“That sounds awfully complicated,” said Catherine. “Are you sure this is a good plan, rather than simply a plan? It sounds like the sort of convoluted plan that could work in theory, but is unlikely to in practice.”
“Catherine,” said Beatrice suddenly, “When you said the boathouse contained what you would expect to find—did you mean a boat? Was there a boat in the boathouse?”
“Of course there was a boat,” said Catherine. “What else would you expect to find?”
“And was it in good repair? Did it seem seaworthy? After all, Mrs. Polgarth said Miss Trelawny had not used it in a while.”
“How should I know?” said Catherine. “We didn’t go in, just looked through the window. Anyway, I don’t know anything about boats. I would have no idea if it was seaworthy or not.”
“Don’t look at me,” said Diana. “I don’t know anything about boats either. Here are the fools!”
Wenna, the waitress, took the empty plates. Another waitress, older and stouter, set the quince fools, in their individual cups, before each of them. Diana immediately appropriated Beatrice’s.
After Mary had thanked the waitresses and Beatrice had asked for another cup of tea, Mary said, “I think I know what Beatrice is getting at. If they have a boat, they don’t need to go over the causeway. They can sail to the island anytime they wish. Well, so much for stopping them at the causeway, then! We’ll have to retreat to our third line of defense in the chapel.”
“What chapel?” asked Catherine. She spooned all the quince out of her fool and into one of Diana’s, then started eating the custard.
“There is a chapel attached to the castle,” said Beatrice. “It’s a place for contemplation and prayer. The Queen will have a meal with the housekeeper, Mrs. Russell. Then, she will retire to the chapel to pray. It is the one time during her visit that she will be entirely alone. We believe they will be waiting for her there.”
“It would be the logical place to abduct her,” said Mary. “But I wish there was a way we could fight them before they could get so close to the castle itself, and to the Queen! I don’t want to wait that long.”
“Could we destroy Miss Trelawny’s boat?” asked Justine. “We still have an hour until sunset. I could go into the boathouse and break it apart with my hands. If they are planning on sailing to the island tomorrow, they will find the boat in fragments.”
“Oh,” said Mary. “That’s an excellent idea.” Why had she not thought of it herself? She should have thought of it. She was the planner, wasn’t she? “All right, Catherine can show you where the boathouse is located. You’d better start soon, though. You don’t want to get lost on the cliffs in the dark. If they can’t use the boat, they’ll have to go over the causeway, and we’ll be waiting for them. Cat, I’m sorry it’s not a better plan, but it’s all I could come up with. Look, it’s already six o’clock. I think you’d better get to the boathouse with Justine, and we’d better go shopping for the material we need.
“Wait,” said Catherine. “What is our third line of defense? You said there was a third line. What are we supposed to do in the chapel?”
“Well, to be honest, we hadn’t quite worked that out,” said Mary. “Some of us will have to hide in the chapel, of course. And then—we protect the Queen anyway we can? You and I will have our pistols, Diana will have her knife, and of course Beatrice and Justine have their own defenses. But if the Queen is there, fighting in the chapel could put Her Majesty in danger.”
“I have an idea,” said Beatrice. “I was thinking of the myth of Perseus. When he went to fight Medusa, the goddess Athena gave him a certain weapon.… I do not know if my idea will work, but perhaps it’s worth trying.”
“What is it?” asked Diana. Her mouth was full of quince fool. Why couldn’t she close her mouth when she chewed?
“Let me think about it a little more before I describe it to you,” said Beatrice. “It may be a foolish idea after all.”
“Anything is worth trying at this point, foolish or not,” said Mary. “All right, let’s reconvene in, what, an hour? Cat and Justine, you’re going to destroy the boat. Beatrice, Diana, and I will go shopping for equipment and supplies. We’ll meet again at seven o’clock in Justine and Beatrice’s room, which doesn’t have Diana’s clothes scattered all over it. Then, we’ll have an hour to get to the causeway.”
DIANA: It had Catherine’s clothes all over it as well. She’s as messy as I am, so I don’t know why you’re always complaining about me.
CATHERINE: Pumas don’t fold their clothes.
DIANA: Pumas this, pumas that! I think you’re using being a puma to avoid all the rules the rest of us have to follow. Anyway, I bet you’re making half of this puma stuff up.
CATHERINE: What do you know about pumas, monkey girl?
JUSTINE: Catherine, I must admit, Diana does have a point. You mention being a puma when you wish to avoid some sort of obligation or responsibility.
CATHERINE: You realize that to a puma, you’re all just meat?
“What do you mean the boat wasn’t there?” said Mary an hour later, when they were all sitting in Justine and Beatrice’s room.
“I mean it wasn’t in the boathouse,” said Catherine. “They knew we were there today, searching for the keep. They must have anticipated that we would come back to stop them somehow. The keep was there, by the way—a large, square tower. Diana and I couldn’t possibly have missed it this morning if Queen Tera hadn’t been messing with our heads. Justine broke the lock on the front door of the keep—since they already know about us, I thought we might as well. We went inside, but we couldn’t find anything. We looked all over for Alice and Mr. Holmes, but everyone was gone. Once I thought we heard a cry of some sort, but it was just a big black cat. It was creepy in there, with all those Egyptian artifacts!”
“If they know we’re trying to stop them, the logical thing for them to do is sail to the island tonight and stay hidden somewhere until daybreak,” said Mary. “Well, there goes our second line of defense! I guess there’s no reason for us to guard the causeway. We should focus on the beacon and chapel. Beatrice found everything she needed.”
“Rags,” said Beatrice, holding up a large bundle. “A gallon of camphine, which will burn hotter and brighter than turpentine. Pepper, alcohol, and two atomizers, just like the ones we used in Budapest. And look…” She held up a silver hand mirror. “We purchased it from a shop of old furniture and bibelots on Turnpike Road. I’m afraid Mary had to pay a rather high price since it’s an antique. I cannot guarantee it will work, but Tera’s weapon is light—therefore, we will attempt to deflect it, or reflect it back at her. Like Perseus with his shield. And we bought five rucksacks, such as scouts use for hiking and camping, to carry it all.”
Catherine looked at the pile of equipment on the floor dubiously. “These aren’t particularly powerful weapons to use against Queen Tera and Mrs. Raymond. Even with our pistols, we’re inadequately armed.”