The Castle: Prequel to the Guardian Angel Series Read online

  Chapter 7

  That night, Heather paused with her hand on her daughter’s door. They’d had a horrible scare today. Ariana had looked out her window and taken it into her head to rescue ducks from drowning. Only she hadn’t realized Harry had been hanging on her skirts.

  Robert was very shaken. She knew he was down the hall with Harry but he’d just grunted when she’d asked if he wanted to join her putting Ariana to bed. Heather sighed. She’d talk with him later.

  Straightening her shoulders, she swept into the nursery. Even though she saw Ariana sitting on the bed, she made a big show of looking like she didn’t see her and looked all around the room. “I know I must be in the right place, but all I see is a clean little angel who couldn’t possibly be my Ariana! Where can my daughter be? I will have to look elsewhere.”

  She turned as if to leave the room and smiled when Ariana hopped off the bed and ran in front of her. She tugged at her skirt to get her attention. Heather looked down and pretended she didn’t know who she was. “Oh, hello there, do you know where Ariana is? She’s about this tall.” She put her hand out level to a height that reached just to the top of Ariana’s head. “Just like you, in fact!”

  “It is me, Mama! I’m Ariana!”

  Heather shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know. You do look a bit like her, but you are much too clean. The last time I saw my Ariana she was covered in mud from head to foot! No, I’m looking for a very dirty little girl. Would you like to help me look for her? Maybe she is under the bed.”

  Heather bent down to look under the bed. “No, she’s not under there. Maybe she fell asleep in the window seat?” She went to the window and moved aside the heavy drapes. “No, not here either.”

  She sat down on the bed and put a finger to her chin. Ariana scrambled up on the bed next to her and stood on her knees. She put her chubby little hands on each side of Heather’s face and pulled her close until they were nose-to-nose.

  “I’m right here! Lucy gave me a bath,” she said, offering an explanation for why she was unrecognizable.

  “Hmm, I’m still not sure.” Heather looked her over. “You do have the same big green eyes, but my little girl has the cutest little dimple in her cheek that appears when she’s...laughing!”

  Ariana shrieked when she lunged for her and tickled her tummy. “There it is! I see your dimple. Why, you are my Ariana!”

  After a few minutes, Heather hugged her close and leaned back with her against the pillows. For the moment, her daughter was content to cuddle.

  “You know Ariana, I was just playing with you, right now, but sometimes mamas really do get frightened because they worry that their little girls might get lost.”

  “I won’t get lost, Mama!”

  “Of course not, darling. But sweetheart, what has Mama told you about what to do if you ever find yourself alone in a strange place?”

  Ariana tugged on a long gold chain tucked under her nightgown to pull out her locket. “I take out my locket and wish really hard to come home.”

  “That’s right darling, the locket will send you home.”

  Heather bit her lip. “But remember…”

  “Only in an emergy… an emercy…”

  “An emergency,” Heather supplied.

  “An emergency,” Ariana repeated.

  She hoped Ariana understood the meaning of the word. Because once she used the locket, it would take her home to Dragon’s Keep.