Read Online The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry - Free Book Online Page B

beyond which Lena could see a weathered railing to a staircase that dropped over the edge of the cliff. On a point of the roof, a copper horse, tinted green by the sea air, danced crazily in the wind. Several other brass fixtures that Lena didn’t recognize spun furiously.
    She lifted the brass knocker and mentally rehearsed what she would say. But the woman who opened the door never gave her a chance.
    “All vendors use the back door.” She was tall and angular and stood with her hands on her jutting hip bones. She glared at Lena.
    “I’m not selling anything. I’m here to see Mr. Beasley and Jimson Quiggley.”
    The woman looked her up and down. “You’re not here about the bicycles? Or the hair tonic?” She peered around Lena as if she was expecting to see someone with her on the step. “All by yourself, then? What’s your business?” She thrust her neck forward, like a chicken, Lena thought. Next thing she’d be strutting and clucking.
    “I’m a friend of Mr. Quiggley, and I have a business question for Mr. Beasley.”
    “I’m not sure I should bother the gentlemen if you can’t tell me more—”
    “Tell you more what?”
    Lena recognized the voice immediately. Jimson’s head appeared behind the housekeeper’s taut gray bun, and his eyes grew wide with surprise or pleasure as he gazed over her shoulder. “Mrs. Pollet, this is my dear friend Miss Lena Mattacascar. I think we should invite her in, don’t you?” His eyes twinkled in the way Lena remembered from the train.
    Mrs. Pollet sniffed, but her expression softened when she looked at Jimson. “She could have said so in the first place.” She backed away from the door just enough to give Lena room to slip inside. As she scooted past, Lena realized that the housekeeper was half a head taller than Jimson.
    Jimson was around Mrs. Pollet in a flash, taking Lena’s hand in his and pumping it up and down. “How have you been? Are you still staying with your cousin? Did they ever find your purse?”
    Lena could hardly answer one question before he was on to another. She found herself smiling at Jimson’s lively face. The entryway itself confused Lena even more. It was like no foyer she had ever seen. The ceiling was two stories above her and painted to look like the night sky, except where a window in the painted sky let in a patch of real blue with clouds scudding by. The wall in front of her featured brass instruments, some with dials. There was a barometer, a compass, a thermometer, and others she couldn’t identify.
    Jimson was still talking. “You have to see the library and meet Mr. Beasley.”
    Lena dove into the rushing stream of words. “What did she mean about bicycles and hair tonic?”
    “Oh, Mr. Beasley ordered a bicycle from Mr. A. A. Pope and Company. It was supposed to be here last week. Hair tonic . . .” His forehead dissolved in wrinkles as he thought. Lena had forgotten how open Jimson’s face was. It held none of the marshal’s secretive intensity. “I’m not sure about that one. But you have to come see what we have here.”
    He’s only been here a couple of days, and he’s already talking as though he owns the place, Lena thought enviously.
    “Come with me. Mr. Beasley’s a great inventor, a man ahead of his time. But first tell me everything you’ve been doing.”
    Lena was surprised how comforting it was to be with someone familiar, someone who made her feel safe. This time Jimson really did pause to listen, asking her just a few astute questions about her days in Knoster. Lena left out all mention of the marshal except to say she had met with him once and that he had failed to find her purse. She even confessed that she was now staying at Miss Brett’s rather than with her cousin.
    As they talked, Jimson led her through a series of hallways toward the library.
    “How have you gotten on with your library work?” She hoped he’d managed to satisfy Mr. Beasley.
    “Perfect. His library is the most amazing