“What happened to the driver?”Brydie had learned recently that not everyone was as they seemed.She hated thinking like that, but one must wonder why the driver had been out at night with small children.The unpaved road was dangerous.Only thieves and kidnappers would travel it in the dark.Or the occasional madman.
Coming on top of Willa’s death...She really hated thinking in circles.
“All Dr.Walker can tell us is that the driver most likely died sometime last night.Animals...I’m sorry.I’d rather not say more.We need to learn what we can from the boy.The youngest, a girl, does not speak.”
“Frightened,” Minerva said curtly, returning to the lobby.“I have seen it before.”
Frightening a child into not talking?What horrible...“I cannot do this.The two of you may discuss facts and laws and letters.I must see Verity and the children.She will be in a state by now.”Brydie hurried to the back of the inn where Rafe and Verity had taken up residence.
She heard Lynly chattering and sighed in relief.Her eight-year-old niece had a heart condition and was frail as a result.That didn’t prevent her from taking charge when she could.
She found Verity in a small bedroom, sorting clothes from a tapestry bag, while Lynly and two young towheads watched with interest.Rob, her twelve-year-old nephew, was apparently taking notes.He glanced up at Brydie’s entrance.“We’re making a list of what Daphne and Daniel need.They might fit in some of our old clothes.”
Brydie studied the pair of blond heads, one who had hidden behind the bed upon her entrance.They were enchanting enough to come from a fairy town called Beanblossom.The beribboned little girl seemed several years younger than Lynly.Built sturdier, she might fit her niece’s old clothes.The curly-haired boy was some years younger than Rob, but also more robust than her nephew.He would quite likely fit last year’s trousers if the hems were adjusted.
Except the pair worevelvet, of considerably better quality than anything Kate’s children had ever worn.
“They must have family to have such nice attire,” Brydie said bluntly.The hope on Verity’s face fled, followed by determination.Verity was strong.She’d cope, eventually.“Excellent idea, Rob.They’ll need rough garments for playing in.”
She lowered her giantess frame to the floor so as not to tower over the fairy-like newcomers.“You miss your mother, don’t you?I lost mine when I wasn’t much older than you.Want to tell me about her?”
Daphne ducked her head.Daniel attempted to appear brave and shook his.
Lynly sat on the floor, too, holding one of her quilt patches.“She sewed, like me.”
She’d have to leave interrogations to her niece.Brydie smiled at the shy pair.“Did she make those lovely clothes Mrs.Verity is unpacking?”
The little girl climbed on the bed and nodded eagerly.
The boy frowned.“Mama made my shirts, but I go to school and need a proper coat.I went to a grown-uptailor.And the bad man told Elton I couldn’t bring my new coat.”
Abad man?Brydie felt a cold chill.“Who is Elton?”
Daniel shrugged.“He carries stuff for mama.”
A footman?Some sort of servant, most likely.“Does the bad man have a name?”
Both children shook their heads vehemently.Odd.“Can you tell me what he looks like?”
Daphne hid under the covers.Daniel shook his head and appeared ready to cry.“He came when Mama died.Elton said my daddy sent him to send us away.”
Poor Lynly looked ready to cry too.
Good schoolteacher that she was, Verity intervened.“I have told them we will find Beanblossom and their clothes, if we can.Do you know any tailors?”
Atailor—a clue.Even Verity was hunting clues.Rightfully so, it seemed.Some cruel, lying thief or servant could be selling off everything these children owned.“There is one in Stratford and several in Birmingham.Perhaps one of the men can make inquiries?”
She turned back to the eager boy.“Who is your teacher?”
“Mr.Clapper.He has a school in the front of his house!It’s full of books and a globe and he reads to us from Shakespeare!”Daniel bounced on the bed.“Can I go back to school?”
Brydie refused to tell them they had no home.She knew they were welcome here.
“Maybe not with Mr.Clapper,” she cautioned.“But after Christmastide, we will have a school in a grand manor house.If you stay, I think you will like Mr.Birdwhistle, the tutor.And Mrs.Verity also teaches.”Brydie smiled at the little girl watching warily from the bed.“Maybe Daphne could go to school too.”
That started a riot of voices, since Rob and Lynly both attended Verity’s school and wanted to tell all about it.
Reassured that the children were fine, uncertain about Verity, Brydie rose and tugged her friend and sometimes employer into the hall.“Damien and Minerva are writing letters to rectors, solicitors, and bankers.I’ll have them ask about Elton, the tailor, and the school as well.Did you ask about their father?”
