The Phenomenals: A Tangle of Traitors Read Free

nephew, has taken over the running of the Manufactory. He told the
Degringolade Daily
he was confident his uncle would be found, and that he felt it
     was his duty to continue with business as usual despite the difficult circumstances. Prominent city businessman Leucer d’Avidus, who is currently running for Governor of Degringolade, has
     promised to do all in his power to find Mr Capodel and return him to his family. Mr Capodel was last sighted on the night of the Ritual of Appeasement and the DUG are appealing to anyone who
     might have seen him to come forward.
    But nanyone had come forward. In fact, as far as Citrine knew, it was she who had been the last person to see her father, when she had waved at him. She had been over the events
of that fateful day many times. She was not an eavesdropper by nature, but when, after supper, she had heard the harsh exchange of words coming from the study she had instinctively stopped at the
door. Edgar and Hubert held very different ideas about how to run the Capodel Manufactory – that was not in dispute – but this row seemed different. It was obvious from the exchange
that Edgar had done something to upset Hubert.
    Citrine had heard Hubert ask him, in utter dismay, ‘Are you stealing from me?’
    And Edgar had answered, ‘If you keep things from me, how else am I supposed to find out about them?’
    And then the row had continued along the usual lines; Edgar complaining that Hubert didn’t trust him and wouldn’t give him more responsibility at the Manufactory, and Hubert
reiterating that Edgar wasn’t ready.
    And that was when Citrine had knocked and walked in. Of course they had stopped arguing then, but there was a look on Edgar’s face that she hadn’t seen before.
    She had forgotten about the exchange because that was the night Hubert had not come home. When she did recall it some days later she had toyed with telling Chief Guardsman Fessup, but decided
against it. It proved nothing, and Edgar would doubtless have made life even more difficult for her if she caused trouble for him.
    Decisively Citrine replaced everything in the envelope and put it away. Then she drew the black cloth that covered the mirrors and jumped up. From the drawer in her nightstand she took a green
velvet drawstring bag. Then she threw on her long grey cloak and hurried out of the room.
    Shortly after, Citrine emerged from the house into a walled courtyard. Passing the stable block she noted an empty stall – ‘Good, that means Edgar is out’
– and rounded the back of the stables to a derelict lean-to. She lifted the door slightly as she opened it to stop it scraping the ground. Inside, a dark shape under a canvas cover almost
filled the space. Citrine pulled away the cover and looked with pride and excitement at her father’s Trikuklos. She ran her hand over the polished mudguards and patted the leather dust-hood.
It was an intriguing vehicle. Designed around a triangular metal frame, it had three large wheels with angled spokes for extra strength. It was powered by two broad pedalators attached to a covered
chain and steered by long handles with soft grips. The hood clipped to a glass weather-screen at the front and folded back like that of a perambulator.
    Hubert Capodel had been one of the first people in Degringolade to own a Trikuklos, but now they were a common sight on the streets. Edgar still preferred horses, claiming they required less
effort.
    Citrine climbed in and put on the gloves and goggles that lay on the front seat, then pedalated the vehicle out of the lean-to and across the courtyard to the wall. Behind a curtain of ivy there
was a small door, which, using a key hidden behind a loose brick, she opened and expertly manoeuvred the vehicle through the narrow space. As soon as the door closed the ivy fell back and her
secret exit was hidden again.
    With a grin Citrine pedalated away at a frightening speed down Collis Hill. She loved the freedom the Trikuklos