Chapter Six: Big Trouble
"Harry, have you ever been to Greenland?" Charity Hill's freckled face was full of innocent curiosity as she looked up at her handsome boss. The two of them were wrapping up for the day.
"No, ducky, I haven't. Are you hinting you'd like me to take you?" Tall, dark, handsome Harry smiled down at the perky little Beta who'd been panting over him for weeks. Lately he missed having Charity in the little clothes closet of his research office.
"No, no, it's not that! It's just I played golf with Bishop Babcock the other day, and we got to talking about Greenland and how there's a labor shortage up there!"
"Well, I wouldn't volunteer for a transfer," Harry told her, giving her lightly freckled cheek a playful pat. "You'd end up frozen stiff with icicles hanging from your freckled nose!"
"That's not very funny, Harry. At least the Bishop takes me seriously. We talked for quite a while after our golf game."
"Well, I take you seriously too," Harry protested. "I just think of you as a girl who'd fit in better on a beach somewhere, having your back rubbed with cocoa butter. Someplace like Jamaica or Mexico. Feel like catching a rocket this weekend?"
Charity shook her head. "I really can't, Harry. The Bishop's having me over at his place on Friday night!"
Harry frowned as his perky little assistant scampered away. Funny how he'd never appreciated what fun it was to have Charity, until she stopped wanting to have him.
Charity was feeling quite proud of herself for resisting Harry's charm, but when she met up with Dr. Beddington the older woman was more interested in the way Harry had changed the subject.
"I know for a fact your boss has been to Greenland several times," Dr. Beddington said, guiding her helicopter over London on Friday evening while Charity relaxed in her seat, gazing down at the lights of the city. "I wonder why he wouldn't tell you anything!"
"Well, he did tell me it was freezing cold up there, and boring, with nothing to do and all that ice and snow." Charity made a face. "I just didn't like his answering my questions like I was a child . . . and then acting like I was dying to have him again right away!"
"And are you dying to have him again?" Dr. Beddington asked. The tall, blonde older woman gave Charity a probing look.
"Not right away." Charity squirmed in her snug cushioned seat, pretending to look out the window so that the smart and sophisticated Alpha Plus doctor wouldn't see her blushing. For a long time now Charity had been wondering if Harry and Dr. Beddington both looked down on her because she was only a Beta secretary. What would life be like if she were an Alpha? Charity closed her eyes, imagining herself in some very important job, putting her feet up in a huge office with a fabulous view. She'd have a handsome male secretary, of course. Charity could see herself giving orders, making him do whatever she liked!
"Here we are, dearest." Dr. Beddington was shaking her gently.
"Huh?" Charity sat up at once, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Where are we?"
"This is the Bishop's country manor, about twenty miles from London. Do try to wake up a bit, Charity. We've arrived."
Since she was still rubbing her eyes as they climbed from the helicopter, Charity didn't take much notice of the splendor of her surroundings. It was too dark to see well anyway, but Dr. Beddington explained that the large, country house had once been a castle with turrets and towers and a real moat!
"In those days, instead of having whoever they liked and forgetting them afterwards, a knight and a lady pledged to love only each other till the end of their days. Isn't that sickening?" Dr. Beddington asked, as she lifted the heavy iron door knocker.
"It's sickening!" Charity echoed the words automatically, but she couldn't help thinking about Harry and feeling sad for a moment. Just then the heavy oak door swung open wide, and she saw the fire crackling in the hearth and got a good whiff of what was cooking for dinner. Charity suddenly realized she was hungry, and her sadness vanished like a puff of smoke.
"Look who's here!" Plump Bishop Babcock filled the doorway. He smiled politely and kissed Dr. Beddington lightly on both cheeks. Then he turned to Charity and opened his arms wide. "Dear child, how lovely to see you again! Ready for a dull dinner with an old duffer?"
"You're not an old duffer!" Charity went up on tiptoes to kiss the big old bishop on both cheeks with a noisy smack. It was almost as though the firelight and the suits of armor had got her feeling like a lively damsel of old. She would have kissed Humphrey on the lips, only there was a smell that made her wrinkle her nose.
"Cigars," Dr. Beddington explained, laughing at the look on Charity's face. "Very old-fashioned, and very bad for you as well."
"Well, of course," Bishop Babcock said, taking Charity's arm and escorting her towards the great hall like a queen. "But perhaps after dinner you and I can try some other old-fashioned things!"
Charity was amazed at how different food tasted cooked over an open fire, instead of being reheated by microwaves. And she also found that having real silver forks and knives to eat with was more exciting than the little throwaway bits of plastic used in London. Of course her sleep-conditioned brain said it was good to waste. To use things and throw them away.
But when Humphrey carved her meat in great hunks and then carefully cut it smaller, it gave her a sort of cherished feeling. And now and then he lifted a piece and she ate it right from his fork. The feeling of being cherished and sort of sheltered from all harm got even stronger. Charity kept laughing at the bishop's funny stories and toasting each thing he said with her wine goblet. Before long the wine had her feeling even more like leaning close to Humphrey each time he told a story or a joke and then laughing her head off while he poured her another goblet of wine.
All during this time, of course, Dr. Edith Beddington was having dinner in the hall as well. But the tall, blonde Alpha Plus doctor wasn't paying much attention to Bishop Babcock's funny stories or to Charity's squeals of laughter. She was only eating salad, not meat, and she had wine instead of water. All through the meal she kept glancing at her high-powered personal message device and frowning, as though the text messages from London were putting her into a very grim and unhappy mood. Finally, she put down her little silver salad fork and stood up.
"I'm sorry, Bishop Babcock, in Ford's name I hate to eat and run. But it seems there's been some sort of compromising leak at my data research site. I'm going to have to return to London at once."
"Return to London?" Charity felt very confused and even a bit frightened. She'd just been drinking a toast to the age of chivalry and romance, and the full goblet was still in her hand. Her other hand was on the table, and Humphrey quickly covered it with his.
"Nothing to be afraid of, my dear." The bishop squeezed Charity's hand in a way that said she was under his personal protection. "Clever Dr. Beddington just has to answer a few questions, isn't that right Edith? She'll be back in no time, I'm sure."
"Yes, of course. But just to be safe, Charity, I think you should stay here in seclusion for a day or two. No-one will look for a criminal suspect at the bishop's personal residence."
"Is that what you are?" Charity's freckled face was very pale.
"That's up to the World Controller." Dr. Beddington gave a casual shrug, looking every inch the tall, blonde Alpha Plus. "Either way, there's no use dragging you into it. You're only a Beta Minus. You don't know anything. And the Bishop can say he was having you as a weekend guest."
"Only if Charity truly wants me to have her," the bishop said, in a voice full of old-fashioned gentleness and sadness. "I'm so old."
"You are not old!" Charity didn't want to stay in the country. She wanted to go back to London and stand by Dr. Beddington's side. But the doctor's cool smile and the sad look on Humphrey's face both made her feel that she didn't know what she wanted after all. Charity felt like a traitor as she kissed Dr. Beddington good-bye, her tears flowing even as the blonde Alpha pinched her cheek.
"There, there, precious pet. Things will be better in the morning. Be a good girl now, and let Humphrey take you up to bed."
"All right." Charity knew that Dr. Beddington was in big trouble. And she understood why Bishop Babcock was so keen on taking her up to bed. But when the old man wrapped his arms around her and held her tight she felt sheltered and protected, just like before. This time even the sour smell of cigars didn't stop her from kissing him almost gratefully, right on the lips.