Read Online Alice by Christina Henry - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Christina Henry
Tags: Fantasy
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right, then?” Hatcher asked. “I’ll try to walk slower.”
Alice nodded and they got to their feet, moving out into the maze of the City. She had no inkling how he was able to tell where they were in relation to anyplace else. All the streets appeared the same to Alice—foggy and sooty and smelling of sweat and frying food.
In the New City the avenues were lined up neat and straight, at orderly angles to one another, and all the streets were marked with pretty names like Daisy Lane and Geranium Street. Bess said that Cheshire lived up in Rose Way. Alice doubted very much that roses grew there. The sun barely penetrated the haze that blanketed the Old City. And how could anyone tell which street was Rose Way at any rate? Nothing was marked.
“We’ll go until sunrise, then find somewhere to sleep for a few hours.”
“Not in the street?” Alice asked hopefully.
Hatcher shook his head. “I changed some of that gold for small coin, so we won’t attract attention if we take a room.”
“At an inn,” Alice said, picturing downy soft beds and maids with tea trays and breakfast buns.
“There are no inns hereabouts—leastways, not any where I would take you,” Hatcher said, his face grim.
“They’re not really inns,” Alice said, understanding at once.
“No,” Hatcher said, and left it at that.
Alice wondered how many girls went missing every day in the Old City, how many mothers cried because their daughters never came home.
Her mother had cried, the day they found her. She’d thrown her arms around Alice and wept and said everything would be all right now, she was home.
Except it wasn’t all right, and soon her mother stopped weeping with gratitude and instead spoke sharply, telling Alice to stop talking nonsense about a Rabbit. In the end there was no trace of the woman who’d loved her, only an impatient mask, eager to send away the person who no longer fit neatly in the little jigsaw puzzle of their house.
Alice dragged alongside Hatcher, desperate for rest, squinting hopefully at the sky for any pink-and-orange ray of light. She was looking up instead of around, which was why she didn’t see the sentries.
Hatcher did. He touched her shoulder and pulled her into a little alcove next to a cobbler’s shop.
“There’s two guards ahead,” Hatcher said. “We’re passing into the red streets now, and every captain will have soldiers patrolling to keep the enemy out.”
“The red streets?” Alice asked.
“Aye. This is a part of the City where the bosses don’t simply sit back and collect tithes from the shopkeepers. They fight each other tooth and claw for every penny and every square inch of ground.” Hatcher put his hands on Alice’s shoulders. “If you go missing from me here, or if they find out you’re a girl, I’ll never see you again.”
CHAPTER
5
She nodded, trying to look brave though everything inside her quaked. “I understand.”
“You’ll wish you were dead,” he said.
“I remember,” she said, her voice faint. “I remember wishing that. I’ll stay close, and I won’t be a mouse. I’ll be your brother.”
Hatcher nodded. “Let’s pack up the cloaks. They’re noticeable, and we don’t want the guards to pay us too much mind.”
Alice took off the cloak with no small amount of regret, and shivered. She tugged her jacket close around her and felt the weight of the little knife in her pocket.
Hatcher spent a moment arranging things in the pack and then said, “I’ll do the talking if there’s any to be done.”
She followed him back into the street, her cap pulled low over her eyes, and stuck her hands in her pockets. Her fingers went around the handle of the knife and gripped it hard. The street ahead of them appeared deserted. She didn’t see any sentries. Perhaps Hatcher imagined them in the fog.
Then, as suddenly as if they’d crossed some trip wire, two men appeared out of the darkness, one from each side.
“Just where do you think
Alice nodded and they got to their feet, moving out into the maze of the City. She had no inkling how he was able to tell where they were in relation to anyplace else. All the streets appeared the same to Alice—foggy and sooty and smelling of sweat and frying food.
In the New City the avenues were lined up neat and straight, at orderly angles to one another, and all the streets were marked with pretty names like Daisy Lane and Geranium Street. Bess said that Cheshire lived up in Rose Way. Alice doubted very much that roses grew there. The sun barely penetrated the haze that blanketed the Old City. And how could anyone tell which street was Rose Way at any rate? Nothing was marked.
“We’ll go until sunrise, then find somewhere to sleep for a few hours.”
“Not in the street?” Alice asked hopefully.
Hatcher shook his head. “I changed some of that gold for small coin, so we won’t attract attention if we take a room.”
“At an inn,” Alice said, picturing downy soft beds and maids with tea trays and breakfast buns.
“There are no inns hereabouts—leastways, not any where I would take you,” Hatcher said, his face grim.
“They’re not really inns,” Alice said, understanding at once.
“No,” Hatcher said, and left it at that.
Alice wondered how many girls went missing every day in the Old City, how many mothers cried because their daughters never came home.
Her mother had cried, the day they found her. She’d thrown her arms around Alice and wept and said everything would be all right now, she was home.
Except it wasn’t all right, and soon her mother stopped weeping with gratitude and instead spoke sharply, telling Alice to stop talking nonsense about a Rabbit. In the end there was no trace of the woman who’d loved her, only an impatient mask, eager to send away the person who no longer fit neatly in the little jigsaw puzzle of their house.
Alice dragged alongside Hatcher, desperate for rest, squinting hopefully at the sky for any pink-and-orange ray of light. She was looking up instead of around, which was why she didn’t see the sentries.
Hatcher did. He touched her shoulder and pulled her into a little alcove next to a cobbler’s shop.
“There’s two guards ahead,” Hatcher said. “We’re passing into the red streets now, and every captain will have soldiers patrolling to keep the enemy out.”
“The red streets?” Alice asked.
“Aye. This is a part of the City where the bosses don’t simply sit back and collect tithes from the shopkeepers. They fight each other tooth and claw for every penny and every square inch of ground.” Hatcher put his hands on Alice’s shoulders. “If you go missing from me here, or if they find out you’re a girl, I’ll never see you again.”
CHAPTER
5
She nodded, trying to look brave though everything inside her quaked. “I understand.”
“You’ll wish you were dead,” he said.
“I remember,” she said, her voice faint. “I remember wishing that. I’ll stay close, and I won’t be a mouse. I’ll be your brother.”
Hatcher nodded. “Let’s pack up the cloaks. They’re noticeable, and we don’t want the guards to pay us too much mind.”
Alice took off the cloak with no small amount of regret, and shivered. She tugged her jacket close around her and felt the weight of the little knife in her pocket.
Hatcher spent a moment arranging things in the pack and then said, “I’ll do the talking if there’s any to be done.”
She followed him back into the street, her cap pulled low over her eyes, and stuck her hands in her pockets. Her fingers went around the handle of the knife and gripped it hard. The street ahead of them appeared deserted. She didn’t see any sentries. Perhaps Hatcher imagined them in the fog.
Then, as suddenly as if they’d crossed some trip wire, two men appeared out of the darkness, one from each side.
“Just where do you think
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