DISCLAIMER: I do not pretend to own any of the works by Jenny Austen or any other author and their characters. I am but a lowly servant.
AN: Just a note, the Game of Bang is used in this chapter. If you do not know this game then I pity you and please ask your drama teacher who probably knows a version. If they don't then PM me and I shall explain.
Will walked up to them confused, "you seem to be in the wrong country Miss. Bennet," he told her smiling a smile that she had never seen before, like they were on his turf now.
"I'm here with a school group, we're studying the second world war and other moments in mainly British history."
"Wouldn't France or Germany be better for that?"
"We're going there," Andrew told him, "in two weeks."
"Well, that's brilliant." Will smiled. "I'm going there myself with Gina, birthday thing."
Gina glowed, "just a little tradition we have, first the British museum and then France, then Germany and then Italy."
"Why there?" Lucy asked, "if you don't mind my asking."
Gina grinned again, "it's fine, it's no big secret or anything. That's exactly where our parents went when they were dating and they'd take us there every year for our birthdays, because they're in a week of each other."
Eleanor smiled, "that's wonderful."
"Look, Eleanor," Will seemed hesitant to use her first name, but she smiled and nodded. She didn't know why she seemed so changed towards him, he hadn't done anything to deserve it…but he was so different here, like he felt right here, confident here, not pompous confident, but nice confident. "If you have nothing on tomorrow night, how about you and your students come to dinner? Our housekeeper would willingly give you a Very dull version of the Second World War, but we have some diaries and documents from both of them in the library that your students can look at, and of course, you need to taste our cook's food. There's nothing like it in the world." Gina nodded enthusiastically and Eleanor found herself immediately liking the girl more and more.
Lucy and Andrew looked at her pleadingly and nodded violently and Eleanor had the feeling that it was more the food that the history that they would have liked, but she was more inclined that way anyway. "That'd be lovely," she told Will who smiled kindly.
"We'll send a car around for you, we're a bit of a drive away and I think our driver would be more than willing to collect you."
"I have to warn you," Eleanor began, "there are ten students."
"It's better than I thought," Will said. "I thought there would be about thirty or so."
Eleanor stared at him; this guy was willing to have thirty kids over for dinner? He's mad.
Gina and Eleanor exchanged mobile numbers and addresses but Will didn't move away. "Come on, we'll have a coffee downstairs while these guys finish their hunt." He said. Gina looked at him, as if asking if she could stay with Lucy and Andrew who were giving the same look to Eleanor; both parties shrugged and walked off.
The last they saw of them was the three of them hurrying off to find out how many pigs were bought by the Duke of Albany in 1657.
Eleanor and Will walked down the curved stairs to the café next to the gift shop. "It's wonderful," Eleanor said indicating to the huge building they were in the middle of.
"I know," Will said ordering two coffees. "I come here every year with Gina, she always manages to stay here for hours."
"A true historian," Eleanor smiled. "You're all she has?"
Will nodded, "that's why this tradition is so important to her, she wont let you see it, but it means the world to her."
"Your parents brought you here?"
Will looked around, "Yes. When we were kids, and then Mum died when Gina was three, I was ten and Dad stopped coming, so our Nanny…Nanny Eldyes a scary old lady if ever there was one, would take us here."
Eleanor laughed, "You had a nanny?" she couldn't imagine Will as a young child, let alone with a Nanny.
Will nodded "she scared the wits out of me," Eleanor laughed and Will smiled, he liked making her laugh. "I mean it, she was this Huge old lady with Enormous earrings."
Eleanor smiled, "Well, I grew up with my parents and my sister and…well….we had babysitters, but not Nannies."
Will shrugged, "I just had an odd upbringing."
Eleanor laughed and shook her head. "I suppose so."
Two students ran up to them brandishing their papers at Eleanor. "We're finished!" they announced as Eleanor smiled.
"Right, well, go have a look around and find the others, tell them that they have another half hour and then we should find some dinner and this place is going to close then anyway."
"Why do they need more time? We won!"
Will fielded that question, "because, you might have got some wrong, you never know, Einstein got questions wrong before."
"Whose this guy?"
Eleanor laughed, "he's a friend of mine, now scram."
They ran off whooping and ogling at Will who simply smiled.
"Right, now, to mark this."
"What do they win?"
"They choose where to go for dinner tonight."
Will laughed and Eleanor asked if he and Gina would like to join them. Will seemed to be taken by surprise by this, but he consented and they both set about marking the treasure hunt.
Turns out, so many questions were wrong that they considered making the pair do it again, but decided against it. "Just set them an essay or something," Will said, "I always used to hate essays."
"Really? I love them" Eleanor said laughing at the look her gave her.
"Grrr," he said as the other students and Gina came together while most of the students stared open mouthed at Will, Eleanor organized another way of deciding who would pick the restaurant. They all went outside as the museum was closing, and played a large game of Bang.
Gina decided that she loved this game and Eleanor and asked her brother if they could simply join their party and follow them around for the two weeks they were here, "you know, show them the sights, the things they wouldn't ordinarily see?"
Will asked Eleanor who readily agreed and that was how it was for the two weeks they were there. After a thoroughly enjoyable meal at the Darcy Mansion and after studying the fifteen or so documents Will had talked about earlier Will and Gina joined the 'tour' group and managed to get them into the Royal Theatre to see a production of Romeo & Juliet and somehow got them into The most expensive shops where the girls drooled until Gina decided to buy each of them something.
"Are you sure you can afford this?" Eleanor asked Will worried.
He shrugged, "yes it's fine. Don't worry about it."
Eleanor still wasn't convinced but didn't argue. They visited all the sites of 'educational' significance and somehow managed to come up with a way of incorporating a visit to Madame Tassauds (to see the political figures) and the London Eye (finding the best place to bomb – in the1940s).
When it was time to go to Paris they shopped at the Champs Elysée and climbed the Eiffel Tower, went to the Louvre and simply saw all the sites, including a small bookshop near Notre Dame that only sold books in English run by an Irishman Will seemed to know.
They arrived in Turkey on Friday and by Saturday had seen the sites they 'needed' to and were now strolling through some markets picking up more presents for family and loved ones. Andrew found a hair clip for Lucy that made her blush furiously.
And then, just as they were setting down in a park to have lunch Eleanor's mobile phone rang.
She smiled and asked Will, who seemed to have become civil and even…attractive lately, to look after the students while she took this call.
"Eleanor Bennet."
"El, It's Kit."
"Kit? What's up, you sound stretched?"
"Leah's gone missing, as in the police are here and everything."
"What? That's insane."
"You're telling me, and Johnny's left as well."
Eleanor was silent and looked at Will who stood up and walked over to her looking worried. "What is it?" he whispered.
"I'll be home soon," Eleanor told Kit. "We'll figure it out, I promise."
As she hung up Will moved closer and asked her again what was wrong?
"It's Leah, one of the teachers at the school. She's such an Idiot! I swear, she's so thick…"
"Eleanor, what happened?"
"Johnny Wickham's gone missing taking Leah Bernit with him." Will stared at her.
"You serious?"
Eleanor nodded looking up at him, "what am I going to do? She'll loose her job…everything not to mention that she could be …dieing or … or sick or anything else."
Will nodded and told her that they'd figure something out tomorrow but now they had to set up the kids, they were leaving on Monday as it was.
Eleanor nodded, "not a word, please?"
Will nodded.
They went out to dinner and Eleanor was unusually quiet while the students were too hyped up to notice. Gina kept looking at her friend but couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Then that night, as they all went back to the hotel Will pulled her aside and told her that they had to go home, she needed to go back to school.
Her schooling had never been a problem before, she's was smart enough to catch up, but she didn't argue. She knew that her brother had something on his mind and he needed to do something about it.
Very early the next morning she knocked lightly on Eleanor's door and said her goodbyes to a stunned Eleanor. Will said farewell rather stiffly telling her that work had popped up and that he'd call her soon.
Eleanor nodded and waved until the car was out of sight before turning back to see Lucy and Andrew standing there waving just as much as she was. "You love him," Lucy told her teacher.
"Your insane," Eleanor told her, but not with the same vigor she had earlier.
"I know," Lucy said and they all went back inside and got ready to leave later that night on their long trip home.
Eleanor slept the entire journey, as did the majority of the students but some watched movies while others simply remembered every minute of their trip.
The minute, literally, they stepped off the plane and Eleanor turned on her mobile phone, it rang.
"Eleanor Bennet."
"Eleanor, It's Will."
"Hey, How are you? Where are you?"
"I'm good, I just wanted to tell you that Leah's fine and on her way home. She might need some counseling and maybe a doctor to check out something, and I'll pay for that, I've already given her the instructions to get it sent to my account. So, I just thought you might want to know."
Eleanor was silent, "how can I-"
"I'm incredibly sorry, but I have to go, I have to make another call and my flights being called. I'll see you soon."
Eleanor didn't have a chance to say anything as the line went dead and Kit went to hug her. "You survived!"
"Yeah," she admitted. "Leah's on her way home."
Kit held her at arms length, "what?"
"She just called," Eleanor lied. "She's coming home."
"Wow, we have a guardian angel."
"You betcha." Eleanor said and greeted the influx of parents wanting to thank her for the apparent brilliant time their kids had.
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