Along Came a Wolf (The Yellow Hoods, #1): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale (12 page)

Elly added, “I thought so too at first, but I don’t think that anymore.” She proceeded to open the cabinets and search their secret panels. “Hey! Come look at this.” 

Behind one secret panel were three new yellow cloaks. Another secret panel revealed six new shock-sticks and some other items. 

“There’s no way your grandfather could have made all this stuff!” said Elly.

Tee and Richy each took one of the new cloaks, marveling at their quality. 

“This is so light, but it seems dense at the same time,” said Richy. “I mean—the fabric feels strong like it should be heavy, but it isn’t.” He held it up to the morning sunlight. “That’s weird! The sun doesn’t even come through it.”

Tee examined the inside. “Check out all the pockets! I can put my slingshot here, and I guess the sticks go at the bottom edge of the cloak… maybe to give it more weight?”

“Or they could go in the special pockets right behind your back! Check them out,” said Elly, pointing out the additional pockets she’d found.

Richy put his cloak on and asked Elly, “You really don’t think Monsieur Klaus made all of this?”

“First,” said Elly, “while it’s been a couple of weeks since the LeLoup stuff, he’s been preoccupied with something
big
. I’ve seen him in town twice, and he looked like a zombie. You know—the look he has when he won’t stop until he’s finished whatever he’s working on. Tee, do you know what he’s been up to?”

Tee smiled knowingly, but she wasn’t going to answer. Her friends weren’t surprised. They knew her grandfather often asked her to keep things secret until he was ready to share them. Yet, she liked how Elly deductively broke things down. 

Elly continued. “Well—look at all of this stuff. The new sticks, for example. The design is a little bit different now. Do you think he really had the time to do that?” She played with the sticks in her hands, noticing that the balance was better and they were slightly thicker.

Tee thought about it. “Grandpapa likes to invent new things. These things aren’t
new
. They’re probably better than what we had, but they aren’t new.”

Richy made one last attempt to connect Nikolas to everything. “Maybe Monsieur Klaus has someone who works for him?”

Tee shook her head. She wasn’t aware of anybody who had ever worked for her grandfather.

“Hmm,” said Richy. “Well, right now, it’s like we have little magic elves coming and making stuff for us. I’m okay with that.”

Elly frowned. A troubling thought occurred to her. “This stuff means that someone knows who
we
are and that we come here.”

Tee waved off Elly’s concern. “I’m sure this is tied to my grandfather somehow, but it’s not a mystery we’re going to solve today. Until we see something worth worrying about, let’s just assume it’s someone who is trying to help us.”

“Or
someones
,” Richy added.

“That’s not a word!” snapped Elly, rolling her eyes.

Bakon paced nervously. It was almost time to leave. He turned to his brothers and asked again, “Are you guys sure you’ll be okay without me?”

Squeals looked at Bore. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “Bore, do you think we might touch the stove and burn ourselves while he’s out on a second date?”

Bore laughed. “Maybe we try to go outside and run into trees!” The two laughed for a bit.

Squeals turned to his older brother. “I think you’re afraid she’ll stop liking you because you’re a low-life. She
is
too good for you.”

Bakon hated the term
low-life
, and Squeals knew it. “We’re poor, yes, but we make our own way. We always have,” he retorted defensively.

He got up from their wobbly kitchen table and looked at the shack around them, now ten years old. They had been just teenagers when they’d built it, using skills learned from Monsieur Klaus. 

During their time living with the Klaus family, they’d refused to live in the main house, except on the worst of days. At first, the brothers had insisted on staying in the large shed. Nikolas had fixed it up and insulated it. Isabella had come around to the idea since it forced Nikolas to deal with the mountain of stuff he’d been keeping in it.

The brothers had discussed the idea of their own home for months. When they’d finally decided to build it, they settled on a location about a mile away from the Klaus home. They’d still go over to have evening meals with the family every day, but afterward, they would head back to their own place. Unbeknownst to them, every night either Nikolas or Isabella would sneak over and check in on them before turning in for the night.

When they built their house, Nikolas had offered to help with more than just materials, but even Bore refused to allow him to do anything except watch, advise, and help steady the occasional beam. When the brothers were done, they immediately moved their few belongings in. 

The house was very modest, but every leak and repair felt like a badge of honor. They were standing on their own and were proud of it. 

Bakon bowed his head. “I just don’t like the idea of leaving you guys.” He felt like he was stealing something from his brothers in order to spend time with Egelina-Marie.

Bore shook his head in his exaggerated way and stood up quickly. He nearly hit the ceiling, as usual. “No,” he said gently. “You scared of girl. Girl won’t break up family. Maybe girl
become
family?”

Squeals and Bakon looked at Bore in surprise.

“Bang on, Bore! Eg and Bakon—sounds like a natural match to me!” teased Squeals.

With a quick glare from Bakon, Squeals quieted down. Bakon walked over to his youngest brother and looked up at him.

“Go,” said Bore, warmly. His booming voice decided the matter. Bakon nodded.

As he walked out, he recalled how weird the first date with Egelina-Marie had felt at first. They’d met in the marketplace and just walked for an hour. Bakon had been so nervous he had rubbed his hands together until he had blisters. He hadn’t noticed Egelina-Marie twirling her hair so much that she looked like she had braids.

To pass the time as he walked down the mountain road, Bakon counted his coins and thought of what he would pick up at the market. This time he planned to have a picnic with Egelina-Marie. It would be simple, but it was all he could afford. Over the past two weeks, he’d done extra work for anyone who needed a hand, to earn the money he needed. His two brothers had insisted on helping but asked for none of the money.

Egelina-Marie was the captain’s daughter, which weighed on Bakon. He couldn’t imagine they would stay together long because, despite what he’d said to his brothers, deep down he believed that he really was just a low-life.
Someone like her shouldn’t stay with someone like me
, he thought. He didn’t want her to go—she inspired him and made him feel more
solid
inside. 

“A man lost in thought,” said LeLoup, startling Bakon. LeLoup stood in the middle of the road with three mounted horsemen, their pistols drawn. “You might not remember me. I’ve healed since our last encounter. But I remember you!”

Bakon was still a mile or two from the edge of town. He knew few used this mountain road at this time of day, so he was on his own. He stepped side to side, trying to prepare himself for trouble. “What do you want?” he asked.

LeLoup looked at his horsemen. “Hmm. Ruffians. They are always so rude.” The men laughed. “I suppose we must be vulgar and get to the point immediately. You’re lucky, Monsieur Cochon. I am not interested in lowering myself to your level and giving you the beating you deserve. I have a job to do.”

LeLoup started to walk around Bakon, keeping a safe distance. “I will have my revenge on you, don’t misunderstand me. On you, on the pretty Mademoiselle Archambault, on Captain Archambault, on Monsieur Klaus, and on those annoying Yellow Hoods who humiliated me. But… one thing at a time. Do
you
know what the next thing is?” he asked, stopping and glaring at Bakon with his piercing green eyes.

Bakon looked around quickly. “No. What?”

“It’s obvious to the trained mind. But, again, you
are
a ruffian,” LeLoup sneered.

He looked to his men and commanded, “Seize him!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Why, Come In, My Dear

The main room of the house had turned into a staging area, holding the clothes and other items Tee’s family were packing for their trip. Slowly, each item found its way into a large travel trunk or directly onto the horse-drawn cart.

“How long has it been since we last saw Aunt Gwen?” asked Tee.

Her dad walked in. “I think about a year and a half. I’m sure your cousin …” He paused, thinking.

“Elaine?” offered Tee.

“No, the other one. The little one,” said William.

“Megan?”

“No, the younger one …” The name was on the tip of William’s tongue.

“Honorine? Margo?”

Just then, Jennifer walked in, arms loaded with more clothes from the bedrooms.

“Your sister has a lot of kids,” said William.

Jennifer laughed. “That sister of mine is a baby-making machine. Every time she sneezes, out comes another girl, and if she coughs, a boy! So far she’s had six sneezes and two coughs.”

“Dad’s trying to remember the youngest one’s name,” said Tee, hastening the conversation.

Jennifer put her finger to her chin. “That would be… Catherine. Though you’re probably thinking of Giselle.”

“Wait—there’s a Catherine now?” said William in disbelief.

“What’s your point, Dad?” asked Tee, flopping backward onto a pile of clothes.

“I was just going to say she’s probably grown a lot. You know—a lot taller and whatnot. But I got lost in all the names,” he admitted.

Jennifer pulled a picnic basket out from behind the kitchen counter. “Well, Tee, here’s something to distract you. Since we’re going to be away for a month, I made some of Grandpapa’s favorite foods. We’ll be leaving at dawn, so would you mind heading over there now with this?”

Tee took hold of the heavy basket. “What’s in here? Wood and rock soup?”

“That would still taste better than your Aunt’s meat pie,” said William, making his best yuck face.

“William!” snapped Jennifer, while trying to hide her smile of agreement. She believed strongly in respect of family and elders, especially in front of Tee.

“Sorry,” he replied, chuckling.

“Hey, mom? Do you think one day we’ll have a cart like the one Grandpapa made?” asked Tee. 

“Oh, I have no doubt. I bet it’ll go faster than a horse within a year,” her mother replied.

“Alright. I’ll be back for dinner.” Tee donned her yellow cloak, checked her pockets, and headed out the door, basket in hand.

“Stay out of trouble,” said her dad out of habit.

Nikolas arrived at the guard administration building, a simple stone structure that housed Captain Archambault’s office.

He opened the front door and walked through the rich, dark wood hallway to the reception desk.

The attendant’s workday consisted of checking if people had an appointment, asking them to write their name down, verifying he could read it, and replacing the signature book when full. Unsurprisingly, he was asleep at his post.

Nikolas knocked hard on the desk, startling the man awake.

“Huh? Do you have a—oh, Monsieur Klaus. Can I help you?” said the man, rubbing his eyes and chubby face. He stood up to stretch his back.

“Yes,” said Nikolas. “I’m here to see the Captain. I have an appointment.”

The man seemed troubled. “Hmm, well… I’m sorry to inform you, Monsieur Klaus, but no one has seen the Captain since this morning.”

“Oh,” replied Nikolas, concerned. Gabriel had rarely missed an appointment with him. It was rarer still that Gabriel’s staff didn’t know his whereabouts. 

“Thank you. I’ll check at his home. Maybe, once again, he is sick, yes?” said Nikolas, turning to go.

“Actually, Monsieur Klaus, there is no need. We’ve had a guardsman drop by his home already. He’s not there,” said the man. “I’m sure he’ll show up soon. If not, the Magistrate will have his head! Haha.”

“The Magistrate? Wasn’t LeLoup to be judged today?” asked Nikolas.