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“So any ideawho this Ealdan person is?” I wondered as I lugged out my luggage to the box carriage. Ferox pawed at the ground and whinnied as Tully brought along another trunk. The other horse beside him nervously stamped its feet.
Ben paused beside the trunk rack and frowned at the impatient steed. “Another outburst like that and I’m trading you in for one of the gentler ones.” Ferox stamped the cobblestones once but quieted afterward.
I dropped my luggage beside Ben and leaned to one side to catch his eye. “You ever hear about someone named Ealdan around your mom’s old home?”
He hefted my luggage onto the rack behind the cab. “No, though the name is rather unusual. Directly translated, it means ‘ancient one.’ Hardly a name someone would give their child.”
“Maybe the parents had high hopes,” I quipped.
Tully set the trunk on its short end and his face was slightly reddened by the exertion. Ben smiled at his old retainer as he grasped one end. “You’ve been lifting too many pillows and not enough plates, old friend.”
Tully’s normally stoic expression showed a slight hint of a scowl as he took up the other end of the trunk. I backed up and watched the pair heave the trunk into the rack. It was filled with two trunks, my extra luggage bag, and a small one brought out by Tully.
Ben clapped a hand on his old friend’s shoulder and grinned at him. “It appears you’re finally joining us on one of our adventures. Let us hope you bring us good tidings with your presence.”
Tully lifted an eyebrow and nodded at Ben, who laughed in turn.
“Yes, I suppose we’re already ill-fated enough with my presence,” Ben agreed as he opened the door and turned to me where he offered me a hand. “And your little ring there will guarantee this vacation is unforgettable.”
I snorted as I accepted his hand. “If we get a vacation.”
Ben helped me into the cab and followed after me while Tully climbed aboard the box. Ferox didn’t need a cracking of the reins but took off before Ben had even shut the door behind himself. The carriage flew out of the courtyard and took a sharp turn that lifted two wheels off the ground before we crashed back down to earth. I fell in a heap into Ben’s arms and found him grinning up at me.
“A little help here,” I grumbled as I tried to sit up.
“I’m comfortable.”
“And about to receive a jab in the ribs with my sharp elbow.”
Ben’s humor hadn’t faded a bit as he righted me on the seat beside him. “An eventful beginning to what may turn out to be a pleasant visit.”
“Did you send a crow to your great-aunt?” I asked him as we rolled down the streets of the capital traveling ever northward.
He shook his head. “No, she rather despises them. When I was younger I watched her destroy one with a broom before any of its message could be uttered from its beak.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You can do that with crows?”
“It was an old magic broom, one she was fond of using to sweep the front hall.” He leaned back and a gentle smile graced his lips as his eyes took on a fanciful glint. “Some parts of Rookwood are more museum than home. An item in the hall may be of the plainest appearance but hold great power to levitate itself to the ceiling.”
“Is that useful?” I wondered.
He chuckled. “Only for my great-great uncle. He used it to trick people into believing their beloved ones were communicating with them.”
“So ghosts aren’t what makes it levitate?”
His eyes twinkled as he looked down at me. “I didn’t say that, merely that it wasn’ttheirdearly departed that was making it levitate.”
My face drooped and my eyes widened. “So you’re telling me we’re going to a haunted house?”
“Not so much haunted as inhabited by some rather lively spirits,” Ben told me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s the difference?”
“They’re not malevolent, just mischievous.”
“I don’t think that’ll give me much comfort at two in the morning when they’re waking me up with chains in the hall.”
He leaned toward me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I could guarantee you’re still awake at that hour.”
