Read Online Secret of Light by K. C. Dyer - Free Book Online

behind her.
    Darrell turned, the nausea making her head spin. “Well, it might be the light, but he looks pretty brown to me. Are you okay?”
    Brodie had rolled onto his hands and knees, a shadow in the dark room. “Yeah. Lucky I had some candy in my pocket.” He crawled over and placed a small mint in Darrell’s hand.
    The sweet mint filled Darrell’s mouth and pushed the nausea back almost immediately. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “It’s happened again.”
    Brodie nodded. “Different clothes this time.” As Darrell’s eyes adjusted, she could see Brodie’s long legs were encased in some kind of red hose, and he wore an elaborate tunic, belted at the waist.
    â€œTights?” Amusement tempered Darrell’s shock.
    Kate groaned and Brodie stepped to her side in one stride. “Have one of these,” he whispered, and helped her roll up. Darrell slid along the floor to get closer to Kate, clothing forgotten for the moment.
    Kate held one hand to her forehead as if to keep her brain lodged safely inside. “My head...” she began, and then, through the dim light, Darrell saw her eyes snap open wide. “Oh
no
,” she whispered, as she looked around, moving her head tentatively. “Are we back in Mallaig?”

    Darrell stepped towards the thin lines of light, which indeed delineated a door. “I’m not sure
where
we are, Katie,” she whispered. “But we’re not in the lighthouse anymore.”
    As Darrell reached the door, it swung open, and she squeezed her eyes against the brilliance and staggered back. A figure stood in the doorway, a corona of sunlight bathing his silhouette in molten gold. It was impossible to more than glance at the dazzling figure, but the image was burned into Darrell’s retina the instant she closed her aching eyes.
    Brodie stepped between the door and the spot where Darrell stood leaning against a wooden beam. Darrell cracked her eyes open and could see Brodie’s face, grim with determination. His skin was pale in the reflected light.
    â€œBrodie,” she rasped, her throat still sore, “be careful.” Her eyes began gradually to adjust to the light, and she noticed the figure at the door hadn’t moved. The person gazed long and hard into the stable.
    Brodie cleared his throat. “We mean no harm,” he said quietly. “We are just travellers seeking shelter.”
    Darrell heard Kate gasp at Brodie’s words and silently implored her friend to keep quiet with a tiny shake of the head. Kate clapped her hand over her own mouth as if to stop herself from speaking and looked at Darrell with huge eyes.
    The figure at the door moved for the first time, stepping inside and pushing the large door almost closed. The brilliant light lessened, though it continued to pour through the crack like melted butter.

    â€œ
Buon
giorno,
” said the young man. He looked pointedly around the stable in which they all stood. “I know who you are. But where are your mounts? And your carriage?”
    Brodie’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.
    Darrell spoke out, though she could feel herself blushing. “We’ve —ah — sent them away.
    The young man’s face cleared. “I see. You have stabled them nearby, then?”
    Darrell nodded, and the young man stepped away from the door and grasped Brodie by the shoulders. “I can see you do not recognize me — your own cousin — Giovanni Luca Clemente! It has been many years, and all I can see of you,” he turned Brodie so the light shone onto his face and examined him critically, “must come from your mother’s family. You have nothing of your father, my uncle, in you, it is plain. Nevertheless, allow me to welcome you,
Cugino
Bruno, to the home of Andrea Verrocchio! You will spend a fruitful season, studying under the master.”
    Darrell’s heart pounded and