Chapter 7

The front room was immense and lavish; oil lamps burned brightly even though the daylight was more than sufficient and a huge hearth offered the warmth of a briskly burning fire. Tapestries and artwork decorated high stone walls and statuettes of angels, women, and beasts watched over them from floor, pedestals, staircases, and ceiling corners.

A soft giggle drew Emmett’s interest and he lifted his attention to the upper structure of the most prominent set of stairs. Two sets of eyes watched from between slats of railing. The giggles became squeals of delight when the children realized they’d been caught and they rose in tandem, one boy and one girl, the boy old enough to be breeched yet young enough to still find the game amusing, and a girl slightly younger. They raced to somewhere out of sight with sharp footfalls and a flurry of cloth.