Oracles of Delphi Keep (20 page)

“I see,” said Thatcher, and his worried look intensified.

“She also knows when someone’s lying,” Ian added. “You can’t get away with anything when she’s around.”

“And how long has she had this gift?” asked Thatcher.

“As long as she’s been able to talk,” Ian said, remembering a time when Theo was three and she’d announced, “Rain!” from her crib when he’d finally gotten her to bed. He remembered laughing at her as he’d turned off the light and headed out of the nursery, only to realize half an hour later that an abrupt storm had rolled in from the sea and had begun pelting the keep with rain.

Thatcher got up from leaning against a table stacked with books and began to pace the room. Ian was now very unsettled about revealing Theo’s secrets. “Sir?” Ian said after a long moment.

Thatcher stopped pacing and looked at Ian. “Tell me what you know about the current political situation in Germany,” he said.

Ian and Carl shared a quick look that said, “Huh?” Then Ian turned back to his schoolmaster and answered, “I’m sorry, sir, I’m afraid I don’t know much about Germany other than they were the enemy the last time England was at war. In lessons, we’ve mostly been studying the Wars of the Roses.”

“Yes,” said Thatcher as he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Would Theo know anything about what’s going on in modern-day Germany? Would she know what the Germans call their leader?”

“I’m not following you,” said Ian, more confused than ever. “Theo prefers Latin and music lessons to current events.”

“I see,” said Thatcher. “Would she know who our current prime minister is?”

“You mean Lord Chamberlain?” asked Ian, still confused by this line of questioning.

“Yes,” said Thatcher. “What does she know of him?”

“Very little, I’d guess,” said Ian. “I mean, she could know his name and all, but I doubt she knows much more than that.”

“This is most troubling,” said Thatcher, pacing again.

“Please, sir,” said Ian, his fear and worry getting the better of him. “Can you kindly tell us what this has to do with what made Theo so upset?”

Thatcher sat on the edge of the table and looked directly at Ian. “The leader of Germany is a man named Adolf Hitler,” he began. “They call him the Führer. And Germany’s flag has changed recently. It could definitely be described as a crooked black cross on a sea of deep red, the color of blood.”

Ian gasped and heard Carl do the same. “The Fury,” he murmured.

Thatcher nodded, then continued. “My brother and I spent a few months in Berlin two summers ago, watching the Summer Olympics. It’s where we met the earl, in fact. During our stay there, we got to know many Berliners, and what we heard from them was alarming. Many of the Germans we shared conversations with felt a great resentment toward Western Europe. They feel the reparations—the money owed to us by Germany as a punishment for starting the
Great War—were an overly harsh and unfair amount. In fact, Thatcher and I left Berlin early; the loathing many people had shown us made the place rather inhospitable. And it is my unpopular belief that Germany is quickly becoming a dangerous and unpredictable adversary.”

“Gaw blimey!” exclaimed Carl. “Theo knows they’re going to attack us!”

Thatcher’s mouth thinned to a very narrow line. “I sincerely hope not,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “If Germany and its allies ever issued an assault against us, we’d be pressed into another world war.”

Ian felt the blood drain from his face. He couldn’t explain how, but he knew in his heart that Theo’s ranting did indeed refer to the German führer. “This is terrible,” he said, looking at Carl, who nodded.

Thatcher paced back and forth some more. “Yes,” he said. “And the situation is further complicated by the fact that Poland, France, and England have formed an alliance to keep Germany in check. If Germany were to attack anywhere, it would likely be Poland first—which lies to our east. If Germany were to make such a move, then France and England would be obligated to come to her defense.”

“So what do we do?” asked Ian meekly after a long stretch of tense silence. His brain hurt from all these distressing thoughts.

“I’d like to talk with Theo,” said Thatcher. “But I realize in light of recent events she might be in too fragile a state of mind. That’s why I’d like to prepare a list of questions for her and I’d like you, Ian, to ask them.”

Ian scowled. “I don’t know, sir,” he said protectively.
“She was really out of sorts. I think it might make her sick again to ask her about what she was seeing and I’d rather not.” There was no way Ian was going to risk sending Theo back into hysterics just to satisfy his schoolmaster’s curiosity.

Thatcher sat down in a chair with a heavy sigh. “Right. We don’t want to make the girl any more distressed than she already is. Let’s give her some time, and if she returns to a state of relative calm, then I’d like you to ask her a question or two at a time, Ian. If she reacts adversely, then we’ll drop the subject. If she’s able to give you some insight, then we’ll proceed cautiously.”

“Very well, sir,” said Ian, not at all happy that he’d been put into such a delicate situation.

“Now, I’ve kept you two long enough,” announced Thatcher. “Hurry on to your midday meal and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

As Ian and Carl left the room, Carl whispered, “I don’t like this business of bombs and war.”

“Neither do I,” said Ian, a cold shiver running down his spine.

I
an ate his lunch with little enthusiasm. Beside him even Carl seemed too distracted to eat.

After lunch Ian and his group of students were again called out onto the lawn, where they had their first lesson in French with Schoolmaster Goodwyn. Although Ian was still distracted by worried thoughts of Theo, he was at least grateful that they would finally be learning a language other than Latin.

The lesson was difficult as Thatcher explained the conjugation of various verbs, but eventually the children were allowed to put their pencils down and take a short break before they began their English lessons. “At least we’ll understand what he’s saying,” said Carl moodily as they left the lawn.

Ian gave his new friend a chummy pat on the back, then excused himself to dash inside and search for Madam Dimbleby He looked quickly about the sitting room and the parlor before heading up to the first floor, where he finally spotted her outside one of the bedrooms with her back to
him as she spoke in low tones with Dr. Lineberry, the doctor from the village.

Thinking quickly, Ian ducked into one of the bedrooms close by before the two adults saw him, so that he could hear what the doctor had to say about Theo. “As far as I can tell,” said the doctor, “her hand is not infected, but the hallucinations and hysteria are a definite sign of fever.”

“But the child’s cold as ice,” insisted Madam Dimbleby.

“Yes,” replied the doctor. “I agree. The only other diagnosis is acute mental breakdown, and given the excitement the young lass has been through of late, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

“Oh, no,” said Madam Dimbleby, and Ian felt cold fear grip his heart like a vise. “Dr. Lineberry, what are we to do?” the headmistress asked.

“I’ve given her a sedative to calm her nerves. For the time being keep her in bed and keep her quiet. If her condition worsens, call me immediately.”

“And what will we do if she doesn’t recover?”

Ian held his breath, waiting for the doctor to answer. He could feel his heart hammering as Dr. Lineberry paused before he finally said, “Maggie, we may have to consider admitting her to a sanitarium.”

“Oh, my,” said Madam Dimbleby, and Ian closed his eyes and sank to the floor. It was the worst thing the doctor could have said. “Dr. Lineberry,” Madam continued, “do you really think her condition would warrant that?”

The doctor sighed. “The symptoms are certainly there, and we’ll know in time if this hysteria is a permanent condition or a passing moment of nerves from her recent experience.
I’ll be back to check on her tomorrow. Again, you must keep her as calm and quiet as possible until I return.”

Madam Dimbleby thanked the doctor and walked with him down the hallway, past where Ian was quietly hiding. When their footsteps had become faint, he stepped out of the room and moved down to Theo’s door. He knocked very softly before easing himself inside.

Theo was lying in one of the two twin beds in the room. Her face was small and pale against the pillow it rested on and Ian felt his knees wobble at the sight of her looking so frail. As he quietly closed the door, she opened her eyes and gave him the faintest smile. “Ian,” she said sleepily.

Ian forced a smile onto his face, crossed the room to her, and took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Don’t try to talk, Theo,” he said, working hard to sound calm and push down the panic and fear that threatened to give him away. “The doctor says you need your rest.”

Theo shook her head and sat forward, her hand going to her neck as she pulled at the chain with her mother’s crystal. “It’s the necklace,” she said hoarsely. “The moment I put it on, I began to feel odd.”

Ian helped her take the necklace off and immediately the color seemed to return to her cheeks and the worry in her eyes relaxed. “That’s better,” she said with a sigh of relief.

Ian dangled the pink crystal in front of his eyes, stupefied that something like a small crystal necklace could be at the root of Theo’s breakdown.
“This
is why you got so upset?” he asked her.

Theo nodded adamantly. “Yes,” she said firmly. “The
moment it was around my neck, I felt an intense worry, and then these horrible images began to play in my head and words came out of my mouth that I couldn’t stop.”

Ian wrapped the crystal in his fist, angry that he’d been the one to give it to her. “I’ll get rid of it this instant,” he promised her. “You’ll never have to see this necklace again!”

“No!” she said in alarm, putting a hand on his closed fist. “Don’t throw it away! Just keep it for me until I feel better.”

Ian was taken aback. “But if this is causing you harm, we can’t possibly keep it!” he argued.

Theo gave him a pleading look. “Please,” she said wearily. “I can’t explain it, but I know I’m not supposed to let it go.”

Ian struggled over what to do. If the crystal was the source of her hysteria, then he was all for sending it straight over the cliffs into the swirling water below to keep her safe. But as he looked at her, he knew he couldn’t deny Theo the only heirloom her mother had left her, and the look in her eyes swayed him in the end. Pocketing the crystal, he said, “Fine. But if this ever happens again, I’m chucking it to the fishes.”

Theo sank back into her pillow, relief on her face and a small smile on her lips as her eyelids drooped. A moment later she was asleep. Ian watched her for several minutes, still struggling with the promise he’d just made. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her go through another episode like she’d had out on the lawn, but he couldn’t go back on his word to her either.

Finally, he pulled the bedcovers up under her chin, gave
her a gentle peck on the top of her forehead, and eased out of the room.

“Lessons are beginning again, Master Wigby,” Madam Dimbleby said quietly from behind him in the hallway, making him jump.

“Sorry, Madam,” he said, turning quickly from the door he’d just closed. “I only wanted to check on her.”

“Yes,” said Madam Dimbleby. “I assumed after you heard what the doctor had to say that you’d want to see her.”

Ian blushed and murmured, “Very sorry, Madam.”

The headmistress chuckled and stroked his hair. “You never were one for rules where Theo was concerned, were you, Ian?”

Ian looked up and begged, “Please don’t send her away, ma’am! Don’t let the doctor put her in that sanitarium! I
promise
I’ll keep her calm.”

Madam Dimbleby’s eyes suddenly filled with moisture and she reached out abruptly to pull him into a fierce embrace. After a long moment she let go, smoothed out his hair, and said, “Now, hurry along to your lessons. I’ll sit with Theo for now.”

Ian fought back his own emotions and hurried down the stairs. Through one of the windows that faced the lawn, he could see the children taking their seats and Schoolmaster Thatcher shuffling through his notes. Ian dashed outside. As he sat down Carl whispered, “How is she?”

Ian forced a small smile. “I think she’s going to be all right,” he said, and his hand moved to the lump in his pocket.
If I can keep this away from her, at least
, he thought.

* * *

That evening as the children, Madam Scargill, and Thatcher were gathered in one of the large sitting rooms on the second floor, the earl and his hunting party came back to the castle.

Ian, who’d been working through his French homework, nudged Carl. “Let’s have a listen,” he whispered, and the two boys discreetly scooted out the door and made their way to the banister, where they could look down on the returning men as they handed over their coats and rifles to the earl’s staff.

“I tell you, it’s the oddest thing I’ve ever seen!” Ciaran was saying. “I’ve never been on a hunt where there was absolutely no sign of the prey at all. Even the hounds we brought along today couldn’t pick up the trail!”

“It’s like the creature has vanished,” added Alfred.

“Or dived into the channel,” said Henry as a footman took his coat.

“At least we’ve been able to alert the village,” said the earl. “Should that horror show its face again anywhere near here, we’ll know about it and we’ll be ready.”

“That’s not good,” whispered Carl. “I thought for sure they were going to kill the beast today.”

Ian nodded, deeply troubled by the fact that the hell-hound and her pups were still on the loose.

The boys watched as Binsford stepped up to the earl and announced, “Dinner is awaiting you and your guests in the dining hall when you’re ready, my lord.”

“Excellent, Binsford,” said the earl, his cheeks still pink
from the cold outside. “We’re looking forward to something warm for dinner. Did you have any luck making arrangements for the repairs at the keep?”