Chapter Ten Idris #2
“I was hoping to sell a few things,” she says. “And I need to find a physician.”
“Are you hurt?” I glance over her, but she seems fine.
“No.” She adjusts the coarse shawl around her shoulders. It’s knitted and well-used—one of Mrs. Westness’s, probably. “My sister had a minor injury.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I glance down the road. We have a small market by the cathedral and the Guildhall. My father and Abram are probably around there, overseeing the search for Jay—at least, if Abram isn’t out searching himself. I warn Kit, “My father will probably be about.”
She blinks. “I didn’t think … That is, King Byrne conducts all his business in the castle.”
I shake my head. “It’s a bit less formal here.”
“Well.” She looks past me and steps back. “Well, maybe I won’t …”
“You might try Kirkness?” I stick my hands into my greatcoat pockets for warmth. “Though it’s across the island. Almost a half-day’s walk.”
Kit frowns, wavering. “Do you know where these things could be sold here?”
She opens her bag and shows me an assortment of items. A pair of deerskin gloves, a bundle I think is a dress, though it doesn’t look particularly fine, and a simple necklace. I do a sum in my head.
“How bad is the injury?” I ask.
“A broken finger, I think.” Kit closes the bag again. “But—it might be more than that.”
“I’m not sure this will be enough to pay for more than one visit,” I admit. “However, I’d be happy to—”
She’s already shaking her head. “No, that’s not necessary. I can … I can find a way …”
“I have an idea,” I blurt. “My friend—Jay—has gone missing.”
“You mentioned something about that the other day.” Her hands twist the bag’s string absently. “What happened to Mr. Berd?”
I’m surprised she knows his surname and then remember he was with us at the ball. “You were introduced to him?”
“He danced with me when you, um, couldn’t.” She looks away again.
That was right after my talk with Speir, I think. I suppose it must have also been our first interaction. Mortification burns my ears. I fumble for an apology. “That must have seemed horribly rude.”
“Not horribly,” she says, her diplomacy making her sound like the real Catharine. “You weren’t well.”
I wish I could reach back and cuff my former self over the ears. Kit deserved better. “I’m still sorry.”
“It is in the past.” She waves away my concerns. “You said he is missing?”
“Yes.” I hesitate. We are still in public, and even though a curse doesn’t bind my words, I’m reluctant to say them. “We’re conducting a search. If you’d like to help, I’m sure we’re compensating the people looking. I could check, if you want.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“About two days now.” A tiny part of me wonders if she’s interested for a reason beyond just common decency. But if she is, it’s not my business. “He vanished the night before you found me.”
She thinks a moment, then nods. “I’d like to help, but I don’t want to be paid out of pity.”
“I promise it would be the same treatment we give everyone. In fact, if you want to be sure, I’ll ask my father in front of you.”
“Can he be trusted …?” She gestures to her face. “Wouldn’t he send word to King Byrne?”
I want to assure her that Father is very good at secrets, but I have to admit that I don’t know what he’d do if the secret wasn’t our family’s.
I pause, thinking. “He’s in the Guildhall right now, I believe,” I tell her.
“There’s an archive right beside one of the audience rooms. It’s terrible for reading—you can hear everything going on in the next room.
I could put you in there, and you could eavesdrop without being seen. ”
Kit wavers, weighing the risks.
“We pay quite well,” I say, fairly sure it’s true.
Her mouth tilts up in a small smile. “I guess I’ll find out.”
“This way.” I head off the main thoroughfare and take to the alleys. True bumps his nose against my palm to let me know he’s here. The three of us duck between houses and slip past sheltered courtyards.
“I’m working on your problem, by the way,” I say over my shoulder. “But I haven’t made much progress.”
“Oh, thank you.”
It seems mad that I would have no memory, at all, of a full evening. If I could stay conscious through the night, I might be able to get answers. And I could find out what happened to Jay.
I try to think back to last night, to probe through the blank for anything. It’s like trying to recall a forgotten dream. Snatches of feeling—dread, fear—and the vaguest of sensations. A shadow behind me in some cold, dark place. Blurred words drowned by music.
My head feels heavy, and a wave of exhaustion crashes over me. I stop in the middle of a narrow backstreet, barely broad enough for my shoulders not to brush each wall, and lean against one for a moment.
“Idris?” asks Kit, an anxious note in the way she says my name.
“I’m fine,” I tell her, but my voice comes out breathless. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this tired in my life.
True, who had been ahead of us, shuffles backward until he can sit against me. It’s too narrow for him to turn round. The sight of his unnatural movement makes me laugh, and some of the exhaustion lifts.
I nudge True with my foot so he’ll move forward again, then follow him out.
Kit comes around beside me. It’s odd, because it’s Catharine’s face I’m looking at, but what I thought was cool and formal on Catharine turns open and expressive with Kit.
Her scrutinizing gaze makes no secret of the way she studies me and finds whatever she sees to be worrying.
“I’ve been ill,” I admit, not exactly sure why, except that I don’t want to dismiss such unguarded concern.
“I thought so.” She tilts her head. “And you aren’t on the mend yet, I don’t think.”
I shake my head. I don’t say there’s no mending me.
True taps his nose against my boot, and I give his back a rub with one hand while I point with the other. “That’s the Guildhall.”
Kit turns to look at it. The building is grand, though dwarfed by the red-stone cathedral just down the street.
The Guildhall was built only recently and looks surprisingly modern among the characterful houses that surround it.
The stone is smooth, the windows huge. It’s designed more for show than practicality, as the wind finds many gaps to whistle through that aren’t such a problem in the old buildings.
I hope Abram is inside. I’d like to talk to him about Mr. Muir. If he has gone off to look for Jay, I won’t have a chance to see him until the evening.
“Come on,” I say, walking forward. “My father will probably be in one of the studies, not the main hall.”
Just to be sure, I pop my head in before we enter the building.
Some guild members from the islands are standing around in discussion with foreign traders and representatives.
To the left, I recognize one of the newly elected officials from the western independent nations.
His voice is over-loud, and he stands with his hands on his hips, clearly hoping to make an impression.
On the right, an elderly chieftain from the south shows a string of glass beads to a middle-aged woman in the garb of an eastern earl.
All corners of the world are here, with their different cultures and governments, but their foreignness will be an advantage for Kit. They won’t recognize her.
I wave Kit in and escort her up the servants’ stairs to the archive. “Do you mind waiting a few minutes?”
“Not at all.” She glances at the shelves of books with mild interest.
“Perfect. Just a moment.”
I close the door behind me and call a servant to the audience room where I know Kit will hear everything.
The servant informs me that Father is here, and I ask him to see if Father will join me for some tea.
Then I settle with True by one of the large windows.
I can see all the way out to the harbor from here.
Abram’s yole is moored in its usual place, so I suppose he hasn’t gone searching far if he’s out.
I call the servant back. “Is Abram here too?”
The servant shakes his head. I let him go, a little disappointed.
Father comes after a few more minutes, looking weary. I lift my hand in greeting, and confusion lowers his brow. “Idris, why do you have a cravat on your hand?”
I drop my hand again, flustered, and start untying the cloth. “No reason.”
Father massages his forehead. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d snuck out with Abram again.”
“No, I came to town instead.” I stuff the cravat into my coat pocket. “How is the search for Jay going?”
Father sighs and sits opposite me. “No news. No one has found a sign of him.”
But then, sometimes the sea takes a man without leaving a sign.
My stomach tightens, and I turn my gaze back to the harbor. Where am I going at night? Where did I lead Jay?
“How is Abram handling it?” Father asks, his voice gentler.
“He’s distressed. He can hardly help that.” I tap my foot on the floor. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him today.”
Father frowns. “He isn’t with you?”
I gesture at the otherwise empty room.