“And there was no sign Fenella was troubled during your meetings?” Calder said suddenly.
“Nothing.”
“H-how did she seem?”
“You know her. She’s your daughter.”
“I want to hear you describe her,” Calder said, eyes forward, hands clenched on his thighs. “Give me that much, brother.”
“She laughs like… like our mother,” Mungo said as they navigated around a horse and cart. “Big. As if she doesn’t care who hears. And she’s not one to take a back step when a forward one is on offer.
“Aye,” Calder said.
“She’s a lovely girl.” The words sounded awkward coming out of his mouth. Mungo wasn’t one for praise—or conversation, if he was being honest.
Silence fell between them for a stretch of road, broken only by the rhythmic clatter of hooves and the creak of the carriage.
“I should have brought her to London sooner,” Calder said suddenly. “Should have taken her from?—”
“It’s no use ‘should have’ing yourself to death,” Mungo cut in. “We’ve all got a long list. It doesn’t help to read it over.”
“You’ve one?” Calder asked quietly.
“Aye. Longer than most.”
“Fenella’s always been fixated with London, so when Duncan said they’d take her, I yielded.”
Mungo heard the hatch behind them rise.
“Miss Downing said she wants to walk from Ripple Lane, as she knows her way from there,” Gray said. “It’s just?—”
“I know where it is,” Mungo snapped.
“What surprises me is that you have so many people who care about you when your manners are seemingly unchanged,” Calder said.
“He’s all bark and no bite, Bud says.”
Mungo glared Benjamin into silence after he said that.
“You’ve no notion of what I am, Calder, as we’ve had nothing to do with each other in years.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for it.”
The words sat heavy on Mungo’s shoulders. Pride had controlled a lot of his life.
He negotiated the carriage around horses and vehicles for a few more minutes in silence and then pulled it to a halt.
“Right then, Benjamin. You walk the horses, passing here often, and we’ll come back to you,” Mungo said.
They all congregated beside the carriage.
“Take the lead, Miss Downing,” Bram said. “Everyone else, fall in behind and attempt to be quiet.”
Right, the voice inside his head said as Mungo watched Eliza move to the right. They all followed.
She was nervous. Anyone would be with half the Nightingale clan at her back and a missing girl to find. Their mission would either come to naught or they’d find something to push them one step closer to Fenella and Polly.
Be strong, niece, and know we’ll find you.
