"Come on, Ruth, you have to see the view!"
Scarlet bounded off, zigzagging behind the hotel, and Ruth took off after her.
Caitlin and Caleb struggled to keep up. By the time Scarlet had stopped running, she had led them all to a large wooden pier, jutting out over the river, with a set of stairs sloping down right into the water. A large sign read “Paris Garden Stairs.” The rickety staircase sloped right down to the water’s edge, and was filled with people sitting, standing, looking out at the water, and with more people arriving in boats.
Scarlet ran right up to the water’s edge and pointed at a passing boat with a huge sail rising into the sky. Ruth ran up beside her, looking out.
Caitlin stood behind her, worried that Scarlet not slip and fall into the water. She looked out at the river, and was amazed at the sight: it was like being in a painting. The sun broke through the clouds, striking the water, while tall, historic sailing ships slowly bobbed their way past.
Caleb slid his arm around her waist, looking out, too, and Caitlin breathed deeply. For the first time, she felt relaxed in this time and place.
The mission was important to her, but it felt so good having Caleb by her side. She realized that was all she really needed to feel content. That, and knowing that the people she loved and cared for were safe. She found herself thinking of Sam and Polly again. She hoped they’d made it safely out of the Notre Dame. She realized that seeing them here, safe and sound, would be all that she needed to feel complete.
At that moment, Caitlin heard a creaking on the boardwalk behind her, and her senses were on high alert. She spun around, and could not believe what she saw.
There, walking onto the stairs, looking out at the river, not even aware of her presence, were Sam and Polly.
Caitlin wondered if she were seeing things. She blinked several times, thinking she was imagining it.
She finally realized that she wasn't.
She stepped forward, barely able to catch her breath with shock and excitement.
"Sam? Polly?”
The two of them spun and looked at her.
It was really them.
*
Caitlin was overwhelmed with joy as she embraced her little brother. Tears flowed down her cheeks, as she held him tight.
She pulled back, and looked over Polly, her one time best friend, and for a moment, she hesitated. She remembered that last she had seen her, in Versailles, they had not been on the best terms. Polly had been so smitten by Sergei, and had refused to listen to Caitlin, they’d had a falling out.
But Polly stepped forward and embraced Caitlin with all she had, hugging her tightly, and Caitlin knew that whatever fight they’d had in the past was behind them. It felt so good to hug her best friend again. Caitlin was overwhelmed. Having both her brother and her best friend here, in this time and place, meant the world to her.
Caitlin stepped back, and remembered Caleb. She wondered if they had all formally met, and couldn't quite remember.
She cleared her throat. “Sam, this is Caleb.”
"I remember you," Sam said, as he shook Caleb's hand.
Caleb smiled, and shook his hand back warmly. "And I you," Caleb answered. “You have really grown up. Thank you for what you did for us back in the Notre Dame."
Sam smiled proudly, and Caitlin was thrilled to see them getting along.
"And Caleb, this is Polly.”
Caleb bowed his head slightly, taking her hand, and kissing it. "A pleasure,” he said.
Caitlin heard a clearing of a throat, and looked down to see Scarlet standing there, a smile on her face, anxiously waiting to be introduced.
Of course. Caitlin felt terrible she had forgotten, and knelt down beside her.
"And most important of all, allow me to introduce you to Scarlet," Caitlin said. "We are her family now," Caitlin added, liking the sound of those words even as she said it.
Scarlet stepped forward and reached out a hand, polite, adult-like.
"A pleasure to meet you," Scarlet said in her best adult voice.
Sam smiled and reached out and formally shook her hand back.
Polly, though, knelt down and picked Scarlet up in a big hug.
“Oh my god, aren't you a dear?" Polly said. "And so beautiful. Look at that hair, those eyes. I think you just might be the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen," Polly said.
Scarlet beamed back.
Ruth suddenly barked, and Polly’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She knelt down and gave her a hug, too. "Oh Lord! Look at you. My how you've grown!”
Ruth licked her face, as Polly petted her.
"Oh my God," Polly said, standing, facing Caitlin. "We've been searching for you everywhere. I can't believe we found you. We just left the most hideous bearbaiting ring. Oh my God, it was awful.
The worst place I've ever seen. And we were walking along the river, trying to figure out where on earth to go next. For a second there, I didn't know if we find you at all and—”
"Suffice it to say that we are so happy to see you," Sam said, cutting her off.
Polly looked at Sam, annoyed.
Caitlin looked back and forth between the two of them, and for a moment wondered if they were in a relationship. But she saw how irritated they looked by each other. The idea amused Caitlin.
"We were there, too,” Caitlin said, “at the bearbaiting ring. But just briefly. We never actually went inside.”
“That explains it," Sam said. "I thought I sensed you there. But I wasn't sure.”
“What were you doing in such an awful place?" Polly asked.
“Well,” Caitlin began, "we were just following clues. Or, so we thought. We found ourselves in Westminster Abbey. There were people there, our kind, and they helped us. They led us to a golden scepter, which led to this ring."
Caitlin held out her hand, displaying the ring she now wore. Sam reached out, fascinated, just as he had always been by all things relating to their father. He slowly read the inscription aloud.
Across the Bridge, Beyond the Bear,
With the Winds or the sun, we bypass London.
He furrowed his brow in silence, puzzled.
"We crossed the London Bridge,” Caitlin continued, “thinking maybe that's what the bridge was.
And then it mentioned the bear. And we heard about bearbaiting, so we came here, hoping. But there is nothing. I think we misread the clues. I thought we were heading in the right direction. But now, I’m not so sure.”