But, I had to put myself in Hermione’s shoes, and if I’d had to be married to a man like Albert Trevarron, all the hope and optimism would probably have been smashed out of me, too.
‘Here, my ducks. Go through. Tegan, you go first, then Hermione, then Miss Violet,’ Aunt Bill chivvied us as William made short work of the remaining blockage. ‘Quickly, now.’
I bent my head to get through the space that William had cleared, then helped Hermione through. Aunt Bill took Violet’s hand and guided her through, and William brought up the rear.
‘Thank you.’ I hugged him. ‘We need to clean your hands, though. You’ll get a horrible infection.’
‘I’ll be fine. Stop fussing,’ he muttered, but when I gave him a look, he softened. ‘All right, my sweet one. I will let you clean me up when we get to the pellar’s cottage.’
‘Let’s hope that was the last blockage,’ Hermione said, with her pinpoint accuracy of being able to say what everyone else was thinking, but had chosen not to say in the hopes of staying positive. I suppressed a sigh.
‘We should fill it back in,’ William said. ‘If someone does come behind us.’
‘But, what if there’s a blockage ahead, and we can’t get through it?’ I asked. ‘That would mean we were trapped.’
‘It might. But if I fill this one in again, I know I can clear it again if I need to. It does mean that it creates an obstacle for anyone coming behind us, however. It can provide us with time.’
‘That’s a good point,’ Aunt Bill said. ‘I think William should fill it in.’
‘Go ahead. I will catch up.’ He nodded. ‘Go with your aunt, Tegan. I will be all right.’
Reluctantly, I left him rebuilding the blockage, and followed my aunt.
She led us on, lamp aloft. I was reminded of images of Florence Nightingale. Aunt Bill was a hero cut from the same cloth; I felt a rush of pride in her, pride in being her niece, of being able to help her help Hermione and Violet.
‘Who else have you helped?’ I asked my aunt, as we trudged along. I handed the handkerchief of biscuits to Violet and was happy to see her smile in reply.
Poor Violet. I could only imagine the horrors she had experienced, and now, I was making her follow a tunnel through what must have seemed like hell to the poor girl. She was brave. She might not have thought she was, but Violet was braver than a lot of adults I knew.
‘What?’ Aunt Bill frowned.
‘You said, the other day, that was what you’ve ended up doing, when you travelled through time,’ I prompted her. ‘Helping people.’
‘Oh. You know. A few, ’ere and there,’ Aunt Bill replied, opaquely.
‘Come on. This is clearly not your first rescue,’ I whispered.
‘Well, I didn’t know I’d ’ave so many people what needed ’elpin.’ She shushed me, so Hermione and Violet wouldn’t hear. ‘Turns out there’s a lot of peril in the past. And, I might say, a lot of wrong ’uns. Particularly in the Trevarron family.’
TWENTY-NINE
‘I’m starting to understand that,’ I replied, darkly. ‘Lord Albert. William’s father. William’s brother, Charles. And then there’s the Favishams. They married into the Trevarron family with what seems like disastrous results.’
‘Indeed, maid.’ Aunt Bill pursed her lips disapprovingly. ‘But there ain’t much we can do about it now.’
I noticed that we were walking on a slight incline, and that the air had got a little better.
‘Nearly there,’ Aunt Bill called out to Violet and Hermione. I looked back at them; they were holding hands, and Hermione walked determinedly, with her head down. I was proud of her. ‘Should be some steps comin’ up,’ Aunt Bill said to me, and as we turned a corner, there they were ahead of us.
‘Thank goodness.’ I sighed in relief.
There was the sound of footsteps from further back in the tunnel. I had the sudden terrible thought that Harold and the footmen had found us, but I raised the lantern and saw William approaching. Violet and Hermione let him past; he nodded politely to them.
I was relieved to see him. This whole journey had been desperatelyperilous and having William by my side quieted my nerves. He took my hand in his and kissed it.
‘See, there was no need to worry, my sweet one,’ he murmured. I wanted to embrace him, to nestle into his strong, safe arms, but there was no time. We had to get to Nancy as soon as possible, and get Violet and Hermione off in their carriage as quickly as we could. Then, we could think about what to do next.
We trudged up the stone steps leading to a wooden door. Aunt Bill knocked on it, and Nancy opened it. A weight of relief fell from my shoulders, seeing her face.
