Mrs. Washington lowered her handkerchief. “We’d been fretting about your education, you see. You’re such extraordinary children, and none of us thought you were being suitably challenged. Yet we were reluctant to send you off to college so young. We must have had a dozen telephone conversations on the subject, wouldn’t you say, Miss Perumal?”
“We did,” said Miss Perumal. “And we were still deliberating when we heard from Mr. Benedict, who happened to be planning an anniversary reunion for you. When we mentioned our concerns to him, he suggested that a field trip — a very special field trip — might be just the thing to supplement your educations. He’d always regretted you were exposed to such dangers on your mission, he said, but it was undeniable that you had thrived under the challenge. None of us could disagree. It was obvious how much you’d grown as a result of that mission — to say nothing of how much you missed one another now.”
“So Mr. Benedict proposed an adventure,” Mrs. Washington said. “A completely safe one this time, but an adventure nonetheless. The timing was perfect, he said, because he intended to take a research trip anyway and would be happy to expand its purpose. He and Number Two would leave sometime before you, and then you four would follow in their footsteps, with Rhonda and Milligan accompanying you. That was to be your big surprise.”
Miss Perumal leaned to murmur into Reynie’s ear. “You were going to be away for two weeks. I knew you’d have a wonderful time, but I also knew how much I’d miss you.” She gave him a sad smile, and Reynie nodded, understanding now the bittersweet look she’d given him that morning.
“Mr. Benedict would cover the expenses,” Mrs. Washington went on (with a significant look at Sticky, who’d just been wondering how they could afford such a trip). “He said you were owed that and a great deal more besides, and with Rhonda and Milligan to accompany you we hadn’t the least worry for your safety. But now to think” — here Mrs. Washington raised her handkerchief to her face again, though not enough to conceal her look of horror — “to think if you had actually gone. What might have happened to you?”
“Nothing would have happened to us,” said Kate soothingly. “Milligan was going, too, remember? Nobody could have touched us with him along.”
Mrs. Washington, who at any rate wished to banish such frightening thoughts from her mind, nodded tightly and lowered her handkerchief. Mr. Washington squeezed her shoulder and said nothing — he’d said scarcely a word since they arrived — but his eyes were deeply troubled.
“What exactly was this field trip to be?” Reynie asked. “Where were we going?”
“That part was secret,” said Miss Perumal. “Mr. Benedict thought you might be nosy enough to glean the details ahead of time, which would defeat the purpose of the exercise, so he provided very few. We knew that you’d eventually meet up with him and Number Two, and that along the way Rhonda would make sure you called home every day — but more than that he didn’t reveal. Perhaps Rhonda can tell us more.”
“I wish I could,” said Rhonda, who was at the door again checking for eavesdroppers, “but Mr. Benedict was mum on almost everything. I think he relished the idea of surprising me, as well. He wouldn’t even tell me what his research was about, though I sensed he was eager to pursue it.” With a last look down the hallway, she pulled the door closed again.
“Why are you being so careful, Rhonda?” asked Kate. “Don’t those people want to help Mr. Benedict, too?”
“Some of them, yes,” said Rhonda. Her face hardened. “Some of them, perhaps not. There’s a lot of resentment of the fact that Mr. Benedict is the only who can operate the Whisperer. It’s Mr. Benedict who calls the shots, and he’s stubbornly resisted certain people’s suggestions that the government use it for other purposes. Those people might be very pleased if he went away for good. As for the others . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t trust them not to attempt some kind of rescue operation and bungle it terribly. It would be the worst thing they could do. All of them together aren’t half as smart as Curtain.”
“What do you think we should do?” Sticky asked.
“We need to speak privately with Milligan. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him, but he should be here soon — he’s already late, in fact. It’s possible Mr. Benedict gave him more details about the trip. He did want to be sure it went well for you. Oh, if you could have seen Mr. Benedict’s face the morning they left! He was so pleased to be giving you this surprise!”
Just then the door flew open with a bang. Everyone jumped and stared. Oddly, though, there seemed to be no one in the doorway. Reynie’s first thought was that an unusually strong draft had blown the door open — it was a drafty old house — but then he thought to lower his gaze, and in doing so was rewarded with the sight of Constance Contraire’s scowling face.
“You’re meeting without me?” she demanded. “Why wasn’t I told?”
“Come in, Constance,” Rhonda said in a weary voice. “You asked to be left alone, remember? I was just catching everyone up. They’ve only been here a few minutes.”
This explanation clearly did not satisfy Constance, but she had no opportunity to express her dissatisfaction, for she was immediately swept into the air by Kate, who hugged her so tightly she was unable to speak.
“It’s good to see you, Constance,” Kate said sadly, “even though it’s under such awful circumstances.”
Constance’s pale blue eyes glistened, her pudgy cheeks reddened, and her feet dangled helplessly around Kate’s knees. (She might be of extraordinary intellect for her age — she was only three — but she was of ordinary size, and Kate quite towered over her.) When at last Kate set her down again, Constance had no chance to recover before Reynie and Sticky embraced her as well, quickly followed by the adults. By the time everyone had greeted her, Constance’s wispy blond hair had come free of its barrettes and fallen about her face, and she wore a wildly disoriented look, as if she were an oversized rag doll that had been magically brought to life.
“Oh,” Constance said confusedly. “Okay, then. Hello.”
Ms. Argent, meanwhile, had appeared in the dining room doorway and stood waiting for the fuss to die down. “Ms. Kazembe,” she said, “we’d like to ask you a few more questions, please.”
“Very well, I’ll be right there,” Rhonda said.
Ms. Argent seemed disinclined to leave, but when she realized that everyone in the room was staring at her impatiently, she turned slightly pink and made a hasty exit.
Rhonda made sure Ms. Argent was out of earshot, then stepped to a side table, opened a drawer, and took out a sealed envelope. She looked solemnly at the children. “I was to give you this,” she said. “It contains Mr. Benedict’s instructions for beginning your adventure. I haven’t seen what’s inside it yet — I didn’t want Ms. Argent’s crew to know about it, and there hasn’t been the least opportunity to read in private — and now that you’re all here it seems proper that the four of you should see it first. Mr. Benedict wanted you to, after all. I’d better go see if I can deduce what these people are planning, but we’ll discuss this as soon as I return.
“Now, before I hand it over,” Rhonda said, lifting the envelope away from Constance, who had stepped forward to grab it, “you must promise that if the instructions offer any hint as to Mr. Benedict and Number Two’s whereabouts, you’ll mention it to no one but Milligan or me. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ms. Argent or one of the others tried to catch you alone, and we must be very careful.” When the children had promised, Rhonda let Constance take the envelope.