by C. J. Archer
"Tomorrow, Miss Steele, I will take you shopping," she declared. "If you're to be my companion, you require new dresses. Those are far too dreary."
Chapter 17
My watch looked entirely normal. I spent the morning pulling it apart and inspecting each tiny mechanism. Nothing was out of place. There were no hidden striking trains, hammers, gongs or repeaters. It couldn't possibly have chimed.
I put it back together, a familiar task I could do without even looking. It hadn't been the first watch I'd ever worked on, but it was the one I'd opened up the most. My parents gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. The silver case was monogrammed with my initials, and a message congratulating me on my birthday was etched inside. It was my most cherished possession.
Somehow, it had saved my life.
A knock sounded on my door, and Willie called out, "It's me. May I speak with you, India?"
"Of course. Come in."
She opened the door just enough to squeeze through and leaned back against it. She bit her lip and looked everywhere but at me.
"Is there something I can do for you, Willie?"
She huffed out a breath. "I wouldn't really have cut you up, you know."
I pinched the back of my hand to stop myself smiling. "I know. Thank you for reassuring me."
"Matt says you're going to stay."
"I'm to be his aunt's companion." I hadn't had time to discuss the new arrangement with either of them, but I felt immeasurably lighter since the decision had been made. The weight of uncertainty over my future had been pressing down on me without me realizing.
She rushed forward and grasped my forearms. "You won't give up on finding the watchmaker, will you?"
"Matt no longer needs my help. We've called on every watchmaker I know. Cyclops is capable of taking him to—"
"No, you must help. You know London better than any of us, and you know watches too." She dug her fingers into my arms. "You've seen what his watch does, India. It's of vital importance that it gets fixed."
"It seems to work perfectly well. It…rejuvenates him when he uses it."
"It's slowing down." She let me go and perched on the edge of the dressing table where I'd been working. She lowered her head and some loose strands of hair fell over her face. "It no longer works for days, as it used to. It will stop altogether, one day."
"And there is no one else who can fix it?"
"None that we know of."
What sort of watchmaker fixed a life giving, magical watch? A magician, I supposed. The notion was utterly absurd, yet I couldn't shake it.
"I will help Matt whenever he requires it," I assured her. "Now, tell me, will you come shopping with Miss Glass and me later? We would enjoy your company."
"Why?" She plucked the fabric of her trousers at her thighs. "I'm a terrible judge of fashion."
"Or are you secretly hiding your femininity as a mode of protection?"
She screwed up her face in a most unladylike expression. "Not damned likely. Besides, I can't come shopping. I'm going to see Travers again to tell him I've decided to play for my locket."
"No! Willie, you shouldn't. You promised Matt."
She strode to the door. "I have to."
"How? You said you have no money."
"I don't need money."
"You've asked Matt for a loan?"
She shook her head. "He's got too much on his plate." She jerked the door open, surprising her cousin who had his fist poised to knock.
He stepped aside with a raise of his brows as she stormed past him.
"Why is she in a foul mood?" he asked. "She was contrite when I spoke to her earlier."
I sighed. "She's still upset about her locket." I didn't tell him she was planning on gambling to win it back. It was none of my affair, and she wouldn't like me to tattle. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Better."
He did look better, but I'd come to expect to see the tiredness in his eyes now. "But not completely healthy."
A beat passed. Two. "I don't expect to be," he said.
My heart ached. What an awful thing to always feel tired, to be worried about one's health. No one should have to, particularly not a young, athletic and capable man like Matt.
"Don't, India." The low ebb of his voice washed over me. "Don't pity me."
Easy enough to say, not so easy to do. I studied the watch in my hand, tracing my thumbnail over the monogram. "Tell me about your magic watch, Matt. Tell me everything."
He touched his waistcoat pocket. Perhaps he didn't want to be parted from it for one moment, even at home. Having witnessed what happened when he was separated from it for too long, I could see why.
He closed the door and sat on the trunk at the foot of the bed. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at me. "So you believe in magic."
"I…I don't know yet. It seems so childish and fantastical, yet I've seen things. Tell me what you know. And tell me why I've never heard of such things as magical health-giving watches before."
"You've never heard of them because magic has been suppressed for hundreds of years. Magicians were almost wiped out in medieval times, after a small group committed heinous crimes using their magic. People panicked and attacked all magicians, not just the guilty few. Those who managed to escape have kept their secret all these years, out of fear."
I nodded, hardly daring to breathe. Could such a story truly be possible? "How do you know all this?"
"One of the men who gave me this watch told me about it. One of them was the watchmaker, known as Chronos, the other a surgeon. They saved my life."
"Surgeon? I think you need to start from the beginning."
He cast me a crooked smile. "I will, Miss Impatience. Five years ago, I nearly died from a bullet wound. The wound my grandfather gave me, as it happens."
"Oh, Matt," I murmured.
"No pity, India."
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
"I was in a town called Broken Creek, and the gunfight happened outside the saloon. A surgeon from one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York also happened to be in town."
"What was he doing so far away from home in a tiny backwater?"
"He was an alcoholic. He'd been given leave to dry out. Unfortunately for him, he didn't try very hard. Fortunately for me, I was shot at ten in the morning when the saloon hadn't yet opened. He was an excellent surgeon, even with a shaking hand."
"Was?"
"He's dead. I know that for certain because I went in search of him before I came here. I spoke to him just days before his death. Considering how much he drank, I was surprised he lived so long. I knew his name, you see, and I hoped he knew the real name of Chronos. They worked together on my surgery after the gunfight. I don't recall any of it, but Duke, Cyclops and Willie said it was both nightmarish and a dream come true. They told me Dr. Parsons worked on me on a table in the saloon. He'd removed the bullet but my life was slipping away and he hadn't sutured the wound yet. I was going to die unless a miracle could be produced."
"Or magic."
He nodded. "My friends told me that a small crowd gathered to watch Dr. Parsons work on me. Another man came forward. I'd seen him talking to Parsons some evenings in the saloon. He asked Parsons if he wanted to try his idea out, and Parsons replied that there was no chance of my survival using normal surgical methods. Duke told me that no one knew what the men meant, but Willie screamed at them to try whatever they wanted to make me live. They ordered everyone to leave, but Willie hid beneath a table in the shadows. According to her account, the man who called himself Chronos searched my person and found my watch." He patted his pocket again. "Willie almost revealed herself to accuse him of theft, but when she saw what he did with it, she remained hidden."
"What did he do?" I asked, breathless.
"Chronos held my watch in his hand, palm up, closed his eyes, and whispered some words. The watch began to glow, but neither man was alarmed. Willie thinks I stopped breathing at that poi
nt because Parsons shouted, "Now! It must be now!" Chronos took my hand and placed it over his, the watch between. As he chanted, Willie saw the purplish glow infuse itself into my skin and spread through my veins."
"I've seen it work," I said.
He arched one brow and grunted.
"Go on. Then what happened?"
"Willie tells me that Dr. Parsons worked on me again, sewing up my wound while Chronos continued to chant as he held the watch against my palm. When Parsons finished, he told Chronos it was done, and Chronos placed the watch over the wound. Dr. Parsons took over the chant and the watch suddenly flared. Willie said she thought it had caught fire, but the light quickly faded away to nothing. My veins ceased glowing too. That's when she noticed my chest rise with a deep breath. I remember everything from that moment on. It's so clear, like it happened yesterday. I sat up. They gave me a dram of whiskey. I was still covered in blood, but the wound had been sewn up. That's when Dr. Parsons handed me the watch. He and Chronos explained that it would keep me alive. Whenever I felt unnaturally tired, I should hold the watch in my palm and it would work its magic on me and bring me back to life. I thought them utterly mad and told them so. They looked at one another, sighed, then told me I could go to hell. They didn't care what became of me. But there was something in their eyes. Elation, I think, like they'd won a victory. They patted one another on the back and paid each other compliments. They began discussing the future of their discovery, and what it meant for the world, but they disagreed on whether it should be brought to light. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed not to concern me. It was like I wasn't important."
"You just happened to be the closest dying man," I said. "They wanted to experiment with magic, and you were there at the right time." It surprised me that I'd accepted his story and the idea of magic so easily. But I trusted him, and trusted that he wouldn't believe without solid evidence. "What happened after that? Did you see the men in Broken Creek again?"
He shook his head. "I got up and left. Some time later, Willie found me. She was in shock. She told me what she'd witnessed in the saloon. None of us believed her at first, but a week later, when I began to feel exhausted for no good reason, she suggested I hold my watch in the palm of my hand and see what happened. I thought her mad and refused. I quickly became ill, weak, and close to death. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. Willie simply placed the watch in my hand one day, as I lay in bed, and I immediately felt restored to normal health. Not like you see me now, but completely better."
"The glowing veins didn't alarm you?"
"Terrified me. But I could feel the benefits to my health immediately. I didn't let the watch go until I felt completely well again. The four of us discussed what it could mean, how it had happened. Cyclops had heard stories about magic, but only in whispers. We asked his grandmother, but she refused to talk about it. She said magic was dangerous and was kept secret from the world for a reason. She did tell us that people were born magic, to magic parents, but it was a skill that required training to work efficiently. From Willie's account of the surgery, it was clear that Parsons and Chronos had worked together somehow, and they were both magicians. For five years, I used the watch whenever I felt unnaturally tired and it worked perfectly. But four months ago, its power waned, and I needed it more often. I knew I had to seek out Parsons and Chronos."
"Before it stopped working altogether," I said on a breath.
He gave a slight nod.
My throat clogged. I tried not to show pity, but I don't think I was very good at keeping my thoughts to myself.
He studied his hands. "I knew nothing about Chronos, but I knew where Parsons worked, so we went to New York. He was on his death bed, with only days to live."
"What did he say?"
"That he regretted experimenting on me."
"Why?"
"Because it was playing God. It was Chronos's idea to bring me back to life, and Parsons felt he'd been coerced into it. He hadn't seen Chronos since that day."
"Had he performed much magic before then?"
"Only rarely. He thinks he must have mentioned it to Chronos in his drunken state one day in Broken Creek, and Chronos, also being a magician, began to discuss mad theories and ways to combine their magic. Parsons explained that there were different styles of magic, based on one's profession or skill. As a doctor, his own magic helped him heal people, but he couldn't give them back their life, only extend it for short periods of time. He claimed it was almost useless, for that reason. An engineer can create superior strength steel, but again, it only lasts for short periods of time. A carpenter can infuse wood so that it doesn't burn, but it doesn't last more than a few hours."
"But Chronos had discovered a way to combine his magic with that of other types to extend it," I said. "My god." It was genius and thrilling. Yet so strange. Part of me couldn't believe I was discussing magic without giggling. Perhaps tomorrow I would wake up from this dream and laugh about it.
But Matt's grim nod was very real. "Chronos had never combined his magic with a doctor's before. Indeed, he'd only worked with carpenters and the like until that day in Broken Creek. Chronos knew he could extend the magic of other magicians, but extending the life of a dying man had never been tried, to his knowledge."
"It's quite remarkable. So Parsons put his magic into the watch too?"
"The magic from both magicians exists in the watch and in me. The two entities cannot be separated for long or the magic fades, and the watch cannot work on another human, only me. It's a part of me as much as my heart or lungs."
"That's why it doesn't glow when anyone else holds it," I said, more to myself than him. "Did Parsons tell you what happened between he and Chronos after they healed you?"
"After the euphoria of their success wore off, Parsons told Chronos that he had reservations. He said he would never work with Chronos again to save a life. Chronos flew into a rage. He said they were on the verge of something monumentally important to the human race. But Parsons was afraid of what could happen if the magic fell into the wrong hands. Chronos was furious. He'd never actually met a magical doctor before, and he feared he'd never find another in his lifetime. Apparently they're the rarest magicians."
"I wonder if he did ever meet another."
Matt shrugged. "Parsons couldn't help me fix the watch. As the problem is in the horology magic, not the medical magic, a timepiece magician is required to service the watch. No ordinary watchmaker can do it."
"What about a different magic watchmaker?" I asked, curling my fingers around my own watch. "One who isn't Chronos, but is a magician?"
"Parsons seemed to think only the original magician can fix it."
I looked down at my fist. My watch's case felt cool now, not warm as it had been the evening before, when McTierney attacked me. I swallowed heavily. My mind was a jumble of questions and theories, all vying for attention. I managed to sort through them. There was only one pressing point. What if Parsons was wrong?
"Matt," I whispered, looking up at him.
He crouched before me. His gaze searched mine, worried and yet curious too. "What is it, India?"
"Last night…my watch wrapped itself around McTierney's wrist and shocked him. It almost killed him."
I opened my fist and he plucked the watch off my palm. He inspected it and opened the case. "Did your father make it?"
I nodded.
"Do you think he could have been a magician?"
"I don't know. But that watch chimed and moved of its own accord. I think the clock in the gambling house saved me too." I told him how it had dipped unexpectedly when I threw it to knock over Lord Dennison.
"That reminds me," he said darkly. "I ought to pay him a visit."
"You'll do no such thing. The incident is in the past. Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is, I handled that clock. I toyed with its mechanisms for something to do while Willie played. Just as I've taken this watch apart and put it back together dozens of
times."
His eyes widened. "You think you're a magician? I admit that I have wondered. My watch feels warmer when you're near, as if it's responding to your presence."
I lifted one shoulder. "I don't know what to think. The entire concept of magic is so new to me, and so very strange. I know nothing about it."
He placed the watch back in my palm and closed his hand around mine. "I know so little as well."
"Matt…if I am…I might be able to help you." I placed my hand over the pocket of his waistcoat. His watch heated at my touch. We both felt it.
He swallowed hard and nodded. Then he pulled the watch out. "Take it apart. Do whatever you did to your watch and that clock and we'll see if it makes a difference."
I didn't tell him I already had done so before taking it to him at Vine Street Police Station. Perhaps now that I knew a little more, my magic would show me what to do. I set to work immediately. He didn't stay. I removed the parts and laid them out. I cleaned them, inspected them, and returned them to their place again. It was easy; the mechanism was uncomplicated. But I felt no strange pull, no magic at work.
Matt returned carrying tea and sandwiches on a tray. "Aunt is asking when you'll be ready to go shopping," he said, setting it down beside me. "You're finished?"
I snapped the watch case closed and held it out to him by the chain. He accepted it and closed his fist around it. It immediately glowed and the magic flowed into him, lighting his veins. I watched its progress up his throat, over his face to his hairline. He breathed, breathed again, then returned it to his pocket. His color returned to normal.
"Well?" I prompted, no longer able to sit. "How do you feel?"
"Like I could kiss you."
My breath hitched. "So it works more efficiently now?"
"I don't know. I won't know for a few more hours, but I still want to kiss you." He smiled. He looked happier than I'd ever seen him. "I've shocked you."
