The Timeseer's Gambit (The Faraday Files Book 2) (33 page)

“And Queen Georgiana was the only one who
wouldn’t
so it just made sense―”

“It
is
the Father’s Wrath!” One voice rose louder than the others, and another Maiden stood. Chris faintly recognized her. His notes identified her. She hadn’t spoken when they’d first met, and he hadn’t even gotten her name, but she was the Maiden who had replaced Virginia Landon. As she stood, Brother Tibault shook his head and shielded his eyes, as if embarrassed. The Maiden made the sign of the Three and Three as she stood, and she folded her hands piously in prayer. “The passing of Brother Lachlan only proves that it is. Father Calhoun sees everything, even the evils in our own heart. Who knows what passion, what greed, what wrath was in Brother Lachlan’s? The Father chose him because―”

Sister Elisa jumped to her feet and whirled on the Maiden. “Stop it!” she cried, “stop it, stop it―you didn’t know Lachlan at all, you―you―sometimes I think you’re
worse
than Virginia, Wendy! He was perfect, he was―he was―” She burst into uncontrollable sobs. She stood, pressing her hands to her face, her whole body shaking, and Chris felt dizzy. He hadn’t cried like that in too long. Not even on the day William had told him the truth. It would feel so good to let it all out. His eyes prickled.

In the back corner, Grandmother Eugenia raised her hand.

“If you don’t mind, Miss Faraday,” she said, all dignity. “Might I escort poor Sister Elisa to her quarters?”

“That depends,” Olivia replied, voice as tight as her expression. “Do you know where the poor Maiden’s quarters actually are, despite this not being your church?”

The Crone’s face betrayed no expression other than concern for the sobbing, trembling Maiden. “I’m sure Sister Elisabeth can help show me the way, dear.” The endearment was as patronizing as it could be.

Olivia rolled her eyes. “By all means, then,” she said, flicking her skirts in irritation.

As Grandmother Eugenia waded through the crowd to take Sister Elisa by the arm―Chris noted how the broken Maiden accepted the aid with only a quick glimpse at Eugenia’s face; she
did
know her―Olivia sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “All right,” she said. “All five thousand of you are going to present yourself to my assistant, here. You are going to give him your name, your parents’ names, and your parents’ categorizations.” Her eyes flicked back to the Crone escorting Elisa from the room. “And Grandmother,
dear
,” she said, stressing the word. “I’m going to want that for you and your little friend, too. It seems that you know these holy children even better than they know each other.”

The last pair were the bespectacled Sister Margaret and her sneering partner, Brother Jason. Chris finished recording their information while Olivia stood in the far corner, arms folded, brow tightly furrowed.

The Maiden paused at the door and turned back. “You agree with me, don’t you?” she asked. A little bit of desperation lurked behind the lenses of her specs. “It’s
not
a bloody curse. It’s superstitious tommyrot. Someone is going
after
us.”

Chris struggled helplessly for something to say, but thankfully, her gaze went beyond him and rested on Olivia. She met Sister Margaret’s eyes and raised her brows. “Well,” she drawled. “I
hope
someone is. I can’t exactly order an arrest on Father Calhoun.”

Sister Margaret toyed with the end of one of her braids, trailing it across her top lip as if she had a mustache and were brushing it. “You think whoever’s on this is going after someone new next month?”

Olivia actually cracked a smile. “I doubt they’ll be going after someone old, if that’s what you mean to say.”

Sister Margaret’s brows pulled together and her bottom lip protruded churlishly. “Oh, get bent. It’s
not
. I just―I mean―”

“Christopher,” Olivia asked sweetly. “What information did this young lady give you about herself?”

Chris blinked and checked the page. Despite having just recorded her and her Youth, he’d already forgotten most of it. There had been so many of them…

“Let me save your pet the trouble,” Sister Margaret grumbled. “I came up in the kind of neighborhood neither of you have ever set foot in, I couldn’t tell you who put me up in my mum, and I could cut both of your purses from here. That’s what you’re asking, isn’t it?”

“It’s what
you’re
asking.” Olivia smirked archly. “Curse or not, you’ve all made note of what sort of person the Father’s Wrath is interested in, hmm? A girl who can’t scrub her tongue and likely isn’t much good in services… she’d be walking around with a big red X on her posterior, wouldn’t she?”

Sister Margaret tugged hard on one of her braids and looked away. Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet when she shrugged and replied. “Tell it true, I was a bit shocked when Queen Georgiana went next. She wasn’t the best, sure, but she mostly had the knack. She was getting it together.” She shrugged again, and her shoulders hunched when she brought them back down. “Thought for sure it’d be me.”

“Well, you appear to still be here,” Olivia pointed out.

“I’ll dare to say so.” The Maiden nodded. She sighed. “Nothing you can really tell me, is there?”

“Lock your door,” Olivia offered. “But I wouldn’t fret so much. I’ll have this neatly wrapped with bows on before the next Hallowed Godsday comes around.”

The answer did not seem to satisfy the stout little Maiden. Her jaw bulged as she ground her teeth, clearly preparing a retort… but she deflated. “You’d better,” she said. “I swear, if this is about those of us who aren’t cut for the cloth, I’m next on someone’s list. I just know it.” She turned and shuffled out of the room.

“Well,” Olivia said into the silence of her departure. “At least, I jolly well
hope
I have this sorted by then. Blimey, if I don’t, I’m not
losing
my touch. My touch has completely
fled
.”

“You can’t blame them for being afraid,” Chris murmured, watching where Sister Margaret had stood. Had Georgie been afraid? Or had she, despite her new reduced station, still been possessed of the belief that nothing bad could happen to her? Even after the Floating Castle, it had taken years for Chris to snap out of that. Every time one of Fernand’s investments on their money went bad, every time he was denied a loan, every time an invitation for an event missed their house, it had been a shock all over again. Privileged children don’t adjust quickly. And Georgie hadn’t had Fernand standing beside her, guiding her every step…

A touch on his shoulder made him glance up sharply. He realized, blinking, that tears had welled in his eyes and Olivia was offering him her handkerchief, all embroidered with bluebells. He took it, flushing, and dabbed at his eyes.

“One moment, I can’t even connect Sister Georgiana as the girl I knew,” he murmured huskily. “And then the next…”

“You’ve had a… difficult week,” Olivia agreed, tucking her hankie back into her bodice. “It’s to be expected. I assume.” She cleared her throat, effectively canceling any further talk. “Well, let’s be on about it, Christopher. I want to look through that information for any spiritbinder families we didn’t know about. Now that we know they’re all so well acquainted…”

She didn’t wait for an answer, just swept toward the door. Chris followed after her.

Olivia stopped in midstride. “Hmm,” she said, and Chris had to move around her to see what had caught her eye.

Sister Patricia and her new Youth, Brother Alexander, sat closely together on a nearby bench. They were speaking in close tones, hushed and furtive. Brother Alexander’s fingers stroked gently through Sister Patricia’s hair, his thumb caressing her beautiful face.

“A little close for a pair whose virginity is so
closely
guarded until their elevation to Mother and Father, isn’t it?” Olivia murmured. The priests didn’t even seem to notice until Olivia started forward, her shoes clicking purposefully against the wooden floors, still warped and dark from the water that had flooded the halls.

Sister Patricia looked up. She turned red and pulled away from her Youth, who twisted his head about to follow her gaze and then, embarrassed, dropped his hands into his lap. Olivia gave a snorting laugh as she approached them. “
Scandalous!
” she gasped delightedly, clapping. “And in someone else’s church, too! Isn’t this the claimed territory of Sister Elisabeth and the recently deceased Brother Lachlan?”

Sister Patricia hurried to her feet. She dipped a curtsey to Olivia―entirely unnecessary, but Chris understood her need to bury discomfort in courtesy. “Miss Faraday,” she said, her lashes lowering and touching her cheeks. “We’re sorry. We couldn’t just leave our Grandmother here.”

Olivia grunted faintly. “Eugenia.”

The Maiden bobbed her head in agreement. “She’s seeing to Sister Elisabeth. It might take a while, and that’s―fine. We can wait here. Our Crone is like that. She just… can’t help but feel personally responsible for every one of us.”

“And it gives the two of you time to canoodle,” Olivia said archly, and they both blushed furiously. Chris echoed the gesture. The whole topic was really just―so inappropriate.

“Alex and I don’t mind waiting for her, Miss Faraday,” Sister Patricia said, managing to reclaim her aplomb. “Really, you needn’t bother with us.”

“Hmm. What were the two of you talking about?” Olivia asked. Her tone was casual, but Chris caught the edge in it. His employer was looking for something, anything, to latch onto.

The priests exchanged a look. “Private business,” Sister Patricia said finally, lowering her gaze. “I couldn’t say more.”

Olivia gave them both a long look. “Of course not,” she said, and then crooked a finger. “Well, it really is getting late. Come along, won’t you, Chris?” And she walked past the priests as if she wasn’t practically twitching to turn them upside down and shake them out.

Minutes later, as they exited Heart Church and stepped into the sweltering heat, Olivia turned to Chris. “We’ll need to keep an eye on those two,” she mused. “And their
Grandmother
, as well. They were the first to lose someone. That makes them significant.” She straightened her skirts and sighed. “Though I’ve got ticklings from at least half the others. There’s something maddeningly
incestuous
about this ‘family,’ don’t you agree?”

And it all seemed to link back to the Crone who’d brought them together.

Chris nodded, and Olivia flagged a taxi.

hris stopped in front of the Buckley estate.