Serafina and the Black Cloak - Robert Beatty Page 0,84

graves. “They don’t seem to know what happened to them.”

“But you do…” Serafina said, looking at her mother.

She nodded. “Only half of my soul was in the Black Cloak.”

“That must have been awful,” Serafina said, trying to imagine it. “But why were all of his most recent victims children?”

“Mr. Thorne lived in this area for many years, avoiding detection by only capturing a soul every so often when he spotted a particular talent he wanted,” her mother said. “But then something happened. The cloak began to take its toll on him. His body was aging severely every day. He was dying.”

“The skin in the glove…” Serafina gasped.

“He started stealing the souls of children, not just because they had the talents he wanted, but because they had the one thing he most desperately needed.”

“They were young…” Serafina said. “But how did you learn all this?”

Her mother stood, and brought Serafina to her feet with her. “There is much for us to talk about, Serafina,” she said. “But we need to get these children home to their parents.”

“But…” Serafina said. She wanted to keep talking, wanted to know more, and she was terribly scared that something would take her mother away from her again.

“Don’t worry,” her mother said, touching Serafina’s face gently with her hand. “This isn’t a fleeting run. I’m here now, and I’m whole again. In the days ahead, I will begin to teach you all that I can, just as a mother should. And you will tell me all about your life, too, to help me come back into the human world that I’ve been absent from for so long. We are together now, Serafina. We are family and kin, and nothing shall ever break that bond between us again.” Tears streamed down her mother’s cheeks. “More than anything right now, I just want you to know how much I love you. I love you, Serafina. I have always loved you.”

“I love you, too, Momma,” she said, her voice cracking as she wrapped her arms around her and wept in her mother’s arms.

Serafina stood in the cover of the trees at the edge of the forest and looked toward Biltmore Estate. The sun was just rising in a clear blue sky, casting a golden light on the front walls of the mansion.

A large group of men and women on foot and on horseback were gathering together. There were ladies and gentlemen, servants and workmen, and there was an urgency in their movements.

They’re organizing a search, Serafina thought.

Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt stood among them, their faces troubled with the news of yet another missing child. Mrs. Brahms stood with her husband, who was dressed in rugged clothing and ready to trek into the forest. Mr. Rostonov was there as well, holding his daughter’s dog in his arms. Even the young maid and the footman, Miss Whitney and Mr. Pratt, had come out to help, along with the chief cook, the butler and his assistant boy, and many of the other household servants and men from the stables.

“If we’re going to find her, we have to move quickly,” Braeden shouted as he mounted his horse in one swift, confident movement.

Serafina’s heart swelled when she saw him. That’s when she realized what she was seeing. Braeden had organized the search. They were going out into the forest to search for her.

“Everyone, please gather around,” Braeden called from atop his horse. She had never seen him so bold, so filled with leadership and determination. Rich or poor, guest or servant, he had brought them all together. It sent a wave of warmth through her cold, tired body.

Then she saw her pa. He must have woken up in the morning and discovered she was gone. Overcoming his fear of discovery, he went to the Vanderbilts for help, even though he knew it would expose her existence and betray the fact that they were living in the basement.

Braeden turned and gestured to the dog handlers. “Give them this,” he said as he tossed a piece of clothing to the lead handler. It was her old shirt-dress. The four brindled Plott hounds bayed like it was a coon hunt.

“I looked for Mr. Thorne so that he could join us in the search,” Mr. Bendel said from atop his thoroughbred. “But I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

And you’re not going to, Serafina thought with satisfaction as she watched the search party gather. Ever.

“Mr. Bendel, if you would, please take that group there and go east,” Braeden said. “Uncle,