‘He thinks they may have been hired by someone.’
‘Step by step, Rayker gets to the truth,’ John said almost absently. Then he looked sharply at Jenny. ‘Well, I must go. Perroquet is waiting for me.’
He stepped to go past her and Jenny moved aside.
‘Did you find what you were looking for?’ she asked.
‘Wh-? Oh, yes, yes, I did. Thank you.’ He patted the right side of his cloak. He seemed stiff and awkward. ‘Just some papers. Well, goodbye, Jenny,’ he said and went towards the kitchen.
‘You’re going out the back way?’
‘Yes, it’s quicker. I shall come by later and see what Rayker has uncovered. Thank you, Jenny.’
John hurried out the kitchen door and through the gate into the alley. Jenny waited until she heard the gate snap shut. Then she went into the study and closed the door.
She tried to remember exactly what Antrobus had done. She stood where he had stood and reached down to touch the witch post. Two fingers, she remembered. Two fingers, pressed at the same time. But on what? She peered at the witch post and she saw Antrobus’s fingers on it as they had been that night. The heart and the holly. She found them with her fingertips and pressed ...
The instant she placed her fingers on the heart and the holly, she saw everything with terrible clarity. She knew the secret room was empty, she didn’t need to look. He had taken them. It had been him all along. He had known, the night Antrobus was taken, that nothing was missing.
We’re lucky they weren’t smart enough to take his papers when they didn’t find what they wanted.
That’s what he’d said – but how did he know that they hadn’t found what they were looking for? The only people who could possibly know what they had been looking for were Antrobus and Jenny – and the people who sought what he had. And that is why he questioned her that second night, when he’d walked her home ...
John. It was John. It had been John. Antrobus’s son!
That’s why he was here. He’d learned where the chart, the manuscript and the astrolabe were hidden. And he could only have learned it from one person. His father.
Jenny felt sick. She couldn’t believe what she was thinking. It couldn’t be possible. She pressed her fingers and Antrobus’s hidden door clicked open.
The secret room was empty.
*
Ewan’s senses were still on alert. They were barely through the gates of the city when he spotted a man coming towards them. He wasn’t a tall man, and his hair had more grey than brown, but he was muscled and he moved easily and with purpose, like a well-oiled door. He headed straight for Rayker.
Rayker had noticed him too and he reined in his horse. Ewan studied the man. His face was familiar but he couldn’t find the memory to match it. There, he had it. P-
‘Evening, Pitch,’ said Rayker in greeting.
The man grunted his greeting. Ewan smiled to himself.
‘Ewan, this is Pitch,’ Rayker said. ‘Pitch, this is Ewan Swift.’
‘Aye, Jenny’s father,’ said Pitch. ‘I’d-a recognised you. I was in the palace guards when you came back with David.’
‘It took me a moment to place you, Pitch, but I remember. Blue Legion, wasn’t it?
‘Blue it was,’ said Pitch, pleased to be remembered.
‘Pitch is the warden at Fenwick Square, where Antrobus lives,’ said Rayker. ‘Pitch has been investigating something that’s been bothering me. How did they get Antrobus out of Vale without a soul seeing them?’
‘I’m not sure they did,’ said Pitch. ‘I’ve talked to the wardens in the neighbouring squares. No one saw anything. Most of them are getting on a bit and spend more time dozing than watching, but it’s hard to believe that none of them noticed a group of horsemen and maybe a cart.’
‘He wasn’t at the outlaws’ cave in Queerwood, either,’ said Ewan. ‘So, he’s somewhere in Vale. But where?’
*
Jenny ran out the back door, through the gate and into the alley. John had gone. She ran back through the house and out the front door. Harcourt saw her the instant she ran out of the door. He could tell something was up and he started across to her even before she waved him over. She pulled him inside and closed the door.
‘It’s John! Antrobus’s son! He’s the one who’s taken Antrobus. It’s John!’ she said urgently.
‘Whoa, whoa, Jenny. Steady. This doesn’t make sense. What makes you think it’s him?’ Harcourt said gently, trying to calm her.
Jenny told him about the secret room, about John’s words to her in front of Rumpkin’s, and what he had said the night Antrobus was taken.
Harcourt was still doubtful. ‘A son turning against his father. That’s hard to believe, Jenny.’
‘Princes have been doing it for centuries,’ Jenny argued. ‘And the power they’re after is nothing compared to the power John wants. Oh, I know it’s hard to believe but it makes sense!’
‘We need to talk to Rayker. See what he makes of this. Maybe he’s found Antrobus with them outlaws and he’s safe,’ Harcourt suggested.
‘He can’t be in Queerwood!’ Jenny said. ‘John would have come here as soon as Antrobus told him what he wanted to know. If he’d come from Queerwood, Rayker and his men would have seen him. Antrobus must be in Vale! And now that John has what he wants ...’
She couldn’t finish her thought. It didn’t matter what kings and princes did; they were only names, not real people, people she knew, so they could do the unimaginable. But she knew John, and though her head told her what he would do, she couldn’t imagine it.
‘We have to find John now! He can’t be far. Please, Harcourt!’ Jenny pleaded.
‘All right, Jenny,’ Harcourt said. ‘I’ll fetch Rayker. He should be back by now. You stay in the house. Lock the door. If Pitch is around I’ll have him come and stand watch.’
He waited until Jenny was back inside, then headed to the little house at the end of the square. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. With a last, worried look at Antrobus’s house, he set off for Rayker’s.
Jenny locked the door. The idea of John being behind everything made her feel ill. She leaned against the door and almost wept. Then she pushed herself upright and walked up the stairs. She needed the comfort of friends.
Frida knew something was wrong as soon as she saw Jenny’s face. She rushed to her and took her hand.
‘Jenny, what’s wrong? What’s happened?’
Jenny told them. Emily’s jaw dropped; her stomach tumbled and her heart felt as if it was beating in her head. She was aware of a small seed of shame in there, too. How could she have thought John was ... ?
‘What do we do?’ Frida asked. Her face was paler than usual, and her brows drew together.
Tom’s face was dark with anger. ‘Whatever we do, we have to do it quickly. Jenny’s right. If John and his mob have what they want, why keep Antrobus alive?’
‘But why kill him?’ cried Emily. ‘What good will it do them?’
Jenny remembered what Antrobus had told her.
‘They killed his brother because of what William might have known,’ she said. ‘I don’t think they’ll overlook what Antrobus does know.’
‘We have no idea where they’re hiding,’ said Emily. ‘They could be anywhere in Vale! Perhaps Rayker is back and Harcourt has found him.’
Harcourt ... Thoughts ran through Jenny’s head. She tried to work through them.
‘Listen,’ she said to the others. ‘John said he was glad that Harcourt was still watching us. But how did he know? He entered through the back and Harcourt was in the square at the front of the house.’
They looked at her blankly.
‘Why did John come through the back?’ she went on. ‘Harcourt wouldn’t have been suspicious if he’d come through the front door. But some other reason made him come a way he wouldn’t be seen ...’
Emily understood. ‘John wasn’t worried about Harcourt seeing him enter Antrobus’s house – he was w
orried about Harcourt seeing him leave another house!’
‘And Harcourt could only see him if that other house was in Fenwick Square!’ exclaimed Frida.
‘Exactly,’ Jenny said. ‘But which one?’
All three went to the window and looked down at the square.
‘People are always watching what other people do. Somebody, even if not Harcourt, would have noticed John coming from one the houses,’ Emily said. ‘There’s always someone looking out.’
Jenny stared at the houses. Emily was right. Someone would have noticed. Even on her first night, when she’d put the torch in the holder on the corner, there had been someone watching her.
An image of a face in a window, watching, came to her. And she realised whom she had seen.
She looked at the others. ‘I know where he is!’
They looked at her.
‘He’s in that house, on the corner,’ she said. ‘It backs on to the same alley. It would have taken John only a minute to get from there to here.’ She bit her bottom lip. ‘I have to get in that house.’
‘You can’t do that!’ shouted Tom. He raised his blankets to throw them off. He looked down and hastily drew them back up. ‘Wait for Harcourt to get back with Rayker!’
‘We don’t know how long that will be,’ Jenny said firmly. ‘We mightn’t have time. Antrobus mightn’t have time.’
Tom could see Jenny had made up her mind. He tried his most commanding voice.
‘Then I’ll go,’ he said. Under his breath he added, ‘Maybe if I ask very politely they’ll apologise, let Antrobus go – and let me live.’
The three young women stared at him.
‘If you take one step out of that bed, Tom Blunt, I’ll never speak to you again!’ Emily snapped.
Frida picked up Tom’s breeches from the clothes hook near the bed. She opened the window and dropped them out.
‘My breeches!’ Tom yelled (which, Frida thought, was just like a man, always stating the obvious).
‘Don’t be silly,’ Jenny said. ‘You wouldn’t make it down the stairs without opening that wound. You’d bleed to death before you got out the front door.’
Tom scowled at them. ‘Rayker will kill me anyway if I let anything happen to any of you.’
‘It isn’t up to you to let us do anything!’ Emily said archly. It was always best to set the rules early, she thought.
‘But you don’t know how many men are in there, Jenny,’ said Frida. ‘You can’t just walk in and ask for Antrobus.’
‘We could make another Lucifer’s Candle and throw it through the window,’ suggested Emily. ‘When they all ran out we could go in and get Antrobus.’
Jenny shook her head. ‘We don’t have time. Besides, we don’t know what it would do in the house. We might burn down half of Vale.’ She stamped her foot in frustration. ‘I have to think of something that will make them let me walk out with Antrobus. But I can’t think of anything!’
Nor could she stand there and do nothing.
She strode to the door. ‘I’m going round the back to make sure they’re not leaving. Maybe I can think of a way to keep them there until Rayker gets here.’
‘Jenny, you can’t,’ Frida gasped. ‘What if they see you?’
‘I’ll be careful,’ Jenny assured her. ‘Keep watch from the window. When Harcourt gets back, tell him where I am. And hope he has Rayker and some men with him.’ And she ran down the stairs and out the back door.
She paused at the gate and looked at the holly bush. A small cluster of red winter berries hid among the shiny leaves. A vague idea went through her head and she reached into the tree. She felt the scratch of the sharp leaves on her hand as she plucked the berries. She dropped them in her pouch, then opened the gate and ran up the alley. She stopped where it turned to follow the rear of the houses on the end of the square, and peered round the corner. The alley was empty. She moved on. There were only four houses on this side of the square, each with a small gate slightly inset into the wall. As she came to the first one, the last gate opened and a man stepped into the alley. It was Kurt. Jenny flattened herself against the gate. The alley was narrow, and with the sun low in the sky, it was deep in shadows. If he glanced her way, he might not see her. But he’d surely see her if he came closer. She held her breath and let it out, relieved, when Kurt turned towards the fading sunlight at the other end. As soon as he disappeared into the square, she continued along the alley.
At the last gate, she paused and listened. She heard voices in the courtyard on the other side of the gate but she couldn’t make out what was being said. Her hand found the gate’s latch. She pushed down on it, very slowly, then leaned gently against the wooden door until it opened no more than a finger’s width. The voices continued and she could hear them clearly now. Two men. And Jenny listened.
*
Frida was keeping a diligent watch on the house when, to her horror, she saw Jenny walk round the corner of the square. She stared in disbelief as Jenny marched briskly to the front door and knocked.
Chapter 18
Morien’s Key
Jack opened the sitting-room door and entered. He was half a pace into the room when the silver flash of a knife blade streaked past his nose. He heard a dull thud as the point of the knife sunk into the wooden frame next to him. He reached up, wrenched the knife free and glared.
‘When you’re finished playin’ with your knives, you can pack your things. We’re leavin’.’ He weighed the knife in his hand, then tossed it on a chair.
The knife-thrower looked at him. ‘Are they sure?’
‘Seem to be,’ answered Jack. ‘They’re in there havin’ a last look at the gold thing –’
‘Brass. It’s only brass,’ the other person corrected him.
‘At the brass thing,’ Jack sneered. ‘I’ve sent Kurt to get their horses. We’ll leave separately, like we came, after they’ve gone. Ten minutes apart.’
‘And our guest? What are we do with him?’
‘Seth and Walt are dicin’ for him now. Whoever wins gets to kill him.’
‘Do they know that?’
‘Yeah. Sort of surprised me. I thought we’d have trouble with the sharp one. But he just said it had to be done. He didn’t look happy, but he didn’t look too unhappy, either.’
They were startled by a knock on the front door. They looked at one another for a moment, then Jack spoke.
‘Look through the curtain. See who it is,’ he ordered.
‘It’s a girl. I do believe it’s that girl. You didn’t tell me she was so pretty. And such an exotic face. Are you telling me that she killed Nate?’
Jack cursed. ‘She did. Answer the door and get her in here. She can join Antrobus. Seth and Walt don’t need to dice to see who slits her throat. I’m going to have that pleasure myself.’
*
Jenny could hear footsteps in the house as someone approached the door. That’s odd, she thought. They sound more like a young boy’s footsteps.
The door opened and Jenny looked into a pair of green eyes, framed by long lashes and plucked eyebrows. The face that possessed those eyes would not generally be described as beautiful. Handsome most would call it. Undoubtedly it was the face of a woman with great character and determination; and with absolutely no heart. All Jenny saw in those eyes was coldness and disdain.
‘I’ve come to take Master Antrobus,’ said Jenny.
The eyebrows arched. ‘Have you?’ said the woman. ‘Well, you’d better come in.’
She stepped aside and let Jenny through the door. Jenny heard it close behind her, then the woman ushered her into the sitting room. A man sat in a chair, sporting a half-smile. Jenny didn’t need an introduction. His eyes were as cold and as disdainful as the woman’s but they had a cruelty hers did not. And an emptiness she had never seen in anyone. This was Jack.
‘Thank you, Milly,’ said Jack. ‘Jenny, I’m happy to meet you at last. I’ve seen you often – we’ve kept quite a close eye on you since you
arrived in Vale – but never had the pleasure. Oh, forgive me. I’m forgetting my manners. My name’s Jack. And, as you heard, the lady is Milly. Now, what is it that we can do for you?’
Jack’s voice brought her situation into perspective. She had known what she was about to do was dangerous, but until that moment she hadn’t understood just how dangerous. Nate’s callousness had frightened her; but Jack’s lack of emotion and the ruthlessness in his eyes terrified her. Her legs felt weak, and her blood seemed to race and freeze at the same time. It took all of her determination to meet his eyes but she wasn’t sure that she could keep the trembling from her voice. Fortunately, she was given a respite by Milly.
‘She says she’s come to take Master Antrobus,’ Milly said, much amused.
‘Has she?’ Jack said softly. ‘Then I’ll take her to him. He’ll be delighted that I kept my promise.’ His voice was hard and vengeful. ‘Come with me.’ He opened the door, then stopped.
‘Search her,’ he said to Milly.
Milly ran her hands over Jenny. ‘Nothing,’ she said. She flicked Jenny’s pouch with her fingers. ‘Just some dried leaves and a few berries.’
Jack hesitated, then grabbed Jenny’s arm. She could feel his fingers digging into her muscle, his nails almost breaking the skin through her sleeve. He dragged her into the hall. At the same time a man came out of the room on the left. He carried a large saddle pouch that he clutched to his chest. He stopped in shock at the sight of the girl in Jack’s grip. Jenny raised her head and looked at the face from the window.
‘Good evening, Master Perroquet,’ she said.
The blood drained from Perroquet’s face.
‘Wh-what’s she doing here?’ he demanded.
‘She stopped in to see Master Antrobus,’ Jack said. ‘I’m just taking her to him. He’ll be surprised to see her no doubt.’
‘But ... but ... how ...’ he spluttered. He stopped and tried to regain his composure. ‘How did she find us?’ His voice shook with worry.
‘I don’t know and I don’t care,’ snarled Jack.
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