Page 62 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
Briony nearly choked on her tea, but she managed to conceal it with a cough.
Santiago, on the other hand, seemed unfazed, except for a brief tremble in his left hand. “What makes you say that?”
Lucia patted his shoulder. “You may deny this, brother, but I’ve noticed a change in you since coming here. When our parents died, you closed yourself off…” She looked hard at him before whispering something too soft for Briony to discern.
Santiago smiled and nodded to his sister. Something beyond words passed between them, making Briony’s heart seize up.Santiago loves Lucia so dearly. Is it fair to ask him to stay with me?
As she was ruminating on this, a hand grasped her arm. She turned to Niall, who was looking at her with an odd expression. “What is it, Niall?”
His eyes slipped to Santiago and back to her. “N-Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to tell you how much I’m looking forward to tonight. I think ’tis time to tell you everything.”
An Evening to Remember
The moment had finally arrived. The sun was low in the sky, the bonfires were ready to be lit, and all of Everton was gathered at Mary’s Hill, abuzz with excitement. Briony stood with Adaira and the Burgesses as they watched Laird Oliver approach the largest woodpile.
“Let the celebration begin!” the laird cried with a pompous grin. He dramatically raised his pieces of flint and steel before striking them together to produce a few sparks. The sparks fell upon the sticks in the woodpile, and before long, the first fire blazed into existence.
Fergus McGuff, William Burgess, and two other small boys ran up with twigs, held them in the flames until they caught fire, and then scurried off to light the other woodpiles nearby. A group of girls near Briony giggled at the boys’ antics but refused to join them for fear of getting dirty.
Dr. Sherwin, Donal McGuff, and Nathaniel Levins picked up their fiddles and began playing a merry tune. The young men grasped their sweethearts’ hands and drew them into a dance. Briony laughed at the older men as they scoffed at the festivities, for their smiles revealed they were enjoying themselves as much as the rest—no Orcadian could resist the magic of Johnsmas.
The sailors seemed to be having fun as well. Briony watched them dance heartily with every woman who would join them, though they spent the most time with the pretty ones.
Briony smiled as her neighbors frolicked without care on this one night when all woes were forgotten.Fer one night, it does na matter who I am or what my parents did. This is my one night o’ freedom from all that.
“May I dance with you, senhorita?” asked a familiar voice behind her.
Briony jumped a bit and turned to the young sailor who had helped her at the dock. She almost didn’t recognize him, for he was dressed in his finest attire and had a fresh shave.He looks very handsome with his hair tied back like that.
“I would be honored!” Briony declared and took the man’s hand. He led her over to where the others stood waiting for the next dance. A few sailors glared at him with overt jealousy, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Yer name is Mr. Rodriguez?”
The man nodded. “Aye, but call me Adriano, senhorita.”
Briony felt her lips curl up in response. “All right, Adriano ’tis. Are you enjoying yer time in Everton?” Briony asked as the fiddlers started a jig.
“Aye. Very beautiful place. A good place for Senhor Mendes to fix his leg.”
Briony frowned as something tugged at her memory.Something about Santiago…All the faces blurred as they twirled and leaped among the other dancers. She looked for Santiago, trying to compel the memory to fully appear.
There he is!He was sitting in a chair beside his sister with some food.What memory do I have o’ Adriano and Santiago in the same place?
She gasped as it dawned on her.Adriano was there with Santiago and the captain that day when they were talking about morta.
Briony had put that conversation at the back of her mind when she decided she was going to trust Santiago, but now something struck her that she hadn’t connected before.
Santiago got so upset with me that day when he fell in the water. He was angry that I’d gone down to the ship by myself. What if he was trying to keep me from being alone with the captain? Costa seemed very suspicious when he told me what “morta” meant. I need to know what they were talking about. Whose death was it?
“Adriano, do the captain and Mr. Mendes get along?”
The man’s brow furrowed in confusion at first, but then something hardened in his eyes. “They are friends, senhorita. It was an accident.”
“What? What are you talking about? What accident?”
Adriano clapped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he’d said and shook his head.
Briony grabbed the man’s arms. “Adriano, tell me.”
