THE DEATH OF THREE BIRDS

Kailey Thornbury dashed into the front parlor of her London home to receive the good news of Jasmine's engagement to William Frakes.

     As she sauntered through the archway leading into the parlor, her elder sister dashed out, kerchief in hand, filling its delicate fabric with the iciness of her hot tears. Kailey could do nothing but stare in bewilderment at William.

     "Mr. Frakes, whatever is the matter with Jasmine?"

     "I know not," he replied, moving away.

     Kailey flung a hand out to stop his momentum. They stared at each other for a tension-filled second as Kailey read the matter in his face. "My sister and I presumed, Mr. Frakes, the outcome of your visit would result in happier circumstances."

     "I do not know what led her, nor you, to such a nonsensical presumption. I simply confided my intentions to her."

     "Intentions we supposed destined for her." Kailey seethed as William looked away. "My sister gave up her affections freely. What did you think was her demeanor these three months past?"

     Mr. Frakes glared down at Kailey. "One of simple friendship. The confidence of one to a confidence of another and no more."

     "No, sir," Kailey snapped, her anger forcing her into the etiquette violation of pulling back on William's arm as he tried to amble off. He spun toward her and they faced off like two cockerels in a ring. "This is 1812, sir. One does not reach into a lady's sacred place and tear out her heart. The days of scoundrels and rakes are long past. My sister loves you, and you gave ample reason for us to expect the same of you."

     William shook his head and took a step back. "So, that is the core of the matter. I have not the foggiest notion as to what gave either of you that impression. We were but friends. I ask you, did I utter any words of love, or make any articulation stained with the slightest hint of matrimony?"

     "Not with words, sir, but in every other intercourse of manner, gesture, and decorum." Kailey could imagine her sister in her room upstairs spilling her heart out in disappointment to the gods and goddesses of love.

     "Then she misread them with foolish naïve observation." William marched toward the archway leading into the hall of the Thornbury residence, but Kailey grabbed his arm and stopped him again. He glared down at her. "What do you know of matters of the heart? You are but eighteen. Four whole years your sister's junior."

     "I know it is tomfoolery to call the heart of a woman foolish."

     "I called her observation foolish, not her heart."

     "Pray, Mr. Frakes, would that you could know a woman's experiences, and would that you could wear our hearts but for a day, then you would see the intensity of the wound you have inflicted. What, then, was the purpose of your visit if not to woo my sister's affections?"

     "To give her the wonderful news of my intention to seek the affections of the fine lady Miss Gayle Daniels of St. Anne's Street. I thought to receive your sister's congratulations, but now I find you both have been held captive by your own delusional arts. I am mortified, to be sure."

     "To be sure, sir, you will be more than mortified before I have done with you. I will be your tutor in the art of a suitor's quest, so you may avoid inflicting misery on another gentle heart as the arrow of a callous archer inflicts his on innocent prey."

     "Pray, if you think the arrow sticks, then so be it. I must away." William Frakes took his leave out into the streets of London and thought the matter ended. However, it was incorrect of him to arrive at such an assumption: for scheming minds scheme best in the decorum of revenge.

     Kailey pattered up the steps to check on Jasmine, and as she predicted, found her sister sprawled across her canopied bed depositing the tears of heartbreak into her pillow. She knew her sister well enough not to disturb her. Kailey sauntered down the hall to her own room leaving Jasmine to heal, but also to reflect on what she could perpetrate against William Frakes's meanness of heart.



Two weeks passed and Kailey arrived home after doing her charity work for the poor. As happy as a clam at high tide, she leapt up the stairs to the bedchambers two at a time in unladylike fashion. When she burst into Jasmine's room, her fondest wish had been realized. Her elder sister sat reading in the window box seat, her feet propped against its opposite wall.

     "Jasmine," Kailey said, her joy bubbling greater than her enthusiasm. "You will never guess …"

     Jasmine laid the book down on her sister's rapid approach, sat up straight, and grinned. "What is it, Kailey?"

     Sauntering to the window box, Kailey forced her sister to surrender room for her to sit. "You will never guess what I have managed to accomplish."

     Kailey giggled as Jasmine eased a hand on her sister's arm. "What? Tell me. What?"

     Kailey leaned against the wall of the window box seat. "I have affected your revenge on William Frakes."