Lucky Rabbit

There was carrot cake with dinner that night, but it was some consolation that there were, indeed, raisins hidden in the sweet confection like pockets of musty glue. Pandy nibbled a few crumbs that came her way, but those shriveled berries lay abandoned on the floor, waiting for some poor servant to sweep them away.

After chores, students usually either returned to the dining hall or went back to their rooms, especially as darkness arrived a little earlier every day. Their little group had stable duty this week, so they stood just inside the mostly-shut double doors, staring out at the soft, chill mist that was drifting from the sky. Isidor and Abbington had suggested going to bed early – Abbington’s eagerness no doubt driven by his complete lack of interest in entering that soaking mist not once, but twice, since he would have to return to the stable to sleep.

Above her, the conversation began to grow heated – a sharp contrast to the weather – but she needed to talk to the children, so Pandy tickled Thaniel’s ankle with her whiskers until she got his attention. Staring up at him, she decided this was as good a time as any to attempt Telepathy, and focused, her whole body tensing as she thought,

Thaniel stared at her, frowning, then crouched down and picked her up. For a moment, she thought it had actually worked, but he just stroked her gently and asked, “Are you all right, Bunny? You look like your tummy hurts.”

Pandy slapped a paw across her nose. Well, maybe it was easier when he was holding her? Staring at him, she slowly repeated the words.

Nothing happened except that Thaniel’s expression grew alarmed. Turning back to the others, he said, “I think there’s something wrong with Bunny. I’m going to take her to Mistress Rose.”

This was far more interesting than the vague discussion they’d been having about the benefits of playing a card game vs just going to bed, so everyone turned to look at Thaniel, then Pandy. “She looks fine to me,” Geraldine said, and Abbington nodded agreement.

This was definitely not going the way Pandy had hoped, so she gave up on her attempt at communication and just wiggled free of Thaniel’s arms, dropping to the ground and sprinting back toward Brook’s stall. A series of excited squeals was followed by the thump of footsteps on straw-covered dirt. Pandy skidded to a halt in front of the stall door, which was still open, since at some point over the last few weeks, Brook had graduated from ‘peculiar livestock’ to ‘welcome guest’. The capybara stood there, her heavy-lidded brown eyes almost managing to look surprised.

Thaniel caught up, grabbing for Pandy as he said, “Bunny! You know I’m not allowed in the stables when it’s raining. Let’s go!”

Technically, he wasn’t allowed outside when there was a thunderstorm, because that was just too much temptation for Keros’s magic. Still, no rumbles of thunder had reached Pandy’s sensitive ears, and she really did need to talk to the children, however briefly.

Rather than allowing herself to be caught, she darted between Brook’s legs, feeling the capybara’s round belly and stiff fur brush across her back before she burst out the other side. As soon as she was in the back corner of the stall, where no one else could see her, she cast Shifting Faces, and raised a shushing finger to her lips as she gestured for all of them to enter.

By now, they all knew that their new teacher was also Pandy, so while Geraldine and Abbington jumped a bit when she appeared, they didn’t back away. To Pandy’s surprise, it was Isidor who gently chivvied them in and closed the door behind him.

Pandy smiled at Geraldine and Abbington, who tentatively smiled back. “I’m sorry to do this so suddenly, but, um, I needed to talk to you all, and I’m going to be gone a lot this weekend, and then maybe also some next week, except when I’m here for Small Group of course, but we can’t really talk then because there are always people around, so-”

“You want to tell them the plan,” Isidor said, and Pandy nodded.

Geraldine looked back and forth between them, then focused on Thaniel’s enormous grin, which apparently reassured her enough that her own eyes, which had been unusually dull and tired these last few days, brightened. “What plan?” she whispered, crouching to gather her skirts around her knees, then giggling as Miss Cupcakes brushed up against her fingers. The kitten was rarely far from the girl these days, except when they ran laps, and while it was difficult to tell with cats, Pandy thought the kitten was also worried about her human.

Pandy tried to smile, but the fact was that the plan had gotten out of control – if it had ever been in control – the moment Thaniel got involved. Quickly, she filled in Geraldine and Abbington, leaving out only one key fact: that Isidor wasn’t actually eight years old. “So,” she finished, “I wanted to let both of you know that you’re welcome to live with us. There’s plenty of room. Though it won’t really be safe- Um, I mean ready for anyone to live there for a while yet. I need to clean, and fix some, uh, spots where the floor is damaged.”

Check for corpses, clear out the cellar, defuse any remaining traps, make sure the ‘ghost’ of General Avington had gone to the Great Beyond… Little things like that. Yeah, she needed some time before anyone else moved in, but Isidor was just going to have to deal with it, and she would definitely remember to tell him about the acid trap in the upstairs bathroom and the hidden laboratory. Though come to think of it, maybe the hidden laboratory should stay hidden, because Isidor didn’t really need to know about the contents of that room.

“Oh, but I-” Geraldine paused, glancing at Isidor and Abbington, then dropped her head so her curls shrouded her face. “I’m going home. So I won’t even be here.”

This wasn’t news to Thaniel and Isidor, but Abbington didn’t really look surprised either. He was a smart kid, and whatever he’d told Thaniel had sent the smaller boy to visit Geraldine in the dark of night. Abbington was a bit on the outside of everything, neither aware of Isidor’s true identity, nor being part of the friend group selected by the queen, but rather having fallen into it by virtue of Brook’s existence. He also hadn’t been with the others on Guising Eve, hadn’t been taken like Thaniel, or seen Lady Reedsley maybe-die like Geraldine. He might be the only one who could truly see all of them, without his own drama and worries getting in the way.

“Are y’leavin’ fer sure?” he asked, clearly trying to slow down and separate his rapid, liquid dialect. Geraldine shook her head, still not looking up, and Abbington nodded, patting her shoulder. “Then y’can still think’bout it, eh? Metoo, though m’mam won’t like it. C’n askennyway.” Looking at Pandy, he said, “Brook c’n come inter’house?”

She nodded. “There are several bathrooms – not enough for all of us to have our own, but definitely enough that she could have a bathtub to soak in whenever she wants. And there’s a big, fancy yard with a lot of old statues, so maybe there’s a fountain or a pond outside for her, too. If not, we could make one. I mean, it’s just a big hole in the ground, right?”

All of the children looked more interested at the mention of multiple bathrooms. By this time, they’d all had times when the restroom was busy and they had to dance outside the door until it was available. Not surprisingly, Clara never had to use the ladies’ room in Gacha Love, and there weren’t any on the game map, but Pandy really hoped there were more bathrooms in the bigger schools.

“I guess I could ask,” Geraldine said, and her head was up, her expression thoughtful. She almost looked like her usual bright-eyed self. Then her face fell. “But Mother and Father definitely won’t agree.” She gave Pandy an apologetic glance. “They don’t know you.”

Pandy grimaced. That was the real trick. Isidor had no family who wanted him, only Sir Master, and Pandy was sure that if that mysterious personage had any hesitation over allowing Isidor to move in with her, Augustus would take care of it. Similarly, Augustus himself was Thaniel’s de facto guardian, and while Pandy was sure he would put Thaniel’s safety first in making the decision, she had a few months to dismantle all the lethal traps and replace the wallpaper, so it should be fine.

“I just wanted you to know,” Pandy said, smiling at Geraldine and Abbington, “because Isidor has to leave by Monday.”

Now both of them turned shocked faces toward the older boy, who gave an awkward shrug. “Tomorrow, actually,” he muttered.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Geraldine demanded, as Abbington said, “Why leavin?”

At which point Isidor had no wiggle room left, and he glared at Pandy as he realized she’d done this to him on purpose. She wasn’t going to let him sneak out and leave his friends to wonder what had happened to him and why he hadn’t said goodbye. Yes, she or Thaniel could explain, but if there was one thing Pandy had learned since entering this world, it was that there was no excuse for not talking to the people you care about and who cared about you.

Reaching up, he closed his fist around his pendant, and for an instant, Pandy thought he would tear it off. The tendons of his hand flexed, then relaxed before he reached around and pulled the necklace over his head instead. Teenage Isidor stood before them, and this time both Abbington and Geraldine did rock backwards. Miss Cupcakes even jumped, spat out a kitty curse-word, then sat down and began licking her leg as if nothing had happened.

In as few words as possible, Isidor explained who he really was, and why he was there, ending with, “Without the- Ellie, they don’t need me here. Besides, I failed.” His expression darkened with self-loathing, and he ducked his head as he slipped the necklace back over his head.

Geraldine and Abbington were silent, taking it all in, but Thaniel said, “If you failed, so did all those other people. There were all kinds of soldiers, and Mr. Blackwood, and all of Lian’s friends.” He shuddered. “Nobody could have done anything about all those spiders, and then the bad men came in, and it happened so fast.”

He and Geraldine exchanged looks, and leaned toward each other in silent support. Not for the first time, Pandy wished she’d gone with them. But then she wouldn’t have a house to offer Isidor. Also but, if she’d been there to fight the kidnappers and succeeded, Isidor wouldn’t need a new place to go. Unless, of course, the queen took Eleanor out of school anyway, which actually seemed pretty likely, because that was twice now serious attempts had been made to abduct the princess. Three, if you counted the original Ms. Wellington, which Pandy didn’t, because Ms. Wellington hadn’t actually tried to take Eleanor, even though she could have.

But wait, did that mean the bad guys had switched to kidnapping after their original plan to manipulate Eleanor through the poppet and Ms. Wellington failed, or did that mean there were actually two different factions of bad guys, both working with the Shadow Exchange, one of whom wanted to use Eleanor, and one of whom wanted to abduct her? The Exchange definitely wasn’t above hiring out its operatives to two opposing groups, so long as both jobs paid well.

The conversation had continued without her, and when Pandy managed to refocus after her rather startling perspective shift, she found that all three of the younger children had crowded around Isidor, with Geraldine and Abbington patting his back while Thaniel hugged him. Isidor’s face was a picture of conflicting emotions, but it took a solid thirty seconds before he actually disengaged himself from the embrace by means of a slick twist and duck that left him a few feet away.

“Anyway,” he mumbled, “that’s why I’m leaving. Tomorrow.” His eyes slid away, then up to Pandy and the others as a small, almost shy smile crossed his lips. “But I’ll be at the new house. And Kestrel. So I’ll see you all. Maybe.”

With that, he opened the stall door and ducked out, leaving the other three to stare at each other. Pandy had said what she needed to – and gotten Isidor to say what he needed to – so she released Shifting Faces and hopped back to Thaniel just as the first distant roll of thunder echoed through the sky.