Cogling (14 page)

Did children like Harrison make pox cream for the hags to sell? The evil burned for a second before it held back.

“Sit.” The man waved at the table. Edna waited until Ike sat before following suit. Herbs hung from the rafters, with pots and pans on the log walls.

“It must be amazing to live in your own house instead of an apartment,” she whispered.

The man bunched up a pamphlet and dumped it onto the hearth, along with small sticks. The woman lit the paper and the flame spread across the kindling. Sparks showered, crackling.

“This is my cousin, Charles.” Ike pointed at the man.

His black hair, streaked with white, hung to his shoulders. Like the woman, he wore a plaid robe wrapped over a white sleeping shift.

“How do you do?” Edna clasped her hands in her lap, rubbing her fingers to warm them.

“I’m his wife, Polly.” The woman removed a cloth bundle from a cupboard and set it on the table. She unwrapped a loaf of brown bread and broke off two hunks. One she handed to Edna, the other to Ike.

“Thank you.” Edna’s hands trembled as she bit the crust.
Luscious food.
Her stomach rumbled as she gulped. “I haven’t eaten anything since some oatmeal with…”
Harrison’s cogling.

The breadcrumbs became pebbles in her mouth. Had Harrison gotten sustenance? She shouldn’t eat if he couldn’t. Harrison was only eight—he deserved the food more.

“What’re you doing dressed like that?” Charles poured water from a pitcher into two tin cups.

“We just left a gin house,” Ike said.

Edna stiffened. So, they would go with the truth.

Charles whistled. “I bet that has a tale.”

“Edna, here”—Ike nodded toward her—“had her brother stolen by the hags. They left a watch and a machine. She wants her flesh brother back, not a cogling.”

Edna choked on her bread. Hadn’t
that
been a secret? They were going to tell
everything
?

“Do you have the watch?” Charles glared at Edna across the table.

“I…” She stared at Ike, her eyes wide. “That watch is my only link to Harrison.” Charles and Polly might be thieves like Ike.

“Show him.” Ike bit into his bread, crumbs raining over his lap.

How had Ike known she’d hidden it under her new clothes after Augusta made her bathe? “I don’t—”

Ike shook his head. “He’s trying to help us.” His tone softened. “Show him, Edna.”

She paused, nibbling her lower lip. It could be a trap, but Ike could’ve stolen the watch at any time. He could’ve beaten her in the forest and taken off.

I guess I didn’t come this far to hesitate and resist.
She lifted the watch from her sash and set it on the tabletop before sliding it toward Charles. She kept the chain wrapped around her pointer finger while Charles turned it over to stare at the engraving. Her heartbeat sped as she expected him to yank it away, but he pushed it back and she tucked the watch safely back into her bodice—a pleasant weight against her skin.

“You must be freezing.” Polly headed through a doorway into another room. “Let me get you other clothes.”

Ike took another bite and shrugged.

Edna glanced between Charles and Ike. “You’re not going to say anything?” They’d made it sound too important to disregard.

“A cogling watch.” Charles poured himself a cup of water. “You both look exhausted. We can discuss this tomorrow.”

“My brother’s stuck out there somewhere with
hags
.” She clenched her hand into a fist around the bread hunk. Crumbs stuck in her lace gloves.

“In the bog,” Charles said.

“I’m going to get him.” The watch pressed against her chest, a reminder of his disappearance. “I can’t abandon him.”

Polly reentered, carrying an armful of material. “Your brother needs you strong. Go in the morning when you’re rested and warm. Here’s clothing. You can’t wear those outfits in the bog.” She set her bundle on the table. Age spots decorated her hands. Edna’s mother had a few of those freckles, but she kept them covered with white paint provided by the Music Hall.

“I’ll still have to find a way to the bog.” Tears stung Edna’s eyes. Why did Polly have to be right? Why couldn’t fate allow Edna to appear at her brother’s side to whisk him home?

“I drive a blimp.” Charles stared at Ike while he spoke. “Nobles pay me to fly them to places. Many prefer air travel to the trains or public airships.”

Edna swung her gaze to Ike. “You knew he had a blimp, didn’t you?”

“Why else would we come here?” Ike spoke around his bread.

“Relax, dear.” Polly sorted through the clothing. Red hair hung over her face. “Let’s see what fits you, and I’ll put you to bed in my daughter’s room. She’s away at boarding school, bless her. My son is as well, so you can have his room, Ike.”

Edna pressed her hand over the lump in her sash, feeling the engraving on the watch. Even though the police wouldn’t help, these commoners would. Ike had brought her somewhere secure. She smiled so wide her dry lips cracked.

I’m coming, Harrison.

Polly slid the boarsbristle brush through Edna’s hair a final time before setting the silver handle on the dresser. “Your hair’s beautiful, dear.”

Edna tried to smile at her reflection in the mirror nailed to the back of the bedroom door, but her lips stiffened into a frown. Her hair, less kinky but still curly, puffed around her face. “My brother tells me that too. He says I’m the prettiest girl in the world.”

“Everyone needs to be the prettiest to someone else. Hold still while I braid your hair.” Polly ran her scarred fingers through the curls to separate them into three thick strands. “Tell me about him.”

The evil exploded from her heart so fast she gasped; it raced through her veins as though anything touching her skin would combust. Edna squeezed her eyes shut and breathed through her nose to calm her nerves while her fingers sought the bracelet.

Polly tugged the finished braid to straighten it. Edna lifted her eyelids. In the mirror, Polly’s reflection tied a silk ribbon around the end of the braid.

Polly rested her hands on Edna’s shoulders and moved her head, bending her knees, to be at Edna’s height. “Don’t try to hide from yourself, dear. Sometimes your body has unsual ways of telling secrets.”

Edna tensed. The farmwoman couldn’t know about the evil. She guessed at the suppressed emotion, that was all.

“Listen to yourself. Not everything you tuck away should stay there.” Polly squeezed her shoulders before opening the door. “Sleep well, dear.”

The evil had to stay buried. It could never reign.

Edna rolled over in the bed and wiggled her fingers. She’d slept with her hand over her head and her fingers had numbed, feeling as though pins jammed into her skin.

Sitting up, she stretched, glancing around the dark bedroom. A single mirror adorned the walls. Other than the bed, the only furniture involved a steamer trunk, dresser, and braided rug. Harrison deserved a room like this, all for himself, rather than the closet they shared at home.

Her lips stung when she moved them. Edna slid out of bed and wandered to the door. She could get a drink of water from the kitchen without disturbing anyone. Voices drifted up the dark hallway, freezing her in place.

“Edna’s a sweet girl,” Polly said. “You can’t drag her into your vendetta, Ike.”

Wasn’t it more Edna’s fight than his?

“They have her brother,” Ike snarled. “She’s already caught up with the hags.”

“We all know this isn’t about her brother,” Charles said. “You don’t help people just to feel good. You can’t fool family, and we know you’ll never change.”

Edna tiptoed down the hallway in her borrowed wool socks. At the top of the stairs, she crouched, holding her breath. Her gloves slid across the polished railing. The evil twirled around in her heart but stayed put. They had to say something to make her still trust Ike. He couldn’t be against her. She
needed
him.

“Leave Edna here,” Polly said. “We’ll send her back to the city. Her brother’s gone.”

Edna stiffened. She couldn’t abandon Harrison. Downstairs, the fire crackled in the hearth.

“If you don’t help, we’ll go alone.” Ike’s voice hardened.

They were supposed to help.
Edna shook her head. That was why Ike had decided to see Charles.

Charles sighed. “It’s on both your heads if you get killed. You can’t stand up against hags, and you can’t take back any kids who’re stolen.”

“I can if they’re still human.” Ike kept his voice low.

Ice and evil ran through Edna’s veins as her heartbeat increased. She leaned her forehead against her arm, gripping the railing tighter.

“Hilda said it’s possible—”

“
Hilda
. You asked my sister?” Charles demanded.

Hilda, the hag from the city, is related to Ike?
Who better to fight against a Fae than one of their own kind?

“Of course I asked Hilda. She’s the one who told me to wait for a sign before I go back to the bog.” Ike’s voice rose.

Back to the bog.
Edna’s mind whirled and the evil crept out a little further.

“I got my sign,” Ike said. “Edna and her watch fell right into my lap.”

“So you agreed to help her.” Polly’s heels clicked across the floor. “You’re despicable, Ike. Horrendous! You escaped for a reason.” Polly’s voice rose as if she were about to sob.

“By the fates of the moon, Edna and her watch fell right into my path,” Ike said. “I’ll get her brother back. I promised her I would.”

“I’m going to sleep.” Charles stomped across the room and threw the bolt on the front door.

Edna hurried on tiptoe back to her room. She left her door open a crack, so it wouldn’t make a sound, and burrowed under the covers, tugging the quilts to her chin. Lying there, she twisted her prayer beads around her wrist. She couldn’t do this alone.

With her back to the door, she wasn’t sure who opened it until Ike spoke. Candlelight flickered around her room, and she tried to breathe evenly, as though asleep.

“Good night, Edna.” Ike shut the door, extinguishing the light.

He’d lied to her. Her heart pounded against her chest as it it were a drum, and the evil beat upon it. How had he escaped the bog?

Why was he going back?