The Midnight Dance, page 12
Of course more books.
She slammed it shut and sat back on her heels. This was going nowhere, and she started to doubt Master would leave information out in the open for anyone to find.
The desk was the only other place to look. The surface was nearly spotless, the polished wood reflecting the sunlight streaming in from the window behind her. An inkwell and pen rested in one corner, a stack of envelopes in the other.
Two ornate drawer fronts sat on either side of the hard-backed chair pushed against the desk. Penny pulled on the brass handle of one, then the other.
They were both locked.
Good and bad. It meant something important lay within, but it also meant she’d have to find the key.
Her fingers reached underneath the desktop, feeling blindly for any sort of latch or other way to open the drawer.
Suddenly, voices trickled in from the outer hall.
“Let’s talk in here.”
Penny whirled around, trying to find a place to hide. She certainly couldn’t fit in the cupboards or under the desk. But the narrow door …
She reached the handle in two strides, twisted it, and hoped it wasn’t locked. The panel flung open and she rushed inside, shutting it behind her. The only light in the small closet-size room was the slice that came in between the door and its frame. Penny inched backward until she bumped into a coat hanging from a hook on the wall. Several pairs of shoes were lined up neatly beside her. She tried not to touch anything and crouched down until she could sit on the cool wooden floor.
The voices were louder now; Master and his guest must’ve entered the room.
“Please have a seat. Can I offer you something to drink?”
“No, thank you.” A woman’s voice. Soft. Familiar. Tatiana.
Penny gasped. Her hands flew to cover her mouth, terrified they’d heard the sound.
But Master was already responding, “Why exactly did you come here, Tatiana?”
“I want to know what happened to Beppe.”
“He’s away on business, of course.” The chair scraped against the ground and Penny could picture Master sitting tall, hands clasped in his lap.
“What kind of business?”
“How are you feeling? When was the last time you had a treatment?”
“What kind of business?” Her voice sounded clipped, the consonants hard, as if she spoke through clenched teeth.
“I’m curious,” he said, and Penny imagined him leaning forward, his fingertips steepled in front of him, “since you’re here. Have you heard anything about the disappearance of a certain ex-student of mine?”
“I know Primo searched my home,” Tatiana seethed. “You may think you can do anything you want, but you’ve crossed a line, Cirillo.” A pause and her voice returned to normal. “I have no idea where Rosaura has gone. That’s not why I’m here. I want to know where Beppe is. I think you’re holding him captive. And if you’ve harmed him—”
It was Master’s turn to sound clipped. “I would be cautious with your implications.”
“Where is he?”
“Go home and take care of yourself. You wouldn’t want to cause any alarm, now, would you? Beppe did teach me how to administer your treatment, and I have all the equipment here. But if something were to happen to me, I do wonder who would be left to help you.”
Penny cringed.
“What about this?” The sound of paper rustling. “I know some of these were elixirs and serums I created. Not all of them, I hope, as I can’t imagine using any of them in such high dosages.” The pages Penny had given her the day before. Tatiana must have compared them to her logs.
“Where did you get those? Those are private.”
“That’s not the point. What have you been doing to these girls, Cirillo?”
“You think you can show up here and blackmail me? Is that what this is?” The words were so very soft but laced with arsenic.
“No. But I think we both have something that the other one wants. You need my help as much as I need yours.” Her voice sounded resigned.
“It’s time you returned to your shop,” Master said. Footsteps echoed across the room. “I’m sure I’ll have news for you within the week.”
“What about the gala? He would want to attend.” Tatiana’s voice sounded farther away, as if she’d stepped into the corridor.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.” He paused. “Arrivederla.”
Penny waited, shifting to ease a cramp in her thigh. She could only hope Master had left as well, returning to whatever activity he’d been doing before Tatiana’s arrival. The entire conversation left her unsettled. Beppe wasn’t on a business trip, that much was clear.
The sliver of light remained steady, no shadows cutting off the ray of sun that shone through the gap in the door frame. She’d waited long enough. Her fingers had barely grasped the handle when she heard his voice.
“You can come out now.”
CHAPTER
19
Penny winced and took a deep breath. She squared her shoulders and stepped out into the harsh glare of sunlight. She blinked away the brightness to find Master shaking his head at her. He crossed his arms over his starched white shirt. Fear pushed at her chest but she shoved it back down, taking a nod from Tatiana’s strength in confronting Master mere moments before.
“What am I going to do with you?”
She knew it was rhetorical. She also knew she had only one chance to talk herself out of the precarious situation.
“I’m so very sorry. I was looking for you”—she cast her gaze downward—“and thought you might be working. When you weren’t here, I figured I could wait. But…” She let her voice trail off and lifted her gaze to him again. “I heard you in the corridor, talking to someone else. I thought you might be angry to find me inside. So I hid. I know it was foolish and disrespectful, but I promise on my mother’s grave that I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
At least that one bit was true. She certainly hadn’t expected Tatiana to show up at the estate. The rest of it, well, the lies were becoming more and more easy to spin. And the mother’s grave was a nice touch, since it was his manipulation that had caused her to think her mother was dead all this time.
“How did you…,” she started, and he finished the question for her.
“Know you were in the closet?” He waited for her to nod. “I am very much in tune with my surroundings, Penelope. I could hear you rustling inside.”
She should have known.
“As to why you were in my office to begin with, I don’t know if I believe you.” He cocked his head to the side and studied her.
Penny tried her best to stay still, to keep her breaths even. He couldn’t know she no longer trusted him and was looking for answers. He couldn’t know that her memories were returning. He’d lock her away like he had Rosaura, conduct tests, run experiments. “I promise I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been feeling out of sorts after twisting my ankle. I’m worried about the gala. I hoped you might have some advice.” She rushed through the words, panic making her verbose, desperate to explain. She slowed down her stammering. “I’m sorry.”
He paced to the door and held it open. “I’ll walk you to your room.”
“But my studies…” The entire afternoon stretched in front of her. He couldn’t possibly intend to keep her in her chamber. Panic clawed at her chest.
“I’ll have your schoolwork sent to you.” Master rubbed at his temples and then motioned her toward him. He gripped her elbow tightly, as if to prevent her from bolting. Her body reacted as always, with a rush of heat and a craving to lean into him. She tried to tamp it down as they walked to the dormitory.
“Where were you?” Bianca’s eyes narrowed as Penny rounded the corner into the corridor that led to their classrooms. “You missed the entire meal.”
“Good afternoon, Bianca.” Master stepped forward and her eyes widened. “Penelope will be absent from her afternoon studies. Will you please take precise notes and gather any study material that she might need to catch up?”
Bianca nodded. “Of course.”
“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse us.”
Bianca realized she’d blocked their path and slipped to the side of the hall. “You get all the attention. It’s not fair,” she hissed in Penny’s ear as she passed.
Penny shuffled farther ahead, not bothering to respond. Let Bianca think what she wanted. But even as the anger started to boil, a thought occurred to Penny and the frustration settled to a simmer. Bianca was more controlled than any of them. She was Master’s perfect puppet. Perhaps her animosity and control weren’t really her, as much as dancing wasn’t really Penny. She was one of the oldest girls at the estate, one of the first pupils. It only made sense that she was the first one to respond to Master’s needs, the first one to take charge. It was as if she was responsible for molding the girls, too.
A glimmer of empathy caused Penny to glance back over her shoulder. She promised herself that she would save Bianca.
She would save them all.
* * *
You don’t need to lock the door. Penny leaned against the door and slid down, the words barely a whisper that never left her mouth. She couldn’t fight Master or give him any further reasons to suspect her memories were shifting.
But when the lock had turned, a part of Penny’s heart cracked, too. She fought against the dread that seemed desperate to fill her lungs and drown her.
She closed her eyes and rested her hands flat on the cool floor. Cricket would come looking for her. Bianca would bring her books. She wouldn’t be alone or trapped in the room forever.
Penny stood and paced. She stopped in front of the small, clouded window and peered out over the field at the back of the manor. Three stilts circled in the air, equally spaced apart, their wings tipped at the exact same angles.
It was uncanny to watch. Mechanical and unnatural.
Penny spun away from the glass and collapsed on her bed. She pulled the lumpy pillow over her head, and then, only then, did she let herself cry.
She must’ve cried for hours. Cried for herself and the sense of loss she felt about her childhood, her memories. Cried for her family, if she had one, who had been missing her all this time. Cried for her sorelle, who most likely didn’t have a clue what had been done to them … what was still being done to them. For her future, which might turn out to be horrible … Master could very well be sitting in his library, planning ways to remove her from the estate. Permanently.
Her eyes were swollen, her skin tight where the tears had dried on her cheeks, and her chest hurt from all the sobs. There was a light rap at the door, and she brushed her palms over her face.
She pushed herself up from the bed and stepped close to the wood frame. “Who is it?” She knew it wasn’t Master. He had the key.
“It’s me, Cricket. Are you all right? I ran into Maria, and she said you’d been dismissed for the afternoon. What’s going on?”
“I’m locked in.” She leaned her cheek against the door.
She could hear his sharp intake of breath. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Loose strands of hair stuck to her cheek, and she pulled them away with trembling fingers. She brushed them back and braided her hair down the side. The room was nearly dark, the sky outside her window a somber shade of navy. She went to the dresser and lit her lamp.
A scratching sounded at the door.
“Cricket?”
“Yes.” A cling, a clink, and some more scratching.
Finally, the door eased open. Cricket stepped inside and shut it behind him. He wore his apron and a worried half smile. He must’ve come as soon as Maria told him. Penny could read the concern in his expression as he took in her tearstained face.
He placed a plate, covered by a napkin, on her nightstand and stepped closer. “What happened?” He brought his hands slowly to her shoulders. She sighed and leaned into his chest. New tears began to form, but she dashed them away before they could fall.
“Master caught me in his private library.”
His breath whistled as he inhaled through his teeth. “That’s not good.”
Penny snorted, the sound taking her by surprise. Her shoulders shook with uncontrollable laughter. She knew it was inappropriate, completely uncalled-for, and bizarre, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “No. It’s not good.” She lifted her head to look at him.
His pale eyes watched her with something between amusement and worry. “What were you doing there?”
She fell back onto her bed, her legs dangling off the side so her feet could brush the floor. She patted the quilt and Cricket sat beside her. The mattress sank and his leg brushed hers.
“I was looking for correspondence from my family. Letters, notes, information about myself. Photos, my name…” She winced, wondering if Penelope was even her given name. “There has to be information about us girls, something, somewhere.”
He picked at a thread on her quilt. “Did you find anything?”
Penny shook her head. “His desk was locked, but I doubt there could have been much in the drawers anyway. Certainly not enough information to cover twelve girls. Thirteen. Fourteen. She bolted upright. “Cricket, have you heard anything about the girl? Extra food being prepared and sent somewhere in the manor? I wonder if she’s here or if there is another workshop on the estate grounds.”
He shook his head. “I’ve asked around, but nobody knows. The chef seemed to think a new girl is scheduled to arrive shortly.”
“I wish we knew where Beppe was. I wonder if he could save her before her thoughts are all scrambled and her memories erased.”
Silence grew like a living thing between them. Penny tucked a leg beneath her.
Cricket stared at the floor. His voice was soft when he spoke again. “I’m worried about what Master will do to you.”
“I know.” Penny wrapped her arms across her chest, suddenly cold.
“I think you should leave. Tonight. You can hide out at Beppe’s cabin if necessary, until we can figure out a way to get you past the boundary.”
“Cricket, I can’t. He can still control my mind at the workshop.” She paused and glanced at the door, imagined the hallway and other chambers beyond. “And I don’t know if I can just run out on the girls. They don’t know to fight him. They don’t know what’s going on.”
“But he could take you away, lock you up, tonight even. You can’t help them then.” He brushed his palm against the mostly faded bruise along his jaw.
“He won’t. Not this close to the gala. I think…” She swallowed against the corset of fear crushing her lungs. “I think he would try to manipulate my thoughts here first. Push it further than he ever has.” She nodded to herself. “Yes, he’d do that before trying to remove me from the estate.”
Cricket dropped his head into his hands, raking his fingers through his hair repeatedly before looking at her. “Should I stay in your room tonight? To make sure you pull out of it?”
Penny wanted to tell him yes. She wanted to beg him to stay. But Master absolutely could not find Cricket in her chamber, and she didn’t trust that he wouldn’t stop by.
“I’ll be fine.”
Muffled voices drifted from down the hall.
“You’re certain.” Cricket rose and walked toward the door.
“I’m positive. We can’t raise any further suspicion. I need to see what he does, what memories he tries to alter, so I know how to respond to him tomorrow.”
He opened the door and slid through. “I have to lock this again, but I’ll try to return later. I brought you a couple of pastries”—he nodded at the nightstand—“but I’ll see about putting together a late supper.”
“Thank you.” Penny smiled at him.
“Good luck.” He whispered the words before the door clicked shut and she heard the lock snap back into place.
It was louder than a gunshot.
CHAPTER
20
Penny awoke to the sound of the bells pealing their wake-up call. Her eyes blinked open and squinted against the buttery sunlight streaming through her window. Leon curled into his tail at the end of the quilt, oblivious to the busy day ahead.
She reached for her memory album, but it wasn’t on the nightstand as always. A glance around the room and she still didn’t see it. Her eyebrows furrowed. She didn’t have time to search; she needed to ready herself for rehearsal. She rose from bed and slipped into her chemise and skirt. With sweeping loops, she twisted her hair into a bun, wrapping it in a dark pink ribbon. She stopped in front of her small vanity, frowning at the circles under her eyes.
That wouldn’t do. She was sure to run into Master this morning.
Dipping her hands into the basin, she splashed cool water onto her face and neck. She brushed her teeth with a brush and powder. Then she pinched her cheeks to bring a blush to the surface.
After wrapping the ribbons on her slippers up and over her calves, she raced into the hall behind Maria. She threw her arms around her friend. “I can’t believe the gala is almost here!”
Maria hugged her back. “You’re in a chipper mood today. Are you excited for dinner this evening? I heard the prince arrived late last night.”
“I wonder if we’ll see him this morning. I heard he’s dreamy.” Ana brushed up behind her, her nimble fingers smoothing back a stray strand of Penny’s hair.
Penny could recall seeing the prince at the previous year’s gala, and Ana’s assessment wasn’t altogether false. However, nobody could hold a candle to Master.
They made their way quietly toward the dining room. Penny waited patiently for her turn to pour a small cup of coffee. She added a scant bit of sugar and cream, not too much, and sipped on the drink. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. It was a mere pittance to pay for perfection.
A female servant in an apron slid in from the kitchen to replenish the sugar cubes. Penny stared at the door, feeling as if something was missing.
“Are you finally feeling better?” Bianca’s voice was scathing, and Penny turned to find her glaring from across the room.
