Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)(57)

Not soon, but now. Enough waiting.

“I must go to the necessary,” I murmured to Clarence, but he didn’t budge. I shook him lightly, but the only response was a sputtering snore.

I turned to the squat Pinkerton. “I must go to the necessary.”

“I’ll eth-cort you.”

I almost laughed at his squeaky lisp. It was so unexpected. Instead, I puffed out my chest and wrinkled my nose.

“You’ll do no such thing. Have you no manners, sir?” I snorted and jumped up. “I am not the one in need of protection. You must stay with your employer.”

I scurried into the hall. Willis was there.

“My head pains me,” I told him, my chin held high. “I will hire a hackney home.”

He moved toward the balcony door, presumably to wake Clarence.

I caught his arm. “Leave him. He sleeps soundly, and he needs the rest.”

Willis narrowed his eyes, and my confidence wavered. I couldn’t let him wake Clarence. I was so close to escape.

“I daresay this is as safe a place as any for him to slumber.” I pursed my lips and arched a single, prim eyebrow. “You may tell Mr. Wilcox to call on me in the morning. I expect him to inquire after my health. Thank you.”

I swiveled, my gait as imperial as I could make it, and I marched down the carpeted hall out of the footman’s sight. When I reached the stairs, I ran. My blood pounded in my ears. For all my bravery, I was terrified of discovery. Clarence’s outburst yesterday had been as unpredictable as a summer storm, and if I slowed to let my mind think, I’d be lost to cowardice.

I raced through the now-empty main hall. My footsteps echoed off the marble tiles. The porters at the front doors exchanged shocked glances. I could imagine the sight I must have presented—a flushed ball of purple silk and rustling skirts. No matter. I whisked past them and flew out into the Philadelphia night. My feet thudded on the theater’s stone steps. Despite the stormy breeze that hit me, I sweated beneath my gown.

Jie lounged against the same streetlamp, and at the sight of me she straightened.

I jogged to her. “What’re you doing here?” My ribs heaved against my corset as I strained to catch my breath.

“I was waiting for you. Your maid isn’t so nice, yeah? I went to your house to find you, but she wouldn’t tell me where you were.”

“What’d you do?”

“I said I’d rip out her eyes and knock her teeth loose if she didn’t tell me.” She scowled, and the bruise on her cheek from the library attack made her look positively menacing.

I laughed a full, bubbling, stomach laugh. It was the first time I’d done that in weeks, and it felt good.

“I need your help,” Jie said when my chuckles subsided. “I don’t think I can trust Daniel tonight.”

Fear flapped into my throat like clawing bats. Daniel is a murderer.

“Wh-why?” I gulped. “Is there something wrong with him?”

Jie popped her knuckles. “Just something funny. I dunno. This factory makes him... makes him skittish. We need another hand in case things go wrong.”

“And you thought of me?” The fear in my throat eased back.

She shrugged. “Why not? You got legs and arms like the rest of us—you just need some trousers.”

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. “All right,” I said. “But let’s get away from here before I’m caught.”

“The men you came with.” She pointed to the theater. “Where are they?”

“Occupied.”

She flexed her arms. “Perfect. Let’s go.” She grabbed my hand and towed me into the street. “I’ll hail a hackney. Since you’re wearing that silly dress, we can’t walk to the Exhibition.”

“No one wears silly gowns in China?”

“Oh yes,” she said. “We have silly clothes too.”

“You’ll have to show me one day.”

She heaved open a hackney door and shot me a toothy grin. “That’s a deal. But first we have to survive tonight.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“I fear you have wasted your time by coming,” Joseph said a half hour after I’d fled the opera house. He pinched his lips together. “I don’t know what Jie has told you, Miss Fitt, but we do not need you.”

I huddled under my cloak, wishing Joseph would turn his worried gaze elsewhere. He, Jie, and I stood in the lab. A lone lantern flickered from the worktable.

“She’ll be a lookout,” Jie said. “We go in the factory, and she stays outside.”

“No.”

“We need her help.” She waved toward me. “What if Daniel loses his nerve?”

Joseph stood taller. “Daniel will be fine with only you. I trust him. And this is not Miss Fitt’s job, but it is our job.” His gaze flicked to me. “You have been a great help to us before, but there is too much risk for you this time.”

“But—” I started.

“Please.” His lips twisted down with apology. “I appreciate the offer. Truly, I do, but you should leave.”

“No.” I felt like an idiot standing in the middle of the laboratory dressed in layers of silk with a trail of lies snaking behind me. “I can help. Besides, it’s my brother who’s missing. I have to do everything I can to save him. It’s my duty.”