Rebel Magisters (30 page)

“I’d rather not go back toward the fort, if you don’t mind.” He shuddered, and I had to wonder what had happened to him while he was imprisoned.

The streets weren’t entirely deserted, as people were coming home from late shifts and leaving for early shifts, but I still felt like we were conspicuous. Perhaps it was a guilty conscience that made me feel like it was very obvious that we weren’t where we were supposed to be. In truth, no one gave us a second glance.

As we drew closer to the shore, we left the rows of tenement buildings behind and entered the commercial area around the docks. There was more activity here, but both of us were out of place. We were sure to be noticed.

And, soon enough, we were. A policeman walking his beat approached us. He’d changed his course, so it was clear he’d seen us. It was too late for us to duck away or hide. Thinking quickly, I slipped my arm around Henry’s waist and leaned against him.

The policeman held his lantern up as he approached us. “May I ask what you’re doing here?” he asked. His tone was brusque and professional, but I didn’t think he sounded like he was desperately searching for a fugitive.

“I’m seeing my husband off to work,” I said. “I work nights, and he works days, so this is our time together.”

“You work at the docks?” the policeman asked, eyeing Henry skeptically. I winced inwardly. Henry’s clothes were rumpled, but they were still obviously not something a dockworker would wear.

“I’m a bookkeeper for one of the shipping lines,” Henry said.

The policeman nodded and lowered his lantern. “Very good, then. We’re being careful tonight. There’s rioting in the streets. Can’t let them get to the docks, you know.” He resumed his patrol, and we continued on our way.

“Rioting?” Henry asked softly. “I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

“We needed a diversion so they’d be more worried about that than looking for an escaped prisoner. Though it seems they might have been a bit overzealous about it. Now, how should we find your friends?”

We looked for an empty pier without any activity on either side. Tall ships blocked anyone on other piers from seeing us. Once we were at the end of the pier, I saw what I thought might be our boat out in the river.

“There they are,” I said, “but how will they know where to meet us?”

“You’ll need to signal them. I’m still magically useless.”

“What do I do?”

“You know how to make a light, but cover it with your other hand.”

It was difficult to do magic when I was so tense. I had to take a few long, deep breaths before I was able to form a steady light in my hand. I covered it with my other hand as he instructed, then followed his directions in briefly lifting my hand in a certain pattern. There was an answering flash from the boat. It began moving up the river.

“They’re coming for us,” he said.

It seemed like forever before I heard the splash of oars. We looked over the edge of the pier to find a small rowboat pulling up next to the ladder on one of the pilings. Philip pulled the oars into the boat, looped a rope around the piling to hold the boat steady, and gestured for us to come down.

Climbing down a ladder into a tiny boat that was moving with the water, in near-total darkness, was rather frightening, but I reminded myself that I’d climbed a rope ladder into an airship. When I neared the bottom, Philip caught me and eased me into the boat before turning to help Henry. Henry immediately released the mooring rope while Philip picked up the oars and began rowing out to the small racing yacht we’d signaled.

When we reached the yacht, other members of the gang helped us board and pulled up the rowboat. Soon, we were off, flying up the river.

Geoffrey greeted Henry with a big hug. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” he said before releasing Henry. “In case you want to clean up, we have clothes and hot water below.”

“Oh, you have no idea how good that sounds,” Henry said. He was still wearing the clothes he’d been arrested in, and he was more disheveled and unkempt than I’d ever seen him before, with a couple of days of beard shadowing his jaw and his hair in total disarray. There were dark circles under his eyes and I thought there was a dark spot like a bruise on one cheek, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.

He went below, and Geoffrey wrapped me in a large overcoat. Philip handed me a mug of hot tea, and Geoffrey shoved a man’s hat on my head. “No one will mistake you for a boy, but from a distance, they won’t see the silhouette of a woman.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Good job in getting him this far. You can leave the rest to us.”

I wasn’t ready to relax yet, even if all I could contribute to the effort now was willing the boat to move faster and watching anxiously for anyone who might be following us.

Henry emerged from the cabin wearing a tweed suit and an overcoat. Philip handed him a mug of tea. “Thank you. Thank all of you,” Henry said, his voice a bit raspy with emotion. “They were talking about sending me to England, and I don’t think I’d ever have returned.”

“Why do you think we pulled this?” Philip said. “But it was all Miss Newton’s plan. She’s the one who managed the hard part. Believe it or not, she got the Mechanics and the magisters to work together.”

Henry smiled at me. “I am so very glad I hired you. I shall have to add an ability to mastermind a jailbreak and unite rival factions to the job description the next time I hire a governess.” The smile faded from his face. “Though I suppose it’s unlikely I’ll have occasion to hire a governess in the future.”

Philip patted him on the back. “Nonsense. We just need to start a revolution, win it, and then you can return as a conquering hero and elder statesman. You’ll need to hire an army of governesses for all the children you’ll have.”

I was glad it was dark and all the men were looking at Henry because I’m sure my face would have given away my emotions at that thought. Lizzie was right, I knew as I watched him. I did love him. This wasn’t just about loyalty to my employer, concern for the cause, or even support for a friend. If he’d been sent to England, I might never see him again. This way, he could still be in my life. Now that he was an outcast, we were now both outside proper society. Maybe Lizzie was right and there really was hope for us.

I let myself follow the flight of fancy, imagining a life with him in exile in the wilderness, and I was startled when he came to sit next to me. “I can’t thank you enough, Verity,” he said. “It’s incredible that you pulled this off with such short notice.”

“I had the contacts already in place. I’m not sure anyone other than a governess could have done it, really. Or perhaps a maid or shopgirl. It only worked because no one notices people like us. They don’t pay any attention to the women who do their laundry or clean their floors, so we were able to walk in and out without them even looking at us.”

“I doubt it will remain that way after this.”

“I’m not so sure. They may never know how we did it.” I couldn’t resist a grin. “We should probably have tied a rope to your cell window to make it look like you climbed out that way. But I’ll bet that they give you the credit for a feat of daring cleverness without considering that their laundresses and charwomen were responsible.”

His grin soon faded. “How are the children?” he asked.

“Worried about you. Olive is inconsolable.”

“I’m sure they don’t enjoy living with their grandfather.”

“They aren’t. Not yet. Flora put her foot down rather decisively and insisted that they stay in their own home.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Yes, she has really risen to the occasion.”

“So, making her read actually paid off.”

“It seems to have, though I suspect there’s been more to her than we gave her credit for all along.” I pulled up the hem of the coat and the skirt of my working attire so I could reach my pocket and take out the little key on its blue ribbon. “By the way, you seem to have dropped this,” I said as I handed it to him.

He held it up to study it. “I don’t know that it’s necessary anymore. I doubt I’ll have to prove my credentials in any clandestine meetings. But it will be a nice reminder of what I stand for.”

We were nearing the northern tip of Manhattan, and I couldn’t see any sign of pursuit. There also wasn’t any indication of a great manhunt on land. I wasn’t sure what signs I should look for, aside from perhaps clanging bells and great mobs of police. With any luck, they hadn’t yet noticed Henry’s absence from his cell. If they didn’t notice until breakfast time, it would be all the better for us.

There was a flash of light from the shore, and then another. I jumped, alarmed. “What is it?” I asked. “Are they waiting for us?”

“There are patrols on the shore,” Philip said, his face grim.

In Which

We Are Discovered

“What do we do?” I asked. We were so close that it was frustrating to be thwarted.

“We’ll put in somewhere else, and then you can meet up with the others.”

“They must have noticed my absence,” Henry said.

“Or it’s an ordinary shore patrol,” Geoffrey suggested. “They may be on heightened alert because of the riots.”

I groaned. “Maybe that wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“It helped us get out of the fort,” Henry said, resting his hand on my shoulder.

We went farther up the river before they put the rowboat over the side and helped Henry and me down. Philip joined us to row to shore. He got the boat far enough up on the bank that we barely got our feet wet, then shoved off to row back to the yacht.

Henry and I made our way through the tall grass, pausing before we reached the road. Henry whistled in an impressive imitation of a bird’s call. A few seconds later, we heard the same call from a distance. It was followed by a couple of urgent chirps. “That way, but there’s someone between us and them,” Henry whispered.

“You got that much from a few whistles?”

“We’ve got a system of signals. It comes in handy when setting up or escaping a heist.”

The grass ahead of us rustled, and I grabbed Henry’s arm in terror. There was no place to hide, nowhere to go other than back into the river. We remained perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe, as a soldier came into view. Henry began walking toward him, dragging me as I took a little longer to be able to force my feet to move. I barely stopped myself from crying out in dismay when Henry approached the soldier and held up his hands in a warding-off gesture.

I thought for a moment that he was using magic, but instead he said, “Shh, we just spotted what I think might be a pied-billed grebe. You don’t want to disturb it.”

“You’re out here at this time of the morning watching birds?” the soldier asked, frowning skeptically. He couldn’t have been much older than Henry, and he looked as tired as I felt.

“Of course,” Henry said. “When else would one observe night birds? There’s interesting activity just before dawn.”

“Oh?”

“Well, yes. That’s when the night birds settle down and the day birds become active. It’s fascinating.” Henry sounded like he did when he talked about insects as a way to make people want to ignore him.

The soldier then noticed me. “You’re a birdwatcher, too?”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “That was how my husband and I met.”

“Huh. I suppose it takes all kinds. Now, you folks be careful. There’s been rioting tonight.”

“That’s why we prefer to be out of the city,” Henry said. “Come along, dear. I want to check on that roosting spot we saw last week. Good morning, officer.”

The soldier waved us on, and I forced myself not to heave a great sigh of relief. “Birds? I thought it was bugs,” I whispered to Henry.

“I didn’t think he’d believe we were looking for something as small as bugs without a lantern.”

Just then, the soldier called out, “Halt!” We turned to see him aiming his rifle at us. “I just got word about a fugitive, and you fit the description.” He must have been alerted by the magical communication system.

Henry gave a loud whistle even as he raised his hands. I assumed he’d signaled the others, but whether to clear out or come to the rescue, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to take any chances, not when we were so close to freedom.

With a silent prayer for aid, I moved cautiously toward the soldier. “Do you know why he’s a fugitive?” I asked.

“It’s not my job to know. Now, step back, miss.”

I held my hands up to show I meant no harm. “He’s fighting for freedom. That’s why he was a prisoner. He wants to create a better land for all of us. Do you like having to answer to magisters who hold all the power?”

It might have been my imagination, but I thought the tip of his rifle wavered slightly, so I pressed on. “He wants a land where all of us are equal, where we all share in power, where we don’t pay taxes to some foreign government in which we have no say. What kind of land would you rather live in, one in which you’re limited by your birth, or one where everyone stands a chance?”

“That’s what he’s doing?”

“Yes. Surely you’ve heard about the scandal in the government, the way they’re misusing the money and raising taxes on us to cover it. That’s what we’re trying to stop. If you bring him in, you’re helping your oppressors.”

The rifle lowered slightly. “There are really people trying to change things?”

“There are,” Henry said. “People at every level of society, even some magisters. That’s why they feel threatened.”

“What’ll you do if I let you go?”

“Hide for a while, but keep working. Things are going to change. You can be a part of it.”

“You won’t tell anyone?”

“No one has to know you saw me.”

The rifle raised again, then sagged, and I held my breath, waiting for his decision. “Go on now,” he finally said.

“Thank you! I thought I could trust you to do the right thing,” I said. Henry added his thanks as he took my hand and led me away.

I didn’t relax at all until we found a large magical carriage waiting beside the road. Several men in hunting attire stood around it.