by Amy Cross
“I must hang it immediately,” he continued, hurrying to the door. “Both of you, come and see!”
Fully aware that Emma Lowndes was scowling at her, Estella turned and followed the doctor outside, to find him unhooking his battered old sign and putting the new one in its place.
“You know,” he said, taking a step back as he looked up at the new sign, “I dare say this new sign will hang above my door until the day I retire. One day I shall be a little old man, probably with liver spots just like my father, and this new sign will be old and faded by then, just like me. And I'll take it down and another man will hang his sign in its place, but until then...” He paused for a moment, before turning to Estella. “Perhaps I'm being a little morbid. Thank you so much for the sign, and please thank your father too. You've both been most generous, especially since... Well, I've seen your father several times, and your late mother, but I don't think you and I have spoken more than a few words to one another in our whole lives.”
“Well,” Estella replied, feeling as if she might burst into tears at any moment, “I really should get going.”
“Can't I offer you a drink?” he asked. “Some tea, perhaps, or -”
“Didn't you hear her?” Emma said, interrupting him. “She said she has to get going. I'm sure there's a step somewhere that needs cleaning.”
“Quite,” Estella replied, forcing a smile. “I don't think I shall be able to attend your wedding, but I hope you have the most marvelous day.”
“But -”
Before Lassiter could reply, Estella had turned and begun hurrying away.
“A little queer,” he said, turning to Emma, “don't you think? I mean, it's a lovely sign and I'm very grateful, but I feel that it's almost too generous.”
“It certainly is,” Emma muttered, staring up at the sign with barely-concealed anger.
***
“Hey!” Emma shouted a few minutes later as she hurried after Estella, following her across the town square. “You! Get back here!”
Turning, Estella felt her heart sink as she realized the other woman was in a mood for confrontation.
“I know what you're doing,” Emma continued as she reached her, at which point she pushed Estella in the chest, forcing her back a few steps. “Don't think for one moment that you're going to steal him away from me!”
“I have no idea what you mean!”
“I know about you two,” she added. “Or at least, I know part of it. I know you were friends when you were younger, and I know a lot of people assumed the pair of you were going to get married one day. Now, I don't know why my dear Paul has taken to pretending that he barely knows you, but that's his business and so long as he's happy and content, I'm not going to poke too much. You, meanwhile, are going to stay far, far away from him, do you understand? If you need medical attention at any point, get on a goddamn ferry and see a doctor on the mainland!”
“I really -”
She was unable to get another word out before Emma slapped her hard on the side of the face.
“And that's just the start,” Emma hissed, as some of the other women in town began to watch the confrontation from the shade of the cantina's terrace. “Everyone knows about you, Estella Graves. You still think you're better than the rest of us, don't you, even though you'd back down here in the muck with the rest of us.”
“No,” Estella replied, “you're wrong, I just -”
“You showed your true colors when you went running up to the Le Compte mansion and tried to install yourself as lady of the house. There's nothing left for you down here, anymore. Why don't you go to Parios, or even further away, and leave this island alone!”
“Thaxos is my home,” she pointed out. “My parents were born here, and before them -”
“Don't make me laugh,” Emma spat. “You? Talking about family values? The woman who pushed her mother into an early grave?”
“That was not my fault,” Estella said firmly.
“Wasn't it?” Emma paused for a moment, with a faint smile on her lips. “The way I heard it, she was in despair after witnessing your behavior. Everyone knows what goes on up at Le Compte's mansion. You brought your entire family into disrepute, and the poor woman couldn't stand to see you marry the beast. Face it, if you'd made different choices, your mother would still be alive.” She leaned closer. “Everyone knows there's something not right about you,” she hissed.
“Is that right?” Estella replied.
“Everyone.”
“Then...” Pausing for a moment, Estella suddenly felt her shock fading away, replaced by a sense of anger. She glanced toward the cantina for a moment and saw a gaggle of snooping onlookers, before turning back to Emma. “Then maybe you should be careful,” she said finally. “After all, if you're right, maybe I have certain powers you don't know about. Maybe you should keep your mouth shut, or you might suffer some serious misfortunes.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Yes.”
At this, Emma pulled back for a moment, before turning to the other women. “Did you hear that?” she called out. “Estella Graves threatened me!”
“Still not learning your lesson, I see,” Estella continued, suddenly feeling emboldened by the realization that she had more power than any of the locals suspected. They saw her as a weak, crumpled woman who'd been cast aside by a powerful man, but the more she looked at Emma Lowndes and the more she heard her screeching voice, the more she realized she needed to make a stand. “Enjoy the rest of your day,” she said firmly, “and please, do sleep well tonight.”
With that, she pushed past and headed into the cantina, where she found Kenneth Goddard wiping the bar.
“Are you still looking for someone to work here?” she asked.
He stared at her, clearly startled. “Well, I -”
“Excellent,” she replied, taking the Help Wanted sign and turning it over, before placing it face-down in front of him. “When shall I start?”
III
“We'll need money,” Kate continued, limping back through to Nixon in the study, “and we'll also need -”
Stopping in the doorway, she saw that Nixon was talking to Edgar, and she immediately realized from his guilty expression that he'd spilled the beans.
“Leave us,” Edgar told Nixon, while keeping his eyes fixed on Kate.
“I'm sorry,” Nixon told her as he made his way out of the room. “It's the only way. I hope you'll understand, in time.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but she knew she'd regret anything she said in anger. Instead, she met Edgar's gaze and waited for him to speak.
“I've been informed,” he said finally, “that you intend to go ahead with this ridiculous plan to travel all the way to Parios and attempt to rescue the Kazakos child.”
“I do,” she replied.
“And this comes despite everything I've already said on the matter.”
“It does.”
He paused. “Then I can only assume that you think me to be a fool, and that you believe I said those things purely because I like the sound of my own voice.”
“I think you can be over-protective sometimes.”
“And evidently you believe that you know better.”
“I have to find Anna,” she replied, making her way toward him. “Edgar, please, don't you understand? That little girl needs me. I know it might be too late, and I know there are dangers, and I know the odds of success are slim -”
“You don't know a damn thing,” he said firmly. “It's not only too late, it's hopeless. It's not only dangerous, it's suicidal. And the odds of success are zero. The only thing you'll achieve by going to Raven's Briar is your own death, and even if you somehow found the girl, she'll be lost by now. Trust me, you don't want to witness the horrors that have been inflicted upon her.”
“I have to try.”
“I will not allow it. I'm sorry, Kate, but you've given me no other option. You cannot leave this house, not for the time being.”
“Says who?”
“Me.”
“You can't keep me here,” she told him.
“Of course I can. You don't seriously doubt that, do you?”
Pausing for a moment, she realized he was completely serious. “There it is again,” she said finally.
He frowned. “There's what?”
“The arrogance and anger I saw in you when we first met. Since I came back to this time period, it's the one thing that has seemed to be missing, but now I've finally seen it again. It's ugly, Edgar. It's very, very ugly.”
“Dine with me tonight.”
“You've got to be kidding.”
“I could make you.”
“Why don't you enter my mind while you're at it?” she asked. “Get right in there, rummage around, do whatever you want. After all, I'm just a weak human, I can't stop you.”
“I wouldn't do that to you.”
“But you'd keep me locked up in your home?”
“For your own good,” he replied, turning and heading to the door. “You'll thank me one day, Kate. Until then, if you need to hate me, so be it. I know I'm doing the right thing.”
She opened her mouth to argue with him, but for a moment his arrogance stunned her too much for her to get her thoughts in order. By the time she was ready to say anything at all, she could hear him walking away along the corridor, and she realized he was never going to listen to her anyway. Instead, she turned and headed to the double-doors at the far end of the room and tried to pull them open, only to find that her route out into the garden was locked.
Sighing, she stood back as she realized that Edgar had undoubtedly taken measures to keep her trapped in the house, and that there was no point running from door to door, trying them all. If she was going to get out, she'd need to find another way.
As she headed back up to her room, she felt her fury starting to mount, but at the same time she felt there was nothing she could do. Nixon clearly wouldn't help her, and as much as she resented Edgar's approach to the matter, she knew it would be impossible to force her way out. Pushing her door open, she realized -
Suddenly she spotted a white envelope on the floor, having apparently been slipped under the door. Reaching down, she picked it up and opened it, only to find a card inside with a simple message:
Meet me at the rear door at midnight. Don't be late, and come alone. I'll get you out of here.
***
“That's not good enough,” Jennifer replied, following Mrs. Wallace across the headmistress's office. “You helped him send my daughter off to the mainland. You can't seriously tell me that there's no paperwork!”
“I will not be threatened by you in my own office,” she replied, opening the door and stepping aside, clearly expecting Jennifer to leave. “Please, Ms. Kazakos, don't make me get the police involved.”
“What police?” Jennifer asked. “There's no-one in charge around here at the moment, so I guess we're all just going to have to manage ourselves.” She stepped closer. “I'll ask you again, but only one more time. Where the hell did you send my daughter?”
“I've already told you everything I know,” Mrs. Wallace replied. “Mr. Quill came and told me that arrangements had been made, so I felt quite comfortable with the idea of allowing Anna to be taken into his care. I'm certain he did everything properly. If you'd just ask him -”
“He's not around right now,” she pointed out, “and even if he was, somehow I really don't think he'd be much help. The man's a psychopath.”
“Really, I don't think -”
“What else did he tell you?”
“Just that Anna needed to be taken to a facility where she could be looked after, somewhere more appropriate for a girl her age.”
“More appropriate than staying here? Thaxos is her home!”
“But at the time, we all thought you were -” She paused for a moment, eying Jennifer with suspicion. “I mean, you were... weren't you?”
“I was what?”
“Dead. I wasn't in the town square myself, but I know people who saw you hang. It was absolutely reasonable to assume that poor Anna had been orphaned.”
“Tell me about this woman who came to fetch her.”
“Ms. Eversham? She seemed nice enough.”
“Says a woman who trusted Quill.”
“She spoke at length about the facility she runs,” Mrs. Wallace continued. “In fact, she was most persuasive. She explained that all the girls they take in are looked after extremely well. I'm sure Anna is living a much better life than -” She caught herself just in time.
“Than what?” Jennifer asked, trying not to let her anger build. “Than I could give her? Than she could possibly get from a single mother running a shop?”
“Anna always talked about seeing the world,” Mrs. Wallace replied. “I'm sure she told you about her ambitions as well. She wanted to visit London and Paris and Rome and New York, and all the great cities. Do you think she could have done that if she'd stayed on Thaxos? Of course not. All the girls in this school are destined to become housewives or manual laborers, most of them will never even set foot on the mainland. You should think of the positives and try to realize how lucky Anna is to have this opportunity.”
“An opportunity? Are you seriously telling me that being kidnapped by a bunch of vampires and taken to some kind of orphanage, far away from her home and from anyone she knows, is an opportunity?”
“Vampires?” Mrs. Wallace paused. “Oh, no, I think you're quite mistaken.”
“So this Ms. Eversham woman didn't strike you as being remotely unusual?”
“Well, she...” She paused. “I mean, she's English, so obviously she came across as being a little... standoffish, you might say. Perhaps even rather pleased with herself, as if she saw this place as being somehow beneath her. At the same time, she spoke most persuasively of the orphanage's many splendors, and she donated most generously to the school's campaign to get a new roof.”
“So she donated money?”
“Well... I think it was Mr. Quill, actually, who signed off on it, but...”
“And why do you think they did that?” Jennifer asked. “Why would they be so desperate to take Anna away. Did you ever wonder about that?”
“Charity?”
Jennifer stared at her for a moment, before taking a step back. “You're no help,” she said finally. “I was wrong to come here, there's nothing you can tell me. I'd be better off trying to get answers from a brick wall.”
“I'm sorry you feel that way, but we only had Anna's best interests at heart. I'm sorry, Ms. Kazakos, I recognize that you're in a difficult situation, but I really can't provide any information at all. Mr. Quill is the only one who can tell you where to find the orphanage.”
“And he's very conveniently disappeared,” she pointed out.
“Well I'm sure he'll be back soon,” she replied. “He's clearly a very honorable and upstanding man.”
“Go screw yourself,” Jennifer muttered, turning and heading out the door.
“At least someone took the time to look after the poor girl!” Mrs. Wallace called after her. “She's better off where she is, do you hear me? Now she has a chance in life!”
IV
“I'll have another,” Muriel Wetherly said, placing her empty glass on the bar and sliding it along. “Just a single this time, though. That first one's gone straight to my head.”
“Of course,” Estella replied, taking the glass and immediately starting to mix another gin and tonic. She was already aware of several other customers nearby, all waiting to be served next, and she couldn't help thinking that he first shift at the cantina was proving to be a big hit.
“Maybe a triple,” Muriel added after a moment, leaning a little further across the bar. “Just to make sure I get to sleep tonight, eh?”
Glancing at the clock, Estella saw that it was already well past ten.
“I've never seen the place like this,” Kenneth Goddard said as he hurried over. “I don'
t know what's got into people tonight, but it's almost as if half the island has come for a drink. You're certainly getting a baptism of fire, Estella, I'll give you that.”
“I'm finding it rather relaxing,” she replied with a faint smile, as she turned to Muriel and delivered the gin and tonic. As soon as the next man along had signaled for a beer, she turned to the pump and started pouring. “Maybe I've finally found my calling in life. It's certainly a lot better than scrubbing steps for a living.”
“It's definitely not a trial shift anymore,” Kenneth told her, squeezing past on his way to the other end of the bar. “You're hired, Estella, and you can have as many shifts as you want. I'll even pay you as much as I've been paying the men.”
“How generous,” she muttered, before placing a pint of beer in front of another customer.
Glancing along the bar, she saw the Joshua Wood was still watching her. He'd entered almost an hour earlier, but so far he hadn't approached. Instead, he'd been hanging back and keeping an eye on her, maybe even studying her every move. The old Estella would have felt intimidated, perhaps even flustered, but now she was filled with a fresh sense of strength. Turning, she looked across the crowded cantina and realized that there wasn't one other person in the entire place who possessed the powers that she'd gained. She wasn't one of them, and she never would be again.
And then there was Emma Lowndes.
Emma had entered the cantina a few hours earlier with a group of friends. They'd settled in a corner booth, and Emma herself hadn't come to the bar. Instead, her friends had fetched all the drinks, but Estella had made eye contact with Emma once or twice, and the other woman had always been the first to look away. Now they were getting ready to leave, and Estella felt certain that she'd made them feel uncomfortable. As she watched them heading to the door, she kept her eyes fixed on the back of Emma's head and reminded herself of the plan she was going to put into action later. She couldn't resist a faint smile as she thought of Emma's greed and pride, and of how her whole world was going to be shattered in just a few hours' time.
