Read Online Flight of the Crow by Melanie Thompson - Free Book Online Page B

Pigalle, with Bryn following as best she could. He wound through the streets, nose to the ground, ears flapping. It was still morning. People were in the streets going about their business. Old women shopped, young children played ball or rolled hoops, horse-drawn carts filled the streets as deliveries to restaurants and bars took place. Fingle wove his way between the bustling crowds, ignoring everything but the scent he was following. A dog barked at him and he growled back, the reddish-brown hair on his head standing up.
    A large covered dray pulled up to the curb and Fingle turned abruptly to examine it, his nose to the ground twitching. He approached the steps into the back slowly and Bryn grew excited. Maybe Priest or Fenix hid inside. The burley driver came off his box and stared at Fingle. “What the hell is he?”
    Fingle turned and barked sharply at the driver whose massive biceps were revealed beneath rolled shirt sleeves. He was exactly the kind of man Fenix liked. When Fingle put one hand on the steps and started climbing into the van, the driver raced around the side of the wagon to stop him. “Hold on, there.”
    But Fingle was already inside. Bryn ran to follow and eagerly pushed past the blustering driver to look inside. Hams, the dray was filled with meat. Fingle stood in the middle turning around and staring in awe at racks of sausages. Bryn snorted with disgust. “Come on, Fingle. This is not what we’re after.”
    His mournful gaze met hers. “Westphalian ham,” his voice was wistful and almost a howl.
    â€œNo!” Bryn scolded. “Let’s get out of here.”
    â€œWait a minute,” the driver yelled. “Did he touch anything?”
    Bryn waved her hand over his eyes. “Forget us. We were never here.”
    â€œYou were never here,” he repeated and Bryn ran after Fingle, who galloped away, tracking once again with a string of sausages hanging out of his mouth.
    He led her down several side alleys, trotted by Saint Sulpice Church, and ended up in front of a building that had been cut into small apartments. When he stood up, his mournful eyes held a question. “He lives in there. Do you want me to keep hunting him?”
    â€œCan you scent Fenix?”
    â€œYes, Miss Bryn. She been here, but she weren’t alone.”
    â€œCan you tell who she was with?”
    â€œSomeone from your club. I smelt sex on her, definitely a female and older. I detected old lady scent.”
    â€œDo you smell that on me?”
    His face reflected confusion. “Should I?”
    Bryn’s tiny smile flashed and was gone. “I was only wondering. I can’t believe it’s an odor you can detect. I feel sure she was with Mistress Chat. She runs the club and she’s both old and very sexually active.”
    â€œOld people have a very distinctive scent.”
    â€œThat’s something I never needed to know. Did she go inside?” Bryn hated to think of her sister alone in that place. She shouldn’t go off on her own like this.
    Fingle’s tone was mournful. “Yes, she went in there.”
    â€œThen we go, too.”
    They slipped down a narrow alley and entered the building through the black door. The foyer was small and smelled of garlic, cooking oil and fried meat. Fingle sniffed around the base of the stairs and pointed with his nose. “They’s gone up.”
    â€œBoth of them?”
    Fingle nodded and started up the stairs on all fours sniffing each step on the way. Bryn followed with her heart in her throat. They were in Priest’s lair, the lair of the Devil himself and Fenix had followed him here. She was newly reborn an adult. How could her sister be so thoughtless and cause her this much anxiety? She must know how terrified Bryn would be.
    They reached the third-floor landing and Fingle sniffed his way to the flat facing the front. Bryn took Fenix’s wand out and tapped the door. It flew open.