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making ends meet.” He paused briefly before adding: “As pleasant as your company may be, I must admit to having an ulterior motive. It’s rather important, in fact.”
    Nicholas’s insides shrivelled into a ball – he had a nagging feeling that they were about to discuss the funeral.
    “Important?” he asked reluctantly.
    “Oh, yes.” Sam gave him a business-like nod. “You see, I received a letter this morning.” He pulled a battered white envelope from his shirt pocket and passed it to the boy. Nicholas turned it over in his hands, the sun catching brightly across the white paper and momentarily blinding him. Then the envelope came back into focus.
    “It’s... it’s my dad’s handwriting,” Nicholas uttered in shock. He looked at Sam expectantly. “Does this mean–”
    “I’m afraid the letter was posted before the incident,” Sam explained. “It involves you, however. Go ahead and read it.”
    With trembling hands, Nicholas pulled a folded sheet of paper from the envelope and began to read.
    Dearest Samuel,
    As you know, Anita and I are to travel east tomorrow. Though it pains us to leave him, Nicholas is to stay in Cambridge. We had no choice in the matter.
    I wish to ask you a favour. Though I hope that nothing hinders this trip, Anita and I worry. There is talk; we have spoken of this before. The rumours have unsettled us both and we fear that something terrible will come to pass.
    Samuel, if when you read this news has reached you that something has happened to us, I want you to take Nicholas into your care. We’ve discussed this before, I know. He mustn’t stay in Cambridge; it is too dangerous a place. Take him east – take him to whom we intend to reach.
    In you I trust my life, and the life of my son. I pray that all runs smoothly for us, and that I will see you again.
    May the Guardian bless you.
    Maxwell
    Nicholas swallowed the lump that had lodged in his throat.
    “Th–they knew?” he murmured. “They knew that something was going to happen to them?”
    “Clearly they suspected...” Sam began. He cleared his own throat. “What has happened has happened; we cannot change it.”
    “But, what is he talking about? Who were they going to see?” Nicholas’s head was spinning. “They told me they were visiting an old friend, but they didn’t say where or who. And this letter makes it sound like… like they didn’t have a choice.”
    Why hadn’t he paid more attention when his parents had left that evening? He knew why. He’d been looking forward to having the house to himself; there had even been talk of a party. He hadn’t even bothered to ask where his parents were going. It hadn’t interested him.
    Sam turned to contemplate the garden for a moment, his quick blue eyes troubled. “There are things in this world that are quite... secret, Nicholas,” he began softly. They watched a bird hop from the overgrown pond onto a small boulder in the undergrowth. “Things that most people are oblivious to. Forgive me, it was not my intention to confuse you. But, you see, what your father alludes to in that letter is both very important, and very dangerous. If it had fallen into the wrong hands… I’m surprised he even sent it. An act of desperation, perhaps...” The elderly man shuddered and Nicholas felt a slow, slithering unease creep through him.
    He gripped the letter tightly.
    “But what is he talking about? What’s a Guardian? Where were they going?”
    “The lady I believe they were visiting is somebody very special indeed,” Sam said, and Nicholas noticed the old man smile faintly. “Your parents knew a lady in the east, though you won’t remember meeting her – you were very young. She is your godmother. It is my belief that your godmother and the friend your father mentioned to you are in fact one and the same.”
    “So... I’m going to have to live with her?” Nicholas asked. He felt more out of control than ever. Everything was happening so quickly and he