Page 95 of Charmless
“You!” I cried, backing away.
Delphine’s brows arched in surprise. “You have already met Waldo the Wharf Rat?”
“Regrettably I have.” I waved one of the glass slippers accusingly in his direction. “This man tried to attack me in the Winking Goblin this afternoon.”
“Aw, no, miss,” Waldo protested. “I was only after stealing a little kiss.”
I glared at him. “I think you were after a great deal more than that!”
“Sorry, miss. But I did obey when you ordered me to stop. I even helped to clean the tap room when you commanded me and my friends to do it.” Waldo scratched his head, looking perplexed. “Though for the life of me, I can’t understand why we did.”
Delphine smothered a laugh. She must have been able to guess that Waldo had been under the influence of the Fear Blade.
The big man continued to whine. “I would never have bothered you at all, miss, if I had known you were Mal’s young lady friend.”
“You shouldn’t have been bothering her no matter whose young lady she is,” Delphine said sternly. “Shame on you, you old villain. You have four daughters of your own.”
Waldo shrugged. “I didn’t come by those four girls without being friendly, Delphie.” He leered at the witch and leaned closer. “I still cherish hopes of getting me a son one day with the cooperation of a fine wench like yourself.”
Delphine doubled up her fist and bopped him.
“Ow!” Waldo stumbled back, rubbing his nose.
“Don’t ever call me Delphie again!” The witch growled. “You should recall what happened the last time you tried to get too familiar with me.”
Waldo obviously did from the way he backed off, protectively clutching his privates. Delphine snapped at him to prepare the boat for launch. As Waldo stumbled in his haste to obey, I whispered in the witch’s ear.
“Delphine, what were you thinking? That man is completely despicable! Do you really believe we can trust him?”
“Around any pretty girl, no! But he and Long Louie are the two of Mal’s disreputable friends who are the most dependable and loyal to him. And no one knows the river like the Wharf Rat.”
I almost grumbled that I would have preferred the help of Long Louie, but Delphine would likely have accused me of complaining again.
“Fine!” I muttered. “But I wish I still had the Fear Blade.”
Delphine patted my hand. “You don’t need a Fear Blade to keep that rogue on his best behavior, sweetie. You have me.”
I was not entirely reassured, but I swallowed any further misgivings. Waldo appeared respectful enough as he helped me and Delphine into the boat, although he did give me an audacious wink when he thought Delphine wasn’t looking. The small skiff rocked perilously as Waldo cast off and leapt aboard. I clutched my precious shoes tight in my lap, fearful of dropping one.
But for such a large man, the Wharf Rat was remarkably agile. The boat steadied as he took his seat opposite me and Delphine. Manning the oars, he steered us out of the shallows and onto the main course of the river. As we headed downstream, we were travelling with the current which made the rowing smooth and easy.
The return trip would prove more difficult with the addition of Mal’s weight on board. After the beating he had taken from Florian’s guards, who knew what condition my poor friend might be in. I tried not to think too much about that or any of thedifficulties or perils that lie ahead. Stealing a glance at Delphine, I wondered if she was as anxious as I was. I had learned a little about reading her moods from the ever-shifting color of hair.
Tonight, her long tresses were as silvery white as the moonlight. I had never seen that hue on her before and wondered what it denoted. A serene confidence in our success or an utter terror that we were headed for disaster.
She appeared calm enough as she set her lantern down on the bottom of the boat. I had not noticed before, but the illumination came from a curious-looking blue candle that showed no sign of melting or waxing any smaller as it burned. Delphine must have enchanted it somehow. Ordinarily I would have been fascinated, but my attention was claimed by Delphine producing a small pouch.
“Here are a few more things that you will need to rescue Mal,” she said. Delving inside the pouch, she retrieved what looked like an ivory darning needle, the thick kind a cobbler would have used on leather. She handed it to me for my inspection.
“What is this? A Fear Needle?” I asked hopefully.
“No, don’t be silly. It’s a Skeletal Pick. I whittled down a piece of bone and put a spell on it. This will enable you to pick open any lock you encounter.”
“Bone? Not a human one, I hope?” I joked weakly.
“Of course not,” Delphine started to deny and then she shrugged. “Well, not the bone of anybody important.”
“Hey!” Waldo squawked in protest.
