Castle Moon by Mary Bowers

Author:Mary Bowers [Bowers, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-06-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

I came out of my room in good time to get down to the dining room early, and as I pulled the door closed behind me, I noticed somebody rising from the settee down at the middle of the landing. It was Jeralyn. She was holding Bastet in her arms.

The note in the pocket of my green silk dress suddenly felt heavy, and I concentrated on not brushing my hand across the spot behind which it lay, just to reassure myself it wasn’t showing at the edge of the pocket. I knew it wasn’t. I’d checked myself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom. But seeing Jeralyn made me so aware of it that I must have looked guilty. She didn’t seem to notice, though. She was preoccupied with her own problems.

I wanted to reach for Bastet, but I also didn’t want her claws to make a run in the fragile fabric of my washable silk dress, so I just lowered my head to look into her eyes and said, “Having a nice time with Jeralyn, baby?”

She did that thing she does sometimes. Holding my eyes with a very deliberate stare, she closed hers one time and slowly opened them again. It was a signal I’d never been able to figure out, but it always happened when . . . well, when something was about to happen. It added to my uneasiness.

“I didn’t want to bother you while you were getting ready,” Jeralyn said. “I just thought, you know, we could walk together and maybe talk a little before we have to join the others. I don’t know when I’m going to have another chance. After dinner it’s going to take forever to clear the table and clean up in the kitchen, and later on I guess you’ll be looking for Oliver’s ghost again.”

“Does Charlotte need help in the kitchen? I’m sure I could find an apron somewhere.”

“We’ve got it all figured out. Julie’s actually helping. She probably can’t resist having the chance to smirk at me. She’s been humming the whole time, acting like it was good for her. Anyway, I’ve got the table set, the side dishes are in electric warmers in the butler’s pantry, and Charlotte is going to bring in the turkey after the family is seated. We’re hoping they’ll just let us set the dishes on the table instead of us having to go around and serve each person.”

“I should hope so!”

She smiled. “I think it’ll be okay. Anyway, everything is as ready as we could get it, and Charlotte said I was just getting in the way. She’s so nice. She knew I wanted to talk to you. About last night.”

Oh, lord, this was going to be awkward. I nodded, and prepared myself to be comforting. But I wasn’t going to lie.

“You were there,” she said, lifting her chin and holding Bastet close. “Was she . . . were they . . . she was in his room, wasn’t she. Horace said she came running out with no clothes on.

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