Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(72)

The “sick friend” gave me the ideal excuse to visit the florist shop, where I put out the word of who I needed to find. From there, I caught a ride on the secret subway heading downtown. I checked in at my usual shops, but I didn’t have much luck in anyone knowing the sort of people I needed. My last stop was the laundry, where I was relieved to find my contact at the counter and no other customers.

I quickly explained my situation, and she smiled. “I have friends who work there. We may be able to get in and out, but not to the cells.”

“Could they tell me more about how things work, who might be able to get to the cells?”

“They might. I will have to ask. I will see them tonight. Can you come back tomorrow?” Just then, the door opened and a customer entered. The counter girl wrote out a ticket, handed it to me, and said, “Ready tomorrow.”

I wasn’t sure how I would manage to get away again, but right now, I didn’t care. Even if I had to vanish along with Henry, I had to get him to safety. I wasn’t sure how long I’d manage to keep my position, anyway. The governor seemed pleased with my work, but I knew he wanted to send Flora and Rollo to England—her to find a husband, him to boarding school. Even if I risked it all, I wasn’t really risking much.

Back home, I claimed that my friend was very ill and would surely need me to look in on her again the next day. I felt guilty for the sympathy the children and Mrs. Talbot expressed, but I knew my lies were for a good cause. And I did truly have a friend in distress who needed my help.

But apparently, my lies weren’t quite as polished as I would have liked. Flora stopped me as we left the dining room after dinner and said, “What are you up to?”

“Whatever do you mean?” I asked, knowing my tone didn’t sound as flippant as I would have liked.

“Do you have some sort of plan to help Henry?”

“What makes you think that I’m the kind of person who could do anything for him?”

“I think that there’s more to your friends than you let on.”

“Such as?”

“Colin—Mr. Flynn—looked very different this time, like he was in disguise, and he and his sister seemed to be in the park looking for you. I noticed that he came up with an excuse to get Olive and me away from you so that you could talk to Miss Flynn. If he’d only wanted to flirt with me, he wouldn’t have included Olive. Then you let us go with him. You know he and I have a very improper attachment, so it would have been your job as chaperone to stay with us.”

“I didn’t think you’d do anything untoward in front of Olive.”

“I wouldn’t do anything untoward anyway. I know better. Are you doing something to help Henry? Because if you are, I want to help. What can I do?”

I studied her face for a long moment. Her eyes were steely and her jaw was firmly set. For once, I could see some family resemblance between her and her uncle. I decided that I had to trust her. She could prove quite useful. “I don’t know yet. We’ll have to act quickly because I hear they’re sending him to England by the end of the week.”

“He really is guilty, isn’t he? I’ve always known he had radical views, but he’s been doing things. He just acts like a silly amateur scientist, but I know that’s not what he’s really like. It’s like his secret identity.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You’re not the only person in this house with a weakness for pulp novels, Miss Newton.”

“Really?”

“Well, I can’t let that sort of thing get out. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“One way you can help me is by taking over Olive’s lessons in the morning. I have to go meet with my contacts and see if the plan is shaping up.”

“I’ll have my maid get me up early. Then you can go visit your ‘sick friend.’”

*

This surprising turn of events made my life easier. The next morning, Flora appeared at breakfast and took care of Olive, so after I dropped Rollo off at school I was able to head directly downtown. My friend intercepted me on the street corner nearest the laundry.

“Oh good, perfect timing!” she said. “I was hoping you would come this morning, and right when I go on break you appear. That is a good omen. Come, we must talk. There are people you should meet.”

She guided me down a set of steps into a basement. The air in there was so warm and damp that I struggled to breathe for a moment. It was a laundry room, where women stirred great vats of steaming water. They glanced at us as we entered, but went back to their work.

My friend took me through the laundry to a small room at the back, where several women waited. One was Chinese, like my friend. Another was a tall, heavyset woman with curling fair hair. The third was dark-skinned and wiry. As was usual in these circumstances, no introductions were made.

“They all work at the fort,” my friend said. “Your friend is there.”

The Chinese girl said something in her language, and my friend translated, “She says they can get you in and out through the laundry.”

“I can get you close to the cells, if you don’t mind pushing a broom,” the dark-skinned woman said. “I’m on the night cleaning crew. No one ever looks at us, so that much should be easy. The trick will be getting the cell open. I don’t know how to get keys.”