Fire Catcher by C. S. Quinn Page A

expression.
    ‘Why did you take the ring?’ he asked.
    She glanced up at him.
    ‘The purse and candlestick were a feint,’ he said. ‘You took them to disguise yourself as a thief. It was the ring you really wanted. Why?’
    She pursed her lips and he thought he detected annoyance. No Jack in her hand, he decided.
    ‘Tell me what your key guards,’ said Lily.
    ‘You haven’t won the hand yet.’
    Without answering, she laid her cards. There was the Jack. The smile on her face was maddening.
    ‘Papers,’ he said, trying not to let his surprise show. ‘My key unlocks a chest containing papers.’
    ‘What kind of papers?’
    ‘I . . . My reading is not good,’ he said. ‘I only saw them for a moment. There was a marriage paper among them. For Thomas Blackstone and Teresa Blackstone.’
    He scrutinised her reaction but she was so hard to read. Each time he thought he’d seen a tell, it slid away like a snake in long grass. It was infuriating and fascinating at the same time.
    Lily shuffled and re-dealt.
    This time Charlie had learned enough of her play and the cards in the deck to better her. Combined with a lucky hand, he took the trick and was gratified to see a wave of frustration pass over her face.
    ‘I win,’ he said.
    ‘So you do,’ she said, looking as though she could not quite believe it. ‘You may ask me your question then and I will answer truthfully.’
    ‘Show me the handkerchief you were looking at,’ he said. ‘Before I got into the carriage.’
    ‘You were watching me?’
    ‘From beneath the carriage,’ he admitted. ‘A street rat trick to steal a ride.’
    ‘I shall have to learn that one,’ she murmured. ‘But you may not see the handkerchief. Your win grants you a question only.’
    Charlie paused to be sure of his question.
    ‘What do you know of the symbol on my key?’ he asked finally.
    Lily pursed her lips.
    ‘It is the sign of the Sealed Knot. They were a group of nobles formed during the war,’ she said. ‘The cleverest and most deadly men. Their purpose was to protect the King. But they fought, and some of them broke away. Travelled to Holland. They consorted with mystics. When they returned, they were said to have powers.’
    ‘What powers?’
    Lily hesitated.
    ‘One question is all you won.’ She re-dealt.
    The questions were firing through his head at such speed that he hardly noticed when Lily laid her winning hand.
    ‘You have lost,’ she said, with a slightly disappointed smile. Then she held out her hand for the key.
    Slowly, Charlie unwound it from his neck and handed it over.
    Her fingers closed on it victoriously, watching his face.
    ‘This key is very dear to you,’ she decided. ‘Perhaps you think to find me and take it back.’
    Charlie said nothing.
    ‘Have you ever been inside the fumigation house?’ continued Lily. ‘It is a maze. Once I am inside, you will never see me again.’ But she sounded less confident now.
    ‘I will,’ said Charlie, and was pleased to see a flicker of disquiet in her face.
    Lily slipped in beside him. It was a novel sensation to have the swathes of silk pushed up against his body. He could smell her rosewater scent as she leaned in close.
    Then he felt a sharp pain against his ribs.
    ‘Feel that?’ said Lily. ‘I hold a knife at your chest.’ Her voice came low. ‘Come looking for me again, Mr Sealed Knot, and I will carve out your heart.’
    Charlie smiled.
    ‘That might work on your lordly men,’ he said easily. ‘I grew up in Cheapside where the women would have your pretty guts for garters. Besides,’ he added. ‘You told me you will be impossible to find.’
    Lily holstered her knife, looking furious.
    ‘So I will be,’ she said.
    She slipped out of the carriage and vanished into the fumigation house. Charlie watched her go. Then he smiled. It had been easier than he thought to trick a trickster.
    During play he had scented the playing cards with lavender oil – a favourite thief-taking