The Empire and the Wolf King (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #21)

67. Chapter 67 - James Cook

CHAPTER 67 - JAMES COOK

Q uentin, Zach, and I walked out onto the front stoop of the inn.

I said, “Hot damn, this is flipping cool!”

We stepped out of the way as a couple dressed in full colonial clothing swept by and went into the inn. I said, again, “Hot damn.”

Quentin said, “You going to just keep saying that all day?”

“It fits, you know?”

Zach said, “Hell yeah it does.”

I said, “Also, Junior has colic, I’m just glad to be out of the house. Plus, I’m in colonial Virginia.” My eyes swept up and down the street. “Hot Damn. ”

Quentin said, “How do I look, gentlemanly? This is a lotta pressure.”

I patted his shoulders, squaring them. “You look great. Our clothes look so good, best designer on Etsy. We look like visiting dignitaries. And I thought these powdered wigs were overkill but man I love them.” I put one leg up on the higher step and my elbow on my knee and posed. “Who do I look like?”

“George Washington.”

“And you, Quennie, look like Frederick Douglass. And Zach, ya look just like a Q-tip.”

He laughed. “Very funny,” and put his tricorn hat back on his head. “I’m too tall with a wig and a hat. Where we going?’

I pulled a rolled up parchment from the chest pocket of my blue coat, and unfurled it. “This a nice touch?” It was a hand drawn map I had worked on for hours last night. I had been prepping for this excursion for weeks.

I pointed grandiosely. “That way!”

We strolled through the Main Street crowds headed to the physician’s house, stopping to pause and gawk at the passersby. A carriage careened down the street. Ladies and gentlemen jumped out of the way.

We climbed the steps and rapped on the door.

A servant led us in to see the doctor.

I introduced us as Lady Mairead’s emissaries from Scotland, the mother of the Duke of Awe. This was a test and he didn’t seem to remember at all.

I said, “The Duke and Duchess were here last week. Did you have a chance to meet them?”

“No, I did not have the honor.”

“They left because of the threat of highwaymen.”

“A scourge on our village — what can I do for you, sire?”

I pulled a letter with a wax seal from my bag and bowed and handed it to him with a flourish. I heard Zach stifle a giggle, but I didn’t care, this was the best, most fun thing that ever happened to me besides Sophie and Junior.

Doctor Everett broke the seal and opened the letter. I hadn’t read it, but knew the basic gist: in exchange for a monetary gift we were to get a device that the Duke of Awe had left on the physician’s study shelves.

My job was to sell the idea, and make it seem normal. We weren’t a hundred percent sure the device was there, but probably, maybe… we had to look.

And actually I begged everyone to let me be the one to come and look for the monitor before Magnus used the Bridge to tie up all the loose ends. We had written over our story, but there were things that were still in mid-shift — the wedding record of Lochinvar and Ash and their hazy memories were a sign that we hadn’t fully overwritten everything. We would need to Bridge it, but also, I had the opportunity to come to Virginia in 1775 — it had always been my dream.

So they relented, and here we were.

Doctor Everett said, “I assure you, sire, there is no device on my shelves.”

Quentin held out a small chest of valuables. “Lady Mairead sent this for your trouble.”

He placed the chest on his desk and opened the lid. He looked delighted when he saw what was inside, but meanwhile we were already scanning the room.

Zach said, “Lady Mairead asked that we be allowed to look for ourselves…?’

He waved his hand, “Of course, sires, you may search.”

We crossed to the other end of his parlor and looked all over the bookshelves. “Dammit I don’t see anything.”

Zach reached behind some books. “Look, there’s a space. The monitor isn’t that big.” He pulled some more books out and checked behind them. Then he checked another section.

I said, “Check behind those jars. Top shelf.”

Zach said, “Got it. Makes sense, Magnus said, ‘apothecary remedies’, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.” While I continued down the lower shelf, looking behind books, he shifted jars aside and checked behind them. He stretched to reach the third jar. “Found something.”

He pulled it out with a grin. “The monitor!” There was a piece of scrap paper held to it by a piece of medical tape. It said, in Magnus’s handwriting, ‘For Lady Mairead, from M’. Zach ripped off the tape, holding Lady Mairead’s monitor onto his palm. “Now I won’t have to give her mine.”

Doctor Everett walked over. “Did you find something, sire?”

We showed him the note.

“Now this is a mystery, how did it end up here?”

Zach said, “We have no idea, who knows how anything happens when time is rolling on in this crazy world.”

I said, “This is all we needed, Doctor Everett, thank you so much for your time. We will let Lady Mairead know you send your regards.”

“Yes of course, send the lady my deepest regards.” He bowed.

We bowed and left his house.

We stood out on the front stoop and I said, “So where do you want to go?” I counted on my fingers. “Independence Hall, to go check out the First Continental Congress, or Francis Tavern in New York, ooh, there’s also Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, but probably Independence Hall, right? I can’t decide.”

Quentin laughed, “Up to you, you’re the tour guide.”

I thought for a moment. “Philadelphia, yeah, let’s do that.”