The Beast at the Door

by Althea Blue

  Ada did some calculations on a sheet of paper where she’d been recording Frank’s action times. “I’ll have to see if he can do the stairs here first. If he can do that on one wind, it should be fine.”

  She wound the crank as far as it would go, and used her control box to steer the beast out the door, to the landing and down the stairs. On the way back up he wound down, but when she started at the bottom of the stairs with a fresh charge he made it all the way up and back to the workshop before stopping. “That’s enough. We will have to pray that no one else sees us, and Calvin will need to be asleep or else we won’t have time to wind him before the brat investigates the sound of him coming upstairs.”

  The footsteps did sound rather loud on the wooden stairs.

  “We could make him little furry booties so he’s quieter,” Patience suggested. “Some of the rabbit skins glued to the bottom of his feet to muffle the sounds.”

  “That might work, at least it will help. I hope Calvin is not a light sleeper.”

  Patience had other questions. “How are we going to get into the house? Won’t the door be locked for the night? And what if the servants awaken?”

  Ada shook her head. “Their housekeeper goes home at night, once Mr. Welsh and Calvin have finished dinner. They have a maid who comes in the morning, but they don’t have any live-in servants. I had forgotten about the lock though. A clock maker's lock will be a good one. Clocks are valuable. I don’t suppose you know how to pick locks?”

  “Of course, it was one of the first things my deportment tutor taught me,” Patience grinned. “Too bad neither of us ever considered a life of crime.”

  Ada smiled, but sobered quickly. “Mr. Welsh leaves tomorrow. We only have two nights, three at most to make this work. We have to think of something!”

  But by the next night, neither had thought of a solution. As they lay in bed, feeling the time tick away, Patience rolled over and tilted her head. “Does the house have a back door?” she asked.

  “It has a door into the kitchen, the same as here,” Ada replied. “But the housekeeper will lock that door when she goes home.”

  “What if someone were already inside before she went home? Hiding somewhere in the house? If I waited around back until she serves dinner, I could sneak into the kitchen and hide in the pantry until she leaves, then I could unlock the door for you.”

  Ada’s expression exhibited doubt. “What if they catch you? What if Calvin catches you? It certainly wouldn’t help the situation.”

  Patience bit her lip. “It’s not like I want to do it, but I’m out of ideas and we are running out of time. It has to be tomorrow. And you’re the one who has to control Frank, so I had better be the one in the house.”

  Both girls had tried the control on the beast, but Patience had trouble getting it going the right direction. Ada found it much easier.

  Ada seemed ready to refuse but Patience broke in. “Besides, if I do get caught, I’ll get caught, but if you get caught, they’ll know you’re here alone and everything will be ruined. Let me do this.” She grabbed Ada’s hands between her own. “I have to make it right again. Calvin is blackmailing me and I have to be part of the solution. It’s important to me.”

  Ada slowly nodded. She didn’t look happy.

  Patience kissed her. “It’ll be all right,” she whispered, wishing she felt as certain as she sounded.

  #

  The next afternoon, Patience dressed in boy’s clothes that Ada had found in one of the disused rooms and put her hair up under a cap. She wasn’t a terribly convincing boy, but at a glance she might pass. She hugged Ada goodbye and darted into the woods. Her intention was to wait there until she was sure no one was on the streets, and then to sneak around Mr. Welsh’s house to the yard in back. Ada had told her there was a window in the kitchen that she could peep through to see when the housekeeper, Mrs. Humphries, was out of the room. Then she’d let herself in, hide in the furthest corner of the pantry and hope no one locked that at night. She didn’t think it was likely anyone bothered, but it was one factor she couldn’t control. She’d wait there until Mrs. Humphries left, stay in the kitchen until she heard Ada knock three times on the back door and then let her in.

  Ada would have to push the cart with Frank through the woods on her own, but she was strong and Patience had managed it loaded with produce and purchases, so they didn’t think the beast’s weight would be much of an issue.

  The worst part of everything was waiting.

  Patience made it to the garden without incident, though her stomach was trying to turn somersaults. She could see a pleasant-faced middle-aged woman working inside. Patience ducked down below the window and only looked up for a brief moment every so often to check if the woman was still there. Because it was summer, dinner would likely be served well before dusk, and she couldn’t rely on darkness to hide her, she would have to be quick and silent. Finally she peered over the sill and saw an empty kitchen. Standing properly she took a second look to confirm that Mrs. Humphries wasn’t just in a corner, but she was nowhere in sight. Taking a deep breath, Patience eased open the back door, praying it didn’t creak. When she heard no reaction from the rest of the house she darted inside, closed the door gingerly, and crossed the kitchen to the pantry. There was no key in the lock and her heart beat fast as she tested the door to make sure it was open. A sound from the hallway startled her and she quickly threw the door open and ran inside, closing it behind her.

  Then she waited.

  There was no immediate response, so she felt sure that neither Mrs. Humphries nor Calvin had heard her entrance. She moved a few large sacks away from one of the corners and sat on the floor behind them, glad she’d left her skirts at home; it was much easier to secrete oneself in trousers. Rustling sounds in the kitchen let her know it wasn’t yet time to emerge, though it felt like she’d been there for hours. At one point her heart almost exploded from her chest when the pantry door opened, and she held her breath as the older woman placed something on a shelf inside and closed the door without looking around. Patience waited for her heart rate to return to normal and forced herself to take calming measured breaths until she didn’t feel like running for the woods.

  Shortly after that there was the sound of a door closing heavily, and she could just hear a lock being turned. Finally. Patience counted in her head to five hundred and, when no other sound came she propped the pantry door open a crack so she would hear Ada’s knock when it came. She wished she had something to do to occupy herself. The sun still shone through the kitchen window and she knew it would be a long time before Calvin would be asleep and Ada would come.

  She conjugated Latin verbs in her head for a while, dismayed at how much she had forgotten. Then she started thinking about home, and what her parents would be doing. She wondered if they missed her, or were only embarrassed that she had disappeared after the announcement of her engagement. She suspected the latter. Maybe someday she would write to them to let them know she was safe. If she was. If their plan didn’t work she would either have to marry Calvin or go home to marry Gabriel, if he would still have her. But that would leave Ada alone and at risk of Calvin’s retribution. No, there was no choice. She couldn’t leave Ada. It would simply have to work.

  To distract her from that train of thought, she focused on Ada herself, her smile and her hair and her mannerisms. This was a much more pleasurable way to pass time, and she almost didn’t hear when three knocks came softly on the back door. She peeked outside and was surprised to realize that it was fully dark.

  Treading quietly to the door, she unlocked it and let Ada inside. She was preceded by Frank, in his booties. Ada handed her the voice box, which she would use while Ada controlled the direction of their beast. Ada threw her arms around Patience’s waist, as it if had been more than a few hours since they’d last seen each other. Patience returned the hug and rubbed her back with the hand that wasn’t holding the voice box.

  “I left the cart in the back, u
nder a tree. I hope no one notices it there,” Ada whispered, barely audible even from inches away.

  “I don’t think Calvin has gone upstairs yet. At least, I haven’t heard anything on the stairs,” Patience responded. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait?”

  Ada shrugged. Patience could barely see her in the moonlight that came through the window. She hoped there would be more light when they tried to climb the stairs. “Do you have a candle or a lamp?” she voiced her worry. “How are we going to get Frank up the stairs in the dark?”

  Ada produced a candle stub and matches from the pocket of her trousers. They were rolled several times at the cuffs and clearly miles too big for her, though Patience’s fit relatively well. She thought Ada looked adorable, like she was dressed in her big brother’s clothing for a fancy dress party.

  She forced her mind back to their problem.

  “We can light this to find the stairs, but I think we’d better blow it out before we ascend. I remember where Calvin’s room is, and you can hold onto me and follow. Stay to the edge of the stairs, so they won’t creak,” Ada said.

  They resumed waiting quietly until they heard Calvin’s heavy steps on the stairs. “How long until he falls asleep?” Patience wondered.

  “We had better give him an hour at least. He might be reading, though I don’t remember him enjoying that as a boy.” She consulted a pocket watch in the faint moonlight. “I’ll sneak up quickly first to make sure there’s no light under his door. Then I’ll come down for Frank and you.”

  The girls watched the clock hands, which moved inexorably slowly. After a little more than an hour Ada stood and reached down for Patience, helping her to rise. She lit the candle and handed it to Patience, who led the way to the stairs. When they were standing by the first step, Ada lightly ran up and came down again a moment later. “No light,” she whispered.

  Patience blew the candle stub out and placed it out of the way at the very edge of the first step. Ada tightened Frank’s clockwork, and he started walking up, slowly, with Ada guiding him from behind. Patience put her hand on Ada's back and followed her up the pitch black stairs. They paused at the landing as Ada made sure Frank was wound. Both took a deep breath and let it out in unison. Patience’s stomach was tumbling and she sent a quick prayer to whomever was listening that this would work.

  Then Ada reached for the second door on the left and threw it open, stepping behind Frank and directing him into the room.

  When the door hit the wall behind it there was a reactionary gasp, and then the sound of fumbling, which turned out to be Calvin lighting the lamp beside his bed. He threw back the sheets and backed away as he laid eyes on Frank standing in the doorway. “What? Why?” he gibbered, sounding high-pitched and terrified. His back hit the wall and he pressed back against it. “Who are you?” Calvin managed.

  Patience raised the soundbox to her mouth as Ada dropped the beast’s mouth open. “You know who I am,” she roared. She and Ada had practiced likely responses at home, so she would know what to say.

  Calvin did not respond. He just looked more terrified. Patience peeked around the door and then drew back, continuing to talk into the box. Ada was on the other side of the doorway, and only the thin cord of the control unit connected her to Frank’s body. It was completely hidden by his bulk from the front.

  The beast roared and then Patience continued. “Do you think you can get away with blackmailing the girl? She is under my protection. You will not harm her. You will not speak to her. You will not enter her presence at any point. Do you understand?” As she listed off the rules, Ada made the beast raise his right paw to tell off each item on his claws.

  Calvin squeaked as he saw the claws, which had been lengthened and filed until they were sharp and buffed, and gleamed in the lamplight.

  “DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Patience as Frank roared again.

  A sharp ammonic scent came to Patience where she waited in the hallway. She heard Calvin stammer, “Yes.” It was so quiet she could barely make it out.

  “If you do not stay away from her, if you ever speak to her again, I will return. I will rend every limb from your body, and then I will use these claws,” the claws wiggled to catch the light, “To tear the beating heart from your chest while you still breathe.”

  Ada made the beast take a few steps toward Calvin, who was now sobbing. Suddenly, Ada dropped the control and threw herself at Patience, pushing her a few steps into the dark hallway as Calvin came running out of the room. He half tumbled down the stairs, fiddled with the lock, threw open the front door, and fled into the night. He did not see either girl, or the cord that trailed behind the now-still creature. He must have thought the beast was chasing him, because as they hurriedly descended the stairs to see where he went, they could only make out a dark form running as fast as possible away from the town.

  “Do you think he’ll tell the police?” Patience asked. She was worried he’d find the local officers and bring them to the house.

  “Police?” Ada asked, “In this town? We haven’t any police force, this isn’t London, or even Canterbury. There’s only the Parish Constable here, and he’d be more afraid of Frank than Calvin was.” She laughed. “Did you see the look on his face?”

  Patience swallowed the fear that still rumbled through her and smiled. “He did look quite amusing. Did you notice that he wet his breeches?” she said.

  “He didn’t!” Ada cried, tears running down her face from laughing so hard.

  Patience closed and locked the front door before anyone could see or hear them and come to investigate. “We'd better go home,” she said, reminding Ada that they weren’t quite safe yet.

  They retrieved Frank and got him back into the cart and through the woods. Once home, Ada steered him back to his cupboard. “In case we need him again,” she told Patience, reaching up to pat the creature on the head.

  They got ready for bed quietly, though Ada kept giggling every so often.

  “Will we be safe?” Patience asked once they were in bed and the lamp blown out.

  “Only time will tell,” Ada replied, snuggling close.

  Epilogue

  Mr. Welsh dropped by to bring Ada some supplies from London. “You know, the strangest thing happened while I was away,” he remarked, over a cup of tea, holding a biscuit in his left hand. “When I got back from London, Mrs. Humphries told me that when she came to the house on Wednesday morning, the back door was unlocked and Calvin was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t find anything missing, nor could I when I searched. And just this morning I got a letter from Calvin, from London, saying he had decided to enter the university there and would I please send the tuition money.”

  The girls looked at each other and then back to Mr. Welsh.

  “The strange thing is, just last week he was telling me that he thought he’d stay here and get married. He hasn’t mentioned anything about university before, though I’ve offered to send him numerous times.”

  Patience couldn’t resist. She cleared her throat and quoted, "But if you ask what is the good of education in general, the answer is easy; that education makes good men, and that good men act nobly."

  Mr. Welsh joined her on the last line. “Ah, Plato’s philosophy on education. Very apt.”

  Ada nodded seriously. “Clearly he came to the conclusion that London was the safes… I mean, the best place for him. I hope he does well there.”

  Mr. Welsh nodded. “Yes, perhaps you’re right. I’m sure he’ll find London to his liking; he may do well with a larger and less provincial audience. London is full of new surprises around every corner, practically.” He put down his cup and finished his biscuit, brushing the crumbs from his trousers with his hand and depositing them on the saucer. “Thank you, girls. Do let me know if there’s anything else you need. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you in town soon, Patience.”

  They rose and let him out, watching through the window as he looked around carefully before turning in the direction of his
house.

  “Well, London. Isn’t that something?” Ada remarked.

  “A much better place for Calvin, lots of new surprises.” Patience added. “Perhaps he will decide to stay there, once his schooling is through.” She hoped he would anyway.

  Ada giggled and poked her in the side, gathering the tea things onto a tray. “Act nobly indeed.” She snorted.

  Patience shrugged her shoulders. “It could happen,” she responded, following Ada from the room and feeling the last of her anxiety drift away. She didn't know what they would do next, but they had lots of time to think about it.

  About the Author

  Althea Blue lives in Toronto, Canada and reads too many fairy tales. The Beast at the Door is her first novel.

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