I couldn't leave like this, with the mother superior thinking the worst of us for mentioning magic. Imagine what she'd say if she knew about me. "We are not your enemy, Reverend Mother. We respect your values and rituals. We only wish to find the man known as Phineas Millroy, who was given into the convent's care twenty-seven years ago. It's absolutely vital that we find him. He has the power to save someone very dear to me. We know he disappeared from here under mysterious circumstances around the same time Mother Alfreda disappeared. Perhaps they are linked in some way."
"Don't be absurd." She made a scoffing sound. "There is no link between the two. Mother Alfreda left of her own accord, and the baby's records have merely gone missing. There is no mystery and no conspiracy to cover anything up. I don't know what you think magic has to do with anything, nor do I wish to know. I've given you my views on it, and I have no wish to explore the matter further. Good day."
She thrust her sharp chin out and strode off across the courtyard toward the convent. Sister Clare shot as an apologetic smile and trailed after her. The mother superior did not close the door until she saw that we were on our way.
"She's prickly," I said to Matt as we rounded the school building and returned to the street. "Do you think she has something to hide?"
"Hard to say. Sister Clare seems genuine, though."
"I'm glad you think so, because so do I."
"Trust your instincts, India." He scanned the vicinity thoroughly before climbing into the coach behind me.
"Surely you don't think Payne had something to do with that cross falling?" I teased.
"You never know with Payne." He eyed me closely and took my hands in both of his. "Are you all right? Did you get hurt?"
"I bumped my elbow, but it's fine."
"Sorry," he said, palming both my elbows. "I wasn't very gentle."
"You saved my life."
He tossed me a sheepish smile. "I saved you from getting a bump on the head. I doubt it would have killed you."
I wasn't so sure. The cross looked heavy, and it had required both Matt and Sister Bernadette to lift it. "Tiredness hasn't slowed you. Thank you, Matt."
"Just repaying the favor you've done for me a number of times." He leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the lips. It was deliciously tender and banished the last tremble of my frayed nerves.
It also had the potential to turn passionate. I gently pushed him away before I deepened the kiss. He sat back again with a curiously satisfied smile, as if he'd won a small victory.
Time to return the situation into something less dangerous. "How do you think the cross fell?" I asked.
"The nails were bent."
"But why were they bent?"
"Nails sometimes bend if the weight they bear is too heavy. Those nails weren't strong enough for that cross."
I wasn't quite convinced. The cross fell at the moment I asked about magic. The very moment.
"It wasn't God trying to strike you down, India," he said. "Don't think like that."
"I'm not. I'm thinking how unlikely it was for it to fall right then, and how no one had touched it." I met his gaze. "And how I can make watches and clocks move without touching them."
He looked as if the stuffing had been knocked out of him. Mere tiredness didn't do that. "You think one of the sisters is a magician and made it move? But…no other magician can do that, only you."
"How do we know? Just because Chronos did not know of one doesn't mean another pure-blooded magician doesn't exist. What does surprise me is that it means one of those nuns is a magician. They both looked upset by the discussion and shaken when the cross fell, however."
"The mother superior was just outside," Matt said with a slow nod of agreement. "She could have done it. So could Sister Clare. She wasn't far away either; she could have doubled back to the convent after leaving the meeting room. India, why are you frowning like that?"
"I saw something near the door just before the cross fell. A flap of black fabric, I think. Like a habit or cloak."
"It's too warm for a cloak, unless someone wishes to wear a hood to hide their face. Someone like Payne."
"Surely you're not suggesting he is a magician too."
He dragged a hand over his face and down his chin. "I don't know what I'm suggesting. We can't discount anything at this point, but it's more likely to be a nun. I'm still not convinced the cross moved magically, though. Those nails weren't sturdy enough to hold such a heavy object."
I wished I'd touched the cross to feel if it held magical warmth. Damnation. I almost suggested turning around and sneaking into the hall, but Matt looked too tired.
The first thing I did when we arrived home was use the extending spell on his magic watch. It usually lengthened the time needed between uses. Whether it still did, he didn't say and I didn't ask. He thanked me and retired to rest before dinner.
His condition threw a cloud over the household. Willie, Cyclops and Duke were like caged tigers, too restless to sit still yet unwilling to take their mind off our predicament by visiting one of London's many entertainments.
"Why not see a show?" I said. "There are any number of theaters around the city, some of them quite respectable. Or you could have a few drinks in a tavern. Some have music or other entertainments."
My suggestion was met with grumbling excuses.
"I ain't going nowhere," Willie said. "Not while Matt's like this. What if he needs me?"
"Why would he need you?" Duke asked. "You can't make him better."
"Not needs me then, just…if something happens, I want to be here when it does."
"If. If it happens. Don't bury him yet."
She pushed herself out of the chair and shoved her finger in Duke's face. "You wash your mouth out, Duke. You hear me! I ain't saying nothing of the sort, so don't put words in my mouth."
Cyclops groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Help me, India. They've been like this all afternoon."
"We're all tense," I said. "We're all worried about Matt. But please, this is not helping." As the newcomer to their group, I perhaps had no right to admonish them, but their bickering was getting on my nerves and it couldn't go on. "Matt doesn't want to hear your arguing on top of his other problems. Be kind to one another, for his sake."
Cyclops nodded his approval at my little speech. Willie resumed her seat without a grumble, which I took as agreement. Duke got up and poured drinks at the sideboard. He handed one to Willie.
"Sorry," he said. "India's right. How about we call a truce?"
She clinked her glass against his. "Truce. We all want what's best for Matt."
"So what else can we do, India?" Cyclops asked. "Can we investigate the convent more?"
I tapped my fingers on my thigh as I considered what paths were open to us. There were very few. If I was right, and that cross had not fallen of its own accord, then there had been two magicians at the convent twenty-seven years ago—a silk magician and a wood magician. If Abigail had told the truth, and she didn't know that Phineas was magical, then she wasn't the link we were looking for. But if the wood magician knew…
But how could the wood magician know when Phineas was too young to talk, let alone recite a spell?
I told the others of my theory, and talking it over helped cement the idea in my head but it didn't provide any answers. "We'll talk to Abigail again and see if she knew about a wood magician," I said. "She might know which of the nuns had an affinity for it, if nothing else."