Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard Page A

sandy hair stood at all manner of bizarre angles, while his green eyes were sunken in.
    â€œMr. Sheridan.” I bobbed a curtsy. “I’ve come to see Mr.—”
    â€œMe.” Joseph stepped in front of Daniel, his top hat on and his gloves in hand. “ Bonjour , Miss Fitt. I am afraid you have come at a bad time. I must leave.” He spoke quickly and without meeting my eyes.
    â€œOh.” I swallowed. “I just wanted to know if you’d found my letter. I left it, and I wasn’t sure if you knew it was mine.”
    â€œ Naturèlman . We figured it out.” He slid on a glove and flexed his fingers. Daniel lounged behind him, his gaze darting from the clock to Joseph to me.
    â€œDid you...” I swayed and swiveled my head, trying to connect Joseph’s eyes to mine. “Did you discover anything?”
    â€œSome, but we have not yet had time to examine it properly.” He pulled on the second glove.
    â€œAnd what of the spirit my mother—”
    â€œCome back later,” Joseph interrupted. “This evening perhaps.”
    This evening, when there were fewer people. I winced and tried to pump some assertion into my voice. “I don’t see why you can’t discuss it now. I’d like to have my letter back.”
    His nostrils twitched, and he finally stared at me full-on. “We need more time to inspect it, Mamzèi , and I haven’t the time to talk. I must go.” He glanced back at Daniel. “You have your orders.”
    â€œBest hurry,” Daniel said, tipping his head toward the clock. “Jie’s probably already there.”
    Joseph nodded once, and then in a rush, he stepped from the lab and flew past me. I turned to Daniel to plead my cause, but the door swung at my face. I jumped back as it banged to a close.
    What excuse did they give you? Those had been Mr. Peger’s words, and now here I stood in a cramped hall after the Spirit-Hunters had yet again fobbed me off with an excuse.
    My eyes widened. Maybe they were the necromancers, and they’d taken my letter to destroy the only evidence I had of Elijah’s disappearance.
    I shook my head, and my curls bounced against my neck and face. I had to stop this foolish paranoia. I had no evidence of anything. Yet.
    I pushed my feet into action. My hand automatically reached for the amethysts at my ears, to feel their delicate shapes. I still needed to go to the market—Mama had complained about last night’s bland stew, and I’d promised to splurge on pork cheeks.
    I reached the end of the aisle where it intersected with Machinery Hall’s main transept and lifted my skirt to join the flow of visitors.
    But something whispered in the back of my mind. The nagging sense of eyes watching me from behind.
    I glanced over my shoulder and saw Daniel, his face now shaded by a gray flat cap, and a full, lumpy satchel leaned against his legs. When our eyes met, he spun his face away and focused intently on locking the laboratory door. I whisked my head around, scurried into the crowd, and moved from his view.
    That had been an enormous bag—it had practically reached his thighs. What was in it? And where was he going with it?
    I can follow him. I can find out.
    I swerved from the throng of visitors and pressed myself against the nearest exhibit: a sleek locomotive. It gleamed in the morning sun and bathed me in ethereal light. A boiling thrill at my decision tingled over me. Sweat beaded on my skin.
    I slunk left along the locomotive and craned my neck to peer around the shiny engine. Daniel marched into my view, hunched over with the sack hoisted on his back. And something poked from the sack—something that made my heart slam into my ribs.
    It was the tip of a boot.
    I lurched back. A boot. A heavy bag. I pressed my hands to my face and tried to breathe over my heart. It felt as if it rammed against my lungs with each beat. Oh God—what did I just