I stepped toward the door, shielding the side of my face to prevent myself from taking a dangerous glance at what lay beneath the water. He jerked my hand away, grasping onto it as I walked by him, effectively sending my line of vision straight down into the water.
“Oh, holy crap, Adwen! What did you do that for?”
I looked up at him, but his face gave way to no sense of embarrassment. “Why are ye here, Jane?”
He still held onto my hand. I kept my eyes locked on his face as I answered.
“You just kept yourself pretty absent yesterday. I was just checking on you—making sure you were okay. That’s what friends do. They check on one another.”
“Ach, doona tell me ye want to be my friend one more time, Jane. No matter how many times ye say it, I willna believe ye. I doona understand ye, lass. One moment ye are warm and open and the next chilly and closed.”
I pulled my hand from his, stepping backward so he couldn’t grasp onto it again.
“I’m not chilly, just sensible. There’s no point to any of this.”
“No point, lass? There is no point in this fight ye put on yerself, for ’tis no a fight with me. Ye please me, Jane. And aye, I can be yer friend, but I also wish to be yer lover. I willna deny nor apologize for it.”
“That’s the thing, Adwen. I don’t want a ‘lover.’ There’s no reason, no point, in throwing myself into something so meaningless.”
“Ach, there is plenty of reason and meaning for it, lass. I could remind ye of it, if only ye’d let me.”
There was another knock on Adwen’s door, followed by his swift invitation to enter.
I shifted uncomfortably as Cooper appeared in the doorway, completely unsure of how to explain my presence in his room while he bathed. Luckily, Cooper gave me no chance to explain.
“Aunt Jane? What are you doing in here? Can’t you just give anybody some privacy? I mean, if I’m six and I can bathe by myself, I’m pretty sure Adwen can too. I’m sure it’s embarrassing for him, you standing in here watching him to make sure he cleans between his toes.”
I ignored most of what he’d said to ask him what he was doing here. He seemed to think it quite obvious.
“I came here to ask Adwen where you were. I never thought you’d be watching him bathe, though. You’re not his mom or his aunt, Aunt Jane. I think maybe you should just let him be.”
“Right. You’re right, of course.” I waved a hand in Adwen’s direction, a gesture meant to make him stop the little shake of his shoulders as he stifled his laughter. It only made them shake harder. “What did you need me for, Coop?”
“As you can see, I’m all clean and bathed. And now I need to talk to you right away. It’s very important.” He turned, calling after me as he walked out the door. “Come on, Aunt Jane. Right away.”
As soon as Cooper was out of earshot, Adwen burst into unbridled laughter, shaking until I shook my head, frustrated and annoyed as I turned to leave the room. Only then did he gather the strength to stop his laughter and speak.
“Ye heard the lad, Jane. Leave me be, lassie. I can clean my own toes and crevices.”
CHAPTER 22
When he left, Cooper made no mention of just where exactly I was supposed to meet him ‘right away,’ but it didn’t take long for me to find him. He sat up in the tower, easily the most beautiful and majestic spot in the whole castle. It was the same place Adwen and I were the moment we heard Cooper’s scream after Isobel’s fall, but I pushed thoughts of that terror away, allowing the beauty of the room to sweep over me as I went to sit next to him on a small stone bench beneath one of the room’s many windows.
“Do you feel okay, Aunt Jane?”
I nodded, reaching out to squeeze one of his little knees gently. “Yes, I feel fine—a little dirty. I’m ready for my bath, but fine. Why do you ask?”
“I meant does your back or bottom hurt where you’re sitting? I need you to be all okay and comfy in your seat so you’ll pay attention.”
Cooper was skilled at many things, the greatest being his ability to draw the curiosity right out of you until you were just about ready to lose your mind. I was nearly there.
“Yes. I am very comfy, and you have my utmost attention. Spill.”
“You know how Isobel said she had a dream last night?”
I nodded, watching his eyes carefully. He wasn’t a nervous child, but I could tell by the tiniest twitch of his eyes that he was nervous now. “Yes. What about it?”
“Well, I had a dream too, and it reminded me of something I meant to tell you before, but with what happened I just forgot. But I remember now.”
“Well, what was the dream, Coop?”
He always did this. He would start to tell you whatever he meant to, but then would force you to listen to him ramble for five minutes before anything he said made any real sense.
“The dream doesn’t matter. What matters is this—I think there is a way we can help Isobel.”