House of Cards (9 page)

“It might also mean he’s excited I sent him a text. Now I don’t remember if I told him my full name.” She remembered shaking hands, but did she say her name was Rae Kerrigan? No, she had told him Rae, but not her last name. It had happened right after Devon… Rae didn’t finish the thought. She stared at the box her uncle had shipped with blurred vision.
Please don’t start crying. Please not now. I can’t explain that to Molly.
It still hurt that she couldn’t even tell her best friend about the love of her life, not even now that it was over. It was all a mash-up of worrying what Molly would think and do about it and worrying that by telling her, Rae would put her in an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation. The one really important reason though, that Rae only half admitted to herself, was that she was afraid Molly would turn her back on her. She couldn’t lose her best friend.
Molly can’t know, she can’t see.
It helped stem the tide of tears before they started to fall.

“Do you need scissors?” Molly opened the desk drawer and handed Rae a pair of scissors. She grabbed a nail file out of her purse and began filing her fingernails.

Rae sniffed and concentrated on opening the box and not slicing her skin. She opened the top part and looked inside. There were hundreds of little bubble wrapped things with one large bubble wrapped item. A white piece of paper lay taped to the large item.

Rae opened it and saw her uncle’s handwriting:

Rae,

Hope school is going well. Hard to believe you will be finishing soon. Congrats on the job offer with the Privy Council, I’m very proud of you. I told Aunt Linda that you have a job already lined up for graduation and you probably won’t be coming home this summer. She has it in her head to redecorate your old room. I thought you might like to have these with you.

Love, Uncle Argyle.

Rae set the letter on her bed and used the scissors to open one of the small bubble wrapped pieces. Inside lay a little porcelain gingerbread man. Uncle Argyle knew how much they meant to her. It was nice of him to send them. She’d have to call him later to thank him.

“Cute!” Molly dropped on the floor beside Rae. “It’s those little figurines your mother collected, right?”

Rae nodded, afraid to speak, now ready to cry for a completely different reason. Molly, bless her, sensed it too.

“Oh, Rae.” Molly hugged her tight.

The dam burst. Tears flooded her eyes and
coursed down her cheeks. She buried her head into Molly’s shoulder and cried. Molly patted her back and let her weep. Devon had broken her heart, then she’d gone and spoken terribly about her mother to Jennifer. The little figurines were like Uncle Argyle’s unknowing message of making sure she knew who her mother was and how much she had sacrificed.

She sniffed and leaned back to grab a Kleenex
off her desk. “Sorry, Molls,” she mumbled and blew her nose.

“It’s okay. Why don’t I help you get these unpacked? You want to set them up here in your room? Keep the box and package them back up when you move. They’ll be easy to repack. What we should do is ask one of the cooks if they get egg cartons. They’d be so much easier to move that way.”

They worked together in a comfortable silence. Rae’s phone vibrated a few times but she didn’t feel like checking it. She just wanted to focus on doing this. She needed this little moment of calm. Everything else could wait.

When Rae set the last figurine into the miniature china cabinet and
closed the door, Molly pulled her own phone out of her purse and started searching the internet. “There’s got to be information on these things. What did you say there were called again?”

“Uncle Argyle called them whimsies. Whimsie figurines or something like that. There are nursery ones and animals and a couple of really old ones.” She opened the little door again and pulled a figurine out. They’re called Wade.”

“Here they are!” Molly waved the phone. “They’re made in Stoke-on-Trent. They still make them today.” She scrolled through the website. “Holy smokes! They are pretty popular. There’s a Wade Club and everything… links to eBay, pictures of people’s collections.”

Rae put the little animal figurine back in the case and as she clicked the door closed, a crinkle sound caught her attention. She moved her fingers pressing against the back of the case. She’d just thought to hold it so she didn’t push too hard closing the door and topple the whole thing over. Another crinkle sounded. She stood on her tippy toes and glanced at the back
of the cabinet. Something was wedged between the case and its backing. There were two sheets of wood paneling, one for the back and one to hold the mirror on the back wall of the cabinet.

She pinched the little yellow triangle sticking out and pulled. A piece of paper came out,
folded and yellow with age.

“Hey,” Molly exclaimed, oblivious to what Rae had just found. “There’s a book called
‘The World of Wade’ and it has loads of photos on sets and collections. You can find out what your set is worth and if you need any figurines to complete the sets.” Molly paused when she noticed the paper. “Where did that come from?”

“It was hidden in the back of the case. I’ve never seen it before. Maybe it came loose from shipping it from New York to England.”

“What’s it say?”

Rae unfolded the paper carefully, worried she might tear it. A small key fell out and dropped to the floor. She picked it up and looked at
it, then back at the paper. “There’s some code, I think.”

“Maybe it’s a combination for a lock box somewhere.” Molly set her phone to camera. “Set it on the desk and I’ll take a picture. Maybe we can figure it out.”

Rae held the paper close. She knew the writing was her mother’s. “I’m not sure.”

Immediately realizing that Rae was worried it might have something to do with her father and his evil, Molly rolled her eyes. “I won’t tell anyone. Just keep it between you and me. You may work for the Privy Council but they don’t own you.”

Rae smiled. How Molly understood stuff sometimes, she never ceased to amaze Rae. She set the paper on the desk and held the corners to try and straighten it.

Molly took a few shots. “I’ll print this off and then delete the pictures. No one will know about it.” She tucked her phone in her purse and threw it over her shoulder. “Why don’t you write the Wade
company in Stoke-on-Trent? Or we can drive over there and see if we can purchase a book? I’m sure they’ve got some kind of shop in town. That place is like home of all the potteries.”

“I’d like that. I just don’t know when I’ll be able to get the chance to go.” She had that mysterious assignment coming up with Julian. She had a feeling one of the phone vibrations she’d felt might be a message from Jennifer, or the Privy Council on what they would be doing.

“Easter’s coming up soon. You’ll have a few days off for sure and we can go then.”

“You’d come with me?” She smiled when Molly nodded.

“Of course! Now let’s head to the library to see if we can decipher the cryptic message.” Molly rubbed her hands together. “It’s like a secret mission. What if I solve some super-secret code, or it links us to loads of money or a Swiss bank account, or a Nock List! You know, like Mission Impossible? I could be some secret undercover bolt of electricity. Maybe I should apply for a job at the Privy Council. This is so exciting!”

Rae nodded, her mind racing. She grabbed her backpack and had an idea of where to hide her father’s journal. Secrets from her mother, secrets from her father… if everything kept piling up, eventually it was going to have to come crashing down, like a house of cards.

Acceptance

Rae and Molly headed down to the library on the first floor. Thankfully, everyone had better things to do on a Saturday afternoon and the place was empty.

Molly printed off an enlarged copy of the note and handed it to Rae. “I’m deleting the pic from my phone now.” She giggled. “It seems like the double-oh-seven thing to do. Wouldn’t want anyone to trace it. Make sure you hide the paper in a safe place where no one would look.”

Rae nodded, trying to resist the urge to smile. It was hard not to. Molly would make a terrible spy. Or maybe Rae had it completely wrong and she would be perfect. “I’ll keep it in a safe place.” She planned to slip it into her father’s journal. Now she only needed to find the perfect hiding place for that. “Can you double check that nothing is on the computer? I’m going to have a look for a book I need for a report I have to finish.” She headed absent-mindedly down an aisle while Molly went back to the computer. The moment Molly’s back was
turned, Rae raced to another aisle and found herself in front of a row of Oxford English dictionary books. She grabbed the W to Z one and with super speed, stuffed her father’s journal inside it and then replaced it back on the shelf. Nobody used dictionary books these days. The internet was ten times faster and words beginning with W, X, Y or Z were probably the least searched.

“Did you find it?” Molly called out.

“Find what?” Rae slapped her forehead. “Yup, right here.” She grabbed a random book at the end of the row, near the top shelf.

Molly shoved the chair back against the computer desk. “Nothing’s on here. I can’t wait to figure the code out.”

Rae set the book she’d grabbed onto the desk.
Organic blueberries
. “Don’t get your hopes up, it’s probably nothing.”

“What’s nothing?” a male voice called from the doorway of the library.

Rae and Molly stared at each other and mouthed at the same time.
Nic.

“A crappy sale on boots.” Molly pointed dramatically at the printed page and Rae’s jacket. “Stuff it somewhere, I’ll stall him,” she whispered, then added loudly, “I thought the shop was clearing out, but it’s all crap.” She pretended to turn off the computer monitor. “What are you up to, Nic?”

“Not much at the moment.” Nic found them and leaned against an antique case full of mismatched library books. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried to appear casual.

Rae didn’t miss his over-trying. He had either heard them, or was hiding something himself. She threw her purse over her shoulder and felt her phone vibrate again. She’d forgotten to check her
earlier messages from before as well.

“Rae, how are you doing, since everything… you know.” He looked at her but his eyes darted away when she met his gaze.

“I’m alright. Still trying to get restocked on tatùs, but it’s coming.”

He held his arm out. “Do you need mine?” He pulled his arm back quickly and held it with his other hand. “You, uh, don’t have Kraigan’s ability to take a tatù now do you?”

Rae shook her head. “No, I’m just boring old me.”

He grinned and finally met her gaze with his. “I’m glad.” His smiled faltered. “Not that you’re boring, you’re far from that. I just meant, I’m glad you’re back to you.” He thrust his hand out again. “Just copy it. I’d be honored if you used my tatù.”

Rae had a moment to wonder what was up with Nic, but when he offered for her to copy his tatù, she was so relieved she didn’t question it.

As soon as they touched, Molly stepped forward and slapped their hands away. “What’s up with you, Nic?”

“Nothing. What’s up with you, Molly?”

She shook a finger at him. “Don’t try to distract me. I’m on to you.” She glanced back at Rae and smiled, “This detective-thing is fun!”

Rae rolled her eyes at Nic, but Molly’s interruption had served to remind her that he seemed to be acting strange.
Probably because of what had happened to me
. She put the blueberry book into her backpack and slipped the printed pages Molly had done inside it. She slung her bag over her shoulder.

Nic straightened and cleared his throat. “Do you guys want to go into town to grab something to eat? We’re heading out and figured we’d ask you if you wanted to come.”

“How did you know we were in the library?” Molly tried raising one eyebrow, but she ended up having to hold the other one down with her finger.

Rae coughed to hide her laughter.

“I tried your dorms and then figured I’d check here.” Nic gave her a strange look, as if to show he had no idea what she was implying.

“Who’s we? You said
we.
” Molly crossed her arms and began tapping her foot.

Nic’s face burned a slight shade of red. The dim lights hid most of it, but Rae didn’t miss it. Suddenly Rae tuned into Devon’s tatù to hear his body’s response. If his heart sped up, she knew he was lying.

“Just me. Look you guys don’t have to come. It was a stupid idea.”

“Ignore Molly. We’d love to tag along.” Rae shot Molly a warning glance.

They followed Nic down the center aisle and out into the foyer of Aumbry House. The black and white marble floor sparkled in the late afternoon sun. A large rectangular part caught the brightness from the front doors. It made the center of the room bright and the sides unusually dark in the shadows.

Rae froze when she sensed someone else in the room. She shot in front of
Molly, squared her shoulders and dropped into a crouch, ready to pounce.

“It’s okay, Rae. It’s okay.” Nic waved his hands to catch her attention.