The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel

Byron?”

Mr. Morrison watched her closely for a moment, and then turned slightly away. “Let us see if I am still alive. I don’t know how likely that is. But revenge is a strange thing, Lucy. For so long I have longed to kill Byron, to run him through and be done with it, but part of me fears doing so. Once I have my revenge, what will there be for me? What reason will I have to live?”

“Your duty?”

“Let someone else take upon his shoulders the next task. I have done enough.”

Lucy decided to speak without censoring herself. “If you allow yourself to be killed in some foolish, noble sacrifice, I shall never forgive you.”

“What a terrifying fate,” he said. “Never to be forgiven by Lucy Derrick.”

“You and I are in this until the end. I am risking my life as well, and I shall not be happy if you leave me to fend for myself.”

He laughed. “You are coming to protect me, not the other way around.”

“Just promise me you will not be reckless,” she said.

“I am surprised you would not push me off that precipice yourself. Have you come to hate me less?”

“Yes,” said Lucy, managing to smile. “I have come to hate you very much less indeed.”

As they arrived in Nottinghamshire, the sun was setting. It had been temperate during the day, and did not much cool off after dusk as dark clouds domed the sky. At the outskirts of town, Mr. Morrison dismissed the driver with compensatory pay for having to find his own way back to London. He did not want any others to face what he, Lucy, and Mrs. Emmett must, and so he prepared to take the reins himself for the final miles.

“I hate to enter the abbey at night,” he said as he climbed up to take the reins, “but we cannot wait for morning.”

Though terrified, Lucy affected good cheer. “Whatever we find at Newstead might be less frightening in the light of day, but likely no less dangerous.”

Mr. Morrison grinned. “Though possibly harder to see.”

And so they rode on to Newstead. This night was far less well lit than the last time they had come, but the weather was warmer, and without the chill breeze in the air, the place struck Lucy as less menacing. That was a mistake, of course. She must not let down her guard.

There was nothing to be gained from secrecy. They could not slip into the abbey unobserved if anyone was there to guard against them, and so Mr. Morrison drove the carriage through the gates toward the main building. It was dark and cool, and not a light shone within.

Lucy began to collect the trinkets she needed from her bag. She put on her various charms and talismans and herbs of protection. She handed similar items to Mr. Morrison.

“Our goal,” he said, “is simple. We enter, we find the pages as quickly as we can, and then we flee. If we can do this without conflict or encounter, I shall be very happy.”

“And then what?” asked Lucy.

“Once we have secured the pages, we can move against Lady Harriett. After she is destroyed, your sister will have her child returned to her.”

“You have loftier goals than returning my sister’s child,” Lucy said.

“I am here to save lives, Miss Derrick. With your niece safely returned, I will depend upon your help to move against Ludd. He and his followers must be restrained. If necessary, we will act against Mary, though I should hate to do so.”

“And if Lady Harriett tries to stop us before we have the pages?”

“Then we shall deal with her.”

Lucy felt a strange thrill. The two of them, working together, she with this new Jonas Morrison, this man who had never been vile, never been evil, but had always been tender and caring and witty and protective. It was strange how quickly she found herself adjusting to this new understanding of a man she had hated for so long.

Lucy, Mr. Morrison, and Mrs. Emmett disembarked from the coach, and Mr. Morrison began to assemble his things. He brought a heavy leather bag, which he slung over his shoulder. He placed pistols in his pockets, and strapped to his back two shotguns. He looked like a man preparing to attempt a prison break.

Lucy tended to her own preparations, making certain she had what she needed and could reach her various talismans and ingredients when she needed them. She had so much upon her—herbs and dried flowers and other elements. She had talismans she’d made so long ago, and some she’d made recently. She was as prepared as she could be, but she did not feel nearly prepared enough.

After checking the contents of his bag one last time, Mr. Morrison looked up at Lucy and grinned. “Let us go make our enemies hate us more, shall we?”

They began to walk toward the main building. Despite her pelisse and the relative warmth of the night, Lucy felt cold, and she wrapped her arms together across her chest. Her heart bounded, and her breath came deep and heavy. To one side stood Mr. Morrison, his grim expression visible in the near perfect darkness. On the other stood Mrs. Emmett, her hair and bonnet nearly to her eyes, smiling with her usual lack of concern. This is real, Lucy thought. This was her life and it was happening, and they were about to do something likely dangerous and possibly fantastic. Whatever it was, there was no turning back.

From the shrubbery off to the left of the main door they heard a rustle of leaves and then soft footsteps. Mr. Morrison reached into his coat for one of his pistols, but did not pull it out. It might have been an animal or a person or some terrible creature none of them could imagine, but the form soon took shape as a woman—slight and unthreatening. It was the deaf girl, Sophie Hyatt.

Lucy let out a breath in relief. Mr. Morrison let go of his pistol. For her part, Sophie began to scratch out some words on her slate, and Mr. Morrison took out the lantern from the coach. Sophie showed the slate to Lucy.

Go back. Something is here.

“What is here, Sophie?” Lucy asked.

Something bad.

“Is it Byron?” Mr. Morrison asked.

Was here. Came, took some things, left. Then something else came. I am frightened.

“He knows I am after the pages,” said Lucy. “He has attempted to please both me and Lady Harriett for too long. Now that we are down to the end of it, he has made his choice.”

“Damn it!” Mr. Morrison cried. “If that is so, then there is no guessing where the pages could be now.”

“No,” said Mrs. Emmett in a tone unusually forceful. “You are meant to be here. Maybe the pages are here and maybe they are not, but you must go inside.”

Lucy closed her eyes and reached out, feeling the pages that were upon them, wanting to sense their link to their brothers. They were hers. They belonged to her, they belonged to each other, and they wanted to be found by their owner, they wanted to be reunited. If she could but feel their yearning, Lucy would surely be able to sense, if nothing else, at least a direction.

Then it seemed the ground opened up under her, and she grabbed on to Mr. Morrison’s arm lest she fall. “Whatever he took, is wasn’t the pages,” she said. “They are still inside the house.”

Mr. Morrison smiled without humor. “That is two pieces of good news. The pages are here, and Byron is not. Perhaps this will be easier than we imagined.”

“Yes, so long as we are polite to the dark things, all will be well.” Lucy turned to Sophie and held the girl’s shoulders so her lips would be easier to read. “Go home, Sophie. Mr. Morrison and I must do this, but I would have you safe. Will you go and be safe?”

She nodded.

Lucy turned to Mr. Morrison. “Then let us find the pages.”

They made it only halfway to the front entrance of the abbey before Lucy halted in her tracks. She could feel it, the dark thing Sophie had spoken of. She was not overwhelmed by fear, but there was an energy here, a force of something building, the way the air crackles with electricity before a storm.

“Oh, my dear,” said Mrs. Emmett. “I am so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” asked Lucy.

Mrs. Emmett shook her head.