school,â said Kate. âWeâre going to need to talk to him to find out what he knows â he had to have seen us get pulled away.â
âI thought he got dragged along for sure,â said Darrell quietly. âEspecially when the friar said he had found my three friends.â Delaney flopped over on his side to let her rub his tummy. âIâm just so glad youâre both okay,â she said in a low voice. âIâve been sick with worry. Where were you all that time?â
âWe stayed at the little villa where we found you,â said Brodie. âWe looked everywhere for you when we arrived in Lisbon. Of course, it took us quite a while to figure out where we were at first. Kate was convinced we had to be in Spain because of what we had been learning in Professor Grampianâs class.â
âWell, thatâs how it worked before with Professor Tooth,â Kate said, a trifle crankily.
âAnyway, we couldnât find you anywhere. We searched a bit through the passages near the guardhouse under the castle, but then Kate thought you must have gone out into the city, so we went out to look.â
âI hit my head this time,â said Darrell, ruefully rubbing the sore spot. âI must have been knocked out for quite a while. And I
was
in a passageway, near a little underground grotto.â
âAnyway,â continued Brodie, âwe finally figured out we were in Lisbon. We asked around in the local marketplace to see if anyone had seen you.â
âI pretended you were my lost sister,â interjected Kate. âNobody wanted to talk to us. Everyone seemed so anxious and suspicious because we were strangers.â
âAfter what seemed like forever I spoke to a priest all hooded up in a red cloak who told us to go find Brother Socorro at the church â that he sometimes gave lost travellers sanctuary.â
âA red robe?â said Darrell thoughtfully. âWhy does that remind me of something?â She thought a moment then shook her head. âItâs gone. So his name is Brother Socorro, eh?â
âYeah. Turned out he was actually looking for us, since he must have found you by then.â
âHe hid me in his room in the cathedral,â Darrell explained. âBut he locked me in, and I guess thatâs when things started to go crazy in the city, so he left me there for what seemed like forever.â
âNearly three days,â said Kate, patting Darrell on the arm.
âNo wonder I was so hungry! So you were in the cottage all that time?â asked Darrell.
âOnly about a day, âcause we spent the first day figuring out where we were and the second looking for you,â Kate replied.
Darrell leaned over and squeezed Kate by the shoulders. âThat explains why Socorro thought you were my sister,â she said and peered at Brodie through bloodshot eyes. âYou know, I am so tired, at one point I thought he actually referred to you as Kateâs âgood husband.ââ
Kate and Brodie both started talking at once.
âIt was the only ...â
â... not my idea ...â
â... a short time ...â
âAnd nobody has to know anything about it,â they both blurted.
Darrell dropped her head onto her arms and enjoyed the best laugh she could remember having for a long time. When she finally looked up, she saw Kateâs face was scarlet, and even Brodieâs cheeks had reddened.
âThere was no other way,â he said, standing up abruptly. âThere was no one else to act as chaperone, and in those days, no decent girl would be wandering around alone with a guy unless she was married to him.â
Darrellâs face was sore from grinning. âHe was saving your reputation, Kate,â she spluttered.
Kate rolled her eyes. âGrow up, will you? It was the only thing we could think of to explain ourselves to Brother Socorro.â
Darrell chuckled.
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