Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Gone A-Warding
“Where will you be traveling tomorrow,” Mrs. Edward Gardiner, aunt to Elizabeth Bennet, second daughter of Thomas and Francine Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, asked.
“Wales,” Lizzy, the name her family used, replied. She had celebrated her fourteenth birthday two months earlier. Even though her family believed her too young to travel around the country, an older companion and a variety of armed footmen always accompanied her.
Lizzy had become the only ward marker in the kingdom since her grandmother Bennet’s passing because no more than one active ward weaver existed per generation.
Oh, a daughter and mother could both perform the spell while both lived, but generally, the daughter served as an apprentice until her mother passed the position on to her daughter.
In Lizzy’s case, it was her grandmother who taught and apprenticed her since Grandmother Bennet only had two sons and no daughters.
Moreover, the eldest daughter usually inherited the ability, but in the case of Lizzy’s elder sister, Jane, she never displayed the weaving ability that ran through her maternal grandmother’s family.
As with many of the older, well-established families throughout England, many of them made use of the power in nature, but their abilities were different and not as strong as ability of a ward maker.
Jane’s ability allowed her to work with plants, while Mary, two years younger than Lizzy, could heal others.
Catherine, called Kitty by the family and two years younger than Mary, and Lydia, the youngest daughter, had shown no ability to use the power.
Lizzy, however, suspected Kitty might display a special talent in the area of the arts.
Although Lizzy was unsure how this ability would show itself, she did suggest the girls’ governess provide drawing and painting lessons for Kitty.
Mrs. Gardiner pulled Lizzy from her thoughts as she asked, “How many homes will you be visiting?”
“Four country homes and three estates in Wales, and on the return trip, I will visit other homes needing attention,” Lizzy replied as she once again attended their conversation.
“I must thank Uncle again for helping Grandmother obtain the coach used for these trips. Grandma so hated traveling by public conveyance. Grandfather was against the idea when she was younger, but after his death and when I started working with her, Papa encouraged the purchase of one.”
“From what I knew of your grandfather, he never wanted the responsibility of caring for a coach and the horses needed to pull it,” Lizzy’s aunt replied. “I am glad your father approved of the purchase and of the hiring of extra help for you. Now you are well looked after during these trips.”
Lizzy chuckled softly. “Yes, Mama was upset when we hired Mrs. Hanson as my personal maid and companion; however, the lady has been useful to my safety and welfare during each of my trips. Moreover, I could not ask for better guards than Ben and Joseph. Both have proven their ability to protect me from harm while traveling and visiting the different homes and estates. Of course, the brownies also provide their own form of protection while I am weaving or reinforcing the wards around the areas where they reside.”
“I am hoping this trip will be less eventful than last year. I always worry when you are required to travel so far from home. There are still areas in the north where highwaymen are active,” Mrs. Gardiner observed.
“Yes, last year was rather trying. Hiring ex-soldiers was the best decision Papa and Uncle Gardiner made for me. Ben proved his handiness with the pistols, and Joseph, with his build, proved able to disarm and take down dangerous men using his fists as well as his pistol. I am hoping that area of Derbyshire will now be free of such dangerous men.”
Lizzy had put her needlework in her lap while she spoke.
Just recalling the event still disturbed her.
It had been the first time she had been set upon while traveling.
She knew her two guards, two grooms, and the coachman were heavily armed, and the coach had extra protection added to the framework in case of bullets being fired, but she never thought she would need all those safeguards.
The coach was warded, something grandmother had always insisted upon while traveling, but the ward only shielded one from an attack wielded through the improper use of power, not a physical attack.
Even though Lizzy’s use of power was strong, it could only help so much.
It was not as if she could bind four men at one time or make their weapons disappear, and when the attack was so sudden and unexpected, one never had the time to draw on the power ahead of time.
After the attack last autumn, however, Lizzy did keep in mind any useful spell that would work to help assist in overpowering and disarming any future attackers.
Shaking her head to clear away the past memories, Lizzy lifted up her needle work so she could resume her activity.
“I am happy,” her aunt continued speaking, “that your stories for the children include some of the less dangerous aspects of your position. I know, one day, the children will ask more specific questions, especially about the eliminator and his history. They are bound to want to know more, but I do not see it as necessary bedtime story telling at their young age.”
Lizzy chuckled softly. “Yes, Lydia and Kitty, when they became older, did begin to ask some extremely specific questions about the man. I kept the most objectionable information from them as long as possible, but as grandmother always said, a time comes when the information is necessary to share for their benefit and the protection of the brownies that live under our care.”
“I imagine my children will be the same when they are older. They enjoy hearing about the brownies and are sad that no brownie will consent to live in town.”
Lizzy smiled. “Too many people, too much noise, and not enough wide-open space. Besides, brownies want to see as many trees around them as possible. Open fields are also a joy for them, but London has too little of what they desire as living space. A large house is not enough. It is the land around the house that can make all the difference. Even in some of the smaller towns, the brownies find the crowding of buildings not to their liking.”
“What happens when a town grows up around an estate and the land is lost to other buildings?”
Lizzy chuckled softly. “Loyalty to family and home is also important to brownies, but if the confinement becomes too great, the brownies will move. Some have followed their families to a country estate away from the town, but the loss of estate land to urban development has not occurred for over two hundred years. I do not foresee this being a problem until the distant future.”
“I always did wonder about that. In Lambton, where I grew up, we did have one house on the edge of town that had brownies. The last I heard they were still there, but I know one other house was built nearby about ten years ago.”
Mrs. Gardiner often mentioned her hometown.
She still had a brother and sister living there, but both her parents died about five years ago.
Aunt Gardiner loved the area; she loved seeing the Peaks in the distance, and she did not mind the cold and snow which were a normal part of Derbyshire winters.
Lizzy had traveled to Lambton with her grandmother four years before her grandmother stopped making trips and turned the warding duty over to Lizzy.
There were four large estates in the area.
A mental list of estates and houses had been started when the first warder began traveling around her local area offering her services to protect the brownies.
Word of her abilities spread quickly among the brownies and the brownies shared the information with the head of the family they served.
Soon, the ward maker began to travel further afield to provide her special protection, and with a wider area covered, she realized she needed a list of families, their estates, and their locations so she would know when to visit them again to reinforce the ward but knew nothing could be written down.
A strongly woven ward could last up to twenty years but then required renewed fortification.
Lizzy’s mental list included homes and estates across the length and breadth of England, Wales, and Scotland.
Her aunt’s next question pulled Lizzy from her thoughts. “What time are you planning to depart in the morning?” She was looking at her niece over her needlework.
“I wish to leave as soon as the sun rises. I want to travel as far as possible during this first part of the journey. We will go straight to Wales; then, as I mentioned, visit those estates along the return journey.”
“It still worries me that you will be carrying so much money during the trip back.” Lizzy could detect the concern in her aunt’s voice.
“This is why the carriage has so many secret compartments. I never put the money in one central location but spread it out to the different hiding places. Moreover, most of the estate owners will write me a bank draft. It is the normal form of payment from many of them. It is the smaller homes where I will receive the actual money. It is an unwritten agreement that these families never mention why I am there or that I am preforming a service they pay for. The fewer people who know the less tempting a target I become. Besides, my guards are heavily armed, and they now have a great deal more experience than when they first began.”
Mrs. Gardiner laid her needlework down in the basket beside her chair, reached over and placed her hand on top of Lizzy’s before saying, “I know, but this still does not mean I will not worry about your safety. Even with your power, you might still come to some harm. There is also the issue of the man out there who would like to stop you from continuing your work. I will feel much better after you have returned home from your trip.”
Lizzy laid her needlework in her lap and placed her now free hand atop her aunt’s hand.
“I know. Papa says much the same just before I leave on one of my trips. I appreciate the care the three of you take for my welfare, and I try never to take any risks with my safety. I think this is one of the reasons why Butterbell has taken to traveling with me. Although he dislikes closed in places and overly crowded towns, he makes the effort to come along just to act as another protector for me. He might not have the same kind of weapons as Joseph and Ben, but he still knows how to cause harm when necessary.” Lizzy removed her free hand.
Mrs. Gardiner then patted her niece’s hand. “I think, since you will be leaving early, it is advisable for you to retire for the night.” Mrs. Gardiner then released Lizzy’s hand.
Lizzy carefully placed her needlework in the basket beside her chair, rose, and picked up the workbasket before saying.
“Yes. I believe you are correct.” She then took a step toward her aunt, leaned down, and kissed her aunt’s cheek.
“Please wish Uncle Edward a good night for me when he finally returns from his warehouse. Let him know I hope the issue which called him out has been successful resolved.”
“I will, and we will both be up in the morning to see you off.”
Lizzy did not tell her aunt not to bother rising so early for she knew her words would fall on deaf ears. Her uncle and aunt never allowed her to leave without them waving goodbye to her no matter how early she left in the morning.