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She looked at me in confusion and then blushed. She thought I was
reprimanding her manners and I suppose that was just as well. If she d truly
known what she was inviting into her home she might have left us standing
there on the balcony. Squaring her shoulders she said in her best debutante
voice, Forgive me. Ladies, would you please come in?
Justine and I crossed the threshold.
Children, this is my good friend,Mademoiselle Justine.
Justine smiled but lingered near the door. I drew Sarah Katherine to the bed
and sat with her and the other children, holding them and murmuring promises I
wasn t sure I could keep.
Sadie Kate, I said taking her hands in mine, tell me, did you see the
couple when they came in?
She shook her head. Only from the back. They both had black hair and were
dressed in evening clothes.
I glanced sharply up at Justine, who cocked one blonde brow at me.
Children, listen to me. My mother, your Aunt Lora, had a book somewhere in
this house and it s very important that I get it back. It s fine if one of you
has it but I need it back now. It will help me get rid of those people
downstairs.
Sarah Katherine blushed and then crossed the room to the wardrobe and
rummaged in the bottom of it, finally producing the red leather-bound volume.
She handed it back to me with a sheepish smile.
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I m sorry, Aunt Dulcie. I didn t mean to steal it. Mama said we weren t to
go into Aunt Lora s workroom but Claire and I slipped in one night. There were
all kinds of interesting things in there and I took the book back to my room
with me but when I opened it I realized that it was in Gaelic. I meant to put
it back but then Mrs. Mackenzie and Miss Fiona came and I was afraid they d
catch me. I m very sorry, Aunt Dulcie.
Think nothing of it, my dear, it s perfectly fine, I said, simply relieved
that I d been right about the location of the book. Of course, the children
weren t supposed to know anything about witches, especially about the
Macgregor womenbeing witches, but children always know more than anyone gives
them credit for.
I leafed through the pages of the book until I found the binding spell Mr.
Pendergrass had described. I read it through once and then asked Justine for
my purse. She opened her cloak and untied the purse from her belt. The
children gasped. Justine looked up sharply and then back down at her breeches.
She rolled her eyes and threw me the purse.
MademoiselleJustine is a pirate, I said, digging through the contents and
pulling out the little pouches of ingredients, like Grainne O Malley. It was
the best I could come up with on short notice.
Sarah Katherine and Claire looked at Justine as if she were some pagan
goddess of high adventure. Will simply looked at her as if he d fallen in
love. I smiled at him as I opened each pouch and checked the contents against
the spell in the book. Only three ingredients missing, and nothing exotic at
that. I could work with that.
Are the people downstairs evil pirates? Claire asked in an excited whisper.
Yes, are they Captain Justine s sworn enemies? Will chimed in.
I nearly groaned aloud. Ye gods, what had these children been reading?
Something like that, I muttered, folding down the corner of the page to
mark my place. CapitaineJustine, may I speak with you outside a moment?
I stepped to the door and paused, If we walk back out do they have to invite
us in again?
Non, they only need do it once.
We slipped out onto the balcony and I pulled the door closed.
Justine arched one brow at me, A pirate?
It was all I could think of at the moment. Now, focus Capitaine. Kali and
Sebastian are downstairs doing Goddess knows what to my cousin Thomas and poor
Amelia. What do we do?
We should go back for Devlin and Michael, she said.
I shook my head. That ll take too long. What if they take Thomas and Amelia
somewhere? I can t let anything happen to them, Justine. Besides the fact that
I love them both, I m all the family those children have. If their parents
die, how the bloody hell am I supposed to raise three children?
Justine paled at the thought. I paced the balcony.
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