Nine Steps to Sara (43 page)

“You… you can’t do anything to me, you’re n-not real,” Thomas stammered, though he did give way and back up a step or two. 

“For generations I have watched the Nine steal the lifeblood of this family, but no longer.  However, you are right, a sacrifice is demanded,” her eyes flashed wildly as a terrible smile curved Gemma’s lips.  With a scream like a banshee, Gemma threw up he
r arms, and in the same instant
lightning struck again, severing a branch from the an
cient oak.  Thomas ha
d only time to raise his hands and turn away, but they offered little protection as the limb crushed him to the ground.  Gemma’s
image
dissipated with the effort, but her triumphant cry still rang in Sara’s ears. 

Sara sat huddled against the stone, clutching Jack protectively in her arms, too weak to do more.  Dimly she registered that Thomas was down if not dead, and with the stone altar destroyed Jack was safe, but she was too tired to care.  What she really should do was get up and get Jack home and out of the rain before they both got pneumonia, but without Gemma’s strength, her body gave out and she succumbed to the drugs in her system.  The last fleeting thought to cross her mind was that she hoped to God it was Will who found her and not the rest of the Nine.

“Have no fear, Sara.  I shall watch over you both,” Gemma’s voice floated to her on the breeze as the wind died down and the rain reduced to a drizzle.  Giving up the fight, Sara closed her eyes and surrendered to sweet oblivion. 

* * *

In the hours that followed, Sara was hazily aware of being pulled into Will’s arms, but even in her weakened state she resisted releasing of Jack until she heard Gemma’s voice urging her to let go.  The next thing she knew she was warm and dry, tucked between the clean white sheets of her own bed.  Poked and prodded, she drowsed through an examination, barely able to coherently answer the questions put to her.  She heard Will telling them what happened, but it sounded like he was telling someone else’s story, not hers.  Could she really have survived all that? 

When she next opened her eyes, it was late afternoon.  Will slumped in a chair beside the bed, asleep; his hand covering hers.  Though it all had taken on a nightmarish quality and Sara was hardly sure what part was real and what part was dream, one question swam to the forefront of her memory.  Why had he come to
Darling
Park
?  Slowly, she pulled her hand from his, unsure if she could trust him.

Will startled awake at the movement, rubbing his eyes blearily as he got his bearings.  “Hey, sleepyhead,” he smiled.  “It’s about time you’re finally awake, we were about to send for the doctor again.”

“Marwick is here?” Sara clutched the coverlet, eyes widening in alarm.

“No!  Not Marwick, he’s been arrested along with the others.  It’s
a doctor from Dorcester
.  I wanted to take you to hospital, but he said you just needed some rest.
”
 

“
And Jack, where’s Jack?  Is he alright?
”

“
He’s fine, Sara.  A little groggy, but fine all the same.  Doctor says he’ll make a full recovery, probably won’t even remember any of it thanks to the drug they used.
”

As if that was a good thing…

“
What about you?  How much do you remember about what happened last night?
”

Nightmarish visions of being carried through the darkness… Will’s hand over hers; the knife held high, running through the woods in the rain… it was all a blur, except for Gemma’s unanswered question.  “Why did you come to
Darling
Park
?”
Sara deflected his question with her own and Will blinked, clearly taken aback.

“Why did I come here?  To offer my services, as I said.  Chauffeur, gardener, any way you’d have me,” he smiled.

“No,” she licked her lips, wishing for a glass of water, but not trusting anyone to get it for her.  “Why did you
really
come to
Darling
Park
?”  Sara held his gaze with hers, stomach dropping the instant he lost his smile and guilt flushed his cheeks.

“I was hired on to see to it that you wanted to stay here; to make
Darling
Park
your home.”

“What were you supposed to do to get me to stay?”

“Charm you, I suppose.  Get you to fall in love with me and the idea of building a life here.  I swear, I didn’t see the harm in it at first.  Once I met you, it didn’t seem like a chore at all; I wanted you to like me.”  Will reached for her hand again, but she pulled it away. 

“And the marriage proposal?  The declaration of love?  That was all master plan, right?” 

“Sara, it wasn’t a lie. 
I knew everything wasn’t as it should be here,
I tried to get you to leave with me, remember?”

“Get out.”

“Sara please, if you’ll only listen…”

“I said get out,” Sara couldn’t even look at him.  A wave of nausea seized her stomach, and she wasn’t sure if it was the aftereffects of the drug or from his betrayal.

“Sara…”

A soft knock at the door interrupted, and Katie opened it a crack.  “Begging your pardon, my Lady, but there’s a policeman come to see you.  Shall I let him in or would you like me to send him away?”

“Send him in
please, Katie,” Sara replied, unable to look at the maid either.  Had she been part of the plot?  Would she ever feel safe again in her own home?

Will rose and left the room without another word, giving a wide berth to the detective who entered.  A plain man of middle years, he wore a plaid mackinaw over a brown suit, hat held in hand.

“Sorry to bother you, my Lady.  I’m Inspector Shaw, and I need a few minutes of your time to clear a few things up,” he waited respectfully by the door.

“Of course, please come in, Inspector,” she sat up in the bed.  Noting for the first time that she still wore the soft, peach nightgown, she pulled the covers a little higher.

“Oh, you’re American, how lovely,” he smiled, revealing two dimples that for some strange reason made her feel more at ease. 

“Guilty,” she quipped weakly, trying to find her smile.  “Have you seen my son, is he alright?”

“Not personally, but I talked to Doctor Chapman, he says the boy is right as rain,”
he gave her a reassuring smile.

“Thank you,” Sara nodded, some of the nausea passing.  “Will said you’d made some arrests, did you get everybody?”

“As far as we know, my Lady.  We’re still in the process of interrogating everyone.  There might be a name or two that’s slipped by so far, but we’ll catch them right enough, mark my words.”

“I wish I could be as sure of that.  It’s been bothering me, who I can trust.  I didn’t see their faces, except for Marwick and the Pooles.  How do you know you got them all?”  Not to mention anyone behind the scenes with guilty knowledge, like Mrs. Poole who hadn’t been one of the eight wearing robes, but involved up to her neck. 
And Will.
   

“I can sympathize, but I assure you, we’ve rounded up the lot of bigguns.  That old gaffer’s talking as if there w
as
no tomorrow.”

“Old gaffer?” she blinked, not understanding the word.

Shaw flipped through his notebook until he found the name he wanted.  “Yes, name of Pottinger.  He’s been talking to anyone and everyone about the entire scheme.  Pleased as punch over the brilliance of it all.  Mad as a box of frogs if you ask me.”   

“That crazy old guy from the curio shop was a part of it?  Who else?”

Shaw read off a list of names and Sara was stunned to recognize most of them as upstanding members of the village, people she’d met and liked.  Lowesley the solicitor wasn’t hard to guess; he’d been the one to write in the clause about making
Darling
Park
her home; a clause she was pretty sure she had grounds to eliminate if she chose to now.   Mrs. Dockery from the
Bell
and Cross was a bigger surprise though; she’d seemed so… friendly.  They’d all been friendly to her and welcoming, only now Sara understood it was because they wanted something from her, truly believed it would bring them success and riches. 

“So many…” she murmured, still in shock. 

“Yes, well, as I said, we’ll likely uncover a few more that had to know about it as we continue the investigation, but I wanted you to know your safety is of paramount importance to us.  We’ll leave a man here at the estate around the clock just in case.  Unless, you’ll be leaving the mansion?” 

Sara let out a long breath;
that was the million dollar question.  “To be honest, I ha
ve
n’t gotten that far, I’m not really sure what we’re doing yet.”

“No one could blame you if you decided to take a little time away, especially with the damage to the place.”

“Damage?” she blinked.

“Sorry, has no one told you yet?”  Inspector Shaw looked as though he wished he hadn’t said anything on that score.  “The east wing looks like a bomb went off, I’m afraid.  That storm was a nasty piece of work; I’m told the house was struck by lightning more than once.  And they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice.”

“Part of the house is demolished?” Sara gaped, looking around for her robe.  “I need to go take a look at it…”

“Please, your Ladyship…” Shaw squirmed uncomfortably, “I shouldn’t have said anything.  Don’t trouble yourself, there’s nothing to be done for the moment anyway.  No one was hurt, that’s the important thing.”

That wing of the house was unused for the most part, but Sara did want to see how bad it was.  His last words brought a flash of a vision to her mind; a crack of lightning followed by a crash of branches and leaves… Thomas going down… What had happened to him exactly?  “Except for Thomas,” she murmured aloud.  “Is he…?”

“Quite dead, I’m afraid,” Shaw assured her.  “Killed instantly by a fallen tree limb.  Best thing for him, really; a man of his age wouldn’t have lasted long in prison.”

Sara nodded dumbly, wishing she could remember what had happened with more clarity, but not wanting to bring up her muddled memory to the authorities just yet.  “I’m sorry, I really do want to check on Jack and make sure he’s alright and get a look at the damage to the house, if you’ll excuse me.”  Rising from the bed, she pulled a warm, woolen sweater on over the nightgown, since the robe was nowhere to be found.  Only then did she notice her feet were bandaged up like a mummy, though it wasn’t particularly painful to stand. 

“Begging your pardon, my Lady, there is a question I’d like to ask.  We’ve been able to piece together most of the events of the night from the others, so I won’t trouble you to make a full statement yet, but one thing we’ve been a little unclear of.   What exactly was Will Talbot’s involvement?”

That was just the question circling the back of her mind as well.  Could she take him at face value or was he trying to save his own skin? 
If only she could remember more!
  Sara considered putting him off until she could remember better, or better yet, tell him to ask Will himself.  She opened her mouth to do just that, but hesitated, letting out a long, pent up breath.  “Will saved our lives.  If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know what we would have done,” she said evenly, and Inspector Shaw nodded respectfully.

“Thank you, Lady Darling.  As I said, our man is out in the corridor, he’ll see to your safety.  I’ll be back in a few days time to speak with you at greater length after you’ve recovered.  If you think of anything you’d like to add before that time, feel free to ring me at any time,” he handed over a business card and Sara took it with a faint smile.

“Thank you, Inspector, I will.”