Serafina and the Twisted Staff (The Serafina Series) (23 page)

‘S
erafina . . .’ Braeden said gently. He did not move towards her or say more. It was as if he was gazing upon some sort of rare animal
in the forest and he didn’t want to scare her off.

She did not move. ‘Hello, Braeden . . .’ she said, her voice trembling. All the emotions she was feeling were in those two simple words – the sadness for what had happened to
Gidean, the sorriness for her part in it and the fear of his reaction.

‘You’ve come back . . .’ Braeden said. When she heard the faint, uncertain trace of surprise and hope in his voice, she realised that he did not hate her; he had
missed
her, and that was far more than she had hoped for.

She nodded to let him know, that, yes, it was her intention to come back. ‘I’m right sorry about everything that happened,’ she said.

Just as Braeden started to move towards her, Serafina noticed Lady Rowena again, standing behind him. Serafina expected the girl to be angry, maybe even start yelling at her to go back to the
forest where she belonged, but she didn’t. Rowena’s face was white with fear.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked warily. ‘Why have you come back here after what you did?’

‘Rowena,’ Braeden said, lifting his hand to assuage her.

‘You are not wanted here,’ Rowena said to Serafina.

‘Rowena, stop,’ Braeden said, touching her arm. ‘You’re wrong. She
is
wanted here.’

‘Thank you,’ Serafina said softly to Braeden. She knew she didn’t deserve his loyalty, but she was relieved to have it. ‘I think I know what happened to Gidean, why he
attacked me.’

Braeden did not seem to absorb her words. ‘Did you hear what happened to Mr Rinaldi?’ he asked her, his voice trembling with misery and confusion.

‘My pa told me that he was kicked by a horse. Was it one of those stallions?’

‘No . . .’ Braeden said, the shame in his voice so heartbreaking that she wanted to hug him. ‘It was one of
my
horses,’ he said.

‘It wasn’t your fault, Braeden,’ Serafina said emphatically.

‘But I was the one who trained them,’ he said, lowering his head. ‘I never thought one of my horses would ever do something like that.’

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying,’ Serafina said. ‘It wasn’t your horse’s fault. And it wasn’t Gidean who attacked me. The animals were under
someone else’s control.’

Braeden raised his head. ‘What do you mean?’

Rowena suddenly stepped between them. ‘She’s talking about witchcraft. She’s trying to trick us!’

‘She’s not trying to trick us,’ Braeden said.

‘You can’t possibly want this creature here,’ Rowena said.

‘Yes, I do want her here,’ Braeden said. ‘She’s my friend.’

‘But you saw her,’ Rowena said. ‘She bites!’

‘Many of my friends do when they’re cornered,’ Braeden said.

Serafina smiled. But Rowena stopped and looked at Braeden, confused, her brows furrowed. Serafina could see by the expression on her face that Rowena was truly struggling to understand what was
going on. But how could she? So many awful, incomprehensible things were happening at Biltmore.

Serafina turned towards her. ‘I know this must all seem very strange, Rowena,’ she said, ‘but I didn’t mean to hurt Gidean. I would never do anything to harm him or
Braeden, or anyone else at Biltmore, including you.’

Rowena looked at her and seemed to take in what she said, but she was still suspicious. She looked uncertainly at Braeden. ‘What she’s telling you about the animals can’t be
true,’ she said. ‘Black magic isn’t real.’

‘Trust me,’ Braeden said firmly. ‘Sometimes it is.’

‘Are you saying you actually believe her?’ Rowena asked. It wasn’t anger but genuine astonishment.

‘I do,’ he said. ‘It all fits.’

‘This all makes sense to you?’ Lady Rowena said in disbelief, shaking her head.

‘Braeden and I have been through this together before, Lady Rowena,’ Serafina said. ‘We’ve learned to trust each other.’

‘And we’ve learned to trust what we see even when what we see seems impossible,’ Braeden said.

Rowena looked at Braeden. ‘But is this truly what you want, Braeden? You want to be around this ragged girl?’

‘Yes, I do,’ Braeden said. ‘I should have never doubted her. She’s my closest friend, Rowena. But that doesn’t mean Serafina and I can’t be your friends as
well.’

Rowena’s face roiled in dismay and she turned away from them. She took several steps down the path. For a moment, Serafina thought she was going to walk back to Biltmore on her own even as
night fell.

But then Rowena hesitated.

Serafina knew that she had disliked Rowena from the first moment she’d seen her horseback riding with Braeden, and she hated the way Rowena was frightened of the things she didn’t
understand, and the girl had definitely jumped to all the wrong conclusions about
her
, but as Serafina watched Rowena standing there in the path she thought maybe Rowena was far smarter and
tougher than she’d first appeared. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who had jumped to conclusions. Rowena seemed to be thinking everything through now, trying to understand the situation
she was in.

Serafina watched as Rowena exhaled a long, uneven breath, then turned and looked at her and Braeden.

The aloofness and disdain that had always been Rowena’s armour had broken down a little bit and moulded into something else. There was a seriousness in her eyes that Serafina hadn’t
seen before. She looked like a girl who wasn’t going to give up, who was determined to figure out where she fit in, where she belonged. And that was a girl Serafina could relate to.

Serafina stepped slowly towards her.

‘I know that you and I are very different,’ Serafina said, ‘but I am not your enemy.’

Lady Rowena did not reply, but for the first time she was looking at her and truly listening to her.

‘We have both said things and done things around each other that we shouldn’t have,’ Serafina said, ‘but there’s a danger at Biltmore far more important than any of
that – black magic, evil spells, whatever you want to call it – but it’s very real. And we’ve got to stop it.’

Rowena studied her without saying a word for several seconds. Serafina could not tell if it was suspicion or wariness or fear, or if somehow she’d managed to get through to her. But then
Rowena spoke.

‘You know,’ Lady Rowena said to her, ‘you’re a rather fierce person.’

‘And you’re altogether too well dressed,’ Serafina said. ‘We all have our faults’

As Lady Rowena looked at Serafina, the edge of her mouth curled into a little smile. ‘We do indeed,’ she said finally.

While they were talking, the setting sun had been gradually withdrawing its light from the trees, slowly pulling the colours from the world around them, and bringing the details of the forest to
life in the way that Serafina was used to.

‘Now, tell us what you found out, Serafina,’ Braeden said. ‘What’s going on with the animals?’

‘First, tell me about Gidean,’ Serafina said. ‘How is it possible that he’s walking?’

‘G
idean is still weak, but he’s healing very quickly,’ Braeden answered Serafina’s question.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Rowena said.

‘That’s such good news,’ Serafina said, relieved, but she sensed Braeden’s confusion.

‘When I saw Gidean lying there on the floor in all that blood,’ Braeden said, ‘I swear he was dead – or just about to die. His body was broken. His eyes were closed. I
got down on my knees, and I leaned forward to say my last words to him. When I put my hands on him, his body was so still, so lifeless. I thought I was too late, he would never hear my words to
him, he was already gone. But then I felt his heart start beating. And a few seconds later he opened his eyes and looked at me with such emotion in his eyes.’

Serafina swallowed hard. ‘How is that possible?’

‘I don’t know,’ Braeden admitted.

Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Serafina glanced up into the trees just in time to see an owl open its wings and disappear into the darkness.

‘Do you remember what happened before, Braeden, with the Black Cloak . . .’ she said. ‘I think it’s happening again – not the cloak itself, but something else like
it. I encountered the bearded man again. He’s some sort of conjurer. The mountain folk call him the old man of the forest. The Cherokee call him the Darkness. I think that Grathan is his spy
here at Biltmore. Or maybe one of his demons or his apprentice. I’m not sure. But they’re working together. We need to watch Grathan and figure out how we can defeat him.’

Braeden nodded. ‘We should find out what room he’s staying in, and when we’re sure he’s not there we should search it.’

‘Are you talking about Detective Grathan?’ Lady Rowena said. ‘He’s staying in the Van Dyck Room on the third floor.’

Serafina and Braeden both looked at Lady Rowena, surprised that she knew something about their enemy that they did not.

‘I overhead him telling the staff that he’d be going out this evening and he wouldn’t be back until the morning,’ Rowena said.

Braeden smiled, obviously impressed.

‘I could be much more useful if I actually understood what we’re talking about,’ Rowena said.

‘If what you say is true, then you’ve already been useful,’ Braeden said.

‘But hold on,’ Serafina said doubtfully. ‘You said he was going out
tonight
?’

‘Yes,’ Lady Rowena said confidently.

‘But why?’ Serafina asked. ‘What reason did he give for going out at night? The house is surrounded by nothing but gardens and forest for miles.’

‘He told the staff that he would be taking his carriage into town,’ she said. ‘But of course I knew he was lying.’

‘You did?’ Serafina asked in surprise. ‘How?’

‘He had the wrong kind of shoes. He had his old, cracked muddy boots on. Positively dreadful. No one in their right mind would wear such hideous things into town.’

Serafina smiled. She was liking Rowena more and more. ‘Tell us what else you noticed.’

‘Well, he’s an extremely poorly dressed person – that I can tell you without hesitation. His coat is badly worn and altogether of the wrong season. Someone needs to tell that
man that it’s 1899.’

Serafina nodded. The fashion critique was expected, but then Lady Rowena continued.

‘Yesterday, the nasty man followed me through the Rose Garden. He probably thought I didn’t know he was there, but a lady knows when a man is following her, whether he’s a
proper gentleman or a commoner like Mr Grathan. He’s been watching Braeden very carefully as well. And he’s been looking for you, Serafina. Did you know that? He asked me at dinner two
nights ago if I knew whether you had truly left Biltmore. He stays well clear of Mr Vanderbilt and Mrs King, but he’s been cornering the servants and asking questions about somebody called Mr
Thorne and something about a sculpture of a stone angel in the forest. I don’t know what it all means, but at dinner every night he pulls guests aside and practically interrogates
them.’

Serafina stared at Lady Rowena in stunned disbelief. The girl was a walking encyclopedia of house gossip and intrigue.

‘Well,’ Lady Rowena said in response to Serafina’s look of surprise, ‘I’ve been rather bored here all alone. I had to take up
some
sort of hobby,
didn’t I?’

‘What about Mr Olmsted?’ Serafina prompted her.

‘What does he have to do with any of this?’ Braeden asked.

‘What have you seen, Rowena?’ Serafina persisted.

‘Well, he lurks in his gardens late in the afternoon. After dinner, he spends endless hours in the library looking over old sketches and photographs as if he’s pining for the bygone
days. But every morning at breakfast Mr Vanderbilt asks where he’s going for a walk that day, and he says he’s just wandering, going wherever the wind takes him. He’s lying,
though, just like Mr Grathan.’

‘Lying?’ Braeden asked in surprise.

‘Mr Olmsted is lying to Mr Vanderbilt?’ Serafina asked.

‘Oh, yes. Definitely. He says he’s going for a leisurely stroll, but he goes straight out like a shot in the same direction every day, like he’s on some sort of mission out
there in the woods.’

‘She seems to be a font of observations,’ Braeden said, amused by this sudden turn.

Serafina took in everything Rowena had said, then focused on the next step. ‘Braeden, do you remember the four stallions I told you about?’

Braeden nodded. ‘I went to the stables and checked into it, but the stallions were gone. The stablemen told me that they were only here for a short time, and they hadn’t seen them
since.’

Serafina frowned. ‘Can you find out exactly who they belonged to?’

‘Normally, I would ask Mr Rinaldi, may he rest in peace. But I could go back and see if he registered the horses’ owners in his logbook.’

‘Good, please do that,’ Serafina said. ‘It might give us more clues about how all this fits together.’

‘And what about me?’ Lady Rowena asked. ‘If Braeden has a job, then so should I.’

Serafina studied her. It was hard to believe that this was the same Rowena as before, but she truly did seem like she wanted to help and be part of their group.