Montgomery said. I could barely keep up with him as he stormed down the main staircase. “I tracked every beast on your father’s island, and they were far more stealthy than a twenty-year-old maid. Balthazar will come with me. His nose is better than the keenest hunting dog’s.” “Wait!” Hensley jogged down the stairs behind us, clutching his rat impossibly tight, with Carlyle following at a distance. “You promised me a story!” Montgomery paused just long enough to give me a look that said we couldn’t be slowed down by such nonsense. I ran back up the stairs to pat Hensley on the head. “I shall tell you one, I promise, but not right now.” I spotted Lily and Moira at the bottom of the stairs, come to look for us, and pushed him in their direction. “Lily has a story for you, I’m certain.” He narrowed his eyes, his face turning angry red. He might have the strength of three men, but he was still just a headstrong little boy, and I could hardly be bothered with reading stories now.
