The Glass Castle (24 page)

Dogs?

Avery dropped her fork, pushed back her chair, and flew past the girl down the hall. A crowd had already gathered inside the storage room, and she pushed past them, too.

Bronte lay on the blankets Avery had spread the night before, only now, three puppies nursed beside her.

Avery dropped to her knees and gently stroked the dog’s head. “Oh, Bronte, you weren’t sick!” she whispered. “You were in labor. How did I miss the signs?”

“Be careful,” one of the kids said. “We don’t know where she came from. She could have a disease. What if she bites you?”

“Motherhood is not a disease,” Avery said, kissing Bronte’s head repeatedly.

“Clear the room, please,” Tuck said from the door. “Let me take a look at the dog.”

Everyone else shuffled out until it was just Tuck and Avery. He knelt and gently cupped Bronte’s face in his hands, making Avery wonder if he, too, had left a dog behind.

“How do you think she got in here?” he asked.

“Maybe looking for a warm spot and hoping we would help her?”

“She looks healthy enough,” Tuck said. “But she can’t stay here. Barking dogs could get us discovered quickly. We need to find a way to let her loose.”

“But we make noise, and we haven’t been discovered. Anyway, it seems wrong to send her back into the cold with babies. They’ll never make it.”

Tuck held Avery’s gaze for a moment.

“Maybe,” he said slowly. Then his eyes widened so that Avery could tell something dawned on him. “You know, we could use a happy distraction around here.”

Avery wiped her eyes and wished Tuck would look away. The kindness in his face unnerved her. She wanted so badly to tell him everything—including what had happened in the woods and why she had come back—but it had been a long night, and she just couldn’t.

Suddenly, here came Kendrick and Kate.

Kate immediately began mothering Bronte, promising her a warm bath and food.

“And water,” Avery said.

“Yes,” Kate said. “Giving birth makes mothers dehydrated.”

“We’ll put the dogs up for a vote,” Tuck said. “If the vote is no, I’ll have no choice but to send her away. If the vote is
yes,
there will need to be rules.”

Avery nodded. As long as Bronte was able to stay, she wouldn’t tell anyone it was her dog. That could always come later.

Late that night, the kids filed into the great room for “midnight court,” as it had come to be known—a mock version of what happened with the real king and queen downstairs. Matters were discussed and announcements were made. Tonight, Tuck sat at the front with an empty chair beside him and a large sheet hanging precariously behind, obviously hiding something from the kids.

He called the meeting to order and announced two items of business, the first being “the matter of the dog we’re calling Bronte, and her pups.”

Cheers rose from the crowd, and the kids voted unanimously to keep them. Tuck announced that the pups could be named later.

“Another matter of business,” he said, his tone serious. “You all have been discussing Avery’s decision to leave the castle. I am not at liberty to explain why she made the choice that she did, but it was honorable. As restitution, I officially place Avery in charge of looking after Bronte’s well-being. Do you accept this responsibility?”

Avery nodded, but not as vigorously as she felt.

Her heart soared. Tuck was being kind.

“A final matter of business,” he said, “is our crest.”

Avery’s stomach turned. Tuck had asked her to create it ages ago, but since she had sketched it and given it to Kate, she had never followed up on it.

Had she failed Tuck in this matter, too?

He turned to the large sheet behind his chair and, with a flourish, gave it a firm tug. It fell away to reveal a gorgeous silk flag.

Everyone, including Avery, gasped.

In the center lay the black shield, trees with dozens of bright leaves, swirling ribbons with pops of color, and the motto
Viam inveniam aut faciam.

I will either find a way or make one.

The crest was more beautiful than Avery had thought possible. Kate had sewn exactly what Avery had imagined.

Avery locked eyes with Kate across the room. “Thank you,” she mouthed, knowing for the first time since she returned that all would be well between them.

The kids were standing and clapping, and all eyes were on Avery.

Tuck motioned for her to join him. Stunned, she struggled to her feet and moved to stand beside him.

“Where’s your tiara?” he asked in her ear as the crowd continued to applaud.

“I wasn’t going to wear it until you said I should.”

“You should,” he said. “You are their queen. Just as you are mine.”

Chapter 36

Book Move

The next day, Avery called her own meeting of the cabinet, asking Kate, Kendrick, and Tuck to meet her in the kids’ store before it opened.

The news bulletin she had received while traveling with Edward was burning a hole in her pocket, and since no one had said anything to her about it since she’d returned, she assumed they hadn’t yet received the news.

And since she finally felt like their friendship was getting back on track, she knew it was the right time to discuss the matter.

“There’s something you need to see,” she said, unfolding the paper and reading the headline, “‘The King Has an Heir!’”

Tuck narrowed his eyes, and Kendrick shot her a double take. The king and queen had only recently married, and rumor had it the king eagerly desired an heir. But so soon?

Tuck reached for the bulletin and passed it to Kendrick, who mumbled as he read, “‘King George has acknowledged a child born to his first wife, Elizabeth, who died within hours of her son’s delivery. The announcement of the heir to the throne was made after careful deliberation by the king.’”

“I don’t get it,” Tuck said. “It’s no secret that Elizabeth gave birth to a baby boy who died hours later. Why make it important news?”

“Maybe someone is trying to upset Angelina by bringing it up,” Kendrick said.

“Then why would the king acknowledge the child now?” Avery asked.

“Maybe the king is afraid he won’t have any other heir and is desperate,” Tuck offered.

“Or maybe the heir is alive,” Avery said. “Maybe they aren’t sure, and this is the beginning of a formal search.”

All eyes turned to Kate, who, so far, had said nothing.

Turning to Kendrick, Kate asked, “When did Queen Elizabeth die?”

Kendrick shrugged. “I’d have to look it up, but I would guess twelve or thirteen—”

The members of the council looked at each other as the light seemed to dawn on each of them.

Avery finally spoke. “So the king’s heir dies or disappears roughly thirteen years ago, and now all thirteen-year-old orphans in the kingdom have been brought to the castle—presumably by Angelina—while she seeks to supply her own heir to the throne? Do we really believe this is a coincidence?”

There was a long, unsteady silence.

“We don’t know this has anything to do with us,” Tuck finally said carefully.

“But if it does?” Avery asked. “And if this announcement has been made ahead of a formal inquiry and Angelina knows a potential heir exists among us?”

“Then our lives could be in greater danger than we thought,” Tuck said. “But why would girls be included? The king lost a son, not a daughter. Until we know facts, we keep this to ourselves, agreed?”

They all nodded.

“The king’s heir could be living among us,” Kate whispered. “Can you imagine? One of us could be the next—”

“Wait,” Kendrick said. “If we’re here because the king is looking for his heir, why are we hiding from him?”

“Because we aren’t hiding from
him
,” Avery said.

Angelina wants to find the heir before the king discovers him.

The pieces were slowly starting to fit. Before they acted on it, though, they needed to be certain. If they were wrong about the king and he did want them discarded, the wrong move could be their undoing.

Later that day, Avery decided it was time for her to respond to Kendrick’s messages. She owed him the truth and was determined to write him before she changed her mind.

She sat on her bed, agonizing over what to say.

Words, once on paper, can never be destroyed.

“Dear Friend” seemed too impersonal, but “Dear Kendrick” seemed too presumptuous. He didn’t know she had compared handwriting samples and knew who he was.

Thank you for writing me,
she began, wishing she had his gift of words.
I have looked forward to your messages since you first began sending them. However, as to why I returned to the castle—

Just then, Kate burst into the bunk room, wide-eyed and breathless. “Come quickly!”

Avery set her pen and paper aside and followed her friend into the hallway and down the stairs.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know how to tell you. It’s all so strange. You need to see it for yourself.”

They stopped at a landing. “I know you love the library,” Kate said, “but Angelina has decided to clean up the mess by getting rid of all the books. Look!”

Kate pushed open the door to reveal a massive, hissing incinerator that flickered and snapped and belched enough smoke and heat that Avery immediately broke into a sweat and took several steps back. Stacks of old leather books with gold pages and brass clasps stood in piles awaiting their destruction.

“Why is this happening?” Avery asked. “We’ve got to stop this.”

Kate grabbed her arm. “We can’t. They’ll be back any minute with more.”

“Then we need to save what’s left upstairs.”

Avery didn’t wait for Kate’s response, but instead raced up the stairwell. She stuck her head into each door, calling for kids to come and help. She saw Kendrick in one of the rooms, and he looked stricken by the news. By the time they arrived at the library, she had recruited over a dozen, but strangely Kendrick wasn’t among them.

“When we’re certain the adults have left to take a load downstairs,” she said, “we’ll remove as many books as possible. Don’t check titles. Move books to our quarters, and we’ll sort them later. Just don’t get caught. When I ring the bell, leave immediately. Understand? Nothing matters more than your safety!”

Avery peeked into the library. A group of plainly dressed adults were on their way out the opposite door, balancing stacks of books up to their chins.

She pushed open the door and the kids flooded in, grabbing books from everywhere and carrying them to the kids’ quarters.

Avery crossed to the opposite door and peeked outside to the stairwell used by the adults. Thankfully it was made of marble, so when she heard the thunder of footsteps growing louder, she rang a handbell and the kids fled.

They repeated this cycle for most of the afternoon, and throughout the day more kids came to help.

In the end, hundreds of books had been rescued, which kept Avery’s mind off the thousands of others that were destroyed.

After thanking the kids, she lingered in the empty room that had once been alive with knowledge, now empty and dark and sad.

And then she saw something on one wall that had been swept of books: a tiny silver keyhole. Edward’s words rang in her ears.