Wrede, Patricia C. - Magician Series 1 - Mairelon the Magician
Page 5
the hay, clinging to the backboard and hoping she would not
be noticed. Her luck held; not only did the wagon continue
east, but the driver did not see her until she jumped off. She
darted into the gloom, pursued by his angry cries He'd settle
down once he realized that all she'd stolen was a ride
Petticoat Lane was only a few minutes' walk Tom's shop
36
was closed, but Kirn had expected as much. She slid around
to the rear of the building and rapped at the weathered oak
door. She had to repeat her knock before a stocky, grizzled
man opened the door and peered out at her "'Oo's that?"
"Kirn. I got somethin' for Tom."
"Ah. Inside, then." The man stepped back and Kirn lifted
her bundle and followed him in.
The back room of Tom's secondhand shop was a mess, as
usual. Clothes were piled carelessly in every comer and
stacked on top of the single chair. Kim saw everything from a
laborer's homespun smock to a tattered but undeniably silk
cravat.
Four men were seated on crates around the rickety table in
the center of the room- The tin cups and the reek of gin
made it clear what they had been doing before Kirn's amval;
Just at the moment they were staring at her. Two of them
were as unknown to Kim as the doorkeeper. The third was
Tom's brother-in-law Jack Slower, a dirty dish if Kim had
ever seen one. He'd never had much use for her, either.
The last person at the table was a grey-haired man with
squinty eyes, wearing a dark grey coat and a linen cravat.
Kim stiffened. "Dan Laverham!" she blurted. What was that
flash cull doing in Tom's back room? For all he carried himself
like Quality, he could call up half the canting crew from Co-
vent Garden to the Tower of London if he had a need for
them.
"Kim, dear boy, how good to see you," the grey-haired
man replied. His eyes raked her apparel, and she was sud-
denly very, very glad she had hidden her money so carefully
before setting out. Dan would think nothing of ordering his
men to strip her of her hard-won gains, if he knew of them.
"Been a long time," Kim offered, keeping her tone noncom-
mittal. Dan was a bad one to offend. He was smart and
smooth, and he'd hold on to a grudge until the moon turned
37
blue. She suspected that he was the one who'd turned stag
and peached on Mother Tibb to the constables, though he
was too clever to have acted openly.
"That it has," Dan said, leaning back on his crate as though
he sat in a tall, straight-backed chair. "And to what do i owe
the good fortune of your arrival?"
"Says e's got sommat for Tom," the doorkeeper said.
"Then, my dear, go and fetch him," Dan replied The
doorkeeper grunted and clumped up the stairs. Dan looked at
Kirn. "Do join us," he said, and waved at the table
Kirn shook her head "I ain't got time," she lied.
Jack Slower shifted so that his crate creaked alarmingly
"Think you're too good to have a drop of Blue Ruin with your
friends, eh?" he mumbled.
It was on the tip of Kirn's tongue to retort that he, at least,
was no friend of hers, but caution restrained her Gin made
Jack's uncertain temper positively explosive, and she doubted
that the other men would intervene if Jack started something.
She tried to make her voice placating as she said, "It ain't
that I got to meet a man down by the docks in less'n an
hour, and 1 ain't going to finish with Tom in time as it is."
Jack started to reply angrily, but Dan put a hand on his
arm and he subsided at once. "An appointment on the docks?"
Dan said. "That's a bit out of your usual way, isn't if?"
Kirn shrugged, wishing the doorkeeper would come back
with Tom- "1 go where the pay is."
"Not always, my dear, or you would have accepted my
generous offer," Dan said, watching her with bright, penetrat-
ing eyes
"1 like bein' on my own," Kim said shortly And she
strongly disliked the idea of railing into Dan's clutches. He'd
have her forking purses off the market crowds during the day
without regard for her scruples, and once he discovered her
sex she'd spend her nights in the stews. Kim had no illusions
38
about that sort of life Let alone she had no taste for it, she'd
be lucky not to end swinging from the nubbing cheat as
Mother Tibb had.
"Well, let it pass," Dan said, waving a hand- "But tell me,
what has lured you to Tom Correy's establishment tonight?"
"Bilking old Tom out of a tog and kicks, I'd say," Jack mut-
tered
"Quietly, my dear." Dan's voice was velvet-smooth- Jack
shot him a glance of mingled fear and resentment, but he did
not speak again. Dan gave Kim a look of polite inquiry.
"I got business with Tom," Kim told him
"Really." Dan's eyes shifted to the bundled clothes dangling
from Kirn's right hand, then back to her face- "Not back on
the sharping lay by any chance, are you, dear boy?"
"No, nor I ain't goin' to be, neither."
"I can give you a better price than Tom, if you've any trin-
kets to dispose of," the man persisted-
Kim suppressed a scowl. Dan had been trying to get a
handle on her for a long time He was obviously hoping that
greed would get the better of her sense- She shook her head.
"I ain't got nothin' in your line, Dan "
"Pity. You're quite sure—"
The creaking of the stairs interrupted as Tom Correy came
down them, followed closely by the doorkeeper Tom
scowled at the gin drinkers, but his face tit up when he saw
Kim. "Kim, lad! Where've you been keeping yourself?"
"Around," Kim said with deliberate vagueness. She didn't
grudge Tom the knowledge, but there were too many inter-
ested and not entirely friendly ears present to overhear.
"You come for another coat?"
"What'd I say?" Jack muttered.
"Quiet, you," Tom said without looking "It's my shop and
I'll run it my way, see? And the boy looks like he could do
with a jacket."
39
"1 ain't after one," Kirn said hastily
jack snorted and gulped at his cup Tom looked at her
"What, then?"
"I got some stuff for you to look at. Here " Kirn crouched
and undid the bundle.
"Where'd you come by this^" Tom said, studying the untidy
pile with disfavor.
"Cot it off a bingo-boy up by Spitalfields," Kirn said glibly.
"What'll you give me for 'em"'"
Tom knelt and examined the clothes more closely "They
ain't much."
"Those're good boots," Kirn pointed out quickly. "Some
people would give three shillings just for the boots "
'Three shillings? You must think I'm as lushy'as that lot,"
Tom said, waving towards the table "I'll give you a bender
for the whole pile."
"Sixpence ain't enough," Kim said stubbornly 'Two shill-
ings ninepence."
Dan and his cohorts soon lost interest in the bargaining
and began a muttered conversation of their own, punctuated
by frequent passage of the gin bottle Kirn watched them
warily from the corner of her eye while she dickered. Jack
was thoroughly castaway, and one or two of the others
looked at least a little lushy Dan, however, was being careful
not to get the malt above water; though he passed the bottle
and refilled cups with a comradely air, he himself drank little
And several times, Kim saw him watching her.
By the time she had finished her bargaining and collected
one-and-sixpence from Tom, Kim was worried. She bade
Tom a cordial goodbye and the drinkers a polite one, then
stepped out into the cool, damp night. As the door closed
behind her, she took a deep breath to clear the gin rumes
from her head The fog had thickened; the streetlamp by the
40
shopfront was a dim smear of yellow light, blurred by the veil
of moisture in the air
Whistling softly, Kim started down Petticoat Lane- Half a
block from Tom's, she cut sharply to the left She hunted
along the backs of the shops until she found one with a drain-
pipe she could climb, then shinnied up it. She crept to the
front of the building and lay flat, peering down at the street.
A moment later a man came skulking down the street from
the direction of Tom's shop. She couldn't make out his face in
the foggy darkness, but his silhouette was stocky and he
moved like the man who had been keeping the door for Dan
and his friends. He hurried by, heading toward the docks.
Kim stayed where she was for a while, considering. Dan
had sent the doorkeeper after her, but why? She could think
of no answer. Finally she slid down the drainpipe and started
back toward the City- Her mood was thoughtful, and she
made sure she took a circuitous route. Whatever the reason
for Dan's renewed interest in her, she was sure she wouldn't
like it when she found out what it was. She was glad she'd
accepted Mairelon's offer With any luck at all, she'd be out
of London long before Dan could find her
41
FIVE
'^•W-^' I t was near midnight when Kim arrived back at
JV^^^ 1 Mairelon's wagon and rapped softly at the
7 r door. To her surprise, it swung open instantly.
Mairelon stood just inside, dressed in evening clothes fine
enough for gentry His right eye seemed puffy, but showed
no signs of discoloration. Kim looked more closely and saw
streaks of stage makeup, at! but invisible in the dim light. "It's
me," she said to cover her sudden, irrational feeling of guilt.
"Ah, Kim," Mairelon said with no perceptible change in his
worried expression. "I'm glad you're back."
"Not so's you'd notice," Kim muttered as she entered the
wagon. "I got rid of them flash togs, right enough."
"Good," Mairelon said absently, still frowning at the door-
Kim looked around for some hint as to the cause of Mair-
elon's abstraction. She saw no sign of the droopy assistant,
and on impulse asked, "Where's Hunch?"
Mairelon picked up a top hat from the grey tile that topped
the row of cabinets by the door. "I was just going to find that
out.
"You mean he's run missing?"
42
"I sent him on an ... errand- He should have been back
an hour ago."
Kim sighed. "It's your lay- Where do we start lookin'"?"
"We don't start anywhere You're going to stay here and
keep an eye on things, in case he gets back before 1 do."
"I ain't fond of sittin' and waitin'," Kim objected. "And if
you're that nattered about it, maybe you ought to take along
some help "
"I'm afraid you'd be rather out of place where I'm—" Mair-
elon broke off in mid-sentence, and his head turned toward
the door. A moment later it swung open and Hunch climbed
into the wagon. He looked at Mairelon, and a disapproving
frown settled over his face. Mairelon grinned like a schoolboy
caught in a prank and tossed his top hat back onto the shelf.
Hunch snorted- "You ain't queering me none, Master Rich-
ard. You was a-going to go looking for me."
"It seemed like a good idea "
"You 'adn't ought to of done it," Hunch said severely.
"Yes, well, I didn't. What took so long?"
Hunch looked at Mairelon sharply, but allowed himself to
be drawn away from his scolding. "Couple of sharpers tried to
follow me, and I 'ad to lose 'em afore I come back."
"What?" Mairelon looked up in the act of seating himself
on top of the chest that had caused Kim so much trouble
"How many?"
'Two as I noticed "
"Anyone we know?"
Hunch shook his head. "I 'adn't seen neither of 'em afore "
"Mmm-hm. I suppose they could have been some of
Shoreham's."
"That's as may be," Hunch said. He sounded both skeptical
and disapproving. Mairelon looked up. Hunch gave a warn-
ing jerk of his head in Kirn's direction
43
"What? Oh, yes, of course," Mairelon said "Did you get
what you went for?"
"Aye "
"Well, let's have it, man'"
Hunch shot another look in Kirn's direction, then reached
stiffly into one of his pockets He pulled out a folded paper
sealed with a great blob of crimson wax and handed it to
Mairelon
Mairelon held it up to the light, edgewise "The seal hasn't
been tampered—oh. Lord "
"What is if" Hunch said anxiously
"Shoreham's done it again," Mairelon replied in annoyance
He turned slightly, so that his back was to Kim, and mut-
tered something under his breath
There was a bright flash of blue-white light that left Kirn's
eyes momentarily dazzled When her sight cleared, Mairelon
was squinting at a fine dust of ashes that dnrted from the
folded paper "I do wish he'd stop using that Egyptian Light-
Lock," he complained "1 never manage to get my eyes shut in
time"
Hunch grunted Kim realized that he had turned his head
away before Mairelon broke the seal, and so escaped the tem-
porary blindness She glared first at him and then at Mair-
elon One of them might have warned her what to expect
Mairelon shook the letter open and began to read A mo-
ment later he straightened with an exclamation 'Tomorrow'"
"What's that?" Hunch said
"Shoreham wants us to meet him tomorrow evening." Mair-
elon looked up. "How long was this waiting?" he demanded,
waving the note.
"Since yesterday Where's 'e looking to be? Same place as
last time?"
"Yes " Mairelon shook his head "He's in a rush again Blast
the man'"
44
Hunch considered "We'll 'ave to leave early," he said at
last
"I know," Mairelon said irritably
"What about er?" Hunch said, jerking his head in Kim's
direction
"What?" Mairelon looked up from rereading the note "Oh
You wouldn't mind leaving London a little earlier than we'd
"No," Kim said, remembering Dan Laverham and his un-
pleasant crew She thought of mentioning them to Mairelon,
but caution made her hold her tongue If he knew about Dan,
he might change his mind about letting Kim accompany him
'That's settled, then," Mairelon said He folded the note
and tucked it in an inner pocket, then picked up his top hat
"I'll be back in an hour or so "
"You ain't never just leaving without telling me where
you're off toi" Hunch sounded outraged
Mairelon looked back over his shoulder and smiled an-
gelically at Hunch "Exactly," he said, and the door closed
behind him
Hunch glared at the door After a moment, he transferred
the glare to Kim "And what's 'e want me to do with you?" he
muttered
"I'll just go doss under the wagon," Kim offered, sidling
toward the door She wanted to think about what she'd over-
heard, and she wanted to get away from Hunch She also
wanted to retrieve the shillings she'd left in her hidey-hole;