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“What an expression!” I laughed “Where did you learn that? It sounds like so Em would have said”
“The Bible” Marcus picked a blackberry out of the big bowl Marthe had left on the counter and popped it in his mouth “You’re not very well versed in your proverbs and parables, Professor Bishop”
“Guilty of being a pagan, your honor,” I said, raising h “But I bet you don’t know the names of all the sabbats witches observe and their dates, either”
“True” Marcus held out his hand “So, do we have a deal?”
“I don’t even knohat I’ for it
Marcus withdrew his hand slightly “Once we shake, there’s no backing out of it A deal’s a deal”
“Deal” I shook Marcus’s hand
“Don’t worry,” he said “What could possibly go wrong?”
—
“GOOD LORD” Matthew stood, mouth open, and surveyed our ith amazement
Marcus was hanging frohts in his teeth I was drenched and sunburned, and one of ed Bales of hay studded the field on the far side of the moat We’d roo of the wide-bottom boats around from the boathouse and tied the I’d decorated the boats with garlands of red and white flowers to make them look more festive
I threw , isn’t it?”
“I had no idea ere in for such an extravagant production,” Matthew said, grinning down at me “A few sparklers, maybe, but this?”
“Wait until you see the fireworks,” I told hiht all the leftovers from the Fêtes des Ponts in June”
“We’ve got so the lights over the end of the branch He dropped his legs, swung for a moment by one hand like a ht down
“And when is this all starting?” Matthew asked
“Ten thirty—sharp,” Marcus said “Are the twins taking naps?”
“I left the soundly,” Matthew said
“Good, because I don’t want the As he walked, his smile turned to whistles
“I haven’t seen him like this for months,” Matthew said
“Me, neither”
“We’re just passing the halfway point in his separation fro that so e of mood?”
“Possibly Telling his tale has helped, too” I looked up at Matthew “Do you think he’ll be ready to talk about New Orleans soon?”
A shadow crossed Matthew’s face He shrugged
“Speaking of ti the subject “Have you heard from Baldwin? His teek deadline came and ithout a word”
“No, I haven’t talked to hiers It was the absolute truth
That didn’t es, in both my voicemail and my e-mail He’d also written me a letter, which bore a Japanese post it, comforted by the fact that he was halfway around the world
“Odd It’s not like Baldwin to let so like that slip,” Matthew mused
“Maybe he changed histo weave a spell around Apollo Want to come and watch?”
Matthew laughed
“Wait, I have an even better idea You’ll have to catch er at him Then I took off at a run
“That is the best invitation I’ve had in so after me
I kept running, knowing this was just part of the chase, knowing Mattheould catch round, his ar me from impact, a few yards from our secret hideaway
At some point in the late nineteenth century, Philippe had constructed a small boathouse inside a curve of the moat that looked over the estate’s open fields and forests The structure was typical of its time, made out of wood rather than the castle’s stone, and decorated with all erbread trim
It had fallen into a state of roinal yellow paint on the outside faded and peeling, and the inside dusty with disuse Matthew had fixed the roof toplans to restore it to its forlory Now that he’d widened and deepened the er seeine us all enjoying a paddle around on theto providescull
Matthew and I often fled to the boathouse e needed soue inside, which we had grown fond of during our stolen oing on with Marcus, not to , we hadn’t spent as much time here as we had hoped
We h the skylight The puffs of white caed their shapes, andparade
We stayed at the boathouse for as long as we thought we could get aith before someone would coer, Matthew helped me to my feet and we returned to the house, hand in hand, relaxed and happy
But I felt the tension the moment we stepped into the kitchen
“What’s wrong?” I said, looking around the kitchen for signs of fire, flood, or other natural disasters
“You’ve got a visitor,” Sarah said, h a bowl of popcorn “Marcus told hier off, but that’s the sa”
A bloodcurdling shriek came from upstairs
“Apollo really doesn’t like your brother, Matthew,” Sarah said “He’s flying around in the stairwell, carrying on as if it’s the end of the world”
Matthew gave a sniff and turned tostare “You said you hadn’t heard from Baldwin”
“No, I said I hadn’t talked to hi that it was i at all”
“Where are the children?” Matthew demanded
“Jack and Marthe are with thereat hall, trying to talk Baldwin down off the mountain,” Sarah said around another mouthful of popcorn “I volunteered for lookout duty Baldwin makes me nervous”
Matthew stalked off in the direction of the hall
“Should you call Ysabeau?” Sarah asked
“Already on her way,” I said “We invited her to come for the fireworks”
“Guess on’t have to wait until dark for the excitement to start after all” Sarah dusted the salt off her hands and hopped off the stool “Let’s go We don’t want to ”
When we arrived in the hall, Matthew and Baldere facing off across the carpet while Marcus and Fernando urged theotiations involved pointing out that this whole fae
“You need to take a deep breath and realize that this isn’t all about you,” Agatha said “You’re behaving like these children are chattel”
“God, I love that woatha”