Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel (19 page)

Smiling,
Gwen followed along with Bethany, who was leading her to the front of the
sleeping car, and through the door. Hopefully off to where the food was.

Now
her stomach growled a bit, but not so loudly it was embarrassing.

There
was, once again, a strong sense that this new world she'd entered just lived in
a different time frame than the one she came from. Not literally, but in a
social sense. Gwen sat with her friend by her left hand, and called one of the
dining car workers over immediately, to pay for things, so that no one would
feel awkward later.

It
took nearly half an hour for the man to come over, and when he did, he seemed
distracted, and a bit annoyed, as if she was jumping up and down and being a
pain in the ass already. That wasn't fair of him, not at all. She was saving
that for later, clearly. For a brief moment she wondered if slapping him around
for a while would be worth it, but knew that being annoyed with her wasn't
really a criminal offense. Instead she spoke gently.

"We
should be joined by five others. I'd like to cover their meals in advance, how
much will that come to?" It didn't take long at all for her to figure out
why Beth had asked if she was paying for her.

"Ah.
Seven mets." He said it as if that amount would be too much for her, but
she'd actually pulled a thousand for traveling expenses. She hadn't mentioned
it to anyone except Mr. Grimes, the family solicitor, who handled such things
for her. This place didn't have credit or bank cards, so if you wanted cash,
you brought it with you. She had too much, but clearly the rail system liked to
rob people every chance they could.

Like
the movie theater back in Westwood. She'd only gone a few times, since people
stared at her when she went out, but she'd never felt the need to pay ten bucks
for a large bucket of greasy popcorn and a soda. Here however, they had them
trapped, so she pulled a single ten met bill and handed it over.

"There
are men in the group, so if you could be discreet with the change?" Gwen
looked at the man, and felt a cold chill run down her spine. The reason for
that was different than she would have normally imagined.

It
was the greedy gleam in his eye and the slightly evil smile that crossed his
lips as he snagged the bill and tucked it away. For a moment she wondered if he
was going to try and play games with it, claiming that she hadn't paid at all,
pocketing the whole thing. It was a lot, but not enough for most people to risk
being fired over, she didn't think. Rather than do anything of the sort, he
stared at her, looking deep into her eyes, and then bowed in a fashion that was
a lot more servile than even most of the nobles servants had been.

"I'm
certain that can be arranged, ma'am. I'll inform the... chef, to prepare
herself? Are we to wait for everyone else to arrive before serving?"

Beth
looked at the man as if he were a bug, but spoke in her normal, if slightly
professional sounding, voice. "That would be good, thank you. Say, you
were on the trains, on the North line, when those murders took place, weren't
you? Jonathon Darling?" For half a second Gwen didn't get that his last
name was that sweet sounding, and wondered why Bethany was trying to pick him
up. Luckily she understood what was going on before the man spoke, his face
showing extreme distaste, as if it were actually in his mouth. He looked sour
and displeased all at once.

"I
was. I see that made the reports? There are a few of us that were. The... Chef,
myself, and one of the porters. Almost all of us here were around for the
second killing. That came right after a trade of personnel, since few are
willing to work the North line right now."

Giving
the man a close look, one that verged on being too hard, Beth shrugged. That
got Gwen's attention instantly.
She
didn't do that. Gwen did, but no one
else in this new world had shrugged, as far as she'd seen. Oh, possibly a few
that had been around her too much, but there was a quick glance that went with
it too.

It
was a sign. Of what, she didn't know.

Still,
she tried to empty her mind and feel for anything out of the ordinary. There
was a tiny bit of pressure from the man, but it felt like prescience, not like
he was scattering magical effects about. It took focus for her to get what was
going on. Beth had read his mind, and understood that he was planning to make
up extra charges on the meal ticket, and pocket the difference. It was added in
to the seven dollars too, since the cost was a bit less than that. Mets, she
reminded herself. Seven
mets
.

The
man was clearly willing to try and steal, which didn't make him look good at
all. On top of that he'd been around for all those murders. That was telling,
but not proof at all.

Her
partner looked over, as if ready to out the man as a sneaky thief right then
and there, or at least stop it from happening, but Gwen caught her eyes and
touched her left temple. That was the signal for Bethany to read her thoughts,
which got a nod from the blonde woman.

Let
him take it. It will give us a reason to set you on him later. That's legal,
right?

Half
a second later, the other woman looked back toward the door, which made a
sound, since Martin Cordell was walking through it, wearing a new outfit that
made him look like a very proper pimp. He didn't have a hat with him, but the
outfit was an off plum colored thing, that fairly shone in the early morning
light that came through the large windows on the side of the dining car.

Gwen
ignored the waiter, or whatever he was, and signaled the man to come over,
which required a new chair be pulled into place at the table, which had a nice
white linen cloth over it.

"Good
morning, Mr. Cordell. Did you sleep well?" It sounded like a good thing to
ask, and the man stroked his freshly shaved cheek before answering.

"I
did, you had a restful night as well?" That sounded... Sly. She nearly
glared at him, and Beth gave him a sharp enough look that it was pretty certain
he was being nasty, but she saw him look up to see that Sally was coming into
the car, alone. "I noticed that the other one wasn't with her friend
earlier. Instead she was coming out of your sleeper?"

Bethany
did something under the table that Martin missed and Gwen simply didn't. The
move had a PC pointed at his middle, hidden by the table cloth. It was an
overreaction to what had been implied though, which probably meant that Mr.
Cordell was getting special privileges from her friend. He was one of her
avowed enemies after all. Or, more exactly, he'd often made that claim in
reverse.

Looking
him dead in the eyes, Gwen wrinkled her nose.

"I
let Clara have the top bunk. I need to pass along some funds for that. She's
signing on as my maid for the trip. That way she won't have to sell herself to
you or the other men for a place to sleep." The words just flowed out and
sounded... completely calm and normal, as if it was actually a thing, and not
her making up an excuse to have a whore sleeping with her.

Martin
probably could have made a big deal out of that still, but looked slightly
troubled instead. "I... think I understand. That's a good thing for you to
do. I was worried that you might have been harassing her, using your position,
after she spoke harshly to your friend yesterday morning. It's natural that
she'd do so, of course, but not exactly a thing that would ensure a smooth
journey." Then, as soon as the words were out, he winced. He even looked
slightly guilty. Turning to Beth, he actually stammered a little. "Forgive
me, I didn't mean it to sound like that, I just meant her fear is..."

Being
a very kind and polite person, Beth just sighed. "I understand what you
mean. All Westmorlands do. It isn't as if we're not aware of what's said about
us. All we have to do is turn on the Telesar and there it is, most days,
assaulting our ears. Normally we don't have people direct such at us in public,
but it happens."

"Yes.
I know." The professional bigot blushed and looked away.

Gwen
waved Sally over, and the woman seemed very nearly scared at first. She moved
however, and before Gwen could stand to move a chair for her, a different
waiter came out and did it for them, adding the rest of what would be needed
without pausing. Then he gave a polite and not smarmy feeling bow and left.
This man was about the same age as the other, but didn't have that creepy feeling
about him.

It
probably meant he was the killer.

"Good
morning, Miss Kiers! I think we have a small wait before everyone joins us. I
was just telling Mr. Cordell here that I was thinking of hiring Clara on as a
maid for the rest of the journey. Perhaps you as well?" Again, her mouth
was running and she didn't know exactly why it was doing that. The woman
already had enough mets on her not to have to whore herself for the trip, and
she was a prostitute, and apparently was, if not in love with the life, not so
minding of it that she was striving too hard to find anything else either. Not
that Gwen had seen. Then, would she? They hadn't exactly been discussing the
ins and outs of their various lives, had they?

Surprisingly
the skinny ferret of a woman smiled suddenly and looked far happier than she
had been.

"Oh!
That would be brilliant. We'd get to be nearly legitimate for a whole two
weeks! I can't say as I know a lot about what to do. Clean your room and find
some way to press and wash your clothing? We can do that, I bet, Miss. I'll
work with Miss Westmorland, directly, if that pleases?" The sudden
acceptance was heartening, and a little baffling. Maybe she thought that Gwen
overpaid for everything? She probably would too, but not ten mets per day or
anything.

Bethany
smiled, her face looking warm and pleased, rather than put out. "Most
excellent. I have extra room in my quarters, if you wish?"

The
woman shook her head and then smiled a little bit, covering this with her hand.
It was a little off, like a regular person pretending to be upper crust, rather
than real, but she giggled a bit, which seemed closer to what would have really
happened.

Then
she looked at the door. "I have a room for Clara and I. She never came to
bed. Perhaps she was in with that sales fellow? He had a likely air about him,
didn't he?"

Shaking
her head, Gwen didn't correct her assumption about Mr. Hadley. That was his
business and until it needed to get around for professional reasons, she had no
need to talk about him and what kind of person he'd want in bed with him.

"She
was in with me for the night. She'll probably want to be in with you, but I
don't think she realized that the room was open to her."

Instead
of claiming that she should have known, Sally sighed. After a bit she looked at
Martin and winked, which was a lot more playful than she'd been being.

"Clara
is like that. She means well and once you get to know her, she really isn't all
that hard or prickly, but she's not all that bright and expects others to try
and take advantage of her. That or leave her out. She'll be in with me for the
next days, Miss. If that's all right, I mean? I have one of the best rooms, and
it's awfully nice. A real feather bed and its own wash stand."

That
did sound nice. Still, she needed space more than she needed luxury. She'd be
fine with what she had. If not, she could upgrade, but it would make the
Special Service look soft, which wasn't what she wanted at all.

"That
sounds like a plan. I'll cover your room and board for the trip, so plan to eat
meals with Beth and I?" She had a little more to say, but everyone else
started to come then, with Hadley being the last one in, his face holding a
look of concern, rather than pleasure. Carter looked pleased at least, and
blushed when he saw Sally sitting at the grownups table.

The
salesman was brought to a seat, and then looked around, still uncomfortable. It
fairly poured off of him, and, Gwen realized, that wasn't a mistake. He was
scattering magic all over the place. It was enough that Beth looked at the man
too, and then shifted a bit, the PC that she'd never put away going to him
instead of Martin. Why she still had it out, Gwen didn't know.

Smiling
she gestured toward the waiter that didn't seem like a sleazy freak, and then
looked at everyone else.

"The
food will be coming in a moment. I know that things were a little tense
yesterday, what with the questioning and all that, so Bethany suggested we have
the Kingdom cover this meal for you. Clara, you and Sally have hired on as
maids for the trip. I mean, if you want to?"

She
seemed to not get it for a bit, but Sally nodded encouragingly at her, and
Clara spoke softly, her eyes going big as she looked around. This room was
rather nice, but at a met per meal, or even nine decs, she probably couldn't
have afforded to eat the food here, and would have to wait until they were at a
station to get something.

"That
sounds nice, Miss." Instead of sounding mean and coarse, she gave off an
air of innocence now. It was nearly sweet.

The
food started coming, and that meant they had a lot of tiny courses to eat.
Slowly. Over two hours. They ended with tiny cups of fairly good coffee, and no
one did more than speak about the weather or the news for the entire time. It
wasn't until they turned to the topic of the children's camps that Martin
turned back to Gwen in particular though.