Angelica (24 page)

“I'll give you my address,” he said. “In case you're ever free.”

This time, when the song stopped, the musicians announced that they were taking a little break. The crowd gave a collective moan of disappointment, but many people cheered up when a barker started bawling out the cheap
prices of his beer and wine. Most of the dancers moved in the direction of his refreshment cart as Miriam and Elias sauntered off the dance floor. The merchant was handing Miriam a card inscribed with his address when Jesse strode up to them.

“There, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said, taking Miriam's hand out of Elias' and holding it firmly in his own. “Probably time we got back.”

Miriam grinned up at Elias, suddenly her ally against all angels. “Why is it the minute I do anything just a little fun everyone turns into my big brother?” she wondered.

“Maybe because they think your ideas of fun are dangerous,” Elias said. He seemed to be enjoying Jesse's frown of obvious jealousy.

Miriam opened her eyes as wide as they would go. “But they
never
are,” she said.

Elias laughed. “I enjoyed meeting you, Susannah,” he said. “Now go be nice to your angel friend.”

Jesse's eyes cut over to her but he didn't say anything until Elias melted into the crowd. “Susannah? That's what you told him?”

Miriam shrugged with elaborate unconcern. “Well, I couldn't give him my real name. And besides, Susannah would have enjoyed dancing with him.”

He shook his head and did not look as amused as he had when
he
was the one snatching her off mountaintops and encouraging her to misbehave. It was always that way. Even Nicholas, the most careless of men, would read her a lecture from time to time, and Sela could never be counted on to be as reckless as Miriam liked. Oh, everyone started out carefree enough when the adventure began, but someone would always draw back from a proposed escapade, and it usually ended with everyone but Miriam looking serious and thoughtful.

Even Susannah, who never moralized and who always seemed to understand exactly what Miriam was thinking, was not much of a companion for gaiety. It was very disappointing.

“Well, I don't know this Susannah of yours yet,” Jesse was saying, “but she doesn't sound like the type to be
meeting strange men at street fairs and promising to meet them for dinner.”

Miriam flashed him a smile. “I didn't promise. In fact, I said I didn't think I'd be in Velora for ages and ages.”

His eyes lit up. “Hey, now. That might be true. Why don't you come back to Monteverde for a week or two? Don't tell me your brother wouldn't be glad of a chance to shed you for a while, you
and
all the worry you bring him.”

Miriam made a face at him. “Very funny. But Neri's worse than Gaaron.”

“Come anyway,” he coaxed. “I have to go back in the morning, and I never get to see you.”

“You saw me for a whole day!” she exclaimed. “Just now!”

He smiled a little crookedly. “Not long enough.”

She put her arms around his neck and gave him a look of sweetness. She could manufacture it on demand, and she knew how effective it could be. “Oh, Jesse, you're just the nicest boy ever. I don't know why you're so good to me. But I don't think that I should be coming out to Monteverde just to play around with you for a couple of weeks.”

“Think about it,” he said. “I won't leave till morning.”

She put her hand up to touch the crisp dark hair on the back of his head. “I'll think about it. But you better take me back now.”

He sighed a little theatrically and snatched her up. She gave a little shriek because he charged through the crowd with her in his arms, knocking aside the people standing around drinking beer and waiting for the musicians to start again. Once clear of the crowd, he tightened his hold and tore off racing down the center of the street. She screamed again and buried her face in his bare neck. She was scarcely aware of the transition between running and flying, so smoothly did he make it, but when she had the nerve to lift her head, they were airborne.

“You're a crazy man!” she cried into his ear, and he nodded.

“Crazy for you!” he called back.

In a few minutes, they were at the Eyrie, coming to a gentle landing on the deserted plateau. Jesse lingeringly set
her on her feet, and she kept her arms around his neck.

“Are you spending the night?” she asked. “Did someone get you a room?”

He nodded. “I met up with Esther right before I spotted you. I'm all settled in. Although I'm feeling lonely—”

She laughed and shook her head. “I don't think I'm in the mood for company, but thank you very much.”

He drew her closer. “Then give me a kiss good night? And think about flying back with me tomorrow. You'll have fun in Monteverde. I'll make sure of it.”

“Oh—I don't know—” she said indecisively. And then, because she felt guilty for not giving him more encouragement, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. His arms tightened considerably and she felt his wings flutter and settle behind her. The kiss was nice, passionate without being painful, and she liked the feel of his mouth on hers. She let him hold the kiss a little longer than she should have, and when she pulled away at last, he looked down at her with absolutely no smile on his face.

“I do love you, Miriam,” he said.

She slipped her hands away, pausing briefly to pat him on the cheek. “I know you do, Jesse,” she said. “And it comforts me.”

That didn't please him. His face clouded over, but he didn't say anything as she stepped backward a pace, freeing herself from his arms and his wings. “I'll see you in the morning,” she said and, before there was time for any more discussion, turned away and hurried toward the hallway leading to her rooms.

It was then that she saw Gaaron standing there, just outside the doorway, watching her with an expression that was impossible to read.

She checked a moment, reviewed her conduct for the evening, decided it wasn't too bad, and continued walking. “Gaaron,” she said coolly as she stepped past him into the hallway.

He nodded. “Miriam.”

And that was all. He made no attempt to detain her as she quickened her pace and moved away from him. She thought, as she got deeper into the corridor, that she caught
the sound of male voices behind her—Gaaron talking to Jesse, no doubt, and maybe not about the urgent message from Neri—but she just kept going. Down the gaslit hall, through the turn, down another hall.

Past her own door, down another hall, and straight to Susannah's room.

She knocked quietly, not wanting to wake anyone who might be sleeping, but there was no sound from within. But Susannah never locked the door. Quietly as she could, she turned the handle and stepped inside, pausing just across the threshold to let her eyes adjust to the darkness in the room.

It was not pitch-black, though; Susannah always left the window open, no matter what the weather, and a little watery moonlight drifted in. Enough for Miriam to make out the furniture in her path and the bed all the way across the room, where two shapes lay motionless under the thin cover.

Susannah and the little Jansai girl.

Miriam crept across the room, peeling off items of clothing and dropping them as she went. Pulling back the coverlet, she slipped into the wide bed next to the Jansai girl and drew the blanket up to her chin. She sighed and, for the first time all day, completely relaxed. She was asleep in five minutes.

In the morning, the room was deserted and she was ravenous. She rummaged through Susannah's clothes to find a skirt and blouse she liked and dressed quickly, hoping breakfast was still being served. It was, and that was good luck, but there was bad luck to go with it: Gaaron was lingering over his meal, and he saw her enter. He motioned her to come join him, so as soon as she'd filled her plate from the buffet, she warily crossed the room to his side.

“What?” she said, standing there with her plate in her hands as though she was on her way to some other table.

“Why don't you sit down?” he said pleasantly. “We can talk.”

“You'll just yell at me,” she said.

“What could I possibly want to yell at you about?” he asked.

She scowled. She hated it when he was smug; he was much easier to deal with when he was angry. “Because I left
the Eyrie yesterday with Jesse when I wasn't supposed to.”

“And why did you do that?”

“Because you left and didn't tell me where you were going, and you promised you'd take me with you next time you did an intercession! But you didn't, so I was mad, so it's your fault.”

He nodded gravely, but she was furious to see he appeared to be biting back a smile. “Well, I'm going to do an intercession today, would you like to come with me?”

She dropped her plate to the table and plopped into a chair across from him. “
Really?
You'll take me with you? Where are you going? Is it a weather intercession? Too much rain?”

Now he was laughing out loud. “Yes, I'll take you. No, it's not rain. Western Bethel. But if you go with me, you can't go back to Monteverde with Jesse.”

“I don't want to go with Jesse,” she said instantly.

He tilted his head to one side, regarding her. “I know you don't. But I can't tell why.”

For a moment, she scowled again, and then she broke into a brilliant smile. “Because I'd rather stay to torment you, of course. If I'm gone, you won't spare a moment to worry about me.”

“If you're gone, I'll worry about you every moment without ceasing,” he retorted.

She started eating as fast as she could. “When do you want to leave? I can be ready as soon as I eat and change clothes.”

He was amused again. “Why change? I understand Edori clothes are very comfortable for travel.”

She glanced down at the embroidered cotton shirt and the plain, full skirt. “They're Susannah's,” she said.

“So I guessed.”

“I spent the night in her room so I didn't have any of my own clothes with me.”

“Oh, is that where you were?” he said innocently. “I did stop at your door this morning, but when there was no answer—well, I thought maybe you'd gotten up early. Since you so often do.”

And that was meant to annoy her on a couple of counts, so she frowned again. “If you're hateful to me, I won't let
you take me with you when you go sing prayers,” she said with dignity.

“Well, then, I'll try to mend my manners, since I certainly don't want you to forsake me now,” he said. He came to his feet, smiling down at her. It was like being smiled at by a mountain—it made you feel very safe, but it still made you want to jump off the peak just to prove you could. “Can you be ready in an hour? I have to write a note to Neri and then I'm ready to go.”

She nodded, eating even faster. He turned to go, paused, and turned back long enough to lay his hand on the top of her head. She looked up at him, but he didn't say anything. Just pivoted away and left the room.

She quickly finished eating, hurried to her room, decided to keep on Susannah's clothes, though she would have to apologize for this before the day was out, braided her hair back, put on some warmer shoes, and rummaged around for a jacket. She had flown with enough angels to know that, no matter how considerate they were about staying at lower altitudes to keep their mortal passengers from freezing to death, the longer the flight, the colder she would be. Summer or no summer.

She was on the plateau a few minutes before Gaaron was. She could tell her promptness pleased him, because he smiled when he joined her. He had a canteen strapped over one shoulder, and a small leather satchel strapped over the other—food for the day, she guessed, though it hadn't even occurred to her to bring provisions.

“Ready?” he said and caught her in his arms. She bounced once from utter happiness, then squealed a little as he took off fast. That was to give her a little thrill, because he knew she liked the plunge and lift of a sudden takeoff. He was usually more sedate when he was carrying cargo. She snuggled against his broad chest and enjoyed the feel of the wind against her face, and the dizzying, exhilarating sense of great height and motion.

They had been flying in companionable silence for more than an hour before she remembered Jesse, back at the Eyrie awaiting her decision about flying to Monteverde. She supposed that once he realized she had gone off with Gaaron,
he would have answer enough. She felt a little bad about it for all of ten minutes, and then she forgot about him in her undiluted happiness at the unfolding of the day.

They flew west and south for about three hours before stopping for a light meal. On their way again without much time wasted, continuing on in the same direction. When they finally dropped out of the high, chilly atmosphere for a layer of air that was more habitable, Miriam peered down, trying to make out landmarks. She couldn't imagine how angels could fly anywhere without getting hopelessly lost. To her, it all looked like the same stretch of rolling green land and undulating river, dotted with the occasional, identical range of squat mountains.