Author's Note:
This is the penultimate chapter of this story, my darlings. But perhaps, you'd like to see Book III in the Fox & Oakby series? ;) Let me know in the comments.
Love xx
Katya
Imogen hung up and went to the kitchen in search of the Mayor. They both stayed home after the shock of the previous evening, and currently he was making pancakes for the little'uns' lunch - and failing at that. The sad circles of half-burnt, half-raw batter lay on numerous plates around the kitchen. The Mayor's inadequacy as a cook didn't seem to upset either him, or his audience. Imogen watched how yet another pancake defeated the man, and guided by the clumsy movement of his turner it slid off the pan, onto a plate, and folded into an unattractive little heap. The children rolled with laughter. Judging by their dirty faces, there were no toppings left for the pancakes anyway.
"So, is it—" She looked into the empty bowls in front of them. "Strawberries and chocolate syrup for lunch then?" she asked with a chuckle.
"And banana," the Mayor said and pointed at the banana skins scattered on the table. "We were going American style."
"I don't fancy lemon," Brian said, scrunching his chocolate covered face.
"Uh-huh," Imogen said and gave the Mayor an adoring look over. "Is this your first time?"
He nodded and grinned. There was some chocolate smeared on his face as well, and Imogen couldn't help it. She grabbed the soft jumper on his chest and pulled him down. He tasted of strawberries.
Imogen released the Mayor and looked at the children. Brian was busy licking his fingers, while Kathy was giving the Mayor and Imogen googly eyes. The Mayor looked dazed.
"I think you should order pizza," Imogen said softly.
The Mayor hummed confirming - and then his gaze grew sharp.
"Are you not joining us?"
"Um... Please, don't be cross," Imogen pleaded, "but I need to pop in the Oakby Manor. Petra rang me."
Imogen could see from the corner of her eye that the children froze and were now intently watching the grown-ups. The poor duckies had a properly sensitive 'tension radar.' They'd seen too many angry adults.
The Mayor gave Imogen a reproachful look.
"It's nothing dangerous," Imogen exclaimed. "She says she found the reliquary of Eleonor of Aquitaine!"
"Did she now?" Oakby asked sarcastically.
"In a secret section of the library!"
"Makes sense," the Mayor said with a shrug. "It was my great grandfather's favourite spot. That would be the first place I'd look."
"Why didn't you say anything before?" Imogen gaped at him.
"No one asked for my opinion," he said haughtily. "And the investigation - which according to you, I 'took over' - had nothing to do with the reliquary. May I remind you, I was consulted on the case of a—"
Imogen interrupted him since she properly didn't want the words 'double murder' to hang in her kitchen like tobacco smoke.
"Either way, Petra thinks it's there, but she can't go down the stairs, so she asked me to come over," Imogen said.
The Mayor started taking off the jolly polka-dot apron Imogen had brought with her when they'd moved into the Firs.
"Alright, let me get my keys," he grumbled and went to the sink to wash his, no doubt, sticky hands.
"Your keys?"
"I'm not letting you go there alone," he said without turning to her.
"I'm telling you, it's safe, and there's no need—" Imogen started mumbling.
"Last time you went to comfort Petra over her... break-up," the Mayor choked on the word. "You ended up in—" He threw the little'uns a quick look. "In Miss Rosa's tearooms. I'd rather keep an eye on you."
"But we can't take the children with us," Imogen offered another argument, and he shrugged again.
"Why not? I'd love to introduce them to Fellowes. She was the only person who showed me any warmth when I was small. I'm sure she'd be happy to meet my new family."
Imogen's eyes boggled. 'Warmth?' 'New family?'
"Fellowes? Are we talking about your Father's scary housekeeper?" she asked in disbelief.
"She loves our family. Has been with us since before my sister was born." The Mayor dried his hands, smiling at his memories. "She used to make me these amazing bacon sandwiches and sneaking them into my room when I wasn't allowed to come down for supper. I wonder if she can make some now. Alright, how about you go grab your jackets?" he said to Kathy and Brian. "Let's go for a ride."
The children yee-pee'd and rushed out of the kitchen.
"Wash your hands first, please," he called after them.
Imogen heard the door to the bathroom bang. Apparently the mayoral authority had spread onto her little family. They'd probably ignore her orders, but he just needed to say once.
Imogen sighed and went to pick up her handbag.
***
Fellowes opened the door to them and looked over their small group.
"Afternoon, Fellowes," the Mayor said warmly. "These are my friends, Brian and Kathy. They came to meet you." He chuckled. "And we wouldn't say no to your famous bacon sandwiches."
The housekeeper's blank stare shifted on Imogen.
"Afternoon, Ms. Fellowes," Imogen said meekly. The woman scared her out of her wits.
"Miss Fox."
Fellowes gave her a small nod and looked at the children. Kathy shrunk under the scrutiny, but Brian seemed unfazed.
"Are you John's friend?" he asked and grinned widely. "We love John. And he said you make sarnies with bacon, and there's a secret recipe. I don't need the recipe, I'm just hungry."
Imogen felt her spine turn into a foot and a half long icicle. And then suddenly, a miracle happened - and it seemed to Imogen that the sun came out from behind the clouds and birds started to sing - because Fellowes smiled.
"Please, come in, young sir," she said and stepped aside.
Brian confidently marched in.
"And you're Kathy?" Fellowes asked the girl. "What a beautiful name. Please, follow me to the kitchen."
Fellowes turned around and walked away, followed by a stunned Kathy. Brian was already yelling from some hallway somewhere to the left that he was 'lost, but look there's a knight, and he's empty!'
Imogen stood on the threshold of the Mayor's childhood home, breathing in short shallow gasps.
"What— But—" she muttered.
"Come," the Mayor said with another of his velvet chuckles and softly pushed her inside. "Let's help Petra, find that treasure of hers, and go home."
Imogen weakly nodded.
***
Petra didn't need help. Petra was being unapologetically, most certainly, quite inappropriately... snogged. Sitting across the lap of Mr. John Thomas Alistair Oakby, her arms around his neck, her leg in a cast propped on the armrest of his chair, her fingers tangled in his lush silver waves, Petra was, most obviously, in need of no help.
"Father!" the Mayor yelped.
"The Mayor!" squeaked Petra and thrashed in Oakby Snr' embrace.
"Oh dear," moaned Imogen.
"Afternoon," said the Titan.
Imogen and the Mayor stood impersonating Lot's spouse. Petra hissed something to the man holding her, and he rose in a fluid powerful movement, while carefully putting her down and upright.
"Oh, I sort of— we— we didn't expect— and just Imogen, really—" Petra started muttering, red in the face.
"We expected Fellowes to knock and announce Ms. Fox's arrival," the Titan translated. "Otherwise we wouldn't be caught in such compromising position."
"And it's so— I'm sorry— like a schoolboy— and— so embarrassing— if only I knew—" the archeologist continued her punctuated talking.
"We apologise for the inappropriate behaviour," Oakby Snr continued his St. Jerome-sque labours. "And we promise to try to avoid such incidents in the future."
Imogen quickly checked on the Mayor. The man was pale but breathing.
"Um... I came to help you with the reliquary, Petra," Imogen decided to interfere.
The quicker this whole barney ended, the quicker she could evacuate the poor Mayor from here.
"Ah, yes, it's— Um..." Petra cleared her throat. "It's down there. At least John— I mean, Mr. Oakby thinks so, since—"
"Since it was my great grandfather's 'lair' so to say," the Mayor finished her thought and peeked behind Petra at the half open door, previously hidden behind a bookshelf. "I'm afraid, Imogen, I can't go with you."
"Because you're claustrophobic, yes. It's quite alright," Imogen said in a comforting tone. She stepped to the door. "Has it been open recently? What am I going to find there?"
"It's basically a large closet," the Mayor said. "Lots of bookshelves, some sort of trunks and boxes, but nothing too scary. It's probably dusty, though. I looked once, when I was a boy. Bolted out of it as quickly as I could, you can imagine."
He gave her a warm smile, and Imogen's heart fluttered. She remembered their first kiss: she'd saved him from being trapped in the secret tunnel leading out of the Town Hall, and he'd said he'd been thinking about kissing her for ages - and then they'd snogged.
"And there's a priest's hole that leads to the gamekeeper's cottage," Oakby Snr added.
Imogen looked at him. The corners of his lips were curled up, and his gaze was amicable, and altogether Imogen suddenly realised that he hadn't lied in Miss Rosa's tearooms: it seemed he didn't hate her at all.
"Ah yes, the gamekeeper's cottage, I forgot," the Mayor said. "But it's been sealed for the last twenty years or so. Right after Mr. Povey retired."
"Povey?" Imogen asked. "The gamekeeper's name was Mr. Povey?! Oh that reminds me," she said to Petra. "Andrew rang me up this morning. They said they'd arrested your 'students,'" Imogen gestured quotation marks in the air. "They were trying to escape the county, and their car broke down. And it turned out that Stella's real surname is Povey. Could she be related to the gamekeeper?"
"That would make sense," the Mayor said. "Old Povey always used to tell tales about treasures hidden in the tunnel, and when it was sealed, he kept searching apparently. No one had the heart to put a stop to it."
"He'd served the family for decades. He deserved anything he could dig up," Oakby Snr said with a shrug.
"Do you also find this nonchalance towards immeasurable riches both charming and infuriating?" Petra asked Imogen.
"Uh-huh," said Imogen and giggled.
The two men tilted their heads in an identical questioning gesture, and Petra joined Imogen's snickering.
"So then Stella is the gamekeeper's daughter, I suppose," Petra said. "Which makes me doubt that the reliquary is in the priest's hole. I'm sure she searched the library when she or Marcus were here stealing the Bible."
"But we don't know if they discovered the secret section," Imogen pointed out.
"True. I didn't," Petra said.
"Just because you were strategically placed in the right armchair," the Titan murmured, and Petra glared at him.
"I should have known it wasn't accidental," she grumbled.
"You know me so well, darling," he said.
The Mayor gave out a quiet cough.
"So, should I try then?" Imogen asked and stepped closer to the door.
She could see a torch hanging inside, right by the entrance, and she picked it up. It was large, clearly old, but it worked! She lit up the staircase going down and took the first careful step.