Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

Author:Brynn Chapman [Chapman, Brynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: teen, fantasy, London, Sherlock Holmes, Watson, elementary, angels, nephilim, Conan Doyle estate, archeology, historical fiction
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC
Published: 2014-06-02T07:00:00+00:00

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The Hudson Shoreline

Henry

The steamship is just over the hill; we decided not to dig at first light—feeling the need to report the attack. We debated returning last night, but the trek through the dark woods seemed unadvisable.

Arabella has been quiet since waking. I know this might start trouble. She’s anxious. But I must have this information.

I stare at her hands; her digits are white, clutching the saddle horn.

“Bella. Please tell me the contents of the inventory sheet.”

She stares straight ahead. “A fortnight prior, Newton brought me a bone.”

I laugh. “Normal behavior for any dog. I expect he was quite proud of himself.”

Her fingers turn bluish-white as she winds the reins tighter. “I believe it to be a portion of a long bone. Of a human. It was broken at one end. The epiphysis was slanted.”

I swallow. A human. “Where did he get it?”

“I told him, ‘Find’, and…he led me to the sausage plant.”

“What has this to do with Stygian?”

“I was called to his office, and quite innocently saw a paper with the sausage company’s letterhead.”

“Conjecture, at best.” But that didn’t stop the tingle on my scalp.

“I am aware. Stygian has made at least two trips to the plant that I am aware of.” She shivers, biting her lip. “The inventory list contained orders for 375 pounds of potash and 50 pounds of arsenic.”

My mind searches the chemistry. “I’m sorry. I’m not following. Perhaps I should…”

She grimaces. “My memory fails me. I suspect those two ingredients could dissolve bone, Henry.”

Revelation presses heavy on my chest. “You think he’s boiling evidence in the sausage vats? You think he was involved with the first party’s disappearance somehow?”

“Possibly. I need more proof. And I need to confirm my assumption. I’m not going to bloody get it here. But I didn’t dare turn down this assignment.”

“Does father know any of this?”

“No, and he must not. Henry, he would never allow me in such danger.”

The all-consuming fear returns making my mouth dry. “And I should, Bella?”

“Henry… I cannot be with you.”

Pain like a sucker-punch contracts my gut, followed by a flare of anger. “Who said I wanted you to?”

Her voice is caustic. “Yes, I know you have a veritable stable of choices. So why choose me, Henry?”

My teeth grind together. I should be reasonable, I should not speak. Everything about her makes me lose my reserve. Decorum commits suicide within five feet of her.

“I—I don’t want a stable. I don’t know whether to throttle you or hold you down till you kiss me again. I won’t tell him Bella. You have my word.”

My insides ache. Like withdrawal from an addiction.

A picture of Holmes in one of his cocaine-ravaged periods pops to my mind. My mind draws perfect recall of the leather case where he kept the syringe, ‘in a seven percent solution’ father used to say, with a face full of disapproval.

What did Arabella do as a child, when his mind went on holiday?

I see the girl from my childhood, in her room, dogs all over her bed.

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