“Saved by your nephew. The peace is over,” Wolf said as his old dog Hep appeared with his son. “Does your mother know where you are?”
He nodded, his black hair flopping over his forehead. Hep moved to his master and sat on his foot. Old now, with a grey muzzle and stiff gait, he was still the ugliest dog she’d ever met. He also had the biggest heart.
“Hello, Hep,” Samantha said. The dog looked at her and gave a little tail wag but did not leave Wolf.
Wolf had an affinity with animals that was a wonder to see. They came from miles around to be with him. Right now, she had no doubt that several mice were watching him and a bird or two. Onyx sat and leaned on his thigh.
“Come here, Christopher.” Alice pulled her nephew into her lap.
“Now try again, Samantha, and this time do what you’ve always done. Hold out your other hand and point, then release the knife,” Wolf directed.
Samantha frowned. “I haven’t been doing that, have I?”
They both shook their heads.
Samantha did as they asked and hit the target near dead center. She did a little dance. Alice sighed.
“We should have withheld that information.”
“We are to attend the Mr. Rolland's Circus of Strange and Ridiculous Curiosities today. Kat has requested we do so for her birthday,” Wolf said. “Will you enjoy that do you think, Christopher?”
“Very much!” The little boy jumped up and down in excitement before her.
“How is Mr. Rolland still running it?” Samantha asked. “I was eight when first I attended. I remember thinking he was old then.”
“Apparently he uses his cane now,” Wolf added. “James has hired the entire place as there are so many of us, and as we know best behavior is something we tell the children to do, but rarely does it happen.”
“We’ve burned that place down, cracked the mermaid tank, and there was that time when Simon took his slingshot and hit Mr. Rolland’s top hat, sending it flying,” Samantha said.
“Which was not funny,” Wolf mock-glared at her.
“No indeed.”
“Anyway, as it is just us, he is putting on a special showing early,” Alice said.
“Wonderful. What can possibly happen if it is just us?” Samantha said.
They both laughed because the answer to that was anything.
…
After her morning with Wolf and Alice and begging them not to tell James she’d come to practice unescorted, Samantha had snuck back into the house.
She ate her morning meal with the family and then went to the room on the top floor of James’s townhouse that had been set up for her to paint. The work she had packed and shipped home from Ireland was still in its crates stacked neatly against the wall. Her painting had improved, and even she, who was hardest on herself, knew that.
Opening the first crate, she pulled out an oil painting of a scene that was a ten-minute walk from where she’d been staying. Pasture, hills, and trees. She loved it for the memory of what she’d learned while painting it.
A tap on the door had her turning to find Warwick there.
“Kat wishes to go driving in the park for her birthday. I have been selected to take her and you, apparently. I just called to tell you we will do so on Thursday.”
“Good morning, Warwick.”
“Good morning, Samantha.” He bowed.
“Surely her parents are a better choice to take her driving?”
He smiled. Not a grand gesture, just a Warwick smile that lit his face and made his lovely eyes seem greener. Seeing him again, she realized that yes, her heart did beat a little harder, but first and foremost he was still the man and friend he’d always been. She would never jeopardize that. It was also unlikely Warwick would see her as his Raven.
