The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1) (42 page)

“Mr. O’Dell, I would say the girl’s mother has made
her
wishes clear,” Lady Bradford opined, with an arch glance at Jake from the corner of her eye.

“Aye, take her!” the Irishman croaked. “The lass has moy permission to go. Four shillin’s a week is more ‘n generous of you, ma’am. It’ll do just foine.”

Dani’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you, Da!” She went and hugged her father around the waist and gave him back her mother’s picture.

Lady Bradford took a small notepad and pencil out of her handbag and scribbled something. “This is our address if you should need to reach us. I am also leaving you the name of a mill outside of Town in which my family owns a share. If any of your boys are interested in an honest day’s work, Mr. O’Dell, send them there. You may use my name. The mill is always looking for capable workers.”

The O’Dell boys look startled at this suggestion, but their father took the paper with a grateful, “Aye, ma’am.”

And when he turned to eye his sons, it was with a wicked warning glare that told them it was time for all of them to get off their duffs and start making an honest living.

Lady Bradford lifted her chin, picked up her skirts, and sailed out. “Come along, children!”

Dani turned to her sire. “I’ll write to you, Da.”

“You do that, Dani lass. Make good o’ yourself now, ye hear? Become a lady and make your Ma proud. You never did belong here. The rookery’s no place for you.”

Dani hugged him again. He gave her a kiss on the head. Then she ran to get a few of her things.

When she came back, Isabelle took Dani’s satchel for her in exchange for Teddy, then tugged her outside toward the carriage. “Let’s get you out of here before he changes his mind,” she whispered.

Jake pushed Archie out of the apartment ahead of him, not trusting Dani’s brothers not to pick on his short, gentlemanly cousin; then he, too, went out to the carriage.

The twins and Gladwin had been guarding it so it would not be stolen. Last came Derek Stone, holding the O’Dell brothers at bay with a warning glower.

At last, they drove off.

“Well,” Lady Bradford announced, “I daresay everything’s as it should be now.”

“Thank you, Aunt Ramona!” Isabelle said, giving the stern old woman a kiss on the cheek.

Dani turned to Jake. “Was my mother’s ghost really there or was that just you?”

“Umm…”

She punched him fondly in the arm.

“Well, what did you expect me to do, the way they were actin’?” he retorted. “So what if I inherit a castle and a title and whatnot? What fun would it be without having you around to pick on?”

“Humph,” said Dani, but Gladwin got him back for her, flitting up to pull his hair.

“Ow!”

The children laughed, the adults smiled, and the Gryphon went whooshing above them, his wingspan nearly as wide as the narrow alley.

“Bye, Red!” Jake called, waving to his huge new pet. “We’ll see you soon!”

“Where’s he going?” Dani exclaimed as they drove out of the rookery.

“Home,” Jake murmured with a smile.

And, indeed, the Gryphon did just that.

With a shift in the angle of his wings, he pumped the air beneath him, lifting high over London. He began soaring through the patchy clouds at top speed.

Leaving London far behind, he flew out over the countryside, following the river’s winding path. He glided over endless fields and trees.

Then his eagle-eyes spotted the familiar outline of towers and turrets ahead. Eagerness filled him after so many years away, so many years of captivity.

He swooped down over the tree-lined drive below, then rose up on a final, whooshing wing-beat to take his place on the center pedestal on the roof of Griffon Castle.

It had been built just for him long ago: a place of honor for the guardian beast of the Everton clan.

The Gryphon landed there, surveyed his lands with a sweeping glance, then flexed his wings, threw back his head and let out a long, reverberating roar of victory to be home at last.

Back where he belonged.

EPILOGUE

Fairy Dust

A few days later, after the dust, as they say, began to settle, a royal garden fairy called Rosebud arrived at Bradford Park and delivered a tiny scrolled message to Aunt Ramona. The children were abuzz when they heard they had all been summoned to Queen Victoria’s chief residence of Windsor Castle—even the Gryphon. Aunt Ramona did not say why, if she knew: When the Queen summoned you, you went.

So the next evening, having dutifully arrived at the magnificent royal castle dressed in their best clothes, they were escorted by another white-gloved footman to a pleasant terrace overlooking a wide, sweeping lawn and a wooded park. Here they were told to wait.

“I wonder what’s going on.” Archie sat on the stone railing, dangling his legs off the side.

Isabelle shook her head. “I can’t sense anything clearly enough to say. Too many people here.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon,” Her Ladyship said in a slightly mysterious tone.

The twins exchanged a knowing smile.

“The Elders of the Order are here, aren’t they?” Derek rumbled in suspicion. “Maybe they want a more detailed explanation of what happened.”

“Well, if they do, we’ll simply give it to them. As the Bard said, ‘all’s well that ends well,’” Henry remarked. “Waldrick’s been jailed and Fionnula will spend the rest of her days in a cell at the bottom of the ocean.”

Jake nodded but was still irked that the Order had handed the sea-witch over to the mermaids before he’d had a chance to question her.

The hints she had dropped about his parents still gnawed at him. But, of course, she would’ve said anything to get away that night…

All of a sudden, quite without warning, Archie shot up out of his chair and yelped, “Eureka!”

“Huh?” Dani muttered.

“Idea! Paper! Pencil! If you’ll pardon—” He went tearing off into the castle, apparently to ask a servant for paper and pencil while the others laughed.

“If he’s so smart, why can’t he remember to carry a little pad and pencil with him?” Dani exclaimed.

Aunt Ramona shook her head fondly. “Because that would require common sense, my dear, a trait our dear genius sadly lacks. He’s his grandfather all over again.”

Henry chuckled. “Never mind Master Archie,” he explained with an apologetic smile. “He’s been working day and night on the aerodynamics paper he’ll be presenting at the scientific conference in Norway next month.”

“Aero-die-what?” Jake echoed.

“His glider,” Dani said.

Henry nodded. “He doesn’t usually get nervous about these things, but the scientific luminaries of our day are going to be there, including Archie’s idol.”

“Who’s that?” Jake inquired.

“Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, coming all the way from America. I hear he’s traveling in Europe on his honeymoon, so he’ll be there to make an appearance. The whole scientific world is already buzzing with talk of his new invention. Something called a telephone.”

“What’s that?” Lady Bradford asked.

Henry shrugged. “No idea.”

Just then, Rosebud flew out onto the terrace, leaving a fairy trail of pink sparkles behind her in the twilight. “It’s time, ladies and gentlemen! If you would please follow me.”

“How mysterious,” Isabelle said as Henry offered Lady Bradford his arm.

Derek did the same to Helena. The smiling governess slipped her hand through the crook of the warrior’s elbow.

But Jake didn’t bother following. “I’ll wait for Archie.” Through the mullioned windows, he could see his ingenious cousin feverishly scribbling down his thoughts. “You go along with them, Red,” he told the Gryphon. “Archie and I will be right behind you all.”

“Come along, ladies,” Aunt Ramona said to the girls.

Red crouched down for Dani and Isabelle to sit on his back, but he walked rather than flew, carrying them.

“This way, please!” Rosebud flew ahead of the group, but to Jake’s surprise, the fairy did not bring them into the castle to see the Queen. Instead, Rosebud led them across the lawn and down a path into the woods.

Jake furrowed his brow as he sat on the stone railing, gazing after them. He took note of the opening in the trees where they went into the forest.
I wonder what’s going on.
He hoped Archie didn’t take much longer. Curiosity was killing him. But while he waited, gazing up at the full moon, who should appear but a familiar apparition.

“Well, I see you’ve come a long way since Newgate Prison, Jacob.”

“Sir George!” Jake’s eyes widened, though at first he only saw a bluish-white orb. It turned into the baronet’s head, smiling at him. The rest of his body had yet to appear.

The smiling head floated a foot or so in front of Jake.

“Thanks for showing me to Waldrick’s lair,” Jake said at once. “You’ll be happy to hear he’s in jail.”

“Most excellent news.” The rest of Sir George shimmered into view. He was still transparent, but he seemed a brighter shade of white.

“You look different,” Jake remarked.

“I’ll be crossing over shortly,” he replied as he hovered above the terrace. “I came to say goodbye, dear boy. I couldn’t go to heaven without stopping first to thank you for clearing my name and helping me to, er, sort things out. I was very confused.”

Jake smiled. “So was I. You’re very welcome. You helped me, too, Sir George. I’m sorry for what my uncle did to you.”

“Ah well, at least now justice has been served. I’m glad I was able to help.”

“So you’re going to heaven.”

The ghost nodded eagerly, glancing at the sky. “Terribly exciting, isn’t it? The big day!”

“Sir George, I wonder if I could ask you a favor.”

“Certainly, Jacob. I owe you! What is it?”

“If you see my parents there, could you come back and let me know?”

“I’d be glad to—” he started, but at that moment, Doctor Celestus appeared in a flash of light, his wings outstretched, in full angel regalia instead of his doctor’s disguise.

“It is not possible, Jake,” he said, adjusting the tilt of his halo.

“Well, hullo to you, too!” Jake retorted. “I had a feeling eavesdropping was a regular part of your job. Why can’t he come back and tell me if he sees my parents up there?”

The angel’s sandaled feet touched down on the railing. “Once a soul goes to heaven, it becomes so lost in the bliss it experiences there that it forgets all former cares and worries.” A faint, mysterious smile touched the corners of the heavenly traveler’s mouth. “It forgets everything except for joy and light.”

Sir George clasped his hands eagerly. “Oh, that sounds lovely!”

“Run along, Jacob. It’s time for us to go.” Doctor Celestus grasped the baronet’s wrist, turning to him. “Sir George, are you ready?”

Jake was startled that the angel was able to make contact with the ghost. Every time
he
had tried to punch or wrestle Sir George during their confrontation in Waldrick’s house, his hands had passed right through him like a mist.

“I see a light!” The baronet’s face beamed more brightly as he stared skyward with a rapt look. “It’s… singing!”

Jake didn’t see anything, let alone hear any singing.

The ghost glowed stronger as it gazed at him. “Goodbye, Jacob.”

“Goodbye, Sir George. Happy travels.”

“Take hold of my robe,” Doctor Celestus instructed his chubby charge. The baronet clutched the end of the angel’s draping white sleeve. Doctor Celestus raised his other arm, and a tube of light appeared, right where they stood.

Jake leaned over the railing, trying to see up into the pale, swirling colors of the tunnel that apparently led up to heaven. Maybe, just maybe, he could catch a glimpse of his parents up there. But the swirling rainbow tunnel and the angel and Sir George all disappeared in a flash of light; the skies closed again in the blink of an eye.

Archie came back out to the terrace just as Jake’s eyes were readjusting to the twilight. “Whew! Glad I got that written down before I lost it.”

“You’ve already lost it,” he said under his breath.

“Pardon?”

“Come on, they went that way, into the woods.”

“Really! Into the woods?” Archie echoed. “I wonder why.”

“Let’s go find out.”

The boys jumped off the terrace and ran across the sprawling moonlit lawn. Slowing their pace only a bit, they stepped into the tunnel of the trees. Then they began jogging down the mossy path, avoiding big, gnarled tree roots here and there.

The woods grew so thick in the breezy night that soon the dark trees blotted out the moon. Jake felt a pulse of instinctual fear. He couldn’t see in the inky blackness and did not know what lay ahead.

But the darkness did not last long.

Suddenly, the boys spotted twinkling among the trees ahead. They heard strange music and when they stepped out into the clearing a little farther on, they stopped in their tracks, staring in amazement.

The royal garden fairies swarmed around a huge, ancient tree with jasmine vines growing up its trunk, wafting summery perfume into the air.

Colored lanterns were strung up all around the crowded clearing, where the Queen and her court, the Elders of the Order and all their totem animals had gathered. Even Stanley the Satyr and Charlie the Cherub had been invited, having shared in Gladwin’s captivity.

The sarcastic flying baby was eyeing Derek and Helena with one of his arrows, but seemed to conclude the match was already made. Red greeted Jake with a low purr, pushing his feathered head against him, but for his part, Jake could not tear his eyes off the magical scene before him.

Tiny, winged musicians were playing Celtic-sounding music as loud as they could from a hollow high up on the tree-trunk: piccolos, pipes, and drums made of acorns. Some beat on tiny bodhrans, keeping the rhythm. Others played miniature harps and fiddles, while a trio of Highland fairies in tartan kilts blew on tiny bagpipes.

Four fairies flew down over the refreshment table, unfurling a sign that had “Welcome back, Gladwin” written in glowworms. The insects were doing their best to hold still until everyone had arrived.

But fairies were an impatient folk and had already begun the dancing.