The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace by Bec McMaster

park.
A squirrel tore up the nearest tree in fright, and people looked up
in shock from their picnic rugs, scrambling in a mad rush to get
out of the way. There was a cricket match in progress among a flock
of young schoolboys, and a gentleman in a top hat snatched a boy up
under each arm, as she and Lovecraft drove straight through the
middle of it.
    Perry made one
last-ditch effort.
    “ Stop!” She threw herself into a tackle, dragging him down to
the grass.
    A blow stung
her ears, and she rolled over his shoulder in a tangle of arms and
legs, until she came up against a tree. Lovecraft staggered to his
feet, and drew back his boot as if to kick her in the face.
    “ Lovecraft!” She held up a hand. “I’m your friend, remember?
It’s Perry. From Hobbs’ shop!”
    Recognition
dawned. “Nurly,” he said.
    “ Yes,” she let out a breath of relief, not daring to move.
“I’m trying to find Nelly. To help her. Why did you come to the
theatre?”
    “ Nurly!”
    “ Nelly’s not there, remember? She’s gone away. I have to find
her.”
    Wringing at
his cap, he rocked back and forth, wide eyes frightened as he
watched people running away from them. “Gone. Nurly gone. Jerm
gone.”
    “ James?” she asked. “James is gone?”
    He looked
panicked. Perry rolled onto her hands and knees. What was he trying
to say? “I can help you,” she said. “You can’t find James or Nelly,
can you? Is that why you came to the theatre?”
    “ Jerm hurt. Jerm gone.”
    Her breath
caught in the back of her throat. “That’s right. Did you see the
man who hurt James?”
    Tortured eyes
met her own. Lovecraft tore at his cap, as though to hide behind
it, but he nodded.
    “ Was it someone at the theatre?” she asked breathlessly. “Is
that why you came there?”
    Whistles
screamed as the local constabulary came on the scene. Lovecraft
cupped his hands over his specially-designed earmuffs, wincing.
Whatever she did, she would have to do it quickly. She could see
they all had pistols.
    Hell and blazes . She needed time to
talk to him. Lovecraft had witnessed Hobbs’ murder - he knew who’d done
it.
    But if he
stayed here... Where people didn’t understand him...
    “ Go,” she said, meeting his gaze, and imploring him. If they
caught him, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. Not with his
appearance. People were always frightened of what they didn’t
understand, and Lovecraft was like a child trapped in a man’s body.
He wouldn’t know how to appear unthreatening. “You need to run! Go!
They’ll hurt you! Go home! I’ll find you!”
    Tears wet his
eyes, then the big man turned, and started running. The pair of
constables bolted past her, and Perry took her time rolling to her
feet, brushing the grass off.
    Garrett caught
up to her, grinding to a breathless halt. “Are you all right?”
    Perry brushed
a couple of leaves off her shoulder. “I’m fine. How is everyone at
the theatre?”
    “ Shaken up, but not harmed. What the hell was that? Why the
hell didn’t you shoot?”
    Perry wet her
lips. “That was Lovecraft.”
    Garrett cut
her a look. “Hobbs’ adopted... project?”
    “ He’s not a project,” she said sharply.
    “ Did he hurt you?” He brushed grass off her arms, cupping her
shoulders and turning her around to examine her. As she spun back
the other way, he caught her chin, and tipped her face up, heat
flaring through his blue eyes. “He hit you. You’re
bruised.”
    “ It’ll fade. I did tackle him, after all. He never meant to
hurt me–”
    “ Bloody hell, Perry. It didn’t look like that. You said he
wasn’t a threat!”
    “ He wasn’t. At least, I didn’t gain that impression. He was
frightened of me–”
    “ I know your instincts are good,” he said, in a hard tone,
“but sometimes you’re wrong.”
    “ And sometimes you’re a fool!” She snapped, turning back to
the theatre.
    He caught her
arm. “You didn’t see what happened, Perry! He went straight for
Miss Radcliffe!