Werewolf III: The Case of Garnavon Hall

[Katzaniel]

"Good morning Ms. Christie." Katharine takes in the clues of drunkenness somewhat distastefully, but notes her own strong desire at the moment for some good rhubarb wine.

 

Spying Marcus coming toward them, she decides not to indulge.

 

"It sure has been an eventful couple of days. I can't understand why the assassin would still be killing, surely they would want to lay low."

 

Voice dipping a little, Katharine cannot resist adding, "Someone with the temperament of the American might not, though. Perhaps he is smarter than he looks. He sides with the chemist, knowing Dr. Watson will soon rule out his involvement. Once Dr. Cuthbert is deemed innocent, we all assume that his largest supporter was, too."

 

"I am smarter than I look, Mrs. Horton," grins Edwyn, striding toward her. "But perhaps that is only in contrast to someone who knows there is a murderer around and still gossips to anybody who will listen."

 

Abashed, Katharine looks down. "We must help Dr. Watson as much as we can. If we all work together to figure out who could have done it, perhaps more evidence - proper evidence - will arise."

[Vahktang]

Mr. Vahktang joins the ladies at breakfast.

Seeing the well stocked table but failing to find what he wants he searches in vain for several minutes for something particular.

"Mr. Vahktang," says Elisabeth Christie, "what are you searching for. Ask and we may be able to help you."

"Well, I have a habit from home that I have not been able to break. Starting the morning with a, ah, an 'eye opener.'

"Hmm,' asks Mrs. Horton.

"Something with an alcaholic content," replies Mrs. Christie.

"At eight-thirty in the morning," wonders Mrs. Horton.

Mr. Varktang shrugs charmingly.

Mrs. Horton points to the sideboard.

"There's a good rhubarb wine there."

"Rhubarb wine?

"There is actually rhubarb wine?

"And even more amazing, some of it can be qualified as bad?

"I must have some.

"Thank you, Mrs. Horton."

Which he procedes to pour, offers some to the ladies, who decline and then sips some.

"Hmm. Unusual. But not unpleasent.

"Thank you for the suggestion, Mrs. Horton."

 

 

More later,

 

Vahktang

[Gnarlitch]

Wil feels rather disturbed by all the recent goings on and has no appetite whatsoever. So, instead of making his own breakfast in the servants quarters, he wanders out for a walk. Moving at a brisk pace, he follows a small game trail towards the scene of the most recent murder, inspecting the area for anything unusual as he goes. The dry dirt of the trail seems unable to take much imprint from his shoes, even with the recent light showers to moisten everything. Continuing on towards the site, he still finds nothing out of place or unusual.

 

Once at the site he takes a careful look at where the body was located in reference to the horses tracks on the road. He surmises that, yes, she actually was killed at this spot and not brought to this place after having been murdered somewhere else. Then, using experinces he gained while serving in the Royal Army for some years in Africa, where he spent much time working with the regimental scouts, he makes some educated guesses as to the range possibilities of the thrown (he guesses) dagger, and the directions it could have come from.

 

Using these assumptions he then begins a detailed scout of those areas, looking for signs left behind by the murderer. What he finds leaves him both amazed and puzzled. It would appear as if there was a pair of assasins working together, and one of them a female! More astounding yet, it would appear as if it was the woman who threw the dagger, while the man apparently stepped out of the bushes beside the road to distract and slow down the Lady Clarice.

 

After making these deductions, he then attempts to follow the rather distinctive sharp heel imprints of the woman's boots back to where she came from. That trail soon disappears at the edge of the main roadway, looking as if she had stepped down from a carraige and off into the trees. Tracking her the other direction also became fruitless quite rapidly, as she soon joined a game trail as hard packed as the one he had followed to get here. Then that trail soon disected various other trails, including the one he had folloed here from the estate grounds.

 

Just when he had decided that it would be fruitless to continue this search, he found beside one of the trails part of a locket known to have belonged to the Lady Clarice. The locket had been broken in half after having the picture it may have contained removed. Apparently, it had some signifigance to both the murderer and the deceased. But, was this piece of locket left here by accident? Or was it on purpose?

[Tanuchan]

Watson turns Holmes' letter from one side to the other, trying at the same time write his new report and answer all questions. He wonders why it seems that Holmes is always looking for things completely different from what he, Watson, would consider relevant.

 

What was there over the desk besides the letters, Watson? Or, what wasn't there? Absent things can tell more than those obviously seen.

Well, after Lady Clarice's murder it was evident that a letter-opener was missing... Wetherby had recognized it when Watson had shown him the cause of the mare's panic.

 

You said silver needle... did you examine the body carefully, Watson? Did you see anything odd?

What did Holmes take him for? He was a doctor! Of course he had examined the body... the tiny silver needle was stuck in the back of Lord Garnavon's neck, right beside a birthmark...

 

Wait... the birthmark...

 

Watson rounds his eyes, hastily scribbling in a notepad what he'd just remembered: the birthmark looked like an animal's footprint... a wolf's, he would say. And when he commented with both Lord Richard and Lady Clarice the odd aspect of that birthmark, they had looked at him and wondered about what he was talking about.

 

Dr.Cuthbert's demise is a most unfortunate event, Watson.  He was a known chemist among those of the area, and he could have helped identifying the poison. And you say people were suspecting him of being the assassin?

More scribbling... Watson recalls the scene after the fire was put out and the basement cleared from the toxic fumes. Dr.Cuthbert's face over a fallen Bunsen burner, his features unrecognizable as apparently there had been something silverish on the burner that stuck to his face.

 

And, the next to last paragraph...

 

Wil brought Lady Clarice's locket, which he found broken at the site of the murder. No one knows about the picture in it, although she has carried that locket for many years. Lord Richard is in shock, and Lady Marise says she has once, accidentaly, seen the picture of a young boy but has no idea who he was. She says Lady Clarice was very silent about it, and never talked about him.

 

 

~~~~~~

 

OOC You still have about 24 hours to put your votes in...

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Elisabeth was thinking her way and wonders for whom she shall vote against. While it is extremely tempting to vote against the rude American, she decides that it might be foolish to do so now. However, who wanted this household and their guest dead? Mrs. Christie decided to voice her opinion.

 

- The problem I have for the moment is that I lack to see the motives behind this sinister tragedy. For me, it is tempting to vote against that rude American over there but I'll refrain for the moment. He was indeed willing to save Dr. Cuthbert's life. Although that it might be a cleaver cover up. All these speculations are leading to nowhere.

[Savage Dragon]

"It was still there!!!" Wetherby sprang up from a seat and everyone was once again startled by his sudden involment in the conversation.

 

"What was still there?" Wil asked him.

 

"The letter opener was still there!!!", they all still looked at him quizically, "It was still on the desk when we all went in there to look at the body. I remember seeing it laying on the desk, undisturbed. It must have been after we went back into the palor that it must have been taken."

 

Everyone's face seemed to lighten up for a moment. They looked around at each other.

 

"So that means whoever has been in there since..." he looked up and saw the stable boy, James. "YOU!!!", he pointed at him, "You went in there afterwards to perform your little unorthodox search, you must have taken it. Mystery over folks, we have the killer right here."

 

OCC: James Doyle

[Katzaniel]

"It is so very difficult to know what is going on. But I find it in my nature to try to solve the puzzle. The American... if it was a clever ruse, then it has partially pulled me in. I still don't know who would be capable of murdering either Sir Garnavon or his daughter, but it is clearly someone with a vendetta against the family itself. Mr. Doyle has no such motive. He went into the room, but he made it quite obvious. Would he ask us all to search the room, then failing that, go in full view of us all, to steal an object from the room which he would later use to commit another murder? Especially after seeing how we all jumped to accusing Mr. Cuthbert for an obvious connection. Perhaps he thought he would use our guilt in coming to that conclusion against us; but surely a wily killer would rather keep all attention off of himself."

 

Katharine looked carefully around the room.

 

"Lady Galanodel, you spoke well yesterday, but then someone with your background is trained to speak well. Especially given time to practice your own defense. Perhaps you hired Mr. Cooper; perhaps you hired someone else. I still think that you are the only one in the room with the motive against the family as well as the lack of respect for others that it would have taken to go through with murder. Forgive me, but I rather suspect you had something to do with all of this."

 

OOC: Elwen - Lady Emily Galanodel

[Ozymandias]

Marcus wandered the house aimlessly the rest of the day. After their walk in the yard, and subsequent discovery of Lady Clarice's death, Katharine had gently urged her son to help the others, as much as she did love him dearly for the attention he'd paid her the rest of the day. She knew others need his strength now, she told him. Reluctantly, he obeyed, but moved though the rest of that afternoon as if in a daze, sparing no more than the smallest polite small talk for the men, and every proper condolence to the women he could remember. Even these small efforts were crushed down further, as his earnest face had remained grave the entire time.

 

Finally, as eveing came, Marcus had made his way into the drawing room and happened upon the Lady Emily and John Norfolk, just in time to hear the man's repeated accustaion.

 

His face colors again, and he says, calmly and politely, "Sir, you forget yourself. Not only do you speak to a Lady- but there've now been two murders done. *Everyone's* in a stressed state of mind, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt- though you *have* been acting strangely, not stressed this whole time. Bite your tounge."

 

(OOC: A vote for Nave.)

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Elisabeth nods at what both Katharine and Marcus said and decides that she must cast her vote

 

- I think that this time, I'm with Mr. Horton on this one. I fail to understand why he his so expeditive into accusing Lady Emily. Unless he genuinely knows something about Lady Emily that I don't I fail to see any evidence pointing her.

 

(OOC: A vote against John Norfolk/Nave)

[Gnarlitch]

After his brisk morning walk, Wil spends the rest of the day performing the various tasks around the manor that he has been hired for. While he works he keeps mainly to himself, holds his tongue, and keeps his ears open for clues. By the end of the day he is as unsure what to do as he was first thing that morning. All that he is sure of is that a woman is in on the murders. Is it the old scholl teacher? She had been a harsh teacher back when he had been in her class as a boy. But he never would have suspected her of being evil. Now, the gossipy socialite he could see as evil, but he just couldn't see her actually DOING anything. That left the Lady Emily, she whom he knew the least but who, being young and active, seemed the most able to commit the acts thus far. Also, standing against her was his old friend John Norfolk, whom he'd first met in Africa, and the respected school teacher. He hated to do it, especially since one of his lowly station accusing on of her lofty station used to be a sure death sentence. Now, it merely meant that he would most likely lose all his local custom even if he was right in his accusation. Well, sometimes the right choice is difficult to make, but he had never allowed that to stop him in the past. Stepping into the room where Marcus was chastising John...

 

"Ahem. Sirs, Madam. Sorry to interrupt. But, I must say thet all the evidence thus far points at her ladyship 'ere, the Lady Emily. I believe she 'as a 'and in these 'ere murders. As such, I must stand beside Mr. Norfolf 'ere. An' may God 'ave mercy on me soul if'n I be wrong."

 

OOC:a vote for Elwen - Lady Emily Galanodel

[Eyremon]

Katharine Horton (Katzaniel) ==> , retired schoolteacher

Wetherby Danielson (MeThinksUFoolish) ==> Sir Cecil Garnavon's butler

Shota Vahktang (Vahktang) ==> Georgian gentleman on tour of the Continent

George Worthington (X-Sabre) ==> tavern owner

Sir Alfred Peterson (Degenero Angelus) ==> rich old Knight and Nobleman

James Doyle (Tamaranis) ==> stableboy at Garnavon Hall

Marcus Horton (Ozymandias) ==> a butcher (Katharine's son)

John Norfolk (Nave) ==> merchant

Elisabeth Christie (Lady Celes) ==> well-known socialite

Gavin Doyle (Matteo) ==> Philosophy major with minor in English

Lady Emily Galanodel (Elwen) ==> unconventional teenage noblewoman

Edwyn Cooper (Eyremon) ==> American soldier/merc just back from Africa

Wil (Gnarlitch) ==> jack o' all trades

 

 

 

Lady Emily is forced to live life in a chair! are you saying that she hired somebody to do this work for her? Ms. Horton, I can assure you that I am on nobodies payroll since I have arrived here in England. I am happily self suffiecient for the first time in my life having no worries about where my next meal is going to come from. For some reason I have a feeling against Mr Worthington. Is his grudge against the family due to this recent wedding, and lack of work sent his way? Back home people do that on the frontier. Given the recent update about a possible silver connection and the deaths. Mr. Watson here is my Silver Plated Colt Frontier, may you hang on to it until this incendent is over, if not keep it.

 

OOC. Mr. Worthington <X-saber>

[Vahktang]

Could this be an aristocratic arguement gone out of hand?

Rivalry and jealousy debased unto...murder?

 

<a vote for Sir Alfred Peterson (Degenero Angelus) ==> rich old Knight and Nobleman>

 

More later,

 

Vahktang

[Elwen]

Emily looks at each person in turn, her left amber eye cold with anger, and her softer right eye, the violet one, veiled with a long lock of loose, pale hair.

 

"All the evidence points to me?" she remarks, her normally soft voice strained. "Then bring forth the evidence. Bring it forth into the light where /all/ may see, instead of mere suspicion." she leans forward, looking intently at Wil. "Is it just because I am one of only a limited number of females, and seem the most young and 'active?'" she gestures angrily at her legs. "Active?!" she laughs bitterly, and her eyes flicker to Katherine. "Mrs. Horton...why would I have a motive against the Garnavon family? What would you suspect my motivations as? And lack of respect for others and life?" As she speaks, her once carefully-controlled voice is no longer controlled, dengenerating into harsh sobs by the time she is speaking to the retired schoolteacher. Her eyes lose focus, as she is drawn against her will into old memories. "That is the absolute last...absolute last...absolute last thing I will lose. Accuse me of anything else, but not of that!"

 

This is a total contrast to her earlier defense of herself: this is not a poised, in control of herself Lady, who seems far older than her barely-sixteen years, but a frightened, half-hysterical child.

 

"I saw my parents die when I was ten years old-and I would never put anyone through that torment!" Emily finally manages to get out through sobs. "I would never hire an assassin to kill a person who was not myself."

 

She takes several deep breaths. "Forgive me." she finally whispers, her calm having returned, but only because her (brief) fit of hysterics has taken a great deal of strength out of her. "My emotions got the better of me."

 

Emily finally looks at Norfolk, her staunch accuser, meaning to say something. An accusation, perhaps, or to defend herself. Her lips open, as if to say something, but no sound comes out. Instead, she falls from her chair to the carpet, unconsious.

 

((OOC: My vote is for Nave/John Norfolk.))

[Tanuchan]

OOC Current tally...

 

who ====> voted for

Katzaniel/Katharine ===> Elwen/Lady Galanodel

MeThinksUFoolish/Wetherby ===> Tam/James

Vahk/Vahktang ===> Deg/Sir Alfred

Sabre/Worthington ===>

Deg/Sir Alfred ===>

Tam/James ===>

Ozy/Marcus ===> Nave/Norfolk

Nave/Norfolk ===> Elwen/Lady Galanodel

Lady Celes/Elisabeth ===> Nave/Norfolk

Matteo/Gavin ===>

Elwen/Lady Galanodel ===> Nave/Norfolk

Eyremon/Cooper ===> Sabre/Worthington

Gnarlitch/Wil ===> Elwen/Lady Galanodel

 

 

Okay, there's a tie and you have about 2.5 hours left to vote/change votes.

Edited March 15, 2004 by Tanuchan

[Katzaniel]

Katharine is at the girl's side, trying to help her regain consciousness. "All I can say is that I think it must be someone with something to gain. Very few people here could gain anything from it, but among them are the nobles, who might feel that the family is some sort of competition. Among those, you seem the least stable, in personality as well as position. I'm sorry, Lady Galanodel. I guess it's mostly just a hunch, perhaps I should not have spoken it out loud. But even with all you say, I see no one more likely among us. Please wake up."

[Tamaranis]

James tries to think up a retort to throw back at Wetherby, something to say that would prove his innocence, but he can't think of anything. He can't even say for sure if the letter opener was still there when he made his search or not.

 

Finally he responds with a frustrated shout of"You're off your rocker!"

 

"...but it doesn't matter, because everyone else seems to think that poor crippled lady is running around tossing daggers at horses in the middle of the night."

 

They were all crazy!

 

That woman in the wheelchair couldn't take to fall for this.

 

OOC: A vote for Norfolk, since that breaks the tie.

[Tanuchan]

Called by a servant, Watson kneels by Lady Galanodel while accusations still fly over his head.

 

"See what you did. Norfolk, you're an insensitive bastard!" growls Marcus, as Wil just pipes in, "Hah. Good act, I say."

 

"She cannot leave her chair, she's frail and pretty defenseless, and you have the face to accuse her, you who are nothing?" Elisabeth glares at Wil.

 

"I know Wil and I know he has never been one to act based in prejudice." Mrs. Horton sets piercing eyes on Elisabeth. "You are the one who seems to have some bias towards social position here, Mrs. Christie."

 

"Ladies, gentlemen, could you please calm down?" says Watson in an authoritative voice while he helps Lady Galanodel to her wheelchair. "May I ask what happened here?"

 

It's quite some time before he can sort out the accusations, and he then nods. "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Norfolk. But I think we should talk in private."

 

"This is absurd," cries Norfolk, stepping back. "It's insulting! You cannot be serious about it!"

 

Marcus steps right behind Norfolk, grabbing his shoulder. "I wouldn't go anywhere, Mr. Norfolk. Dr. Watson just wants to talk... or is this so..."

 

Norfolk shakes him off rudely, eyeing the gathered people in a proud way. "I'm no assassin. If you don't believe it, well... send for the police. Or keep me locked. But I will not be interrogated by you, dr. Watson. You have no competence for that."

 

"I won't have Dr. Watson be insulted in my house, Mr. Norfolk."

 

They turn, and meet Lord Richard's stern gaze.

 

"You are all my guests, and my friends. However, one of you is responsible for my father and my sister's deaths. I will take full responsibility for that, Mr. Norfolk, but I'm asking you to keep to your room. Better yet, I'm asking you to move to the third floor... there are no balconies there, nor a way to get out through the windows. I myself will lock the door, so there's no doubt upon any of my servants."

 

Norfolk seems to hesitate, but then nods. "It seems I have no choice. If I refuse, you'll probably just have me knocked down and tied... and sent to the police as an assassin."

 

"So it's settled. Lady Emily, are you alright?"

 

She nods weakly, still pale from her ordeal. Soon later, Norfolk is escorted to his new rooms and the house prepares for the coming night.

 

 

OOC Nave/John Norfolk was innocent. It's Night Phase. Wolves/Seer/Baner, please send me your PMs. Day Phase starts in 24hours or as soon as I get all the PMs.

Edited March 15, 2004 by Tanuchan

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Elisabeth Christie looks over Norfolk's escort. After goo Dr. Watson confirms he was an innocent she nods although she makes a remarks in an impatient tone.

 

- Hopefully, that's one innocent in the safety of confinement. But still, the murderer eluded us again. I hope we will have more clues because I feel that I'm blindfolded.

 

The socialite glares at the former teacher.

 

- Of course I am biased! In fact, pretty much everyone is! I did voted against Mr. Norfolk because he re-voted against Lady Galanodel without thinking if it was the best choice or not, among other things. Now, if you excuse me, I need some quiet time on my own.

 

Mrs. Christie heads for the Library. Once there, she sats at a desk and writes a second letter to her husband.

 

My beloved husband,

 

Fortunatly, fate allowed me to breath one more day so that I can write you a second letter. Yesterday, Dr. Cuthbert died in a mysterious accident, while attempting helping good Dr. Watson. However, the assassin strucked again and cowardly killed Lady Clarice. I'm so glad that you are not in the mansion, otherwise, you would be ashamed of the sad accusation round we were all forced to attend. We voted to lock Mr. Norfolk up until we found out who the culprit is. According to Dr. Watson, he appears to be innocent.

 

As for me, I am still worried about my own life. I wish that we can catch the murderers quickly so I can finally be back. I wish that I can bring these letters myself. My heart is always with you, my cherished husband.

 

Hopefully soon,

 

Elisabeth

The socialite softly cries while she folded the letter and puts it in its envelop. While the wrote her address, a tear dripped from her chin, making a splatter on the paper. She wipes her tears away and gives the letter to Wetherby.

 

- Keep it with the other. If someone decides to get rid of me, you know what to do with these.

 

Elisabeth retires in her room, preparing herself for another restless night.

[Nave]

OOC Good game all Hope the wolves get a full belly MWHAHAHAHA j/k

[Katzaniel]

Katharine nodded her head. "Yes, at least Mr. Norfolk will be safe from the rest of us. But I think that there are some of us here who know information that they will not share."

 

The elderly lady turned to Wil. "Forgive me for prying, Wil, but you've got a look in your eyes like the one you always used to get on days that your homework sat in your bag all night. I know it, and it means you've made up your mind to hide something. I also know that you're not a bad enough sort to have anything to do with all of this, so you'd better be out with whatever it is you think you know before people start suspecting you just for that look."

[Savage Dragon]

"Fools all of you, sending that man to be locked up in the attic. He's the safest of us all now. I may very well join him. I tell you i know the minds of commoners and lords and how they think, i've been around both long enough. This has to be the work of some commoner. Lords have even more brutal ways of destroying a man than killing him, if they so desire," he was hyperventilating now, "Only a low-life could be the killer."

 

James rose from his chair, "You son of a..."

 

"I don't know if you're the killer anymore," Wetherby interrupted, "But you could be, if you all would just see that and stop picking on the old lady in the chair," he felt a weight on his chest where the old lady's letters rested, "That woman could never be responsible for something this horrific"

 

With that he turned and headed for the door. Mr. Vahktang raises his hand, as if to request something.

 

"Oh, get your own wine!" and he went to bed

[Tanuchan]

Watson paces in the library, with a tired face. He looks at his last report to Holmes.

 

We've just found Mr. Vahktang dead. His skull was smashed with a candelabra... He tried to give us a clue... there was the number "2" scrawled in blood. So I see that there are two assassins working here.

Two assassins! And why? While he thought just Garnavon's family was a target, he could understand. But, now, the guests? He would just assume that Cuthbert also had been murdered... Who were they fighting against?

 

And Mr. Norfolk is also dead. We found him when we were checking all guests after the maid found Mr.Vahktang's body. There was a tray with almonds beside him... sprinkled with cyanide.

And those questions Holmes kept asking? Well, he at least knew now what he should look for and put in his reports.

 

The candelabra was made of silver. Its base showed a wolf being hunted. The tray was made of silver.

 

OOC Vahktang was an innocent villager. It's Day Phase! You have 48 hours to try to find one of the assassins.

Edited March 16, 2004 by Tanuchan

[Tanuchan]

OOC: Scorecard

 

Who's alive and suspicious...

 

Katharine Horton (Katzaniel) ==> , retired schoolteacher

Wetherby Danielson (MeThinksUFoolish) ==> Sir Cecil Garnavon's butler

George Worthington (X-Sabre) ==> tavern owner

Sir Alfred Peterson (Degenero Angelus) ==> rich old Knight and Nobleman

James Doyle (Tamaranis) ==> stableboy at Garnavon Hall

Marcus Horton (Ozymandias) ==> a butcher (Katharine's son)

Elisabeth Christie (Lady Celes) ==> well-known socialite

Gavin Doyle (Matteo) ==> Philosophy major with minor in English

Lady Emily Galanodel (Elwen) ==> unconventional teenage noblewoman

Edwyn Cooper (Eyremon) ==> American soldier/merc just back from Africa

Wil (Gnarlitch) ==> jack o' all trades

 

Who's unfortunately passed away...

 

Sir Garnavon, first NPC kill

Vincent Cuthbert (Dean) ==> doctor of Chemistry

Lady Clarice, second NPC kill

John Norfolk (Nave) ==> merchant

Shota Vahktang (Vahktang) ==> Georgian gentleman

Edited March 16, 2004 by Tanuchan

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Elisabeth, who's now in a taffetas rust colored gown, while having her hair tied up in a sober bun but it still have some flair in it. She notices the worried Dr. Watson and decides to inquire what happened.

 

- 'I'm afraid, Mrs. Christie,'replies the famous figure,'that nobody is not safe around. We found both Mr. Vahktang and Mr. Norfolk dead while learning that we are actually looking for two murdurers.'

 

The socialite gasps. The danger was beyond what she thought it really is. Will she even be able to leave this manor alive? She walks at the dining room where breakfast is served. After being seated, she commented about what is going on.

 

- I am more than appalled to find out what happened to these gentlemen. If anyone have a very serious idea about whom might be the culprits, it might be wise to speak up as I'm sure that nobody wants to end up as the actors of a pretty grim scandal. I must admit that I'm pretty clueless.

 

(OOC: I really would like to see the ghosts roleplaying.)

[Ozymandias]

Disgust and dejection battled for supremacy in Marcus Horton's heart as he made his way around the grounds that morning. Not that he was in search of clues, or companionship, but that he had become so wroth over the increasingly sinister matter he scarcely remembered to fear for his mother's life or his own.

 

He had barley slept the night previous, and had had no appetite even for even so luxurious a breakfast as the good man Lord Garnavon had still provided for those who did not wish to travel.

 

He needed to clear his head, he decided. That prompted him first into his walk that morning, then as time passed, into the maze in the thin hope that finding his way to the center and then out again might distract him enough from such horror.

 

He still hadn't told his wife or their boys (and as far as he knew no-one had sent word to their little house on the far end of town) of all that had transpired, which distressed him only further. He simply couldn't think of how to broach such a matter.

 

As he walked the maze, paying only fleeting attention to this turn, then the next, Marcus was suddenly surprised by a leaping form under his feet and a garbled shout. Recovering his footing and his already frayed nerves, he looked down to realize that he'd quite literally tripped over James the stableboy.

 

James looked as though he too were recovering from the surprise, until he saw Marcus' eyes stray to the glint of metal he had seen at the boy's side. Quickly, but unsubtly he thrust the thing behind his back.

 

Marcus glared at him, and James, despite himself gulped in anxiety as he met that seething gaze. "Alright, James," he said. "Let's have a look." It was not long before the lad decided to acquiesce. Shamefaced, he slowly produced the whiskey flask he'd inexpertly hidden.

 

To his relief, the ruddy-faced butcher's eyes softened, and he even smiled a little. Marcus motioned to the ground beside him, and James nodded assent.

 

Marcus unceremoniously dropped himself to the ground with a sigh. "Mind if I have a nip?"

 

"Sure." James extended the flask, and the elder man took it gladly. However, resolving at the last to be a *semblance* of a good example, he returned it after one thirsty swallow.

 

"Thanks. I needed that too. This whole unholy mess has gotten to you, I, and all of us quite efficiently, don't you think?"

 

James' mind now being pulled back to the all-too recent past looked at the ground solemnly. "Certainly has, Sir."

 

Marcus felt even gladder he'd found the boy as he smiled again, a bit wider now.

"Nevermind the 'Sir', young man," he admonished with mock severity. "Mr. Horton will be fine. Or Marcus. The Good Lord knows most of you rascals call me either as they please anyway."

 

Deciding from his upbringing (noble or not) that addressing an adult, even a man like the butcher, in the familiar would be too strange (even this week...), he settled on Mr. Horton.

 

"What d'you make of it, Mister Horton?"

 

At that question, Marcus' face fell again, and he sighed more heavily.

 

"I really don't know, lad. I really don't. Murder's an atrocity of the highest degree such as the Lord Almighty's ever taught us, but so help me, we're *all* acting like we're demon-possessed." He laughed bitterly, forgetting for a moment who he was talking to, and the poor stableboy blanched- to his credit, only slightly. "I thought the American was the crazy one at first, but now he seems a bastion of sanity. We ARE acting like animals."

 

Marcus looks thoughtful for a long moment as James finds himself in the new position of trying to find comfort for a man old enough to be his father. Marcus breaks the silence first.

 

"It's more than passing strange, though. So many people are acting so oddly, even my own mother!" As soon as the word 'mother' escaped his lips, his flinched, as though struck. But he continued. "What is it about them and The Lady Galanodel? Proof has even been told of, but what sort, no-one's offered.

Something bigger than simple murder may be afoot, my boy. You be careful- especially around those who are so keen on sacrificing the Lady who's not much older than yourself."

 

They both sat in grim silence a long time after that, listening to the wind blow gently through the leaves, and thinking dark thoughts.