A gentle breeze danced around him, rustling the leaves of the trees.Birdsong infused the air with soothing effect until a disturbance sent the birds soaring, their squawks of alarm announcing the four young women’s arrival.
Samantha and Hazel burst from between the trees, racing along the well-trodden path with Tara and Holly close behind.Their lean bodies moved with an elegant ease that could only be reached through vigorous exercise, determination, and discipline.
Their attire, more suited to men than to women, aided their movements.Their shirts and breeches were snuggly fitted, their shoes constructed from a sanded calf-skin that made the leather especially supple.
Shoulder to shoulder, they sprinted toward the ninth obstacle they would encounter as part of the course – a low stone bridge traversing what looked like a natural depression in the landscape.For them it would serve as a tunnel.
Dorian watched the women fling themselves onto their bellies and into a crawl, their arms dragging their bodies forward until they vanished from view.A moment passed before they appeared on the opposite side of the bridge, Samantha now in the lead.
She leapt to her feet, Hazel hard on her heels, and ran for the ramp leading onto a piece of peripheral fencing.Without needing to slow her movements, she made her way along the narrow beam, gaining additional distance to Hazel, if only by a slight margin.
A bothersome fly began buzzing around Dorian’s face.He swatted it away, his attention on his protégés briefly interrupted.It nearly caused him to miss Samantha’s somersault through the air as she leapt from the fence.
He nodded his approval and checked his pocket watch.She and Hazel were both on track to beating their own personal records while Tara and Holly, the youngest of the four, did their best to keep up.
With the Crown’s support, he’d managed to train the women to become the deadliest spies in the country.Only a few select people knew of The Nightingale Project, an initiative intended to bring England’s enemies to their knees, if need be.
Unfortunately, war with the French had ended since the project’s inception.Napoleon had been captured and imprisoned.There wasn’t the same need for military intelligence as there had been before.His project lacked a reason for implementation, and since he needed to prove the necessity for its continued existence, one of his students had taken on an assignment much too simple for her level of skill.
A satisfied smile tugged at his lips as he watched Samantha circle around and approach the course’s greatest challenge - a series of staggered roman pillars gradually rising from the ground in ever increasing height.
To the untrained eye, they would appear like nothing more than a curious folly, arcing from the forest side of the property and toward the roofline of Clearview House.For the women he trained, the pillars tested the contestants’ balance, agility, and courage.
The pillars were not for the faint of heart, but they were necessary.If his students were ever chased across the rooftops of a city, this test would make sure they were able to do so as though it were second nature.
Samantha kept an even pace, the toes of her right foot landing on the first pillar.At only ten inches in height, it was more of a tall step.She leapt up onto the next one with her left foot, continuing her upward climb with Hazel second and the other two close behind.
It didn’t take long for the women to reach a height equal to Clearview’s second floor landing.Still they continued, their nimble pace crafting the illusion that this was a simple feat, easily accomplished by anyone daring enough to attempt it.
Dorian knew this was not the case.One wrong move would lead to disaster, which was why he never let them try it until he was confident they would excel.
“Don’t you worry they’ll fall?”The question came from Chief Constable Kendrick, who’d just been shown onto the terrace by Branton, Dorian’s butler.
Dorian dismissed the servant, then glanced at Kendrick who’d come to stand beside him.“They won’t.”
He returned his attention to the four women.Samantha had already reached the top-most pillar, so far above the spot where he stood, she was level with the roof-line.Hazel was right behind her with Tara and Holly closing the distance.If Samantha didn’t jump soon and the others failed to slow down, they’d collide and lose their balance.
Beside him, he sensed Kendrick holding his breath.
It was expelled in a gush of amazement when Samantha leapt for the roof and vanished from sight.The others followed, disappearing one after the other.
“Look there,” Dorian murmured, directing Kendrick’s gaze to the right.
Samantha soon reappeared.Gripping a rope attached to one of the many iron rings that had been embedded as structural ties at the top of the walls, she swung herself over the side of the building and started rappelling downward.
With bent knees, she landed in a stance that allowed her to spring back into a run and race to the end of the course.Hazel met her there two seconds later and clasped her raised hand in celebration of their achievement.Tara and Holly soon joined them.
United, yet independently capable.
The camaraderie and support they consistently showed one another pleased Dorian greatly.They would do well if they were ever called into action.He took a slow breath and expelled it, aware that there should be five instead of just four.Melody’s talents were wasted in her current position as lady’s companion to the dowager Marchioness of Heathbrooke.
He often wished he’d been able to send someone else in her place.
The problem was trust.In this regard there were only five people upon whom Dorian knew he could count without fail.Samantha, Hazel, Tara, Holly, and Melody.He’d saved them from the orphanage where they’d been placed and had raised them with his wife’s assistance until her death a few years ago.
His only regret was the shortsightedness with which he’d regarded the project.In retrospect he should have fostered ten more children at least.
Clapping, Dorian shouted his support, then sent the footman who’d been waiting with a tray full of fresh lemonade, glasses, and biscuits to go serve the women their treat.
