“It must have taken you hours to build these,” she finally said.
“Only twenty or so, but it was time well spent as I’ve never studied insects and spiders before and had to delve into their world in order to create suitable environments.” His brows drew together. “I never realized bugs were quite so interesting, but now that I have, I’m sure I’ll soon be pestering you with all the questions I’ve already amassed, such as why a female praying mantis often eats her mate.”
Annaliese grinned. “A question I’m going to encourage you to never broach when you’re within earshot of the students. Mothers wouldn’t want their daughters to think it’s acceptable to do away with one’s mate. But to answer your question, from what I’ve observed, praying mantises are opportunistic, meaning they’ll eat whatever’s close by, and unfortunately, that can often be their mates.”
“For what purpose?”
“No one knows for sure, but I think it probably has something to do with egg production, paired with a voracious appetite.”
“I had no idea. What else do you know?”
It suddenly felt as if Christmas had come early as she’d never had anyone actually press her for details regarding her insect knowledge.
“I have a lot of notes I’ve taken on insects over the years, along with my observations and theories.” She caught Seth’s eye. “Would you care to see those?”
“I would indeed,” he didn’t hesitate to say.
The next hour passed far too quickly as Annaliese, after pulling out ten of the hundred or so journals she’d kept over the years, showed Seth her work, the minutes flying by as he read page after page. He then took to studying the drawings she’d made to go with her research, her cheeks warming and her stomach feeling quite fluttery when he asked question after question—and actually listened to her answers, something not even her family had ever done as they tended to turn a little glassy-eyed when she got too detailed about a certain insect.
“You do realize that you have a more-than-impressive collection of information here, don’t you?” Seth asked as he lifted his head from a drawing she’d done of a caterpillar. “I never had the least little idea that caterpillars have twelve eyes.”
“I had to use a really strong magnifying glass to count all of them, and I studied a good fifty or so caterpillars before I made the determination that all of them have twelve eyes.”
“You’ll have to show me that magnifying glass because I might be able to make you something that could make your observations easier.”
“You’ve already made me far too much, and—”
The sound of feet stomping through the dungeon cut Annaliese off mid-sentence. She turned to the door just as Norma Jean stomped through it, Seth’s sister stopping in her tracks the moment she caught sight of her brother.
“I thought for sure that Mabel was mistaken when she thought she heard Coraline and Phoebe talking about how they spotted you coming into the castle. They, of course, thought youwere here because of all their plotting, but I know full well why you’re really here,” Norma Jean said as storm clouds gathered in the blue eyes she already had narrowed on her brother.
“And why do you think I’m really here?” he asked as Norma Jean continued glaring at him.
She released a huff. “Mother sent you to spy on me and make sure I’m behaving myself.”
“If I was here to spy on you, I’d hardly be down in the dungeon now, would I?”
Norma Jean’s eyes narrowed another fraction. “If you’re not here to spy on me, then why are you here? It’s not time to fetch me from school.”
“I’m not fetching you from school today, Mother is, because I won’t be available. I’m off to deliver another hearing aid to our aunt but thought I’d stop by and deliver some containers to Annaliese for her insect collection.”
Norma Jean shot a glance to where Annaliese had arranged her new habitats while Seth had been looking through her journals. She was glaring at him again a second later.
“You made Miss Merriweather all of those?”
Seth raked a hand through his hair, leaving it more delightfully tousled than ever. “Why do I get the distinct impression you’re annoyed about that?”
“Because you don’t makemeanything at all, although if you’re thinking about making me something now because I’ve probably made you feel guilty, know that I wouldn’t care for a bug container.”
“Duly noted, but you should note that I don’t feel guilty in the least because I just finished making you a personal safety device, although it’s not ready to give to you quite yet as I haven’t tested it out.”
“You made me a personal safety device?” Norma Jean repeated.
“I just said I did, but again, it’s not quite ready yet.”
Norma Jean tilted her head. “But it’s mine?”
“I believe I said that as well.”
