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In the following weeks at Kellandale, Jamie had begun music studies with Gemma, herself an accomplished musician. He was in the music room, writing passages of a sonata. The smooth sounds of his viola resonated throughout the wing as he played. His newest assignment required him to create a viola accompaniment he could eventually play with Tillie on the piano; he was presently working through a particularly difficult measure and was practicing slowly.
A baby grand piano stood in the center of the room, surrounded by other exquisite instruments. Sitting in the corner was a hand-stretched drum from Debari. On a stand next to the piano rested an ebony, long-necked string instrument from Chanpor, and sitting on a table near the picture window where he stood was a zither from Tukora—Jamie was eager to get his hands on all of them once he perfected the sonata.
Henry was lounging on one of the settees with Velvet at his side on the other, as usual. It appeared that they were napping, but Henry’s perked ears and intermittently wagging tail gave it away that he was awake and enjoying the concert.
Just outside the door, Tillie crouched in the hallway, listening in awe of her cousin’s concealed talent.
He worked his way to the end of the stanza a third time, and just as he reached a crescendo, he missed a note. He stopped playing abruptly when the bow scraped over the string, creating a harsh, screeching sound. “Mustard!” he grumbled.
He lifted the bow again and placed it back on the viola between the fingerboard and the bridge, setting up to play again, but paused when he heard scratching at the window. He lowered his bow again and pulled the sheer, cream-colored drapes aside. There he found Mister, perched on the exterior windowsill looking in, his two tiny front paws on the glass.
Mister had been drawn to the music room the first day Jamie had begun his practices, intrigued by the mysterious sounds coming from within. Since that moment, he made sure to be there for every practice. The instrument was intriguing enough on its own, but the way Jamie could make it sound, Mister believed was pure magic.
Jamie grinned and pried open a window. “Would you like to come inside to listen? Come on, you can hear much better from in here.”
Mister had never been inside a house before. He hesitated, his tail twitching. Jamie leaned over to let him climb onto his shoulder so he could carry him to the piano. Mister scurried up, clinging to his shirt collar for the ride, then hopped off onto the shiny black piano, slipping a little as he jumped down. He lifted his front paws repeatedly, feeling the foreign surface. Jamie smiled, watching him investigate. Eventually, Mister found his footing and settled down on the top of the piano. He looked around the room at all the strange objects. Then he caught sight of Velvet. He stood back up, his fur bristling uncontrollably. He had never encountered a house cat, and instincts that he had never felt before took hold. For the first time in his life, another animal frightened him.
Henry jumped off the armchair and walked over to Jamie and Mister, his proximity allowing them to understand one another. He welcomed Mister with a wagging tail, quickly letting him know that Velvet was friendly. She confirmed this with an affectionate chirp.
“Don’t worry, Henry’s right; she won’t hurt you, I promise,” Jamie reassured.
Mister relaxed considerably. He looked up and chattered.
“Oh! You want me to bring my viola to the amphitheater? Well, let me think about that. I’ve never performed in front of anyone apart from my teacher, or the three of you, and never before an audience. It scares me.” He pondered a moment more, picturing the council circled around him, watching and listening.
Mister chattered again, encouraging him.
He sighed. “Well...I hope I am good enough, but I would be honored. And it would be good practice for me...” He smiled, wincing bashfully.
Outside the door, Tillie was growing impatient. She could hear the music had stopped, and now Jamie was talking to someone. She flung the door open and barged into the room.
Jamie jumped at the sudden noise.
“A ha! And who are you talking to about playing your viola?”
He looked to the piano and back to Tillie, then grinned.
“Mister!” she exclaimed. The squirrel greeted her warmly.
“He wants me to play for the other animals in the forest.”
“Brilliant! Does this mean I finally will be able to hear you, too?”
“I suppose,” he said nervously.
“Oh, Jamie, it will be wonderful. Hurry, let’s find the others.” She darted out of the room before he could take it all back.
Mister scampered to the window and Jamie opened it again. He jumped down the ledge and onto the lawn, then dashed off, eager to gather the animals.
Less than an hour later, Jamie met Graham, Elinora, Tillie, and Henry out on the terrace. He gripped his viola case tightly by its handle. Anna, Camille, and Penelope were outside playing a game of croquet on the lawn. They descended the steps quietly, hoping to make it to the forest trail without them noticing, but Camille spotted them and waved.
“We’ll have to make this a much shorter visit now,” Tillie sighed.
Jamie muttered something under his breath, then waved back to his mother with a feigned smile. “We’re just letting Henry stretch his legs a moment,” he shouted.
“Don’t be long!” she called back.
“All right!” He checked his pocket watch to note the time.
A sharp crack from a croquet mallet sounded as it connected with the wooden ball, then it went sailing through the air, off course, and Penelope went after it in the underbrush beneath a stand of trees. They continued walking toward the forest as she searched for it.
They moved on quickly, and in their haste, they hadn’t noticed Lina had been watching from the sitting room.
She had just returned by carriage after a visit to her friend Belladonna’s grand estate. Belladonna’s family coachman had driven her back to Kellandale, and Belladonna, along with their friend Sosanya, had accompanied them. It was a long ride, so Lina invited them inside, eager to introduce them to Henry while the coachman and his horses rested.
But Lina’s face fell when she saw that Henry was outside with the others, walking across the lawn, undoubtedly on their way to the forest.
“Well, there you have it. Now’s your chance, Lina,” Belladonna said, her eyebrows arching antagonistically. She primped her hair, exquisitely coiffed and pulled back with a pearl comb.
“What?” she replied. But she knew exactly what Belladonna meant.
“Tillie is so boorish; imagine wanting to go into the forest. And I recall you saying they weren’t allowed. Now you have the perfect opportunity to see what they’re up to. I’m sure their parents would want to know all about it.” She pulled the matching pearl-beaded clutch she was carrying to her chest and laughed.
Sosanya cast a quick glance at Lina. “That’s really not very nice, Bella,” she replied quietly. She twisted her hair between her fingers nervously, waiting for Belladonna’s rebuke.
“Oh hush,” Belladonna snapped. “You’re younger than Lina and I—you wouldn’t know about these kinds of things.” She turned to Lina. “Why is it that they get to spend time all their time with Henry, and not you?”
Lina paused. “All right, but you’re coming with me,” she said, opening the sitting room door.
Belladonna followed eagerly. “Come on, Sosanya,” she beckoned and they descended the terrace steps into the nearby garden. When Lina saw her mother fishing her croquet ball out of the shrubs in the distance, they ducked down behind the fountain grass and crept over to the lawn. Belladonna had to pull up the hem of her cream-colored gown to keep it from dragging on the ground on their way to the forest trail.
But once Lina found herself standing at the edge of the woods, she hesitated. Just as her own mother, James, and Camille were, she was genuinely afraid, and truth be told, she wanted nothing to do with Wyches Wood.
“Tell me you’re not going to back out now?” Belladonna taunted.
“You don’t have to,” Sosanya said to her.
But Lina shook her head, quickly swallowing back her fear.
Sosanya paused. “I think I’m just going to wait here,” she said.
Belladonna rolled her eyes. “But you’re dressed perfectly for the occasion,” she said, eyeing Sosanya’s light-blue traveling attire, far less showy than her own.
“It’s all right, stay here, we’ll be right back,” Lina said to Sosanya, then entered the forest. She made sure to trail the others from behind at a safe distance.
Along the way she began to take in her surroundings. To her surprise the soft spring breeze and the warmth of the sunlight seemed to soothe her, and the trees and the river were more beautiful than she had ever expected. Very quickly she lost herself in the beauty of Kellandale Wood, and a sense of inner peace overpowered the angst and sadness she carried with her. For a long moment, she forgot why she was there. She recalled that Tillie had said she preferred to be outside in the forest rather than fussing over jewelry, dresses, and other trivial matters. In that moment, she thought perhaps she understood her.
“Oh, this place is awful! Look at how filthy my shoes are!” Belladonna said suddenly, pulling Lina out of her thoughts.
As she caught sight of Henry walking beside Tillie, Lina’s jealousy was rekindled. She had bonded very deeply with Henry ever since coming to Kellandale and he had become her friend; he understood and loved her. It hurt her deeply to see the five of them happily walking the trail together—without her. She felt a lump rise in her throat. Her emotions began rocking in conflicting waves, from anger and jealousy to a sense of peace and calm, then back again.
Then, just as she came upon the ancient tree that she had hoped to catch them walking beyond, they all seemed to vanish from the trail. She blinked to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. But they did not reappear.
Frightened, she pulled Belladonna over to a pine tree at the edge of the river so she could catch her breath and collect her thoughts. She looked down at the river, and as she did, the sense of peace involuntarily returned. She was again soothed by the sound of the flowing water, mesmerized by its motion, and by the sunlight reflecting on its surface. She tried to shake it off, but this time it took hold.
A sudden violent splash in the water made her lurch backward. Belladonna looked at her in confusion, having not heard the sound. Then came a bright flash of light just beneath the surface. Lina squinted up at the sky to see if perhaps it was only the sunlight, then looked down into the water again—just in time to see another flash of color and the long, cascading fins of an unknown something swimming past.
The water bubbled suspiciously as a creature rose to the surface and skimmed the water with its huge mouth. Then, peering out of the water, it turned with deliberate movement to face her.
Lina felt its eyes—big, intelligent, and aware, gazing at her. She felt as though it was looking directly into her soul, studying her. It blinked thoughtfully at her, inviting her into the heart of the forest, right at the same moment Tillie and the others reappeared on the trail in the distance.
Lina crouched down, backing away, panicked thoughts of a haunted forest terrifying her. With haste, she turned and bolted back toward the manor house, leaving Belladonna to follow her in confusion. She hadn’t seen or heard anything that Lina had.
The creature, startled by these quick movements, plunged back into the river and disappeared into the depths of the Iveria.
Henry was looking back toward the riverbank where Lina had been hiding and wagged his tail. He sensed she had been there.
Tillie, Elinora, Graham, and Jamie, however, still unaware that she had been following them, had noticed the flash in the water from a distance. They had seen the creature emerge, and heard the splash, and were now frantically searching the river.
“Elinora! Did you see it, too?” Tillie shouted.
“I did! I can’t believe it!”
“What the heck in the world was it?” She paced back and forth along the trail.
“Whatever it was, it was huge! It must be a giant fish of some sort,” Jamie suggested.
“It had to have been at least ten feet long. There is no way it could have been a fish. It looked more like a water dragon or a serpent,” Graham replied.
“A water dragon, Gray? Are you serious?”
“Oh, I hope so!” Tillie exclaimed.
A familiar voice entered their minds suddenly, interrupting the conversation. Mister scurried over to share the exciting news.
The Lady of the Forest has allowed you to see her!
“That was the Lady of the Forest?” Tillie choked out the words.
Mister confirmed this. He raced around in a circle in excitement.
You have been given rare gift!
The gift of her trust.
“Are you telling us that all along that flash of light in the water we have been seeing was the Lady of the Forest?” Elinora asked.
But Mister turned away without a reply, darting away toward the amphitheater in anticipation of Jamie’s performance.