Page 22 of Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match
And one thing more: it felt like they were equals. They were a well-matched pair on some well-matched horses, riding in the falling dark through fragrant fields of cut lucerne hay. Being with Will felt like a dream she didn’t want to wake up from, and she cursed how close the village was. Up above, her favorite constellation appeared normal. She double-counted the stars. “Victor was right, as always,” she grumbled to herself. “I was mistaken on that.”
It was only when they reached a fork in the lane and he looked to her askance that she realized he was riding by her side because he did not know the way.
Ah, Angelika, she said to herself.Always making something out of absolutely nothing.When they arrived at the morgue, they tied their mounts. Will seemed spooked and hung behind to needlessly recheck some part of his horse’s tack.
Compassion swelled in her and she tucked her hand firmly into the crook of his elbow.
“You’ve been here before. Remember, not a word about the science that Victor and I undertake. We’ll be locked up as heretics. To this man, we are trainee doctors.”
Will pulled a face. “But that’s going to make things very difficult.”
“Be creative. Impress me with your quick thinking.”
“Not you again,” Helsaw said dourly when he saw her approach. “Ain’t you got enough bits and bobs for whatever it is you do?”
“That’s none of your concern.” She put a lace handkerchief over her nose. “How’s business, Helsaw?”
“Prices ’ave gone right up,” he warned, glancing to Will behind her. “But I deal with your brother on that. Who’s this geezer?”
“This is my good friend Will.” They had not worked out a surname.
Will covered smoothly. “Sir William Black. I’m here to ask you some questions, if I may.”
“You may not. You know I do not allow just anybody here, Miss Frankenstein,” Helsaw spluttered, until Angelika held up a shilling. “You may ask me anything you wish, Sir Black,” he amended in a much better tone. “If I know the answer, I will tell you honestly.”
“Are you the man who brings the bodies here?”
Helsaw nodded. “That I am.”
Will stepped closer into the bright lamplight. “Have you ever seen me before?”
Helsaw narrowed his eyes in thought. “Should I?”
“My identical twin brother died and was brought through here. We were estranged, and I have been searching for him for years. I tracked him down through Miss Frankenstein, and now I seek your records so I can bring the information back to our family, and to connect with his.”
Angelika was wordless with admiration of his quick mind, his rock-steady nerves, and the way the moonlight cut a shadow under his cheekbone and jaw. She could happily remain with her hand tucked into his bent arm for the rest of her life.
“A twin. I’ve heard of those, never seen one.” Helsaw thought over this explanation with one eye squinted shut. “I don’t go looking at the faces. I don’t keep records. I can’t even read. This is where the poor come through,” he explained patronizingly. “Your brother, if he was a gentleman, would have been held at his local church. These are working men.”
Will had truly expected a ledger of some sort to be produced. “You know nothing of where you collect each dead soul?”
“It was a day after the collapse of the mine shaft,” Angelika said to jog the man’s memory. “I checked through the newspapers.”
“Good thought. You’re so clever,” Will praised her, with a glow in his eyes that made her swell with pride.
Helsaw coughed and spat, spoiling the moment. “I didn’t get any out of that mine. They just filled the hole in. But it does help me remember the time,” he added as Angelika moved toput her coin back in her pocket. “There was a bunch of boys all died, up at Dunmore. Sometimes I wonder what they do up there,” he added conspiratorially.
For Will’s benefit, Angelika pointed in the general direction. “Dunmore Military Academy. I don’t know what they do, except march around, looking handsome in their uniforms.”
“They train, so they don’t lose the next war,” Helsaw clarified witheringly. “And they sometimes have gunpowder explosions.”
“Angelika said my brother’s body was completely mangled.” Will winced for himself now. “Would that fit the theory he came from the academy?”
“The Frankensteins are my premium buyers. They’d have just moved on to the next table if he was too bad. I bury the real damaged goods.”
“And would any of the bodies be wearing jewelry?” Will asked.
“Oh, sure, good sir. We dress our corpses with the finest gold and gemstones. Jewelry!” Helsaw looked at Angelika with eyes full of mirth. “Your new friend is not from around here, is he?”
