Cogling (37 page)

Ike skimmed the article as he took the stairs two at a time, silently enchanting the air to keep him from tripping.

Police Chief Johnson announced early this morning that Edna Mather and Harrison Mather were arrested late last night for the kidnapping of their mistress, Lady Rachel.

Ike rolled the newspaper into a tube and smacked it against the railing.

A boy walking by with a large soapy bowl paused to grin. “Ya git it? Them is nasty spiders, ain’t they?”

Ike pictured the officers in their blue uniforms, limbs stretching in all directions to only help the nobles. “Nasty, aye.”

He pushed Hilda’s door, which he had left open a crack, and didn’t care about the squealing hinges.

She stirred her cauldron. “What did you find?”

Ike slapped the newspaper onto the table beside her glass vials. “They arrested her. Same as we already knew. Nobody cares. The poor folks are put away and the rich are still safe.”

Hilda lifted a glass vial and ladled some of her purple potion into it. “Listen to yourself, boy. You used to be one of those rich folks. Did you ever think about the people below you? Did you think about the bad fellows?” She pushed a cork in the vial. “No, you went on with your merriness. You lived in a bloody castle and you had servants.”

“And I was the hag’s brat. You think they treated Mum and me well? No, there was always a comment about us.” He stabbed the paper with his index finger. “This ain’t about all that. This is for Edna and Harrison.”

Hilda wiped her hands on her embroidered apron. “I’m just making you think, is all. You’re painting the hags as the bad fellows too, but they all have other sides.”

Ike shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know all that. I lived with them for a good many years. Odd bodkins, I was there when they first decided to enslave the humans. What they’re doing is wrong. They can’t force children to work in factories.”

“Is that what this is all about? Your vendetta is for the sake of the children?”

He looked toward the wall where she kept a picture of pressed flowers. “Yes. No. All of it is what I’m fighting against. I know the hags and I know the humans. Humans do awful things too. They keep the tomtars as slaves, but that’s just because the hag advisors want them to. If the hags weren’t there, the kingdom wouldn’t have half so much power.”

“So what do you want in the end?” She walked around the table to cup his face.

Ike met her gaze. “I don’t want sides or teams. Hags don’t work for humans. Humans don’t work for hags. Tomtars don’t work for anyone.”

“That’ll never happen.” She sighed.

“Then I want the humans to stay free, at least, and I’ll work on the rest later.”

“The rest.” She laughed. “When you’re king, right?”

He pushed her away by the shoulders. “You said you’d come with me to prove my point.”

“I will. Now then, let’s save your lover.” She lifted the newspaper off her table and flicked it to straighten the edges.

“She’s not my lover.” He gritted his teeth, yet his chest tightened. An image of Edna’s lips, swollen after her dunk in the river, toyed with his mind.

Hilda wiggled her brows as her eyes scanned the passage. “Blimey, this takes up half the front page.”

“It says they were arrested. We already know that,” he growled. “It says they were taken to prison. Saints above us, we already know that too. It says her list of crimes, all of it a fat lie.”

“They won’t send her to the tuck-up fair immediately.”

“Gallows be gone. I know all that, and they’ll call in a parish-pig too, but what’s that got to do with Edna and her brother rotting away?” Ike kicked the chair over. Hilda winced as it struck the floor.

“The chaplain will come today or tomorrow, I reckon.” Hilda returned to the newspaper. “What about the Lady in this game?”

“Don’t suppose she said a word of good against Edna.”

“She’s at Demeter.” Hilda pointed to a line. “The hags will want her out of the way, and no better place than the city asylum.”

He frowned. “Nobles like to cover up such mistakes.”

“I suppose Mother Sambucus is using a bit of leverage there, offering the public more story to whet their gossiping minds. Didn’t you say you wanted Rachel to talk to the King too?”

“He won’t listen to her word much now. If she’s in Demeter, the kingdom will think her mad. I doubt she would’ve come with us anyway. All she wanted was to get to her aunt.”

“Who then, according to this, turned her in to the authorities. Lovely family the chit has.” Hilda set the paper down. “I know a little about the city prison. They put the worst of the bunch in the dungeon. I reckon that’s where Edna and Harrison will be.”

“How do you know about the prison?”

“Do you know what’s down there?” Hilda grinned.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Odd bodkins, just tell me.”

“Trolls,” she purred. “You know what troll hair is good for, don’t you?”

Ike met her glittering gaze. “Poison.”

“Mix in a troll hair, and the poison’s clear. Odorless. Sometimes I sneak into the dungeon for a few hairs. A bit tricky to do. Gotta get the troll to sleep first. I don’t do it often.”

“So we’ll get them out that way.” Sweat beaded on Ike’s forehead. “Hilda, you’re wonderful.”

“I’m more than that. First, Edna’s dear cousin” —she pointed at him— “is going to go in and try to get her to talk about the Staff Ring. She won’t be speaking, since it don’t exist. They probably haven’t told her or her brother much about their imagined crimes.”

“Her cousin. Me?” Ike laughed. “You’re right, Hilda. You’re a genius too.”

“If you go in, it’ll be a mite suspicious. Strapping young man like yourself. If Edna’s cousin’s a girl though… a girl with a protective chaperone.” Hilda returned to her cauldron.

“You, then.” Ike took her flowered hat from its peg and dropped it on her head. “Let’s go then.”

“I’m a pauper’s healer. My face is too well known amongst the poor class.” She took off the hat and tossed it onto the fallen chair. “We get Lady Rachel first, then we rescue your Edna, and it’s off to your cherished King.”

His shoulders dropped against his will. He forced himself to straighten, maintain his in-charge attitude. “How do we get Rachel?”

“We start by filling these vials. Never know when you need poison. Go out to the streets and find a homeless wench. Get her to come back here. Try to have her look like Rachel, if you can.”

“Then what?”

“Trust me.” She patted his cheek.

Ike willed himself not to pity the girl huddled near an alley fire. A tattered shawl hung around her shoulders and a broken straw hat perched atop her head. She resembled Rachel very little. This girl’s face was longer and thinner, with a broader chin, and she looked older, but life on the streets aged a person faster than living in a mansion. At least their hair color was similar.

“Excuse me.” Ike leaned against the mossy brick wall.

Dark circles hung beneath the girl’s bloodshot eyes when she looked up. “Wotcha want?”

“You lookin’ for a job?” Ike crossed his ankles.

“Depends on wot kind o’ a job.” She wiped her hand across her pug nose. A thick scar ran across her collarbone to disappear into her worsted dress.

“House cleaning?” He let the question hang. Since she studied his face, he licked his lips to appear seductive.

“I tried that an’ got cheated for an honest day’s work. I don’t do honest no more.” She stretched out her hands toward the small fire. He took a penny from his pocket, left over from the morning’s theft, and flipped it toward her. It landed in the dirt near her bare feet.

“What about not so honest?” he asked.

She stood and picked up the penny with her toes, then used her hand to drop it into a hidden pocket at her waist. “I’m willin’.” She sauntered near to him and ran her fingers over his vest. Her skin reeked of unwashed body, but life on the streets had taught him not to cringe.

Ike caught her wrist. “My place.”

“You got a place, eh?” She looked him up and down, slowly, the corners of her lips curling upwards. “Interestin’.”

Before finding the girl, he’d stolen more money and purchased some clothes from a cheap shop. The black pants and white shirt with the blue vest overtop weren’t the best quality, and the gray jacket was thin, but he knew he looked like he had money when she flicked his collar.

“How much?” She trailed after him from her alley.

“That depends on how much you’re willing to do.” He winked, and she giggled in her raspy voice. When they reached Hilda’s apartment, he opened the door and bowed his head. The girl swept in first and he followed, kicking the door shut with his heel.

“This place looks a bit feminine. You got a lass? I’ll do ya both for extra.” The girl turned to him, her mouth open as if to say more, but Hilda stepped into the kitchen from the sitting room. She pressed a cloth over the girl’s mouth and pinned her against her torso. The girl struggled for only a minute before her eyelashes fluttered. Hilda helped her to the floor, shaking out the rag at Ike.

“She’ll be out for a couple minutes, and then she’ll be loopy for a good five hours. Help me get her into one of my old dresses.” Hilda slid her hands under the girl’s arms to drag her into a flat position. “Then we’ll head to Demeter.”

“They won’t hurt her there, will they?” Ike tossed the poisoned rag into the trash.

“The life she’ll get there’s better than one on the street.”

You call me wicked.

achel sat in a chair against the wall, singing Edna’s lullaby as quietly as she could. The window beside her shed light across the apron in her lap. The nurse had told her to sew the hem, but she’d never worked with needle and thread. Being forced to do menial labor reminded her how grateful she was for servants.

The others in the sewing room with her worked with their mouths shut. Haggard backs bent over tiny work. One woman coughed into her arm. A mechanical nurse swept through the door to grab the cougher’s wrist.

“You work.”

“I was workin’,” the woman stammered. “I didn’t talk none.”

“Work.” The nurse released her and glided away.

Rachel lowered her eyes, but the nurse must’ve seen her gaping. The mechanical woman yanked Rachel’s apron away.