Perhaps he’d forbidden the children because the structure was not sound?
The gloom within protested the invasion of light. From what she could see, however, the beams were intact. The floor looked solid. Nothing screamed danger. In fact, but for a pile of black wood near the back, the building was empty.
“You see? There’s nothing at all to be concerned about,” Delmare pointed out. “Now, May I go in?”
She shook her head no. “We ought to leave everything as is.”
“Quick, Del!” Fee exclaimed.
Delmare darted inside.
“Felicia!” Hera scolded.
“A bent rule?” she suggested hopefully.
Thiswas what came of rule breaking. “I suggest you forget about bending any more rules. And if you cannot, remember this—a bent rule is a broken one as far as punishment is concerned.”
Fee winced. “We havealwayswanted to know what was inside, but Uncle Heven wouldn’t show us. It’s ghosts. I’msureit’s ghosts.Isit ghosts, Del?”
“Bah! I already told you there is no such thing,” Del said from within. “The only thing in here is just what’s left of an old, stupid carriage. But ahhh!”
Hera’s heart stopped.
“I’m not hurt! Just got my foot caught, is all.”
“Fee, I’m going to put you down, and you are going to stayright here, do you understand?”
Fee wrinkled her nose. “Ionly wanted to see a ghost. I’m not interested in a dusty old carriage.”
“I believe you,” Hera replied. “But if you disobey me—if you bend or break this rule—you can expect a supper of gruel in the nursery!”
Fee shuddered. “I’ll stay right here. I promise.”
Hera set Fee down by the door and then edged her way inside, carefully placing her feet. The further she ventured, the thicker the damp, musty smell.
“Delmare?”
“Here,” he called. “Shoestrings got tangled in a nail. Bad luck, that.”
“Serves you right.” She knelt. “Deceivers don’t prosper, you know.” Although she was one to talk, wasn’t she?
“Are you going to tell Uncle Heven?”
“If I did, your uncle would be very, very disappointed in you.” Not to mention how he’d feel about her! “Did you give him your word you would not come out here on your own?”
“Never. He just commanded.” Delmare frowned. “Andhewent off without a by-your-leave to us this morning, and that, after he’d given his word he’d take us on a picnic.”
“Which is no reason to disobey him!” She reached through what appeared to be a broken wheel to untangle Delmare’s shoelaces from a broken spoke. “He had more pressing issues to attend. Besides, this morning was inclement—not at all picnic weather. He didn’t break his word but was compelled to delay. Mrs. Whitbytoldyou he would take you tomorrow instead.”
She freed the shoe. Delmare immediately scrambled back to his feet.
“And,” she continued, “You should have made me aware of his stricture. This trick was not worthy of you.”
“No.” Delmare hung his head. “What’s worse, there’s nothing exciting here at all. Nothing but a dumb, broken carriage.”
Now that her eyes were fully adjusted, she again observed her surrounds. Delmare had been correct. What she’d first identified as a haphazard pile of planks had, at one time, been a traveling coach. The old-fashioned conveyance had once been grand and glossy but was now mangled almost beyond recognition.
A terrible suspicion dawned. The duke’s parents had been killed in a carriage accident, hadn’t they? But thiscouldn’tbe the carriage.
