A Matter of Circumstance and Celludrones (Dark Matters)

by Claire Robyns

  Lily’s room was two doors further down. When she entered, she found her friend perched on the bottom of the bed, still dressed in Evelyn’s riding habit. She was bent double, her elbows digging into her thighs and her head in her hands.

  “Whatever happened at Cragloden?” Evelyn rushed to her side. She’d known letting Lily go without her was a terrible idea.

  Lily said nothing, didn’t move.

  “Oh,” Evelyn whispered, dipping to her knees before the bed.

  Her hand hovered tentatively, afraid to touch. She’d never actually witnessed Lily in the throng of one of her spells before, but apparently they didn’t last much longer than a minute or so.

  True enough, Lily’s head came up a moment later. Her eyes widened into owl-like circles. “Evie!”

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, sorry…you just surprised me.”

  “Was that one of your spells?”

  Lily sucked in a long breath, nodding. “I saw Lady Ostrich. Her image was blurred, but the silhouette of ostrich feathers was undeniable and that appears to be her signature choice of headwear. She was walking in a field and the Red Hawk was there—” Lily frowned. “She was in the meadow right outside.”

  Evelyn straightened. “This doesn’t mean anything, does it? You said these spells were obscure, random scenes of your imagination.”

  “I think they’ve evolved, Evie. This is the second time I’ve seen Lady Ostrich and that can’t be a coincidence. It gets worse.” She slid from the bed to her feet and gave Evelyn a contemplating look. “You’re never going to believe this.”

  Evelyn chuckled. She was probably one of the most open-minded people in England. “Try me.”

  Lily’s gaze lingered a few more seconds before she whispered hoarsely, “I think she is a demon.”

  “A demon.” Evelyn rolled her eyes. “It’s this castle. It positively reeks of death. Next thing, we’ll be seeing ghosts.”

  “Listen to me,” Lily said urgently, taking her hand. “It makes sense when you consider what she’s done, what she’s capable of.”

  “There’s nothing sensible about it at all,” Evelyn said firmly, now genuinely concerned that the visit to Cragloden on top of everything else had become too much for Lily to cope with.

  “You’re right.”

  The tension in Evelyn’s gut relaxed slightly.

  “That was exactly my reaction,” Lily went on, “when Kelan started speaking about demons.”

  “Who is Kelan?”

  “Kelan McAllister. Earl of Perth and the laird of Cragloden Castle. I’m not sure I like him very much. In fact, I’m sure I don’t. But on the ride back here, I kept going over the strange things I’ve seen and thought. Do you know what I was actually prepared to believe?” She nibbled her lower lip, obviously contemplating how much or little to say.

  Evelyn, never a coward until this very moment, very much wished it would be little. She couldn’t bear to stand here and watch her friend fall apart.

  “Only yesterday,” Lily said, mindless to Evelyn’s wishes, “I was actually considering the possibility that my mother was a witch and Cragloden was their coven.”

  Evelyn's jaw dropped. Her mind blanked on any appropriate response. And then it didn’t matter.

  A splitting sound cracked the air.

  It was the crack of a whip, only a thousand times louder.

  Evelyn clapped her hands over her ears, her heart thudding hard enough to beat its way through her ribcage. Her eyes darted from corner to corner, searching for the source.

  A second, and then a final shuddering crack built on the vibrations of the previous ones.

  “It’s coming from outside,” Lily shouted, racing to the window.

  Evelyn moved more slowly, her legs wooden and her blood pulsing at her temples. The debilitating sound was fading, but seemed to leave tangible traces of static charge that fizzled her skin.

  “It’s her,” Lily said in a hushed voice as Evelyn joined her. “Lady Ostrich is here.”

  The view from the window was as fantastic as it was horrendous. The Red Hawk was trapped in a gigantic spider web of white flames, the delicate threads woven from three distinct lightening bolts that were shooting from the woman’s hands. She stood some distance away, a tall silhouette rising from the long grass of the meadow, her hands conducting the orchestra of brilliant white fire.

  “Lily…!” Greyston’s voice thundered on the landing moments before the door crashed open. His gaze raked both of them along with the rest of the room. “Thank God, you’re safe.”

  He wedged himself between her and Lily, the three of them staring at the spectacle. “How did she find us so quickly?”

  The white bolts cut off suddenly and the flames threaded thinner and thinner until the entire spider web disintegrated into nothing. For a moment, the ship remained intact, a white-hot husk of capsule and furled sails, and then its substance scattered to the breeze as powdery ash.

  “The Red Hawk crew,” Evelyn said, her words a tinny echo reverberating inside her head. She felt as if she were floating, disconnected from her body, from the mouth forming those words and from the brain making that deduction. “No one could survive that.”

  Greyston didn’t appear to care a fig about his burning crew. “I’m taking us back,” he said to Lily.

  “We’re going to run again?” Lily said.

  “This will be the last time.” Greyston’s voice held the conviction of a solemn vow. “Thirty minutes ago, where were you? Here?”

  “Yes, I suppose—no, I would have been downstairs, looking for Ana.”

  Panic cleared Evelyn’s head. Her hearth thudded as she came out of her daze and landed heavily in reality. “Have William and Ana not returned yet?”

  Lily shook her head. “Apparently they left to pick apples hours ago. They could be anywhere right now.”

  “We’ll worry about them afterwards,” Greyston said. “Listen carefully: I want you to go straight to Neco. He’ll be at the stables. Evelyn’s up here with me. I’ll send her down to you and then I want all of you to get to the Red Hawk as quickly as possible. Inform Neco of the situation. He must tell Jamie to start the engines and lift off at any sign of trouble, with or without me.”

  “Why wouldn’t you be with us?”

  “I will be, Lily, just as soon as I’ve collected Jean and Paisley. I’m not leaving them behind, not after that demonic bitch torched my ship. I don’t trust her to not do the same to Forleough.”

  Evelyn couldn’t comprehend most of their conversation, but one thing was clear: they were running away, leaving Forleough. “We are not going anywhere without William, not with that mad woman out there.”

  No one paid her any attention.

  “The quicker I go back, the more time we have to run.” Greyston slipped his arm through Lily’s and pulled her into his side. “Ready?”

  “Did you hear me?” Evelyn shrilled, thumping Greyston on the shoulder.

  “Shhh.” Greyston’s other arm came around her, wrapping her close to him. “It’ll be fine.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Evelyn slipped inside the hallway, creeping up the stairs. A door flung open further along the landing just as she reached the top. She went still, her hands gripping the edges of her cloak tightly as Greyston emerged from his bedroom, striding directly at her without pause.

  “Come,” he said, swiping her hand in his and sweeping her down the stairs. “Lily’s waiting outside. We’re leaving on the Red Hawk.”

  “Right this second?” She jerked her hand free to grab at the edge of her cloak before it flew open, although apparently not quick enough. His gaze flickered to where white bloomers had momentarily peeped from the dark folds. “I really need to change into something more suitable for travelling.”

  “You went swimming and the little you do have on under that useless cloak is damp,” he said briskly. “That will be the least of your worries if we don’t get out of here. Lady Ostrich has found us.
”

  “That can’t be good,” she muttered, tripping down the stairs after him. “What on earth did you and Lily get up to at Cragloden?”

  He jumped the last two steps and turned, watching her with hooded eyes as he shrugged out of his coat.

  “Well, something must have brought this on,” she said, raising her voice at the frustrating man. “Does Lily know you were at Cragloden when her mother was killed in that gas explosion?” she demanded as she reached him.

  “Why don’t you ask her? She’s at the stables with Neco, waiting for you.” He held out his coat, ready for her to slip into and high enough to shield her from his eyes.

  Evelyn quickly threw off her cloak in favour of the less troublesome coat. She’d barely pushed her arms through the sleeves when he deftly spun her toward the front door. “Button up on the way out.”

  “Puppy!” She spun herself around again and started in the opposite direction. “He’s in the kitchen yard.”

  Greyston grabbed a handful of coat and yanked her back. “I’m going there for Jean and Paisley. I’ll get the damn puppy. I promise,” he added at her dubious look. “Now go.” He turned from her and straight into a sprint.

  “Grey, wait,” she hollered.

  He skidded to a stop, his voice like thunder. “What?”

  “Paisley’s outside with Neco,” she said, taken aback at his impatience. “I just thought you’d like to know.”

  And he was off again, without so much as a thank you. Honestly, she understood the urgency if that dreadful ostrich lady had indeed discovered their whereabouts, but Greyston was acting as if someone had set fire to his trousers.

  Evelyn made her way outside to a similarly impatient Lily, who was pacing a short line at the bottom of the entrance steps.

  “Evie, thank goodness.” She beckoned Evelyn to move faster. “Lady Ostrich has found us.”

  “So I keep hearing.” Evelyn glanced around the courtyard, half expecting Lady Ostrich to be lurking in the shadows with the way Greyston and Lily were going on. Still, she didn’t linger, although it was no small feat doing up the chunky silver buttons and chasing after Lily at the same time. “Where is William? Have he and Ana returned? They went—”

  “I know where they went,” Lily snapped. “Do stop fretting about them.”

  “I wasn’t fretting,” she snapped back. “I was only asking.”

  Lily sighed, but her voice softened. “Greyston won’t leave them behind.”

  Neco and Paisley were around the side of the house, waiting by the gate. Neco looked his usual decorous self, seemingly impervious to any impending calamity. Once he’d ascertained they were right behind him, he broke out into a full-on sprint across the meadow and reached the ship a good streak ahead of them.

  Paisley’s eyes shone with excitement. “Did you arrange this ruckus so Grey would have to take me up in his ship?” she asked Evelyn.

  “Unfortunately not,” Evelyn informed her, injecting an urgent note into her voice for the girl’s benefit. She may not quite appreciate all the fuss herself, but she was relatively certain Greyston and Lily had their valid reasons. “This is all very serious.”

  By the time they’d crossed the uneven ground at the brutal pace, Evelyn was panting. She clutched the cramp spiking at her side. Clearly she needed to engage in more sport, not less.

  The hull door was down, providing a short ramp into the boarding cabin where Neco stood with the red-bearded Jamie.

  “Fire the steam-pump and crank her all the way up,” Jamie barked at two men she didn’t recognise. “Hoist the sails. We’re lifting as soon as Grey boards. Ladies,” he greeted, ushering them to the bunk on the far side of the cabin.

  The mood was not conducive to settling into the padded seat, but they moved in that direction to huddle out of everyone’s way.

  Lily nibbled her lower lip with jittery teeth, not unlike a nervous beaver. “Where is he? What is taking so long?”

  An image of Greyston chasing Puppy’s tail round and round the kitchen garden popped into Evelyn’s head. She said nothing.

  “What is the panic all about?” Paisley butted in.

  “It’s Paisley, right?” Lily pushed the girl down gently onto the bench. “There’s no panic, we’re just in a bit of a rush.”

  A few minutes later, Greyston charged up the ramp with Jean in tow. “Raise the door,” he instructed Neco on his way to dump Puppy, swaddled like a mummy from muzzle to tail in kitchen rags, into Evelyn’s arms.

  She took one look at the bedevilled glint in his eye and refrained from commenting on the delivery. He strode from the room, calling Neco to his side and commanding the rest of them to stay put in a tone that defied argument. Evelyn unwrapped the wriggling sausage and used the same rags to leash Puppy to the leg of the table bolted to the floor.

  Jean had joined her daughter on the bench, one arm thrown around Paisley, their heads bent close together in quiet conversation.

  Evelyn looked to Lily. Their eyes met and, in silent agreement, they started for the door that took them to the cubic passage of wire mesh floor. Muffled voices came through one of the closed doors opposite, but they caught sight of a booted foot just before it disappeared at the top of the steel-rung staircase and headed up instead.

  Neco was cranking the lever to peel open the deck. As sunlight streamed in, Evelyn noticed the powder-white pallor of Lily’s face. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” she declared.

  “Make that a demon.” Lily leaned in and lowered her voice. “We met Kelan McAllister at Cragloden—”

  “Who is Kelan McAllister?”

  “The Earl of Perth and laird of Cragloden Castle. He spoke of demons, Evie, of training to fight them. Think about it, with everything Lady Ostrich is capable of, what else could she be?”

  “A demon?” Evelyn sighed. “It’s this castle. It positively reeks of death. Next thing, we’ll be seeing ghosts.”

  Lily threw her hands up. “How does he do this all the time? It’s like living life in déjà vu.”

  “I knew that visit to Cragloden on top of everything else was too much,” Evelyn said, now genuinely concerned.

  “Never mind.” Lily crossed the deck to Neco. “Are we searching for Ana and William?”

  “Yes, m’lady, we’ll stay low and trawl the river bank from above.” He lifted a miniature brass horn from its hook on the inner wall and handed it to Lily. “This connects to the pilot cabin. If you’re here to help, you can pass on messages to Jamie.”

  Lily put the wide, curved opening to her ear.

  “The speaking horn relays information only, m’lady, you cannot hear anything.”

  Evelyn left them to it and made her way to the railing. She peered over the edge. “We’re sailing up the river already,” she cried over her shoulder, amazed at how little awareness they had of anything when stuck in the belly of the ship.

  Neco joined her, able to lean much further over the edge due to his impressive height. He pointed to a shadowed copse that started at the base of a grassy knoll and crept up the small slope. “That’s were the apples grow wild.”

  “What’s that?” Lily called out, the horn plastered to her mouth. “Do I need to be relaying anything?”

  “Not yet,” Neco assured her. “And you need not shout into the horn, m’lady, it already amplifies the sound.”

  Evelyn returned her attention to the search below. The sun had slid behind the range of mountains at the source of the Tay, leaving the glow of daylight but taking most of the warmth.

  On deck, it was quiet except for the hiss and hum of the engines vibrating in the walls. They were sailing too slow for rushing wind and so low, the ship had had to set a course directly above the river so that the bottom of the hull occasionally skimmed water rather than the trees.

  She shifted further along the railing to get a better view of the wooded copse, hadn’t yet seen a sign of anyone when Greyston arrived, a hefty length of rope ladder slung over his shoulder.

 
; Greyston glanced at Lily and instead of berating their disregard for his earlier instructions, he directed, “Stay right there and pass my orders to Jamie. We can’t afford to waste a second.”

  “I see them,” Neco said, pointing to a clustered ridge of trees. William and Ana were approximately halfway between Forleough and the apple forest. A path of gnarled, stumpy trees gradually thinned to open field with staggered patches of bush and slightly more majestic oaks and elms.

  “Tell Jamie to put us onto a true north bearing,” Greyston barked at Lily, “and to take us lower if possible.”

  “They’ve seen us,” Evelyn said excitedly, waving at the pair who’d stopped to stare up at the ship’s manoeuvres. The Red Hawk circled slowly and sailed into a channel of grass and shrubbery. She cupped her hands around her mouth in a makeshift trumpet and bellowed louder than any lady should be capable of. “Everything is okay! We have come to fetch you!”

  Greyston was more precise. “Prepare to board.”

  He dangled the rope ladder over the edge, tying the end around his hips and bracing himself against the railing to take the weight. Ana tossed aside the basket she was carrying and sent William climbing up first.

  A few rungs from the top, Neco reached over the edge to grab William beneath the arms and yank him clear onto the deck.

  “Ana’s on her way up,” Greyston called over his shoulder to Lily. “Tell Jamie we’re set to go.” He looked at Evelyn, a grin tugging at his jaw. “Once her nose is turned in the right direction, we’ll pump her engines to full throttle and shoot straight down the river. We’ll reach the headland in less than ten minutes.”

  He made a dashing sight. Sleek thigh muscles clad in black breeches, tensed against the strain. Leather boots folded over just below the knee. The high collar of his shirt lay open at the throat, a stark white against his complexion and dark brown hair. Everything about him was strong, capable and utterly handsome, and just a little devilish. Her gaze settled on his wide, firm mouth and she knew his kisses would be wicked right here, right now, with the after-lash of danger and the promise of speed pulsing through his blood.