Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 01 (6 page)

           
"You
'adn't ought to 'ave gone there," Hunch told Mairelon almost fiercely.

           
"Where
else was I supposed to get willow root, black alder, vervain, and rue at this
hour?" Mairelon retorted irritably.

           
"You
ain't a-going to 'ave a chance to use them 'erbs much if word gets out you're
in
London
."

           
"Renee
wouldn't give me away. And how was I supposed to know Andrew would be there? He
never used to like Renee. He shouldn't even be in town yet; the Season doesn't
start for at least a month!" Mairelon ran a hand through his hair in a
distracted manner.

           
Hunch
opened his mouth,
then
closed it again. Kim thought he
looked more worried and upset than angry, and she filed that away in her mind
for later consideration. At last Hunch said, "I'll be getting the 'orses,
then."

           
Kim
glanced at Mairelon's face,
then
looked away.
"I'll help," she said quickly as Hunch rose.

           
To her
surprise, Hunch did not object. He simply looked at her and nodded. Kim blinked
and followed him out of the wagon. They started toward the end of the market
where horses could be stabled for a fee. As soon as they were well out of
earshot of the wagon, Kim looked up and demanded, "What was that
about?"

           
"It
ain't your affair," Hunch growled repressively.

           
Kim was
ready to argue, but Hunch's forbidding expression made it clear that she would
get no further information from him. She resolved to question Mairelon himself
as soon as she could find a good opportunity. She looked up. Hunch was chewing
on his mustache again. Kim snorted quietly and turned her attention to
considering what little she had learned.

           
Mairelon
the Magician knew more than stage
magic, that
was
plain enough. And she'd bet every farthing she was carrying that he was the
"Merrill" that the skinny toff at the Dog and Bull was so anxious to
find. Odds-on, Mairelon was gentry, too, or at least very well breeched.
Ordinary market performers didn't have brothers who owned houses in
Grosvenor
Square
.

           
Then
there was the matter of the men who had tried to follow Hunch. He and Mairelon
seemed to consider it more of a nuisance than a threat, which implied that they
were used to dealing with such things. And Mairelon knew Renee D'Auber well
enough to expect a welcome at her home.

           
The whole
thing had a havey-cavey look about it. Frowning, Kim considered piking off with
her five pounds and leaving Hunch to explain her absence to Mairelon. The
trouble was
,
she didn't want to go. She liked
Mairelon. Furthermore, she trusted him. Whatever it was that he was involved in,
she was certain he hadn't lied when he'd told her it wasn't illegal.

           
It might
be dangerous, though. Kim's frown deepened. She didn't know anything about
magic, but she'd been involved in smoky dealings before. Mairelon might be able
to use her help. She blinked, surprised by the strength of her desire to go
along with the magician,
then
pressed her lips
together, determined to be objective. She shouldn't be staying with a couple of
culls on a queer lay without a good reason. She'd had more than her share of
close calls already. Her luck wouldn't last forever.

           
For a
moment, she wavered,
then
she remembered Dan Laverham.
With a feeling of relief, Kim stopped trying to convince herself that she ought
to abandon Mairelon. She had to get away from Dan Laverham, and that meant
getting out of
London
. That was a
good enough reason for anything! Besides, if she sherried off now, she'd never
find out what was really going on. Kim grinned to herself and hurried to catch
up with Hunch.

           
They were
on their way out of
London
within
the hour. Hunch drove from a tiny ledge on the front of the wagon, while Kim
rode inside with Mairelon. She would rather have been outside with Hunch,
despite his suspicions, for she disliked the closed-in feeling of the darkened
wagon.
Mairelon's assurance that it was only until they were
out of
London
, and her own thoughts of Dan Laverham, were all that stifled her
objections.
Kim was not anxious to be seen by anyone who might take word
back to that slimy character, small though the chance might be.

           
The
jolting of the wagon made her queasy at first, but the feeling passed quickly.
Mairelon watched her closely. "All right now?" he said after a time.

           
"Right enough."
Kim peered at him. "You
couldn't do somethin' to make a bit of light in here, could you?"

           
Mairelon
laughed. "I'm afraid you'll have to get used to the dark. No wagoneer
would keep a lamp lit while the wagon's moving, not even on the best road in
England
."
The wagon jounced across a rut and Mairelon grimaced.
"Which
this manifestly is not."

           
Kim
hadn't been thinking of a lamp, but she let it pass. Mairelon's point was clear
enough: a lighted wagon would attract attention. She stared at the window with
some disquiet. She had no idea where they were going, she realized, or even which
direction. Well, they hadn't crossed the river, so they weren't headed south,
but that still left a lot of possibilities. Suddenly she grinned. If she didn't
know where she was going, Laverham certainly wouldn't!

           
"Not
going to sleep, I take it?" Mairelon said.

           
The wagon
hit a bump that nearly threw Kim off the chest. "Ain't nobody could sleep
through that," she said scornfully when she was secure once more.

           
"Sorry,"
Mairelon said. "This wagon wasn't built to be ridden in."

           
"I
never would
of
guessed," Kim said sarcastically.

           
Mairelon
laughed again. "I suppose that it
is
a bit obvious. If you aren't
going to sleep, why don't we start on your lessons?"

           
"Lessons?
You
mean,
reading
and magic?"

           
"Eventually, yes.
But you can't read if you can't see,
and the same thing applies to the kind of magic I'll be teaching you. We'll
start on those later, after it gets light."

           
Kim
frowned.
"How much you plannin' on teachin' me?"

           
"If
you're going to be of any real help with the show, there are a number of things
you'll need to know besides stage magic," Mairelon said dryly.

           
"What
things?"

           
"The
way you talk, for one." Mairelon looked at her and hurried on before she
could reply. "You see, people expect a performer to sound like a Duchess.
You don't, of course, but I think that with a little training you could."

           
"Hunch
don't talk like a gentry cove," Kim pointed out, nettled.

           
"He
doesn't assist me on stage, either."

           
"Huh."
Kim considered. She hadn't known any truly successful actresses, but she'd seen
enough of the shows in
Covent
Gardens
to know that what Mairelon said was true. On stage, at least, the better
actresses aped the accents of nobility. The prospect of learning to do the same
was not unappealing. "All right, then. What's first?"

           
Mairelon
let out his breath as though he had been afraid she would think the suggestion
insulting. "First, you stop using quite so much thieves' cant," he
said briskly. "You'll have to practice all the time, until it seems
natural."

           
"Practice
talkin'
? Just to sound flash? I--" Kim stopped. "Oh. That's
what you meant, ain't it?"

           
"It's
exactly what I meant," Mairelon said, and waited.

           
"Mmmm."
This was going to be harder than she'd
thought. "What else?"

           
She could
hear the smile in Mairelon's voice as he went on with his instruction. There
seemed to be an endless number of different things for Kim to remember to say,
or not to say, or to say instead of something else. Mairelon was both patient
and creative. He explained each of his directions carefully. He made up sample
conversations and recited them in different styles, so that Kim could hear the
difference between the speech of a
London
costermonger and that of a
Sussex
yeoman, a middle-class tradesman, or a north country Viscount. Then he had Kim
imitate each of his voices, correcting her gently whenever she slipped.

           
It was an
amusing way of passing the time; Kim didn't even notice when the interior of
the wagon began to grow lighter. She was almost disappointed when, shortly
after dawn, Hunch pulled into the yard of a coaching inn, temporarily ending
the lesson.

           
While
Hunch watered the horses, Mairelon produced the package he had brought back to
the wagon the previous night. To Kim's surprise, it contained a boy's jacket,
shirt, and breeches. They were nearly new, and much finer than the best
clothing Kim had ever worn. "That's for me?" she said in disbelief.

           
"Of
course," Mairelon replied. "It wouldn't fit me, or Hunch, either. I'd
intended to get you a dress as well, but there wasn't time. We'll have to
attend to that later."

           
Kim was
reduced to near speechlessness. Mairelon waved away her attempts at thanking
him and shooed her out into the inn's yard. There he insisted that Kim wash as
much of
herself
as could be decently managed under the
inn's pump. Hunch fussed with the horses and muttered into his mustache
throughout the entire proceeding. Only then would Mairelon allow Kim to try on
her new clothes.

           
Back
inside the wagon, Kim shinned out of her own tattered clothing immediately and
pulled on the garments Mairelon had brought her. The breeches were a little
tight and the jacket was a little loose, but the clothes remained the best she
had ever worn. She shrugged her shoulders, testing the movement of the jacket,
then grinned and threw open the wagon door.

           
Mairelon
was nowhere in sight, but Hunch was standing beside the steps.
" 'Ere
," he said, and handed her a chunk of fresh
bread and a slice of cheese. "We ain't stopping long," he added in
response to her look of surprise. "Eat while you can."

           
This was
entirely in accord with Kim's philosophy, and she bit into the bread with great
satisfaction. "Where's Mairelon?" she asked as she munched. She was
disappointed that he had not stayed to see how she looked.

           
"There."
Hunch jerked his head toward the stable, but did not elaborate.

           
Kim
nodded, her mouth full, and sat down on the steps to finish her meal. Mairelon
returned just as she swallowed the last of the bread and cheese. She scrambled
to her feet so that he could get the full effect of her new finery, and he
nodded thoughtfully.

           
"You
make a very pretty boy," he said. "But I don't think you'll want to
hike the roads in those. Try this."

           
Kim
caught the bundle he tossed her and looked at him in bewilderment.
"Hike?"

           
"I
told you the wagon wasn't meant for riding in, remember? Unless we're in a
hurry, we walk. It's less work for the horses."

           
Kim
nodded and went back inside. The bundle was yet another set of clothes, plain
and much-mended, but clean. They looked like farmers' wear; Mairelon must have
gotten them from one of the stable hands. She frowned suddenly. She was glad
she wouldn't have to wear the rags she'd had on earlier, but she was rapidly
becoming uncomfortable with the number of things Mairelon was giving her. She
didn't like owing him so much; it gave him a claim on her, and she still didn't
know what he expected in return. Well, she hadn't asked him for any of it. It
was his own lookout if she sherried off with everything. She shrugged and
reached for the clothes.

           
When she
emerged, she found that Mairelon had changed his full-dress
London
evening garb for something very like a laborer's smock. Kim had to suppress a
laugh; in the patched, brown homespun he bore a strong resemblance to a
not-very-reputable tinker's helper. As soon as he was ready, they left the
yard. Hunch led the horses instead of driving from the van, and Mairelon and
Kim walked along behind the wagon.

           
Mairelon
showed Kim some of his simpler magic tricks as they walked. He claimed that
doing them on the move was more difficult than working them on stage, and
therefore it was good practice. Kim was particularly fascinated by the various
ways of tying knots that slid apart like oiled snakes if the right loop were
pulled. She made Mairelon show her how they were tied, going slowly through the
process several times. Then she practiced until she could manage a creditable
performance.

           
She was
disappointed to find that Mairelon's tricks owed more to his deft fingers than
to real magic. But she hadn't expected him to teach her any
real
magic,
she told herself sternly. And the things he showed her were certainly
fascinating. She swallowed her regrets and concentrated on making a half-crown
appear to vanish from one hand and reappear in the other.

           
Her
language lessons continued as well. Mairelon had a way of looking at her and
raising his eyebrows whenever she used a cant phrase or misplaced a word. It
was far more effective than the scoldings and blows Mother Tibb had dispensed
whenever her students were slow; Kim found herself learning more quickly than
she would have dreamed.

           
They were
well out into the country now, and Kim found the open fields and hedges very
strange after the close confines of the
London
streets. Near
noon
they stopped to
let the horses rest and graze on the verge. Kim helped Hunch unharness them,
then
Mairelon called her over to begin her first lesson in
reading. She spent most of the two-hour stop scowling ferociously at the little
brown book of letters Mairelon had produced. She emerged with a profound
respect for anyone who had mastered this difficult art, and an even more
profound determination to join their number.

           
The
afternoon was occupied by more lessons, but this time Mairelon was the pupil.
He asked Kim to teach him how to pick locks. Relieved to find that there was
something he didn't know how to do, Kim readily agreed. She scornfully
rejected, however, the notion of beginning with the lock on the chest inside
the wagon. "You ain't--you aren't goin' to get nowhere--anywhere?--if you
start in on a fancy job like that one," she told him.

           
Mairelon
accepted the rebuke and brought out a smaller padlock from somewhere in the
depths of the wagon. "Do we need anything else?" he asked.

           
"You
mean,
special keys and such?"

           
Mairelon
nodded apologetically. "I've heard that they're useful."

           
"Maybe,
but I just use a bit of wire. If you lose a key, you got to get a new one, and
that takes time. A bit of wire's always easy to come by."

           
Mairelon
nodded. Kim spent much of the afternoon demonstrating the twists and pulls that
Mother Tibb had shown her so long ago. She was not as patient a teacher as
Mairelon had been, but her student had the benefit of years of experience with
sleight of hand, and he learned very quickly. By the end of the afternoon, she
was ready to let him try his hand at the rusty-looking lock that held the rear
doors of the wagon.

           
"Tomorrow,
perhaps," Mairelon said. "I think I've had enough for one day."

           
Kim
rather agreed with him. She was tired and very dusty from the long trek in the
wagon's wake, and her brain whirled in an attempt to assimilate all the new
things she had learned. When they reached the edge of a little village and
pulled off the road to make camp at last, her main emotion was relief.

           
Hunch
tended the horses while Mairelon and Kim gathered wood. When the fire was well
started, Mairelon hung a pot above it on a wobbly tripod affair that he had
cobbled together out of green branches and twine. Hunch went muttering through
the grass and weeds along the road. He returned with several lanky plants, which
he threw into the pot along with a little meat and some vegetables from the
wagon. Kim was not sure whether it was Hunch's seasoning or the long walk, but
the stew was the best she had ever tasted. There was plenty of it, too; Kim ate
until she was stuffed, and there was still some left in the pot.