Read Online Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lyndsay Faye
Ads: Link
like grains through an hourglass, wind whipping drifts into sinuous eddies that broke in white-crested waves. It was terrible out there. And getting worse. Already, ships had dashed themselves to pieces along our coastline, and sailors with talismans clenched in their fists searched the horizon in vain for a lighthouse, a harbormaster, a haven, a crest of rock. To no avail. February 14 of 1846 was a cruel night. One that would be long mourned. But even if I didn’t yet know of the massacre the Hudson had wrought, I took their meaning plain.
“I’d suppose kidnap victims are normally spirited away without bothering over a trial, if possible,” I ventured. “But no sane person would dream of setting sail in this weather.”
Julius nodded. “Varker and Coles have a side business in wine distribution. They’ve a dockside shop in Corlears Hook, equipped with plenty of bottles in the front and a cell in the back. They hold people there when a ship isn’t ready to hand.”
“And that’s
legal
?” I demanded.
A host of simmering looks met my eyes.
“Next time I say something stupid, cuff me in the ear,” I requested of Julius. “What’s first on our agenda?”
“Lucy needs a hiding place. This house isn’t safe,” Julius answered.
“But I’m going with you,” she said with a deadly look in her eyes.
“That would be an insane risk,” I objected.
“He’s right.” George Higgins dug his nails into his palm. “There could be violence. And so we really ought to be
leaving.
Where’s best for Lucy to wait?”
“The station house, for my money,” I said, rising.
“No!” she cried, aghast. “No, not the Tombs. After sending Meg for the Committee, I came there for
you.
They’ll—”
“Not that station house.” I exchanged a look with Julius. “I’ve a suggestion. No offense meant, but you said
legal
help. Think of the copper stars as your hired bruisers. If a fight breaks out and we get the worst of it, you men throw down gloves—but if not, it’s cleaner to leave any milling to the star police. Tell me I’m wrong.”
A seething sort of trouble percolated in Mr. Higgins’s eyes, but Reverend Brown set a hand on his shoulder. “If we’re wanted, we’ll fall in,” the clergyman agreed.
“Aces. Mr. Piest, how are you at pugilism?”
“Ah,” he said doubtfully. “Well. Very
willing
to employ fisticuffs in a good cause, Mr. Wilde, in fact none more willing, but—”
“There’s a kinchin at risk here, and the kidnappers are armed, and visiting the Hook is its own set of risks. Mr. Piest, we’re fetching one more copper star.” I offered my hand to Mrs. Adams, who took it without looking at me. She’d gone quiet as a stone.
“Then we three will go at once to the wine shop and keep guard.” George Higgins leapt up, pulling on his gloves. “If something should happen before you arrive, Mr. Wilde, I warn you—we’ll do whatever we must.”
“I certainly hope so. We’ll meet you there in force and storm the gates. Mrs. Adams, we’re taking a hack to the Ward Eight station house.”
“And why Ward Eight?” Higgins queried pointedly.
“Because Mrs. Adams doesn’t trust copper stars, and you don’t trust copper stars, and I need another copper star who’s flash on the muscle and runs a loyal station house. That means the captain of Ward Eight. Think of him as my brother instead of as police if you like,” I suggested as we all converged on the door and the tempest beyond. “Or as a Republic of Texas–sized version of me, whatever you please. Just so long as we get your family back, Mrs. Adams, I don’t mind if you think of Valentine as a trained grizzly.”
“And anyway, that wouldn’t be too far off the bull’s-eye,” Julius muttered amiably as we shut the door behind us.
• • •
Hacks were scarce
in the violence of the storm. But so were pedestrians, and within ten minutes I was seated in a drafty cab with Mr. Piest and Mrs. Adams. Our
“I’d suppose kidnap victims are normally spirited away without bothering over a trial, if possible,” I ventured. “But no sane person would dream of setting sail in this weather.”
Julius nodded. “Varker and Coles have a side business in wine distribution. They’ve a dockside shop in Corlears Hook, equipped with plenty of bottles in the front and a cell in the back. They hold people there when a ship isn’t ready to hand.”
“And that’s
legal
?” I demanded.
A host of simmering looks met my eyes.
“Next time I say something stupid, cuff me in the ear,” I requested of Julius. “What’s first on our agenda?”
“Lucy needs a hiding place. This house isn’t safe,” Julius answered.
“But I’m going with you,” she said with a deadly look in her eyes.
“That would be an insane risk,” I objected.
“He’s right.” George Higgins dug his nails into his palm. “There could be violence. And so we really ought to be
leaving.
Where’s best for Lucy to wait?”
“The station house, for my money,” I said, rising.
“No!” she cried, aghast. “No, not the Tombs. After sending Meg for the Committee, I came there for
you.
They’ll—”
“Not that station house.” I exchanged a look with Julius. “I’ve a suggestion. No offense meant, but you said
legal
help. Think of the copper stars as your hired bruisers. If a fight breaks out and we get the worst of it, you men throw down gloves—but if not, it’s cleaner to leave any milling to the star police. Tell me I’m wrong.”
A seething sort of trouble percolated in Mr. Higgins’s eyes, but Reverend Brown set a hand on his shoulder. “If we’re wanted, we’ll fall in,” the clergyman agreed.
“Aces. Mr. Piest, how are you at pugilism?”
“Ah,” he said doubtfully. “Well. Very
willing
to employ fisticuffs in a good cause, Mr. Wilde, in fact none more willing, but—”
“There’s a kinchin at risk here, and the kidnappers are armed, and visiting the Hook is its own set of risks. Mr. Piest, we’re fetching one more copper star.” I offered my hand to Mrs. Adams, who took it without looking at me. She’d gone quiet as a stone.
“Then we three will go at once to the wine shop and keep guard.” George Higgins leapt up, pulling on his gloves. “If something should happen before you arrive, Mr. Wilde, I warn you—we’ll do whatever we must.”
“I certainly hope so. We’ll meet you there in force and storm the gates. Mrs. Adams, we’re taking a hack to the Ward Eight station house.”
“And why Ward Eight?” Higgins queried pointedly.
“Because Mrs. Adams doesn’t trust copper stars, and you don’t trust copper stars, and I need another copper star who’s flash on the muscle and runs a loyal station house. That means the captain of Ward Eight. Think of him as my brother instead of as police if you like,” I suggested as we all converged on the door and the tempest beyond. “Or as a Republic of Texas–sized version of me, whatever you please. Just so long as we get your family back, Mrs. Adams, I don’t mind if you think of Valentine as a trained grizzly.”
“And anyway, that wouldn’t be too far off the bull’s-eye,” Julius muttered amiably as we shut the door behind us.
• • •
Hacks were scarce
in the violence of the storm. But so were pedestrians, and within ten minutes I was seated in a drafty cab with Mr. Piest and Mrs. Adams. Our
Similar Books
