Dancing on the Wind

Chapter 33

It was nearly three in the morning when they arrived back at Strathmore House, and Kit was reeling with cold and fatigue. She was intending to go straight to bed until Lucien said, "It's time for a council of war."

His expression was grim, the usual charm planed away to reveal the underlying steel. His gaze went to Michael and Jason, then to her. "Can we do it now, or is everyone too tired?"

"Now," Jason said harshly. "There is no time to be wasted." Michael agreed with a silent nod.

Knowing that they must be as tired as she, Kit squared her shoulders. "If you all can keep going, so can I."

"Good girl." Lucien gave her a smile that dispersed some of the chill from her bones. "Everyone go change to dry clothing. We'll meet in the kitchen."

Fifteen minutes later they were all seated in Windsor chairs around a trestle table. The kitchen was a comforting room, with tangy clumps of dried herbs hanging from the beams and light from the roaring fire glinting from copper pans. Lucien, bless him, had made arrangements to have food and drink ready when they returned. Kit drank her first cup of tea in two scalding gulps. Bread, cheese, sliced ham, and a bowl of thick lentil soup made her feel almost human.

After hunger had been slaked, Lucien pushed his chair back from the table and stalked to the fireplace. He tossed a shovel of coal on the fire, then turned to face the others as the flames rose behind him. So must Lucifer have appeared when addressing his hosts. "We've hit a dead end," he said flatly. "Does anyone have any suggestions of what we might do next?"

After a long silence, Michael said, "Only the one that you and I discussed-choosing the most likely suspects and forcing them to talk."

Horrified, Kit said, "You mean torture?"

Lucien looked at her. "If that's what it takes to find your sister."

He meant it, she realized. She bent her head and pressed her fingertips into the center of her forehead. Based solely on her unsupported word, these men-three strong, utterly competent men-were willing to harm someone who might be innocent. The thought was terrifying.

"It's an ugly idea, Kit, but it may be our only hope," Lucien said quietly. "Is there one man you would choose as your prime suspect? Nunfield, perhaps, or Mace?"

She had always thought of herself as a civilized woman, but apparently she was not, for she found herself seriously considering Lucien's suggestion. After all, Kira's life was at stake. The faces of the suspects passed before her mind's eye. After judging each carefully, she looked up. "I honestly cannot pick one as most likely. I'm sorry. If I could, I would."

"We're looking for a needle in a haystack," Michael said, exasperated. "The only thing we know for certain is that Lady Kristine was kidnapped off the street after a theater performance. For that, we have a witness. Everything else is speculation derived from Kit's intuition."

"Do you doubt her?" Lucien asked in a neutral tone.

"No. At its best, intuition can surpass logic. The question is, how can we use Kit's ability to find her sister?"

It was the same question Lucien had asked before, but this time, there was an unexpected answer. Jason Travers said tentatively, "There's a method of divination that might be worth trying here. It involves using a pendulum and a map to find a lost object. Perhaps Kit can locate Kir a that way."

When the others stared at him, he said, "I know it sounds daft, but it's not that different from a dowser finding water with a divining rod."

"I've seen successful dowsing," Lucien said slowly.

"Though it makes no sense rationally, it often works. Kit?"

She shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt. What should I use for a pendulum?"

"I don't know if it matters." Jason thought a moment, "Perhaps a piece of Kira's jewelry if you have one."

"I have her jewelry box upstairs." She got to her feet. "I'll see if there is something suitable."

"I'll get the most detailed maps of southern England that I have." Lucien lit two candles and gave one to Kit, then opened the door for her while Jason started to clear the table.

They climbed the stairs with Kit in the lead. When they reached the first landing, she turned to him. "Have I ever really said how grateful I am for what you are doing? You've believed me when anyone else would have sent me to Bedlam, and you have used your special skills to search for Kira with a thoroughness no one else could match."

"You can thank me after we've found her," he said with a tired smile.

His words caused her expression to change. For once, Lucien misinterpreted her. "Let me repeat that this is not a quid pro quo-your freedom in return for my assistance in finding your sister. You have my help no matter what you might decide later." His expression turned rueful. "Though I can be ruthless, there are limits. Finding Kira is a separate issue from my determination to persuade you that we should marry."

"I know that." She laid a gentle hand on his cheek. Whiskers too golden to be visible prickled teasingly against her palm.

"This is not the time to worry about the future. Wait to decide what you want until the crisis has passed. Anything in my power, I shall give you willingly." Even if that meant saying good-bye, for it was not her freedom that she was concerned about, but his. Her hand dropped. After he met Kira, he would not be so determined to wed the plain, quiet twin.

Taking her words at face value, he said quietly, "I'll hold you to that." For the first time in days, he kissed her, cupping her chin in his hand-lightly, quickly, but still affecting her all the way to her marrow. The constraint that had been between them for days vanished, leaving peace. Then he turned toward his study while Kit continued up to her bedroom, her knees a little less steady than they had been.

Kira liked jewelry, and the velvet-lined chest that held her collection was a tangle of beads and baubles. Kit hesitated over the open box, wondering what to choose. Even if the divination attempt was absurd, she must try her best.

Not a bracelet or complicated necklace, or any of the brooches, for they would not swing easily. Her gaze fell on a pair of sapphire drop earrings. One of those suspended on a thread should do nicely.

Reaching for an earring, her hand halted in midair. There was an odd sensation of heat against her palm. No, not heat, and not really an itch, but… something.

Feeling foolish, she poked through the mound of jewelry until she discovered a heart-shaped locket at the bottom of the chest. It was a lovely trifle with a delicately etched pattern on the golden surface and a slender chain that would be perfect for a pendulum.

Beyond that, it felt like the right choice. Fatigue and anxiety were definitely making her a little strange. She closed the jewelry box and returned to the kitchen.

Jason was pacing restlessly about the long, flagstoned room. In sharp contrast, Michael was sprawled back in his Windsor chair, his legs crossed at the ankle with the calm of a man who had learned patience in the battlefield. Doubtless it helped that he had the least at stake; he scarcely knew Kit, and Kira not at all. Yet that made it all the more admirable he was willing to join a mission that could prove hazardous. She wondered what it would be like to have such courage. She was very tired of being afraid.

Lucien had returned before her and was opening an enormous book on the trestle table. As she drew closer, she saw that it was a folio of superbly drawn and colored maps of the British shires. She was admiring the quality of the printing when he calmly ripped out the page illustrating Surrey.

He glanced up when she made a sound of involuntary protest. "I don't know how a pendulum works, but it might have problems with a map that was bound in with other maps."

"That makes sense," she agreed. She opened her hand to show the locket. "Will this do, Jason?"

His face tightened when he saw what she held. "I gave that to Kira. Did… did she ever wear it?"

Though Kit wished she could say yes, she had to shake her head. "No, but remember that I've seen her very seldom in the last several years."

He took the locket and opened it with a thumbnail. Inside was a wisp of dark hair that exactly matched his own. "At least she kept it. That must mean something."

Her heart ached for him. Not only did he fear for Kira's life, but he could not be sure of Kira's love. "Believe me, if my sister had wanted to forget you, she would have gotten rid of this." Kit took the locket back and turned it to the light so she could see the initials engraved inside. K. T. + J. T. Below was the horizontal hourglass figure that was the mathematical symbol for infinity. Kira and Jason, for always. Blinking back the emotion that was too close to the surface, she said, "Obviously I picked the right pendulum."

His expression raw, Jason said, "Let us hope so."

She snapped the locket shut. "How does this work? I just realized that I haven't the faintest idea."

"Take a chair and get comfortable. This will take time."

Obediently she settled into one of the Windsor chairs. Jason continued, "Prop your elbow on the table and let the pendulum swing freely from your right hand."

Lucien said, "Does it matter that Kit is left-handed?"

"In that case, use your left hand. Let the locket hang until it's absolutely still."

As Kit waited for the swinging to stop, Jason explained, "Generally a pendulum is used for questions that can be answered with a yes or no. However, the motions vary for different people. To find out how the pendulum works for you, ask questions for which you know the answer."

With a nod of understanding Lucien asked, "Are you in London?"

The hanging locket quivered. Then, to Kit's amazement, it began slowly swinging counterclockwise even though she was prepared to swear that she was doing nothing.

Jason said, "That direction must mean yes."

Intrigued, Lucien asked, "Have you ever been to India, Kit?"

The pendulum slowed to a stop, then began moving clockwise. "That must be no," the American said.

Michael spoke up. "Will the Congress of Vienna allow Napoleon to keep the throne of France?"

The locket twitched nervously and came to a halt.

"A pendulum isn't usually much good for telling the future," Jason said. "It seems to work best for finding lost objects, or to help people discover what they truly want in a situation that is confusing."

Lucien began asking Kit a series of questions with simple answers. It became clear that counterclockwise was always yes and the reverse was always no. Impressed in spite of her doubts, Kit asked, "Where did you learn this?"

"From my mother, who was a wild-eyed Irishwoman." Jason smiled with obvious affection. "According to her, the O'Hanlon females had been village wise women for generations, passing traditional knowledge from mother to daughter. My father died when I was young, and my mother never remarried, so she taught me the family lore with strict orders to pass it on to my own daughter." His smile faded. "If I ever have one."

He and his mother had obviously been close. Perhaps being raised by a "wild-eyed Irishwoman" was why Jason could fall in love with the sort of strong, unconventional woman who would dare to be an actress. The more Kit saw of her cousin, the better she understood why her sister had loved him in return.

Bringing her tired mind back to business, Kit asked, "Now that we've established how it answers for me, what do I do?"

"Think very hard about finding Kira," he replied.

"When you have your goal firmly in mind, keep the pendulum steady in your left hand while you slowly move the other hand above the map. If this works, you'll get a strong reaction from the pendulum when your right hand passes over the place where she is being held."

"Hang on a moment while I get the maps in order," Lucien said. "Shall we start with London itself?"

The others agreed, so he tore the city map from the folio. As she waited, Kit remembered what Jason had said about how a pendulum could help someone discover true feelings in a tangled situation. Mentally she asked, "Am I in love with Lucien?"

The pendulum jumped in her hand, then began whirling wildly in a counterclockwise direction. Yes, yes, yes.

She stared bleakly at the swinging locket. She had been a fool to ask. Of course she loved him; how could she not? But her cowardly mind had wanted to deny the truth because it preferred not to acknowledge how painful it would be to lose him. Actually, there was some relief in accepting that she was in love with him; denying the fact hadn't made her feel any better.

Before she could stop herself, her mind formed the words, "Will he still think he loves me when this is over?"

The locket slowed to a complete halt and hung motionless from the gold chain. Well, Jason had said a pendulum wasn't good at telling the future. Nor did she really want to know what would happen later; thinking about it already hurt too much.

Jason said, "Ready?"

Lucien set the map of London in front of her. She closed her eyes and thought of her twin, her other, better self. Kira, where are you? Tell me where you are, love. She repeated the sentences like a litany until her consciousness was saturated with the essence of her sister.

Then she began to move her right hand slowly above the city map. The tension in the room was suffocating. Surprisingly, she did not mind having an audience, for the three men gave her a feeling of protection against the unknown that she was seeking to penetrate.

Divination proved to be a slow, painstaking process.

As expected, London did not provoke a reaction, though she felt a faint tingling in her palm. Perhaps that was because Kira had spent so much time in the city.

Next Surrey, then Kent. Lucien was laying out the counties counterclockwise around the city. Essex next. Kit did not look closely at the maps. Instead, she did her best to keep her mind empty so that she was only an instrument for whatever mysterious power moved the pendulum.

Suddenly the locket began twitching, creating a flurry of excitement. In a voice trembling with hope, Jason asked, "Is Kira in or near Romford?"

The pendulum began swinging clockwise. No. Kit released the breath she had caught. "Kira used to visit friends in Romford. That's probably why there was a reaction."

"Still, it proves that the technique has value. You weren't even looking at the map, so you couldn't know that you were over Romford." Lucien studied her face and frowned. "Do you need to rest?"

Guessing that she was gray with exhaustion, she closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, her hands loose in her lap. Lucien rested a hand on her shoulder and some of his strength and confidence flowed into her. When she felt a little stronger, she raised the locket and continued. After Essex, Hertford.

Now Middlesex. Still nothing. Her throat tightened. This wasn't working; she had covered all of the counties around London with no results.

Quietly, Lucien slid another map under her hovering hand. A quick glance showed that it was Berkshire, which lay just west of Middlesex. He was starting on the second ring of counties out from London.

Doggedly she passed her hand over Windsor, then north to Maidenhead. Kira, where are you? South again toward Bracknell.

The pendulum jerked like a hooked fish, then began wildly swirling counterclockwise. At the same time there was a sharp, almost painful, sensation in her right palm. Kit snapped back to wakefulness, excitement burning through her veins. She felt a strong sense of her sister's presence, not the barely conscious pulse that was always there, but the intense connection she had felt when Lucien had mesmerized her.

His voice choked, Jason said, "Is Kira near Basildon?"

The locket slowed a little, but continued circling in the same direction. Kit felt Lucien behind her. He said, "Is she closer to Hycombe?"

The pendulum began moving more rapidly. Kit was only half aware of it because she felt herself sliding into her sister's mind and emotions so deeply that she was unsure where one of them ended and the other began.

"You're over a small village, West Hycombe," Lucien said, his voice distant. "Is she near there?"

Kit's head was pounding, and she was dimly aware that the locket was again swinging wildly. Swinging, swinging, the tip of the whip biting into glazed flesh. A guttural, animal sound of pain twisted with ecstasy. Maddened eyes filled with craving and menace…

Far, far away, Lucien asked, "Is Kira in or near a place called Castle Raine?"

Reality splintered into a whirlwind of fear. Sister… self… other… enemy… danger… danger… danger!

As she fell into the vortex, she began to scream.