Page 36 of Heart of Iron
“What’s going on?”Charlie asked, sitting on a chimney and kicking his heels against the brickwork.
At his feet, Lark sat cross-legged at the base of the chimney, chewing on a strand of her long brown hair.Ever since Honoria had moved into the warren with Lena and their younger brother Charlie, the pair had been inseparable.
“It’s a riot.Or the starts of one,” Will replied.
Charlie’s eyes rounded and he grinned.At seventeen, he was still young enough not to understand what was about to happen.“A riot?How smashing!Can we go see?”
“Don’t be a nodcock,” Lark snapped.Raised in the rookeries, she understood the connotations far better than Charlie ever would.“Nothin’ but blood’ll come of this.”
“All the better.”Charlie grinned, a hint of dark shadows swimming through his gaze.
Lark punched him in the thigh and he winced.“You ain’t seen a riot dealt with before, you fool.It won’t be a sight to see.Nothin’ but crushed bodies and broken bones.Men, women, and children.”She shook her head.“The Echelon won’t stand for it long.They’ll unleash the Trojan cavalry to mow ’em down and then there’ll be blood in the streets.”She shivered.“Not ’ere though.Not near us.”
Will stared over the rooftops, his nostrils flaring.“Near Langbourn.”
“Oh.”Charlie’s shoulders slumped.“I was only foolin’.I didn’t mean it.”
“You didn’t think,” Lark corrected.Charlie might be a blue blood and three times as strong as her, but the balance of power between them was still weighted in her direction.She had street smarts and a quick cunning—and several older adopted “uncles” to back her up if anyone gave her any lip.
Will ignored their bickering, pacing along the edge of the roof.A quick glance showed him the sun in the sky, battling valiantly behind several fluffy gray clouds.“Charlie, what time is it?”
Charlie tugged out his pocket watch.“Quarter to twelve, sir.”
Midday.
A restless edge ran through him.She’d said she’d come here for the lesson.His mind ran through a mental map of the city.If Lena came through Aldgate, she’d most likely avoid the trouble.But if she came out through Bishopsgate, then…
A growl rumbled in his throat.
“Ah… Is everything all right?”Charlie asked.Even he knew to tread carefully around Will’s temper.
“Mebbe.”He turned and speared them both with a gaze.“Stay here.Keep watch.Anddon’t, under any circumstances, leave the rookery.If trouble spills, then you get back to the warren and cry hue.”
“Yes, sir!”Charlie snapped to attention.“Where are you going?”
Will strode toward the edge of the wall.“To fetch your fool sister.She said she were comin’ here today.Wouldn’t surprise me if she gets caught up in that.”
***
The letter from Mr.Mandeville arrived early that morning.
Lena looked up from her workbench, a variety of cogs and strips of sheet iron strewn across the tabletop.Pushing her magnifying glassicals up on top of her head, she retrieved the letter and slid a screwdriver underneath the envelope to slit it open.
A slow, steady beat began in her chest.
Dear Miss Todd,
I hope this letter finds you well.I have received a most impressive commission for you, regarding the original clockwork you showed me the other day.I would be delighted to discuss this with you in person, at your convenience.
Yours,
Arthur Mandeville.
Clapping a hand to her chest, she slowly rose.The transforming clockwork!Someone wanted a copy of it!
“Mrs.Wade!”she called, hurrying out of the room to her companion’s bedchambers.“Mrs.Wade!”
Within a half hour, she’d hustled her companion into the steam carriage and set out for Mandeville’s Clockwork Emporium.
