Read The Wizard of London for Free Online Page B

thing,” she said gravely. “I believe
we will have to keep you. Now, both of you—sleep.”
    The
lady’s eyes seemed to get very, very big. Nan’s own head filled
with peace, and she found herself lying down, obedient as a lamb. And to
Nan’s surprise, she fell asleep immediately.
    ***
    Isabelle
Harton stood leaning against the doorframe of the girls’ room for some
time, feeling limp with relief. That had been a very near thing. If little
Sarah had not been able to summon the spirit of her parrot—
    She
sensed her husband behind her, and relaxed into his arms as he put them around
her, holding her with her back to his chest. “Well, my angel. I assume we
are going to keep this ragged little street sparrow?”
    “Sarah
desperately needs a friend,” she temporized.
    “You
don’t fool me, wife,” he replied, tightening his arms around her.
“You would march straight out there and bring them all in if you thought
we could afford to feed them. But I agree with you. Sarah needs a friend, and
this friend is both clever and Talented. Karamjit says she is definitely a
telepath, and possibly other things. We can’t leave one of those
wandering about on the streets. You wanted her to come to you of her own
accord; well, here she is, and she doesn’t look like she’s
interested in leaving. When she comes into her full power, she’d either
go mad or become a masterful criminal of some sort, and in either case, it
would be you and I who would have to deal with her.”
    “Or
one of our pupils. But you’re right, I would much rather salvage her
now.” She relaxed further, with a sigh. “Thank you for indulging
me.”
    “No
such thing. I’m indulging both of us. And it isn’t as if the girl
hasn’t the potential to earn her keep. If she’s any good with the
infants, she can help the ayahs, and that will save us the expense of another
serving girl or nursemaid in the nursery.” He bent and kissed her cheek,
and she relaxed a little more. He was right, of course. They needed another
pair of hands in the nursery, particularly at bath and bedtime, and she had
been worrying about how to pay for that pair of hands. This just might work out
perfectly for everyone concerned.
    “Then
I’ll ask if she wants to stay, and make her the offer tomorrow,”
she told him. “I doubt that she’ll turn us down.”
    He
laughed. “Not if she has any sense!”
    ***
    So
ended Nan Killian’s introduction to the Harton School. She joyfully
accepted Mem’sab’s offer of bed, board, and school in exchange for
help with the babies, and within days, she was being idolized by the toddlers
and fully accepted as the new pupil by the others. And best of all, she was
Sarah Jane’s best friend.
    She
had never been
anyone
’s best friend before, nor had she ever had
a best friend of her own. It was strange. It was wonderful. It gave her the
most amazing feeling, as if now there was something she could always count on,
and she hadn’t had that feeling since her gran died.
    But
that was not the end to this part of the story. A month later, Sarah’s
mother arrived, with Grey in a cage, after an exchange of telegraphs and
letters to which neither Sarah nor Nan had been privy. Nan had, by then, found
a place where she could listen to what went on in the best parlor without being
found, and she glued her ear to the crack in the pantry to listen when Sarah
was taken into that hallowed room.
    “—found
Grey senseless beside her perch,” Sarah’s mother was saying.
“I thought it was a fit, but the Shaman swore that Sarah was in trouble
and the bird had gone to help. Grey awoke none the worse, and I would have
thought nothing more of the incident, until your telegraph arrived.”
    “And
so you came, very wisely, bringing this remarkable bird.” Mem’sab
made chirping noises at the bird, and an odd little voice said, “Hello,
bright eyes!”
    Mem’sab
chuckled. “How much of strangeness are you prepared to believe in, my
dear?” she