The Watchmaker's Daughter (Glass and Steele Book 1) (22 page)

"So you know about him," Matt said flatly.

"I do."

He lowered his gaze and rubbed his forehead. After a moment, he turned to the commissioner. "Given that information, I suspect Dorchester is one Patrick McTierney. Have your men wire their sketch to the Lake Valley sheriff. He's a good man, and Patrick McTierney's family lives in his jurisdiction."

"God damn it," Willie said on a breath. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and shook her head. "We always feared he'd come for you, sooner or later. Never thought it'd be here."

"You never met the fellow?" Munro asked.

"Not Patrick," Matt said. "It's true that his younger brother was part of our grandfather's posse." He spoke to me, not Munro. "My evidence got him arrested and he was hanged for his crimes."

"They were supposed to go easy on him, on account of his age," Willie said heavily. "They didn't."

There must be more to the story but I didn't ask questions, and Matt didn't offer answers. I may never get them. Never find out if he had killed his grandfather in cold blood, or how he felt about it. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

The three of us climbed out of the carriage, but Munro held Matt back. "You may tell her as much as you think she needs to know. I agree with your assessment—she's proven her worth."

Matt nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'll be in touch."

"If you're staying in London, I have some work in mind for you." The commissioner touched the brim of his cap. "For now, enjoy your freedom."

The front door opened and Miss Glass stood there, back straight, head high. "Finally! You're home! Now, what did you bring me, you naughty man?"

Matt climbed the steps and drew her into a hug. She patted him gently on the back. "What do you mean, bring you?" he asked.

"From your travels," she said. "Harry, do you mean to say you've been all over the world and haven't brought me back so much as a hairpin?"

He hugged her again. "It's in my luggage, arriving tomorrow."

She clapped her hands and grinned. "Ooh, I can't wait to see what it is."

We all retired to our rooms to freshen up and change for dinner prepared by Polly. I didn't expect to see Matt at all, thinking he would go straight to bed to rest, but he was down before me, waiting by the dinner gong, alone.

"I haven't had a chance to thank you yet," he said quietly.

"There's no need."

"There's every need." He took my hands in his and my heart skid to a halt. He leaned in. He smelled like lavender and spices, a scent uniquely his. "Thank you, India. You saved my life today, and I will never forget it." His lips pressed to my forehead and lingered for far longer than decency dictated.

I didn't move. I was frozen to the spot. I clung onto his hands and felt his fingers squeeze mine. My heart lifted, but I quickly dampened it. This was real life, not a fairytale. He was grateful, yes, but that was all.

"I owe you an explanation," he said, pulling away.

I nodded, my heart still in my throat where it seemed to have moved permanently. "Do you work for that famous American detective agency? Pink something? I've heard about them."

"Pinkertons. No, I'm my own agent, but you could say my role is similar to what the Pinkertons do. I specialize in apprehending outlaws of the western states and territories. Because of my family connections, I have knowledge the lawmen don't. My mother's family is somewhat notorious, and I became embroiled in that life after I returned to them upon my parents' deaths. I got out eventually, as did Willie."

And now he was bringing them to justice. It was noble and yet sinister as well. They were his family, after all.

"It makes family reunions awkward." He smiled tentatively, as if trying to gauge my reaction to his dark joke. I smiled back, but it lacked warmth. I wasn't sure how I felt about his work yet. "I have contacts with the local law enforcers, so when I told them I was coming to London, one of them gave my details to Commissioner Munro, suggesting my services could be of use to him. Infiltrating criminal gangs is my specialty, you see, and he thought I might be useful while I was here. Munro hadn't taken up the offer, however."

"So the Dark Rider followed you to England, not the other way round."

He nodded.

"Was he the intruder too?"

"I believe so now, though I didn't suspect him at the time. I have no proof, however. I don't know how he knew where to find me. Perhaps he haunted the gambling houses where poker is played and followed Willie home, one night. I've sensed that we were being followed for some days."

"Hence your constant peering through windows." I'd just had a thought. Dorchester—McTierney—must have followed me too, after I came to work for Matt. It explained why he'd been outside the butcher's shop with an umbrella at precisely the same time as me. Ice chilled my veins and I shivered. "Why not just shoot you in the street?" I asked.

"Because he doesn't want to swing for his crimes. Having me blamed for them was the perfect scenario for him. Up until now, his face hasn't been seen. I suspect he's been behind some attacks on me in recent years, but I had no proof. His methods have been sly, cowardly, never openly revealing himself to be behind them."

"How awful. He truly did consider you responsible for his younger brother's death."

"In a way, I am. I'm responsible for a lot of deaths."

"Including your grandfather's," I said quietly.

His eyes fluttered closed. Tiny dark blue veins webbed the lids. He nodded. "I shot him in self defense after he shot at me. Perhaps one day I'll show you the scar his bullet made."

He'd been shot by his own grandfather! I searched his face. It was unmarked.

His eyebrows twitched mischievously. "It's in an unmentionable location."

My face flamed. He laughed, and I gave him a withering glare.

He took my hands again. His thumb stroked mine and his features settled, once again serious. "I know you have questions about the watch." He patted his pocket. "And I can see now that you must be told. Can we speak tomorrow? It requires lengthy discussion, and I don't want Aunt Letitia to know."

I also suspected he was too tired for such a discussion. I nodded.

"Good." He smiled again. "I'm glad you've decided to stay on as her companion."

"But—"

"I think I hear her now. Let's tell her, shall we?" He thrust out his elbow to me.

I hesitated then took it with a shake of my head. "You ought to be a politician. You have a knack for swaying people to your viewpoint."

"You're too kind, particularly considering you rarely believe me when I am being sincere."

I was about to protest again, but he gave me that crooked boyish smile and my insides melted a little. Besides, Miss Glass approached.

Matt informed her he had employed me to be her companion. She was delighted, in a reserved, upper class way. She patted my cheek, then insisted her nephew escort her into the dining room instead since she was the most important female member of the household and he the most important male. He simply thrust out his other elbow, which she accepted with a smile in her eyes.

"Tomorrow, Miss Steele, I will take you shopping," she declared. "If you're to be my companion, you require new dresses. Those are far too dreary."

M
y watch looked entirely normal
. I spent the morning pulling it apart and inspecting each tiny mechanism. Nothing was out of place. There were no hidden striking trains, hammers, gongs or repeaters. It couldn't possibly have chimed.

I put it back together, a familiar task I could do without even looking. It hadn't been the first watch I'd ever worked on, but it was the one I'd opened up the most. My parents gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. The silver case was monogrammed with my initials, and a message congratulating me on my birthday was etched inside. It was my most cherished possession.

Somehow, it had saved my life.

A knock sounded on my door, and Willie called out, "It's me. May I speak with you, India?"

"Of course. Come in."

She opened the door just enough to squeeze through and leaned back against it. She bit her lip and looked everywhere but at me.

"Is there something I can do for you, Willie?"

She huffed out a breath. "I wouldn't really have cut you up, you know."

I pinched the back of my hand to stop myself smiling. "I know. Thank you for reassuring me."

"Matt says you're going to stay."

"I'm to be his aunt's companion." I hadn't had time to discuss the new arrangement with either of them, but I felt immeasurably lighter since the decision had been made. The weight of uncertainty over my future had been pressing down on me without me realizing.

She rushed forward and grasped my forearms. "You won't give up on finding the watchmaker, will you?"

"Matt no longer needs my help. We've called on every watchmaker I know. Cyclops is capable of taking him to—"

"No,
you
must help. You know London better than any of us, and you know watches too." She dug her fingers into my arms. "You've seen what his watch does, India. It's of vital importance that it gets fixed."

"It seems to work perfectly well. It…rejuvenates him when he uses it."

"It's slowing down." She let me go and perched on the edge of the dressing table where I'd been working. She lowered her head and some loose strands of hair fell over her face. "It no longer works for days, as it used to. It will stop altogether, one day."

"And there is no one else who can fix it?"

"None that we know of."

What sort of watchmaker fixed a life giving, magical watch? A magician, I supposed. The notion was utterly absurd, yet I couldn't shake it.

"I will help Matt whenever he requires it," I assured her. "Now, tell me, will you come shopping with Miss Glass and me later? We would enjoy your company."

"Why?" She plucked the fabric of her trousers at her thighs. "I'm a terrible judge of fashion."

"Or are you secretly hiding your femininity as a mode of protection?"

She screwed up her face in a most unladylike expression. "Not damned likely. Besides, I can't come shopping. I'm going to see Travers again to tell him I've decided to play for my locket."

"No! Willie, you shouldn't. You promised Matt."

She strode to the door. "I have to."

"How? You said you have no money."

"I don't need money."

"You've asked Matt for a loan?"

She shook her head. "He's got too much on his plate." She jerked the door open, surprising her cousin who had his fist poised to knock.

He stepped aside with a raise of his brows as she stormed past him.

"Why is she in a foul mood?" he asked. "She was contrite when I spoke to her earlier."

I sighed. "She's still upset about her locket." I didn't tell him she was planning on gambling to win it back. It was none of my affair, and she wouldn't like me to tattle. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better."

He did look better, but I'd come to expect to see the tiredness in his eyes now. "But not completely healthy."

A beat passed. Two. "I don't expect to be," he said.

My heart ached. What an awful thing to always feel tired, to be worried about one's health. No one should have to, particularly not a young, athletic and capable man like Matt.

"Don't, India." The low ebb of his voice washed over me. "Don't pity me."

Easy enough to say, not so easy to do. I studied the watch in my hand, tracing my thumbnail over the monogram. "Tell me about your magic watch, Matt. Tell me everything."

He touched his waistcoat pocket. Perhaps he didn't want to be parted from it for one moment, even at home. Having witnessed what happened when he was separated from it for too long, I could see why.

He closed the door and sat on the trunk at the foot of the bed. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at me. "So you believe in magic."

"I…I don't know yet. It seems so childish and fantastical, yet I've seen things. Tell me what you know. And tell me why I've never heard of such things as magical health-giving watches before."

"You've never heard of them because magic has been suppressed for hundreds of years. Magicians were almost wiped out in medieval times, after a small group committed heinous crimes using their magic. People panicked and attacked
all
magicians, not just the guilty few. Those who managed to escape have kept their secret all these years, out of fear."

I nodded, hardly daring to breathe. Could such a story truly be possible? "How do you know all this?"

"One of the men who gave me this watch told me about it. One of them was the watchmaker, known as Chronos, the other a surgeon. They saved my life."

"Surgeon? I think you need to start from the beginning."

He cast me a crooked smile. "I will, Miss Impatience. Five years ago, I nearly died from a bullet wound. The wound my grandfather gave me, as it happens."

"Oh, Matt," I murmured.

"No pity, India."

I pressed my lips together and nodded.

"I was in a town called Broken Creek, and the gunfight happened outside the saloon. A surgeon from one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York also happened to be in town."

"What was he doing so far away from home in a tiny backwater?"

"He was an alcoholic. He'd been given leave to dry out. Unfortunately for him, he didn't try very hard. Fortunately for me, I was shot at ten in the morning when the saloon hadn't yet opened. He was an excellent surgeon, even with a shaking hand."

"Was?"

"He's dead. I know that for certain because I went in search of him before I came here. I spoke to him just days before his death. Considering how much he drank, I was surprised he lived so long. I knew
his
name, you see, and I hoped he knew the real name of Chronos. They worked together on my surgery after the gunfight. I don't recall any of it, but Duke, Cyclops and Willie said it was both nightmarish and a dream come true. They told me Dr. Parsons worked on me on a table in the saloon. He'd removed the bullet but my life was slipping away and he hadn't sutured the wound yet. I was going to die unless a miracle could be produced."

"Or magic."

He nodded. "My friends told me that a small crowd gathered to watch Dr. Parsons work on me. Another man came forward. I'd seen him talking to Parsons some evenings in the saloon. He asked Parsons if he wanted to try his idea out, and Parsons replied that there was no chance of my survival using normal surgical methods. Duke told me that no one knew what the men meant, but Willie screamed at them to try whatever they wanted to make me live. They ordered everyone to leave, but Willie hid beneath a table in the shadows. According to her account, the man who called himself Chronos searched my person and found my watch." He patted his pocket again. "Willie almost revealed herself to accuse him of theft, but when she saw what he did with it, she remained hidden."

"What did he do?" I asked, breathless.

"Chronos held my watch in his hand, palm up, closed his eyes, and whispered some words. The watch began to glow, but neither man was alarmed. Willie thinks I stopped breathing at that point because Parsons shouted, "Now! It must be now!" Chronos took my hand and placed it over his, the watch between. As he chanted, Willie saw the purplish glow infuse itself into my skin and spread through my veins."

"I've seen it work," I said.

He arched one brow and grunted.

"Go on. Then what happened?"

"Willie tells me that Dr. Parsons worked on me again, sewing up my wound while Chronos continued to chant as he held the watch against my palm. When Parsons finished, he told Chronos it was done, and Chronos placed the watch over the wound. Dr. Parsons took over the chant and the watch suddenly flared. Willie said she thought it had caught fire, but the light quickly faded away to nothing. My veins ceased glowing too. That's when she noticed my chest rise with a deep breath. I remember everything from that moment on. It's so clear, like it happened yesterday. I sat up. They gave me a dram of whiskey. I was still covered in blood, but the wound had been sewn up. That's when Dr. Parsons handed me the watch. He and Chronos explained that it would keep me alive. Whenever I felt unnaturally tired, I should hold the watch in my palm and it would work its magic on me and bring me back to life. I thought them utterly mad and told them so. They looked at one another, sighed, then told me I could go to hell. They didn't care what became of me. But there was something in their eyes. Elation, I think, like they'd won a victory. They patted one another on the back and paid each other compliments. They began discussing the future of their discovery, and what it meant for the world, but they disagreed on whether it should be brought to light. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed not to concern me. It was like I wasn't important."

"You just happened to be the closest dying man," I said. "They wanted to experiment with magic, and you were there at the right time." It surprised me that I'd accepted his story and the idea of magic so easily. But I trusted him, and trusted that he wouldn't believe without solid evidence. "What happened after that? Did you see the men in Broken Creek again?"

He shook his head. "I got up and left. Some time later, Willie found me. She was in shock. She told me what she'd witnessed in the saloon. None of us believed her at first, but a week later, when I began to feel exhausted for no good reason, she suggested I hold my watch in the palm of my hand and see what happened. I thought her mad and refused. I quickly became ill, weak, and close to death. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. Willie simply placed the watch in my hand one day, as I lay in bed, and I immediately felt restored to normal health. Not like you see me now, but completely better."

"The glowing veins didn't alarm you?"

"Terrified me. But I could feel the benefits to my health immediately. I didn't let the watch go until I felt completely well again. The four of us discussed what it could mean, how it had happened. Cyclops had heard stories about magic, but only in whispers. We asked his grandmother, but she refused to talk about it. She said magic was dangerous and was kept secret from the world for a reason. She did tell us that people were born magic, to magic parents, but it was a skill that required training to work efficiently. From Willie's account of the surgery, it was clear that Parsons and Chronos had worked together somehow, and they were both magicians. For five years, I used the watch whenever I felt unnaturally tired and it worked perfectly. But four months ago, its power waned, and I needed it more often. I knew I had to seek out Parsons and Chronos."

"Before it stopped working altogether," I said on a breath.

He gave a slight nod.

My throat clogged. I tried not to show pity, but I don't think I was very good at keeping my thoughts to myself.

He studied his hands. "I knew nothing about Chronos, but I knew where Parsons worked, so we went to New York. He was on his death bed, with only days to live."

"What did he say?"

"That he regretted experimenting on me."

"Why?"

"Because it was playing God. It was Chronos's idea to bring me back to life, and Parsons felt he'd been coerced into it. He hadn't seen Chronos since that day."

"Had he performed much magic before then?"

"Only rarely. He thinks he must have mentioned it to Chronos in his drunken state one day in Broken Creek, and Chronos, also being a magician, began to discuss mad theories and ways to combine their magic. Parsons explained that there were different styles of magic, based on one's profession or skill. As a doctor, his own magic helped him heal people, but he couldn't give them back their life, only extend it for short periods of time. He claimed it was almost useless, for that reason. An engineer can create superior strength steel, but again, it only lasts for short periods of time. A carpenter can infuse wood so that it doesn't burn, but it doesn't last more than a few hours."

"But Chronos had discovered a way to combine his magic with that of other types to extend it," I said. "My god." It was genius and thrilling. Yet so strange. Part of me couldn't believe I was discussing magic without giggling. Perhaps tomorrow I would wake up from this dream and laugh about it.

But Matt's grim nod was very real. "Chronos had never combined his magic with a doctor's before. Indeed, he'd only worked with carpenters and the like until that day in Broken Creek. Chronos knew he could extend the magic of other magicians, but extending the life of a dying man had never been tried, to his knowledge."

"It's quite remarkable. So Parsons put his magic into the watch too?"

"The magic from both magicians exists in the watch and in me. The two entities cannot be separated for long or the magic fades, and the watch cannot work on another human, only me. It's a part of me as much as my heart or lungs."

"That's why it doesn't glow when anyone else holds it," I said, more to myself than him. "Did Parsons tell you what happened between he and Chronos after they healed you?"

"After the euphoria of their success wore off, Parsons told Chronos that he had reservations. He said he would never work with Chronos again to save a life. Chronos flew into a rage. He said they were on the verge of something monumentally important to the human race. But Parsons was afraid of what could happen if the magic fell into the wrong hands. Chronos was furious. He'd never actually met a magical doctor before, and he feared he'd never find another in his lifetime. Apparently they're the rarest magicians."