My eyes narrowed. I had nothing to do with the employment of these men. “Me? What are you talking about?”
Mr. Wilbur cleared his throat. “We’re your guards, the Libratiers. It’s our job to keep an eye on you.”
“Keep an eye on me? I don’t understand. Why would you need to keep an eye on me?” The men gave each other knowing looks, and my confusion grew into anger. “You spied on me. Gathered intel, was that it?” That’s how Bollard knew so much about me. These three men had been keeping notes. How to set up my closet because one of the three went snooping one night after dinner. Pilings; well, they heard my mom complain, or they watched us eat through the kitchen window because I never once did that in front of company. They didn’t work for me; they were just spinning it that way. These men, my dad’s trusted friends, were spies for the Merrics. No, these men weren’t my dad’s friends. Friends don’t work for your mysterious uncle. This also explained why they played along so well with Grandma. No. They weren’t playing her, they were playing my parents.
I was steaming mad. I stood up to leave.
Mr. Naugle stood up too and said, “Please let us explain.”
“Look, I seem like a fool—goodness knows my whole family must’ve seemed a little dense—but I can put two and two together. Bollard hired you. You weren’t even Dad’s friend, were you? I mean, you spent Christmas with us.”
“Yes, we were Matthew’s friend,” Mr. Wilbur said. “We liked your father; your dad is great.”
“These men work for you as bodyguards.” Dryden pointed to my seat. “Please stay so we may discuss this.”
I stood, hands on my hips. “Bodyguards! In Barton, New York? Ha! You don’t need bodyguards in Barton. I’ve had enough surprises and half-truths. I want to talk to my uncle!” I demanded, because this was too much. He’d hired men to pretend to be my teachers and befriend our family in order to spy on us, and he had a lot of explaining to do.
“Please, Waverly. Just listen. Sit please and listen.” Rudolf carried a straight-back chair to the table for Manon. She took my hand and said in my ear, “I am here for you, and so is Enzo.”
I pulled my hand away from her. I liked Manon and Enzo, but I wasn’t under any false illusions. They both worked for Bollard; that had been apparent since I met them. These men? I loved these men like family, and here I found out they were employees sent to watch me.
I was heading for the door when Dryden called, “Do you believe for a moment that the second in line for the throne should be unprotected?”
“Oh, really! You want to get into it!” I said, and I spun towards the group intending to tell them all off. My eyes locked on Manon, and I saw a fear in hers like she was scared of me or my reaction. I wondered if she’d get into trouble if I didn’t at least hear Dryden through.
“Fine.” I huffed and took my seat. “Go right ahead.”
“Good,” Dryden said. “This is good. It is time you knew. These men are some of your Barton detail.”
“What do you mean by part of my Barton detail? Were there more than you three?”
Rudolf poured a glass of water and handed it to Manon, who was still pale. Manon gave him a whisper of a smile.
“There were hundreds,” Dryden replied.
“Hundreds?” I couldn’t believe it. “Of guards in Barton?”
Enzo left the room.
“We had twenty-eight safe homes in Barton.”
“Twenty-eight?” My mind raced down streets and dirt roads. There weren’t many homes in Barton. “That has to be a third of the houses.”
The men nodded. Mr. Wilbur said, “There were many men in town. The Merrics stationed us in Barton the longest.”
“They stationed us at the school to keep a closer detail in case there was another Galvantry attack,” Mr. Hincho said.
I swallowed. “There was an attack?”
All three nodded. “Many.”
“On me? No, I would have known.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Mr. Naugle scoffed. “We did our job, and you had a normal and healthy childhood.”
Mr. Hincho sat forward. “We thwarted events before they ever occurred.”
I crossed my arms and sat back. I didn’t believe it. “When?”
Mr. Wilbur shrugged his shoulders. “A small army of Galvantry men showed up to your graduation.”
“Nothing happened at graduation.” Annoyance filled my voice.
Mr. Hincho smiled. “We did our jobs, and you were none the wiser.”
“You should have seen Old Naugle here. He took down five men at once.” Mr. Hincho slapped his friend on the back.
Five men? Naugle? As big as he was, my imagination struggled to picture Naugle taking out a group of men. “You did?”
“Yes, the teaching jobs were covers.”
“But you were so good at them.” All three men had been class-act teachers.
Mr. Wilbur laughed. “We were a mess in the beginning. We had to hire tutors to teach us.”
Enzo returned with servants pushing trays of desserts and a pot of tea and coffee. They came to me first, and I grabbed a dessert without looking and put it on a dish and placed it in my lap.
Dryden removed his hat and helped himself to a small plate of pink and yellow cookies. “Your uncle has always known how important you are to this world and how much this world will need you. There have been men placed in Barton since before you were born. Men are still in place to protect your grandmother and parents. Your parents have no idea, but your grandmother knew.”
“Of course, she knew, and it would have been nice for me to know it too,” I said, and I pointed to the three men.
Hincho shook his head. “I know you’re angry, but Wavy, how could we tell you? You have any idea how crazy we would have sounded to you.”
I shook my head even though he was right.
Wilbur took a cup of tea and added, “Knowing your world, I wouldn’t
