Part 16 (2/2)
”Matthew!” she fairly squealed. ”Matthew!”
Sarah turned her face away from the fire. ”There's no call to be throwing a conniption, Grandma.”
I took a step toward the old woman, and she flinched up tight. She studied the pistol like it was a rattlesnake. Some drool trickled down her chin.
”You hold onto it,” I told her, and offered it by the handle.
She looked at me and blinked. She blinked a few times at the gun, then at me again. She wiped the spit off her chin. Then she reached out quick and s.n.a.t.c.hed away the pistol.
”I shouldn't know how to use such a thing, anyhow,” I told her.
After that, she sort of slumped down in her chair. She cradled the little gun on her lap as if it were a cup of tea. Maybe she didn't know how to use it any better than I did, but I was more confident than ever that Whittle wouldn't turn up.
He hadn't come to this house, after all. That was a relief, but a disappointment, too. Since he wasn't here, the General wouldn't get a chance to shoot him. He was on the loose, and I wondered how I'd ever manage to track him down.
The longer I stayed, the farther away he was likely to get.
That was heavy on my mind when the General returned.
”The fellow must've bypa.s.sed us,” he said.
He saw that Mable had the gun, but he let the matter lie and didn't mention it.
”The thing for us now,” he said, ”is for the rest of you to turn in. I've taken the precaution of locking the doors. I'll keep on my toes and patrol the house till dawn. Sarah, show Trevor to a guest room.”
”I should be on my way, actually,” I said. ”He's out in the night, somewhere, and the sooner I find him...”
”Nonsense,” Sarah broke in.
”Nonsense is right,” added the General. ”I won't have you straying out in the snow.”
”We had the Great Blizzard last winter,” Sarah told me. ”Some four hundred souls perished.
”This is no blizzard, but the snow's coming down heavy. You don't want to be out in it, Trevor. You'd freeze up like a statue.”
I reckoned that was true. And I sure didn't hanker to leave the warm house. I was loath to part from the General and Sarah, too. Mable wouldn't be any great loss. But I liked the other two and they were the first really friendly folks I'd encountered in longer than a month.
Besides, there was slim chance I'd be able to find Whittle tonight.
The General, he took the little gun from Mable. She gave it up without a fight. He handed it to me. ”Keep this with you.”
”Yes, sir.”
Sarah fetched her lamp off the mantel and said, ”Come along, Trevor.”
I bid the others goodnight. Together, we left the parlor and headed for the stairs. ”Do you have a home of your own?” Sarah asked.
”Yes, ma'am. It's nothing like this, of course. Mother and I have a flat in London, England.”
”Just the two of you?”
”There's Agnes, our servant.”
”We've had servants,” Sarah said. With a soft laugh, she added, ”They never stay long. Grandma makes life too unpleasant for them.”
As we started up the stairs, she asked, ”What of your father?”
”He was a soldier. He lost his life at the Battle of Maiwand.”
”Oh. I'm awfully sorry. Your mother is all right, however? She wasn't among those you mentioned who were murdered on the boat?”
”She was safe at home when last I saw her. I left her on an errand, actually. It was something of an accident that I found myself on the yacht.”
”Then she doesn't know what's become of you?”
My throat clogged up when Sarah asked that. All I could do was nod in reply.
”Well then, we shall take care of it first thing in the morning. I've never been blessed with a child of my own, but I can certainly imagine how terribly worried your mother must be.”
I managed to come out with a shaky, ”Thank you.”
We entered one of the rooms just past the top of the stairs. ”I hope you'll be comfortable here. We keep the room tidy for occasional guests-mostly Grandpa's old friends from the Point.”
I saw the big bed, and it looked grand.
Sarah lit up the lamp on the table beside it, then turned around to face me. ”I'm afraid we have no suitable clothing for a young man of your size. How old are you?”
”Fifteen, ma'am. I'll be sixteen next June.”
”You're so dear,” she said. Smiling kind of sad, she reached out and petted my cheek. ”I do hope you'll be in no hurry to leave us.”
My face heated up considerable, what with her stroking it.
”I'm quite glad to be here,” I murmured.
”Goodnight, now. Sleep well. We'll see you in the morning.”
”Yes, ma'am.”
”Sarah. Please call me Sarah.”
”Sarah.”
Leaning forward, she gave my forehead a gentle kiss. Then she turned away and left me alone. Out in the hall, she took a turn to the left, so I figured she was going on to her own room. I hurried over to the doorway and watched her, mostly to make sure she didn't get jumped even though I figured Whittle was far off somewhere in the night.
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