Chapter 61

THE SUN BEAT down through scattered clouds and a light breeze surrounded them when Jack and Nora parted ways with Ben once they docked in London.
Nora clung to Ben in tears. When he finally pulled away, his coat was wet. He whispered something to Nora that Jack couldn’t hear, but she nodded her head and then turned to say her farewells to Captain Hancock.

Ben approached Jack. He put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and led him away from Nora and Hancock.

“You are ready for this quest, son,” Ben said. “I have enjoyed getting to know you better these past weeks at sea. You are smart, you have skill, patience, and keen instincts. I know you were not convinced on the necessity of the marriage, but in time, I am confident you will be happy for it.”

“I still am unsure I believe in the stone’s power of eternal life,” Jack said.

“You have spent weeks absorbing the information I have given you. Now, you need to have Nora fill in the holes with the personal details she holds. Trust her. Keep in mind, this is not the life she had chosen for herself either. Your destinies lay together; you know this from your dreams. Trust those visions, Jack. Use them. If the magic of seeing the future exists, eternal life could not be too far-fetched, eh?”

It was an interesting point, Jack thought, and one he had not considered. Trust Ben to help him see all the angles. Jack would miss him.

“I am glad she has you,” Ben continued. “I was starting to believe her Warrior was never going to reveal himself. I could not ask for a better man to accompany her—to be her partner. You are worthy of each other. Take care of each other and keep your mind open.”

“I won’t ever forget you,” Jack said, shaking Ben’s hand. He was surprised when Ben pulled him into an embrace.

“Nor I, you, son,” Ben replied, then pulled away.

Jack and Nora mounted the horses they had purchased at the dock. Nora turned back to wave once more to Ben before she turned forward. Jack said nothing as she cried her silent tears.

Now that they traveled fully outfitted, they would be able to afford to stay in inns along the way. Assuming Mr. Stark was correct and there had been only two of Rogan’s men aboard *The Independence*, they would likely remain ahead of Rogan for a time—if he had, indeed, opted to follow them abroad. Of course, with the two destinations of the ship—England and France—he would not know for sure which country they were bound for.

Despite Jack’s better judgment, they began the journey to Rogan’s holdings—or what may be left of it. While he had studied maps on the voyage from the Colonies, he was still ignorant of the culture, climate, and terrain. Sure, he had a general idea of where everything was situated, but that didn’t give him further knowledge of the people here.
Nora did what she could to teach him about the European way of life—to the extent she knew it—but he remained uneasy.

Ben had given them the addresses of where he would be staying in England and France if they were to need him. However, Jack had a hard time thinking they would just knock on the doors of Versailles. It wasn’t until he’d joined the discussions with Ben and Hancock aboard the ship that he realized how powerful a man Ben really was. Gentle by nature, Ben was given to diplomacy first. While he certainly could be roused to passion during an argument, he remained determined to solve problems with words before violence. He was not naïve though. He knew how unlikely it would be for the Colonies to gain their inde-pendence without bloodshed, so he was headed to France next to see if he could win the support and aid of the French king and queen. Ben was someone Jack hoped to emulate. A finer example of man he had never found.

Though Jack was in no particular hurry to get to the Rogan ancestral home, which Nora told him was named Rushwyck Manor, he would be happy to sleep in an actual bed that evening—one that didn’t sway with the waves.

They left the outskirts of London and Jack reined his horse in closer to Nora. Her horse pulled a small cart behind it carrying their supplies. Jack had considered a carriage but ult-mately decided they would be too open to attack from Rogan’s men or highway bandits. Neither of which he wanted to encounter.

Remembering his conversation with Ben, Jack knew the time had come to hear the full of Nora’s story. He had studied the lore and science of the stone. He understood it, as much as any man could. But the two of them were not the only ones in-volved in the quest.

“What of the others?” Jack asked. “The Scholar?”

Nora blinked rapidly as she looked up to him in surprise. Jack had told her they would speak at the end of the voyage, but she clearly was surprised he chose now.

“Bridget is brilliant.” Nora smiled, keeping her eyes on the road ahead. “She’s the one who learned how to extract the liquid from the stone. Ever since she first laid eyes on it, she was fascinated. When she found out the controversy it was causing in my family, she became determined to understand why Monsieur Flamel was so determined to give it to a girl he didn’t know in England. And so, she studied. She read everything she could find in my father’s library.”

“And the Healer?”

“Will,” Nora smiled softly. “He and Bridget are Irish. He was a physician to King James, returning to Ireland. It was he who discovered the healing powers of the elixir.” Jack could not say he cared overly much for the nostalgia and affection in Nora’s voice when she spoke of Will. Or did he imagine it? She had spoken fondly of Bridget, as well. Why was it that her fond memories of Will bothered him?

“Who are they?” Jack interrogated, passing off the mild feeling he would not identify as jealousy. “Who are the Scholar and Healer to you?”

“Bridget and Will are related, cousins to each other. They were not from a family of means, but Will was an excellent physician. Men were intimidated by Bridget’s mind. She could not quell her questioning nature and constantly studied. She is beautiful, but too odd for suitors’ tastes, so she worked with Will. She could read until her mind was content, and he had a competent assistant.

“When my father discovered that Will was not currently employed, he insisted he come stay with us to attend to our family and tenants. You must understand that while my father would not accept Fox’s premonition about our mother, he could not deny that Fox had never been wrong. It was comforting to all of us to have a physician in residence.
When the influenza finally came, Will and Bridget took excellent care of my mother. But in the end, there was nothing they could do to save her. My father was inconsolable.
He was unreachable by any of us, especially Fox.”

“Did your father blame Fox for your mother’s illness?”

“No, not really. But our father was never completely right after that.”

“I think that is an understatement. He is trying to kill you now to get the stone,” Jack reminded her, as he led them to a clearing. They dismounted and Nora stretched. “How did you come to realize how the stone worked?”

“Will and Bridget are scientists,” Nora reminded him. “They experimented with things all the time. Bridget and I became friendly, and when my mother died, she was a great comfort to me. She saw the stone in my room and asked me about it. The more time we spent together, the more intrigued she was by it. Fox would shut down whenever it was mentioned and would not discuss it. He had not ordered me again to dispose of it, but neither would he talk about it or acknowledge its existence. Bridget was curious about what kind of gem it could be, and she began to research it. My father had an extensive library. Eventually, she came across its legend.”

“And they decided to test it. Did they ever make gold and silver with it?”

“No, that seems to be a myth.”

“Oh, that's the myth?” Jack laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “The science of creating precious metals from a rock is dismissed, but the concept of eternal life is embraced?”

“Of course not, not at first,” Nora insisted angrily. “Many years had passed before I understood the true concept of eternal life. But the healing properties from the elixir could not be denied.”

“And Bridget and Will told you of their discovery?”

“They were ecstatic with it and not quiet about it at all. They didn’t know the effect it would have on our father. They couldn’t understand how he would react when they told him. At first, father thought the stone could bring our mother back, which, of course, it cannot.”

“They tried experimenting on people?”

“First, they tried it on a horse. When it appeared to work on the mare, they tried it on a person. Bridget was the first human to try it. She’d been injured when she was thrown from her horse while riding one day. Will administered it to her on a hunch. Until then, they were not sure what we had was the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Why do you think Nicholas Flamel gave the stone to you?” Jack asked thoughtfully. “Why give it to a girl he didn’t know?”

“He said it could only go to someone pure of heart, and he said that was me,” Nora shrugged. “Bridget believed he chose me.”

“Did he though?” Jack asked more to himself. “Were you chosen as the Guardian or did he merely want the stone as far away from him as possible? Why carry something that powerful with him in the first place? He must have been hoping to rid himself of it. And if he was, who better to hide it with than a slip of a girl who had no idea of its power?”

“I take exception to that theory, sir. I am not a ‘slip of a girl.’ At twenty-two years old, I was woman enough. I have a brain, and I can use it.”

“Then how do you explain why Monsieur Flamel didn’t tell you what the stone was? Why did he not warn you about it? If you were chosen as the Guardian, why did he not set the task to you? Wouldn’t it be easier to leave it with a girl he thought couldn’t think for herself?”

“I cannot say, but it isn’t relevant. The rest was seen by Fox.”