Ruby Red (33 page)

“Why don’t we go back to the Temple?”

“It’s cozy here. If we go back to the Temple, there’ll be more endless discussions. And to be honest, I can do with a change from being ordered about by Uncle Falk.”

Aha! My move now. “Not a good feeling, is it?”

He shook his head. “No, not really.”

I heard sounds in the nave outside. I jumped, and peered through the curtain. But it was only an old lady lighting a candle. “Suppose we travel back in the next second? I don’t want to land on the lap of some child from a confirmation class. And I can’t imagine that the parish priest would be thrilled.”

“Don’t worry.” Gideon laughed quietly. “There’s never anyone in this confessional in our own time. Father Jacobs calls it the lift to the underworld. He’s a member of the Lodge, of course.”

“How much longer until we go back, then?”

Gideon looked at his watch. “We still have a bit of time.”

“Then we might as well use it sensibly.” I giggled. “Weren’t you going to make your confession, my son?” It just slipped out, and it took a moment for me to realize what I was doing.

I was sitting with Gideon in a church confessional about a hundred years in the past, flirting with him for all I was worth! Good heavens! Why hadn’t Lesley given me a folder full of instructions for that?

“Only if you’re going to tell me about your own sins too.”

“I’m sure you’d like that.” I quickly changed the subject. We were definitely on thin ice here. “You were right about the trap, by the way. But how could Paul and Lucy know that we’d be there today and not some other time?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Gideon, suddenly leaning so far toward me that our noses were only an inch or so apart. His eyes looked dark in the twilight of the church. “But maybe
you
do.”

I blinked at him. That unsettled me—in two ways: first because I could make nothing of that remark, and second because he was so close. “Me?”

“You could be the one who told Lucy and Paul about our meeting.”

“What?” I must be looking totally stupid. “What nonsense! When do you suppose I could have done that? I don’t even know where the chronograph is kept. And I’d never let anyone—” I stopped before I could say anything else silly.

“Gwyneth, you have no idea what you may do later on.”

I had to spend a moment digesting that. Then I said, “It could just as easily have been you.”

“Yeah.” Gideon retreated into his side of the confessional, and I saw the flash of his white teeth in the dim light. He was smiling. “I think we’re going to have a rather exciting time in the near future.”

That gave me a warm tingly feeling inside. Presumably the prospect of more adventures ought to have scared me, but at that moment I felt nothing but wonderful happiness.

Yes, it
would
be exciting.

We said no more for a while. Then Gideon asked me, “Back in that coach, when we were talking about the magic of the raven—do you remember?”

Of course I remembered. Every single word.

“You said I couldn’t have that magic because I was only a perfectly ordinary girl. And you know lots of girls like me. Girls who go to the loo in groups and say mean things about Lisa because she—”

A finger fell on my lips. “I know what I said.” Gideon had leaned toward me from his side of the cubbyhole. “And I’m sorry.”

What?
I sat there thunderstruck, unable to move or even breathe. His fingers gently touched my lips, stroked my chin, and felt their way up my cheek to my temple.

“You’re not ordinary, Gwyneth,” he whispered as he began stroking my hair. “You’re totally, absolutely extraordinary. You don’t need the magic of any raven to be special to me.” He leaned as close as he could get, with his head and arms through the opening of the confessional window, and when his lips touched my mouth, I shut my eyes.

Okay. So now
I
was going to faint.

Sunny day, 73 degrees in the shade.

Lady Tilney arrives punctually at nine to elapse.

Traffic in the city held up by a protest march: a group of deranged females demanding votes for women. We’ll be founding colonies on the moon before they get what they want.

Otherwise, no unusual incidents.

F
ROM
T
HE
A
NNALS OF THE
G
UARDIANS

24 J
UNE
1912

R
EPORT
: F
RANK
M
INE
, I
NNER
C
IRCLE

EPILOGUE

Hyde Park, London

24 June 1912

“
THESE SUNSHADES
are really useful,” she said, twirling hers in a circle. “I can’t understand why they went out of fashion.”

“Maybe because it rains all the time here?” He smiled sideways at her. “But I agree, they’re very attractive. And white lace summer dresses suit you wonderfully. I’m even getting used to the long skirts. It’s always such a nice moment when you take them off.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to not wearing jeans anymore,” she said sadly. “I miss them badly every day.”

He knew very well it wasn’t just the jeans she missed so badly, but he was careful not to say so. They walked on for a while in silence.

The park seemed so peaceful in the summer sun; the city spread out behind them looked as if it were built to last forever. But he remembered that in two years’ time, the First World War would begin, and German zeppelins would be dropping bombs on London. Maybe they’d have to retreat to the country for a while.

“She looks just like you,” she said suddenly.

He knew at once who she was talking about. “No, she looks like you, Princess! It’s only her hair she gets from me.”

“And that way of tilting her head to one side when she’s thinking something over.”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

She nodded. “Isn’t this strange? Two months ago we held her in our arms as a newborn baby, and now she’s sixteen, and half a head taller than me. And only two years younger!”

“Yes, crazy!”

“I’m so relieved that she’s all right. But Nicholas … why did he have to die so early?”

“Leukemia. I’d never have expected that. Poor girl, to lose her father so young.” He cleared his throat. “I hope she’ll keep away from that boy, my … er, nephew, or whatever he is. These family trees are impossible.”

“Oh, it’s not all that difficult—your great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather were twin brothers. So your great-great-grandfather is also his great-great-great-grandfather.” She laughed, noticing his blank expression. “I’ll draw you a family tree sometime.”

“I tell you, no one can work it out. Anyway, I don’t like the young man. Did you notice the way he was ordering her about? Luckily she wasn’t taking it lying down.”

“She’s in love with him.”

“No, she isn’t.”

“Yes, she is. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

“So how do you think
you
know it?”

“Oh, because he’s simply irresistible. My God, did you see his eyes? Green like a tiger’s. I think I felt a bit weak at the knees myself when he flashed them at me, even though he was angry.”

“What? You can’t mean that seriously! Since when have you liked green eyes?”

She laughed. “Don’t worry. Your eyes are the best of all. For me, at least. But I think she likes green eyes best.”

“She’s not in love with that arrogant young man!”

“I tell you, she is. And he’s just like you when you were younger.”

“What? That…! He’s not in the least like me.
I
never ordered
you
about, never!”

She grinned. “You did, too!”

“Only when it was necessary.” He tipped his hat back on his head. “I just want him to leave her alone.”

“You’re jealous.”

“Well, yes,” he admitted. “Isn’t that normal? When I next see him, I’m going to tell him to keep his hands off her.”

“I’ve an idea we’ll be crossing their path quite often in the near future,” she said, and now she wasn’t smiling. “And I’ve an idea you ought to start polishing up your skill at fencing. There’s something in the air, and it’s coming our way.”

He threw his walking stick in the air and caught it nimbly as it came down. “I’m ready. How about you, Princess?”

“Ready when you are.”

THE CAST OF MAIN CHARACTERS

IN THE PRESENT

IN THE MONTROSE FAMILY
:

Gwyneth Shepherd
, in Year Ten at school, discovers one day that she can travel in time

Grace Shepherd
, Gwyneth’s mother

Nick
and
Caroline Shepherd
, Gwyneth’s younger brother and sister

Charlotte Montrose
, Gwyneth’s cousin

Glenda Montrose
, Charlotte’s mother, Grace’s elder sister

Lady Arista Montrose
, grandmother of Gwyneth and Charlotte, mother of Grace and Glenda

Madeleine (Maddy) Montrose
, Gwyneth’s great-aunt, sister of the late Lord Montrose

Mr. Bernard
, butler in the Montrose household

AT ST. LENNOX HIGH SCHOOL
:

Lesley Hay
, Gwyneth’s best friend

James Augustus Peregrine Pympoole-Bothame
, the school ghost

Cynthia Dale
, in Gwyneth’s class

Gordon Gelderman
, in Gwyneth’s class

Mr. Whitman
, teacher of English and history

AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE GUARDIANS IN THE TEMPLE
:

Gideon de Villiers
, like Gwyneth, can travel in time

Falk de Villiers
, Gideon’s uncle twice removed, Grand Master of the Lodge of Count Saint-Germain, to which the Guardians belong

Thomas George
, member of the Inner Circle of the Lodge

Dr. Jacob White
, medical doctor and member of the Inner Circle of the Lodge

Mrs. Jenkins
, secretary at the headquarters of the Guardians

Madame Rossini
, dress designer and wardrobe mistress at the headquarters of the Guardians

IN THE PAST

Count Saint-Germain
, time traveler and founder of the Guardians

Miro Rakoczy
, his close friend, also known as the Black Leopard

Lord Brompton
, acquaintance and patron of the count’s

Margaret Tilney
, time traveler, Gwyneth’s great-great-grandmother, Lady Arista’s grandmother

Paul de Villiers
, time traveler, younger brother of Falk de Villiers

Lucy Montrose
, time traveler, niece of Grace, daughter of Grace and Glenda’s elder brother, Harry