Chapter 14
Fourteen
“This has to be some type of record, losing the same two students twice in such a short span of time,” Annaliese muttered before Seth stepped up next to her, took hold of her hand, and gave it a pat, something that left Mabel and the Zambarello sisters all but gawking at them.
“While I’m sure learning that Norma Jean and Velma have run away seems disconcerting, it’s truly not another disaster of epic proportions,” Seth said.
“My sister has run away numerous times in the past, but she’s never gone for more than a few hours, always returning home once she runs out of pin money. ”
Mabel suddenly coughed behind her hand, and loudly at that. “I, ah, don’t believe Norma Jean will run out of pin money anytime soon because she might, ah, well, have mentioned to Velma, who then mentioned to me, that she’d helped herself to the contents of your, um, safe.”
Seth blinked and released Annaliese’s hand. “I’m sorry, but she . . . what?”
“Emptied your safe,” Mabel clarified.
Seth’s eyes turned distant before he began staring off into space, undoubtedly because he was contemplating how his sister had been capable of emptying his safe.
Knowing now was hardly the time to get distracted from the drama at hand, Annaliese waved a hand in front of his eyes, then waved it again, and then again, before he finally gave a bit of a start and refocused on her.
“Figuring out how Norma Jean managed to get into your safe will need to wait,” Annaliese said. “What’s more important is figuring out where she and Velma went.”
“I wasn’t trying to figure that out,” Seth didn’t hesitate to argue.
“Instead, I was trying to decide how it came to be that my mind, for the briefest of seconds after Mabel told me what Norma Jean did, actually stopped working, which then led me to think I might need to seek out the services of my physician as I’ve never suffered from brain numbness before. ”
“I’m sure your brain is fine.”
“I’m glad someone is convinced of that since, now that I think about what you just said, I really should have been dwelling on how Norma Jean accessed my safe.
” He cocked his head to the side. “I know I never gave her the combination, nor could she have found that on her own as I’ve never written it down.
That right there could mean that my sister was not being honest with Velma when she told her she’d emptied my safe, something else that might mean this situation is not as dire as it seems.”
Mabel raised her hand, quite like they were in the middle of class, drawing Seth’s attention. “Norma Jean knows how to open your safe because she watched you do it a few years ago when she asked you for pin money, then committed the combination to memory.”
“Surely you’re mistaken about that.”
Mabel frowned. “I don’t know why you’d think that, unless . . . are you unaware of the fact that Norma Jean can remember anything she sees or reads?”
After pressing a finger against his temple, Seth shook his head.
“I was not aware of that and now find myself with a slew of questions, all of which are going to have to wait to be answered since we might actually be facing another disaster of epic proportions.” He returned his attention to Annaliese.
“I always keep a substantial amount of money in my safe, and if Norma Jean truly did empty it, she and Velma have the means to stay on the run for the foreseeable future.”
“A concerning notion to be sure,” Annaliese said before she turned to Mabel.
“We need to find Norma Jean and Velma as quickly as possible. May I assume, since Norma Jean told Velma, who then told you that Norma Jean helped herself to the contents of Seth’s safe, that Velma also told you where they were going to head with their ill-gotten loot? ”
It was less than encouraging when Mabel shook her head.
“Norma Jean thought it best if none of us knew where she and Velma were heading, knowing we’d be questioned at some point, and also knowing we wouldn’t be able to keep her secret if that questioning took a turn toward interrogation.
That’s why she swore Velma to secrecy, and Velma .
. .” Mabel paused to gulp in a breath of air but didn’t get an opportunity to expound on the whole and-Velma business because a cheery “Hello” suddenly rang out, one that left Seth releasing a groan and Annaliese turning around to see who was joining them now.
The sight of Louisa McCormick, Seth and Norma Jean’s mother, gliding across the sand with Pierre perched on her shoulder left Annaliese with the distinct urge to release a groan of her own because, clearly, she was going to have to admit to the lady that she’d lost her daughter once again, and, at this point in time, had no idea how to find her.
“Mother,” Seth said, striding into motion and then offering his mother his arm when he reached Louisa’s side, which she immediately took. “What are you doing here?”
“I believe a more pertinent question would be what are you doing here as I distinctly remember you telling me you had a business meeting today, which is why you said I had to fetch Norma Jean from school.”
“I do have a business meeting, but it’s later today.”
Louisa shot a look to Annaliese before she smiled. “Ah well, now I understand what you’re doing here, and know that I’m just delighted the two of you are coming to realize that I, along with the girls, were right all along.”
“Right about what?” Irma asked, moving to stand directly beside Annaliese.
“Annaliese didn’t tell you that there’s a touch of matchmaking in the air?” Louisa asked.
Irma glanced to Annaliese, then to Seth, then returned her attention to Louisa even as her eyes took to gleaming in a manner Annaliese hadn’t seen since before she’d been deemed a disaster during her debut.
“This is the first I’ve heard of any matchmaking, but I must say I’m all atwitter to hear the pertinent details. ”
Louisa inclined her head. “I’ll be happy to supply you with those pertinent details, scant though they are, but I’m afraid that it will need to wait as it appears that the academy has evidently suffered a skunk attack.
” Louisa turned to Annaliese. “After I was told by that oh-so-delightful Caterina Zambarello what happened today, and after I entered the castle to run my son down because Caterina also told me he was here, I then took the liberty of telling some staff members who were in the process of cleaning up the great hall to simply pour some hydrogen peroxide over the places that were smelly and let it sit for a while.”
Seth frowned. “You know that hydrogen peroxide neutralizes scents?”
“I’m very well-read, dear” was all Louisa said to that before she smoothed a gloved hand over Pierre. “I also took the liberty of rescuing darling Pierre from the library she’s been banished to, although why she’s been banished there is a bit of a mystery.”
Irma shook her head. “There’s no mystery about that, Louisa, because it turns out that Pierre is quite the loquacious parrot. Unfortunately, that loquaciousness comes complete with a salty vocabulary, one we certainly don’t want the students privy to.”
“Zut!” Pierre suddenly squawked with a ruffle of splinted feathers, rather as if she wanted to prove Irma’s point.
“Ah, she speaks French,” Louisa exclaimed right as Penina exchanged a look with Mabel, both of them shrugging slightly before Penina dipped a curtsy Louisa’s way a second later.
“It’s delightful to see you again, Mrs. McCormick,” Penina began. “And as neither my sister or I speak French, nor does Mabel, would you be so kind as to translate what zut means for us?”
Louisa smiled. “It’s French for—”
“It’s not a word that should ever be used by young ladies,” Annaliese hurried to interrupt, “Besides, as all three of you know, we have more important matters to discuss with Mrs. McCormick over the salty language of Pierre.”
Louisa’s smile faded. “Other matters?”
“Norma Jean ran away with Velma,” Mabel said before Annaliese could get a single explanation out of her mouth. “She also staged the skunk assault with help from the three of us out here, and . . . she emptied Seth’s safe.”
For the briefest of seconds, Louisa stared at Mabel before she frowned. “What do you mean, she staged the skunk assault?”
“She nicked a few of your son’s skunk thingamajigs,” Penina explained.
“She then told us to release the contents of those thingamajigs right at the beginning of lunch, and voilà—which is a French word I know I’m allowed to say because it means something to the effect of here you go, a harmless phrase if there ever was one. ”
“The castle erupted into absolute madness,” Mabel added. “That madness is exactly what Norma Jean was hoping for because it allowed her and Velma the opportunity to make a break for it.”
Louisa turned to Seth. “Why in the world would you invent something that smells like skunk?”
“I thought it would be safer for Norma Jean to carry a skunk deterrent around with her over a percussive grenade.”
“If you had concerns regarding Norma Jean’s safety, you should have just broached the matter with me,” Louisa countered.
“I could have hired a bodyguard to watch her full-time, which would have made it next to impossible for her to run away, and from the sound of it, in possession of enough funds to finance whatever plan she’s formulated now. ”
“You hired a bodyguard after Norma Jean almost got abducted,” Seth argued. “To refresh your memory, he lost track of her on his second day on the job.”
“That’s because the man told Norma Jean she wouldn’t be able to get out of his sights, and she took that as a challenge.”