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Clouds ht shone down upon villages and hills daubed with red, gold and copper as the day progressed, so did the affairs of New York a ship with its white sails flying calers selling fro sweet skins and roasted chestnuts did a lively business, drawing an audience for their wares with young girls who danced to the bang and rattle of tambourines a on along the Broad Way, and its subsequent stubborn immobility caused a traffic ja until buckets of water poured on their heads cooled their enthusiasroup of Iroquois who had come to town to sell deerskins watched this entertainhed behind their hands

Several women and the occasional man visited the ceside Trinity Church There in the shade of the yellow trees, a flower or a quiet as delivered to a loved one who had journeyed on froer here, however, for all knew that God accepted the worthy pilgri

Fishing boats in the rivers pulled up nets shi with striped bass, shad, flounder and snapper The ferry between Van Da over the Hudson in Weehaas always active for travelers and traders, who often found that the winds or currents could make even such a simple trip a three-hour adventure

across the city the multitudinous fires of commerce-be they from blacksmith&039;s furnaces or tallow chandler&039;s pots-burned brightly all the day, sending their signatures of sht of chis that showed the northward progress of civilization The boo, and caused several of the eldest Dutch residents to recall the quiet of the good old days

Of particular interest was the fact that the new mayor, Phillip French, was a solid, foursquare individual whose aiet more of the city&039;s streets paved with cobblestones; this enterprise, too, was directed northward past Wall Street, but as it costcurrently stalled in paperwork by Governor Lord Cornbury, as seldom seen in public these days outside the walls of his mansion in Fort William Henry

all these events were of the common clay of New York In one form or fashion, they were repeated as surely as dawn and dusk But one event happening this afternoon, at four o&039;clock by Matthew&039;s silver watch, had never before taken place: the ascent of Berry Grigsby up a narrow set of stairs in City Hall, toward ashton McCaggers&039; realm in the attic above

"Careful," Matthew said lest she lose her footing, but with an-other step it was he who stu a handful of her skirt to prevent a fall

"Excuse you," she told him crisply, and pulled her skirt free at the same tiriddlecake iron Then she gathered her grace and continued up the rest of the steps, where she calanced back at him, he nodded, and she knocked at the door just as he&039;d instructed

These days their relationship was, as a probleht say, corandfather had invited Berry to coland in order to find her not necessarily a position, but a proposition Up at the zenith of the list of eligiblemind, was a certain citizen of New York named Corbett, and thus had Matthew been invited to make the dairyhouse his own miniature sby clan, they being only a few steps from his own front door Just show her around the town a little, Mared Escort her to a dance or two Would that kill youi

Mattheasn&039;t sure Her last escort, his friend and chess companion Effrem Owles, the tailor&039;s son, had stepped into aBerry ho days were over until the swelling of his ankle subsided But whenever Matthe his friend lately, either sitting at the Trot Then Gallop or li the street on a crutch, Effrem&039;s eyes widened behind his round spectacles and he wanted to knohat Berry earing today, and where was she going, and did she ever say anything about him, and all such buffle-headed chatter as that

I certainly don&039;t know! Matthew had answered, a bit too stridently I&039; about her, anyhow

But Matthew, Matthew! and it really was pitiful, the way Effrem hobbled on that crutch Don&039;t you think she&039;s the prettiest girl you ever sawi

Mattheasn&039;t sure about that, either, but he did know that standing this close to her, here in the narrow little stairaiting an answer to the knock on McCaggers&039; door, she smelled very nice It was perhaps the scent of the cinammon soap hich she washed the curly tresses of her coppery-red hair, or the faintly-sweet aroma of the blue wildflowers that adorned the rim of her straw hat She was nineteen years old, her birthday being in the last week of June; it had been celebrated, if one was to put it suchly, aboard the ill-fated vessel that had brought her across the atlantic and deposited her as a plank in ht Matthew had had of her But that was then and noas now, and so much the better Berry&039;s cheeks and her finely-chiseled nose were dusted with freckles, her jaw firm and resolute, her eyes dark blue and just as curious about the world as those of her esteerandfather She wore a lavender-hued dress with a lace shawl about her shoulders, for last night&039;s rain had brought a chill to the air Before their initial nome to match Marmaduke&039;s ht and was anything but gnomely In fact, Matthew did find her to be pretty andHer descriptions of London, its citizens, and her travels-and lish countryside kept hiether at Marmaduke&039;s table He hoped to someday see that enormous city, which appealed to hiue and danger gleaned fros of the London Gazette Of course, he hoped to live long enough to get there, as he had intrigues and dangers enough in New York

"Why are you looking at me like thati" Berry asked

"Like whati" He&039;d let his ht himself back to the business at hand In answer to Berry&039;s knock, a slassed dark brown eye peered out The first time Matthew had visited up here, he&039;d been witness to McCaggers&039; experiments with pistols on Elsie and Rosalind, the two dress-et practice Not to mention the other ite to be beating a hasty retreat back down the stairs

The door opened ashton McCaggers said, in a light and pleasant voice, "Good afternoon Please come in"

Matthewno attention to him anyway and had already started across the threshold Matthew followed her, McCaggers closed the door, and then Matthew had al there, quite still, taking stock of the coroner&039;s heaven

The light through the attic&039;s s strea suspended froels", as he&039;d once described them to Mattheere four hu the walls of this macabre chamber were twenty orjawbones or other portions Wired-together bones of legs, are decorations that only a coroner could abide In the rooe, stood a row of honey-colored file cabinets atop which were arranged more bone displays There were aniathered bones for the sake of their shapes and variety Next to a long table topped with beakers of fluid in which objects of uncertain-but certainly disturbing-origin floated was McCaggers&039; rack of swords, axes, knives, muskets, pistols and cruder weapons such as clubs studded with frightful-looking nails It was before this assorts into boneyards that Hudson Greathouse stood, holding in one hand an ornately-decorated pistol he was in the process of ad

He looked now from the pistol at Berry, and said with a faint ssby"

Berry didn&039;t answer She was yet s, and Mattheondered if she could find her tongue

"Mr McCaggers&039; collections," Matthew heard hiood

a silence stretched, and finally McCaggers said, "Can I get anyone sonificent " Berry paused, seeking the correct word "Gallery," she decided Her voice was calm and clear and she stretched out an ar nearest her Mattheinced, thinking she was going to touch its hand, but of course it was too high for her to reach Though not by aze toward the coroner, and as Matthealked quietly around to one side he could see herthe man who lived amid such a museum "I presume these were unclai up so quickly in New York that there&039;s no ers allowed himself a hint of a smile He took off his spectacles and cleaned them on a handkerchief from the pocket of his black breeches The better to see Berry ers was only three years older than Mattheas pale and of h forehead He wore a plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and was perpetually a day or tay from a decent shave In spite of that, he kept himself and his attic as neat as Sally almond&039;s kitchen He put his spectacles back on, and seeht "I don&039;t have e, and can&039;t wait to get out Most people are you know so afraid of death"

"Well," Berry answered, "I&039;lance that said she still hadn&039;t quite gotten over their brush with mortality in the form of hawk talons and killers&039; knives at the Chapel estate "But for the sake of forht say artful"

"Oh, absolutely!" McCaggers alrinned, obviously pleased to have discovered a kindred spirit "The bones are beautiful, aren&039;t theyi as I once told Matthew, toabout life and death" He gazed up at the skeletons with an expression of pride thatman and woirl and older man were found here My father was a coroner in Bristol, you know as was randfather before-"

There ca pulled, which served to stop McCaggers&039; recitation of his family history

"Our business at hand," said Greathouse, who nodded toward a table across the attic where Zed sat in a spill of light cleaning and polishing some of the forceps, calipers and little blades that were tools of the coroner&039;s trade Zed&039;s attire was a gray shirt and brown breeches, far reht When he looked up and saw everyone staring at him he returned the attention impassively, and then shifted his chair so his broad back was presented to his audience He continued his ith adain concentrating on Berry "You have an appreciation for arti"

Oh for Lord&039;s sake! Matthew thought If Effree of jealousy at this obvious play for Berry&039;s interest

"I do, sir," Berry answered "Most certainly"

Matthew could have told McCaggers how Berry&039;s talent for drawing had helped solve the puzzle of the Queen of Bedlalance at Greathouse, who looked as if he were ready to shoot the coroner

"ah!" It was spoken by McCaggers as a sublime statement Behind his spectacles his eyes took in Berry from shoetoe to hat brim "and as a teacher, you have a curiosity for shall we say the unusuali"

Now Berry did appear a little flustered "Pardon ers repeated "Not just in forms of art, but forms of creationi"

Berry looked to Matthew for help, but Matthew shrugged; he had no earthly idea what McCaggers was driving at

"Listen," Greathouse spoke up "In case you&039;ve forgotten, we&039;re here about-"

"I don&039;t forget anything," casbyi" His voice warreatest treasurei"

"Well I&039; interested in forms of art, and creation, and a teacher as well also, I think you ht like to see a mystery that has no answer Would youi"

"all mysteries have answers," Greathouse said "It&039;s just finding the one that fits"

"So you say" With that reers turned away and walked past a bookcase full of ancient-looking tomes bound in scabby leather He went to a massive old black chest-of-drawers, which stood next to a cubbyhole arrangement that held rolled-up scrolls of paper Froers re the red box as if it held the finest ereatest treasure," he said quietly "a randfather, as pay to me and now " He paused, about to open the box Matthew noted that even Zed had put aside his work and atching intently "I&039;ve never shown this to anyone else, Miss Grigsby May I call you &039;Berry&039;i"

She nodded, staring at the box

"God creates all," McCaggers said, his spectacles reflecting red "and all suits God&039;s purpose What then, is thisi"

He raised the velvet lid, and both Berry and Matthehat was inside as McCaggers tilted the box toward thely piece of dark broood, curved and scored and about five inches long, that came to a bladelike point

"Hm," Matthew said, with a lift of his eyebrows that betrayed his a"

"and of course, by that tone of voice, you tellat Berry, would you care to guess what this isi"

Greathouse had put aside the pistol and co asked "a tent stake, I&039;d say Wouldn&039;t care to stake h"

"I&039;ll tell you where this was found," McCaggers said, as he drew a finger along the iteth "are you familiar with the bell pits of Soers nodded He picked the item up and held it before theround, in the wall of a bell pit near Nettlebridge It&039;s a tooth"

There was a span of silence, which after a few seconds was broken by Greathouse&039;s rude guffaw "a tooth! Sixty feet underi In a coalminei"

"That&039;s correct I know a tooth when I see one, Mr Greathouse This is very old a thousand yearsi Five thousandi Who can sayi But you&039;re er picture, so to speak"

"Which isi"

Berry answered, in a quiet voice: "The size of the tooth If-from one tooth-you speculate the size of the jaw and then the head "

"Correct," the coroner said "It ed to what I can only say would have been " He hesitated, and fixed his gaze on the vicious point "a ain, but this time it didn&039;t have the same force or conviction "Where do you keep your ruers continued, "the So up bones that none of the locals can identify as being from any animal anyone&039;s ever seen They&039;re considered to be ill omens, and so they&039;re disposed of however one would dispose of such things This tooth escaped destruction Would you care to hold iti" He offered it toward Greathouse, who in spite of his courage in all things swords or fistic seeift

Matthew found hiers placed the tooth in his palht be, yet it was surely no stone Matthew could see serrations along one edge that ainst his shoulder, peering at the object, and Matthew on&039;s tooth," Berry said at last, the sound of both excitement and awe in her voice "That&039;s what it ers for confirons, I on-if such existed outside ht be considered to conquer its enemies with fire This creature was a killer e pieces of e on that toothi a masterpiece of form and function Do you have any idea what a jaw full of those could do to say a side of beefi"

"Dragons! Carnivores!" Greathouse had recovered his wits and his color "This is nonsense, McCaggers! I randfather has passed along soarded him somberly and then took the object from Matthew&039;s palm "That may well be," he said as he returned it to the velvet box, "but then again perhaps it&039;s evidence of what God told Job"

Greathouse frowned "What are you on about nowi"

"God spoke to Job," McCaggers said, "from the ind He told Job about the beheinable creatures of size and power He told Job to gird up his loins like a man, and face as to coers saw that none of this was getting through to Greathouse "Don&039;t you know your Biblei"