Among Wolves. Nancy Wallace K.

I’m sure I can,” he answered. “I’ll work on it after dinner. It just makes me angry that someone stole it out of my cabin!”

      “The fact that it’s the only thing that’s missing worries me more,” Marcus said. “Why is it important that someone knows exactly where you’re going? Do you think Henri LeBeau…?”

      “LeBeau said he was spending a month in Ombria and Tirolien before going to Arcadia. That’s my plan, too. He could have stolen the itinerary before he talked to me on deck. But if he did, why did he write down my cabin number just now?”

      “To divert suspicion?” Marcus suggested.

      “Perhaps,” Devin answered, refolding his clothing and laying it on the bunk. “But, it seems a funny way of doing it. Who else is on board?”

      “I already asked the Captain.” Marcus raised his hand and counted off on his fingers. “A merchant and his daughter from Tirolien, a young man who plans to spend his summer in Cretois with his aunt and uncle, another merchant from Coreé who is going to buy Arcadian lace for his shop, a physician returning to Treves with his daughter, and a soldier on a three month leave.”

      “Counting LeBeau, that’s eight people,” Devin pointed out. “I thought there were only seven, in addition to us.”

      Marcus raised his eyebrows. “You’re right. That’s what I was told. Perhaps LeBeau is the latecomer. I’ll go and find out.” He turned, with his hand on the door. “And Devin, if you actually plan to sleep, bolt this door when I leave and don’t open it for anyone but Gaspard or me.”

      Devin stood up. “I should go and check on Gaspard.”

      “I have already done that several times. I was planning to stop again on my way to see the Captain.” Marcus gestured at the mess on the bed. “Maybe you should go through your belongings one more time to make sure nothing else is missing. And, lock the door as soon as I leave.”

      Devin threw the bolt after Marcus went out into the passageway. He found the whole concept of locks distasteful. He’d never lived where he’d had to worry about stealing. Dormitory rooms were never locked. The thought that scholars would steal from each other negated the entire idea of academic freedom and intellectual collaboration.

      He spread out his things on the bunk again but nothing else seemed to be missing. It made the theft seem more sinister and pointed. There would be no reason to steal such a thing unless someone intended to follow him. He repacked the knapsack and stowed it underneath the narrow bunk before lying down. The problem of the missing itinerary lingered to worry him only a few minutes. The gentle roll of the ship was hypnotic and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

       CHAPTER 4

       Allies and Adversaries

      When Devin wakened a few hours later, a piece of paper had been shoved under the door. He picked it up, recognizing Marcus’s untidy scrawl: I am on deck. M. Devin washed his face and straightened his clothes. The single porthole in his cabin showed the sun already lay low in the sky. He glanced at his watch. It was almost 7 o’clock; nearly time for dinner. He hadn’t meant to sleep that long. After he locked his cabin, he knocked softly on Gaspard’s door and received a muffled response. The knob turned easily in his hand.

      Gaspard sat on the edge of his bunk, his hands clasped between his knees, his dark hair rumpled and standing on end. He glanced up at Devin with bloodshot eyes.

      “Ah, my kidnapper shows himself at last.”

      Devin’s stomach clenched. “Had you decided not to come with me?”

      Gaspard regarded him icily another moment and then laughed, shaking his head back and forth. “Of course, I meant to come with you, you idiot! Did you think I wanted to stay in Coreé with my father ranting on about my irresponsibility? I hope you didn’t tell him I was going with you. It will do the old bastard good to worry about me for a change.”

      “I’m sure he does worry about you,” Devin said. “My father came down to the docks to see me off. He insisted on going to tell your father, personally, that you’d gone.”

      Gaspard rolled his eyes. “It’s more than the old man deserves.”

      Devin sat down on the bunk beside him. “What did he say to you?”

      Gaspard leaned his head against the wall, one arm propping himself upright. “After I gave up on my exams, I went down to Antoine’s to get seriously drunk. The next thing I knew my father was in my face, telling me how I had failed him and the entire Forneaux family. He insisted that I spend the summer under a tutor, of his choosing, and attempt to be reinstated at the Académie in the fall.”

      Devin ran a hand through his hair. “God, I’ve made things so much worse. I’m sorry.”

      “Worse?” Gaspard said with a hollow laugh. “How could things be worse than a summer in Coreé with my father breathing down my neck?”

      “But he must have forbidden you to go with me.”

      “Oh, he did. He threatened me, in fact, said if I went on this trip he’d disown me.”

      “Gaspard!” Devin protested. “My father knew none of this when I talked to him. He’ll be furious at me for dragging you along.”

      Gaspard grunted. “I’m afraid that is your problem, mon ami. I have enough of my own at the moment.”

      “But I’ve complicated the whole thing! Maybe you should take the first ship back to Coreé when we reach Friseé. I’ll write a letter to your father and explain what happened…”

      Gaspard straightened abruptly. Grabbing Devin’s lapels, he shook him.

      “You’re not listening, Dev! I don’t want to go back! I need this time away to decide what I’m going to do with my life. Fifteen months is a long time, my father may relent by then and if he doesn’t…so what? I can’t be responsible for his happiness as well as my own.”

      Devin shook off Gaspard’s hands and stood up, pacing the tiny room. “There must be something I can do to help.”

      “Pay attention!” Gaspard shouted. “You have done the best thing possible! I can’t thank you enough! Now drop it!” He lay back on the bunk, his feet still on the floor and stared at the ceiling. “All the tutors in the world wouldn’t have gotten me through those exams. You did what you could for me; spent hours going over all the information.”

      “What happened?” Devin asked.

      “With my exams?” Gaspard replied. He shrugged. “I froze, Dev. I looked at those examination questions and it was as though there wasn’t one scrap of information left in my head. I couldn’t have told them how old I was let alone who founded the archives!”

      “Pierre Gaston,” Devin murmured involuntarily.

      “I know that!” Gaspard snapped, then his voice softened. “I know it…now. But I couldn’t have told you then. My mind doesn’t work like yours, Dev. I get so on edge about taking an exam that when I sit down with the papers in front of me anything I ever knew just flies out the window.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “Don’t be sorry. I can’t thank you enough for getting me out of there, honestly. Fifteen months away from school – away from Father – sounds like heaven to me. I don’t know that I will ever go back. Maybe you could leave me on some deserted beach in Andalusia. I’ll spend the rest of my days in seclusion.”

      “I’ve heard seclusion isn’t much fun,” Devin said.

      Gaspard laughed. “That from you! You lock yourself up for days at a time, studying ancient