“I’m not sure which room would be best, but I promise that tonight, I’ll figure out where in the house we must be, so tomorrow you can gaze upon the Cat’s Eye.”
“I want to see the dragon.” Peter folded his arms, clearly determined to have his way.
“Well, we can see that too. It was Draco that led me astray and caused my sniffle. He’s one of the largest constellations in the sky!” Ellie raised her arms and spread them wide.
Maggie cocked her head. “Does it really look like a dragon?”
Ellie crossed her arms. “That’s an interesting question. Have you ever seen a dragon?”
Peter piped up. “There’s no such animal.”
Maggie immediately turned on him. “That’s what you said about an elephant, and yet there is.”
Peter immediately pouted, but Ellie laughed. “No, there is no living dragon, while thereisa living elephant. We shall have a lesson on mammals tomorrow.”
Darius pushed away from the post. “Do you think that wise? You may need more rest.”
“Yes, I see what you mean.” She looked at the children. “I promise it will be our first lesson once I’m up and about.” She leaned forward and whispered, “Hopefully, tomorrow.”
He frowned. Surely she knew he could hear her. “Now you’ve seen that Lady Ferncroft is under the weather, so let’s allow her to rest and feel better.”
“Yes, Father.” Maggie turned and slid off the side of the bed to join him.
But Peter continued to look at Ellie.
“Come, Peter.”
Finally, he scrambled off the chair and joined them, taking Darius’s hand.
He led his children out of the room and down the corridor toward the nursery. They had almost arrived when Peter tugged on his hand. “Yes, Peter?”
“Is our new mama really going to feel good again?”
He crouched down to look Peter in the eye. “I believe she will. She knows a lot about such things. Look at how she helped you get better.”
His son thought for a moment. “She said that thinking happy thoughts for me made me get better faster. If we do that for her, do you think it will work?”
“Happy thoughts?” Darius had never heard of such a thing.
Maggie, who had continued toward the nursery, came back. “Yes. When I told her I was worried about Peter, she said that thinking happy thoughts for him would help. So I thought about all the things he likes, even beetles.” She squinched her nose.
Now he understood. Ellie had given Maggie something to do so she’d feel that she was helping. “Ah, yes. I do believe it would work to help her feel better.”
His son’s chin lifted. “Then we will do that. What makes her happy?”
Darius blinked, caught off guard by the question.
“She likes the stars,” Maggie supplied.
“And elephants, I think.”
At Peter’s suggestion, Darius nodded. “Yes, she does. And do you know what else makes her happy?”
Peter shook his head.
“You and Maggie. She told me just yesterday how happy she was that she had you and Maggie to look after. She even thanked me for that.”
“Me?” Peter pointed to his chest.
