“Hm.” Gazing out the flight window, he was forced to squint against a painfully bright glare of sunlight. “I do not see the house.”
“It has disappeared beyond those hills,” Cecilia said. She smiled at him, but Daniel did not smile back. He had served this woman dinner in Alex and Charlotte’s house, watched her rock her baby to sleep with a pirate lullaby (“Mama’s going to steal you a diamond ring...”), and listened to her chat with Charlotte for hours about shoes and swords. But in this moment all he could think was that even the most dreadful Wisteria Society member feared Cecilia Bassingthwaite for what she might be capable of doing, due to her grim heritage.
It eased his mind somewhat.
“Trust me,” she said. “The world is not large enough for them to hide from me.”
Once Puck House cleared those same hills, however, the A.U.N.T. cottage was nowhere to be seen.
“Hm,” said Cecilia with mild surprise.
“Hm,” said Daniel in a considerably dark tone. He crossed his arms tightly, as if doing so would prevent his heart from beating right out of his chest.
“Could they have landed?” Ned suggested. He had brought up the tea tray and, having just served Cecilia a cup of tea, was now pouring whiskey into another for Daniel. He moved with such languid calm, Daniel wanted to bash the tray over his head. The gurgling of the whiskey as it poured from bottle into cup sounded like quicksand sucking time into its airless depths, and Daniel had to force a four-count breath upon himself just so he knew he wasn’t suffocating.
“They might have gone to ground,” he agreed. “But if we circle to search, and they have in fact flown ahead, we’ll never catch up.” He heard a tapping noise and looked around in aggravation for what was causing it—only to realize his own foot was responsible, knocking fretfully against the floor. He gave it such an intense scowl, it went still.
“Why would this Snodgrass kidnap Miss Dearlove?” Cecilia asked. “Has he lost his heart to her?”
“Not yet,” Daniel muttered, and sent a memo to himself:Obtain a spoon for the extraction of Snodgrass’s cardiac organ.Then a memory rose: Mrs. Kew handing Alice and him their fake wedding rings and intoning, “What the mission requirements have joined together, let no one put asunder... but if they do, these rings will reunite you. Snodgrass designed them specially.”
Yanking the band from his finger, he peered at the words inscribed on its interior.“Coniungo cum socium meo,”he read aloud.
Immediately the ring began to tug against the prevailing gravity.
“ ‘I connect with my partner,’ ” Ned translated. “What a charming inscription for a wedding ring.”
“Actually, it’s a tracking device,” Daniel told him. His hand followed the magic, and he smiled grimly. “Starboard, if you please, Miss Bassingthwaite. One hundred and twenty degrees from the front door.”
Murmuring Latin, Cecilia turned the wheel as directed. The house veered, tilting against the flow of the wind, and increased its speed even more.
Tap-tap-tap.Daniel forced his foot into stillness once more and almost sighed, thinking of Alice’s beautiful, restless fingers. Emotions were pitching wildly through him, sharp as knives and equally dangerous. Thoughts began stuffing gunpowder into every instinct they could get hold of.
“Have a drink,” Ned urged, holding forth a cup. Daniel glared athim, and Ned immediately stepped back. “Then again, alcohol might not be wise at the moment. Cecilia, darling, if I should be killed by Mr. Bixby’s look, I give you permission to remarry.”
Cecilia huffed a derisive laugh.
“One hundred and thirty degrees,” Daniel snapped.
Puck House slipped into the new course. So competent was Cecilia’s piloting, and so well articulated the stabilization phrase of the incantation, that it almost seemed as if they sat on the ground, despite that ground blurring past, far below. Although Daniel rationally knew they were moving at speed, he wanted to pick up the house and throw it at the horizon. But all he could do was stare out the window, foot tapping again with an unfamiliar sense of helplessness, fingers gripping the wedding ring as tightly as fear gripped his heart.
Snodgrass had better enjoy his flight, because when Daniel caught up with him he was going to take the villain apart, piece by piece—by spoon or by hand, or perhaps by a damn incantated toothbrush—then transport him to a hospital like an ethical man should do, ensuring that quality medical care put him back together—just so he could take him apart all over again.
Alice opened her eyes slowly, afraid of what she might see. So much sensation throbbed inside her, it felt as if she made at least seven respectable persons. Every limb and bone ached, and every thought shouted at every other thought in such a clamor, she wished someone would take off her head. But checking herself with bleary-eyed trepidation, she saw just (1) woman seated on the floor with her (2) legs stretched before her and (3) hairy caterpillars grinning at her in the most hideous way.
She blinked wildly, and as her vision came into focus, she realized what she’d seen was Dr. Snodgrass’s mustache stirring as he grimacedwith the effort of tying a final knot in the ropes that bound her to the cottage’s steering wheel.
“I say, you’re awake!” he exclaimed, sitting back on his haunches. His hair was in disarray, his eyes bright with what Alice suspected to be LSD (Lunatic Scientist Disorder). “How remarkable,” he said, “considering my ingenious device sent the ceiling falling to pieces on top of you!”
Alice peered achingly beyond him to where a narrow length of timber leaned against the dust-covered sofa. “That is only one plank, Doctor. And I do believe it’s just plywood. Yet again you have failed.”
Snodgrass’s face flushed scarlet. “I have not failed, what! You’re the one tied up! And when this cottage crashes in London with you inside it—I having first made my exit using my emergency escape hat—the bomb will detonate upon impact with the ground.Boom!Then who will be the failure?! Go ahead and scream with despair while you still can, before I gag you! Ha ha!”
“May I point out one small flaw in your plan, Doctor?” Alice asked calmly.
“Flaw?! There is no flaw!” His eyes narrowed. “What flaw?”
“The fact that I am not tied up.”
