CHAPTER 3
“What’s that you’ve got there?” Violet’s father demanded.
Violet looked up from her seat in the parlor. Sunlight beamed through the window through her new trident-shaped prism onto one of the pages of her book. The rainbows highlighted a patch of scribbly hieratic. It looked pretty, but it did nothing to reveal the meaning.
Then, Hiram Warren’s shadow fell across the page, erasing the colored bands of light.
“Nothing in particular,” Violet replied. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
Violet perceived the note in her father’s voice. She scrutinized his face, looking for more information. “What’s bothering you?”
“Just a rumor I heard.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve taken to listening to rumors?”
“Only when they come from certain people.”
“Who?”
“Oh, Jim. You know, my protégé
