Page 55 of Ties of Legacy

Find me!she mouthed at him. And again,Find me.

As they turned a corner, she pulled back away from the rear of the cart. She couldn’t risk Mattie by leaning out again. Elliot had seen them go, and Frank would tell him the rest of the story, nonsensical as it was. She would trust in Elliot’s ability to track them down.

She certainly didn’t doubt that he would try. That thought never even crossed her mind.

Chapter 19

Elliot

Elliot sank onto the cobblestones, nausea and weakness overwhelming him. His mind screamed at his body to get up and run. Avery was in trouble, and he couldn’t remain on the ground. But his body didn’t respond.

Worst of all, it was only going to get worse as the lamp moved further and further away from him. Soon he wouldn’t be able to move at all. How long before even his breath stopped? Elliot would die on the road outside Mattie’s house. What would happen to Avery then?

Cold waves washed over him at the thought. He had to find a way to get back on his feet.

Or perhaps the cold waves were from the lamp’s increasing distance. Was he feeling the first creeping fingers of death?

With a surge of determination, he rose to his feet. If death was coming for him, he would meet it upright, at least.

But the weakness didn’t increase, and gradually the pounding of his heart softened. The churning in his stomach continued, but he hadn’t actually been sick yet.

“Fool boy! Fool boy!” An already familiar voice called for him from the air as Frank swooped toward him from Mattie’s house. “What are you doing out here? Are you daft?”

The parrot flew circles around his head, cawing loudly.

“They took Avery,” Elliot ground out.

“And the gray one too,” Frank cawed. “Both gone!”

Elliot ground his teeth together. He hadn’t collapsed again yet, so perhaps if he focused all his effort, he could?—

“Come and see!” the bird called stridently. “Come and see!”

“They’ve taken Avery,” Elliot ground out through his teeth. “And you want me to go sightseeing?”

“Merchant girl said to show you. Said it was important,” the bird called, still flying in circles.

Elliot froze. Avery had left the bird a message for him? To go and see something?

It felt utterly and horribly wrong to move in the opposite direction to Avery. And he wasn’t sure he would make it far before he collapsed. But if Avery had wanted him to see something, she must have had a good reason for it. Perhaps it would provide a clue for how he could find her.

He stumbled toward Mattie’s front door. Several people passed him, but all of them eyed him warily, giving him a wide berth. He ignored them, forcing one foot in front of the other, until he arrived at the open door.

He blinked as he stepped almost easily into the house. Was his sickness and weakness lessening? How was that possible when he was moving in the wrong direction?

He gasped, leaning against the nearby wall as the truth crashed over him. He hadn’t grown weak because the cart was getting further away from him but because he was running away from the lamp. Avery—who never let it out of her presence—had left it here in the house.

“This way!” Frank croaked. “This way!”

Elliot hurried after him, his strength returning as he entered the library. He expected to see a scene of chaos, but other than a single pile of toppled books, and a chair that had been knockedonto its side, it looked just as he had left it. There was even tea still sitting in the mug he had abandoned.

But Frank was still gliding ahead of him, so he ignored the rest of the room, following where the parrot led. It took him almost to the far corner of the room, landing on the ground and pecking at a shelf. Elliot dropped to his knees beside the bird, pulling away an unevenly stacked pile of books.

Behind them, a wrapped object had been stashed by someone who must have been in too much of a hurry to properly return the books. Avery.

Elliot retrieved the lamp with trembling hands. Avery had somehow escaped her abductors, and in his hands was the proof she had spent those few precious moments thinking of him. She had known what was about to happen, and instead of looking for ways to escape, she had used that time to hide the lamp. For him.

He surged to his feet, his hands tightening around the rounded brass. She had thought of his safety, and she had trusted him. All this time she had held onto the lamp because somewhere a kernel of doubt had lingered. And he hadn’t judged her for that. It was only natural.

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