Considering that Harriet immediately returned to attempting to relieve Irma of her necklace, resulting in Irma’s faceturning bright red since Harriet was tugging harder than ever, it seemed as if the monkey understood far more of the conversation than Annaliese had imagined. Before she could figure out how to proceed before her mother ran out of air, though, she noticed that Pippin, Wiggles, and Fidget were stealthily moving in on Irma again, coming at her from all directions in a strategic fashion, almost as if they were in the process of a coordinated attack.
Knowing it was highly unlikely that Irma would appreciate three ferrets launching themselves on her in an attempt to save her from Harriet, Annaliese stuck two fingers in her mouth and blew out a shrill whistle, one that had every animal, including Harriet, freezing on the spot.
“That’s quite enough nonsense for the day,” she said, snapping her finger in her ferrets’ direction. “You three, into the house, and no back talk about it, if you please.”
Pippin, instead of complying with that demand, stood on her hind legs and began prattling madly away, waving her front paws around in an obvious attempt to plead her case. Unwilling to allow herself to be swayed by the sheer adorableness of that, Annaliese shook her head Pippin’s way, fighting a smile when the ferret dropped to all fours, let out a donk—a sound ferrets made when communicating—and after sending Annaliese an injured look, began slinking her way toward the castle, Wiggles and Fidget slinking along behind her. They paused when they reached the steps, the reason for the pausing being that Drusilla, Annaliese’s sister and current headmistress of the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies, was standing at the bottom of the steps, not a hair out of place and appearing perfectly composed even though chaos had clearly visited the castle yet again, something it had done often after they’d first moved in.
Annaliese resisted the sigh she longed to expel because, while she adored her sister, Drusilla was one of those annoyinglycompetent types, one who’d been capable of saving the family after they’d been rendered penniless by making the bold decision to turn the castle their aunt had given them into an academy for young ladies.
And even though Drusilla had experienced her share of problems over the years, having even had a fiancé toss her over because of their stolen fortune, she’d always maintained a most proper air, which is exactly why she made such an excellent headmistress.
Annaliese, on the other hand, had never been very diligent when it came to matters of proper decorum, even though she’d received the same lessons in propriety that Drusilla had at the Sherwood Academy for Young Ladies.
That lack of diligence had been responsible for a few questionable incidents, which had then been responsible for why she’d been deemed all but a pariah by society.
In her defense, though, it wasn’t as if she could have ignored the urge to open a window at Mr. Charles Alsbury’s home, which allowed the escape of the two birds of paradise he’d bought for his wife because Mrs. Alsbury had admired their feathers.
Mr. Alsbury had, of course, been furious that his gift to his wife had flown away, even after Annaliese had pointed out that allowing the birds to fly free instead of divesting them of their feathers was the best gift he could have given his wife, something Mrs. Alsbury hadn’t agreed with in the least, as she’d wanted to use the feathers to decorate a hat she’d had her heart set on wearing for Easter.
“Should I ask why there’s a monkey seemingly trying to strangle Mother, or why there’s a parrot perched on Seth McCormick’s head?” Drusilla asked as she began gliding Annaliese’s way, the barest hint of a frown on a face that most people had always claimed was merely ordinary, except for Rhenick Whittenbecker, the gentleman Drusilla had recently married,who made it a habit of proclaiming to everyone that Drusilla was the most beautiful lady he’d ever clapped eyes on.
“It’s a very long story, but one that should probably wait until I rescue Mother from Harriet,” Annaliese said. “Before I do that, though, know that I have every intention of tendering my resignation as I was beyond delinquent today with my role as an instructor of the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies.”
Drusilla blinked. “You want to quit?”
“It really is my only option after the mayhem that occurred at the fair.”
“And that is exactly whyI’mhere, my dear, because I had a feeling you would still be beating yourself up over the whole Norma Jean and Velma incident,” a voice called out behind her.
Turning, Annaliese found Seth’s mother, Louisa McCormick, marching up the drive and tugging an obviously reluctant Norma Jean beside her. Louisa’s marching came to an end when she reached Irma and held out her hand. Oddly enough, a second later, Harriet released her hold on the diamond necklace, took hold of Lousia’s hand, swung herself off Irma, and began prattling away as if she and Louisa were old friends.
After saying something to Harriet that Annaliese didn’t catch, Louisa eyed the parrot on Seth’s head before she smiled. “How lovely to see that you have a way with birds, dear. Do know that I’ve always longed to own a parrot, and also know that my birthday is only a few months away.”
“I know when your birthday is, Mother,” Seth said before he handed the coin dispenser to Harriet, showing her how to press the knob that allowed a coin to shoot out of it, then straightened, something that had the parrot wobbling ever so slightly on his head.
“You know when my birthday is?” Louisa asked.
“You’re my mother. Of course I know when your birthday is, and to prove exactly that, it’s January twenty-third.” Hesmiled. “I will now keep in mind that you’d like a parrot, and with that out of the way, tell me this—what in the world did you say to Harriet to get her to release her hold on Mrs. Merriweather’s necklace?”
Louisa shrugged. “I told her that she was a pretty girl, but I used a soothing tone when I told her that, something a heroine used in a riveting story I recently completed—or, ah, rather read—when she was off looking for buried treasure with her pet monkey and parrot.”
Louisa sent a fond smile to Harriet, who was sitting on the ground, already fascinated with the coin dispenser, before she returned her attention to Annaliese. “However, pirate stories aside, to return to why I’m here, I wanted to make certain that you weren’t going to tender your resignation. As I told you earlier, and as I understand all the mothers of the girls involved today told you as well, we do not hold you responsible for the very poor decisions our daughters made today.” She nodded to Norma Jean, who was looking less than excited to be there. “Norma Jean also has something she wishes to say.”
For the briefest of seconds, Norma Jean looked downright mutinous, until Louisa arched a brow her way. Blowing out a very resigned-sounding breath, Norma Jean trudged forward and dipped into a semblance of a curtsy once she reached Annaliese.
“Miss Merriweather,” Norma Jean began, “forgive me for ambling off today without asking your permission, and forgive me for tossing a smoke grenade into the air without really knowing what it was capable of doing.” She lifted her chin. “I think it should be noted, though, that the grenade did save the day, as well as allowed you to become the proud new owner of a monkey and a parrot.”
“Not exactly the amount of sincere regret I was hoping for, but I guess a lackadaisical apology is better than none,” Louisa said before Annaliese could do more than incline her head atNorma Jean. “With that out of the way,” Louisa continued, taking a step closer to Annaliese, “and because I’ve mentioned how delightful I find parrots, I’ve just had a thought.”
“You’d like me to give you the parrot as an early birthday gift?” was all Annaliese could think of to explain the thought Louisa had just mentioned when Seth’s mother simply stopped talking and took to looking at the parrot, her eyes going distant quite like Seth’s did often.
Louisa blinked, blinked again, then shook her head. “Oh, that would be lovely, my dear, but it hasn’t escaped my notice that the poor thing has a bad winger. Since I’ve heard Norma Jean talk about how you rescue a lot of animals that are in sad shape, I imagine you have more experience tending to their welfare than I do. With that said, though, I’ll be sure to get some books on the subject and read up on the matter in case you need any help with the wing.”
“I’d appreciate hearing about anything you might uncover about bird wings in those books.”
“You are a dear, dear lady,” Louisa said. “But to return to my thought, it’s actually more along the lines of a teensy little request.” She smiled. “I’d like to name the parrot.”
Of anything Annaliese had been expecting, that hadn’t entered her head. Her lips began to curve. “Considering I misplaced your daughter today, Mrs. McCormick, even though you’ve been more than gracious about that, I would be delighted to have you name the parrot, and its name is going to be ...?”
