The Canticle of Whispers Read Free Page A

all day?” she asked, unwinding the old shawl they had tied around her head to hide her distinctive blonde ringlets. “It isn’t particularly fragrant.”
    â€œPatience, Miss Cherubina,” Theo replied, cautiously. “I wouldn’t move until Laud tells us that it is safe to do so. Inspector Poleyn well deserves her new position, and I am sure that she will send one of her men to watch the Temple for the next few days. I doubt that the Director is quite ready to call off the search.”
    Cherubina blanched, and Mark winced. He had every reason to hate the Director. Snutworth had betrayed him, kidnapped him, and treated him like little more than a puppet. But Cherubina had been Snutworth’s wife. She had lived with him for over a year, half-prisoner, half-prize. Mark could not imagine what that had been like. Certainly she did not want to talk about it, and when Mark had found her imprisoned with him in the Astrologer’s Tower, Snutworth’s home at the time, she had been all too eager to join in his escape. Of course, as far as the new Director was concerned, she had not run away at all—Mark had stolen Snutworth’s property. That was how he thought, and he had the law of Agora on his side.
    â€œAre you sure the debtors won’t talk?” Cherubina murmured, clearly shaken. “A lot of them saw our arrival.”
    Theo raised his head, looking tired.
    â€œThere is certainly very little love between the receivers and those who must take shelter in our almshouse,” Theo said after a moment’s thought. “Still, I wouldn’t count on their silence if the receivers start to use rougher methods of interrogation. You won’t be able to stay here for long. Perhaps we can find a way to sneak you out.” Theo rubbed his temples, looking weary. Mark supposed that the doctor couldn’t have been more than thirty, but he seemed to have aged starkly since Mark had last seen him. His hair had receded even more, and his tall, spare frame seemed to sag with the weight of worry. And Mark imagined that his sudden arrival a few hours ago had not helped with that.
    â€œBut … Mark said that you’d be able to take us in!” Cherubina exclaimed. “You’re the only people we can turn to! I don’t know anyone in this city, apart from Mommy, and she wouldn’t keep me hidden. Not if her business were at risk…” Cherubina trailed off, sadly.
    â€œIt’s all right, Cherubina,” Mark said, reassuringly. “I’m sure Theo can find somewhere for us…”
    â€œWait a moment there!” Theo said, firmly. “First of all, before anything else—you have to tell me what’s going on.” The doctor met Mark’s gaze. It was not an unfriendly look, exactly. Mark supposed it would take a lot to truly get on Theo’s bad side, but it was a look that demanded answers. “I’m sorry, Mark. I’m glad to see you’re safe, really I am. But you can’t just … deliver yourself into our hands like this and expect us to risk everything for you without a little explanation.”
    In the corner, behind the beds of the most feverish, Mark saw the shattered remains of the packing cases they had used to escape from Snutworth’s tower. They had hacked them to pieces, shoving them down in the cellar before the receivers arrived. It had only been an hour ago, but it was all still a blur. He remembered Theo flapping around anxiously, and Laudate, Theo’s friend and Mark’s former employee, herding the able-bodied debtors out, with menacing instructions to keep what they had seen to themselves. He remembered Benedicta, Laudate’s sister, helping Cherubina out of her own case, picking straw and sawdust out of the young woman’s curls. He wished Benedicta was still here now, fussing and grinning as she welcomed them back. Mark had met Ben only once before, but that smile had