Page 86 of Heir of Uncertain Magic

He trotted over to Hulda and dropped a gnarled roll of paper at her feet. “Good boy.” She rubbed his ears with one hand as she picked up the paper. “That will do. I don’t suppose you have a pen and ink vial stashed somewhere?”

Owein whined.

“Here.” Baptiste pulled a stick from the edge of the tiny fire, blowing on it and testing its temperature before walking it over. Good ol’ charcoal.

“That will do.” Hulda accepted it, unrolled the unevenly torn, stained sheet of paper, and began writing. “We know one of my methods to reach Myra worked, else she wouldn’t have known to contact Beth and me.”

Merritt nodded, though Hulda was so focused she didn’t see it. Still, it was better for her to focus on this and notWhat if Myra is really dead?like she’d fretted about last night. To which Beth had promptly declared,If she’s dead, she died in the last two days, and I find that highly unlikely.

“So,” Hulda went on, her nose crinkling in a way that made Merritt want to touch it, “I will have to resend a message to every one of them, to ensure she sees it. Assuming she hasn’t moved on.” Her writing slowed, then sped up. “She knew of Mr.Baillie. I’m hoping she’s been keeping tabs on things best she can from the outside ... and hasn’t given up on us yet.” She blinked. “God let that be the case.”

“MissTaylor should send it,” Merritt said. “Just to be safe.”

Hulda nodded with a frown. “I suppose being a fugitive might make a trip to the post office unpleasant.”

“Is not so bad,” Baptiste said, which earned a confused look from Hulda and a chuckle from Merritt.

His duties fulfilled, Owein plopped at Beth’s side, resting his head on her lap. It was good to see him happy, even if their circumstances were dire. The maid fed him a piece of fish.

“Telegrams wherever possible,” Hulda added. She paused, thinking, and wrote another word. She’d smeared charcoal on her jaw, but Merritt wouldn’t tell her until she’d finished. “For speed.”

“I suppose,” Merritt added, “we won’t be showing up for our court date.” Not with the bogus murder charge added to the list of their supposed wrongdoings.

Hulda deflated into a slouch. “There is that. One thing at a time ... Oh yes, I wrote to her cousin.” She scribbled it down. “The address ... I think I remember it, but ...” She bit her lip, turning the short stick over to get at more charcoal.

She finished her list, which was more substantive than Merritt had realized. When she showed it to him, he subtly gestured to his jaw, and Hulda quickly removed the smudge with her dress sleeve, as the prison guards hadn’t let her keep so much as a handkerchief. She then took the paper to Beth, who read over it carefully.

“We need to determine a safe place and time to meet, and include it discreetly in each message,” she said.

“Not here,” Merritt added, “in case there’s interception.”

Hulda nodded, then folded her arms against the chill. “It won’t take long for them to bring in a wizard to hunt us out.”

“I doubt they’ll assume we’re still in Suffolk County,” Merritt tried, but it didn’t seem to alleviate her stress.

“Might be best to wait until evening,” Hulda said.

Beth shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. If I’m stopped and identified, they can’t detain me. Besides”—she smiled—“most white men can’t tell me apart from any other Black woman.”

Merritt sat up. “That’s preposterous.”

Beth smiled knowingly at him, which told Merritt he was quite wrong and should probably say nothing more on the subject.

Standing, Beth folded the list and pocketed it. Owein whined softly, and she rubbed under his chin. “I’ll be back, little one.” She kissed the top of his head, distributed their meager breakfast, and went out into the weather-choked sunlight.

Merritt envied her.

In the meantime,came a familiar, youthful voice into his head.Let’s have a lesson.

He sighed. “If you want to practice your letters, fetch me another piece of charcoal.”

Hulda looked around, confused, then nodded her understanding. “I don’t mind playing teacher. It will give me something to do.”

Not letters.The dog huffed.Time to practice your magic.

Merritt frowned. “Considering that we’re trying to lie low, I don’t think now is the best time to do it, nor here the best place.”

There’s never a good time. I’ll tell you everything I know.

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