Page 7 of The Twelve Days of Love

Their oldest child had never spoken about her past life after that first day of becoming the newest St. Clair. Luke had wondered whether they should ask Lucy more about her background but Caroline had said to let sleeping dogs lie.

Apparently, the dogs had always been awake—and with Lucy.

The summer sun shone unmercifully upon them and so he said, “Why don’t we go back to the tearoom and have some lemonade? If you want to, you can tell me about Boy.”

“All right.”

Lucy slipped her hand into his and they traveled down the pavement to the outside entrance to Evie’s Tearoom and entered. Taking a seat at the last remaining empty table, Luke signaled Daisy and told her they wished for two lemonades. He talked to Lucy about other things until the lemonades were before them.

“Who is Boy? You told Mama and me about Jem.”

His daughter took a long sip and set down the glass. “Boy was part of the Rule of Three. That’s where three pickpockets work a single mark.”

He hated hearing Lucy speak so matter-of-factly about her previous life of crime but kept silent, wanting to hear what she would reveal.

“Boy and I never did the actual stealing. We were the play actors. Driskell followed us on the street and chose our mark, using signals to tell us which story to use. We had several stories that were supposed to draw sympathy from the mark.”

She took another drink of her lemonade. “One I was good at was pretending to be lost or separated from my mother. I would start crying. Or Boy would act as if he were my brother and pretend he was hurt. I would cry as he lay on the ground and ask passing strangers to help us.”

“And Jem would pick the pocket of your mark while you distracted anyone who stopped?”

“Yes. He had the most nimble fingers, Papa. He could lift anything from a man’s pocket or from inside a lady’s reticule.”

“You told us Jem was killed the day before you came to us. What about Boy?”

Lucy bit her lip, gazing off into the distance. Luke believed she was reliving the past and kept silent.

Finally, she said, “Driskell knew Jem was holding out on him. Jem wanted the three of us to run away that night. He began chasing Jem. That’s when Jem slipped on the ice and was struck.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “Then Driskell started after Boy and me. Boy told me to run. We each took off in different directions.”

He slipped out his handkerchief and brushed a falling tear from her cheek.

“I never saw Boy again, Papa. I went home with you and Mama. But I think about him every day. I wonder where he is.”

A child on the street this long could be dead but he didn’t want to say this to his daughter. Instead, he asked, “Why do you call him Boy?”

She shrugged. “He never talked. Ever. No one knew his name. He used his fingers once to tell me he was ten. That’s when I first came. I was five.”

It cut him to the quick to think Lucy’s father had sold her, much less at such a tender age. Still, it had made it possible for Lucy to become a part of the St. Clairs.

“But he did say one word that last day. When he told me to run. I didn’t even know he could talk.” Her mouth trembled as more tears began to spill down her cheeks.

As Luke wiped them away, Lucy asked, “Do you think we could find Boy, Papa?” She frowned. “He won’t want to be found.”

A plan began formulating and he said, “We will look. I promise you that. I cannot guarantee that we will find him but I will leave no stone unturned.”

She came out of her chair and flung her arms about him. “Thank you, Papa. Thank you for trying.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Finish your lemonade. We have somewhere to go.”

She cocked her head and studied him a moment and then grabbed the glass and drained it.

“I’m ready.”

Luke took her hand and returned to the bookshop, heading back to Stinch’s office. By now, Caroline was with the manager.

She looked up. “It will probably be another quarter-hour and then we can go,” she told him.

“Lucy and I have an errand to run. You can gather the others and take the carriage home. We shall take a hansom cab to our destination.”

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