The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

Wellington returned, tipping his bowler to her. “I could say Eliza serves a similar office when it comes to my well-being.”
    The suffragist’s good blue eye narrowed but the bright smile remained. “Such a bold man to consort with lionesses!”
    “Boldness? Hardly, Miss Sheppard,” Wellington said, turning back to Eliza. “I think it’s more of your fellow countrywoman’s influence.”
    “Not surprising,” Kate replied.
    Eliza had met many committed people in her life—mad scientists, leaders with the glint of power in their eye, and some who were actually committed in Bedlam—but none had ever come close to the steely backbone of this suffragist. She left them all in the dust. If there was one other woman in the whole world, besides her own mother, who Eliza D. Braun admired, it was Kate Sheppard.
    Now the suffragist was looking at her for support and help. The last time that had happened, it had ended well for the movement, but badly for Kate.
    The older woman took Eliza’s arm. “Please give us a moment.” She directed her request so sweetly at Wellington and Betsy that neither of them could really complain. Besides, both had just seen what could happen when Kate Sheppard was cross.
    She led Eliza down the causeway a little bit, glanced over her shoulder, and began to speak in a low tone. “So, Douglas found you.”
    “Kate,” Eliza began, her heart pounding in her ears, “I—”
    “—am sure you have a great deal to tell me, but considering the circumstances, let’s clear the air quickly.” The smile widened, and her hand rested gently on Eliza’s cheek. “I am very glad to see you again. I have missed you.”
    The words—everything she wanted to say, everything she implored from her since leaving, every burden she wished to unload—lodged in her throat. In Kate’s gentle gesture, it was Aotearoa reaching out to her. She felt aroha . She felt home.
    The emerald glow in Kate’s clockwork eye diminished, and she removed her hand from Eliza’s cheek (good thing too, for Eliza could not have held back her tears if it had lingered there). “I wish seeing you were under better circumstances though. We in the movement are in danger every moment. The other day at Speakers’ Corner . . .” Kate paused to catch her breath.
    Eliza clasped her hands, feeling them warm, even inside the gloves. “This is nothing new, Kate. I uncovered some files at work. There are other disappearances that no one else seems very interested in pursuing.”
    The women shared a glance. Kate knew of the Ministry—had been exposed to it in rather a spectacular manner back in New Zealand. “A real shame,” she murmured under her breath, “but to be expected, I suppose, especially being of Her Majesty’s government.”
    Eliza glanced back to Wellington, who appeared to be trying—unsuccessfully—to strike up a conversation with Betsy.
    “Not everyone in the Ministry is all bad,” she muttered.
    Kate didn’t seem to hear her. “I only arrived a few weeks ago,” the elder suffragist went on, “and I can tell you, though the ladies are trying to put on a show of being brave, they are beginning to crack. All of the missing women are very influential in the movement. As these abductions are growing more frequent, it won’t last out the year if this continues.”
    Eliza didn’t comment on what she was thinking, because she knew that Kate would be thinking the very same thing: many people in high places would delight in that outcome. It made the list of suspects rather long—including Queen Victoria herself, knowing her attitude towards the suffrage movement. This could serve as a mundane explanation behind the Ministry allowing cases to slide down into the Archives.
    Eliza pressed her lips together before asking, “Do you know if there is any other connection between these women?”
    Kate’s brow furrowed. “I don’t, but the woman who lives here might.” She pointed to the graceful abode Wellington and