“What exactly did you see?”
“Besides the demons in the clearing?” He shakes his head, looking at the path instead of at me. “My friends told me about the things you summon, but I hadn’t seen any of them untilyesterday. We saw them clearly near the cottage, but when Marduc started yelling, they fled from us into the forest. We caught glimpses of the creatures after that, along with the shadows of bigger, more impossible things. The others kept saying it was all your doing, that you were a witch who wanted us all to die in Wormsloe. I told them they were wrong, but logic is weak against a fearful fool’s determination to blame someone.”
“Thank you for being reasonable and kind,” I tell him. “I can see why my sister likes you.”
An expression of sheer joy transforms his face, and in that moment, it doesn’t matter whether he’s good-looking or not. “She likes me?”
I can’t help smiling back. “Yes, she does.”
“I like her, too, very much. And it doesn’t scare me. The, um…” He gestures to me with a faint laugh.
“My oddity?” I fill in for him.
He nods, grateful for the intervention. “Exactly. We all have something, you know? Something that sets us apart, or something we try to hide. Something we don’t like about ourselves.” He laughs ruefully, gesturing to his own face.
I’m not sure how to respond to his self-deprecation, but I don’t have to, because we’re at the front door. “Won’t you come in?”
“Gladly.”
When we enter the sitting room, Anne jumps straight out of the armchair, her quilt and fabric squares tumbling from her lap.
“Henry! I mean, Mr. Partridge,” she exclaims, self-consciously smoothing her hair. “Sybil, you didn’t warn me that we’d be having company!”
“He was passing by. I’ll make tea.” I take myself and the crutches into the kitchen.
After a couple of minutes, Anne bustles in. “What are you doing?” she asks in an undertone.
“Making tea.”
“Really, Sybil?” She gives me a stern look.
“You like him, he likes you. And he’s a good man. A kind, reasonable man. They’re in short supply in these parts.”
She drops her voice to a whisper. “I told you I’m not attracted to him.”
“Maybe you will be, if you give him a chance.”
Anne takes the tea tray from the cupboard, sets it down with a bang, then stands there, nervously toying with the scalloped edge. Her cheeks are pink.
“Fine. I’ll give him a chance.” She throws me a secret, delighted grin, and we return to the sitting room together.
Henry Partridge proves to be excellent company. He hasn’t played many games, but when he discovers that Anne and I are fond of them, he begs us to teach him. “I’m a quick learner,” he says, and the claim holds true over the next several hours.
When Mama finally arrives home, Anne, Henry, and I are deep in a game of Ghoul’s Knickers. We hear her enter by the front door, hang up her damp cloak, and remove her shoes. Then she appears in the doorway of the sitting room, looking more exhausted than usual. Anne vacates the armchair and sits on the floor with Henry so Mama can have a comfortable seat.
“What a merry little gathering,” Mama says with a smile. “Mr. Partridge, are you staying for dinner?”
“I’m afraid not. I should be getting home. I usually eat with my father in the evenings. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, and I would hate for him to be alone. I should also wash up from spending a day and a night wandering in Wormsloe. Your daughters were kind enough to overlook my dishevelment, but I have imposed on their good graces long enough. If you’ll excuse me, ladies.” He rises and bows to each of us.
Despite the boost of energy he gained from Anne’s presence, he looks as weary as Mama, and he does indeed smellof dirt and sweat. We bid him farewell, and then I tell Mama what the search party discovered in the forest.
“Do you think Grandmother Riquet is really gone?” Anne asks. “It seems odd that they didn’t find her body or Herron’s.”
“Odd indeed,” muses Mama.
I merely nod, but in my mind’s eye I see the giant wolf with its starved body and slavering jaws. Perhaps it’s not so odd that the bodies weren’t found. Perhaps the wolf devoured them, in which case I should declare its existence to our neighbors. But since I’m probably the one that summoned the monster, I might be held responsible for the deaths it has caused. Our situation here could quickly become precarious.
Besides, if the villagers know about the wolf, they might try to enter Wormsloe again to kill it, which might only result in more death. Perhaps it’s better to leave well enough alone.
