Page 59 of The Society of Unknowable Objects
“He saved my life,” James said. Magda watched him pull the pill bottle from his pocket, and then he stepped over to Will to show it to him. “I never got a chance to thank him or to repay him. He did it for my father.”
Will stared at the pill bottle intently, saying nothing.
“He was such a kind man,” James continued. “Reserved, but very kind. He and my father seemed to laugh a lot.”
“I don’t remember my father ever laughing,” Will admitted after a moment, his voice quiet. He took the pill bottle from James, and Magda watched him inspect it carefully for a moment, turning it in his hand. “I don’t understand,” he said, looking at Magda as if for help. “Where did he get this? Is it an artefact from the cabinet?”
“The answer to that is related to the other reason we’re here,” Magda said. She smiled, trying to apologise for the ask that was coming. “We need your help, Will.”
Magda looked at Henrietta, and the other woman reached into the pocket of her coat to remove the book. She passed it to Magda, who placed it on the counter between herself and Will.
“We’re going to find the man who attacked us,” Magda explained. “We have to take back what he stole. Henry found out that his name is Owen Maddox, and he’s a professional killer.”
Will shook his head quickly, closing his eyes. “A professional killer?” he demanded, alarm on his face. “And you’re chasing after him? Are you mad?”
“There’re things we haven’t told you yet, Will dear,” Henrietta said, from behind Magda.
“There’smore?”Will gasped. Magda could understand his sentiment. To be getting this all at once—she at least had learned it all over a couple days, and even now her head was still reeling a bit.
Magda tapped the cover of the book gently, trying to encourage Will’s attention towards it. “This is an artefact,” she explained. “It creates magical items. You just hold it and say what it is you want. My grandfather, and your father and his friends, they knew about the book. They used it to create artefacts.” She was consciously speaking slowly, her tone soft, just as if she were trying to win the trust of a frightened animal. “Frank changed all that. He thought it was dangerous. So he was keeping it safe. The book created the pill bottle that your father gave to James. And it created other magical items over the years. It created the map that my mother used to find other artefacts before she died. Look.”
She opened the book to show Will the description ofTheAtlas of Lost Things.
“And we used it this morning to create another map,” she continued, flicking the page in the book to reveal another drawing. “A map that will lead us to the Impossible Box. We will retrieve it.”
Will shook his head. “Can we go back to what you said just a minute ago?”
“What was that, love?” Henry asked.
“When she,” he said, pointing at Magda, “said this man is akiller.Whocareswhere he is! That’s not a man you chase after, Magda. Have you lost your mind?”
“He has the Impossible Box,” Magda argued, hearing her voice rise in frustration. “It holds the Society archive, Will. All of the magical items.”
“Again: I don’t care!” Will snapped, turning away to pace behind the counter. “I left the Society. It’s not my problem. And if you go chasing after a man like this, you’re mad. I can’t help you.”
Magda glanced at Henrietta, who shrugged back at her. James was staring at the floor, hands in his pockets.
“Look, Will,” Magda tried. “We have to do what we have to do. We can’t let a man like that get away with all of the magical items. That would be...” She tried to think of the right word, the word that Will would respond to. “Irresponsible. We can’t let magic out in the world. We have to lock it away, keep it safe.”
Will gave her a sidelong look.
“I want to put the magic back in the box, lock it away,” she continued. “I know you see the value of that. But I don’t want to take this with us.” She held the book up to him. “That would also be irresponsible. Because what would that man do with it if he got hold of it?”
“Frank—” Will started, but Magda cut him off.
“We can’t leave it with Frank. He’s in hospital.”
“We need to leave it with someone who doesn’t like magic,” Henrietta said, pushing her way into the conversation. “Someone who fears the worst. That’s you, Will dear. I love you, but you’re absolutely the model of a modern major pessimist.”
“There is no one else we trust,” Magda continued. “Please, Will. I only trust you.”
He frowned unhappily and Magda felt a twinge of guilt that she was pressuring him to do something that made him so unhappy.
“You weren’t there,” she continued. “This man doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know anything about you. He was following me from Hong Kong.” She held the book out towards him. “All you need to do is put it in a safe and forget about it. And then... if we don’t come back...”
“Why on earth would you choose to do something that you might not come back from?” Will complained, his voice a whine once more.
“Because the alternative is worse,” James said. His voice was as warmas ever, but now also firm, accepting no argument. Magda saw Will look at him, his mouth a hard line, as if he disapproved of James stepping into the argument. “That man meant to kill me without a second thought,” James continued. “What he will do with magic things...” He shook his head. “It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
