wind of the channel, but Ian still shivered. He truly felt like he might never warm up again.

Finally, they reached a modest cottage with a white picket fence and a small vegetable garden, and Perry led the way to the front door. “Now, come inside and I’ll fix us some tea. I think Thatcher has an old coat that might fit you.”

Ian walked into the home and immediately sat down at the table. He was tired and numb with cold and his shoulder ached in its sling. He felt as if his legs might be ready to give out and his eyelids were droopy with fatigue. Perry went out a back door and returned quickly with an armful of firewood. He placed this inside a black iron stove and lit a match, which ignited the fire. Soon the small kitchen was filling with heat, and Ian scooted his chair closer to the stove, hungry for the warmth it was giving off.

“There,” said Perry as he set a kettle on the top of the stove. “We should have some tea in just a few minutes. Watch the kettle, Ian, while I go search out Thatcher’s trunks.”

“Yes, sir,” said Ian, his teeth still chattering as he willed his tired eyes to focus on the kettle. Hovering by the stove, he pushed his hands close to the fire and felt the warmth slowly come back to his bones. The kettle began to whistle a short time later, so he picked it up and filled the teapot with hot, steamy liquid. He found two cups in the cupboard and put those beside the pot as he waited for the tea to steep. While he waited, he wandered around the kitchen, noting that the furnishings looked decidedly frilly. He doubted that the brothers had decorated this cottage by themselves. They’d likely rented it from someone in town who’d furnished it.

Perry still hadn’t returned, and Ian thought it might be rude to drink the tea without him, so to distract himself he headed out of the kitchen and into the sitting room. Again, he noted that the furnishings seemed to reflect a woman’s taste rather than that of two bachelors—though he had to admit, the result was warm and inviting. A small framed photograph on the wall caught his attention. He walked over to it curiously, but as he got close his breath caught and his heart began to beat rapidly.

Just then Perry came down the stairs and round the corner. “I had to search through several trunks, but I’ve finally found it,” he said as he held up a tweed coat. “It’s a little out of style and will likely be too big for you, but it should keep you warm out there, at least.”

“Sir,” said Ian, pointing to the picture on the wall, “is this your photo?”

Perry gave him a quizzical look but came over to where he stood and gazed at the photo. “No,” he said. “That was there when we got here. The landlady said that she’d inherited this cottage from her brother, who disappeared some time ago and was finally declared dead. They suspect he got drunk and fell off the cliffs one night. But as I understand it, this house has been empty for many years.”

“I know who these two are,” said Ian, putting his finger up to trace the image of the beautiful lady with white-blond hair, who looked like a grown-up version of Theo, holding a small toddler in her arms. The toddler he’d first seen on a stormy night eight years before.

“Who?” asked Perry.

“It’s Theo and her mother.”

“The little girl who was with you when the beast attacked?”

“Yes,” said Ian gravely. “Might I have this photograph?”

Perry seemed to hesitate for only a moment before agreeing to the request. “Yes, of course. If you’re certain it’s Theo and her mother, then she should have the memento.”

“I’m certain,” said Ian, feeling deeply that he wasn’t mistaken. He carefully lifted the photo off the wall. “She’ll be very grateful to you for letting her have it,” he added.

Perry smiled. “Shall we have some tea, then?”

The pair shared the tea and some biscuits to abate their hunger. They kept to small talk, mostly about the weather and life at the keep, but Ian’s mind kept drifting back to the photograph of Theo’s mother and what might have driven the woman to abandon her baby on a violent stormy night.

Shortly after they’d sipped the last of their tea, Perry encouraged the boy