Page 65 of Empire of Shadows

“Mr. Bates!” she shouted, projecting the call out over the shoreline. “Hellooooo!”

Her voice echoed off the far bank and inspired a renewed racket from the parrots. There was no response from the man himself. It seemed that, for now, Ellie was on her own.

She made a quick scan of the water for any suspicious logs that might turn out to be crocodiles. Satisfied, Ellie tugged off her filthy shirt and trousers, then unlaced the soft pad of her flexible corset. Stripped to her cotton combinations, she grabbed her dirty clothes, swung onto the rail of the boat, and hopped over the side into the water with a splash.

The level of the river rose to the middle of her chest. Her feet sank into the mud of the bottom. Ellie let them squelch there while she squeezed and rubbed at her corset, shirt, and trousers, cleaning them as vigorously as she could in the absence of a bar of laundry soap. She slung the garments back up over the rail, managing to get them there with a little hop and a careful toss. The deck of theMary Leewas nearly level with where her head rose from the water, but the rails rose another three feet above that.

With her laundry taken care of, Ellie pulled the pins from her hair, tossed them onto the deck, and dunked herself below the surface. She gave her scalp a good scrub and took care of the necessary ablutions on the other key areas of her body.

She had reached a satisfactory state of cleanliness, but the water felt too delicious to give up. The temperature was perfect, and the current mild enough that it barely seemed to tug at her, particularly in the sheltered eddy where Bates had tied up their craft.

Ellie kicked loose the mud from her feet and decided to indulge. She laid herself back against the surface with her arms out, going into a float.

The pull of the water turned her lazily. Suspended in perfect comfort, she gazed up at the immense trees rustling overhead. Small, quick birds darted between the branches, chirping softly. Sunlight filtered down through the dancing leaves and sparkled across the surface of the river.

Where would she be now if she hadn’t stumbled across that map? Probably staring out her window in Canonbury at the dreary gray skies of London. The thought was surreal.

Ellie closed her eyes as she kicked mildly against the pull of the water and let herself fall completely into the delicious sense of having escaped something dreadful.

A thud sounded against the boards of the deck. A shadow fell across the place where she floated as something came between her and the warmth of the morning sun.

“Sorry I disappeared on…”

Bates’s voice trailed off.

Ellie’s eyes snapped open.

He stood above her on theMary Lee, gazing stupidly down at where she floated in the water in her eminently practical, currently waterlogged, and most likely all-but-transparent underthings.

Ellie snapped her head up and sank into the water until it was lapping at her chin.

“Turn around!” she ordered.

Bates blinked at her dumbly from above as though words were taking longer than usual to penetrate his brain.

“Turn. Around!” Ellie repeated, giving the words an additional threatening emphasis.

Bates spun neatly on his heel and put his back to her.

“I heard you shout for me,” he offered awkwardly.

“I wastryingto see how far away you were,” Ellie retorted.

He turned his head just enough that she could make out his smirk.

“You weren’t that specific,” he noted.

To her horror, he came around lazily to face her again.

Ellie sank herself down a little lower until her nose was just shy of the surface.

“You know, now that I think about it, that looks like a pretty great idea,” Bates drawled.

Ellie narrowed her eyes.

“You wouldn’tdare...” she challenged.

But he had already kicked off his boots. Bates backed up to the far side of the deck, and with a running start, he leapt over the rail.

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