Serafina and the Twisted Staff (The Serafina Series) (13 page)

Gidean whined a little, not wanting to be left behind again.

Serafina crawled through the cramped, dusty, darkened tunnel until she came to the bottom rungs of a ladder.

‘Be careful here, Braeden,’ she whispered as she heard him coming up behind her on his hands and knees.

‘Here we go,’ she said. She grabbed the first rung and started climbing. The ladder was not straight like a normal ladder. It curved, climbing upward into the darkness. The space
around her opened into a black void: no walls, no ceiling, no floor, just the ladder she was climbing and darkness all around. As she climbed further and further, her muscles tensed and her skin
tingled. Falling meant certain death.

‘Where on earth are we?’ Braeden asked as he climbed up the ladder behind her, his voice sounding small in the vast space they were entering. ‘It’s terribly dark in
here!’

‘We’re in the attic above the ceiling of the Banquet Hall.’

‘Oh my God, do you realise how high that is? That ceiling is seventy feet up!’

‘Yes, so don’t fall,’ Serafina advised. ‘It’s open along the sides.’

‘How do you know about this place?’

‘I’m the C.R.C.,’ she said. ‘It’s my job to know everything there is to know about Biltmore, especially its secret rooms and passages.’

As they climbed the ladder into the darkness, it became more and more clear that the ladder was curving up and over the arc of the Banquet Hall’s soaring barrel-vaulted ceiling. It felt
like they were climbing along one of the rib bones inside the body of a giant wooden whale.

Finally, they reached a lattice of steel girders and joists suspended high above the ceiling. Serafina climbed up onto the top edge of one of the beams, just a few inches wide, and walked along
its length. It was a dark and treacherous place. A single misplaced step meant a fatal fall into the darkness. The top side of the Banquet Hall’s ceiling hovered below them, but if they fell
from the girders they would hit the ceiling and then tumble along the curve until they disappeared into the black chasm that ran along the side.

‘I can’t see anything!’ Braeden complained as he inched his way slowly and unsteadily along the top of one of the narrow girders. The only light came from a few tiny pinholes
in the slate shingles of the roof. It was plenty of light for Serafina, but it left Braeden nearly blind. She reached back and guided him along until they found a good spot and sat on the girder
with their legs hanging down into the darkness.

‘Well, this is a nice place for evening tea,’ Braeden said cheerfully. ‘It’s nearly pitch dark, and if I move in any direction I’ll die, but besides that I love the
ambience.’

Braeden could not see it, but Serafina smiled. It was good to be at her friend’s side again. But then her thoughts turned more serious. After they’d defeated the Man in the Black
Cloak, she had told Braeden about how her pa had adopted her and who her mother was, and they’d been sharing with each other the truth of their lives ever since.

‘Braeden, I need to tell you what happened,’ Serafina said.

Over the next half hour, she recounted the night before. She had told some of what happened to her pa earlier that morning, but when she told the story to Braeden she left nothing out. It felt
good to finally tell her friend everything that had happened. Sometimes it felt as if things weren’t real, weren’t complete, until she shared them with Braeden.

‘That sounds terrifying,’ Braeden said. ‘You were lucky to get out of there alive, Serafina.’

She nodded in agreement. It had been a close call, and she was glad to be home.

‘And are you sure Detective Grathan is the second man you saw in the carriage?’ Braeden asked.

Serafina shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘I think he must be, but I didn’t get a good look at him. There are horses in the Biltmore stables that look
like the stallions I saw. Could you find out who they belong to?’

‘I’ll ask Mr Rinaldi,’ Braeden said. ‘Whoever this Detective Grathan is, I don’t like him. What are we going to do now? We can’t let him find out anything
more about us, that’s for sure.’

It was a good question, and Serafina tried to think it through. ‘We need to keep low and hidden and figure out exactly who he is,’ she said. ‘We’ll watch him very
carefully and see what he does.’

‘Did you see what he had?’ Braeden exclaimed. ‘The Black Cloak’s silver clasp!’

‘Which probably means he went out to my mother’s den. I saw her just last night, so I think she and the cubs are all right, but he might have come dangerously close to discovering
them. Maybe that’s why she was so anxious to leave.’

‘If he discovered your mother’s den, it might have been
his
life in danger rather than hers.’

‘It’s those nasty wolfhounds I’m worried about,’ she said. ‘They were truly vicious beasts.’

‘What about that feral boy you described? Do you think he escaped? Who do you think he was? It sounds like he fought very hard.’

‘I don’t know,’ she said, ‘but I have to find out. He saved my life.’

‘We could ask around about him,’ Braeden suggested. ‘Maybe one of the mountain folk who work on the estate knows who he is. But why do you think the animals are leaving the
mountains? There’s been a family of otters living in the river for years, but two days ago, when I was out riding, I saw them leaving, all of them. Yesterday when I checked their holt they
were gone. The den was empty.’

‘My mother said there were other animals leaving too, besides the luna moths and the birds I saw, but I couldn’t get her to tell me about it.’

‘Even the ducks that normally live on the pond are gone,’ Braeden said.

At that moment, Serafina thought she heard something, like a faint scratching noise. She swivelled towards the sound.

‘What’s wrong?’ Braeden asked.

She paused and listened but didn’t hear anything.

‘Nothing, I guess,’ she said, realising that she was still a bit jumpy after her confrontation with Detective Grathan.

‘This is a good hiding spot,’ Braeden said with satisfaction. ‘We should use it more often. Detective Grathan will never be able to find us in here. But it’s probably
getting late. They’re going to be ringing the bell for dinner soon. I should go.’

Serafina remembered her pa had been excited that the Vanderbilts had sent her a message requesting her presence. But in the end, it hadn’t been an invitation to dinner. It had been a
summons to an interrogation.

‘Yes, you better go,’ Serafina agreed, a bit too sadly.

‘My aunt will be looking for me,’ Braeden said.

‘And Lady Rowena too, I reckon,’ she said.

Braeden looked at her and squinted, trying to see her face. ‘You know, she’s not as bad as she seems.’

‘All right,’ Serafina said, realising she had poked her friend a little too hard.

‘Her father sent her here all alone while he travels on business,’ Braeden continued. ‘He’s some sort of important man, but it seems kind of mean of him to leave her here
by herself where she doesn’t know anyone.’

‘I agree,’ Serafina said. She could see that the two of them had been talking.

‘Rowena’s mother passed away when she was seven,’ Braeden said. ‘And her father doesn’t pay much attention to her. Before coming here, Rowena had barely been
outside London. I know she comes across like she’s conceited, and maybe she is – I don’t know – but she worries about things just like everyone else.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

‘She said she worries that she brought all the wrong kind of clothes to be at a country estate, so she doesn’t have anything to wear. She also thinks some of the other guests have
been making comments about her accent.’

Serafina frowned. It never even occurred to her that
Lady Rowena
would worry about her clothes and the way she spoke.

‘I don’t know,’ Braeden said. ‘I don’t think she’s a bad person. She’s just not used to it here. It seems like she needs our help. My aunt asked me to
look after her until her father comes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not your friend.’

‘I understand,’ Serafina replied finally. And she did. She’d always known Braeden to be a kind person and a gentleman. ‘Just don’t forget about me,’ she said,
smiling a little, then realised again that he couldn’t see her smile.

‘Serafina . . .’ Braeden scolded her.

‘I will tell you the truth of it,’ she said. ‘Over the last week, sometimes it’s felt like you didn’t want anything to do with me any more.’

‘What about you?’ Braeden protested, getting at least as emotional as she was. ‘What have you been doing? You’re always asleep when I’m awake and you go out every
night on your own! Sometimes I think that one of these days you’re going to turn into a wild creature or something . . .’

Not likely
, Serafina thought glumly.

‘So you’re not trying to avoid me?’ she asked.

‘Avoid you?’ Braeden said in surprise. ‘You’re just about my only friend.’

Serafina smiled to hear him say that. And then she laughed a little. ‘What are you talking about? You have many friends. Gidean, Cedric, your horses . . .’

Braeden smiled. ‘And I have a new friend too.’

‘Oh, yes?’

‘When my uncle and I rode out to Chimney Rock the other day, I found a beautiful peregrine falcon with a broken wing at the base of the cliffs. I don’t know what happened to her.
Maybe a hunter shot her or she got into some kind of battle, but she was badly hurt. I wrapped her up in my coat and brought her home. Her name is Kess. She’s incredible.’

Serafina nodded as she felt a gentle and reassuring warmth filling her chest. This was the Braeden she knew. ‘I can’t wait to meet her.’

‘I bandaged her wing, and I’ve been trying to help her eat.’

‘Do you think her wing will heal over time and she’ll be able to fly again?’

‘No, I’m afraid not,’ Braeden said sadly. ‘My uncle gave me a book on birds from his library. It said that if a bird of prey’s wing is broken below the bend, it can
sometimes heal, but if it’s broken above the bend, like Kess’s is, then it’s impossible. She’ll never fly again.’

‘That’s too bad,’ Serafina said, trying to imagine how terrible it would be for a falcon not to be able to fly, and for a moment she thought about her own situation, her own
limitations. ‘But at least she’ll have you as her friend.’

‘I’m going to take good care of her,’ Braeden said. ‘Peregrine falcons are amazing birds. The book says that they can fly anywhere on earth they want to. The word
peregrine
actually means “wanderer” or “traveller”. Sometimes, two peregrine falcons will hunt together. And they’re the fastest creatures on the planet.
Scientists estimate that they dive at over two hundred miles an hour, but it’s so fast that no one has ever been able to measure it exactly.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Serafina said, smiling. She enjoyed listening to Braeden talk about his birds and his other animals.
This is how it should be
, she thought, the two of
them sitting in a dark and secret place, just talking. This was the kind of friend she had always dreamed of, someone who was eager to hear her stories and excited to tell her things and content to
be with her for a little while.

But she knew it couldn’t last. He was right when he said he had to go.

She guided him through the darkness across the beam and over to the top of the ladder. As he began to climb down, he stopped, seeming to wonder why she wasn’t climbing down with him.

‘Just stay alert tonight,’ she told him. ‘Stay well clear of Grathan and don’t let him corner you alone. Be safe.’

‘You too,’ Braeden said, nodding. ‘But aren’t you coming out?’

‘You go on ahead,’ she said. ‘I’ll stay here awhile.’

After he had started down, she wondered why she had let him go without her, why she had decided to stay here in the darkness. She’d accused him of not caring about their friendship, but
he’d turned round and accused her right back. Maybe there was more truth in his accusation than hers. Mr and Mrs Vanderbilt knew who she was now. She could live openly at Biltmore if she
wanted to. She might not have an invitation to dinner, but she could go out there with him into the house. Still, she didn’t. Why? She sat in the darkness and thought about it for a long
time. She had lived in the darkness all her life. This was where she felt most comfortable.

Her momma had said that she belonged with the folk at Biltmore, and perhaps that was true, but it still didn’t change who she was.

Sitting there for a long while, she barely noticed the time passing. She knew that elsewhere in the house the Vanderbilts and their guests must have eaten their dinner and gone to bed. The house
was quiet and dark.

All her life, she had napped here and there for short periods throughout the day and night, so to her there were no separate, distinct days – time was continuous. She wondered what it
would be like to sleep for a long period when the sun went down and wake up new each morning.

It was only the starlight now that filtered down through the pinprick holes in the rooftop, but to her eyes the starlight-filled holes created a constellation of new stars all their own.

She stood and walked among the rafters in the attic, hopping across the void from one joist to another, the darkness her domain.

But, at that moment, she heard something out of the ordinary and stopped.

She stood in the darkness and waited, listening.

At first, all she could hear was the gentle beat of her own heart. Then she heard it again.

It was a scratching noise, like long claws or fingernails being dragged slowly along the inside of the wall.

She swallowed.

She almost couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Serafina looked all around her, up at the ridge of the roof and along the edges of the walls, but she couldn’t see anything that shouldn’t be there.

Then she heard a
tick-tick-tick
ing sound, followed by a long, raspy hiss. Someone’s hot breath touched the back of her neck. She startled wildly and spun round, ready to fight. But
there was no one there.

What’s going on?
she thought desperately, looking around her, but even as she did so the pinprick stars in the roof above her began to go out.