by CW Browning
“Well, since you’re making such a point of it, I’ll learn both just to make you happy.”
He laughed. “It doesn’t make a bit of difference to me,” he told her. “I think you’re fascinating as you are. And I, happily, do know some Swedish, so I can translate for you should the need ever arise.”
Evelyn swallowed. “I’ll remember that,” she said in a choked voice. “If you’re no longer being made to learn Swedish, whatever do you do to keep busy when you’re not flying?”
“Oh, we’re learning aircraft recognition now. Too many pilots can’t tell the difference between ours and theirs.”
“And you?”
“Of course I can tell the difference,” he retorted. “But it’s downright depressing how many of our pilots will be shooting down Blenheims and Hurricanes if they don’t crack down and learn.”
They walked in silence for a moment, then Evelyn sighed.
“It’s funny how this Phony War is acting to our advantage,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s giving us time to train and prepare. Perhaps it’s Hitler’s biggest mistake yet.”
“Hitler’s biggest mistake was invading Poland,” Miles said. “He’s got to be barmy to think he can take on Britain and France like this.”
Evelyn frowned thoughtfully. “I’m not dismissing him that quickly. He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t think he could win.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “You think he’s more prepared than we’ve been led to believe?”
She thought of the latest reports of Luftwaffe aircraft production that she’d seen last week and her lips tightened.
“I’m just saying it’s possible,” she said. Then, catching his sharp look, she smiled. “But enough talk about that. Tell me about the American.”
He blinked. “The Yank?”
“Yes. I think it’s fantastic that you have an American in the squadron. How’s he getting on?”
“Cool as you please,” Miles said with a shrug. “He gets quite a lot of ribbing thrown his way, but he takes it all in part. Jolly good flier.”
“I suppose he must be to land his plane with no wheels. I hope I can meet him one day. I’ve never met an American before.”
“Oh, they’re very much like us, you know,” he drawled. “Two legs, two arms...only one head.”
She laughed. “Imagine that! I was expecting at least two.”
“He’s actually keen to meet you as well,” he said after a moment. At her look of surprise, he grinned. “He was with me when I was reading one of your letters. Asked who it was from. Now he wants to see you for himself. He’s convinced you have three chins with a wart on every one.”
Evelyn gaped at him, horrified. “What on earth did you tell him?!”
“It’s the name, you see,” he told her apologetically. “Assistant Section Officer Ainsworth does sound a trifle militant.”
“Well I hope you set him straight.”
He nodded complacently.
“I did. I told him that you had four chins, but only two warts. He was quite impressed.”
“You’re horrid!”
“And you’re beautiful,” he countered with a wink. “I’ll race you to the next hedgerow.”
“Pardon?”
Evelyn was surprised out of her calm, but it was too late. Miles was already running towards the line of hedges in the distance. After a second of stunned disbelief, a laugh bubbled out of her and she took off after him in the morning mist, catching up with him a moment later. He turned and grabbed her hand and Evelyn found herself tearing through the grass, his fingers firmly around hers. The war faded behind them and, in that moment, she felt free.
It was an exhilarating feeling.
Evelyn looked up as a knock preceded her bedroom door opening. Rob poked his head in and, upon spotting her seated at the writing desk near her window, his shoulders and torso followed.
“Here you are,” he said, closing the door. “I’ve been searching for you. I haven’t had two minutes alone with you since you arrived.”
She set down her pen and turned to face him, her lips curving.
“I didn’t know you wanted two minutes alone with me. You’re not going to bore me with warnings about Miles, are you?”
Rob laughed and threw himself across the foot of her bed.
“Good Lord no. You can take care of yourself. Besides, Miles is a good old egg.” He lounged on his elbow and tilted his head to look at her. “Do you like him?”
“Of course I do. What’s not to like?”
“You know what I mean, Evie. Don’t play dumb.”
She hesitated for a second, then sighed. “It doesn’t matter who I like or don’t like, Robbie. It’s impossible to think about anything other than the war right now.”
“That’s a load of nonsense and you know it,” he said without heat. “What’s the war got to do with anything?”
“Well I can’t very well make plans for a future when I don’t know what that future holds, can I?” she protested.
Her brother rolled his eyes and then flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.
“I never can understand the way your mind works,” he muttered. “Everyone’s rushing to get married precisely because they don’t know what the future holds. You’re the only one thinking the other way. You’ve always been like this.”
“Like what?”
“Marching to the beat of your own drum.” He paused and turned his head to look at her. “I’ll tell you this, though: Miles is a good choice if you ever do decide to stop breaking hearts all over Europe. He comes from good stock, and he’s not bad looking either.”
“You make him sound like a horse.”
He grinned. “I’m just pointing out facts. You can’t just settle for anyone, y’know. There are standards we have the maintain.”
“And Miles is acceptable,” she finished. “You know Robbie, you’re really starting to sound like a pompous old man.”
“Well as the head of this family now,” he began, attempting to lower his voice condescendingly. He caught sight of her face and burst out laughing. “Good God, I can’t even say that with a straight face.”
He sat up and swung his legs over the foot of the bed to face her.
“I just want you to be happy, Evie, and I can see that Miles does that.”
Evelyn smiled at him fondly. “I know you do, dearest. But you really must stay out of it. I don’t know how I feel, and I’m sure he doesn’t either. This is only the third time we’ve seen each other, really. Let us get to know each other before you have me married and pushing out babies.”
Rob looked horrified. “Who said anything about babies?”
She laughed at the look on his face. “They do tend to happen, Robbie.”
He shuddered dramatically. “Horrible thought!” Then, sobering, he cleared his throat. “I actually didn’t intend to talk about Miles at all.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What then?”
“I’m worried,” he said seriously, leaning his elbows on his knees and dangling his hands between them. “I don’t like both of us being so far away from Mum.”
“Because of Dad, you mean?” Evelyn asked, her brows creasing in a frown. “I think she’s doing all right. It’s difficult, I’m sure, but she seems in good spirits.”
“It’s not Dad, although that did worry me at first,” he said slowly. “It’s the fact that this house is so far away from everything. If anything were to happen...”
Her frown grew as his voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed.
“What is it, Robbie? Has something happened?”
“Something has, yes.” He got up restlessly and felt about his pockets. “You haven’t got any cigarettes in here, have you?”
She got up and went to her purse, pulling out a case and tossing it to him.
“Cheers.” He pulled out a cigarette. “
There was a break-in last month.”
Evelyn stared at him, a surge of shock going through her. “What?!”
He nodded glumly and looked around. “Any matches? I seem to have left my lighter somewhere.”
She shook her head and crossed to the desk, opening the drawer and extracting a box of matches.
“When? What happened?” she demanded, handing him the matches.
“Someone forced the window in the study. Thomas saw a light in the middle of night and went to turn it off. The next day he saw the window had been forced.”
Evelyn dropped into her seat, staring at him.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” she asked. “When did this happen? What was taken?”
“I suppose Mum didn’t want to worry you,” he said, lighting his cigarette. He shook out the match and walked over to open the bedroom window. He tossed it out and blew smoke outside. “I didn’t think to write you about it, to be honest. It happened in the beginning of November. Nothing was taken. In fact, Thomas and the servants couldn’t find anything out of place anywhere.”
“Is he sure the window wasn’t just left off the latch?” she asked after a moment of silence.
“Oh, it was definitely forced. He had to call a locksmith to come out and replace the lock. While he was at it, he replaced all the locks on the ground floor.” Rob leaned against the window sill and looked at her. “Everything seemed fine and the local police put it down to kids. But it did get me thinking that perhaps Mum shouldn’t be here all alone.”
“She’s not all alone, though. She has the servants.”
“But for how long? Thomas won’t go anywhere. He’s too old to join up, bless him, and so is his wife. And I suppose Jones will stay on with the horses, and Samuel to take care of the cars and drive her. But the others will probably go, and then Mum will be in this old house alone, with only the older servants.”
Evelyn pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “Auntie Agatha is coming in January,” she said slowly. “She’s going to stay indefinitely. Mum said that she doesn’t want to stay in London while there’s a war on. Can’t say I blame her. If Hitler does attack, London will be hit hard. So Mum will at least have her.”
“That’s true.” Rob brightened. “And I defy anyone to try to break in while she’s around. The woman’s terrifying.”
Evelyn was surprised into a laugh. “She’s hardly terrifying. She’s just rather blunt.”
They were both quiet for a moment, Rob smoking at the window and Evelyn staring at the wall, lost in thought.
“It was the study, you said?” she asked suddenly, turning her eyes back to him.
He nodded and leaned out the window to put out the cigarettes on the bricks before tossing the butt away.
“Yes, why?”
“I don’t know. I suppose it’s just disconcerting. I mean, that was Dad’s domain. The thought of a stranger breaking in there...”
He nodded and closed the window again.
“I know what you mean. That’s how I felt when I heard. It’s almost like a desecration somehow.” He looked down at her. “I wish you weren’t stuck up in Scotland. I’d feel better if you were stationed somewhere closer. Not that you could be of any help from an air field, but at least you wouldn’t be hours away.”
“Actually, I’m being reassigned after Christmas,” she told him. “I don’t know where yet, but I think it will be closer to London.”
His face lit up. “Really? That’s fantastic news! Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
“I didn’t think of it,” she said with a shrug. “But being closer to London won’t help Mum at all. It’s a four-hour drive.”
“Still better than Scotland,” he said, turning to go towards the door. “That makes me feel heaps better. And we can meet in London once in a while!”
Evelyn grinned. “Yes, so I’ve been told,” she murmured. “Don’t get your hopes up, though. I don’t know where I’ll be yet.”
“Doesn’t matter where you are if you’re closer to London.” He reached for the door handle. “And I’m sure I’m just making a mountain out of a mole hill with the study window. It was probably just some kids on a dare, as the police said. Nothing’s happened since, and Thomas has been vigilant about ensuring all the windows are secured every night. With Auntie Agatha here, I’m sure everything will be just fine. I’m going to hunt out Miles and see if he fancies a game of billiards before luncheon. Care to join us?”
“I’m going to finish writing this letter, but I may join you later,” she said absently.
“Right-o.”
And with that, he went out the door. Evelyn stared at it for a long moment, deep in thought, then her eyes slowly shifted to look at the wardrobe consideringly. Getting up, she crossed the room and opened the doors, pushing dresses and skirts out of the way to reveal shelves built into the back. She reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a wooden box, turning to carry it over to the desk. Setting it down, she stared at it thoughtfully.
The smallish box was made out of smooth wood with several panels connecting together seamlessly. It was a Chinese puzzle box, and ever since their stint in Hong Kong, her father had delighted in giving her a new one every year on her birthday. Each year they got progressively more difficult, and this one she hadn’t figured out yet.
Evelyn sat down and stared at the box. Instead of giving it to her on her birthday, her father had surprised her with it in August, a week before he left on that fateful trip. He’d called her to his study to give it to her. When she entered, he’d just been sliding a panel into place on the box. It was their little game. He always left something inside the boxes for her to find.
Why would someone break into a house and not take anything? And what kind of vandal didn’t make a mess? Robbie said that Thomas found nothing out of place. As soon as she heard that, warning bells had gone off in her head. Something would have been knocked over, or moved, or been put back where it didn’t belong. Especially if it were kids on a dare. They would have taken something, even if it was just an ashtray, to prove they’d done it. If it was any kind of standard break in, there would have been obvious signs of an intruder. The very fact that there weren’t made Evelyn’s skin go cold.
Rob had no idea that their father was anything other than what they had always thought he was: a diplomat on whom very powerful men counted to keep the precarious balance between ambassadors and politicians. Rob, her mother, Thomas...even the police had no reason to believe there could be anything more to this break in. But she knew differently. And she knew that if she mentioned it to Bill, he would realize the same thing she had.
Someone had been searching for something specific, and they were careful enough not to leave a trace of their search. Too careful, as it turned out.
Evelyn eyed the box in front of her. When he gave it to her, her father had said it was a special box. She’d thought it a strange thing to say at the time. Weren’t all puzzle boxes special? What if it wasn’t the box that was special, but what was inside it?
She reached for it.
Chapter Thirty
––––––––
Evelyn laughed as Rob threw his cards down disgustedly.
“I swear I don’t know how you do it,” he complained. “That’s the third straight hand you’ve won.”
“Well if you insist on broadcasting your every move, how am I not to?” she asked, gathering up the cards.
“Are you having difficulties, Rob?” Bill asked, looking over from where he was pouring himself a drink. “Never say your sister is trouncing you.”
“I am, and she is.” Rob got up to walk over to the mantel to retrieve his forgotten cigarette case. “Miles, come and even the field, will you?”
Miles looked up from where he was playing dance tunes on the piano in the corner.
“And ruin the fun watching you squirm? Not a chance, old boy.”
“I’m sure your luck will change,” Evelyn said with a twinkle. “It’s bound to.”
“Aha! See? That’s what all the sharks say! The next thing you know, you’re wandering home at dawn without a farthing left!”
Evelyn stood up and stretched, then moved across the drawing room to join Bill at the drinks.
“I do think you’re being a bit dramatic, Robbie dear,” Mrs. Ainsworth said from the couch where she and Marguerite had been happily ensconced together since they all moved in from dinner.
“Is he?” Bill asked Evelyn, setting down the brandy decanter.
“I did take him for quite a bit that last hand,” she admitted with a grin. “I couldn’t resist. It was too easy!”
Bill chuckled. “That’s my girl,” he said under his breath. “What would you like, my dear?”
“I’ll have some of that wine, thank you.” She watched as he poured it into a glass. “Did you know that the study here was broken into last month?”
They were far enough away from the others that they wouldn’t be overheard, but she lowered her voice anyway. Bill glanced at her sharply.
“No. When?”
“The beginning of November. Robbie told me earlier today.” She took the glass from him. “The window was forced in the middle of night. Thomas saw the light on and went to turn it off. It was the next morning that he saw the broken latch.”
“What was taken?”
“That’s the interesting part. Absolutely nothing. And nothing was out of place.”
Bill’s brows snapped together in a scowl. “Nothing at all?”
“No. The police think it was a couple of kids. Mum’s had all the locks on the first floor replaced and nothing’s happened since.”
“Then they may have found what they were looking for,” he murmured. “Damn! Robert was always careful never to bring anything here that would expose him, or any of us. But last summer he told me he’d come across something that was too important to leave anywhere. I never did find out what it was.”
