Yet my first reaction had not been to send word to Father or to rush to Scotland Yard or even find the nearest constable. Rather, I resolved to simply be more careful, to try and evade whoever might be following us. And Caedmon hadn’t suggested otherwise. Something had shifted. We’d become a team of sorts. But were we being utterly foolhardy? Did we have a chance of finding the standard ourselves? And . . . was it possible that Caedmon was enjoying being with me as much as I was with him?I found him pacing beneath the branches of the appointed willow.“All right?” he asked me.I nodded. “Perfectly. Were you followed?”He shrugged. “No. Yes. Maybe. I’m half-mad thinking the whole world is after us now. And the other half is going mad thinking you’re a sight better at playing the brave young man than I am.”“It’s all show,” I said, deciding to take that as a compliment. “How long have you been waiting?”He sighed. “Bells sounded a bit ago. Not long.”“Good. And no sign of anyone?”He shook his head.“From the road, it’s impossible to see you from beneath this tree, so if anyone has been following, they’ll likely think we’ve already gone in.
