“Are you really sure this is wise, Caley?” Ken asked as he trailed along behind me. “From what I’ve read, London is a potentially dangerous city for any girl on her own. And I don’t think you know enough self-defense yet to - ”

“Ken,” I broke in, trying not to sound too exasperated and failing miserably, “I need to get away for a little while. It’s just too much. I need a break.”

“I understand that,” he said patiently, slipping around in front of me…probably to try and stop me. “How about a nice private beach? There’s a door that opens onto one somewhere in the South Pacific…”

I interrupted him again, this time by gritting my teeth and walking straight through him. I ignored the strange cold, tingly sensation that contact with him always brought with him, and heard him sigh behind me as I slipped into the jacket I’d grabbed.

“Look,” I said, “I appreciate the thought, but I really want to be around other people.” I winced a little. I hadn’t meant to emphasize the word people that way. Or maybe I had. I was feeling a bit trapped and kind of edgy.

“I see,” Ken said, and I could hear the hurt in his voice.

I hadn’t meant to insult him like that…or had I? Was I lashing out? I really wasn’t feeling my usual self.

“You could always go into town,” he suggested hopefully.

I stopped at one of the doors and swung around to face him. “I need to get away. Just for a few hours. I’ll go to Harrods, do a bit of shopping, have some lunch, and come straight back. Okay?” I reached up and brushed my fingers lightly over Sparkle where she was already clinging to the Master Key where it dangled from my choker. “Anyway, I have Sparkle with me. I’ll be fine.”

Ken pursed his lips and stared at me. Finally, he sighed. “Promise me you won’t be gone more than three or four hours.”

“I promise,” I said quickly, eager to set his mind at ease and go. Then I hesitated for a moment. “Hey…I’m sorry about the ‘people’ comment. That was out of line.”

“It’s all right, Caley,” he said softly, “I understand.” He smiled gently, and I could tell that he really did understand. “You’ve been working very hard day and night for four months. I’ve been able to see the tension growing in you, and I don’t think you’ve quite come to terms with being the Guardian yet. You need a break, which I also understand. But it’s my responsibility,” he emphasized the word gently, “to see to your safety and well-being. I can’t do that when you’re not in the House.”

“I can’t take a vacation in Oakwood Hall, Ken,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as frustrated as I felt. From the look on his face, I suspected I’d failed.

“Actually, you can,” he said with forced good cheer. “There’s a few rooms I could show you that - ”

I cut him off for a third time. “No,” I said firmly. “I need to get out for a little while. To be around people who don’t look at me like I’m a minor celebrity, or treat me like I’m the second coming of my mother…” I trailed off, reconsidering. Those might be very interesting rooms to see, after all. Then I mentally shook my head. “You can show me those rooms another time. They’re probably really cool. But right now, I’m going out, and I’ll be back in a few hours. Okay?”

Ken was silent for a long moment, and I could tell that he really wanted to say no. But in the end, he sighed and nodded. “Okay. Sparkle, be extra vigilant, please.”

“I will be!” Her voice piped up from below my chin, though I never felt her move.

Ken met my eyes. “Have a good time, Caley. And please be careful.”

Something of what he’d said about my safety was finally seeping through the powerful urge to be away from my responsibilities for a little while, and I realized that he might be right. This would be my first time really out in the world since I’d started my lessons (Oakwood town didn’t count), and it was likely that word was beginning to get around that Oakwood Hall was once again occupied. There might be…things…looking for me. Not to mention people.

“I’ll be careful,” I said gravely. “I promise.”

A look of relief briefly flitted across his face. “Thank you. I’ll see you in a few hours, then.” He held out a green knitted woolen winter cap for me. The weather had mentioned that it was snowing in London.

I gave him a little smile as I took it and tugged it on, tucking my braid up inside it. Then I opened the door and went through without another word.

To my surprise, it was indeed snowing in London. Statistically speaking, snow at the end of February isn’t exactly rare, but Central London usually only sees about ten days of snow a year. And it was still cold enough for it to actually be accumulating. In another week or two, it’d melt immediately on contact with the ground.

As it was, the streets and sidewalks were slushy, and the snow was really only clinging to things that were more than a foot off the ground. But still, it was pretty and not about to deter me from my outing.

It didn’t take me long to orient myself. The door had brought me out onto Picadilly, directly across the street from Fortnum & Mason’s. Proximity - and my mouth watering - demanded a detour, so I dashed across the street, and emerged twenty minutes later with my first bag of the day.

I know I didn’t need to buy them. The Hall would - and already had - provided with with tea that I was perfectly certain was theirs. But I wanted to feel like I normal girl, and nothing was more normal (or so I’d been told again and again while growing up) for a girl than going shopping.

Besides, I hadn’t had the opportunity to spend any of the money I’d inherited, and the idea of splurging a bit excited me more than I had expected. I mean…I grew up with what I needed and little more. I was frugal by both necessity and long habit.

But the necessity was gone…so why not? I squashed a flush of entirely neurotic guilt, and headed for Harrods.

It wasn’t far from where I already was, and wasn’t too cold for my tastes, so I decided to walk. The fresh air - or what passed for fresh air in Central London - would do me good. Picadilly led to Hyde Park Corner, and thence onto Knightsbridge. I paused briefly and thought about having a look at Buckingham Palace…but I really did want to get back before Ken’s deadline, so I decided not to and continued on to Brompton Road.

By the time I reached Harrods, I had been vividly reminded of why I didn’t really like cities. The noise, the crush of people, and especially the overwhelming smell of car exhaust all made me long to be back out in the woods around Oakwood. Stepping into Harrods was a blessed relief, even if it wasn’t much quieter. Or less crowded.

Harrods - if you’ve never been there - is huge. It doesn’t matter that I know there are larger shopping centers in the world…Harrods overwhelmed me for a moment. Then I grinned to myself, freed my braid from its confinement, tucked my hat into a pocket of my coat, and got down to some serious shopping.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

For the first time in my life, I spent money without worrying about a budget or limiting my spending. It was both exhilarating and a little scary.

I bought new clothes. So much clothing, in fact, that I had to give them an address to ship some of it to. I ended up with practically an entire new wardrobe, including business-wear and fancy dress, even though I had no idea when or where I’d wear most of it. At least I’d be prepared for whatever came up, and I was certain the Hall would have all kinds of ideas for expanding on I’d bought.

I visited their bath and body department, and loaded up on all of the things I’d always felt were too frivolous and girly for me. I resolved to try each product at least once, especially the sampler of bath salts I picked up, some of which smelled heavenly.

I spent some time in their electronics department, and bought myself a new laptop computer. Sure, I was having some trouble getting Oakwood Hall wired for Internet access, but it would work itself out sooner or later, and I felt I should have a computer powerful enough to take advantage of it. I briefly eyed an insanely expensive (and really quite huge) home entertainment center…but quickly passed on the idea. I couldn’t exactly invite an expert in to set it up, and I’d never watched a lot of television to begin with.

Give me a good book any day.

By the time my stomach informed me that it needed to be fed, I’d spent more in two hours than I usually spent in an entire year. As I made my way up to the fourth floor, I felt vaguely and oddly guilty about the whole thing, though I wasn’t sure why.

The Diner on the fourth floor of Harrods is a popular place to eat in London. I’ve never been one for complicated or fancy food, and a recreation of an American diner appealed to my tastes, so I decided to try it…burger and fries, and a chocolate milkshake please.

Heaven.

As I was finishing my lunch, confident that - between my morning exercise, the walk to Harrods, and the surprisingly exhausting act of shopping with something close to complete abandon - I could burn off the rest of the calories before the end of the day, I realized that someone was standing beside my table.

Looking up, I saw a middle-aged man in a three piece suit, the coat and trousers black, the vest crimson embroidered with gold, over a white shirt. He was wearing a heavy black overcoat with a collar of silver fur, and held a black felt homburg in one hand. The other hand held a black lacquered cane, topped with a silver dragon’s head. His hair was black, shot through with streaks of silver, cut short and slicked back, and he had a matching, neatly trimmed goatee.

His eyes were a smoky sort of gray color, and the smile on his lips didn’t touch them. They were cold, and didn’t match the rest of his warm expression at all.

“My dear child,” he said in an accent that almost sounded German, but not quite, “you simply must be the daughter of Lady Franchesca Reid. You are the very image of her. You must be Caitlyn.”

The short hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I immediately became wary. But, as Sister Sarah had taught me, I remained polite and smiled up at him. After all, I did look shockingly like my mother, and she must’ve had some acquaintances outside of Oakwood. “You have me at a disadvantage, sir.”

“Of course, I’m terribly sorry.” He shifted his cane around, tucking it under his other arm. I thought I saw the tiny ruby eyes of the dragon’s head flash as it moved, then he was somehow holding my right hand and bending over it in a very courtly bow, which made me blush in surprise and embarrassment. I felt a strange, cobweb-like sensation brush over the skin of my hand, arm and face before he released my hand and straightened. “I am Bellinus von Einhardt. I was a colleague of your father’s.”

I was immediately reminded of the entries in my father’s journals about how this man had begun showing up wherever he went whenever he left the house. I tensed and felt my senses sharpen and focus, though outwardly I strove to remain calm. This was, I supposed, the sort of thing Ken had been worried about..but surely if this man was some sort of threat to me, he wouldn’t do anything in the middle of Harrods.

Right?

“Yes,” I said slowly, “I recall seeing your name mentioned in his journals.”

Von Einhardt seemed momentarily confused by something, then his smile returned full force, though it still didn’t touch his eyes. “Oh? We did work together on several projects. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that he made mention of me.”

“This is quite a coincidence,” I said, forcing the smile to stay on my face. “Would you care to join me? I was just finishing, but I’m in no real hurry.”

“I…” He tipped his head ever so slightly, his eyes never leaving my face. I noticed a slight furrow appear between his eyebrows. “Yes, I would like that, thank you.”

Whoops. Well, talking to him for a minute couldn’t hurt, and it’d give me a chance to see if what little my father wrote about him might be true.

Von Einhardt slid into the booth across from me without taking off his coat, setting his hat on the table and hooking his cane on its edge. The dragon’s head ended up facing me, its eyes seeming to glitter as they stared at me. It was a bit unsettling, and for a moment I thought I felt Sparkle squirm against my breastbone, where she and the Master Key were hidden beneath my jacket and sweater.

Maybe she was as nervous about this as I was.

“I do not believe in coincidence,” von Einhardt said with another empty smile. “I have wanted to meet you since I heard you had moved into the house in Oakwood.”

“Oh?” Granted, I hadn’t exactly been trying to hide my presence there, but I also hadn’t really been out in public much, which suggested that this man had been keeping an eye on the town. That was unnerving. But he didn’t look particularly threatening…he looked like someone’s stern and rather old-fashioned grandfather. A bit distant maybe, but not menacing.

“Yes,” he said, that empty smile not changing. He shifted in his seat slightly, making his cane rattle a little, and I could’ve sworn that I saw the dragon’s ruby eyes flash again. A moment later, I felt that strange cobweb-like sensation again, this time brushing over just my face.

Sparkle distinctly squirmed against my breastbone…there was no mistaking it this time, and I thought I felt a flash of heat and a sense of annoyance and worry that wasn’t my own, rather like when Oakwood Hall communicated with me.

“As I said,” von Einhardt continued, “your father and I worked on several projects together. I should very much like to visit you at the house and collect his notes on them. If you would be so kind, of course. They were left unfinished and I without a copy, when he died in such an untimely fashion.”

“Do you know how he died?” I blurted out without thinking about it. Embarrassment washed over me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so blunt. It’s just that nobody’s actually been able to tell me what happened to him.”

“Dear child,” he said smoothly, his voice dripping with sympathy and regret, “I’m afraid I do not know either. I was out of the country at the time on other matters.”

He was lying.

I don’t know how I knew, but I was certain of it.

Maybe it was something in the slightly cloying tone of his voice, or the way his emotions never touched his flat, almost reptilian gray eyes. Sparkle squirmed ever so slightly where she lay against my skin, clinging to the Master Key, and I felt a flash of anxiety that - while seeming perfectly natural - was not mine.

I needed to go, that feeling said. Now.

Automatically, I started gathering my things, and smiled at von Einhardt. “I’m afraid I have to get going,” I said politely. “No doubt you have my father’s old phone number…it hasn’t changed. Do call me, and we’ll arrange a time for you to come by. You can show me what you need then.”

As I started to rise, his right hand flashed across the table and caught my left wrist. His hand was unnaturally cool and dry, and his touch made my skin crawl.

“I must insist,” he said with strained politeness, “that we go now. There are items of a very time-sensitive nature that must proceed soon.”

I looked down at his hand, then met his eyes. “Please let go of me,” I said quietly.

I’d never heard that particular tone come from my own mouth before, but I recognized the steel in it instantly. I had delivered a quiet, polite threat, and it startled me. But I definitely did not want him touching me.

For just an instant, he looked as startled as I felt, then he released my wrist and held up both hands, smiling apologetically. “I am terribly sorry, that was horribly impolite of me.” He took up his hat and cane, rising as I slid into my jacket and grabbed my bags. “Perhaps you would allow me to see you home - “

“I’m not going home just yet,” I interrupted him firmly, no longer trying to be amenably polite. “I have an appointment in the city this afternoon. Call me tomorrow, and we’ll set something up.”

He hesitated for just a moment, then bowed politely. “I see. Very well, I will do precisely that. Good day to you.”

Without another word, he turned and strode off, his cane clicking against the floor with every other step.

I stood there for a long moment, one hand gripping the back of the booth beside me as I did a deep breathing exercise. My heartbeat was just starting to return to normal when a quiet voice beside me said, “You all right, honey?”

I jumped and half turned, very nearly ready to defend myself by violence. But it was only the waitress, looking concerned. I blew out a breath and laughed nervously. “Yes, thank you.”

She looked unconvinced, but nodded a little. “All right…I was sure I was gonna have to call security for a minute there. You watch yourself on your way home, all right?”

I nodded earnestly. “Count on it. Thank you again.”

I left her a very large tip.