Secret of Light (7 page)

“Kate!” chorused Brodie and Darrell, and rushed across the room.

“It's okay — I mean — I'm okay,” came a muffled voice. To Darrell's relief, Kate's smudged face appeared in the beam of her flashlight. Darrell reached down to help Kate to her feet.

“What happened?” demanded Brodie.

“I — I was leaning on the wall and then I guess I took a step to the side. I think one of the floorboards must be broken and I tripped and fell because the wall wasn't there anymore.”

Brodie gave a low chuckle, relief in his voice. “I think you may have stumbled into the anteroom that leads up to the light, Kate.” Three flashlight beams turned to illuminate a small opening in the outer wall of the room that led to a second, smaller stairwell. Brodie stuck his flashlight inside and the light reflected back from the surface of the lamp in the small room above. The reflection was so bright they all closed their eyes in pain.

“Don't do that, Brodie!” Darrell's voice was taut with alarm. “Someone is sure to see the reflection of your flashlight.”

“Guys, we really should get out of here now.” Kate's voice had taken on a panicky edge. “I don't want to get caught in here, especially when someone has had a gun here recently.”

“One minute.” Brodie thundered up the tiny staircase and was back down again before Kate or Darrell could protest. “It's okay. The reflector was pointing out to the water. It doesn't rotate anymore, so I don't think anyone on the land could have seen it.” He paused. “All the same, I think Kate is right. It's time for us to get out of here.”

Delaney brushed against Darrell's knee and headed up the staircase.

“Time to go, boy,” called Darrell, but Delaney stood on the step and barked again. Darrell followed him up through the heavy wooden door at the top of the stairs. “I'm just going to have a quick look from the top,” she yelled.

“Let's go, Darrell,” called Kate, her voice a tremulous mix of nerves and exasperation. No answer. Brodie shrugged and the two raced up the stairs behind Darrell and Delaney.

“It's too dark outside to see anything much now,” complained Kate, her nose pressed against the glass of the lantern room. “We'd better be getting back to the school before it's too hard to find our way along the beach.”

The last light of day formed a red line above the mountains to the west and the trio gazed out at it in silence. Delaney pushed his head under Darrell's hand and whined.

“What's bothering you, boy?” Darrell asked. The wind had picked up outside, and the waves were smashing white foam against the base of the lighthouse. Water seemed to be lifting from the surface of the sea and mixing with the rain that had finally started to fall. The glass of the lantern chamber became a haze of tiny droplets.

“The storm has moved in pretty fast,” said Brodie. “I can't see a thing out there.”

“Look you two, we've got the dog — let's go, okay?” pleaded Kate.

“Okay, but let's keep the flashlights off, just in case,” said Darrell.

“You'd better grab my hand then, Darrell,” said Kate, clutching Brodie's jacket as he started down.

Darrell nodded. Curling her fingers in Delaney's collar, she followed Brodie and Kate down the twisting staircase. A sudden gust tore up through the stairwell, causing the door above them to slam shut. Kate clung to Darrell's hand tightly. “Where's this wind coming from?” she gasped. Darrell opened her mouth to reply, but her words were blown back down her throat as a maelstrom swept her away.

I've been here before.
Darrell tried to lift her head to look around, but groaned quietly and rolled into a ball instead. Her body was wracked with nausea, her head felt as though it had been split like a piece of firewood, and even her eyeballs hurt. Sure knowledge crept around the edges of her misery, but she pushed all thought away and focused on what little light she could see. The darkness was cut by thin, golden threads in the shape of a tall rectangle hovering like a halo at some indeterminate distance. A door? She heard a scuffling beside her and straightened her neck to try to see the source.

I'
ve felt like this before
. A large rat scuttled over and peered into her face.

“Agh!” Headache or not, she wasn't prepared to face down a rat under any circumstances. At the sound of her voice, the rat scampered across the straw-covered floor, and as Darrell leapt up, understanding swept through her like a flood.

Delaney gave a low growl as he scrambled to chase the rat. Darrell grabbed the dog as he ran past and dropped to one knee. Holding his large head in both hands, she searched his face in the gloom.

“Does he look the same?” Brodie's voice croaked behind her.

Darrell turned, the nausea making her head spin. “Well, it might be the light, but he looks pretty brown to me. Are you okay?”

Brodie had rolled onto his hands and knees, a shadow in the dark room. “Yeah. Lucky I had some candy in my pocket.” He crawled over and placed a small mint in Darrell's hand.

The sweet mint filled Darrell's mouth and pushed the nausea back almost immediately. “I can't believe it,” she whispered. “It's happened again.”

Brodie nodded. “Different clothes this time.” As Darrell's eyes adjusted, she could see Brodie's long legs were encased in some kind of red hose, and he wore an elaborate tunic, belted at the waist.

“Tights?” Amusement tempered Darrell's shock.

Kate groaned and Brodie stepped to her side in one stride. “Have one of these,” he whispered, and helped her roll up. Darrell slid along the floor to get closer to Kate, clothing forgotten for the moment.

Kate held one hand to her forehead as if to keep her brain lodged safely inside. “My head...” she began, and then, through the dim light, Darrell saw her eyes snap open wide. “Oh
no
,” she whispered, as she looked around, moving her head tentatively. “Are we back in Mallaig?”

Darrell stepped towards the thin lines of light, which indeed delineated a door. “I'm not sure
where
we are, Katie,” she whispered. “But we're not in the lighthouse anymore.”

As Darrell reached the door, it swung open, and she squeezed her eyes against the brilliance and staggered back. A figure stood in the doorway, a corona of sunlight bathing his silhouette in molten gold. It was impossible to more than glance at the dazzling figure, but the image was burned into Darrell's retina the instant she closed her aching eyes.

Brodie stepped between the door and the spot where Darrell stood leaning against a wooden beam. Darrell cracked her eyes open and could see Brodie's face, grim with determination. His skin was pale in the reflected light.

“Brodie,” she rasped, her throat still sore, “be careful.” Her eyes began gradually to adjust to the light, and she noticed the figure at the door hadn't moved. The person gazed long and hard into the stable.

Brodie cleared his throat. “We mean no harm,” he said quietly. “We are just travellers seeking shelter.”

Darrell heard Kate gasp at Brodie's words and silently implored her friend to keep quiet with a tiny shake of the head. Kate clapped her hand over her own mouth as if to stop herself from speaking and looked at Darrell with huge eyes.

The figure at the door moved for the first time, stepping inside and pushing the large door almost closed. The brilliant light lessened, though it continued to pour through the crack like melted butter.

“
Buon
giorno,
” said the young man. He looked pointedly around the stable in which they all stood. “I know who you are. But where are your mounts? And your carriage?”

Brodie's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

Darrell spoke out, though she could feel herself blushing. “We've —ah — sent them away.

The young man's face cleared. “I see. You have stabled them nearby, then?”

Darrell nodded, and the young man stepped away from the door and grasped Brodie by the shoulders. “I can see you do not recognize me — your own cousin — Giovanni Luca Clemente! It has been many years, and all I can see of you,” he turned Brodie so the light shone onto his face and examined him critically, “must come from your mother's family. You have nothing of your father, my uncle, in you, it is plain. Nevertheless, allow me to welcome you,
Cugino
Bruno, to the home of Andrea Verrocchio! You will spend a fruitful season, studying under the master.”

Darrell's heart pounded and she felt she must have heard incorrectly. “Surely,” she stammered, “not
the
Verrocchio?”

“And none other, of course!” He laughed, standing tall, then turned back to Brodie. “Who were you expecting? Your father has apprenticed you for the season, has he not? He sent word to my family to expect you this week — and here you are!” He gestured dismissively at Darrell and Kate. “Send your serving girls to the kitchens and let me show you around.”

Brodie raised his eyebrows at Darrell. “These are not servants — ah — Cousin Giovanni. They are...” he stumbled, as though the words had dried up in his mouth.

“Sisters of his friend,” Darrell interjected, “who was unable to attend, though promised a place. We are here to study, too, in his stead. My name is Dara and this is — Katerina.”

The young man laughed, loud and long, and slapped his knee in apparent delight. “
Girls
,” he said, barely recovered, “girls do
not
study with Verrocchio.” He looked at Kate appraisingly. “You'd better stay in the kitchens, with red hair and a name like Katerina.”

Kate flushed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged and grabbed Brodie by the sleeve. “Now come along, cousin. You have not been here since you were a tiny baby. I will show you around while the girls find their way to the
cucina
.” With a yank on Brodie's arm, the young man pulled him out into the golden afternoon.

“Italian! We're speaking Italian.” Kate was on her feet, pacing.

Darrell nodded. “Italian, or something very like it,” she said. “The only Italian words I've heard are when my Uncle Frank drops a hammer on his toe, and he won't ever translate.”

“Quit kidding around, Darrell. We need to follow them!” Kate said, her eyes frantic.

“Just a minute.” Darrell sat down on the stable floor with a thud. She ran her hands over her clothes
and patted the floor beside her. “Let's just take stock for a minute here, okay?”

Kate paced around the stable, biting a thumbnail. But when Delaney pushed his nose into her hand, she glanced down at him for a moment and then slumped on the straw beside Darrell. She rubbed her cheek against Delaney's soft head. “He's changed clothes too,” she said, her lips curling into a tiny smile.

“He looks like he did on our trip to Mallaig,” said Darrell, ruffling the dog's fur.

“He
is
brown, but his fur is longer and he's not as skinny as before.”

Darrell winced at the memory of the starving dogs she had seen roaming the streets of Mallaig during the Black Plague. “It seems like, whenever this is, times are a bit better,” she said. “Our clothes are richer, for one thing.”

Kate looked down at her own dress, a floor-length tunic of a finely striped silk in vivid red and gold with rich brocade. “Yeah.” She ran her hands along the lush fabric. “I don't feel quite so frightened this time,” she said, her voice lower. “And this whole experience is different from the cave. How can a lighthouse turn into a stable?”

Darrell shrugged. “I don't know. It's almost like we were pulled through a doorway and landed here.”

“That's not how it felt for me,” Kate said, rubbing her head. “More like we'd been sucked into a giant blender, spun around a million or so times, and spat out on the floor.”

Darrell pulled up the hem of her own elaborate overskirt and sighed. “One thing's certain,” she said
with a grimace, “they don't make prostheses much more comfortable here than they did in Scotland.” The wooden peg bound tightly to her leg looked depressingly familiar, though the wood was of a fine grain and elaborately carved, ending in a roll-toed paw, similar to a piano leg.

Kate ran her hand down her own dress again. “I believe this is silk,” she said, excitement in her voice, “but it feels a little draughty...”

Darrell grinned at the look of horror creeping over Kate's face. “Must be summertime,” she said with satisfaction, “'cause I'm not wearing any underwear, and I bet you aren't either!”

“Darrell!” Kate jumped back to her feet, smoothing down her skirts. “We're going to have to do something about this!”

Darrell laughed out loud.

“Listen Kate, we've got more important things to worry about than the state of your underwear. And besides, can you imagine how Brodie feels? He looks like he's wearing a short skirt and tights!” She reached up a hand and Kate helped her stand.

Darrell tried to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, but found her hair was caught up in two knots, one on either side of her head.

“Agh! Please tell me I don't look like Princess Leia.”

Kate brushed the straw off her clothes. “No, you don't. In fact, it kinda suits you. I can't believe how heavy all these clothes are.” She held out her voluminous skirts in a wide arc. “Some kind of brocade overskirt, silk dress, whatever this vest thingy is...”

“Now you know why there's no underwear. It's too hot!” Darrell laughed.

Kate undid her high-buttoned collar. “That's a bit better. Now you were talking about taking stock. Have you got a plan?”

Darrell shrugged. “Nope. Not yet. I think we need to get the lay of the land first. Now, considering that Giovanni guy was going to send us to the kitchen right away, I think you should hide out here with Delaney. Brodie will probably be back in a few minutes.” She peeked into a nearby stall. “This stable doesn't look like it's being used at the moment, so hopefully no one will come in here for a while.”