Oracles of Delphi Keep

  “Do you think she’s gone over the edge again?” Carl asked Ian quietly, pulling him out of his troubled thoughts.

  “No!” Ian said defensively, then softened his tone. “I just think that what happened with the beast has caused her to lose …” Ian’s voice trailed off as he searched for the appropriate words.

  “Yes?” asked Carl.

  “Perspective,” Ian finished. “I think she’s having trouble with her perspective.”

  Carl gave him a look that suggested Ian might be the one having trouble with perspective. “So I’m supposed to go down there and try to avoid getting adopted, knowing that Theo’s a little off her nutty?”

  “She’s not off her nutty!” snapped Ian with a hard glare at Carl. It was fine for Ian to think it, but for someone else to say it was unacceptable.

  “Fine,” grumbled Carl. “She’s having perspective problems. Still, I really want a family, Ian. What if these people like me? I mean, I can be quite charming, you know.” Carl bounced his eyebrows up and down for emphasis.

  Ian rolled his eyes, not remotely amused, and turned away toward the window. “Do what you want, Carl,” he grumbled. “I promised Theo that I’d follow her instructions, and I intend to keep my word.”

  Ian continued to stare out the window moodily as the other boys were called down one by one for their interview. The afternoon sun had started its descent when he heard Carl’s name called, and Ian—feeling bad now—turned to wish him luck, but his friend was already disappearing out the door.

  Ian sighed and turned back to his window to wait for Carl’s return, as he was the only boy left to interview with the couple. Just ten minutes later Carl came back to the room and said curtly, “You’re next.”

  Ian looked at him, hoping to get a hint about what the couple was like, but Carl simply went to his bed, lay down, and stared at the ceiling.

  Ian sighed again, got up, and walked with slumped shoulders out of the room and down the stairs where Madam Scargill was waiting for him. “They are in the drawing room, Master Wigby,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am, but might I ask how Theo is? I heard there was some sort of incident with her.”

  Madam Scargill raised one eyebrow. “Theo is perfectly well,” she said. “However, her behavior will not be tolerated. She’s in her room, where she’ll stay for the next week. You may visit with her after your interview, if you’re concerned, but only for a few minutes.”

  Ian felt a rush of relief. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said, turning toward the drawing room.

  “And remember,” Madam Scargill called after him, “we expect you to be on your best behavior.”

  Ian flashed a smile over his shoulder. “Of course,” he assured her. After all, Theo never said he couldn’t be polite, just that he should insist that he didn’t like girls and didn’t want to be adopted.

  When he got to the door, he knocked softly and heard a woman answer, “Enter!” Ian pulled open the door and stepped through to the keep’s drawing room, which was primarily used as a study for the two headmistresses. “Guten tag!” said a beautiful woman with platinum blond hair, pale skin, and ruby-painted lips.

  “Hello,” said Ian, nervous about meeting the strangers.

  “I am Hylda Van Schuft, and zis is my husband, Dieter,” The woman nodded to the man next to her. Herr Van Schuft was as handsome as his wife was beautiful.

  “Hello,” Ian said again as he stood stiffly by the door.

  “And you are?” Frau Van Schuft asked with a hint of mirth.

  “Er … Ian Wigby, ma’am,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  “Come sit vith us,” Frau Van Schuft said sweetly in her thick accent as she gestured to a chair on the other side of the table where they were seated.

  Herr Van Schuft was smiling broadly at him and turned to his wife and said, “He looks like us, doesn’t he, liebling?”

  Ian wasn’t sure why, but his insides turned icy cold. He didn’t like the couple, even though they seemed perfectly nice. He couldn’t help feeling that their smiles were forced and their words rehearsed. “Ja,” Frau Van Schuft said. “He could easily pass for von of us.” Turning to Ian, she said, “Vee vould prefer to have children zat look like vee do. There are always fewer … qvestions, ja?”

  Ian said, “Yes, but I don’t sound like the two of you, do I?”

  His tone was abrupt and rude and Frau Van Schuft gave him a sharp look. “’Tis no matter,” she said, pushing the edges of her lips up into an even more forceful smile. “Vee are living in England now, so of course our children vill speak like you.”

  Ian shrugged. He had already decided to trust Theo’s instincts and play this exactly as she had instructed.

  In the awkward silence that followed, Herr Van Schuft said, “Tell us about yourself.”

  Ian looked down at his hands, nervously picking at his trousers. “What would you like to know?” he asked.

  “How old are you?” Frau Van Schuft asked.

  The question seemed harmless. “I’m thirteen,” he said.

  “Vhat is your favorite subject in school?” asked Herr Van Schuft.

  Ian smiled to himself. This was a good opportunity for him to appear difficult. “I don’t have one. In fact, I’m a dreadfully poor student.”

  Herr and Frau Van Schuft shared a look before Frau Van Schuft turned back to him and asked, “Vhat do you like to do for fun?”

  Ian sensed that the couple was digging for information but he couldn’t figure out what they might be looking for, so he asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Do you like to go exploring?” asked Herr Van Schuft.

  Ian narrowed his eyes. There was something suspicious about that question. “Exploring?” he repeated while his mind raced to understand what the couple was getting at.

  Frau Van Schuft cut in. “Yes, do you like to, say … go to za cliffs and play in za caves?”

  The hair stood up on the back of Ian’s neck. How could this couple know about his love of exploring? “No,” he said carefully, hoping that they didn’t know he was lying. “Mostly I like to sit in my room and play jacks. Besides, it’s against the rules to go to the caves along the cliffs. You wouldn’t catch me near them, what with Madam Scargill keeping a firm eye on anyone who might go there.”

  Again, the Van Schufts shared a look, and Herr Van Schuft scribbled some notes on a piece of paper in front of him. His wife smiled sweetly at Ian and said, “As you may know, vee vant to adopt a boy and a girl. If vee adopt you, vich of za girls vould you like to have for a sister?”

  In his mind he heard Theo’s cryptic words. “None of them,” he answered with a scowl. “Girls are nothing but a headache, and in my opinion, not one of them is worth adopting.”

  Herr and Frau Van Schuft both sat back in their chairs, clearly surprised. “Surely you can’t mean all of za girls. After all, vee have met some very nice fräuleins today,” Herr Van Schuft said.

  Ian made a production of sighing and rolling his eyes. He wanted to appear as disinterested in the idea as possible. “I don’t want a sister,” he insisted. “If you two want to adopt a boy and a girl, then I’d rather wait for another couple who want me all to themselves.”

  Frau Van Schuft was drumming her fingers on the desk thoughtfully. “Ah,” she said coolly. Then, after a moment, she stood and extended her hand. “Danke. I believe zat is all vee need.”

  He shook her hand gruffly and got up from the table. “Have a good afternoon,” he said over his shoulder, moving to the door. Then a wicked and impulsive thought occurred to him and he turned back to the couple. “You know who goes to the cliffs a lot?” he said with a helpful smile.

  “Who?” the couple asked in unison.

  “Searle,” Ian said easily, letting his smile broaden. “He’s always talking about how much he likes exploring the caves and tunnels there.”

  “Ja?” said Frau Van Schuft, her eyes flashing with renewed interest.

  “Vhich von vas he?” aske
d Herr Van Schuft, searching through his notes.

  “Za little chubby boy,” said his wife. “Za von who said you reminded him of his fazer before he passed avay.”

  “Oh, ja,” said Herr Van Schuft, and Ian couldn’t help noticing the slight look of disappointment on his face. “He didn’t object to our adopting a fräulein, did he?”

  “Dieter,” cautioned his wife, giving her husband a pointed nod toward Ian.

  “That’s okay,” Ian said reassuringly, relieved that their focus was apparently off him as a candidate. “Searle would be perfect for you.” Herr Van Schuft gave him a cautious look, and Ian assumed he’d been a little too eager to offer up Searle, so he added, “Of course, we’d all miss him very much. He’s really well liked here at the keep.” He had to struggle not to snicker as he said those words. “Good luck in your search,” he added, and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him. As he passed Madam Scargill, she asked, “How did you do?”

  “Very well,” said Ian with a smile.

  Behind him he heard the door to the drawing room open again and Frau Van Schuft call out, “Madam Scargill? May vee speak vith za boy named Searle once more?”

  “I’ll get him,” said Ian, careful not to laugh.

  “Thank you, Ian. I believe he’s in the west tower with some of the other children.”

  Ian nodded and dashed toward the tower. Racing up the narrow staircase to the playroom, he spotted Searle holding James in a headlock, knuckling his head while James screeched to be let go.

  “Searle!” Ian yelled furiously, and moved to help free James. “Stop it! You’re wanted by the Van Schufts again.”

  Searle dropped James like a sack of potatoes and said, “Really?”

  “Yeah,” said Ian, happy for the chance to rid the keep of this bully. “I think they really liked you best.”

  “Well, of course they did!” he said. “I told you they’d want to adopt me!”

  “Yeah, it looks like it’s you,” Ian murmured, doing his best to pretend to be disappointed. “And it’s actually confusing,” he continued. “They really seemed like the kind of people who would have preferred to take me over you.”

  “What do you mean?” Searle asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

  “Well, I guess they fancy the area. They kept asking me if I’d been to the cliffs to explore the caves and tunnels there, but I didn’t know if I should tell them the truth, so I lied and told them I’d never been. They said that was too bad, because they were really looking forward to having someone who knew the area show them around.”

  Searle smiled wickedly. “I could show them around,” he said. “I’ve been to a few of those caves.”

  “Please don’t tell them or you’ll ruin my chances,” pleaded Ian.

  But Searle was already brushing roughly past him to the stairs. “Sorry, chap, looks like it’s just not your day!” he sang.

  As Searle’s heavy footsteps thumped down the staircase, Ian looked around the room at the other children gathered there. He wanted to make up with Carl, then go see Theo. “Have you seen Carl?” he asked, helping James to his feet.

  “Last I saw him he was in the dorm room,” James said. Then he asked, “Are you sure they wanted Searle?”

  Ian laughed. “Yeah,” he said. When James looked disappointed, Ian added, “Don’t worry about it. I really think that Searle was the best fit for them.”

  James shrugged and went off to sit with some other children, and Ian headed back down the staircase. Since he was closer to the girls’ dormitory—which was on the opposite side of the keep from his—he decided to look for Carl after he’d spoken with Theo.

  When he entered the girls’ dormitory in the west wing, he discovered Theo sitting quietly on her bed, gazing across the room out the window. “Hello,” he said, relieved to find her so at ease.

  “Have they gone yet?” she asked, without turning her head.

  “No. They’re interviewing Searle again,” Ian said with delight.

  Theo turned to him, worry in her eyes. “Did you do as I said? Did you tell them that you didn’t want to be adopted?”

  Ian smiled, crossing the room to her and taking a seat at the foot of her bed. “Yes,” he said. When she still looked concerned, he added, “Don’t worry, Theo. I made sure they wouldn’t take me. In fact, I made sure the only one they’d want was Searle.”

  “There’s something wrong with them,” Theo whispered, turning back to the window. Ian felt a little dejected. He thought she’d be happy that he’d followed her instructions and had come up with a plan to rid the keep of its worst nuisance.

  “Well, they’re not taking either of us,” he said. “So as soon as they leave, we won’t have to worry about them again.”

  Theo turned back to him. “Maybe we should try to warn Searle.”

  “Have you gone daft?” Ian asked, and instantly regretted it. “Er … sorry. What I mean is we’ll finally be rid of that awful git! So what if they’re not nice people? It’s exactly what Searle deserves.”

  Theo’s face was still creased with worry and Ian had to work to tramp down his impatience with her. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t delighted with the way things had gone. “We’re going on a trip to London, you and I,” she said after a moment.

  That caught Ian completely by surprise. And again, he was a little awed by her gift of foresight, as he knew that no one had told her about the trip yet. “Yes, we’re traveling to London with the schoolmasters as soon as you’re up for it.”

  Theo nodded. “It will be a good trip,” she said.

  There was a knock on the door and they looked up to see Carl there. “Hello,” he said, and shuffled his feet in the doorway.

  Seeing Carl so sullen made Ian feel even worse about treating his friend so dismissively “Hello, mate,” he said, hoping Carl wouldn’t hold it against him.

  “Carl,” Theo said urgently, “you followed my instructions about the couple, right?”

  Carl nodded. “Yes,” he said gloomily. “I followed your instructions, Theo. I told them that I’d had a sister once who I’d dearly loved, only she’d died and no one could ever replace her. If the Van Schufts wanted to adopt me, they’d have to agree not to try to replace my dead sister.”

  “Is that true?” Ian gasped, horrified that Carl might have gone through losing a sister and his parents.

  “No,” said Carl with a frown. “I made it all up.”

  “That was genius!” Theo said with a clap of happiness. “Very good thinking, Carl.”

  Carl only glared at her. “But I liked them, Theo!” he complained. “I mean, I went along with everything you said, but they were so nice and I could tell they were really fond of me until I said that last bit.”

  Theo got up and went over to rub his shoulder. “I know,” she said. “But I have a feeling about these people, and I’m convinced that you wouldn’t like living with them.”

  Carl gave a dramatic sigh, shrugged, and changed the subject. “So, what happened with your interview?”

  Theo giggled wickedly, and Ian was relieved. It was the first time he’d seen her crack a real smile in a long while. “I went wild!” she said, laughing.

  “Wild?” Carl asked.

  “Yes, it was loads of fun,” Theo gushed as she clapped her hands. “I began by telling them that I only eat sweets and simply refuse to eat anything that’s good for me. Then I said that I never went to bed on time, and that if forced to retire before I was ready, I would find ways to sneak outside and play.”

  “And they bought your act?” Ian said skeptically. Theo was such a well-behaved girl that he found it difficult to believe she could convince anyone she was otherwise.

  “I could tell they weren’t sure what to think,” she admitted. “But the best part was when Mr. Van Schuft told me that if I came to live with him, I would be expected to follow the rules of the household. I went raving mad and threw a terrible tantrum, lying on the floor and kicking my feet,” she added as s
he lay on the floor to demonstrate. “They couldn’t wait to see the back end of me!”

  Ian burst into laughter and Carl joined in. Theo pretended to stomp her feet and pound the floor to give them a full taste of her theatrics and the boys howled even more loudly. Just then, however, Ian heard Madam Dimbleby clear her throat from the doorway. He stopped laughing immediately, and Theo jumped up from the floor. Carl was the last to stop giggling when he finally realized that the headmistress was present.

  When silence had returned to the room, Madam Dimbleby said, “That’ll be enough out of you, Theo,” and Ian gulped guiltily as he read the look of deep disappointment on Madam’s face. “Masters Wigby and Lawson, please follow me downstairs to say goodbye to the Van Schufts. Miss Fields here will not be having any visitors for the next several days.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ian mumbled as he snuck Theo one last smile and followed Carl and Madam Dimbleby out the door.

  As they entered the hallway, Theo poked her head out and asked, “Ma’am, just one question if I may?”

  Madam Dimbleby paused. “Yes, Miss Fields?”

  “Who’ve they decided on, then?”

  “Searle and Isabella,” said Madam Dimbleby.

  Ian looked at Theo to gauge her reaction. She met his eyes and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was, and this sent a shiver down his spine.

  Isabella was a new member of the orphanage, having arrived at Delphi Keep only the month prior, and the one remarkable thing about her was how much she looked like Theo. Save for the birthmark on Isabella’s left cheek, she and Theo could easily be mistaken for each other.

  And although they looked like sisters, the pair couldn’t have been more different in personality. Isabella was incredibly shy and liked to sit alone with her nose buried in a book or drawing in her sketch pad. Theo was happiest when she was surrounded by other children or off exploring with Ian.

  That the Van Schufts had chosen Isabella made him believe all the more that there was something suspicious about their sudden appearance at the keep. He knew in his bones that they had been hoping to identify the two children who liked to explore the tunnels along the cliffs. Though for the life of him, he couldn’t fathom why. He resolved to keep a closer watch than ever over Theo and not question her gift of forecast again.