A Study In Ashes Part 23

Edgerton was instantly alert. The newspaper vanished into his overcoat, and a slender, three-barreled weapon appeared. It was somewhere between a rifle and a gun and the Schoolmaster had seen it blast through a brick wall.

"We're going for a stroll in the woods, not storming the Tower," the Schoolmaster said with a smile, but he pulled his own weapon nonetheless.

"Part of being a lackey is keeping you alive."

The Schoolmaster huffed. "I'm not helpless."

"You're a target," Edgerton complained, following him into the woods. Their feet crunched on fallen leaves, releasing a sharp scent of loam.

"No one knows who I am."

"You're still a target. It's not who you are-yet. It's what you did. You organized every rogue maker in the Empire."

That was true. The craftsmen had fought the Steam Council first, one forge and workshop at a time, organizing in secret to carry on their trades. And that had been all the rebels had needed as a starting point. Mycroft Holmes and the aristos like Bancroft had come later.

The Schoolmaster pushed a branch out of his path. "Figures I'd be gunned down for illicitly a.s.sisting in the repair of a b.u.t.ter churn."

"Let it be known that no matter is too small for the attention of the Baskervilles," Edgerton said mildly.

"Don't quote me at me. And I tried to keep the Baskerville name out of it."

"People need a white knight, so they nominated you. They love you as a hero. They'll like you even better when they find out you're their next king."

They walked a moment in silence, the only sound birdsong and their crunching footfalls. The Schoolmaster broke the silence first. "They want freedom. That's why we'll prevail."

Edgerton smiled brightly. "Plus, you'll look better on a postage stamp than Jasper Keating."

"Maybe I'll clap you in irons."

"You'd never find your way to the royal loo without me."

Probably not. If he did manage to succeed, he was going to need every friend he could get. Running an empire wasn't a one-man show.

They found Bucky Penner and Smythe lounging against a boulder and smoking cigarettes. They were Edgerton's friends from his school days and each had proven his loyalty to the rebel cause over the last year-although neither Smythe nor Penner knew the Schoolmaster was of royal birth. The two were an odd pair, preferring to avoid each other's company unless a.s.signed to the same mission. At the moment, they stood as far apart as they could without appearing ridiculous. Evidently, there had been a duel over a fair maiden at some point in their past, and their friendship had never recovered.

Captain Smythe looked odd out of his cavalry uniform, as if he might as well have been wearing his nightshirt. Penner looked somber, but that apparently was his norm. The Schoolmaster had heard about an ailing lady love-but the man kept his private matters to himself. Still, the Schoolmaster wondered if it was the same woman who was the object of the duel.

The land sloped down to the right, long russet gra.s.s waving between patches of gorse and rowan. Captain Niccolo was at the bottom of the valley, digging with his bare hands at the base of a granite boulder. Despite his very ordinary suit of clothes, the man's olive skin and long black hair set him apart from the others. But more than that, he moved with the controlled grace of a hunting cat. No one would have difficulty believing him a pirate. The Schoolmaster was very glad he was on their side.

He stopped beside Penner. "How goes it?"

Penner exhaled a cloud of smoke, looking bemused. "We've been over at least a mile of road. He says little, frowns at the trees, stops and walks around the rocks, and talks to the birds. It's been fascinating-a bit like dealing with St. Francis turned highwayman."

"Can you tell if there's been progress?"

Penner shrugged a shoulder. "This is the first time he's started to dig."

The Schoolmaster immediately started down the slope, walking sideways to keep from slipping. A squirrel burst from the underbrush, chattering curses as it bolted up a tree.

Niccolo was kneeling in the fallen leaves, pulling handfuls of dirt and debris from a dent in the earth. His hair had fallen around his face, hiding his eyes. The Schoolmaster stopped a few yards away. It was obvious that the captain had found his buried treasure, because he was tenderly pulling something from the ground, every angle of his body proclaiming his relief.

The object wasn't much to look at. There was a crude fabric sling, now filthy, that the captain cast aside. The metal cube within it appeared to be a mess of different metals melted together. Bits of rust splotched the surface, disguising what might have once been gears.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" the Schoolmaster asked, wondering if the device had been destroyed in the crash.

The captain looked up, dark eyes bright with happiness. "Once she was covered in gold and gems, but that was just ornament. Everything that needs to be here is intact." He rose, holding the cube between dirty hands. "This is Athena's Casket."

The Schoolmaster drew near, underwhelmed by its appearance. He had expected something more ... sparkly. But then, just as he grew close enough to touch the cube, he felt it. There was a drop of the Blood in most of the royal houses. He couldn't work magic, but he could sense a tingling over his face and hands that said it was pouring from that cube. He looked up with a feeling of excitement. "It is real."

It was a foolish statement, but Niccolo just smiled. "It will be a long time before she forgives me for putting her in the dirt." And then he stopped, staring at the cube, a frown creasing his brow.

Then he looked up with a pleased expression. "Athena bids you fair greeting."

"Um," the Schoolmaster said, looking at the lump of dirty metal and trying to relate it to the Greek G.o.ddess that was its-her-namesake. "Tell her fair greetings from me?"

The captain's eyes narrowed, some new emotion thinning his lips. "She says she sees the Blood in you."

Cold surprise rushed over the Schoolmaster, and he could not hide a flinch. He stared at the lump in the man's hands and could feel the intelligence almost touchably present around it.

"I did not know you carried magic," Captain Niccolo said evenly, keeping his voice low.

"I don't," the Schoolmaster replied tersely. "It's such a small amount that it means nothing."

"Yet it is enough for her to see it."

The Schoolmaster was beginning to dislike this talking cube. "She has good eyesight and possibly a magnifying gla.s.s. But I suppose half the population has a drop of the Blood somewhere in their family tree."

The captain nodded. He had brought a leather satchel-or rather, appropriated it from the Schoolmaster's closet-and now he stowed the cube inside and dusted off his hands. "Perhaps someday you will tell me why Athena calls you vasilias."

It was Greek for king. There was a moment of stunned silence on the Schoolmaster's part as he gathered his wits. "Perhaps."

Niccolo gave a low laugh. "I know the word, but I don't pretend to know what it means in your case. Give me a chance at revenge, and I do not care if you are Edmond Baskerville or the queen of Sheba. I will keep your secrets, whatever they are."

"Thank you." There would be a time when he had to reveal himself, but he prayed it wasn't quite yet. He knew how to be Edmond Baskerville. Prince Edmond was-he wasn't quite ready for that.

The captain was watching him, self-contained as ever. "You should know that devas see through to our essence."

"What are you saying?"

"Just that. The land is watching." With that, the captain started up the slope to join the others, taking the incline in long, easy strides.

The Schoolmaster watched him go for a moment before following, now sensing a thousand pixie eyes boring into the back of his head. The land is watching. He could well imagine it. He'd grown up on the moors, with their moody, austere personality. And a king has to answer to the land.

The Schoolmaster pondered the conversation as they walked back to the roadside inn, where they hired a conveyance back to the train station. He turned Niccolo's words over and over like a tool he couldn't figure out how to use. He'd known about devas all his life-magic clung to the countryside like stubborn brambles. If the spirits could identify him, it was a minor miracle that no woodwife had pointed him out on the street. But he also knew it took more than a drop of the Blood to speak to the nature spirits, and there were hardly any of the old families left. Who besides Captain Niccolo and a handful of unlucky prisoners spoke to the devas anymore? More to the point, who spoke for the devas who tended the land?

The notion plunged him into deep thought. But while he was quiet, the others were merry. Even Penner and Smythe set aside their mutual dislike to enjoy Niccolo's success. Victory augured well for the future.

In boisterous spirits, the party reached the train station in good time. The platform was tiny, but there was a tearoom across the way. Penner, Smythe, and the captain went in search of something to eat. The Schoolmaster lingered outside the station, head still spinning with questions.

Suddenly, Edgerton was at his elbow. "I have the afternoon edition of the county paper."

The Schoolmaster looked up, not really caring. "And?"

His friend's face was pained. "I'm sorry. I'm shocked that no one contacted you before this came out, but then you're a hard man to find."

"That's kind of the point of my lifestyle," he said cautiously, wondering what Edgerton had found in the paper. Did the crown prince die? He took it, reluctance hitting him the moment his fingers touched the page.

And then he saw the headline. Shock made him fumble the folded sheet, and he had to snap it taught and read the words again. Heat crept up his cheeks in the same instant his whole body went cold.

SIR CHARLES BASKERVILLE FOUND DEAD AT FAMILY HOME.

He skimmed the rest of the article, his memory supplying details of place and personalities as he read. Sir Charles had been found dead in the yew walk. The authorities were prepared to claim it was simple heart failure, except for a handful of details-including the look of abject horror on the dead man's face. Sherlock Holmes had been engaged to investigate. Murder.

Words caught in his throat, snagged there by sorrow and anger, and it was a full minute before he could get them out. "They found out Nellie Reynolds went to my father for help."

No need to say who "they" were. It was just another of the one thousand and one tales of what the steam barons had done. They'd taken the only family he'd ever really known. And just like that, the rebellion wasn't simply about justice anymore, or ideals, or making sure everyone had a voice. Like the captain, he wanted payback.

My father. Far more than Prince Albert, a man he'd never met.

He slapped the paper back into Edgerton's hands, anger pumping with every beat of his heart. "Cable Mycroft Holmes."

"And tell him what?" His friend's eyes were wide.

I'm going to pound each and every steam baron until there is nothing left but a smear of soot.

"Tell him the hounds are unleashed. This just got personal."

London, October 2, 1889.

LADIES' COLLEGE OF LONDON.

2:15 p.m. Wednesday.

"I HEARD SOMEONE IN YOUR ROOMS THREE DAYS AGO," DEIRDRE said archly. "A man's voice. I'm just across the hall, you know, and I'm not old and deaf like Matron."

"You're merely hallucinating," Evelina retorted, although she was seized with a ridiculous urge to grin. Part of her ached to talk about Nick, but that was impossibly dangerous. Nonetheless, it suddenly made her much more sympathetic toward all Deirdre's blather about the young men on campus.

"I am not hallucinating!" Deirdre protested, dropping her voice to a whisper. "You were with someone! Or I should say someone arrived and I never heard them leave."

Evelina glanced around. They were walking across the quadrangle from the small college library, their arms loaded with books. Or, Evelina's were. Deirdre as usual had the minimum required for her essay. Fortunately, no one seemed to be interested in their chatter, so Evelina was free to continue baiting her friend. "If someone arrived and never left, then I have an invisible man in my rooms."

"A handsome one, no doubt."

"How can he be invisible and handsome?"

"Well, he could look any way you liked if you couldn't actually see him."

Evelina shrugged. "Or perhaps he could change at will. A shape-shifter."

Deirdre rolled her eyes skyward. "Oh, wouldn't that be a lark. I'd never have to make up my mind between tall and fair or dark and mysterious."

"And so much better than invisible. That would be a tripping hazard."

They walked in companionable silence for a moment, and then Deirdre spoke again. "I won't ever tell, you know. Your secret is utterly safe with me."

Evelina didn't doubt it. She'd covered for far too many of Deirdre's escapades to lack ammunition of her own-and she didn't think her friend was the type to tell tales anyhow. "I appreciate your discretion."

Deirdre gave a triumphant smile and put an extra spring in her step. "Ah, then you admit you have something to hide!"

"Not for a moment." Evelina fell silent as Professor Moriarty intersected their path.

"Ladies." He tipped his tall hat. "A word with you, please, Miss Cooper?"

She exchanged glances with Deirdre. The other girl gave a nod and then hurried off, her bustle swaying gracefully as she moved. Evelina noticed Moriarty turn and gaze appreciatively at her retreating form.

When he tore his gaze away, Evelina was waiting patiently. "You're looking well, Professor Moriarty."

"I spent a day or two in the country, which is as good as a month of rest anywhere else." His glance fell on the stack of books in her arms, and then immediately took them from her. "Studious as ever, I see." He c.o.c.ked his head to read the spines. "You're developing an interest in rare elements."

"This library does not have much," she complained, falling into step beside him as they continued toward her residence.

He gave her a sideways glance, his mouth curled in a half smile. "You are, no doubt, curious about the type contained in the mechanisms of your bracelets."

She flushed. "I am not even sure which one it is."

"No doubt all these heavy tomes will give you a clue." They stopped at the foot of the stairs to her door. He rested the stack of books on the newel post of the handrail, one hand on top to keep them from sliding away. "And your investigation is timely, given the request that just arrived on Sir William's desk. It seems your uncle is asking for your a.s.sistance with a murder investigation in the south."

Surprise made Evelina fall back a step. "Murder?"

"So it seems. Sir Charles Baskerville has died. Did you know him?"

She blinked. "Only by name." He was the one who helped Nellie Reynolds.

"Yes, the name. It must have been such an inconvenience to have the same moniker as the rebels. Poor old gentleman. From all accounts he was a gem, taking in that foundling boy and raising him like his own." Moriarty's eyes glittered, and she was certain he knew more than he was telling.

But her scrambling wits were too fully occupied to look for more problems. She knew something had to be done to get her to Dartmoor to help with the laboratories, but the murder of Sir Charles? The timing was all too convenient. Or did it just point to the fact that Nellie Reynolds had brought trouble to his door? It could be that the case and her mission were one and the same; any other explanation was too sinister.

"Would you like to go solve a murder, Miss Cooper?" he asked smoothly.

"Of course."

His fingers tapped the stack of library books with a kind of speculative impatience. "It is in my power to convince Sir William to approve your leave from the college."