Chapter 15
The moment I got back inside the manor, I quickly made sure that the coast was clear.
Then I stole up the servants’ stairs and rushed to my room.
As soon as I’d closed the door, I took out the stolen pocket mirror from my skirts and shoved it deep beneath my mattress, feeling relief that it was out of my hands for the moment.
Then I paced the floorboards, keyed up about everything I’d just discussed with Nin.
And experienced.
I could still feel the dancing lights of the souls inside this house. Why hadn’t I paid closer attention to each one? If there were ghosts here, I wanted to find them. They could have valuable information about the house… and its occupants.
“Bethany!” I called out in a loud whisper, walking around the room.
It wasn’t as though I’d never called her before and had her not answer. But this time, I was determined. I knew she was here somewhere.
“Bethany! Come here right this instant! Why have you—”
“Molly?”
I swung around to see my former classmate huddled on the floor in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest. Her pale blue nursing uniform was streaked with dirt.
“Bethany!” I was overjoyed to see her. “Where have you been? You’re not hurt, are you?”
Of course she wasn’t. She wasn’t even alive, for the love of Pete. But she looked so haggard and beaten down. Scared.
“Are you all right?” I asked when she didn’t answer, crouching in front of her.
She blinked several times and shook her head, swallowing hard. Then her gaze connected to mine. “Molly, I got lost.”
“I’m so sorry. Where were you?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “At first, I explored the manor. Then I got scared and hid in a dark place. Someone was trying to talk to me there. I didn’t know him, and he frightened me. I call him the No-Face Man because I could never see his face.”
“The boy who appeared in my room, you mean?” Anxiety crept into my thoughts.
She shook her head frantically. “No. Not him.”
Thank goodness.
“This man was… so scary, Molly. He called me a welcher, but I don’t owe anyone money. I hid from him a few times, but he always found me. He kept calling me a naughty girl, and he told me he’d make certain I wouldn’t get punished for breaking the rules if I helped him learn more about…”
“About what?”
Bethany looked into my face. “About you.”
My chest tightened. “What did this man want to know about me?”
“I didn’t stick around to find out. I just hid again—really well, this time. I guess a little too well. Thank goodness I heard you calling, or I might’ve fallen asleep there.”
And disappeared forever? “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too. But now I’m worried the No-Face Man might find me again.”
I just couldn’t figure out who this man could be.
One of the souls I’d seen when Nin was holding me?
There was one I didn’t remember seeing. Well, two, actually.
I don’t remember seeing the master—though, it was confusing to separate the souls in the manor, so I might’ve missed him.
But I definitely didn’t sense any souls near the aegis border.
The Top Hat man.
The person I’d been warned about by both Voss and Nin. Could he be her No-Face Man? I didn’t want to bring him up until I knew for certain.
“Hopefully he will stay away now,” I told her instead. “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”
She finally relaxed her shoulders and stretched out her legs. “No, I’m all right. I’m just really glad to see you. I hate being alone.”
I wished I could touch her. “I know you do. But I’m still here, yeah?”
“I’m glad,” she said, smiling. “Tell me what’s happened while I’ve been hiding. Have you seen that boy again? I saw him a lot at first, but not after I found my special hiding spot. I don’t think he likes being alone either.”
“His name is Nin,” I told her.
“That’s a strange name,” she said, squinching up her nose.
“He’s a strange person. Did you notice anything… strange about him, like your No-Face Man?”
She shook her head. “Nothing is like that man.”
“I’ll figure out who he is, I promise. Okay?”
“Not sure if I even want to know.”
That was fair, I supposed. I smiled at Bethany, just so relieved that I’d found her again. “Really glad you’re here with me,” I told her.
Her features softened. “Me too, Molly. I don’t want to go back to my hiding spot.”
“I don’t want you to go either. I’m just… trying to understand what’s happening inside this manor. I don’t know who to trust.”
“You can trust me, sister nurse,” she said with a smile.
I already knew I could. And maybe I could trust her a little more. If she had the ability to hide herself from this No-Face Man, maybe she could hide herself from Voss.
A plan blossomed inside my head.
“Bethany,” I said. “I’ve got an idea. How would you feel about being my lookout again?”
I recalled the panic I’d felt while hunting around Hoffmann’s room and didn’t want to experience that again. It would be easier with a second pair of eyes, even if those eyes belonged to a ghost.
Bethany pouted. “Are we breaking into a pharmacy for you to learn about drugs? You know I don’t enjoy breaking rules like you do.”
“I know you don’t. But this is for a good cause. We just need to keep our eyes open for an opportunity…”
Unfortunately, that was harder to find than I’d expected.
Bethany managed to stick around, trailing me at various points throughout the remainder of the day while complaining about being tired.
Pretty typical for her, actually. I warned her to hide if she spotted Hoffmann or Voss, but not to go all the way to her secret hiding place, in case I couldn’t call her back again.
But I didn’t see Voss that night for our evening vitals check.
He was feeling tired, and Filomena informed me that he’d asked to be left alone.
That worried me because paranoia was trickling into my thoughts.
What if he somehow knew I’d been outside with Nin?
What if he knew I’d been secretly following Hoffmann?
I knew I was being irrational, letting fear guide my decisions, which was always a mistake.
But the fact of the matter was that I couldn’t get into Voss’s rooms to steal a book when he was inside those very rooms. I’d need to continue waiting for an opportunity.
I still had the entire next day to figure out something.
When morning came, Mrs. Culpepper knocked on my door to tell me that the master was feeling well enough to take the carriage out to visit his farm tenants—that he was already heading out—and that I was to skip the morning vitals check and instead report to his quarters that evening for my nightly visit.
His room will be empty. At least for the time being.
If ever there were an opportunity to find that book in his library, it was now.
When Mrs. Culpepper left, I told Bethany, “Okay, this could be our chance to get into the master’s private rooms. You can follow me, but maybe just hang back until I give you a signal that it’s safe.
If we get caught, our excuse is that we’re heading down to breakfast but I forgot something in Voss’s quarters. ”
“Breakfast?” she said in a voice filled with longing. “If there are muffins, can you save me one? Especially if it’s got blueberries inside.”
Blueberry muffins? I swear…
I chuckled to myself as she followed me out of my room.
Instead of taking the back stairs, I hiked down the hall and turned onto the Menagerie Hall, ignoring Bethany’s grumbles about the animals.
When we neared the golden doors that guarded the master’s quarters, I glanced over the balcony to make sure no one was coming.
“Stay here,” I whispered to Bethany. “But if you see anyone, come get me.”
“I don’t like this, Molly…”
I didn’t like it much either. Pulse pounding, I quickly headed to the golden doors, looked over my shoulder one last time, and turned the fancy handle.
Locked.
“Bloody hell,” I swore under my breath, returning to Bethany at the balcony.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re locked.”
“Who has a key?”
The housekeeper and the valet. I doubted Filomena did. But I couldn’t very well ask to be let inside the master’s room. I mean, that wouldn’t look suspicious at all.
“I’ll think of something,” I said, even if it meant waiting until the master returned and trying to distract him.
We headed down the grand staircase, and I left Bethany waiting for me in the foyer while I wound through the servants’ wing to see where everyone was.
“Morning,” I said to Filomena, who I found washing dishes in the kitchen. “How’s yesterday’s laundry doing outside?”
“Oh, fine. It’ll take most of the day to dry, but I could definitely use some help this afternoon bringing it inside.”
“Count on me,” I said, grabbing what was left of the morning’s oatmeal. “When’s the master due back?”
She shrugged without looking up from soapy dishes. “No more than a couple hours, likely. He’s collecting rent. Usually Mr. Hoffmann goes with him.”
I found the valet in the dining room, sitting near an empty bowl as he read a newspaper that was nearly two weeks old. My nerves were tightly strung as I tried to judge his mood, wondering if he knew I’d been outside yesterday.
But if he did, he gave no indication of it. “Good morning, Schwester Molly. You heard that the master has left the manor?”
“I did, yes.” I hoped my smile looked normal, because all I could think about was how different his soul had felt when Nin was holding me, that Hoffmann was more like him than me.
What did that mean?
Mrs. Culpepper popped her head into the dining room and spoke to Mr. Hoffmann. “Are you coming?”
“Be right there. My knee is a little stiff today.” The valet groaned as he stood up from his chair and picked up his empty oatmeal bowl.
“Coming where?” I asked him when the housekeeper dashed away.
“When the master leaves the house, we like to take the opportunity to clean his rooms thoroughly—collect fireplace ash, change the linens, take the rugs outside for beating, bring in fresh flowers.”