All Hallow's Eve by Wendi Sotis

night , you were both contacted by someone who has passed on and they told you to come here? ” William asked.
    Richard replied, “ Yes, cousin , your parents , in fact! Did the same happen to you? ”
    William nodded. “ In a way. It seems that my parents were very busy last night. What else did they tell you? ”
    Between the two newly arrived gentlemen, they described something similar to what Bingley had spoken of . William knew he had to be careful about what he revealed since t he Otherworlders did not tell them the entire story that he now knew .
    “ Who is this lady—Miss Elizabeth Bennet? Do either of you know her? ” Richard asked.
    “ Yes, we have met the entire Bennet family. Miss Elizabeth is the second of five daughters. A very pleasant and pretty girl, ” Bingley offered.
    “ I apologize, Bingley, b ut sharing that she is pleasant and pretty does not clear up why she requires four men to guard her! ”
    “ We will work in a group of f ive, actually. I admit to knowing more than any of you, but I am not certain how much I am able to share. I will add that the guard is necessary. ”
    “ Who is the fifth? ” Bingley moved to pour four glasses of brandy .
    “ Mr. Bennet, ” William announced.
    “ Mr. Bennet ! ” Bingley almost dropped the bottle from his hands. “ But, he is an old man! How can he —”
    “Bingley,” William interrupted , “ Mr. Bennet is not as old as you would make him out to be ! H e is also an expert in a special kind of sword fighting that m y father had once begun to teach to the three of us. ” Gesturing toward his cousins, William continued, “ From what I heard from my f ather’s lips, Mr. Bennet is a much better swordsman than F ather ever was —and that is saying quite a lot! It is actually a great honour to be trained by him and be accepted to fight alongside him . Our training will begin tomorrow at dawn. Mr. Bennet will work with us all day, every day . I f we are lucky , we shall learn all that h e can possibly teach us . ”
    “ Why on earth do we need to train so hard, Will? What is the rush? ” Lord Reginald inquired.
    “ In two weeks, George Wickham will come into town with the militia. ”
    “ Wickham! ” Richard growled . “ Leave me alone with that slime for one minute , and he will cease be ing a threat to Miss Bennet — or anyone else for that matter! ”
    “ No, Richard, we shall leave Wickham to himself but watch him closely . From what I was told , he is working for someone, and we must find out who it is. Even those who have passed on do not know his identity . He has hidden himself from them somehow. ”
    “ Why is Miss Elizabeth not being taken far away from here and hidden until we can find th e leader ? ” Lord Reginald queried.
    “ There is too much at stake. I t is necessary that she be h ere for them to make their move, or else they will try again at a later date, when we are not prepared. ”
    “ I see, so w e must make them think that Miss Elizabeth is being left unprotected to lure them in? ” Bingley was obviously incensed by the idea .
    “ As long as I live and breathe, Elizabeth will never truly be left unprotected , gentlemen, not for one moment! T hey will not touch her! ” William boomed angrily.
    Richard chuckled at his cousin’s violent reaction. “ And just who is Miss Bennet to you, William ? ”
    “ This blasted secrecy — I do not know how much I can tell you! ” The knuckles on William ’s c losed fists began to turn white . “ I will reveal that no matter what the situation seems like at present , Miss Elizabeth Bennet will someday be my wife. ”
    Bingley began to choke on his brandy . “ Miss Elizabeth— y our wife ? ” Catching the look of despair up on his friend’s face, he put some effort into restraining his reaction and continued more gently, “ Darcy , I wish that I did not have to be the one to inform you of this , but you should know that Miss Elizabeth does not think very highly of