Sky Pirates

Chapter 18

The morning was surprisingly cool. Mildred had the serving girl bring her morning tray not into her bedroom, which was customary, but instead into the conservatory. She enjoyed spending time among her uncle's and father's plants and trees, and more so now that she had a stack of nearly a dozen letters from her uncle to read.

Mildred poured a second cup of hot tea and, just for a moment, turned her face toward the glass ceiling, which allowed the sun to warm her cheeks. She looked around at the many green growing things, some of them with leaves bigger than her, and imagined Uncle Parker hacking through them with the machete he described.

All the letters were from Sumatra, an island many thousands of miles away; in a nation he called Indonesia. Her uncle described horrible devastation caused by an earthquake before his arrival there. His team of explorers had seen tigers and rhinoceros.

Opened next to Mildred was a world atlas. The pictures in the large book allowed her to follow her guardian's travels. She traced the islands in the middle of the vast seas with her finger.

Along with his tight, even words, Lord Greene had drawn pictures of some of the beasts, creatures, and plants that he'd encountered. These gave Mildred a sense of the places he described.

In the third letter she opened, two dried purple flowers fluttered into her lap. She picked them up and held them to her nose and imagined she could smell the jungle.

"Mildred!" Lorain Canton shouted from somewhere in the house.

Mildred neatly gathered up the letters and tucked them inside the atlas before she closed its pages.

"Mildred!"

Next, she slathered more soft butter on the last bite of scone before popping it into her mouth.

"Mildred!"

The voice was growing closer.

Mildred imagined it was a native, searching for her in a forest of massive trees, with chirping crickets and birds singing strange and exotic, but delightful songs. Before she could finish off the last mouthful of tea in her cup, Miss Canton appeared in the doorway to the conservatory.

"Here you are. Why didn't you answer me?"

"I'm sorry Miss Canton. I was engrossed in uncle's letters."

Lorain ignored Mildred's reasoning. "I see you're already dressed for work in your mother's garden. That will have to wait. It's time for your piano lesson."

Mildred tried to hide her dismay. It wasn't that she disliked the pianoforte. Just the opposite, in fact. She loved playing the instrument. Sadly, the student had long surpassed the skills of the teacher, and each lesson now no longer took her further with her study of music, but rather held her painfully in place. She longed for a new teacher, someone who could teach her more advanced techniques; someone who could help her with voicing and harmony.

"Come now. I have a surprise for you." Lorain turned on her heels and advanced out of the room.

Mildred stood, enjoyed the warmth of the last swallow of tea, picked up the atlas, and followed her tutor. She stayed many yards behind Lorain as they traversed from the east side of the house toward the west. When they arrived in the middle, where the various hallways adjoined with the grand entrance hall, she discovered a rather short man looking at one of the portraits. With the sound of their arrival, he turned, the man, not the portrait.

The gentleman smiled ever so warmly through great wrinkles that ensconced his eyes. He offered a small bow.

"I've found her, finally!" exclaimed Lorain to the man. "Mr. Wickliffe, this is Miss Greene."