over Even a small noise was likely to attract attention, now
that the house was alerted
Mairelon reached down and curled his hands around the
handles of the platter A moment later, he let go and stood
staring down at it, a grim expression on his face
"Someone got here before us," he said in a low, tight voice
"This is a forgery "
"A forgery? You mean it ain't the right sm€>"
"Exactly " Mairelon turned away "We had better be going "
Kim looked back at the platter and hesitated "Are you
sure? That's real silver, I'll go bail And it looks a lot like that
bow! of yours "
"The silver's real enough, and you're right about the pat-
tern, but it's not the Saltash Platter," Mairelon replied "It
wouldn't fool any magician for an instant, once he got close
enough to lay hands on the thing "
"All right, as long as you're sure " Kim went to the broken
window and peered out "Don't see nobody Let's pike off"
"We can't do it fast enough to suit me," Mairelon mur-
mured, and waved her on
137
FOURTEEN
Kim and Mairelon had no difficulty in evad-
ing the searchers who were stilt scattered
here and there on the grounds of Bramingham
Place The servants were spread out and the lanterns they
carried were visible for a long way, which made them easy
enough to avoid, and there was plenty of cover among the
hedges and trees of the sprawling gardens. Kim almost en-
joyed dodging through the shrubbery and hiding in the for-
mal borders.
The walk back to the wagon was long, cold, and silent
They kept to the roads, where the moonlight let them see to
walk more easily Mairelon seemed sunk in contemplation,
and Kim was too tired to ask what he was thinking When
they reached the wagon at last it was nearly dawn Kim fell
into her makeshift bed at once, and was asleep before she had
time to notice whether Mairelon was doing likewise
She woke to full daylight and the sound of dishes rattling
"Hunch?" she said hazily, lifting her head to see over the
mound of blankets she was huddled under
"I'm afraid not," Mairelon's voice said from near the door of
138
the wagon "Hunch can't possibly be back before tonight, and
I don't really expect him til tomorrow at the earliest You'll
have to put up with my cooking until then Unless you have
hidden skills?" he added hopefully
"Gnngh," Kim said She wormed one hand out from under
the blankets and rubbed at her eyes "No "
"Pity You'd better come have breakfast before it gets cold "
Kim realized that she was hungry Well, no wonder, she'd
done a day's worth of walking since dinner last night, or at
least it felt as if she had She unwound herself reluctantly
from the blankets and went out to correct the matter
Mairelon was crouched over a smoky fire with a long stick
in one hand He was fishing for the handle of an iron pot that
balanced precariously on top of two of the burning branches
"Just in time Bring the plates over "
"I thought you said it would get cold," Kim said, picking
up the plates "Smells to me more like it's getting burned."
"Cold, burned, what's the difference? Ahl" Mairelon
snagged the handle at last and lifted the pot out of the fire.
He lowered it to the ground and picked up a spoon "How
much do you want^"
"How much is there?" Kim asked, eyeing the black pot du-
biously
"More than enough for two," Mairelon assured her "I, ah,
got a little earned away when I was adding things, I think.
Here, take some I'm afraid there isn't any bread We'll just
have to do without until tomorrow "
Kim frowned at the lumpy greyish blob on her plate, then
shrugged She had eaten worse-looking meals in her life, and
the worst any of them had done was to give her a stom-
achache Hunch's savory stews were spoiling her She took a
spoonful It tasted burned
Fortunately, Mairelon did not seem to expect her to give
her opinion of his cooking Kim ate slowly, sneaking glances
139
at the magician when she thought he would not notice He
was unusually quiet, but perhaps that was just because Hunch
was not there to glower and complain
Mairelon caught her eye on her fourth or firth glance
"Have I sprouted horns or a third eye, or is it just that I have
charcoal smeared on my forehead^" he asked mildly
"No," Kim said Rather than try to explain, she asked,
"How did you know that platter last night was shan-P"
"Any magician would have I thought I told you that "
"You said you knew You didn't say how "
"Ah Well, 1 knew because there wasn't any magic in it "
Mairelon stared into the fire and swallowed another spoonful
of his breakfast blob "When a wizard puts magic into an
object, it's generally because he wants the object to do some-
thing That means the magic has to be accessible, and if
it's accessible it can be felt by other wizards if the magic is
destroyed or removed, it leaves traces, which can also be felt
The platter at Bramingham Place hadn't a farthing's worth of
magic in it, and it never had "
Kim frowned "But if any wizard who touched it would
know it was a cheat, why would anyone bother makm' a sham
platter?"
"A good question Possibly the forger wasn't a magician,
and didn't realize there would be any difficulty passing it off
as the real thing Or perhaps she only wanted to keep people
from realizing it was missing right away After all, she
couldn't have known there'd be such a parade of burglars to
blame it on "
"She?" Kim straightened, staring at Mairelon "You know
who put it there?"
"I think so " Mairelon poked at his breakfast "Renee wasn't
part of the parade, you see, and she has more than enough
information to have had the platter copied. I can't think of
any reason why she'd have come to one of Harriet Bra-
140
mingham's house parties, either, except to steal the Saltash
Platter She hates house parties "
"Renee^ You mean that French lady? I thought she was a
friend of yours," Kim said cautiously.
Mairelon's laugh was without humor "So did I But she
must have been planning this for a long time, certainly since
before we left London So why didn't she tell me^"
"Maybe that Earl cove told her not to," Kim ventured
"ShorehairP" Mairelon frowned, considering "I hardly
think it's likely He wouldn't have sent me here if he knew
Renee was going to have a go at it"
"He might of—"
"Might have"
Kim smothered a relieved sigh If Mairelon was correcting
her speech again, he must not be feeling quite so down-
hearted "He might have sent you anyway, if he wanted to
get you out of London "
Mairelon looked up with an arrested expression "Quite
true In fact, it would be just like Edward I w
onder "
His voice trailed off and he stared at the air above the fire
After a moment, he shook himself "Well, there's only one
way to find out Finish your breakfast, Kfm You'll want it "
"Why^" Kim said warily
Mairelon gave her a winning smile "You're going back to
Bramingham Place, to take a message to Renee before she
leaves "
"I'm lyfeaP"
"Well, I can't go Gregory St Clair is arriving today, and I
don't dare chance his seeing me Don't worry, you'll do fine "
Kim rolled her eyes and went back to eating Burned and
blobby or not, it was safer than talking to Mairelon
Two days of relatively dry weather had done wonders for
the roads, at least as far as travel on foot was concerned
141
Water stilt stood at the bottoms of the deepest ruts, and wag-
ons and carriages continued to have a rough, sloppy time of
traveling, but the edges of the lanes gave only a little under
Kirn's feet and no mud dragged at her boots to make walking
a weary chore If she had not been so worried about the task
Mairelon had set her, she might even have enjoyed the walk
"Message for Miss D'Auber, sir," she muttered under her
breath "The master said I was to give it only to her "
She frowned, wondering whether she sounded flash
enough Remembering the words wasn't hard, but the
rhythms and the slightly different pronunciation Mairelon
had insisted on were difficult indeed And what if someone
started asking her questions? She had some chance of getting
the accent right for the sentences she'd practiced, but could
she keep it up if she had to say anything else^
Firmly, Kim dismissed her doubts She had agreed to run
this rig, and fretting wouldn't make success any more likely
than it already was Practice, on the other hand "Mes-
sage for Miss D'Auber," Kim repeated in a low voice "The
master said I was to give it only to her Message for Miss
D'Auber"
So intent was she on her muttered repetitions that she did
not hear the sounds of the approaching carriages until they
were almost on her A shout and the crack of a whip startled
her into attention at last, and she glanced over her shoulder.
Two high-perch phaetons were heading full tilt along the
road, side by side Their drivers crouched intently over their
reins, shifting their weight automatically to compensate for
the dangerous sway of their vehicles, oblivious to everything
save their horses and each other The one on the left pulled
ahead, but his advantage was a matter of inches The other
driver's arm rose and fell, cracking his whip, and his horses
leaped forward, bringing him even with the left-hand phaeton
once more
142
Kim dove for the ditch, praying that these Bedlamites
wouldn't overturn or run off the road until they had gone
safely past her The thudding of the horses' hooves and the
rumble of the carriage wheels grew louder, then passed by
above her in a spray of water, mud, and flying gravel As the
sound began to fade, Kim looked up and saw the phaetons
vanish around a curve in the road ahead, both of them still
moving with furious speed
She spat a curse after them as she picked herself up Her
left foot had landed in the muddy water at the bottom of the
ditch, and some of it had gotten into her boot The knees of
her good breeches were wet and smeared with dirt and grass,
and her hands were scratched and gntty She cursed again
and brushed herself off as best she could, then resumed walk-
ing, hoping darkly that something would teach those
madmen a lesson Maybe one of them would overturn his
carnage and break a leg Maybe both of them would
As she drew near the curve, she heard shouts ahead Pru-
dently, she stepped off the road in case the phaetons were
returning The noises did not sound as if they were moving in
her direction, but Kim took no chances She trudged along
the side of the ditch, sliding on the grass from time to time,
until she rounded the curve and got a clear view of the road
ahead She stopped short
Her wish had been granted one of the phaetons had in-
deed overturned It lay in a tangle of harness and broken
wheels across the side of the road, while its owner, scowling
ferociously and muddy to the eyebrows, tried to calm his
frightened horses On the opposite side of the road, a coach-
and-four lay half in, half out of the ditch A liveried postillion
was tugging at the door of the coach, unconscious of the
blood trickling down his face from a cut above his eye His
postillion was doing his best to control the four coach horses,
143
which were plunging and rearing in a manner that threatened
to reduce harness pole, coach, and alt to splinters. The
coachman lay motionless on the far side of the ditch, evi-
dently thrown from his seat when the coach tipped over.
A little farther on, in the exact center of the road, the
second phaeton had drawn to a halt The driver was con-
centrating on his horses, and despite her poor opinion of his
good sense, Kirn had to acknowledge that he knew how to
handle a team Anyone who could come through such a tan-
gle as this had been, at the speed he had been traveling, in a
vehicle as notoriously unstable as a high-perch phaeton, with-
out overturning his carriage or losing control of his horses
Kirn could think of one, or perhaps two, hackney drivers
in London who might manage such a feat if they were lucky
This gentleman did not appear to have turned a hair
"Burn it, Robert!" The driver of the overturned phaeton
backed up two hasty steps as one of the chestnut horses he
was trying to calm half reared in the traces "If either of them
is hurt—"
"The master appears uninjured," the postillion at the car-
riage said, temporarily abandoning his pulling at the door to
peer through the carriage window "And I believe John
Coachman is not seriously hurt."
"Not them, you imbecile, my chestnuts!" the infuriated
driver cried "Robert—"
"I would be happy to help you, George, but I can hardly
leave my horses, can b" Robert said, half turning without
taking his attention from his restive greys His voice and the
outline of his face came together in Kirn's mind, and she rec-
ognized him as one of the druids she and Mairelon had spied
on George's voice was familiar, too; he was probably another
of them Kirn started to roll her eyes, only to be brought up
short
144
"Who, exactly, is responsible for this outrage^" said a cold,
hard voice authoritatively
Every drop of Kirn's blood seemed to congeal into ice She
knew that voice, she had fled from London to get away frorn
its owner First Jack Slower, now Dan Laverharn, she thought
in despair She would never get away from them She wanted
to dive for the ditch and the hedge beyond, but she could not
make her muscles obey her It was all she could do to force
her head to turn in the direction of the speaker When she
did, she suffered a second shock
The tall man who was in the act of climbing out of the
ruined coach was not Dan Laverham He had the same nar-
row jaw and sharp eyes as Dan, and the same long nose, but
his dark hair had less grey in it Under the superfine coat he
wore, his shoulders were broader and more muscular than
Dan's He could have passed as Laverham's brother, if Lav-
erham had had one who dressed like a toff, but he was «ot
Dan Laverham Relief made Kirn's knees feel weak
"Accident, not outrage," Robert said politely "I am Robert
Choiniet, and my friend with the unspeakable chestnuts is
George Dashvitle "
"I take it you were racing on a public thoroughfare," the
man from the coach snapped "You should be horsewhipped
for such carelessness "
"Possibly," Robert said with unimpaired calm "I doubt that
anyone will do so, however May I take a message to some-
one for you, sir? [ must go by Stavely Farm first, but after that
I am at your disposal "
"Robert, you traitor'" George had finally succeeded in get-
ting his animals under control, but his angry cry startled
them into another round of sidling and head-tossing "You
can't mean to go back to Austen and claim you UJOM'"