The Stitcher and the Mute by D.K. Fields

Author:D.K. Fields [Fields, D.K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781789542516
Publisher: Head of Zeus

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After an evening of small, poorly calculated bets, Cora returned to her boarding house with far fewer pennies in her pocket than she started with. As she made her way along the quiet corridor and up the stairs to her room, she saw no one, for which she was grateful. She unlocked her door quickly, but stopped on the threshold.

There was a slip of paper on the floor. Someone had pushed it under the door.

Cora knew she was late with the rent again, though notes weren’t usually her landlord’s way of chasing payment. He preferred ambushing her on the stairs, but he’d not had much chance recently; she’d been spending more time at the station than ever. Cora was at once overwhelmed by a wave of tiredness.

She realised she was still standing in the doorway. The folded sheet of paper somehow throbbed with white light on the dark floor. She knew it wouldn’t be from her landlord, and that meant someone else had been in her building, had climbed the stairs to her room. And in the last couple of days she’d been followed – she was almost sure of it. Sweat began to prick her armpits, the back of her neck. Cora quickly shut the door and made herself pick up the paper.

The note was in Ruth’s handwriting. Cora let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

When you’re ready to travel, come to the coaching inn, South Gate.

At the back door, ask for the Washerwoman.

Come alone. Tell no one.

Ready to travel? As if all Cora needed was time to pack a saddle bag and she’d be off to the south of the Union with a sister she hadn’t seen in decades. Ruth had been travelling the Union for too long; she didn’t know how things worked in Fenest, what Cora’s job was. And she hadn’t even bothered to find out. That was what annoyed Cora most of all.

Cora lay down on her bed. Her thoughts were moving faster than her body could these days. The note meant several things.

First, Ruth knew where Cora lived.

Second, Ruth had a web of informants. Cora had suspected as much when Nullan had raced down the stables’ stairs, only to then reappear shortly afterwards with news that it was safe for Ruth to move. That there was a place for Ruth to go.

Third, Ruth chose not to leave the note at the station. She didn’t trust the police. That made sense, given that she’d made clear she didn’t trust Cora. But then, Cora wasn’t too sure about Chief Inspector Sillian these days either.

There was a fourth thing too, coming clear: Ruth’s pain when Cora had mentioned the death of Nicholas Ento. Ento was Wayward, Ruth had joined that realm. Her sister seemed to have more than a professional interest in the case.

But then, the same was true of Cora.

Ruth wanted her to go to the south. It was just like her sister – the seventeen-year-old version of her, at any rate – to turn up and expect Cora to drop everything, for Ruth’s desires to be more important.

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