Mairelon the Magician

by Patricia C. Wrede

  over Even a small noise was likely to attract attention, now

  that the house was alerted

  Mairelon reached down and curled his hands around the

  handles of the platter A moment later, he let go and stood

  staring down at it, a grim expression on his face

  "Someone got here before us," he said in a low, tight voice

  "This is a forgery "

  "A forgery? You mean it ain't the right sm€>"

  "Exactly " Mairelon turned away "We had better be going "

  Kim looked back at the platter and hesitated "Are you

  sure? That's real silver, I'll go bail And it looks a lot like that

  bow! of yours "

  "The silver's real enough, and you're right about the pat-

  tern, but it's not the Saltash Platter," Mairelon replied "It

  wouldn't fool any magician for an instant, once he got close

  enough to lay hands on the thing "

  "All right, as long as you're sure " Kim went to the broken

  window and peered out "Don't see nobody Let's pike off"

  "We can't do it fast enough to suit me," Mairelon mur-

  mured, and waved her on

  137

  FOURTEEN

  Kim and Mairelon had no difficulty in evad-

  ing the searchers who were stilt scattered

  here and there on the grounds of Bramingham

  Place The servants were spread out and the lanterns they

  carried were visible for a long way, which made them easy

  enough to avoid, and there was plenty of cover among the

  hedges and trees of the sprawling gardens. Kim almost en-

  joyed dodging through the shrubbery and hiding in the for-

  mal borders.

  The walk back to the wagon was long, cold, and silent

  They kept to the roads, where the moonlight let them see to

  walk more easily Mairelon seemed sunk in contemplation,

  and Kim was too tired to ask what he was thinking When

  they reached the wagon at last it was nearly dawn Kim fell

  into her makeshift bed at once, and was asleep before she had

  time to notice whether Mairelon was doing likewise

  She woke to full daylight and the sound of dishes rattling

  "Hunch?" she said hazily, lifting her head to see over the

  mound of blankets she was huddled under

  "I'm afraid not," Mairelon's voice said from near the door of

  138

  the wagon "Hunch can't possibly be back before tonight, and

  I don't really expect him til tomorrow at the earliest You'll

  have to put up with my cooking until then Unless you have

  hidden skills?" he added hopefully

  "Gnngh," Kim said She wormed one hand out from under

  the blankets and rubbed at her eyes "No "

  "Pity You'd better come have breakfast before it gets cold "

  Kim realized that she was hungry Well, no wonder, she'd

  done a day's worth of walking since dinner last night, or at

  least it felt as if she had She unwound herself reluctantly

  from the blankets and went out to correct the matter

  Mairelon was crouched over a smoky fire with a long stick

  in one hand He was fishing for the handle of an iron pot that

  balanced precariously on top of two of the burning branches

  "Just in time Bring the plates over "

  "I thought you said it would get cold," Kim said, picking

  up the plates "Smells to me more like it's getting burned."

  "Cold, burned, what's the difference? Ahl" Mairelon

  snagged the handle at last and lifted the pot out of the fire.

  He lowered it to the ground and picked up a spoon "How

  much do you want^"

  "How much is there?" Kim asked, eyeing the black pot du-

  biously

  "More than enough for two," Mairelon assured her "I, ah,

  got a little earned away when I was adding things, I think.

  Here, take some I'm afraid there isn't any bread We'll just

  have to do without until tomorrow "

  Kim frowned at the lumpy greyish blob on her plate, then

  shrugged She had eaten worse-looking meals in her life, and

  the worst any of them had done was to give her a stom-

  achache Hunch's savory stews were spoiling her She took a

  spoonful It tasted burned

  Fortunately, Mairelon did not seem to expect her to give

  her opinion of his cooking Kim ate slowly, sneaking glances

  139

  at the magician when she thought he would not notice He

  was unusually quiet, but perhaps that was just because Hunch

  was not there to glower and complain

  Mairelon caught her eye on her fourth or firth glance

  "Have I sprouted horns or a third eye, or is it just that I have

  charcoal smeared on my forehead^" he asked mildly

  "No," Kim said Rather than try to explain, she asked,

  "How did you know that platter last night was shan-P"

  "Any magician would have I thought I told you that "

  "You said you knew You didn't say how "

  "Ah Well, 1 knew because there wasn't any magic in it "

  Mairelon stared into the fire and swallowed another spoonful

  of his breakfast blob "When a wizard puts magic into an

  object, it's generally because he wants the object to do some-

  thing That means the magic has to be accessible, and if

  it's accessible it can be felt by other wizards if the magic is

  destroyed or removed, it leaves traces, which can also be felt

  The platter at Bramingham Place hadn't a farthing's worth of

  magic in it, and it never had "

  Kim frowned "But if any wizard who touched it would

  know it was a cheat, why would anyone bother makm' a sham

  platter?"

  "A good question Possibly the forger wasn't a magician,

  and didn't realize there would be any difficulty passing it off

  as the real thing Or perhaps she only wanted to keep people

  from realizing it was missing right away After all, she

  couldn't have known there'd be such a parade of burglars to

  blame it on "

  "She?" Kim straightened, staring at Mairelon "You know

  who put it there?"

  "I think so " Mairelon poked at his breakfast "Renee wasn't

  part of the parade, you see, and she has more than enough

  information to have had the platter copied. I can't think of

  any reason why she'd have come to one of Harriet Bra-

  140

  mingham's house parties, either, except to steal the Saltash

  Platter She hates house parties "

  "Renee^ You mean that French lady? I thought she was a

  friend of yours," Kim said cautiously.

  Mairelon's laugh was without humor "So did I But she

  must have been planning this for a long time, certainly since

  before we left London So why didn't she tell me^"

  "Maybe that Earl cove told her not to," Kim ventured

  "ShorehairP" Mairelon frowned, considering "I hardly

  think it's likely He wouldn't have sent me here if he knew

  Renee was going to have a go at it"

  "He might of—"

  "Might have"

  Kim smothered a relieved sigh If Mairelon was correcting

  her speech again, he must not be feeling quite so down-

  hearted "He might have sent you anyway, if he wanted to

  get you out of London "

  Mairelon looked up with an arrested expression "Quite

  true In fact, it would be just like Edward I w
onder "

  His voice trailed off and he stared at the air above the fire

  After a moment, he shook himself "Well, there's only one

  way to find out Finish your breakfast, Kfm You'll want it "

  "Why^" Kim said warily

  Mairelon gave her a winning smile "You're going back to

  Bramingham Place, to take a message to Renee before she

  leaves "

  "I'm lyfeaP"

  "Well, I can't go Gregory St Clair is arriving today, and I

  don't dare chance his seeing me Don't worry, you'll do fine "

  Kim rolled her eyes and went back to eating Burned and

  blobby or not, it was safer than talking to Mairelon

  Two days of relatively dry weather had done wonders for

  the roads, at least as far as travel on foot was concerned

  141

  Water stilt stood at the bottoms of the deepest ruts, and wag-

  ons and carriages continued to have a rough, sloppy time of

  traveling, but the edges of the lanes gave only a little under

  Kirn's feet and no mud dragged at her boots to make walking

  a weary chore If she had not been so worried about the task

  Mairelon had set her, she might even have enjoyed the walk

  "Message for Miss D'Auber, sir," she muttered under her

  breath "The master said I was to give it only to her "

  She frowned, wondering whether she sounded flash

  enough Remembering the words wasn't hard, but the

  rhythms and the slightly different pronunciation Mairelon

  had insisted on were difficult indeed And what if someone

  started asking her questions? She had some chance of getting

  the accent right for the sentences she'd practiced, but could

  she keep it up if she had to say anything else^

  Firmly, Kim dismissed her doubts She had agreed to run

  this rig, and fretting wouldn't make success any more likely

  than it already was Practice, on the other hand "Mes-

  sage for Miss D'Auber," Kim repeated in a low voice "The

  master said I was to give it only to her Message for Miss

  D'Auber"

  So intent was she on her muttered repetitions that she did

  not hear the sounds of the approaching carriages until they

  were almost on her A shout and the crack of a whip startled

  her into attention at last, and she glanced over her shoulder.

  Two high-perch phaetons were heading full tilt along the

  road, side by side Their drivers crouched intently over their

  reins, shifting their weight automatically to compensate for

  the dangerous sway of their vehicles, oblivious to everything

  save their horses and each other The one on the left pulled

  ahead, but his advantage was a matter of inches The other

  driver's arm rose and fell, cracking his whip, and his horses

  leaped forward, bringing him even with the left-hand phaeton

  once more

  142

  Kim dove for the ditch, praying that these Bedlamites

  wouldn't overturn or run off the road until they had gone

  safely past her The thudding of the horses' hooves and the

  rumble of the carriage wheels grew louder, then passed by

  above her in a spray of water, mud, and flying gravel As the

  sound began to fade, Kim looked up and saw the phaetons

  vanish around a curve in the road ahead, both of them still

  moving with furious speed

  She spat a curse after them as she picked herself up Her

  left foot had landed in the muddy water at the bottom of the

  ditch, and some of it had gotten into her boot The knees of

  her good breeches were wet and smeared with dirt and grass,

  and her hands were scratched and gntty She cursed again

  and brushed herself off as best she could, then resumed walk-

  ing, hoping darkly that something would teach those

  madmen a lesson Maybe one of them would overturn his

  carnage and break a leg Maybe both of them would

  As she drew near the curve, she heard shouts ahead Pru-

  dently, she stepped off the road in case the phaetons were

  returning The noises did not sound as if they were moving in

  her direction, but Kim took no chances She trudged along

  the side of the ditch, sliding on the grass from time to time,

  until she rounded the curve and got a clear view of the road

  ahead She stopped short

  Her wish had been granted one of the phaetons had in-

  deed overturned It lay in a tangle of harness and broken

  wheels across the side of the road, while its owner, scowling

  ferociously and muddy to the eyebrows, tried to calm his

  frightened horses On the opposite side of the road, a coach-

  and-four lay half in, half out of the ditch A liveried postillion

  was tugging at the door of the coach, unconscious of the

  blood trickling down his face from a cut above his eye His

  efforts only made the coach rock precariously A second

  postillion was doing his best to control the four coach horses,

  143

  which were plunging and rearing in a manner that threatened

  to reduce harness pole, coach, and alt to splinters. The

  coachman lay motionless on the far side of the ditch, evi-

  dently thrown from his seat when the coach tipped over.

  A little farther on, in the exact center of the road, the

  second phaeton had drawn to a halt The driver was con-

  centrating on his horses, and despite her poor opinion of his

  good sense, Kirn had to acknowledge that he knew how to

  handle a team Anyone who could come through such a tan-

  gle as this had been, at the speed he had been traveling, in a

  vehicle as notoriously unstable as a high-perch phaeton, with-

  out overturning his carriage or losing control of his horses

  Kirn could think of one, or perhaps two, hackney drivers

  in London who might manage such a feat if they were lucky

  This gentleman did not appear to have turned a hair

  "Burn it, Robert!" The driver of the overturned phaeton

  backed up two hasty steps as one of the chestnut horses he

  was trying to calm half reared in the traces "If either of them

  is hurt—"

  "The master appears uninjured," the postillion at the car-

  riage said, temporarily abandoning his pulling at the door to

  peer through the carriage window "And I believe John

  Coachman is not seriously hurt."

  "Not them, you imbecile, my chestnuts!" the infuriated

  driver cried "Robert—"

  "I would be happy to help you, George, but I can hardly

  leave my horses, can b" Robert said, half turning without

  taking his attention from his restive greys His voice and the

  outline of his face came together in Kirn's mind, and she rec-

  ognized him as one of the druids she and Mairelon had spied

  on George's voice was familiar, too; he was probably another

  of them Kirn started to roll her eyes, only to be brought up

  short

  144

  "Who, exactly, is responsible for this outrage^" said a cold,

  hard voice authoritatively

  Every drop of Kirn's blood seemed to congeal into ice She

  knew that voice, she had fled from London to get away frorn

  its owner First Jack Slower, now Dan Laverharn, she thought

  in despair She would never get away from them She wanted


  to dive for the ditch and the hedge beyond, but she could not

  make her muscles obey her It was all she could do to force

  her head to turn in the direction of the speaker When she

  did, she suffered a second shock

  The tall man who was in the act of climbing out of the

  ruined coach was not Dan Laverham He had the same nar-

  row jaw and sharp eyes as Dan, and the same long nose, but

  his dark hair had less grey in it Under the superfine coat he

  wore, his shoulders were broader and more muscular than

  Dan's He could have passed as Laverham's brother, if Lav-

  erham had had one who dressed like a toff, but he was «ot

  Dan Laverham Relief made Kirn's knees feel weak

  "Accident, not outrage," Robert said politely "I am Robert

  Choiniet, and my friend with the unspeakable chestnuts is

  George Dashvitle "

  "I take it you were racing on a public thoroughfare," the

  man from the coach snapped "You should be horsewhipped

  for such carelessness "

  "Possibly," Robert said with unimpaired calm "I doubt that

  anyone will do so, however May I take a message to some-

  one for you, sir? [ must go by Stavely Farm first, but after that

  I am at your disposal "

  "Robert, you traitor'" George had finally succeeded in get-

  ting his animals under control, but his angry cry startled

  them into another round of sidling and head-tossing "You

  can't mean to go back to Austen and claim you UJOM'"