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�On the telephone? For me? It�s possible, I suppose�� And Rose Hannah swept out down the hall, putting in her earrings as she went. It was her father�s telephone�she knew very few private households that had one, except for Dr. Munro�s inventor friends who were keen to try out the latest advancement, and as such, it didn�t see a lot of use. Her father kept it in the library, but she wasn�t sure where; Rose Hannah started looking around the room� At the very back of the library, an open door revealed Dr. West and her father sitting at a broad table like generals of war, poring over a giant map marked with red tacks. Considering that she had spent much of her childhood in this library, it was odd that she had never seen inside this room before. Even more disconcertingly, she did not recognize any of the books that lined the wall shelves. �I thought this was a closet,� she said aloud. The two men looked up at her with a start, and Dr. Munro rushed to the door. �Did you need me, Rose?� �Nell said that there was a call on the telephone for me�� �Right over there,� said Dr. Munro helpfully, pointing to a far corner of the room�and shifting his bulk to block out her view entirely. �Wasn�t this a closet�?� �It was�I had it redone, enlarged a bit, you know, to have a place to tuck away some of the older books� Hadn�t you better take that call?� �I suppose so�� But she looked back over her shoulder at the strange little room as she went. In fact, she would have pressed the issue after she had finished her call if it hadn�t been for the fact that Mrs. Radcliffe was weeping hysterically on the line. �Nell, get my cloak�where�s my bag?� Nell and Camilla had resumed their seats�embroidering and eating tea sandwiches, respectively, in stiff silence�and neither expected Rose Hannah to come charging back in and start tossing combs and bottles into her doctor�s bag. �Right here, Miss Rose�what�s happened?� �It�s Pansy�her mother says she fainted half an hour ago and she�s cold as a fish now, they can�t wake her up�� �Pansy Radcliffe?� asked Camilla, startled. �She�s the only Pansy I know,� Rose Hannah replied, a bit tersely. �You�re coming with me, Nell�we�ll have to finish doing my hair at the Radcliffes�, assuming that there actually will be a ball tonight. Go on down and tell Isaac to bring the carriage up.� �You can take my carriage!� Rose Hannah paused in the middle of rifling through her medicine drawer to give Camilla a bewildered look. �I have a carriage, Camilla.� �But Nell will need to come back!� �I�ll send her back in the carriage, and she can send Isaac back to wait at the Radcliffes�, which is what he would have done for five hours anyway.� �I�� Camilla bit her lip. �There isn�t anything I can do to help?� �You�re a dear, but no, it�s really not that complicated a matter.� And she kissed Camilla briskly on the cheek as she gathered up her things and made for the library again. �Father?� They had taken the precaution of locking the door this time, she noticed, and so she started knocking nonstop until Dr. Munro opened it a crack and peered out. �Honestly, I don�t know what you�re doing in there, Father�� �Did you need something, Rose?� �It was Mrs. Radcliffe on the telephone�Pansy�s having some sort of fainting fit, they can�t bring her out of it.� �Oh,� said Dr. Munro. �You�re going early to help, then, I take it?� �Exactly. And if I call for you, do try to leave your little secret society in there and take the call, would you? It may be something serious with Pansy.� �It�s probably just her nerves, dear�you know how Pansy was always a bit�high-strung, you know.� �I know, but�� �I know.� Dr. Munro ducked forward to kiss her cheek. �Send word back either way as to how she�s doing, Rose.� �I will.� She passed Parkes coming in as she left with a stack of fresh evening newspapers for Dr. West, who waited to see that Miss Munro was safely out of sight before he started opening them. Dr. Munro sighed and locked the door again. �That was close. Again.� West nodded, but he was musing to himself again and not paying much attention. He had marked all the known assaults and disappearances that seemed related on his map. �I didn�t realize how far they had infiltrated already until after I�d taken the job,� he said. �But so far, these are just sustenance attacks�see the way that they cluster? Close to home. Wherever that is.� �And then?� �I don�t know yet. The Ministry isn�t sure of what they want yet. All I know is, I�d rather find them before we find out. It was easier on the Continent� Here, everything�s packed in so densely that I can�t just crash in and get to work. I have to have a fairly good idea of where I�m going and then how to get back out. Of course Seward would get me out of any trouble, but you don�t want witnesses, after all.� Dr. Munro sighed. �I just don�t want Rose to know about any of it.� �She seemed to handle that fainting affair well enough,� said West, flipping through his newspapers. �She�s a good girl. Clever girl. I don�t want any of this to touch her. It has a way�of spreading. You�ve seen it. That poor girl of yours� And you said those boys came for you on purpose. They knew your name.� We�ll get you. We know you. �I�ve had worse than that track me down. It�s a hazard of the trade. You make a name for yourself, you become a target. I only wish Seward had found me sooner�they�ve made far too many inroads alrea�� He stopped short as he came across the headline: TERROR IN WEST END. �Oh God, Munro, we�re too late,� he said. |
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| To be continued: Chapter 2, October 10 Would you like to sign up for our electronic dispatch? |
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