"…And that's pretty much the long and short of it," I said as I watched D.T. examining the open gates at the end of the Hall's drive. "There's an awful lot of holes in the story, but…well, it's mostly mystery."

D.T. made a thoughtful sound. From inside her left sleeve she'd produced a small but impressively powerful flashlight and was inspecting the wall and gate with it. "I don't like the sound of him either way. I should've run him in for assault…but from what you've said, I'm not sure what he would've done to me if I had." She glanced at me. "Mind control, huh? That's amazingly creepy."

Sparkle detached herself from the Master Key and fluttered over to land on D.T.'s right shoulder. "It's what he was trying to do, but he's not as good at it as he thinks he is. What'cha lookin' at? It's a wall."

"A magically reinforced and protected wall, apparently," I added.

"It's a sturdy wall and a sturdy gate," D.T. agreed. "I can't speak for any magical defenses it has, but I don't like the absence of modern surveillance equipment. I don't see any signs of cameras, microphones, or even an electronic lock on the gate." She looked at me. "How do you open it if someone's coming to visit? For that matter, how would you even know, you don't have so much as a bell or an intercom out here."

I shifted a little and clasped my hands in front of me. "In point of fact, you're the first person who's visited here since I moved in. So…I suppose I'd have to walk down and open it by hand."

D.T. grunted, returning her attention to the gate. "Might want to look into doing something about that, and not just for your convenience. I have no doubt that magic is super awesome, but you should have some security cameras and an intercom out here at the very least."

Somehow, that hadn't occurred to me. "I'll do that," I said seriously.

She turned, shutting off her flashlight, and smiled. "Gotta say, this is one hell of a place you've got here. Beats out my crappy little flat above the station."

I turned to take in the view from the gate. At some point in the last few days, the trees and flower beds had been artfully lit with strings of tiny white fairy lights, turning them into islands of twinkling light in the darkness. Beyond the lawn, ground-level flood lamps lit the front of the Hall from below, drawing the eye. Apparently, the brownies had been busy getting ready for spring. The whole thing looked quite magical beneath the clear night sky.

I smiled. "It's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Beautiful," D.T. said quietly, then sighed. "I'd ask for a quick tour, but it's late and I want to head back and have a quick word with Mr. O'Day about a certain firearm he has under his bar."

Sparkle immediately lifted off and zipped over to land on my shoulder.

I laughed softly. "Poor Malcolm. Another time?" When I'd known her for more than one day, regardless of how many times she'd stepped in to help me.

"I'd like that a lot," she said, and waved as she headed out towards the road. As she passed through the open gate, she called back over her shoulder, "Good night, Caley! Night, Sparkle!"

"Night, D.T.!" I called back.

We watched her walk down the road a ways towards town, the beam of her flashlight bobbing, before I closed and locked the gate. She was right, I needed to invest in some mundane electronic security for it. I'd call Margrave in the morning.

"So," I said to Sparkle as I walked up the drive towards the Hall, "what do you think of her?"

"I like her," Sparkle said without hesitation as she hopped off my shoulder and fluttered along beside me. "She's nice, and really mixed up about being a police officer. She's also really lonely. She's very attracted to you, but isn't sure you'd be interested."

I stopped and stared at her. She continued on a few more beats before realizing I'd stopped, then turned and zipped back to hover in front of me, smiling. "Are you interested?" She asked curiously.

"Where did you get all that from?" I asked, astonished. "Were you listening in on her conversations at the pub or something?"

"Nah," Sparkle dismissed that with a casual wave of one hand. "Fairies are...are..." She frowned, then said very carefully, "Contact empaths. That's what Master James said, anyway. I never understood what he meant, but I'm really good at telling how people are feeling as long as I can touch them."

Well, that explained a few things.

"So when you landed on her shoulder," I began.

"I wanted to see how she was feeling," Sparkle finished for me. "Well...really, I wanted to see what she was looking at," she admitted, "but learning how she was feeling was pretty useful too, right?"

I huffed a little laugh. "Yes, yes it was. Do you think we can trust her?"

Sparkle hesitated. "I…think we can. But maybe we'd better get to know her better before deciding for sure."

I smiled at her. "That's a very wise attitude, Sparkle."

"So…" Sparkle said, bobbing up and down a little. "Are you interested in her?" She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward in mid-air, peering at me and smirking. "Hmmmm?"

"What if I was?" I asked, starting to walk up the drive towards the Hall again. "Would that bother you?"

"Why would it?" Sparkle asked, falling in beside me again. "Fairies get together with whoever makes us happiest."

I smiled. "Well, that makes fairies smarter people than a lot of humans. And…I don't know, honestly. In my life so far, relationships are something that happen to other people. I'm flattered…I'm open to the idea…I guess we'll see what happens."

Sparkle cheered, shot straight up while doing a pirouette, then zoomed off towards the Hall. I shook my head and followed more sedately. The grounds really were quite beautiful at night, and deserved to be appreciated as much as the Hall itself. I resolved to spend a bit more time outside in the real world now that spring had arrived.

I folded up my cardigan and left it on a bureau by the door and, still a bit too wired from the evening's excitement to go to bed just yet, headed for the kitchen. I had it in mind to make us some hot cocoa, and - pausing only to get a couple of sugar cookies for Sparkle - began pulling the ingredients together at the stove. I'd barely finished assembling what I needed when the kitchen door opened and Ken entered.

Followed, to my astonishment, by Wadsworth, the head of the Hall's clan of brownies. I'd only actually seen him once before, when I met him by accident.

Both of them looked entirely too somber for my comfort.

"See," Ken said to Wadsworth, "she's back, safe and sound."

Wadsworth nodded seriously. "I see, spirit." He frowned up at me. "Are ye well, Lady Reid?"

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I nodded. "Fine, Wadsworth, really. We had a bit of excitement down at the pub earlier - " Ken's eyes snapped to my face, worry appearing there, " - but had plenty of help dealing with it."

"What kind of excitement?" Ken asked.

"Von Einhardt showed up at the pub," I said, "and was driven off by D.T. and the townsfolk."

"D.T. is the new police constable in town," Ken told Wadsworth.

"He also tried to mind control Caley again," Sparkle chimed in.

I had been trying not to mention that.

"Of course," Sparkle added smugly, "I was there to stop it, so there was nothing to worry about."

Ken and Wadsworth exchanged a look.

"Wadsworth," I said, "I was about to make some hot chocolate. Would you like a cup?"

Ken shook his head ever so slightly, tipped his head towards me, then towards Wadsworth. Wadsworth, in turn, looked uncomfortable.

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Just being friendly, I meant to incur no obligation."

Wadsworth relaxed. "In that case, aye, I would welcome a cup. Perhaps with a splash of something stronger?"

"I believe I saw a bottle of spiced rum in one of these cabinets," I said, moving to look.

"Aye, that'd do nicely," Wadsworth said as he clambered up onto one of the tall stools at the island, took off his little pork pie hat and laid it on the island's counter.

"So," I said as I returned to the stove with the bottle, "what's bothering you two?" I mixed portions of sugar, cocoa and salt in a saucepan the way Sister Sarah taught me, added water, and turned on the burner.

"Some very sophisticated magic tried to breach the wards protecting the grounds about an hour ago," Ken said bluntly. "Wadsworth and the other brownies noticed it before it got far enough to set off the alarms."

"Aye," Wadsworth said. "'Tis one of our responsibilities, watching, maintaining, and reinforcing the outer wards when needed. We took care of it."

"Do the wards end at the wall?" I asked.

Wadsworth nodded. "Aye."

"Is that why there's an un-mowed strip of grass between the wall and street?" With spring arriving, it had been in the back of my mind to find that out.

Wadsworth's leathery skin darkened and he glanced down. "Aye, Lady Reid. We cannot safely go outside the wards."

I considered that as I as I stirred the boiling mixture in the saucepan, turned down the heat, and slowly added milk to it. "Ken, could I lay wardstones at the corners of the property and extend the wards out so they could take care of that?"

Ken cleared his throat. "Eventually you'll know how to do that, but we have a more pressing matter, don't you think?"

I winced and flushed again. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Ken said gently. "I know it's just how your mind works."

"So," I said, picking up a whisk and vigorously stirring the contents of the pot to cover my embarrassment. "About an hour ago? That would put it after von Einhardt left the pub, and before D.T. and I started walking back."

"I was extremely glad to see you hadn't walked home alone under the circumstances," Ken said. "You think it was von Einhardt?"

I shrugged, letting the contents of the pot settle as I turned off the heat, added some vanilla, and began whisking the cocoa to a froth. "As far as I know, nobody else is trying to get into the Hall at the moment. I mean, it could be someone else we don't know about yet, but why borrow trouble?"

Wadsworth huffed a little laugh. "She's got ye there, spirit."

Ken brought over three mugs for me, and I saw him smiling. "You're right, there's no reason to believe it's anybody else at this point." He sighed. "You have had an exciting day, haven't you."

I nodded and poured steaming cocoa into the mugs. "Too exciting." I liberally doctored one of the mugs with some of the spiced rum, then brought all three mugs over to the island.

Sparkle jumped off the counter and was instantly teenager-sized. She perched on a stool beside Wadsworth, took the mug I handed her, and slurped happily. Wadsworth accepted his doctored cocoa with a serious nod and murmured thanks, then I leaned against the island to sip my own. "So, what do we do about this?"

Ken sighed. "For now, there's nothing we can do, really. Except be even more on our guard than we were before." He looked at me seriously. "I think you'd best curtail your trips into town, or at least not go alone - "

"She's never alone when she goes into town," Sparkle said, eyes flashing with anger for the first time that I could remember. "Don't dismiss me just because I'm a fairy, Ken."

Ken held up his hands. "I didn't mean it that way, Sparkle, and I apologize. I spoke poorly."

Wadsworth hid a smile behind his mug of cocoa.

Sparkle huffed. "Apology accepted." She sipped her cocoa.

Ken smiled a little, then returned his attention to me. "Be that as it may, I'd feel better if you stayed close to home for now."

I sighed. "Understood. I don't like it...but I also don't want to see what von Einhardt might do in town if he got really upset. He came close to losing his cool tonight, and I think that only the sheer number of people around kept him from being overtly hostile."

"But Caley stood up for herself really well," Sparkle said, "and everybody at the pub came to her defense. It was kinda cool."

"I'm still uncomfortable that it happened at all," Ken said. Then he smiled a little. "But it's nice to see that you've really set down some roots in town."

I nodded. "It felt really good when everybody in the pub stood in my defense. I...I've never been part of a community like that before."

"As I understand it," Wadsworth said, "few humans ever are. 'Tis a sad thing. Count yerself lucky to have experienced it, lass."

I smiled, glad that Wadsworth was relaxing a bit around me. "I do." Then I sighed, and my smile faded. "All right, so, I stay around the Hall for a while. That's okay. I'll just ring Malcolm in the morning and let him know. He can put the word out, and people can keep an eye out for von Einhardt showing up in town again."

"Excellent idea," Ken said with a nod.

"And you can invite D.T. up to the Hall to give her a tour!" Sparkle said excitedly.

Ken lifted an eyebrow and smiled slightly. Wadsworth just smirked and sipped his cocoa.

"Maybe," I said, "in a couple of weeks. Once I've had a chance to get to know her better, and after this bit of stress has died down a little."

"She wanted you to get security cameras for the wall," Sparkle reminded me. "Have her come take a look at them once they're in."

"Not a bad idea, that," Wadsworth said. "The wall is well-defended magically, but adding some electronic surveillance to it would make managing it easier."

Ken and I both looked at Wadsworth in surprise. "You know about surveillance equipment?" Ken asked.

Wadsworth shook his head. "Of it, aye. About it, nay. We'd have to learn to use it just like anybody. But I've heard good things, and I know my clan here wouldn't mind having eyes to watch outside the walls…even electronic ones. I've heard rumors that some of the High Sidhe have added mortal security to their places of power in the mortal world. "

"Huh," Ken said. "I hadn't heard that."

Wadsworth smiled smugly. "I've family outside these walls. They keep us informed."

I leaned forward. "Is that a line of communication I could make use of? To find out if anyone's talking about me and the Hall out there?"

Wadsworth's smile grew a bit. "Aye, I could put out feelers. Just be aware that such information might have a cost."

"What sort of cost?" I asked uneasily.

"Negotiable and probably negligible," Wadsworth said dismissively. "Might be money, might be small favors or even supplies."

I looked to Ken, who nodded a little. "I think you can rely on Wadsworth to negotiate on your behalf."

"Aye, lass, ye can," Wadsworth confirmed. "With care, and to your benefit."

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Find out what you can, but try not to make it too costly. Though I wouldn't mind spending a bit of money if it'll buy some goodwill." I smiled a little.

"Very wise." Wadsworth nodded and drained the last of his cocoa. He snapped his fingers and the mug was instantly, spotlessly clean. Then he scooped up his hat and plopped it on his head before he hopped off his chair and swept into a bow. "With your leave, my Lady, I'll get on that."

I smiled a bit more. "Thank you, Wadsworth."

He tipped the brim of his hat to me and vanished.

I sat down beside Sparkle, where Wadsworth had been a moment earlier, and rubbed my face.

Ken sighed. "I don't like this at all."

I looked up at him. "What? I thought finding out who might be asking questions about me would be a good idea."

"Oh, not that," he said quickly. "That was an excellent thought, and well handled. I've no doubt that Wadsworth will bargain carefully on your behalf and turn up anything there is to know. No, I meant this assault on the wards. Von Einhardt is getting pushier."

I frowned. "What is it he wants in here, anyway? Or is it just the Hall he wants to possess, by any means necessary."

Ken shrugged ruefully. "Honestly, it could be any number of things. The library is unquestionably bursting with rare and unique volumes of magical lore, there are enchanted artifacts all over the place, and who knows how many secrets locked away within these walls. Or it could be even simpler than that…it could just be that he craves the power that Oakwood Hall represents, both metaphorically and literally."

I lowered my head and stared into my half-empty mug of cocoa.

Sparkle leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. "It'll be okay, Caley. We'll get through this."

From somewhere deep inside the house, there came a resonant, slightly off-key BONG, like the peal of a large but imperfect church bell. It triggered a sense of alarm and alertness in me, jolting me with adrenaline. It rang again, and I was on my feet before I realized what I was doing. So was Sparkle, her eyes wide and her expression tense.

"What the heck was that?" I asked.

Faintly, from somewhere outside, I heard the sound of something crashing into metal.

Ken was already opening the kitchen door as he replied, "The Hall's emergency alarm. The front gates are under - "

A second resounding something-on-metal crash, louder this time.

" - attack." Ken finished lamely.

"I think I figured that out," I said, slipping past him into the foyer with Sparkle hot on my heels.