Simon leaned toward Kate. “I thought of it as our own private spot.”
Kate’s eyes danced with mischievous delight. “Of course, dear, but family comes first.”
Hogarth cleared his throat with a calm professional demeanor. “Miss Kate, a messenger from the king. It appears a demon has been summoned near Cardiff and is menacing the Welsh countryside. What should I tell him? That you are in Scotland, fishing?”
Kate came over to stand beside Simon, her hand reaching for his. In her other hand she held her bandolier full of alchemical vials.
Simon looked down at her beaming confident face, then at the determined expressions of the others. Penny shouldered her rucksack. Malcolm slipped his pistols into their holsters as Charlotte grabbed his greatcoat.
“Tell His Majesty we are bound for Wales,” Simon announced with a telltale smile.