“Who knows how a child thinks? Could be that accent of yours or that you talked with her or that you helped save her mother from those men on the train. And, it seems, you remind her of her papa.”
Geordie sighed and dragged his hands through his hair. “Damn. Weel, where is she?”
“Over near the carriage, talking to that boy.”
“Abel?” Geordie looked harder and then nodded. “Yup, that’s Abel. Who’s the mon?”
“He is the one who is handling the estate, fulfilling the last wishes of the woman.”
“So, he kens about wills and all of that?”
“He does. He says he needs to talk with you anyway. So, you’ll have a chance to find out what he knows.”
“Better get it over with.” Geordie took a moment to thank the boys who had come from Bennet’s to help, then started to walk toward the carriage, only to have Belle run up beside him and take his hand in hers.
Abel was showing Morgan a frog when James, Geordie, and Belle reached them. The wobbly smile the girl gave Geordie broke his heart. He curled his arm around Belle’s waist to steady himself. James introduced Morgan to everyone and Belle took a moment to quietly tell Abel to put the frog back into the little pond he stood near. Clutching her doll, Morgan told Belle what had happened and why she was there.
Morgan frowned at Abel, who was talking earnestly to the frog, and then looked back at Belle. “Does he think the frog understands him?”
“I don’t know.” She spotted Thor trotting towards Abel. “Abel! Drop the frog. Thor is coming.”
Abel turned to look back, which made the frog in his hands easily visible to the dog. Thor woofed and started to run. Abel tried to run away, glanced back at how close Thor was getting, tossed the frog into the pond, and dropped to his knees. The dog leapt over him and landed in the deeper water with a splash of murky water that soaked Abel. Abel looked at Belle as Thor splashed around, and he shrugged.
“Do you think he got the frog?” asked Abel, then grinned at Morgan as she started to laugh.
James and Geordie caught up with the dog and checked its mouth for any sign of a frog. They told the children that it appeared the frog had escaped. Belle rolled her eyes, took each child by the hand, and started to lead them up to the house. Mr. Hobbs hurried up from the carriage to tell them what they needed to know.
“Come with us to the house, Mr. Hobbs.”
“I’ll see to your carriage,” James offered and hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Come with me, Mr. Hobbs,” said Belle as she took him by the arm. “We’ll go up to the house, have a bite to eat, and see what needs to be done. Geordie will bring Morgan up. So, you are a lawyer and deal with wills and all that, are you?”
By the time they entered the house, Belle was determined to get her aunt to talk to the gentleman. He could be the answer they had been looking for.
After Geordie came inside he found himself nudged to the far side of the kitchen and Morgan came to stand next to him. When Auntie showed up and began to set the table, Belle came to join them. She quietly asked Morgan what had happened, and the little girl told her. She also told Auntie why her mother had sent her to Geordie.
“Ah, hell,” Geordie muttered and edged over to James as Belle took Morgan’s hand.
“Darling, I am so very sorry. Of course you can stay here. You will have to learn how to get along with frog boy though,” Belle said.
“Ah, so that is why Abel is such a mess. Thor tried to get a frog?”
“Yes, Auntie. Thor saw the frog Abel was holding and thought it was playtime.” She saw Mr. Hobbs at the back of the crowd in the kitchen and nudged Geordie. “Bring him forward. He said he has things to say that you need to know.”
Geordie slipped through the group and grasped Mr. Hobbs by the arm, urging him forward. “Mr. Hobbs has a few things he needs to say concerning Morgan. Sorry to put ye on the spot, Mr Hobbs.”
“No trouble. Got me through the crowd.”
Everyone sat down and Auntie poured coffee, plus juice for the two children. She then began to bring in the platters of food. Mr. Hobbs slowly laid out all his information as he ate and put the papers on the table in case anyone wished to read the dry legal words about what he had just said.
“I don’t need a house,” said Morgan. “I would rather have my mother and Nana back.”
Belle felt tears sting her eyes and fought them back. “I know, darling, and I wish that was something we could do, but we can’t. This is your mother’s way of being sure you are well taken care of when she can’t do it anymore. Sometimes it is all a parent can do. My father left me this house, and although I love it, I would also much rather have him. So would Abel.” Belle saw her brother vigorously nod.
“I would really like my father to come back so we could catch frogs together,” said Abel.
“Aye, that would be a fine thing,” said Geordie. “My brother Iain did things like that with me and my brothers sometimes.”
