Victoria Laurie - Oracles of Delphi Keep

For my grandfather
Carl Laurie
My first and greatest hero

I an Wigby sat on his cot, staring at the raging storm just beyond his window. It seemed that Lady Lightning and Master Thunder were having another argument, or so the headmistress Madam Dimbleby liked to say

That old married couple, she would tell the children, Lady Lightning and Master Thunder, sometimes have arguments, as married couples often do. Lady Lightning likes to keep her husband, Master Thunder, in line, you see, so she zaps him a good sting every now and again. But the master wont have it, and he roars back at her. Give them a few hours to tire themselves out and theyll soon settle down and let their daughter Mistress Rain have the sky all to herself again.

Madam Dimbleby told the story of Lady Lightning and Master Thunder to all the orphans who came to live at Delphi Keep, to help them adjust to the turbulent weather that often visited their little patch of England. And it worked, if the seven sleeping boys behind Ian were any indication. But Ian wasnt fearful of the tempest outside. In fact, hed never been afraid of any storm. Instead, he was fascinated by the brilliant light and the clapping thunder, and he loved storms at night best of all. Yet this squall brought a foreboding to him that he couldnt quite shake, and for some time hed been less interested in what was happening in the night sky and more absorbed in watching the ground below.

Deep in his five-year-old bones he knew that his life was about to change. Intently, he watched the road leading to the keep, a thin strip of black that he was just able to make out every time Lady Lightning sent a snap to her husband. There had been nothing on the road to call his attention, and yet he couldnt take his eyes off it.

The clock at the foot of the stairs chimed. He counted as the old timepiece gonged eleven times.

Ian sighed. His eyelids were growing heavy and the storm was dying down. Perhaps he should give up his vigil and crawl under the covers. But just as he was about to turn and pull back the bedclothes, Lady Lightning sent a terrific zap across the sky and something on the road materialized out of the darkness. Ian squinted and rested his forehead on the windowpane. The form that had caught his attention appeared to be large.

Ian cupped his hands around his eyes, straining to peer into the darkness. There! Something moved! In fact, it was racing along the road toward the keep! As he watched, he began to put features to the form. It looked like a man on a horse, riding hard through the rain. Ians mouth fell open. Hed been right! Something exciting was about to happen.

He jumped out of bed and trotted on tiptoe to the other end of the long room, past the double rows of sleeping boys. He paused at the door and placed his ear at the crack. Soon he was rewarded with the banging of a fist on the heavy oak door of the keep.

For a moment the interior of the old fortress remained quiet, but just as he was about to open his door to get Madam Dimbleby, he heard her shuffling down the hallway with her cousin and companion headmistress, Madam Scargill.

Who could that be at this hour? he heard Madam Dimbleby ask.

Whoever it is should be taught some manners! Madam Scargill complained as more pounding echoed from down-stairs.

Ian opened his door a crack and peered into the hallway, catching a glimpse of the back of Madam Scargills head as she descended the staircase. He waited a beat, then stepped into the hallway and crept to the railing. There was an old table butted up against the wooden slats with a small hole in the back that would give him both cover and a convenient spy hole. He scooted under the table just in time to see the headmistresses open the door and reveal a stranger.

A bony-looking man, soaked to the skin, stood in the doorway. His hair was long and stuck to his unshaven face. He wore a tattered coat and large black boots, and in the dim light he appeared quite frightful. Please, he said in a deep voice. I come on a mission of mercy!

The headmistresses had stepped back as theyd opened the door to the man, and Ian could see their doubtful expressions when they turned to each other in silent contemplation. As they hesitated, the man stepped forward and pulled something out from the folds of his coat. Both women gasped when they saw that it was a small child. I found er not four hours ago, he explained. She was toddlin about in this muck, if you can believe it. I took er ome for a time to wait the rain out, but I dont ave any food fit for er and up until a bit ago she was frettin as bad as this storm.

Oh, my! said Madam Dimbleby as she hurried to take the child. After hugging the toddler to her chest and pulling the folds of her shawl about the babe, she asked, Where on earth did you find her?

er mum rents the cottage on the edge of me property, the man said. I found this little one wandering about in the field next to the ouse, so I went looking for er mum but shes cleared out.

Cleared out? Madam Scargill asked in her usual clipped speech. What do you mean, cleared out?

All er belongings is gone. er clothes, er trunk, all er personal things. There was this note, though, he said, and once more he dug around in the folds of his coat, from which he fished a crumpled, damp letter that he held out to the women.

Madam Scargill took the paper, placing her half-glasses onto her nose before she read, I cannot stay any longer. The child would be in danger if she were found with me. Please get her safely to the orphanage at the keep near Castle Dover.

Horrible! Madam Dimbleby exclaimed as she rocked the small child. To abandon a helpless child and in the middle of a terrible night like this!

And how dreadful of her to leave the job of getting the girl to us up to any passing stranger, sniffed Madam Scargill.

Did she leave word of the childs name? Madam Dimbleby asked.

No, answered the man. She just left the babes blanket and The man seemed about to say something else but caught himself.

And what? Madam Scargill asked. Ian knew well she could ferret out the truth from anyone.

Noffing, the man said with a shuffle of his feet, but Ian, who was watching the man intently, noticed that he discreetly squeezed something in his outer coat pocket.

Well, Id best get the girl upstairs, said Madam Dimbleby, turning toward the staircase. Gertrude, offer the man a cup of tea and a blanket to warm him until this rain lets up.

Ian held perfectly still as Madam Dimbleby walked up to the second floor. He knew she couldnt see him, but the headmistress seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, and often knew when children were in places they shouldnt be. He breathed a sigh of relief as she passed his hiding place on the way down the hall toward the nursery. When she was a safe distance away, he focused again on the man below.

The stranger was now wrapped in a warm afghan and still stood in the entryway, hovering in front of the small coal stove there. Madam Scargill had gone off to make him some tea. The stranger peered down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen, then, seeming satisfied that he was alone, he dug into the coat pocket that Ian had caught him giving a squeeze to earlier, and retrieved something small and delicate.

From where he sat, Ian could just make out that it was a gold necklace with a thin, shiny crystal. The man held the pendant up to the light and let the chain dangle freely. The crystal sparkled and sent small rainbows of color onto the wall behind him. What do you have there? Madam Scargill asked, and both Ian and the man started.