The Shadowsong Conspiracy

Chapter 14

Early on Wednesday morning, Sawyer, Piper, and Christian crept out of the sleepy school. A couple of maids were sweeping the Entrance Hall floor, but other than that, the school was silent. The grand oak creaked ominously in the middle of the yard, but the gate leading to the main road opened without noise. It was still dark, and the lantern Sawyer was carrying didn't leak out much light.

"Look, over there!" Piper tugged Sawyer's sleeve.

A black figure loomed in the curve of the road: a large carriage with four horses. The lanterns had been dimmed, but when Sawyer walked closer, a pool of light spilled into the darkness. A man in a green uniform came forward.

"Mr. Satoya-Sabinsky?"

"Yes. Are you from Extravagant Carriages?"

"Yes, sir. Your carriage is ready."

"Good. Evergreen Avenue 5, Londinium."

They climbed into the carriage, which was large and well equipped. A tiny shelf on the wall was jammed full of bottles of wine and water, and a large box under one of the benches contained a complete meal. Another box beside it contained miniature game boards, books, and an assortment of candies.

"Looks like this'll be an enjoyable journey," Piper said and leaned back, munching a cucumber sandwich.

Christian helped himself to the food as well, but Sawyer bundled up against the wall and closed his eyes. He was still cold and shivery at times, and no amount of sleep seemed to be enough. Piper and Christian chatted quietly over the food box, and the smell of ham, biscuits, and cucumber floated into Sawyer's nose. Despite the distractions, he slid into a light sleep.

It was already light outside when Sawyer woke up. Christian had curled up on the opposite bench, but Piper was reading a book with a bag of candy in his lap.

"How far are we?" Sawyer asked, stretching himself. "Any food left?"

"It's ten fifteen." Piper consulted his pocket watch and closed the book. "There's lots of food left."

Sawyer cut himself a good-sized slab of ham, which was incredibly smoky and tasty.

"When was the last time you spoke to Maddox?" he asked. "I don't get what's bothering him."

"I haven't seen him since lunch on Monday," Piper said. "I did stop by his room yesterday, but he was in the middle of something, and he basically threw me out. Dunno, but I don't like how he looks nowadays, sort of sallow and angry. I wonder if Katelyn ditching him has got anything to do with it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Katelyn and Prue are really tight, and Katelyn gave Maddox the cold treatment as soon as you dumped Prue."

"That was ages ago," Sawyer said. "Maddox isn't the type to let girls bother him, and besides, they didn't even really go out, just flirted and stuff. I say we'll just plain force him to speak to us, pin him on the spot if needed. I'm not sure my pinning chant can hold something as huge as him, though, but I can always fiddle with the chant."

"Better have an escape chant ready." Piper sniggered. "By the way, doesn't your brother live in Londinium? Want to visit him?"

"Yes, but Simon is in France now, has been for over a year."

"What's he doing there?"

"He's a junior doctor specializing in some kind of herbal treatment thing. Drove father mad, actually, because he wanted Simon to go to the military."