Page 68 of The House Saphir
She set down the quill and read over the note. According to the troupe’s card, they selected their summons based on “payment and personal curiosity.”
What was more curious than a murderous ghost?
“I didn’t like them,” said Triphine.
Mallory yelped. “Triphine! How long have you been standing there?”
The ghost floated to the rail, and the way the barn swallow tilted its head had Mallory wondering—not for the first time—if animals could perceive spirits where humans could not. After a moment, the swallow chirruped and darted upward, disappearing into its nest.
“Long enough,” said Triphine, taking in the gardens below. “I don’t understand why you want them to come here.”
“Curse breakers and monster hunters? Yes, it’s quite the mystery.”
“You’re hiring these men, and yet what do you really know about them? That one of them wears far too much color, and the other, not nearly enough. That there seem to be only two ofthem, and yet they call themselves atroupe.Everyone knows you need at least three people to make a troupe.”
“I know they destroyed a voirloup,” said Mallory. “One arrow transformed that bloodthirsty monster into a cake topper.”
“Which I find to behighlysuspicious behavior.”
“You don’t trust anyone.”
“Neither do you! Which is why I can’t understand why you would ask them for help. You never ask anyone for help.”
“That’s not true. You used to help me all the time when you would scare the tourists during my tours.”
“Until you built a mannequin to replace me!”
Mallory frowned as she twisted the lid back onto the inkwell. “I wouldn’t say itreplacedyou…” She stood up, pinching the card between her fingers. It fluttered in a gust, but she held tight. What was she supposed to do? Let go? Trust that thewindwould carry it to its proper destination? What if it didn’t work, and the card got stuck on one of the trellises that climbed the side of the house, and a gardener found it and gave it to Armand and then he would know—
She sighed, lowering the card. “I don’t like to admit this, but I need help. In case you haven’t noticed, I am not making very much progress ondehauntingthis mansion, and there are more monsters every day. A lou carcolh was in our bedroom last night!”
“I heard about that.” Triphine shuddered. “I hope you gave the carpet a good scrubbing afterward, or that slime will never come out.”
“Some slime in the carpets is the least of this house’s concern.”
“And of course I’ve noticed that you aren’t making any progresson this job you’ve been hired for. But I don’t think Lord Armand has noticed. Which is also suspicious, don’t you think?”
“It’s fortunate,” said Mallory. “He’s been too busy with the grape harvest to mind what I’m doing, but eventually he’s going to start asking questions, and I’m not going to have answers for him. But if this Fitcher’s Troupe can take care of the problem for me, well… everybody wins.”
She hoped they could make quick work of the whole situation. Some spellcasting, a touch of wizardry, a few of those fancy arrows fired at the right targets, and voilà, Mallory would have fulfilled her obligation to Armand, dealt with the ghost that she may or may not have summoned from the afterlife when she was a child, and best of all—she and Anaïs would get the money Armand had promised them.
Most of it. If she had to share a few coins with those two magicians, she would make do.
With any luck, everything would be taken care of before Armand figured out her ruse.
And before Le Bleu killed them all.
“Do you think it means ‘the four winds’ in a literal sense?” Mallory said, eyeing the swallows flittering in and out of the tower. “Maybe I’m supposed to tie it to a bird, like a carrier pigeon?” She huffed. “These instructions count for plums.”
“I don’t trust him,” said Triphine.
“Fitcher? Or his friend? Either way, they’re the best hope I’ve got right now.”
“Both,” said Triphine. “But I was talking about Armand.”
Mallory wrinkled her nose. “Armand?”
“If that Ruby Comorre wine is so special, why is this house insuch disrepair? Why doesn’t he have nicer things? His chef servedparsnip souplast night, Mallory. That is peasant food.”
