Chapter 19: The Messenger Pigeon
ARTHUR recovered after three days and returned to work on the fourth.
Olivia watched him leave and decided he probably regretted the conversation they had about her remarrying when he was loopy from the fever, since he never did bring it up again. That’s why she decided to also avoid the subject and just gave Arthur a smile as he left for work.
While Arthur was bedbound, Dale seemed to get bored with the fact that Olivia barely even left the room. He’d hurry off to the forest to play, always bringing a snake or insect back with him. Then he’d show his catch off with pride to Olivia while saying, I amazing, yeah?
“Yes, you’re amazing. Thank you for the gift.”
You happy? You eat?
“I am happy. Thank you. I’ll eat it later.”
You should eat.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Lara secretly watched their exchanges and thought, It almost seems like Olivia can talk to animals, but obviously not. Maybe that’s what made her parents think there was something wrong with her, but she just loves animals!
She couldn’t forget what Olivia had told her about her family. It still made her angry. She was in a huff as she mopped the restaurant before opening time, which was when Dale tried to come in through Rob’s doggy door in the kitchen. It sounded like he was struggling, too, like he had some large prey with him.
“Oh, you must have some big present for us today, Dale,” she said as she opened the door to let him in, then she froze. He was holding a pure-white pigeon. And it was still alive.
The pigeon started thrashing the moment Lara opened the door. Dale must have opened his mouth slightly to try and readjust for a better grip, because the pigeon suddenly escaped and raced into the kitchen, flapping around the room. Dale chased it. Lara panicked.
“Stop! Stop going crazy. I’ll put you outside!” she screamed as she raced after the pigeon, but it only thrashed more out of fear. It slammed into the window in an attempt to get out, fell to the ground, then took flight again. Dale raced around in excitement, leaping at the pigeon.
Olivia came in through the back door after she finished putting out the laundry to dry and was surprised at what she saw.
“Oh my!” she said. The moment the pigeon landed on the ground, blood seeping from a wound on its back, Olivia quickly popped the laundry basket she was holding over it.
Dale ran over, puffed up with pride as he bragged, I caught!
“Yes, Dale, you caught such a big one this time,” said Olivia. She’d realized the first time he brought her a present and looked into his mind that it was going to be impossible to tell a cat not to hunt. Hunting was instinctual.
Olivia tilted the basket just a little to slip her hand in and grab the pigeon. It froze in fear. She could feel its heart racing impossibly fast.
“It’s all right,” she soothed. “We won’t eat you. We won’t kill you. I’m just going to treat your wound. Please don’t thrash about. Lara, wrap a towel around its head. That should calm it down.”
“All right!” She gently wrapped a dry towel around the pigeon’s head, and it went still.
“There’s a ring on its leg,” said Olivia. “This pigeon belongs to someone. I hope it says the owner’s name. First, we’ll treat its wound, though. Oh, this isn’t from where Dale bit it. These raking wounds look more like sharp claws. It must have been attacked by a hawk or eagle.”
Olivia rinsed the wounds with clean water, then took a salve made from medicinal herbs from a jar. She took only a tiny amount out then thinned it slightly with sterilized water before spreading it on the wound. She was very careful because she didn’t know how well birds would tolerate the medicine.
Once finished treating the wound, she snapped the silvery ring off the pigeon’s leg to find it also had a tube of the same silvery metal attached to it.
“Huh, there’s paper in the tube,” she said. “Hmm… Oh.”
“What’s it say, Olivia? Does it mention who owns the pigeon?”
“No. Lara, I need to go out for a little bit. Could you serve the customers if any come?”
“Sure. The soup and sides are already done anyway. I can handle it.”
“And do you mind if I borrow your carriage?”
“Not at all.”
Olivia rushed upstairs and flipped quickly through one of her grandfather’s books before hopping in Lara’s carriage and leaving. She was headed to Louise’s mansion.
Louise’s mansion was just outside the residential area of Marlowe. It was a great big building surrounded by expansive gardens, and housed Louise along with the bare minimum number of servants necessary.
The guard at the gate recognized Olivia and invited her inside. She’d been to the mansion several times before with her grandmother.
“What is it?” asked Louise when Olivia arrived. “You don’t often come to visit me.”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. There’s an emergency,” Olivia said, then took out a slip of paper, which she slid across the round mahogany table to Louise.
Louise put on her spectacles and read what was on the paper which still had crease marks from where it was folded. “Oh my,” she murmured as she read it again, then a third time.
The tiny, folded piece of paper was crammed with writing: “The master’s father has gone mad. He’s imprisoned the lady of the house, her mother, and her daughter in the underground cell. All male servants have been released from duty, and we maids can’t resist in any way. Please help!”
“This…is quite bad, if it is true,” said Louise.
“I thought so, too,” agreed Olivia. “This is the ring that was on the pigeon’s leg. I’m not too familiar with the noble families, but I looked this crest up in one of my grandfather’s books. I’m certain it’s House Mistral. Can you double-check?”
Louise lifted the silvery ring between two fingers, brought it close to her spectacles, and stared intently. “It is. Crossed swords and three eagles. That is the crest of House Mistral. Olivia, thank you for bringing this to me first. This could turn into a fiasco if Lord Marlais or the royal family catch wind of it. One of the imprisoned women is an old friend of mine from school.”
“I remembered you talking about her.”
“I had a feeling it might turn out this way someday. The former Lord Mistral fell to drinking when his son and heir died. Now he’s imprisoned my old friend, her daughter, and granddaughter.”
Louise bit her polished nails for a moment as she thought. Then she looked at Olivia. “People will only talk more if I publicly go to visit the Mistral house,” she said. “Olivia, could you go instead? I’ll send three of my guards with you. I’d like you to treat the man as you bring him here. I’ll give you a letter so you can prove you’re acting under my orders. I’ll also send a messenger to Freddy’s Pharmacy to let Arthur know I’ll be borrowing you.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
“Thank you. I will owe you for this one. I’ll send my guards to meet you at Soup Forest. Please be ready for them.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Olivia gave Louise the piece of paper then left the mansion.
I’ll have to prepare if he’s become dependent on alcohol and lost his faculties, she thought. In terms of medicines, I’ll need that, that, and that… Oh, and I should take that.
The former master of the house had lost his ability to make logical decisions and had confined his wife, his son’s wife, and his granddaughter. This situation called for urgency. She continued to think about what medicinal herbs she would need as she drove the carriage.
Once back at the restaurant, she explained the situation to Lara, who seemed shaken up as she asked what they would do about the restaurant.
“We can shut it, or if you want to take over, I’ll write down some recipes that you can’t possibly get wrong. What do you want to do? The bread delivery will come anyway, so I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“I’ll… I’ll do it. I want to help. Let me run the restaurant.”
“Thank you, that’s a huge help. I’ll write those recipes.”
Olivia jotted down a recipe for bean and bacon soup, as well as one for a side of pan-fried dried meat with dried mushrooms.
She finished that then gathered together everything she would need for the trip to the Mistral house, and Louise’s three guards arrived just about as she was finishing with that.
It was time to go.
She climbed into the carriage sent by Louise and called out the window to Lara, “Thank you! And please look after Rob, the goats, and Dale!”
“I’ve got it, don’t worry! I’ll give it my all!”
Rob watched Olivia go, looking sad. Dale looked unconcerned on the surface, but kept thinking over and over, Sad. She go away. Sad.
House Mistral’s territory wasn’t far. Olivia began planning in her head how she would handle the ill man and the three women who had been confined. She was going to be dealing with a man who had lost his ability to make sane decisions.
I need to take this seriously to make sure he doesn’t turn violent the moment I see him.
Olivia would need to use all her knowledge and experience, for both Louise’s sake and the sake of those three ladies. Olivia closed her eyes and leaned back against her seat, her mind racing at top speed.