‘Nothing of import. Four fights, three couples engaged in intimacy in alleys, and seven people having their pockets picked.’
‘My own catalogue cannot be said to be more interesting, though I must include fourteen suggestions of assignation for monetary gain.’
Kate smirked. ‘Clearly there is something wrong with the men in this city. I would have expected fifty for a woman as comely as you.’
‘At least I know that there is always a profession to fall back upon should I fall from grace. I suggest we make our way back. You have an appointment with Charles in the morning.’
Turning, Kate examined the roof ahead of her. There was a ten-foot gap to the other side of the street here, but she could clear that without difficulty and then she could cross to the other side and check the street beyond, and still be headed in the right direction. ‘I shall proceed to our rendezvous point forthwith,’ she said to the portio. And then, in three steps, she was airborne.
Knightsbridge, 5th August.
Kate rubbed at her arm and then checked to be sure the bleeding had stemmed before pulling down her sleeve. It was possible that pale cream had not been the best colour to wear when she knew Charles wished to take some of her blood.
‘What are you working on?’ she asked as he apportioned out the contents of his syringe into several different test tubes.
‘I would prefer not to say. Not for reasons of secrecy, I might add, for I would trust you with any of my secrets. Rather because if I tell you and then my experiment fails, it would lead to disappointment. I have not perfected a cure, I might add, but I may have found a way to ease your burden and I would not give false hope until I am sure of my results.’
Kate allowed herself a smirk since his back was turned. ‘And at what phase are your investigations?’
‘Terminal. I should know within but two or three days.’
‘And you have presumably been working on this for some time?’
‘Some six months.’
‘Then you would assuredly have concluded this a failure by now were it not a valid experiment. I look forward to hearing your positive report in a few days.’
Charles laughed. ‘There is many a slip twixt cup and lip, Kate. However, I admit that this shows promise.’
Kate grinned, turning towards the door… And she saw the odd object propped in a corner of the lab wearing a fine coating of dust. Taking a cloth from one of the benches, she picked up the long, lightly curved thing and wiped away the majority of the dust to reveal a lacquered wooden shaft with, at one end, what appeared to be a sword grip wound about with black thread and possessed of strangely decorated golden fittings. The hilt piece was an oval disc, intricately carved with what appeared to be dragons, though they did not have wings.
‘What is this, Charles?’
He looked around, a glance. ‘Oh, it was a gift from the Japanese Emperor upon the occasion of the company signing a contract with his country to supply them with limited quantities of Unobtainium. Some six months after the signing, their ambassador presented me with that saying that it was an example of the perfect fusion of new and old they hoped to achieve, or some such diplomatic wording. It is a sword, made by one of their fine craftsmen, who has somehow bonded steel and adamantium into a blade.’
Kate pressed her thumb against the disc-like hilt and the blade slid free about an inch, the metal gleaming in the light from the filament bulbs Charles lit his laboratory with. There was an iridescent quality to it and she pulled free another few inches, turning it so that the light played in wavelike patterns. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘They did explain the process, quite involved and somewhat akin to pattern welding, but I am not really a metallurgist and I am but barely competent with a rapier.’ He paused. ‘Mister Sun mentioned that he had taught you the use of some of his exercises in combination with a sword.’
‘He did. I practise at times with a wooden dowel.’
‘Perhaps you could employ a real weapon to more effect.’
She looked at him, her eyes widening. ‘Charles, I couldn’t! It was a gift from an Emperor!’
‘Which sits in a corner of my laboratory gathering dust and taking up space I could utilise for something else.’ He frowned. ‘I believe it came with a stand for presentation. Harroway will know where it is.’
‘But…’ She wanted to accept, he could see it in her face and posture, but she felt it was too much and she should not.
‘Let us say this. We can parry back and forth for forty minutes and I will eventually persuade you that you should take it. Or we can pretend we did and I can use those forty minutes in fruitful experiment. I shall say under torture that it took all my persuasive power to make you accept, I will be free of at least one bit of clutter, and you will make use of an instrument which was made to be used.’
She peered at him for a second and then slid the blade home. ‘Forty-five minutes.’
‘It may have been longer.’
‘Very well, but kindly avoid making a habit of giving me Imperial gifts. Such things could go to a girl’s head.’
Richmond, 6th August.
Kate sat on the upper floor landing, near the stairs, reading one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ works, A Princess of Mars. Antonia had said she would likely find it amusing. In truth, it was diverting and a little risqué considering that the heroine of the piece was said to walk around in nothing but jewellery the entire time. The inherent derision cast upon non-humans was less to Kate’s liking, given her own status, but she determined to overlook that flaw and just run with the romance and adventure. Dejah Thoris did seem something of a wuss, however.
She was focussing quite hard on the novel because she was waiting on the stairs for Mister Thomas. He was not in the house for her on this occasion; Antonia employed him rarely, and when her need was overwhelming, but this was such a time. Kate had no objection to this. Her own need for relief during her oestrus phase was such that she could not believe other women did not feel such an urge to some extent at some times in their life. Perhaps society would frown upon Antonia’s actions, but Kate would not.
No, the problem was not one of misapprehension over Antonia accepting a lover, even a procured one. The problem was that, even through the door, Kate could hear just about everything going on in the bedroom and without something else to focus upon she felt likely to disgrace herself by rushing in to join them.
It came as something of a relief when the noises stopped and, a few minutes later, Thomas slipped out through the door and made his way quietly down the hall. Kate stood and made a little curtsey to him before leading the way down the stairs.
‘If I may, Miss Kate,’ Thomas said as she put her hand on the latch, ‘I feel Mrs Wooster may need your assistance when I am gone.’
‘Is she distressed?’ Kate asked, frowning.
‘She was as gay as could be when I left, but a man in my… profession learns the ways of people, and I believe she will need a friendly shoulder to cry on now that the need is past.’
Kate bowed her head. ‘You are a kind man, Mister Thomas, and I thank you for it.’
He nodded and he was gone a minute later with Kate already on the stairs. She determined not to knock, but to enter quietly to check on Antonia. Antonia would notice, she had no doubt, but still, that was what she would do.
Antonia did not notice her enter, nor did she notice her crossing to the bed. Kate sat down beside the blonde woman who was crying softly into her pillow, and only then did Antonia start around with a gasp. ‘Oh… Kate. Do not see me like this, please.’
‘None of that,’ Kate replied. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Antonia’s shoulders, pulling her up and against her chest. ‘You’ll cry if you wish, but you’ll not do it alone, and I’ll not think any the less of you for doing it.’
There was silence then, but for the sobbing, for several minutes. The tears abated slowly and there was a sniff. ‘I’ve made such a mess of your collar,’ Antonia mumbled.
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‘I’ll be changing for dinner soon anyway, and then we’ll be away to Whitechapel. And I care not a jot for my collar.’
Antonia sighed. ‘It’s not regret, exactly.’
‘For my collar?’
‘No! Stop trying to cheer me, silly girl, I deserve to be maudlin once in a while. I’ve always been a strong-willed woman with a need for the more physical aspect of marriage. David was always happy to oblige me whenever I needed it. You see we still slept in the same bed.’
‘I’d have said he was a fool to have wished otherwise, and I did not count him as a fool.’
‘No. He indulged me in a number of whims, even enjoyed some of them himself. When he had to be away on business he had no objection to me procuring company when I needed it, and I never abused that privilege as I’m sure he never betrayed my trust in him. Now… Now it feels more and more like I am. When I’m with another all is fine, but when the moment is behind me… I miss him, Kate.’
‘Is that not just as it should be? What would it say of your marriage if you did not miss him? No, you are most assuredly allowed a few tears, but we both know that he would not have wished you a shrivelled old maid either. So you may stain my collar whenever you need to, and I will wait outside for Mister Thomas whenever you need that. I am most certainly not one to pass judgement on a woman’s need for relief at times.’
‘Perhaps not, given that he seems to leave me less exhausted than he does you.’
‘I could hear everything you said,’ Kate rejoindered, ‘and I heard him ask for a few minutes to recover on at least three occasions.’
‘You could hear everything?’
‘Why yes. It was most educational.’
Antonia’s cheeks were colouring. ‘Wicked child. Go and change, and ask Little to attend me once you are done. I believe I will have stopped blushing by then.’
Whitechapel, 7th August.
‘What time is it?’ Kate asked the portio.
‘Almost two,’ Antonia’s voice replied. ‘I’ve seen nothing. You?’
‘Nothing other than the usual–’
‘Kate?’
Kate listened to a voice drifting up from the alley below her. ‘I hear something. I don’t believe it is what we are looking for, but I’m going to check on it.’
‘Be careful. I’m too far away to help.’
‘I think I’ll be okay. See you at Aldgate.’ Pocketing the portio, Kate headed for the edge of the roof and looked down.
‘No! I’d neva! You know I’d neva, Albert!’ The speaker was a woman, four storeys down and backing slowly away from a man, presumably Albert. He did not look like a happy man.
‘I knows ya got more. I knows, you hear me! Ya give me what you got from that posh gent on Nelson, or…’ His fist smacked ominously into his palm, and Kate dropped off the roof.
It was easy. There were window ledges to catch herself on, walls she could push from. She slipped down to ground level and her boots hit the cobbles with a solid thunk. Albert turned at the sound, but all he saw there was a shadow, barely visible against the light from the end of the alley.
‘Who’s there?! What ya want?’
‘I want you to stop threatening that woman,’ Kate said.
‘Oh really?’
‘Perhaps I did not make myself clear, given that your understanding of English seems lacking. I want you to stop threatening that woman, or…’
He waited, perhaps expecting a gesture or more words. But nothing came. ‘I ain’t takin’ this from some mad bint.’ He charged forward, fists flying, and Kate simply stepped around him, increasing his momentum and redirecting it in one fluid motion. Her foot caught his ankle and the next second he was hitting a wall head first.
‘Albert!’ the woman shrieked, and Kate turned, grabbing the front of the woman’s dress and lifting her bodily off the cobbles as she rushed forward.
‘You… stupid, worthless… When he wakes up he’ll look for you and the first thing he’ll do is beat you half to death. I’ve seen a dozen of your kind these last few nights. Black and blue from the beatings, sent out to sell yourselves, and still you come back for more.’ Kate yanked the woman close, yellow eyes glowing in the night, glaring into the terrified face in front of her. ‘I could take the pain away. Want me to do that?’ She grinned, showing her extended canines to the woman. ‘One quick bite and it’s all over and you’ll never be beaten by him again.’
‘No!’ The word was choked out. How old was this woman? Kate had taken her for more Antonia’s age, but close up she looked more like a very old twenty.
‘Then get yourself to a shelter and get out of this life.’ Pushing the girl away to fall into the alley, Kate turned and jumped up, climbing quickly the way she had come down and then turning to run towards Aldgate.
Richmond.
‘We have a note from Inspector Franklin,’ Antonia said as she entered the drawing room.
Kate looked up from where she was, very carefully, cleaning her sword. ‘Anything of import?’ Master Sun had not been especially pleased that she had found a Japanese sword to use with his Chinese fighting arts, but then he had seen the weapon and had reluctantly agreed that it was of exceptional workmanship and did not deserve to rot in Charles’s lab. He had then admitted to being familiar enough with the weapon to tell her that it was a ‘katana’ and what all the parts were called, and how it should be cared for. Kate was determined that it should be cared for properly.
‘Uh… “I hope this does not find you…” Usual social trivia. Ah, there are strong rumours of a slavery ring operating in Whitechapel and Soho with suggestions that they are coming up from the area of Saint Katherine’s Docks or Shadwell.’
‘Might we be better employed in looking in those areas then?’
‘We might. He goes on to say that a woman reported being warned against a life of vice by a vampire last night and wonders whether such a creature might explain Chastity’s vanishment. He suggests we ask Charles whether there is a possibility that vampires are not simply an invention of Mister Stoker.’
‘What is a vampire? I don’t believe I’ve read that author.’
‘A creature of the night. Dead and yet still alive, it sucks the blood of the living to sustain its preternatural existence by means of long fangs…’
‘Oh,’ Kate said flatly. ‘I do not believe we need concern Charles with that matter.’
‘Are you blushing, Kate?’
‘A sudden hot flush. I’m sure it will pass.’
‘You’re sure I shouldn’t summon Mister Thomas?’
‘Not unless you have a further need to provide me with education.’
Antonia’s own cheeks coloured at that. ‘Touché, Miss Felix, touché.’
St Katherine’s.
The docks were not that much better than Whitechapel. The streets were as dense, and the girls were no better dressed, and there were fights to be seen between various mixes of gender quite often, usually over some trivial matter made so much worse by one or both combatants being drunk.
There was a different quality to the life there, in some ways. This, Antonia had said, was the province of the ‘sailors’ women’ and the difference was an odd one. Sailors, it seemed, tended to attach to one woman each time they were in port, treating her almost as one would a wife. She got steady employment for the duration and, once she attracted her catch, she need not set out for others. That did not seem to stop the local prostitutes from being drunken and depressed.
The problem here was that seeing men carrying a woman through the streets, generally one the worse for drink, was not that uncommon. Determining whether any of them might be kidnapping their burden was not at all easy, and as the clock ticked towards midnight, Antonia decided upon an alternate plan. They would check the warehouses, for she suspected that that was where they would find the captive girls. Once again, Kate was doing so from above while Antonia surveyed the ground below.
There was certainly no shortage of illegal activity going on
. The brothels which had regained some purchase in the city after the crackdowns of the last century were further north, but there were other vices for people to indulge. Antonia uncovered an opium den which surprised her because she thought they had all been wiped out. Kate discovered what appeared to be a fencing operation from the random assortment of goods being stored and the rather shady man she saw doing business in the place. Both of them found several houses which rented their rooms out to sailors and their ‘doxies.’ Or that was what Antonia called them, and Kate found the word somehow amusing and began using it herself.
‘You know,’ Kate said as they paused their search for a few seconds to coordinate, ‘Mrs Morton never taught me rude words. I know very few and those by accident. Someone could call me all manner of unseemly things and I’d be oblivious.’
‘And you consider this a bad thing?’
‘Well… I suppose not, but somehow I feel that my vocabulary is incomplete without a way to swear at people. Or at least utter a suitable exclamation should I hit my thumb.’
‘I am not about to start teaching you swear words, Katherine Felix. Charles would likely be cross with me for at least ten minutes. Now, you take the south side towards Wapping Lane and I’ll angle north. We’ll meet up around Chandler Street in an hour and then go home.’
‘I am not feeling lucky tonight, Antonia.’
‘Nor am I, but I believe that luck favours those who put in the work. Onward.’
Wapping.
‘Do you see them?’ Antonia’s voice sounded urgent over the portio. ‘I’ve lost sight.’ They had put in the work and Lady Luck had apparently been watching, for Antonia had spotted two men carrying a limp, humanoid bundle wrapped in a blanket coming down from The Highway and heading towards Wapping Wall.
Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof Page 11