Page 46 of Curse of the Stag's Eye
Rhys leaned in, just a little, and before I knew it, I’d leaned in too and kissed him. His beard was soft, his lips welcoming. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly.
Dawn squealed with delight and clapped. “I knew you two were right for each other!”
“Sorry,” Rhys said to me. “I’m not sure what came over me.”
I wiggled my fingers. “Maybe you were possessed.”
He blurted out a laugh. “Oh God, my breath must be awful.” He covered his mouth. “I wish I hadn’t eaten that Scotch egg, now.”
I laughed and assured him it was fine. “Please stay. We have to help Baines.”
“Help him how?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “And I think I’ve got a plan.”
Chapter 26
In the museum, Irattled the lid of a display case.
Rhys nearly had a fit. “What are you doing, mun? You’ll break it!”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” I searched around for something I could use. An open frame on a wall held several nautical instruments, including a set of sailmaker’s tools. A needle holder, a seam rubber, a set of pickers, and a short, dull knife.
“What are you looking for?” Dawn asked.
I jimmied the knife under the lid of the display case. “We saw Baines sitting at his writing desk, yes?” I jiggled the knife about. “And he was writing a letter.” The knife rattled. “We know he watched that packet ship, theBranwen, going back and forth from America. He was the only one who noted it in the logs. Bloody thing…” I took the knife out.
“Move out of the way.” Rhys pulled out his keys and dropped to his haunches. From a little keyring, he pulled a pen knife. He slid the blade into the lock of the display case and wiggled it around. He stuck his tongue out from the corner of his mouth ashe worked. The lock popped. He opened the case and returned the keys to his pocket.
“Where did you learn how to do that?”
“Blame it on a misspent youth.” He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “I was an urban explorer before it was cool. How do you think I got my taste for wandering around buildings in the dark? I was sneaking about abandoned hotels and pubs before I was a teenager. This lock was a piece of piss after you’ve opened a few dozen padlocks.”
Before us were spread a handful of open, handwritten letters. Behind them lay five or six more, still in their envelopes, the addressees all but illegible. A tin, ink pot, and some fancy pens filled out the rest of the case. Carefully, I lifted each open letter in turn.
“What are you looking for?” Rhys’ voice had become a whisper, as if speaking too loudly would cause the letters to crumble.
“I’m hoping I’ll know it when I see it.” I could just about make out the names in the harsh electric light of the museum. None of them felt like likely candidates. “What’s in that tin?”
Dawn checked the placard. “It says people could pay extra to have their letters transported in tins like this one. As extra protection I suppose? It says there are likely to be more letters inside but the project hasn’t had a chance to examine them yet. The tin is still sealed.”
I lifted the tin. “Think you could pick the lock?”
Rhys laughed. “No chance — It’ll be rusted to buggery, I’m sure of it.”
“That’s a pity.” I took the sailmaker’s knife and jammed it under the lid, and tapped it with the hammer from my pocket.
“You can’t do that!” Rhys tried to grab the tin but I refused to let go. “It’s probably priceless!”
I ignored him and kept tapping the knife. “Leave it — It’s important.”
He looped his arm around my wrists. The tin fell to the wooden floor and split open.
“Oh, Christ, you’ve done it now.” Rhys stooped as if ready to scoop the tin up but stopped himself, afraid of doing more damage.
I knelt and picked up some envelopes. Three in all. Better preserved than the others on display. The tin had provided an extra layer of protection from the sea water. Two of the envelopes were addressed to someone in Aberystwyth. I showed the last of them to Rhys. “Read the name.”
He sighed and squinted. “Mr Howard… Baines. Stag’s Head Lighthouse.” He took the letter from me while I returned the tin and other letters to the cabinet. “How did you know that would be in there?”
