After about twenty minutes a form loomed in the doorway.

  He was never loud. If they saw him, it meant he was choosing to be seen.

  “Come out,” Ruby said. “Show yourself.”

  Gwath stepped out into the moonlight.

  “Providence,” her father breathed. He launched himself forward to crush the other man in his arms. A tight knot spun loose in Ruby’s chest: a knot she hadn’t even known was there. Over her father’s shoulder she could see Gwath’s face. Never, ever had she seen him look pained or troubled, but that was what she saw as he hugged Teach right back just as hard and stared into the shining, stunned eyes of Marise Fermat. Ruby had wondered if Gwath had hinted anything to her mother. Unless she was a better actor than Ruby, he hadn’t.

  And then the captain pulled back and around to look at Marise. The two men stood there arm in arm, and her mother’s face was so still and fragile, like a glass bird ready to take flight. All the confidence and pride and science were stripped away. She was scared, Ruby saw. Her mother was so scared.

  Little claws scrabbled at her side, and without looking away she reached her arm down and the ottermaton climbed up and buried her face into the crook of Ruby’s elbow.

  Wayland Teach stared at Marise, his arm around Gwath’s, and then Ruby’s heart burst with pride as he held out his hand to her mother. It was understanding, and forgiveness, and love. Had she been unfaithful? Had their marriage been for show? For Ruby, those were questions for another time. Right now Marise, sniffling, stumbled forward into their arms, and they stood there, the three of them, holding one another.

  Then a wonder: they opened the circle and invited her in.

  And wonder of wonders, she went. They folded their arms about her and Evie, and the knot in her chest unlooped and blossomed into something wonderfully new: contentment.

  “Why now?” Marise asked a little bit later.

  “When else?” The anger Ruby felt at her mother had taken only a few moments of rest before it bloomed back, stronger than ever. Was it possible to hate someone and still feel other things for her, too? She forged on. “It’s like you said, Marise. ‘People will die.’ I didn’t want to be one of those people who get shot or knifed or something and not have my family know one another. Especially since we all were wandering about in the Warren, bumping up against one another like cattle in a ship’s hold.”

  Gwath, strangely, had brought a hunk of cheese, and they handed it around. The absurd thought struck Ruby: this was her first family dinner. The other three were quietly talking when she realized that Evie was no longer sitting next to her. The little artifice was standing at the gate of the courtyard, stock still and quivering, staring straight through the gap between the gate and the fence.

  Ruby knelt down next to Evie. “What is it, girl?”

  Evie chittered quietly without turning away.

  Ruby tried to follow the otter’s stare through the gap. A small block of buildings sat in the center of the square, a coffeehouse among them. It was busy even in the middle of the night, with outdoor tables full of patrons coming and going, most of them lively with conversation.

  One table sat quiet. Two men and two women in unassuming clothing silently sipped their drinks. The two facing the gate were good at masking it, but it took Ruby only a few moments to recognize that their eyes never strayed from the courtyard. This itself wouldn’t have been of any note until those four people rose up to leave. At that moment, almost like a dance, four other patrons sat down at the table, and the two facing the gate took up the exact same behavior.

  And the four new patrons at the coffeehouse table? Ruby knew them. They were dressed to blend in rather than in their standard uniforms, but there was no mistaking the matching white hair of Never and Levi Curtsie or, for that matter, even from behind, the ox-wide shoulders of Gideon Stump and the deadly grace of Avid Wake.

  “Ruby?” Gwath and the rest had come up behind her.

  “What is it?” said Wayland Teach.

  Ruby took some small comfort in figuring that if any of the four could see her, they would have shown some sign. Still . . . “We’d best get back down the tunnel, and we’d best get to Hearth right away.” She eased back on her heels and looked up at the rest of them. “The Warren is no longer a secret. We’re being watched.”

  CHAPTER 12

  A council is an excellent place for speaking.

  I am one who is more for doing.

  —Mother Greenfoot, Keepers of the Western Door, 1636

  Athena could barely find a place to stand.

  Madame Hearth’s office was full. The Bluestockings called Badger, Ax, and Flame were there, and Greta Van Huffridge stood next to the leader of the Warren. Henry had fetched Petra alla Ferra, and she had brought her daughters. All three of them were giving Gwath the stinkeye.

  And Providence help them all, there was tea.

  “Do we have to take tea?” Cram and his ever-present satchel had squeezed into the only remaining corner with his mistress.

  Athena leaned over and murmured, “You see anyone else with cups? It’s a keen group in here. If that stuff tastes any worse than it smells, this rising will be over before it begins.”

  Ruby looked as if she could barely contain herself, fidgeting between Gwath and Captain Teach, with Marise next to them. Athena felt a strange pang. For now Ruby had three parents, and Athena had not seen her one in almost a year. Did her father miss her or even know that his only daughter was at the center of a plot he had engineered to change the rulership of the colonies themselves? Godfrey Boyle had hired Petra alla Ferra and Los Jabalís to acquire Ruby, Marise Fermat’s journal, and Henry, in that order.

  Athena was not even on that list.

  True, Athena’s father had sent her expressly to the colonies to get Ruby, but then why hire Los Jabalís? Had he simply not trusted her with his entire scheme? Had he forgotten she even existed? Athena’s gaze wandered back to Ruby. Perhaps that was for the best. After all, could Athena say her loyalties still lay with Godfrey Boyle and the order? If she were asked to choose between her friend and her duty, what would she do?

  Madame Hearth loudly cleared her throat. “This was to be a private meeting.”

  Cram raised his hand. “I didn’t tell no one.”

  “You were apparently the singular example.” Hearth scanned the room and sighed. “It is good that you all are here. Ruby Teach has concerning news. Ruby?”

  The whole room looked at Ruby. Something was slightly different about her, Athena thought. She stood taller. Or more rooted. A gleam had returned to her eye: a danger, a recklessness, that Athena realized she had missed. Whatever had happened to her, she seemed ready to fight, and Athena’s spine straightened in response.

  Ruby raised her chin. “The Reeve have a watch set on the door to Bluestone Square.”

  The office erupted into questions and exclamations. Athena’s mind raced. The Reeve? If they were watching one of the (supposedly secret) doors, they were aware of the Bluestockings. And if they were aware of the Bluestockings . . .

  The one called Badger raised her hand. “How do you know this?”

  “You all know that I spent time as a prisoner of the Reeve over these past months. I trained with them. They even tried to recruit me. I know many of them by sight, and four of my former comrades are hunkered down at the Carpe Cacao coffeehouse like sailors in a crow’s nest. And they’re peeping just this way.”

  Ax leaned forward. “Wayland, is this true?”

  Captain Teach put his hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I trust her eye with my life.”

  Madame Hearth nodded gravely. “And Pate has been up the tunnel and confirmed that there is an organized group of some kind keeping a watch on the Warren.”

  “What about the smokehouse door to the Dregs?” asked Athena.

  “We don’t know.”

  “Pate is checking on that now,” said Hearth, “but time is our enemy here. If the Reeve have discovered us—”

  Or if Rool did cut Ruby loose into the wild only to follow us here, Athena thought with rueful admiration. The man was a thorn in their side, but she had to respect his strategic mind. He spun wheels within wheels and gears within gears.

  Hearth pressed on. “If the Reeve have discovered us, then we have no way of knowing what else they have discovered. The rising could be at stake, and many lives along with it. We need to warn our allies.”

  Athena shook her head. “But if we warn our allies, won’t the watchers simply follow us to them? They are watching our secret door. How can we avoid their notice?”

  The samovar sputtered in the corner.

  “What if they never see us leave?” asked Ruby.

  A murmur passed through the room. Marise Fermat grabbed the bridge of her nose. “What do you mean, Ruby?”

  Ruby forged ahead. “I’ll go. I can sneak past the reeves, and I know the city. I evaded them for days not a year ago. We could cook up a quick sharp, a distraction, that could give us the time to get a few people through unseen.”

  Hearth shook her head. “The wanted posters. The patrols. The city is an armed camp, much worse than a year ago.”

  Ruby cast a quick glance at Gwath. “I can disguise myself,” she said. “They will never recognize me.”

  Athena gritted her teeth. Ruby was talking about changing, she was sure of it.

  Hearth searched her eyes for a moment, then looked over her shoulder at Wayland and Marise. They both hesitated, then nodded.

  Ruby frowned. “This isn’t their choice. It’s mine.”

  “We’re with you, girl,” said Teach.

  “I need my crew.”

  “Your crew?” said Hearth.

  Ruby looked as if she were facing down a bear. “Henry, Cram, and Athena. I need them; otherwise, I won’t—I can’t—do it. The disguise is only a part of the sharp.” She pointed to the three of them as she spoke. “We need skill, resilience, and courage to complete it.” A thrill ran up Athena’s spine. Rushing together headlong into the fire? Into the center of her own father’s plans? Perhaps.

  Badger chuffed like her namesake. “Children.” She turned to Hearth. “This is a task upon which the fate of nations hangs, and you want to entrust it to—”

  “The same children that made us all look like fools searching high and low for them? Yes, Badger. Besides, do you have another idea?”

  The woman pressed her lips into a line.

  Hearth nodded. “All right, then. There is a party being held tomorrow evening, at Lothor Van Huffridge’s home. One of the guests is a woman named Thandie Paine. She is a Grocer, sent here to facilitate the rising and our connection to the Van Huffridge organization.”

  Alla Ferra stepped forward. “I see no reason to withhold the information that she is my contact as well, the go-between to my employer, Godfrey Boyle.”

  Several sets of eyes flicked toward Athena. She delivered her best unfazed smile. “Good old Dad.”

  “Boyle, you know this woman?” Hearth asked.

  Athena blinked. “Yes. From Virginia, I believe? She has visited my fa—Godfrey Boyle numerous times. She is a . . . capable woman,” said Athena. Then, because she might as well be as honest as possible, she added, “And by ‘capable’ I mean ferocious, uncompromising, and relentless. When last I saw Thandie Paine, she was sliding half of Quebec City into the St. Lawrence River. She thinks big. And brutal.”

  Hearth nodded. “Agreed. Very well.” She turned to Greta. “Scales. You know the house. Is there an easy way to provide the four of them entry?”

  Athena frowned. “It is her house. Can she not just get us invitations to the party?”

  Silence fell.

  Greta stared at her embroidered slipper.

  Hearth cleared her throat. “Scales.”

  With a huff Greta said, “No, Lord Athen, I cannot just get you invitations. That would require going back to my house, and I would most likely never get there.”

  “Why not?”

  “She is wanted by the crown as well,” said Hearth.

  “Oooooooooo,” said Cram.

  “It was a judicious use of—” began Greta.

  “You know the rules, Scales.”

  “That woman would have drowned, madame!”

  “Nevertheless.” Hearth used the word like a stop thrust. “Scales here’s public use of chemystry in a crowded park in a very visible way has rendered her, if possible, more pursued than the rest of you. And so we have lost one of our primary ways of communicating with Van Huffridge House.”

  Greta stared straight ahead, her fists clenched so hard Athena thought they might just break off. Right or wrong, whatever the situation, the girl was convinced she had done the only thing to be done. Athena knew that look and what it felt like on the inside.

  Greta rallied herself. “With the troubles in the city, soldiers check papers constantly. UpTown will be crawling with redcoats and guard posts. We need someone close by in Bluestone Square, who can travel freely past the soldiers, someone who they will never give a second look. Someone who also already has invitations.” Greta tapped her teeth; then her eyes narrowed. She turned to Ruby. “You say you can disguise yourself?”

  Ruby nodded.

  “How well?”

  “How well do you need?”

  Greta looked her up and down. “Can you be taller, beautiful, and look like a particular young man?”

  Ruby turned to Gwath. He held her gaze for a moment, “Yes,” he said. “I think so. We’ll need the night.”

  Ruby swallowed. To Greta she said, “All right then.”

  Cram elbowed Athena and whispered, “Changing. But the Ferret—”

  Athena gave him her best keep quiet, you look and tried to keep the worry from her own face. From the stories Ruby had told the crew, she couldn’t summon a wart on her nose, let alone completely change her appearance. But Greta was no longer looking at Ruby. She was staring at Athena. With relish.

  Van Huffridge chuckled deep in her throat and struck her tiny hands together. “I have it. If Ruby Teach can do what she says she can, I can get them in.”

  Cram murmured under his breath, “Am I the only one that don’t find that encouraging?”

  “Excellent.” Hearth turned to Ruby. “You will make contact with Paine and, if you can, Lothor Van Huffridge and warn them of the possibility that our plans are known.”

  “And that I am ready to collect my money,” said Petra alla Ferra. “Please make certain to stay in one piece until you establish your delivery of yourselves to Madame Paine.” She turned to Henry. “I must trust you, Henry Collins. I must trust that you will do us honor in this.”

  Henry chewed his lip. “I will.”

  “I hope this contract of yours will not be a problem?” said Hearth.

  The mercenary revealed her teeth in a predator’s grin. “I hope so, too.”

  Hearth sniffed. “And the rest of us will be here, waiting for your return and preparing for the rising.” She scanned the room. “I hope you are not looking for a speech of some sort. Be off with you.”

  The others said their good-byes. Athena and Cram looked at each other.

  “Disguises?” she said.

  He shrugged. “Well, milady, at least we get to go to a party.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Elizabeth Arbuckle pretended to be me when she was robbing that counting house. So I stopped pretending to think Elizabeth Arbuckle should continue to breathe, Your Honor.

  —Testimony, Miss Aquila Rose, Philadelphi Court for Capital Crimes, 1719

  Just a few hours later and just a few doors down from Madame Hearth’s office, Ruby, prickling with anticipation, stood silent on the chem-packed earthen floor of the library. They would leave in the morning to try to sneak past the Reeve and to throw themselves into Greta’s mad plan, but if it was going to work at all, there was something she had to learn to do.

  Gwath sat smug and cross-legged on the Warren library’s big worktable, which had been pushed against the door. Its books packed away for the duration, the library was the only place they could find where they wouldn’t be interrupted, even in the middle of the night. “Show me,” he said. “Or are you too tired?”

  Provoking her with anger had always been one of his favorite tactics. She closed her eyes and eased into the emptiness the Reeve had tried to shovel out of her at Fort Scoria. There was no library. There was no Gwath. There was not even a body. If you had a body that was a fixed shape, how could you turn it into a different one? No. There were only her friends and family, lined up in glowing formation. Edwina Corson had said, “You have to get empty only so you can know what to fill it with,” and she was right. Once Ruby had lost everything, she saw that if she could keep her people in the forefront of her mind, the changing came easier.

  The brass picks grew silently out of her fingertips.

  She opened her eyes.

  He was sleeping.

  “Gwath!” said Ruby.

  The big man blinked his eyes and yawned, stretching like a drunken parson. “My apologies. What did I miss?”

  “You missed me almost poking your eyes out with these.” She held up the picks.

  He stared at them and cocked his head. “You woke me for that?”

  She kept her words low and steady. She felt she might burst into flame. “I changed. Look at it.”

  Gwath chuckled. “That’s not changing.”

  “You—” She clenched her fists. The picks sank into her palms. “Blast it!” The picks retreated back into her fingertips. “How is this not changing?”

  “Well, you haven’t, you know”—he flapped his hand about—“changed.”

  “Then show me!” Ruby dug her fingernails into her palm. “We’re out of time. So stow this mysterious gift mumbo jumbo and tell me what I need to know.”

  Gwath flowed off the table and sat in front of her.

  “And don’t you dare try to charm me. Right now.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “A story then.”

  Ruby flopped back down to the ground. “Fine.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24