered by the twins,

  “You watch the boys and I will climb a bit higher. If there are any moonflowers up there, I will call you. We should be close by now, surely.”

  The old man nodded and sat on a large rock with his back against the sheer rock wall which edged the mountain pass they had reached. Sofia looked down past him to the edge of the rock face. Her stomach dropped and her legs trembled as she looked over the sheer precipice. The inn and the forest were like toy buildings far below them. They had climbed higher than she thought.

  “Make sure the boys stay well away from the edge,” she instructed.

  “I will guard them with my life.” Mr. Grimoult smiled at her. “Now go and search for your flowers, Madame.”

  The twins were engrossed in building an igloo by the time she reached them and satisfied they were safe, she climbed further up the narrow track. Edward had left the boys to catch up to Dougal and they had both surged ahead, obviously following the cowbells which tinkled down from higher up the path.

  A few hundred yards ahead, a clump of green foliage peeked out of the sheer rock and Sofia smiled. The patches of white scattered amongst the green appeared to be the elusive moonflower. Dougal and Edward had disappeared and she surveyed the path ahead of her. An outcrop of fallen rocks covered in snow blocked her way and she looked around for an alternate route. An eerie quiet had fallen over the mountain and she shivered. The cries of the boys had stopped and the cow bells were silent. For a moment she debated going back for Mr. Grimoult and the rucksack. She shook her head; it would be better if she made sure it was the moonflower before she went down. A cloud passed over the sun and she looked up, the high clouds were scudding; they would have to return to the inn before the weather changed.

  To her right, there was a gap in the rock face and Sofia stepped toward it and clung to the sharp rock with her fingers as she tried to see if there was a path around the rock fall. She squeezed through a narrow slit between two rocks and gasped as a deep precipice yawned in front of her. Clutching her chest, she stepped back slowly and hit a solid warm wall. She turned and Dougal’s chest filled her vision. She looked up at him, the words dying on her lips. Edward stood close to him with a strange brass contraption in his hands. Dougal grasped her arm with steely fingers and held her gaze silently. Her head spun and fear crawled into her stomach. She backed away from them and gasped as her foot flailed in the air searching for a foothold.

  Dougal reached back and held onto Edward’s arm. She searched their unsmiling faces trying to understand what was happening.

  “I’m sorry, Sofia. It is the only way.”

  Dougal pushed her and Sofia screamed as she plummeted to the rocks below.

  Chapter 11

  Dougal bowed his head and listened to the sonorous beating of the drum heralding the entrance of the Holy Five. Four of them moved to the table and sat, but the Grand Master remained standing. The white-cloaked men seated on the benches in the Great Hall looked up expectantly as their Leader summonsed Dougal and Edward were to the front of the gathering

  A huge smile broke the usually solemn features of the old man and he bid them kneel in front of him. Reaching out he placed a hand on each of their heads and gave thanks for their loyalty.

  “You may stand.” He pointed to the raised dais in the centre of the room. Dougal and Edward climbed up the two steps. The gathering stood and a rou
sing cheer echoed through the hall as the Leader led the men in praise.

  “Earl of Rothmore and Edward of Kilmarnock, you have proven your loyalty to the Knights. You shall be rewarded in this life and the next.”

  Dougal glanced across at Edward. The young man stared ahead; his face devoid of any expression and Dougal directed his own gaze back to the Leader.

  Tonight, the Grand Master did not commence with the libations but moved straight to the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and piety. Dougal allowed a smile to creep onto his face. The collective relief of the knights at the shortened ceremony was almost palpable and he knew his quest to end this chapter would be made easier by the motivations of the men gathered in this room

  The motivations of these knights were known to him and none were for any spiritual reason. Greed motivated each one of them and not one could lay claim to a pious life. Soon, he and Edward would embark on their plan to end the corruption of this order. He had promised his father he would end the reign of these men and their political and spiritual power, and the decline had finally begun.

  Unknown to them.

  The death of Sofia would ensure the induction of both he and Edward into the inner circle and they would be privy to information which he could use against the Grand Master. The trip to Austria would be rewarded greatly.

  The chanting ceased and the sonorous voice interrupted his thoughts. “I will meet with you and Edward of Kilmarnock in the Solar.”

  * * * *

  Indigo pulled the black veil over her face and wiped her eyes. The boys were playing in the garden, but their usual exuberant cries and whoops had been missing since the twins had returned from the Alps. Jory and Jago still had trouble sleeping, and she and Zane had taken turns sitting up with them at night.

  Mr. Grimoult was inconsolable and had been unable to carry out his usual duties, He had aged ten years in the month since she and Zane had been called urgently to Austria after Sofia’s murder.

  They had just returned from a memorial service for Sofia in London. The staff from Salon de Vargas had travelled over by dirigible and Lucienne had sobbed in Indigo’s arms.

  “I knew there was something strange about that man. His wife was like a dead woman, but Sofia was so taken by him.” Lucienne’s voice trembled

  None of the staff from the university in Vienna had attended. Indigo had beseeched them to stay away in case of more danger and they had been unable to contact two of the researchers who were on some mysterious journey. She did not want to put the boys at further risk. Until it was discovered who was behind Sofia’s murder, they would take the utmost care and she had personally supplied funds to place a guard on the laboratory in Vienna.

  Sofia’s body had not been retrieved. Even though it was summer in the Alps, there were so many crevasses and fissures, the search teams had been unable to find any sign of her. They knew she had fallen…or been pushed, as her silver cloak was caught on a protruding rock half way down the sheer rock face. The two Scottish men had disappeared and Indigo still held onto a slim hope her sister had been kidnapped. But Mr. Grimoult was adamant he had heard her scream as she had fallen, and had seen the rocks tumbling down after her.

  But Indigo refused to accept her sister’s death. A month had passed and she sat by the chronometric receiver at all hours of the day and night, hoping and praying Sofia would send her a message. Finally Zane had come to get her one morning and she had looked up into his sad eyes and broken down. She had finally accepted there was no hope and organized the memorial service. She had the boys to think of, her biomes to run and Mr. Grimoult to console.

  Sofia was gone.

  But she planned one trip once the boys had settled.

  She and Zane would travel to the Isle of Little Rothmore.

  * * * *

  A chill wind blew in from the sea and the fire sputtered in the hearth of the huge fireplace. Any heat disappeared up the cavernous chimney or up into the high roof of the large room. The solid wooden door was bolted from the outside and only a glimpse of gray sky was visible through the high narrow gap at the top of the stone wall.

  She knew the wind was from the sea. It was salt-tanged and occasionally a sour whiff of sour kelp would float through the room. The keening of seabirds kept her awake at night and when the wind was quiet, the soughing of the sea sweeping across pebbles slipped into her consciousness. Two days ago she had woken up to fingers of mist seeping in through the high windows. She was not in the Alps, that much she knew. But wherever it was, it was a bleak godforsaken place.

  Sofia leaned against the cold stone wall and stood on her toes. If she stretched high enough she could see the green leaves of a large tree fluttering in the wind through a small gap in the stone. It was the only thing moving in her lonely prison.

  The fluttering of leaves and the glowing charcoal on the fire.

  Tiredness overwhelmed her. She pulled her cloak around her throat and touched her bare neck. The communication device Indigo had given her had not been around her neck when she had woken up three long days ago. Even if she’d had the device it would have been useless because she couldn’t have called for rescue; she had no idea where she was. Her thoughts were confused and ran into each other.

  Woken up in a bed alone. Cold. With no idea of where she was.

  She stood with her cheek pressed against the cold stone wall. She did not know where Dougal was. Nor did she really care.

  He could rot in hell.

  The last time she had seen him was the moment he had pushed her over the precipice. All she could remember was a kaleidoscope of images, places and people flashing past her eyes as she fell.

  Like one of her nephews’ toys.

  To certain death, she had thought as she screamed.

  Now she was alone in this cold, cavernous room. She hadn’t seen nor spoken to another soul for three full days and nights. For a time, she had imagined she was dead. Clothed in a long white nightgown, her hair was loose and her feet were bare. So if it wasn’t heaven or hell, someone had ministered to her since she had been brought to this unknown place. If she could get out of here and find Dougal, she would kill him without a second thought.

  Her throat ached with unshed tears as she imagined the grief Indigo and her family were going through. Oh, God, she prayed the twins had not seen her fall nor heard her screams. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands but refused to let the tears fall. Dropping her arms to her side, she crossed the room and climbed into the bed and turned her face into the feather pillow

  Drifting in and out of sleep for another night, the room darkened and lightened with the passing of the hours, and Sofia finally awoke to a freshly stoked fire and food on a tray next to the bed.

  She could not live like this. It was the path to madness.

  If someone didn’t come soon…

  There was a loud clang as the bolt lifted on the door and it creaked open. A small woman is a maid’s uniform and a cap covering her hair scurried in, her eyes downcast. She went over to the fire and put a large log on top of the lowering flames, before turning her attention to the bedside table and reaching for the tray.

  Sofia had not touched the food. The woman raised her eyes and said in a soft voice with a strong Scottish burr in her words.

  “You moost eat, ma’am.”

  “Where am I?” Sofia demanded. “What is this place?”

  The woman bowed her head and backed out of the room, clutching the tray. The door slammed shut behind her and the bolt dropped on the other side. Sofia climbed up into the bed and pulled the soft woolen blanket over her head and cursed the man who had taken her away from all she knew.

  * * * *

  The sun shone from a palette of gold and pink as it rose into the summer sky and Dougal, Earl of Rothmore rode away from Castle Dean, turning his mount eagerly toward the coast road. He had left Edward at his manor at Kilmarnock where he had passed the night before calling into Castle Dean for a private meeting with the Leader of the C
ouncil of Five.

  A financial reward in gold had been offered to them however Dougal had assured the Council the spiritual recompense of recognition by the knights was sufficient payment for their quest.

  He and Edward had discussed their plans late into the night and were satisfied; they would be able to move against the Council within months. Edward would continue to meet with the local knights to gain their allegiance, under cover of his official position on the civil parish board of the Kilmarnock parish. In the meantime, Dougal was anxious to return to his castle on the island to check on the well-being of Sofia.

  He would not use the Astrolaberors until he reached the coast for fear of being observed, and would travel on horseback until he reached the small, flat boat he had stored in a cave in a small bay across from his island. It was only two miles across at the closest point but once he pushed the boat off shore, and was sure he was not under observation he would to use the device to reach his island and Sofia.

  As he rode, his thoughts turned to Sofia. A pang of regret lodged in his chest for the way they had staged her murder on the mountain. He knew there would be much grief and his heart ached for her family, particularly the boys who had been present. It was only a matter of time before he and Edward would be summonsed to an investigation.

  Edward had reassured him over a gillie of whisky in the wee hours. “’Twas the only way, Dougal. If there had been any doubt, the Council would have sent their henchmen to dispose of her and Madame de Vargas would be deceased by now.” The young man raised his glass. “Patience. That is what you told me when we first travelled to Vienna. Although—” the young man looked at him “— I suspect you may be thinking with your heart and not your intellect. A bit of fondness for the lassie?”

  Dougal had ignored Edward’s comment. “I know, we must be patient but I fear the grief caused by this event, may override any rational thinking before all can be explained. However an investigation into our involvement will be the final evidence for the Council.” He swigged his whisky and it burned all the way down his throat. “I am not looking forward to meeting with Sofia on Rothmore on the morrow.”