Page 19 of Charmless
Four
Iwas sweating and panting by the time I reached the outskirts of Misty Bottoms, but I grinned, remembering the shocked expressions of Ardelia and her friends. No doubt they were still exclaiming over my unseemly behavior and condemning it. Those Heights girls had no idea what pleasure they were missing. There was nothing like a good run to give you a giddy feeling of freedom, tossing aside all cares and leaving your troubles far behind you.
My worries caught up with me all too soon as I entered the poorest section of our kingdom. There was a saying in Arcady.The sun never shines in Misty Bottoms.Of course, it did, the same as anywhere else. But here in the Bottoms, that warm gentle light became a harsh glare, exposing the extreme poverty of the region, dilapidated cottages, boarded over windows and tumbledown fences. An unpleasant scent hung in the air, difficult to describe. If hopelessness and misery had an odor, it would probably smell like Misty Bottoms.
I could feel my tension mounting as I wended my way down a weed-choked lane, heading for the street closest to the river. I had not been to Misty Bottoms since that day I had come here to sell my mother’s earrings to obtain money for tickets to theball. That dreadful afternoon I had gotten lost in the heavy fog drifting in from the Conger River and I had been set upon by an ugly thug named Iggy Burt, determined to relieve me of my purse. I could have been killed if not for the timely intervention of Horatio.
I drew some comfort from the memory, recalling how Horatio had bested that giant brute. The commander was a fierce and skilled fighter when the occasion called for it. I should not worry about him and yet I did.
If only I knew where he was and what danger he might be facing on this mysterious mission of Mercato’s. What if I never saw Horatio again and he died, believing I had forsaken him for the prince?
“Stop it, Ella,” I scolded myself. I had never been the sort to give way to melodramatic imaginings.
“Don’t go borrowing trouble, child,”Mal’s wise old grandmother had told me, a maxim that I have tried to adopt as one of the guiding principles of my life. My formidable commander was able to protect himself well. I would see Horatio again soon and clear up this misunderstanding between us. He would take me into his arms, and everything would be fine.
I focused on my goal, to find Mal and warn him there could be trouble heading his way because of that stupid elixir. As I hurried down Rock Gunnel Street, I kept my wits about me. Even on a sunny day, the Bottoms could be plagued by unscrupulous characters, thieves, rogues, and thugs like Iggy Burt.
Mal had vowed to hunt the villain down, much to my alarm. I worried how far Mal might go to avenge the attack on me. I much preferred the idea of Horatio bringing Iggy to justice. But the wily cutpurse had managed to elude both men, presumably by fleeing the kingdom.
I have often wished my friend would have located his apothecary shop, The Hawk’s Nest, in a more respectable part of the kingdom. But considering that Mal engaged in the practice of illegal magic and other dubious occupations such as smuggling, the more distance between him and the Midtown garrison, the better.
When I arrived at Mal’s shop, I dreaded finding the Hawk’s Nest already under siege by angry women clamoring for his head. The ladies from the Heights might not have a clue to his identity. But my roguish friend was better known among the girls from Midtown and some of those women would have had no qualms about hunting him down.
To my relief, all seemed quiet and normal at Mal’s apothecary. There was a notice on the front door proclaiming the shop to be closed. That did not necessarily mean that Mal was not inside. He often closed the Hawk’s Nest when he was busy concocting some special potion, especially if he was dabbling in forbidden magic. If I knocked loud enough, I could usually get Mal to admit me.
But beneath the closed sign, there was another notice.
Apothecary away on holiday.
Below that was another sign;
Shop closed until further notice.
And finally, another in huge black letters.
I REALLY MEAN IT. GO AWAY!!!
Judging from those signs, Mal was aware that hisElixir ofLovehad resulted in some fiercely dissatisfied customers. I pressed my face to the window and squinted inside the dim interior. The shop’s main room was empty, but I was unconvinced that Mal was not skulking somewhere inside the building. He was eager to figure out how to use his grandfather’s orb that I had recovered for him. I did not think Mal would have strayed far from his books and magical apparatus. But if he was avoiding enraged patrons, he was unlikely to answer, no matter how hard I knocked. Fortunately, I knew where he hid the key to his back door.
I circled around his shop, creeping past Delphine’s house which was right next door. If the witch had disliked me before, she must truly hate me now that I had stumbled upon her secret and told Mal. I stole a nervous glance toward her side window, but the lace curtain did not twitch. No Delphine glaring balefully at me either as herself or in her guise as Ebony, the cat. I shivered and hurried along the path until I reached Mal’s backyard.
He had left some laundry hanging out to dry, several shirts and pairs of stockings, a sign that I was right about him being home. His garden was as well-tended as always, neat squares of herbs and medicinal plants. Mal’s house might be a total disaster, but he kept those herb beds weeded and trimmed since they were his stock in trade.
The area beyond the garden was less tidy. Mal’s property sloped down toward the river. The muddy ground was thick with reeds and there was a small wooden dock where Mal’s boat was kept, but the skiff was gone.
I crept closer just to be sure. The thick rope that usually held theEllaMarietethered to shore was looped around the dock post. Shielding my eyes from the sunlight sparkling on the water, I squinted across the river. I saw a few of the flat-bottomed boats used by the snigglers casting their nets for eels. The Conger River had an ample supply. But there was no sign of Mal’s small skiff.
“Oh, frap, Hawkridge!” I muttered. “What a time for you to take off to consort with your smuggler and pirate friends.”
The depth of my disappointment astonished me. I felt almost hollowed out by it. After the wretched morning I had had, I needed Mal. My friend could always make me laugh with his wicked sense of humor and put my troubles into perspective.
When Mal took off on one of his trips downriver, there was no telling how long he would be away. Perhaps not long this time if he had left his wash on the line, but I could not afford to wait for his return. Em would realize I had slipped out of house by now. Although I was not eager to return home to her scolding and pleading, I did not want her worried about me either.
I started back up the embankment when I noticed something rustling through the reeds. Misty Bottoms was plagued with a large nasty species of river rat. I tried to skitter out of the way to avoid it. The creature slunk out into the open, revealing itself to be a sleek black cat.
I would have much preferred a river rat. Ebony, or should I say Delphine, hissed at me, her lip curling back to reveal her small, pointed teeth. My heart flipped over and I looked wildly about for some sort of weapon or help.
There were only the snigglers out on the river, hauling their net onto their barge. Still, they were a deterrent of sorts. Other than scratching or biting, I did not see what harm Delphine could do to me in her guise as a cat and she did not dare to transform. Not without appearing stark naked in front of those men.
