She was tired of Juggling roles; she did not want to have to
think about whether she was supposed to be pretending to be
a Tiger or a horseboy or a magician's assistant. She was tired
of silent, empty spaces and the strange sounds and smells of
the woods. She wanted London, and she realized that that,
more than fear of what Jack Stower's presence might mean,
was her real reason for suggesting she should go back
She was still pondering this revelation as she stood beside
Mairelon and watched Hunch drive briskly off "Good," Mair-
elon murmured- "If he keeps up that pace, hell be in London
by tomorrow morning " He looked down at Kirn. "Don't just
stand there, come along. We have a great deal to do, and we
had better get to it."
"I thought we were goin' to wait for Hunch to get back
before we did anything," Kim said, all her homesickness
swept away by a sudden wave of foreboding-
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Mairelon said in a tone of
mild astonishment. "If we don't do anything, St. Clair will
have the platter by tomorrow evening, and ! can't have that.
No, we're going to have a good meal and get a few things
118
ready and then have a good nap, so that we'll be wide awake
to burgle Bramingham Place at two this morning."
He turned and marched cheerfully toward the wagon, leav-
ing Kim to stand staring after him openmouthed. She mut-
tered a curse and plunged after him, already more than half
resigned to the prospect. If Mairelon wanted to burgle Bra-
mingham Place, burgle it he would, with or without her help.
On the whole, she thought she would rather it be with, but
she was not going to give up without an argument. Splutter-
ing objections that she expected would be useless, she fol-
lowed Mairelon into the wagon-
119
TWELVE
'V-A^' T ramingham Place was an enormous, rambling
]S^~^ D house that seemed to spread out in all direc-
f / tions Mairelon, lurking with Kim behind an
overgrown topiary duck while they waited for the last tights
inside to be put out, explained in a whisper that building new
wings had been a tradition in the Bramingham family for two
centuries, hence the erratic sprawl Kim wondered what they
did with all the space From the took of it, the house was
larger than the entire village of Ranton Hill, and that was
without considering the stables and gatehouse
The last of the windows went dark, and Maireion started
forward with an exclamation of relief Kim grabbed at his
sleeve "Give 'em time to fall asleep'" she hissed
"It's all right, the library's at this end They're far enough
away that they won't hear a thing," Mairelon whispered back
"You did say Bramingham was keeping the Saltash Platter in
the library?"
"That's what he told the druid cove, but what if he was
gammoning him?"
"We won't know til we go find out, will we?" She could
120
hear the smile in his voice, though it was too dark to see it
clearly "Shall we?"
Kim sighed "How can you be so sure the library's at this
end of the house?"
Even in the darkness she could see him stiffen "I stayed
with the Brammghams once, some years back," Mairelon said
in a voice devoid of expression "Just before the Saltash Set
was stolen I remember the visit . very well indeed "
"Oh " Kim searched for something to say, without success
She shrugged "All right, then, let's bite the ken But this is
my lay, remember, don't go off on your own, or you'll muck
up the whole thing "
"After you," Mairelon murmured, bowing Kim shook her
head, only half understanding, and slid through the night to-
ward the house
It was not, after all, much different from the jobs she had
done so long ago in London The house was bigger by far,
French doors near the room they wanted Kim reached for
the bit of wire hidden in her sleeve and opened the lock with
a few deft twists of her wrist They slipped inside, and Mair-
elon closed the doors softly behind them
They were in a spacious sitting room Kim could see the
dim shapes of chairs and tiny tea tables scattered all around,
deeper shades of darkness in the dark- Mairelon pointed to-
ward a door in the opposite wall. Kim nodded and made a
gesture which she hoped he would correctly interpret as a
warning to be careful Then she began picking her way across
the room.
Three nerve-racking minutes later they reached the door It
was locked, but the mechanism was no more of a challenge
than the one on the French doors had been Kim had it open
in a few seconds On the other side was a hallway, thickly
121
carpeted. Motioning Mairelon to keep to the center, Kirn
stepped cautiously into the hall-
The library was the second door on the left It was
unlocked, and Kirn suppressed a snort of derision. That
was gentry for you: they'd lock up half the doors and leave
the rest wide open. They always picked the wrong half to
lock, too. She pushed the door slowly inward, listening for
creaking hinges- The door made no sound, and a moment
later they were in the library with the door closed behind
them.
"Well done!" Mairelon breathed in her ear, and she jumped,
"You were particularly quick with that last door."
"Don't do that," she whispered back. "I was quick because it
wasn't locked."
"Not locked?" Mairelon paused, and she could almost hear
him thinking.
"Not locked," Kirn repeated firmly. "And this ain't no time
to chat. Find that thing you're lookin' for and let's get out of
here."
"We'll never find it in the dark," Mairelon said. "A moment,
please." He muttered a word-
A ball of cold, silver light the size of Kirn's fist sprang into
being just over Mairelon's head, casting threatening, sharp-
edged shadows at) around. Kirn blinked, biting back a pro-
test, and looked quickly about her. The library was a long
room with bookcase-lined walls; its center was fall of large
chairs covered with needlework in bright colors that the silver
light bleached to bearable pastels. A small table stood beside
each chair on thin, fragile legs. Heavy curtains of a dark
crimson shut out the light from the windows, unlike those in
the sitting room, these came only to the bottom of the win-
dow, Below them, short bookcases alternated with glass
boxes set on tegs- Kim stared, then realized that these must
122
be the "display cases" to which Henry Bramingham had re-
ferred.
Mairelon crossed to the windows and walked rapidly along
them. He stopped a third of the way from the end and beck-
oned, "Here it is!" he whispered, and the strange silver light
made an exultant mask of his face.
The Saltash Platter was a tray
nearly two feet long, heavily
ornamented around the edge with the same pattern of fruits
and flowers and vines Kim had seen on the bowl in Mairelon's
wagon. At either end a rope of vines twisted away from the
edge and then back again, forming a handle. The silver shone
brilliantly in the cold light, even through the glass of the
display case Kim looked at the case more closely. The top
was hinged in back, and there was an unobtrusive gold lock at
the front edge.
Kim pulled out her wire and paused, remembering what
had happened when she tried to poke through Mairelon's
chest. Of course, it wasn't the lock that had been enchanted,
but still - . . She frowned and tugged at the lid, testing the
strength of the lock-
It opened easily, cutting short Mairelon's impatient query,
They looked at each other across the case, and Kim saw her
own misgivings reflected in Mairelon's uneasy expression.
"Magic?" she whispered.
"Possibly," Mairelon said softly. The sharp shadows magni-
fied his frown. "If it is, touching the platter will set it off- Be
quiet for a moment while 1 check."
He reached down, hands hovering just above the open
case. The air grew heavy, and Kim held her breath, waiting
for an explosion
A soft crash sounded from the next room, and Mairelon
jerked his hands away from the display case. He and Kim
123
froze, and in the silence heard a well-muffled thud from the
hall
"We better get out of here'" Kirn said, and started down the
long room toward the door
"Not that way; there's no time," Mairelon said, grabbing
her arm He gestured, and the light that hovered over his
head shrank to a pinpoint, then he went swiftly to the book-
shelf along the nearest wall "Boccaccio, Boccaccio," he mur-
mured "Where—arU"
Kirn stared in astonishment as Mairelon reached out
and tilted two books outward She heard a small click, and
then the sound of someone fumbling at the library door made
her glance fearfully over her shoulder The curtains were
too short to hide behind Perhaps if she curled up in a chair,
she would be overlooked, but what about Mairelon? She
turned back and almost forgot her fear in complete amaze-
ment
"Inside, quicklyi" Mairelon said An entire section of the
bookcase had swung outward, revealing a narrow, cupboard-
like opening behind it Kirn pulled herself together and
darted inside, Mairelon squeezed in after her, pulling the
bookshelf to behind him The silver light winked out
Cracking a ken with a real magician certainly had advan-
tages, Kim thought to herself as she wnggled into a more
comfortable position That book-achoo spelt was one she'd
have to be sure to learn She felt Mairelon fumble at the wall
and thought he was trying to latch the bookshelf in place
Then he breathed a nearly soundless sigh, and with a soft
scraping a small panel slid aside, giving them a thin slot
above a row of books through which to view the room they
had just quitted with such haste
Someone was moving slowly among the chairs, carrying a
small dark-lantern that was three-quarters shuttered The lan-
tern beam swung toward them, and Kim wondered whether
124
the bearer had heard Mairelon tower the panel She heard a
snort, and the contemptuous whisper "Mice!" and then the
dark blob went on toward the display cases The figure raised
the dark-lantern and bent forward to peer through the glass,
and for a moment his face was visible Kim stiffened and sti-
fled a gasp; it was Jack Stower again
Mairelon put a warning hand on her shoulder. Angnly she
shook it off. She wasn't such a flat as to make a noise that
might reveal their presence, no matter how startled she was
Frowning, she watched Stower work his way slowly up the
row of display cases toward the one that held the Saltash
Platter.
Without warning, the library door swung wide A pool of
flickering amber light spilled through it, and an irritated mas-
culine voice said, "Stuggs? Is that you? Confound it, where is
the man?"
Jack Stower whirled, clutching his lantern, just as Jasper
Marston, wearing a black and crimson brocade dressing
gown and carrying a branch of candlesticks, strolled through
the door "Stuggs?" Marston said again, and then he saw
Jack
The two men stood staring at each other for a long
moment; then a slow, deep voice from the hallway broke
the stunned silence "Right 'ere, gov'nor" An enormous
figure loomed into view behind Marston Slower cursed He
whirled and jerked the curtains from the nearest window
aside, then yanked at the latch The window did not budge
Marston, shaking himself free of his paralysis at last,
started forward (none too rapidly, Kim noted with scorn),
brandishing the candlesticks like a weapon "He's trying to
steal the platter!" he cried "Stop him, Stuggs!"
The figure in the hallway ran forward He was unusually
fast on his feet for a big man, but he had too much distance
to cover and there were too many obstacles in the way
125
Stower, after one terrified look backward, hurled his dark-
lantern through the stubborn window, snatched up the fallen
curtains to keep from being slashed by the fragments of glass
and broken window slats, and scrambled out, tipping over the
nearest display case in his hurry
Stuggs lunged after the fleeing Stower and grabbed his feet
as the rest of him disappeared out the window Kim heard a
muffled howl of rage and fear, and Stower kicked backward
Stuggs lost his balance and crashed into another display case,
his fingers stilt locked around one of Jack's boots, while the
last of Jack Stower vanished
Jasper picked his way across the broken glass to the win-
dow and squinted out it Kim could hear distant noises; it
sounded as if the commotion had roused the household, and
somewhere a dog had begun to bark Jasper did not seem
aware of it He turned and frowned at Stuggs "He's gone!
Why couldn't you hold him?"
"'is bootlace broke," Stuggs said mildly "1 got to and it to
you, gov'nor, you 'ad it right about that there bowl being
valuable But you ought to ave told me there was other coves
after it besides us."
"This is the platter, not the bowl, you idiot," Jasper Mar-
ston said "But 1 suppose I should thank you for reminding me
what we came for" He left the window and went straight to
the display case containing the platter He set the can-
dlesticks down on the nearest table and beckoned to Stuggs
"Come here and open the lock, hurry, before someone else
gets here "
As Kim had done, Stuggs tested the lid and made the same
discovery "It ain't locked "
"Not locked? That fellow we chased off must have opened
it' We arrived just in time Give it to me "
"No'" a familiar voice said in dramatic tones from the
126
smashed window Kirn's eyes widened What was the head of
the druid group doing at Bramingham Place?
"What—" Marston turned his head and froze in mid-sen-
tence
Framed in the shattered glass and dangling splinters of
the window were a man's head and shoulders The man's
eyes gleamed from the openings of a black mask, and a dark
high-crowned hat covered his hair His form was hidden
beneath a driving cloak with several short capes, but the
tone and timbre of his voice were unmistakable "You are
too late to further defile the Sacred Dishi Bring it to me, at
once'"
Kim bit her lip to keep from laughing aloud She should
have guessed that Jonathan Aberford would be after the plat-
ter, the same as everyone else This was becoming altogether
too much like a Dmry Lane comedy Mairelon seemed to
think so, too; she could feel him shaking in silent amuse-
ment She hoped they would both be able to control them-
selves It wouldn't be funny at all if they were caught-
"Now, look here—" Marston began
Jonathan raised a hand, and Kim saw the glint of can-
dlelight on metal Her amusement died instantly "Bring it to
mei" Jonathan commanded
"Put that down, you young chub," Stuggs said "Pistols ain't
a thing to go waving around like that "
"Bring me the dish!" Jonathan cned "I won't have any more