Chapter Five
Away from the bustle of the rest of Barncuddy’s Ale House, Craycroft, Kerlin, Cayman, Derrymoor, Marilyn and Jeanne met with the two Scotsmen, Clifton and Enoch, whose appetites appeared to have recovered, with a pint of Barncuddy’s ale most happily downed after their recent encounter.
“It was my understanding that you had been invited to join Master LeGace for dinner,” said Craycroft, “yet your behavior suggests it may not have been quite to your liking.”
“I tell ye,” answered Clifton, “between their so-called ale, their food, and the interrogation at the hands of LeGace and his cronies, even if I’d had any appetite at the start o’ the meal, I’d definitely had none when we was done.”
“An’ here’s an aye t’ that!” Enoch chimed in.
“Before we deal with your most difficult circumstance,” Craycroft noted, “some good news to announce. It is with immense pleasure that I announce the birth of a beautiful daughter to Lady Judy, and to note that all are doing well, and with Diane and Master Charlie contributing with their own skills and medicinals. And the child’s name is Angelica.”
“To Angelica!” said Cayman, “and to those caring for her.” With a clinking of their flagons, and a hearty, “Here, Here!” those at the table took gulps of their ale. All except Marilyn, whose gaze suddenly turned inward, and her clouded features were noticed by Jeanne, who turned and whispered to Craycroft. He nodded, then Jeanne took Marilyn’s hand, and the two women quietly moved to another table.
“So, now,” Craycroft began after Cayman’s toast, “my pages, or should I say, my spies, have informed me that you wanted to meet with me, and that you did not wish to wait. And I took that to mean that circumstances were potentially dire. And so, I summoned these persons to come with me. I hope that is all right with you.”
“Oh aye, of course, m’lord,” indicated Clifton, “speakin’ fer both of us, may I say that it be yer island t’ govern an’ we be yer guests. And we absolutely mean ye no harm.”
“And I, for one, am most certainly happy to hear that from you, as is Lord Derrymoor, and the others at this table are, as well. So, let as get to the heart of the matter. What did happen at this dinner invitation from LeGace?”
“Well,” began Enoch, “we arrived and were seated at the back o’ this inn close to Champour. At first there were the four of us, Master LeGace, Master Leonardo and us two. An’ Leonardo got to askin’ us questions ‘bout what we were doin’ so far from Edinburgh.”
“And may I ask what you told them?” Derrymoor asked.
“What we told them,” Enoch continued, “was that we were both alchemists in Edinburgh, and we also taught at the university there.”
As the folks at the main table heard the saga of what happened at the inn of Champour, in the back corner table the scene was quite different. There Marilyn was openly weeping into her hands, as Jeanne pulled a kerchief out of her bodice, handed it to Marilyn. This caused mixed emotions for Jeanne. On the one hand, the news of the birth of a daughter to her very close friend was a joyous relief. On the other hand, the effect of this same news to Master Robert’s former wife was like a stab in the heart. What Jeanne did was to sit by, and let her new-found friend cry her heart out.
“Oh, Jeanne, I thought I was prepared for this! It was, after all, what I had suspected, but now…” Marilyn gulped down a tear. “Why did I even come? And Falma, what good am I now? Here, so far from home, in both time and place. With no one that I have known, and with Bob…”
“Would that Tom were here, fer he’d know.” Jeanne said. After a pause, she continued, “but I shall tell ye this much. Yer Master Robert has been taken prisoner, and is now in Clear Bay, and this is a fact known to both Tom and to Craycroft…”
“Now, wait just a minute!” Marilyn’s face was red and mottled with mixed rage and sorrow. “Who was going to tell me this bit of news, and when? Do you have any idea how all this is tearing me up inside?”
“Aye, Lady Marilyn, that I do know, fer mine own husband is also a prisoner, and it has now been about two weeks. It is the same man, this Antoine LeGace, has taken him. And believe me when I tell ye it eats at me daily. He was taken from our house in the middle of the night…”
“Do you mean Melchior? I didn’t know he was your husband!” Marilyn was suddenly taken aback. “Lisa told me all about him, and what a kind and courageous man he was. All this time, as I was accompanying young Lisa here – and it’s now I meet the wife of the poor man who was prisoner with her! Oh, I am so sorry!” Marilyn felt the weight of her own decisions, and those of others press down on her shoulders. “Look, Jeanne, this whole business of my being transported here has gotten my life turned inside out. And now, as I have been brought here with the aim of helping my husband. And now I did catch glimpses of him both as a prisoner, then later as a freed man, but mind you just glimpses. But now, here, I find out that he has had a baby with another woman. Also, I just found that he has been taken prisoner yet again, and I would presume that he hasn’t even gotten a chance to see his baby.
“Now, too, Charlie Stephens is here on this island. Charlie, whom I’ve gotten to know as a special friend since Bob’s disappearance. Charlie, who helped me through the rough years of Bob’s absence, as well as helping immensely with the earl’s rehabilitation.”
“It all does seem such a cumbersome burden to bear. Why do we not seek counsel with Craycroft yet this eve?”
“Craycroft? I don’t yet know the man. How about if we get Fausto to meet with us? He is someone I’ve come to trust – and how about Lisa, too? Her information might be extremely useful toward finding and freeing your husband.
“Well, the hour is late for Lisa, but I am quite certain that Craycroft would have no problem welcoming Fausto. Wait right here, and I shall go ask him.”
Jeanne got up and went to Craycroft’s side and whispered to him. The look on his face abruptly altered, and he turned toward Barncuddy, who came to his side and bent his head toward Craycroft. A moment later, he nodded his head, and then hurried toward the entrance. Then Jeanne came back to Marilyn’s table. After a few moments Craycroft stood up, and with a few words to his companions, came over, along with Jeanne, to Marilyn’s table and sat down next to Marilyn.
“Firstly, m’lady, let me apologize for my announcement earlier. I offer no excuse, nothing that will suffice. But I shall try to offer you something of an explanation – for you are truly one important person.”
This caught Marilyn totally off guard. “Just a minute, sir. You say I’m important?” She stifled a sob. “I’d say that ever since Falma dropped me off in your forest, I’ve been treated as if I were important, but no one has explained to whom and for what. Falma did say that Bob was in some trouble, and now I find out that’s true. But it doesn’t seem like I’ve got anything I can offer him at the present. And now, too, I’ve found that Charlie Stephens is somewhere on your island, though that is something I suspected. I tell you it’s getting to the point where I do think I could really use some kind of explanation, something to make sense of all this.”
“Well, m’lady,” began Craycroft, “t’would seem that you are, indeed, owed a telling explanation of why you have been summoned…”
“Summoned… if that’s what you call it. Go ahead. You explain – I’ll listen.”
Somewhat chastised by her words and attitude, Craycroft took another swig of his ale, then began. “A bit over four years ago, here in Shepperton, we had a mysterious plague which was killing off some of our esteemed painters and potters. And then, it seems, that the plague struck closer, with our master of the guild and his daughter both stricken with the plague, and who both died. And then, as our own beloved earl also became deathly ill with the plague, your Master Robert and the lady Judy Morrison were summoned by Drachma and Falma. Master Robert was summoned due to his deep knowledge of the medical arts, and lady Judy was brought due to her known magical healing touch. And both of them played a significant role, as the earl was transported to your time and place, a fact that you, I understand, know well.”
A new realization began to dawn on Marilyn. A sense of being swallowed up by something bigger than she could ever imagine began to form in her consciousness. She began to imagine herself as Jonah, in the belly of the whale. Shaking her head clear of the image, she said, “do go on, sir Craycroft. This whole thing is getting to be more complicated than I had even imagined.”
A subtle smile appeared on Craycroft’s face, and then vanished. “I must also point out that Master Robert did elucidate the fact that there were two separate plagues affecting us, and both of them were man-made, one was a poisoning attributed to a certain Carlo Vincente…”
“Carlo Vincente! I met him in our time – that was before he disappeared or died, or something. He told me about Shepperton and its history. It was a fascinating account of how he was involved with your history, and its pots, and Drachma’s doings, Count Gregorio, Lady Felicia (who became his adopted daughter), and eventually how the two of them, that is Drachma and Carlo Vincente conspired to get Bob. He didn’t mention Falma’s involvement at the time, but I’ve come to realize that Falma was involved in an awful lot of stuff here. He then gave me a small box with a drachma inside, as a token of Bob’s health. And yes, Falma was aware of the coin and its significance.”
“Ah, indeed. And as it turned out, it was not so much Carlo Vincente, but rather another Master Guarneri who was the culprit in the poisonings of our painters and potters. That was something that Master Robert discovered. But his real accomplishment initially was discovering that Felicia and the earl were poisoned in such a way that it did appear to be a plague which was killing them, and it was caused by two persons, one a Councilor Reordan, and the other the nefarious Antoine LeGace. Then it was LeGace himself who killed Reordan, and then escaped. But he is now back and is our major enemy right now.
“But I should tell you,” Craycroft continued, “it was Master Robert who was able to prove what Reordan and LeGace had done, and how they did their worst. ‘Twas to us an astonishing display of cunning, as well as meticulous attention to medical detail not heretofore known nor seen. Also, it was he who tried to save the life of Councilor Reordan – he and the lady Judy, but alas in that they were not successful, as his wounds were too severe.”
Marilyn found herself caught up in Craycroft’s story and did not interrupt.
“There is much more to the tale, but I should tell of Master Roberts’ involvement with the earl in his last moments here, which might aid in your understanding, as well as your tasks here.”
Then, as Craycroft began telling of the earl, in extremis, and how Bob, with the aid of Falma, sent him off to the future, in walks Fausto. Fausto did try to come in quietly, but due to his bulk and the fact that he and Barncuddy were lifelong friends, meant that his entrance was as quiet and unnoticed as a marching band in a convent.
“Ah, me good friend, Fausto,” Barncuddy exclaimed, and rushed over to give the giant a mighty hug. “It is so good t’ see ye! Come on in and I shall make certain ye get me best.”
“Greetings t’ ye, me favorite barkeep! Just bring some o’ yer fine ale – I do see m’lady over at yon table. Bring it t’ me there.”
“Comin’ right up!”
As Fausto was coming back to the table, Marilyn rose and also gave him an intense hug. “Oh, Fausto! Do come and sit down with us. I want you to tell Mister Craycroft about all I’ve put you through. And I want you to be there as he tells me where I’m going next.”
Fausto then sat his tremendous bulk down, and looked over at Craycroft, recently joined by Cayman, Derrymoor and Kerlin. The look on Marilyn’s face was unreadable, as she also sat back down, now in the midst of her mostly male coterie.
“And now,” said Fausto, “m’lady has clearly been upset, and that means a lot t’me. Now, come an’ tell just what ye’ve done t’make her upset, an’ then I shall tell ye what we’ve been through.”
With all looking on, Craycroft told of his faux pas, and then Jeanne followed with her own telling of Robert’s being taken prisoner again. Fausto absorbed it all, saying nothing aloud, but muttering as he drank his ale.
All eyes turned to Marilyn, and she, with a look that was both stricken and resolute said, “all right, now I should probably tell you about how this affected me and my own life, but I’d rather Fausto tell you what we’ve been through, and that may add a bit of perspective to what I’ve got to say. And after that, I’d like to know what you all have set me to do.”
“Very well, m’lady. I shall try, e’en though I am not one t’ say much. ‘Twas not but weeks ago, that me half-brother, Tom, did tell me t’ expect a lady o’ regal bearin’ t’ come by me place (that be Castle Kearney), an’ that I was t’ be her guardian all the while she was here, that I was t’ stay with ‘er, an’ t’ be sure nothin’ happened t’ her. As it turned out, I was t’ bring ’er here t’ yer castle, but along the way, we got caught up in a skirmish involvin’ Count Gregorio an’ his men. And ye know the outcome o’ that encounter. But Master Robert was at that time in the guard o’ the Count. We then took off after them, and then we ran into a former employee o’ Master Guarneri, who helped us find ‘im, an’ then we freed master Robert, along with Hermes an’ Kevin.”
Fausto went on, after a large swig of ale, to describe how Robert, along with Kevin and Hermes went toward Castle Kearney, and how they themselves went in a different direction, along with their prisoners, which included Count Gregorio. And he explained how they had acquired Lisa en route to Shepperton Castle, and how Marilyn had bonded with young Lisa.
“An’ that about it, me friends. All the rest ye know from the lady ‘erself, fer I am only here t’ be her guardian. Explainin’ things is naugh what I do.” Then he took another long swig of his ale, thumped his tumbler on the table, where a comely young server refilled it. “Thank ye, m’lass. An’ would ye be so kind as t’ see if ye have any o’ yer yeast rolls left?”
“But o’ course, m’lords,” she said with a wink, “an’ I shall bring ye a basket o’ them. Mind ye’, though, e’er since Diane’s been gone the rolls hadn’t been quite so tasty!” Then she disappeared into the kitchen, as Fausto looked on appreciatively.
“Did you like what you saw, or was that just the ale talking?” Marilyn asked, surprising everyone, including herself at her boldness.
“Ah, nah, m’lady,” Fausto muttered hoarsely, “it must ‘a been Barncuddy’s ale.”
In response, Marilyn smiled knowingly at Fausto, and mouthed the word “later.”
“All right, folks,” began Marilyn, “now it’s time you heard my own story. Well, it goes back a ways – to a time before Bob was even a doctor.” And to her rapt audience she told of working, putting Bob through medical school, residency, fellowship and then how she was able to finally quit her job, which she hated, as Bob’s practice flourished. She even told them of the struggles of trying to get pregnant, and how it was determined to be Bob’s problem, and was related to a case of mumps he had as a child. And then things finally settled down into some sort of routine. That was, until Bob suddenly disappeared without any warning, which left her with an unsolvable mystery.
She then explained how her mystery deepened as she met Carlo Vincente, and Janie and Earl, the parents of one of Bob’s patients, who had died after a horrific illness. Then she described how her circumstances got even more confusing and off balance as she met and interacted with the local police, with Charlie Stephens and with their own earl of Shepperton. But again, things seemed to calm down a bit over the years. That was until Falma walked into her life and again things turned topsy turvy. For four years, Charlie Stephens had been in her life, and he seemed to be something of an anchor for her. He seemed to be more interested in a romantic relationship, but now, with Falma indicating that her husband needed her, confirmed by the missing drachma from her bedside, there seemed to be no way to keep her home.
But now, with all these revelations, all playing with her heart, and Falma nowhere around, and Bob taken prisoner again – it was all a bit too much to take in.
“And so, Master Craycroft, I wanted to ask you – what do you want me to do now? I have no real skills, no magic, and I don’t even know my way around your island. My husband has been taken prisoner and is somewhere on this island. Jeanne’s husband is also a prisoner, apparently on some boat. You have a man of extreme evil running about, threatening your peace. You have a new baby girl on the island, apparently my husband’s, with Charlie Stephens at her side…”
“You are right, my good lady. The island is threatened, and our peace both for now and the future, is in most precariously threatened. Nevertheless, you may not know of any magic you possess, but I tell you – you have deep magic within you. Falma would have noted it, and communicated both with Tom and with Drachma, his grandfather. What I would like is for you to stay here with us for the moment. I shall make certain that we release Master Robert from his imprisonment shortly and safely. Just stay in communication with Jeanne, and she shall guide your steps. And lastly, I do express my deepest apologies for my very insensitive remarks earlier, and I hope that, in time, you shall see fit to pardon me.”
Marilyn said nothing for a while and took a drink of her ale. She closed her eyes as the flavor hit her mouth and performed its own magic.
“This drink,” she said at last, “is so extraordinary! If I believed in magic, I would say that here is proof!”
“To magic!” Exclaimed Cayman. “Barncuddy’s magic indeed!”
“Here, here,” came the chorus as flagons were raised.
Later that evening, as Fausto led Marilyn back to her rooms, a sudden cool breeze swept through the castle corridors.
“Did you feel that, Fausto? That breeze seemed to carry a malicious omen. I so hope I’m wrong, but here, in your world, it seems that these things carry more weight.”
“Nay, m’lady, I felt no such an omen as you say. I’m just an ord’nary man. I just do as I’m told, an’ leave the omens an’ spells to them what can manage ‘em.”
As they came to her rooms, Marilyn turned to her companion and said, “Fausto, promise me something.”
“Aye, m’lady?”
“Promise me that you’ll stay with me… keep me from falling into the clutches of that man…”
“What man, LeGace?”
“Yes him. He’s the one whose omen was on the wind.”
“Ah, m’lady, Craycroft was right about ye – ye’ve got the deep magic. But of course, I shall stay wi’ ye. It’s what I promised Tom. I’ve got nothin’ more important t’ do.”
“Well, come here, my big man,” she said as she reached up and took his head in her hands, and kissed him on the cheek. “Let it be sealed with a kiss.”
As she stepped into her room, Fausto looked about and made certain that everything was secure, and there were no prying eyes or ears. As he went down the hall to his own room, he could feel the slight burning where her kiss landed. It was fortunate that no one could see the tear that escaped his eye.
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