The Conquering Dark: Crown
Page 30
Imogen had gone through so much. She had transformed from a rebellious younger sister to a frightening monster to a stalwart protector. Despite the darkness that had enveloped her, she had bravely stepped out into the light. Imogen had embraced a new life no matter what trauma it threw at her.
Tears of pride welled in Kate’s eyes. By her actions Imogen had changed all of them, from the cheerfully lonely Simon, to the wild Charlotte, to the brooding Malcolm, and even to Kate herself. Sometimes it was the journey that made the impact rather than the end. Her sister had shown them the way, and, by God, Kate would follow in her example.
She brushed her eyes with her sleeve and strode inside. She went over to Simon and curled up next to him. His arm did not instinctively curve around her shoulders. Charlotte looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes and Kate extended her arm toward the child, inviting her onto her lap.
Charlotte immediately came over, laying her head against Kate’s chest.
“I miss her,” was her sob.
“Of course you do. We all do. We always will. Family must never be forgotten.”
“Family?” Charlotte’s haunted gaze darted fearfully to Malcolm, as if expecting him at any second to pick up a bag and walk into the fog.
Kate held the child close. “Yes. You are as much a sister to her as I am. As you are to me. And for that reason, she would want you to have this.” From her sweater pocket, Kate produced the little hedgehog. Charlotte’s tears fell harder, but she snatched up the little creature and placed her cheek against its prickly quills. Kate kissed the top of Charlotte’s head.
Simon’s arm now slipped around her and his hand gave her a gentle squeeze. It gave her hope that he was listening. Taking a deep breath, she regarded those in the room. “I am adding a new wing to Hartley Hall. Everyone has a home here. A place to call his or her own.”
Malcolm began, “I don’t think that’s—”
Kate cut him off. “Don’t you dare. We haven’t gone through all of this to scatter now. The original Order shattered because they were petty and self-absorbed, more consumed with abusing the power given to them. Even Pendragon.”
When Simon raised a cynical brow, Kate scowled at him. “Pendragon was perhaps the worst. He doubted the people he had once loved, people he should have considered family. Instead he chose to believe those who were callous and manipulative. That was his downfall. Order reigns when it is built on trust and love, not the lust for power and glory.”
Simon shook his head and glanced away. “I loved Nick and look what that wrought.”
Charlotte looked up from Kate’s lap. “I don’t understand what happened to him. Was Mr. Nick a bad man? He was grouchy, but he seemed to like us. Most of us. Wasn’t he your friend, Mr. Simon? Why did he go away?”
“He was my friend, Charlotte.” Simon took the girl’s hand. He ran his thumb over her soft palm as if marveling that her hands were still so clean. “He wasn’t bad. He just couldn’t stay.”
“Oh.” The girl sighed. “He was teaching me to play cards.”
“Cards?” Kate asked with bemused annoyance.
Charlotte looked worried. “He told me not to tell. That I shouldn’t be gambling at my age.”
Malcolm gave the girl a hard look. “Did he teach you how to cheat?”
“A little.”
The Scotsman shook his head angrily. “Glad he’s gone.”
“Charlotte.” Penny snorted an uncontrolled laugh, “Mr. Malcolm doesn’t believe in cheating.”
“Oh, I can teach you!” Charlotte exclaimed.
Malcolm grunted. Penny edged a bit closer to him as the dark shroud around him faded.
Kate eyed Malcolm across the room. “Some things will always stay the same, like dour Scotsmen. Some of those traits define us. Some are more tolerable than others. Some even comforting.” Her eyes glowed with a fire that matched her tone. “This family will stay together. For Imogen’s sake. For her memory. Without her, we would never have found each other. This group formed because of her.”
Charlotte looked up at Kate, suddenly her countenance a bit brighter. “That’s right! You found me because you were looking for Imogen.”
Kate smiled at the young girl. She felt Simon take her hand and she looked back at him. “Imogen brought us together as well,” she told him, her voice breaking ever so slightly.
The deep creases in Simon’s face finally relaxed. “You’re right. Of course.”
Penny let out a long relieved breath and went to a table where she pulled a sketchbook out of her satchel. “Since we’re all staying, it wouldn’t hurt to show you the new project I’ve been working on.” She opened the portfolio and handed out a piece of paper to each of them. The sketches on them showed decorated keys, each with a unique crest on the bow, distinctive in its design and linked to the individual holding it. A pair of crossed pistols for Malcolm. A pentagram for Charlotte. And, for Kate, an open book with one page inscribed with a stylized initial I to represent Imogen.
“Penny, they’re beautiful,” Kate replied, staring at the sketch with a wistful smile on her lips.
Penny toed the fringe on the rug. “They’re just my ideas of what suited everyone.”
Charlotte clutched the drawing tightly with both hands. She squirmed so much the little hedgehog crawled across her and settled in Kate’s stationary lap. “You mean I get one too?” The child’s bouncing made the entire settee shake.
Her infectious joy was so welcome that Kate didn’t even reprimand her.
Penny took a final drawing from the case and extended her arm toward a small figure sitting in the corner. Jane seemed to glance up in surprise from her knitting but didn’t react otherwise. Penny walked over and pressed the paper into the woman’s hand.
Jane stared at the sketch. “But I didn’t think to stay. I was only tarrying while—”
“You’re here, Jane,” Kate interrupted. “You will stay as long as you like, which I hope will be a long while. Your father is actually quite at home here. He seems to think he is supervising the construction.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Anstruther,” Jane replied. “I’ll tell him again to stay away.”
“Not at all.” Simon laughed. “He’s doing a marvelous job. And some of his unusual suggestions lend extra character to the house.”
“God bless you all.” Jane smiled gratefully, glancing from Simon to Penny to Malcolm. She immediately returned to knitting. “I shall have to make each of you something.”
Malcolm patted the grey scarf Jane had given him months before. It hung from his coat pocket, as it usually did. “I’ll take a case of these damn things. Saved my life before, and that’s not bad for a bloody scarf.”
“Language, please, Mr. MacFarlane,” Jane murmured.
Malcolm nodded contritely. “Sorry.”
Simon chuckled as he kissed Kate’s hand with unspoken praise and gratitude. He came to his feet and faced the small congregation. “Penny, you are, as always, the marvel of our age.”
The engineer shrugged and waved a cavalier hand. “We can start on the keys whenever you’re ready. It will take all three of us.”
“They will be the miracle of our combined powers, an example of how we work together never against each other.” He lifted the gold key. “For Imogen.”
Everyone came to their feet, following his lead. “For Imogen,” they echoed.
Kate’s eyes shone bright and her throat tightened. She had never felt so proud of her sister.
A knock sounded on the door and Hogarth entered. He stood on gleaming metal struts, rudimentary steel legs powered by tiny motors of Penny’s ingenious design. He bowed awkwardly, still learning to maneuver with the strange devices. He straightened with a wink at Penny, who grinned broadly at his progress.
“I’ll forge up a nicer set than these in no time.” She pulled a screwdriver from her pocket and knelt beside him to make an adjustment on the knee. Penny’s face lit with possibilities as she eyed the metal. “Now that I have you up
and about, I should be able to modify these plans for Charles. I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him he can throw away that chair of his.”
Kate said, “Your mother would be proud, Penny. I want to be there when Charles takes his first steps.”
“You will.” Penny kept her faced turned toward her work but dragged her sleeve across her sniffling nose. Then she tapped the leg with her screwdriver. “So, Hogarth, you want to be able to jump across the Thames?”
Hogarth looked uncomfortable to have the engineer working on his legs. “Merely leaping a trout stream should suffice, miss.”
Kate regarded Simon. “You mentioned a private little stream in Scotland once. Does it have trout?”
The corners of Simon’s mouth lifted. “I believe it does.”
“I think then we are in need of visiting it.”
Charlotte immediately began jumping up and down, and squealed, “A holiday!”
Simon leaned toward Kate. “I thought of it as our own private spot.”
Kate’s eyes danced with mischievous delight. “Of course, dear, but family comes first.”
Hogarth cleared his throat with a calm professional demeanor. “Miss Kate, a messenger from the king. It appears a demon has been summoned near Cardiff and is menacing the Welsh countryside. What should I tell him? That you are in Scotland, fishing?”
Kate came over to stand beside Simon, her hand reaching for his. In her other hand she held her bandolier full of alchemical vials.
Simon looked down at her beaming confident face, then at the determined expressions of the others. Penny shouldered her rucksack. Malcolm slipped his pistols into their holsters as Charlotte grabbed his greatcoat.
“Tell His Majesty we are bound for Wales,” Simon announced with a telltale smile.