Page 26 of Boy of Chaotic Making

Lady Helen paused. “Well ... I suppose that would work. He’s about the size of the hounds. He could keep up.”

Briar grimaced. None of the family seemed to notice. Merritt couldn’t entirely blame her for feeling distaste ... The situation was bizarre, at best.

Owein let out a soft woof of delight.

“Then it is settled.” Lady Helen clapped her hands. “Afterward we’ll have luncheon, and Cora will give you a tour of the grounds, if the weather permits. She’s become much more involved with them. Then we shall have afternoon tea—I have a violinist coming in to play for us, and Cora has been working on a wonderful song on the pianoforte. Briar is also an excellent player. Oh! You both should do that duet of yours, if you remember it. Then I thought we could all take part in a game of cards, and I’ve a soothsayer coming in to look at the match—just for fun, of course! I wish dear Victoria could join us, but of course she’s terribly busy running things, but she would be at the union itself, most certainly—”

Chapter 11

March 3, 1847, London, England

The adults seemed quite put out by the fox hunt by the end, since they hadn’t actually caught any foxes. Owein got a whiff of one’s scent at one point, he was pretty sure, but he and the hounds had been unable to find it or its den. But the run had been the best run of his life. Fallen trees and moist earth, new scents and clamoring bodies ... that was, he enjoyed the clamor of the dogs,notthe horses. He’d nearly been stepped on multiple times.

The hounds weren’t possessed by a person, like he was, but those lingering terrier instincts inside Owein understood them, in the simplest of terms. Their wants and reasons weren’t complex like people’s were, and after all this jumble about politics and marriage, Owein rather liked simplicity. Perhaps it was a bad thing, to prefer the company of hounds to people. But after they returned to the house and he took a nap in the kennel, he quickly got bored with the dogs and their eagerness for a friendly hand and a treat. He left to spend time with Merritt, half suspecting his nephew was the actual reason they hadn’t caught the fox.

“I just feel bad,” Merritt had remarked after lunch, under his breath, “hunting something we’re not going to eat.”

Merritt seemed distracted. The bad kind of distracted. But didn’t he know Owein would protect him, should anything bad arise?

Nothing bad did arise; the rest of the day was just as packed as Cora’s mother had promised. Cora did play the pianoforte well; Owein enjoyed listening to her, though he did so from the back of the room, finding the instrument too loud for his ears. He couldn’t tell Cora he liked her song, so he had Merritt tell her for him, and she scratched his ear and smiled, so maybe this marriage thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Merritt let Owein sleep in his room again, and when he woke, he couldn’t remember whether his dreams had been dark or light. They’d only just exited to the hallway when a muffled sound caught Owein’s attention. He paused, lifting his ears to listen. Merritt noticed a beat later. “What?”

I hear Hulda.He pushed his way back into the room—Merritt hadn’t latched the door—and followed the sound to Merritt’s suitcase. He huffed.

“Hulda?” Merritt knelt by him and quickly opened the case, digging through it until he found his communion stone. Pulling it free, he heard Hulda say, quite distinctly, “—send a telegram, but I ought to be near enough—”

“Hulda?” Merritt asked the pale stone.

“Merritt!” she replied. “Merritt, I’m in England now, on my way. Are you and Owein all right? I had a vision of a smoky hallway in the dark—”

Owein barked.

“You’re here?” He smiled. “Yes, we’re fine. And yes, there was a rather dusty hallway two nights ago.”Better,he communicated to Owein,not to tell her the details until she gets here, or she might panic.“I’ll tell you all about it when you get here. We’re at Cyprus Hall. Do you know it?”Might not be a bad idea to have another ally here. We’ll keep her safe.

Owein huffed his agreement.

“I do,” the stone chimed, “and I’ll be there shortly.”

“This is where it happened?”

Hulda would never have guessed anything was amiss from the appearance of the hallway; the corridor was swept and polished and looked every bit as it should. But when Merritt opened the door—which stuck to its frame—her lips parted in surprise. The entire ceiling had collapsed. Sunlight glinted through slits where curtains didn’t quite touch. The bed frame had buckled. The shattered glass from the windows and other debris—it had beendustclouding that hallway in her vision, not smoke—had been cleaned up. It was the tidiest disaster Hulda had ever beheld.

To her great relief, no one had gotten hurt. But news of the room’s original assignment put her on edge, as did that sense ofdangerfrom her vision.

When a vision had concluded, and moved itself from future to past, did its warnings still pertain to futurity? There had been danger, yes—Hulda could see as much—but it had passed. Still, Hulda found herself wishing for somethingextra. If only she had a class or even a pamphlet to help her hone her minute skill. The thought brought another one—a reminiscence of Myra’s attempts to synthesize magic and the possible merits therein, but she pushed it from her mind. Priorities. There were always priorities.

After setting her black bag down, Hulda removed her dowsing rods and gingerly stepped into the room, surveying the ceiling first, then the floor.

“Should be safe,” Merritt offered, stepping in behind her.

It looked secure enough, at least. Still, Hulda trod lightly, circling the room with her dowsing rods in hand, then crossing itscenter, circumventing the bed. She lifted her hands toward the ceiling as well.

“Nothing here that I can find.” She tucked the rods under her arm and slowly turned, surveying the damage. Merritt had drawn the curtains; every window was cracked, but only one pane had shattered. “And you just found it like this?”

“Heard the rumbling from my room. Thought it was Owein at first.”

Stepping to the nearest window, Hulda peered out over the manicured grounds. Owein was on a walk with Lady Cora, chaperoned by both Lady Helen and Lady Briar. He’d seemed hesitant to leave Merritt’s side, but if the boy was willing to “marry a toad” for a human body, he could also go on a walk with his potential intended. Fortunately, Oweindidseem to be adjusting to Cyprus Hall well enough.

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