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"a pity about Matthew Corbett Dead at such a young age," said Hudson Greathouse He shrugged "I really didn&039;t know him very well Had only worked with him since July So what more can I say, other than that he poked his curiosity into one dark hole too on, pulled by tay-backed horses that seee, had just left the stable in Westerwicke The town stood along the Philadelphia Pike, soroomed place, with two churches, houses of wood and brick and beyond them farmfields and orchards carved fro pumpkins from a cart waved, and Greathouse waved back

"Yes," Greathouse said, looking up at the clouds that sailed like huge white ships across thesky, "too bad about Matthew, that his life was cut so short due to the fact he had neither sense nor bodyguard to protect hiaze sideways, at the driver "Would that have been a good enough speech at your funerali"

"I have already ade a littletheir heads lower as if to beg for one in that tunnel alone" He felt heat in his cheeks "How long are you going to play this tunei"

"Until you realize you&039;re not ready to go off risking your life foolishly and for whati To prove a pointi That you&039;re so much smarter than everyone elsei"

"It&039;s awfully early for this" In fact, it was not much after six o&039;clock Mattheas tired and cranky and wished he were anywhere on earth but sitting in this wagon beside Greathouse By God, he&039;d even take the tunnel again at least it had been quiet in there He no the realto share a room with Greathouse at The Constant Friend tavern, as had been done last night in Westerwicke because the other two rooet to sleep before a snoring began that started like a cannon&039;s booht, when at last Matthew did sluave out a holler that al for his life, but not even the subsequent angry knocking on the wall of the next rooht Greathouse up froreat one would not let this incident of the tunnel go Danger this, and danger that, and what ht have happened if it had not been a tunnel that led under the estate to the river, but instead to a cave where he could have gotten lost in the dark and been wandering until he had a beard down to his boots What then, Mr Corbetti Do speak a little louder, I can&039;t hear you

"You&039;re right," said Greathouse after a brief reflection, which served only toloaded "It is early Have a drink" He passed over a leather flask of brandy, at which he&039;d already been nipping since the first threads of sunrise Matthew took it and sed enough to make his eyes swim and his throat burn, and then he returned it to its owner Greathouse corked it and slid it under the plank seat, next to the pistol "Maybe I can&039;t say I wouldn&039;t have done the sas Didn&039;t you think to tie a rope to so to find your way back byi"

"It would have been a very long rope" Very long indeed The tunnel, a natural feature of the Chapel estate, had been in Matthew&039;s esti at one point it had descended at an alarht ahead It had e boulders, and a path could be negotiated to the nearest woods He surmised that not all the me about the escape route, but that was how those particular four had gotten out

"I don&039;t think I&039;m so much smarter than everyone else," Mattheered, to one of Greathouse&039;sbarbs

"Sure you do It&039;s part of your charm Oh, my back aches! That bed should&039;ve been arrested for atteh, for the most part"

"an illusion I had a particularly bad drea about a war between cannons and catsi"

"Whati" Greathouse scowled "No It&039;s this da about the jobi"

"No I had a dream about now, this sounds ridiculous, I know" Greathouse hesitated, reached for the flask again and held it at the ready "I had a dream about that damned tooth"

"The tooth," Matthew repeated

"You know McCaggers&039; tooth What he showed us all that jabber about God and Job andof brandy went down Greathouse&039;s throat "all that," he said, when he&039;d finished

Mattheaited, certain there would be ain, but it didn&039;t speed the old horses a single hoof Still, their destination was not very far ahead The doctors, Ra them at the Publick Hospital

"I dreaet his brain started again, "that I saw theas a house, Matthew No, bigger as big as Trinity Church, or City Hall Bigger yet Its skin looked to be like black iron, still s as a coach, and it looked atfor rin erupted across his face "Ridiculous, isn&039;t iti"

Matthewas Greathouse looked at him

"It came for me," Greathouse went on "Like a terrible wind Or a force of nature I was running across a field where there were deadOr pieces of oing to getto get me, with those teeth a e, and so fast It was co up behind me, and I felt its breath onelse at last, Matthew asked, "You diedi"

"I must have woken up I don&039;t remember Maybe I did die, in the dream I don&039;t know But I&039;ll tell you what I do know" He started to take another drink and then thought better of it, for there was the job to be done today "I had alhtened, that&039;s one thing I ainst That&039;s what I felt, in the dream and all because of that da to do with it I told you it didn&039;t sht, maybe a little My stomach did pitch and tumble a bit But it&039;s this job, too If the ood, I would&039;ve told Lillehorne to find someone else Surely a couple of constables would have done just as well"

"The doctors asked for us specifically," Matthew reminded him "and who else would&039;ve coarteni I don&039;t think so"

"The doctors" Greathouse gave a fierce tug at his brooolen cap "You knohat I think of the the ladyi"

"I a better at least she knows her own na to understand her circue what I think of housing a bunch of lunatics out here in the woods" The wagon, as slow as it was, had left Westerwicke behind and was nowthe forest road, which was still the Philadelphia Pike and would be called so all the forty-odd miles to that city Up ahead, little ht, would be the turnoff to the hospital The sun was strengthening, casting yellow and red tendrils through the trees Birds were singing and the air was crisp; it was a very lovely , save for soold," Greathouse said, almost to himself

Matthew didn&039;t reply What a man must do, indeed He had already worked out a plan for his riches Over the course of time he would take a few coins to Philadelphia by packet boat, and there buy some itee He was even thinking of co up with a new identity for himself, for his Philadelphia visits It wouldn&039;t do for anyone in New York to know of his sudden wealth; besides, it was no one&039;s business but his own He&039;d almost perished on that estate Did he not deserve sohi For now, the et through the lock on his door, but he felt easier knowing all those gold pieces were tucked into the straw of hiser had arrived at Number Seven Stone Street with a summons for Matthew and Greathouse to make haste to Gardner Lillehorne&039;s office at City Hall, for the high constable had urgent business Greathouse&039;s reply was that neither one of them could be called like cattle from a pasture, and that if Lillehorne wished to conduct business it would be at Nu your luck with Lillehorne," Matthew had said after the an to sweep the floor, as it was his usual task and-newfound riches or not-he at least wished to keep clean the area around his own desk

"Do youi and what is he going to do toup to himi"

"He has his methods and his connections" Mattheept the dust into a wooden tray, which he would later dump out the pair of s that afforded a view of New York to the northwest, and beyond the wide river, brown cliffs and golden hills of New Jersey "You were very cavalier to hiht at the Cock&039;a&039;tail I&039;aol, because after all was said and done ere breaking the law"

"Course ere But don&039;t fret about it Lillehorne&039;s not going to do anything to either one of us Certainly not put me where I can&039;t be useful "

"Can&039;t be usefuli" Matthew stopped his sweeping and looked at Greathouse, as leaning back in his chair with his big boots-dusty boots, too-propped up on his desk "Meaning whati" He had a flash of insight when Greathouse just tapped his forefinger against his chin I have an errand to run, Greathouse had said on Fridayon soh constablei Or so as an ordinary citizeni"

"a citizen, the saht have coo Monday, offered to buyhier the favor the larger the sureement for a favor of moderate size, and there you have it"

"and what exactly was the favori"

"Is the favor," Greathouse corrected "a work in progress, with no answer just yet" He frowned "Why exactly should I be telling you, anywayi You didn&039;t tellup to the Chapel estate, did youi No, you didn&039;t care to share with ht have been your last trip on earth Well, I&039;ll tell you what! When Lillehorne gets here, you can tell hi the story for Maro for that reason"

Greathouse wore a steely glare "are you absolutely sure of thati"

Mattheas about to reply in the positive, but the bottom fell out of his resolve Was he absolutely surei Had he indeed been thinking of telling Marmaduke, so as to be the centerpiece of another storyi No, of course not! But maybe just a little biti He stood within the air around hier content to be only Matthew Corbett, istrate&039;s clerk become problem-solver, but wished the company of both wealth and attentioni It seemed to him that attention could become as potent a drink as Skelly&039;s apple brandy, and make one just as insensible It seemed to him that one could be overcome by it, and without it would become as illed and desperate as any half-penny drunkard Was that part of why he&039;d ridden to the estatei No absolutely not

But a few days ago he old coins, he would have first and foremost told whoi Berryi She had also shared the ordeal; should she not share the rewardi No, no; it was complicated Very coain when he had a clearer head, and anyway this dust in the air was about toyou," he said to Greathouse, in a voice as steely as the other lare continued to be

"Why did you, theni&039;

Matthew alone into the tunnel to prove his courage, once and for all; or that he&039;d sio forward, and trust in his instincts But the moment came and went and Matthew did not say any of this; instead, he said, "Because I wanted you to know I don&039;t need a bodyguard"

"Your opinion all I know is, Zed could help us both, if he could be taught correctly It&039;s a da ship timbers for the rest of his life" He waved a diset et a drink"

Matthew returned to his sweeping, thinking that it was best to let some secrets lie undisturbed

Less than a half-hour later, Gardner Lillehorne had arrived like a burst of sunlight in his yellow suit and stockings, his yellow tricorn adorned with a small blue feather His disposition was rather more stormy, however, and as he marched up to Greathouse&039;s desk his face bore the scowl of a particularly dark cloud He placed a brown envelope sealed with gray wax before Greathouse "You&039;re required for an official task," he said, and cast a quick glance at Matthew "The both of you"

"What official taski" Greathouse picked up the envelope, inspected the seal, and started to open it

Lillehorne put his black-lacquered cane against Greathouse&039;s hand "The envelope is to remain sealed," he said, "until you pick up the prisoner When you take possession of him, you are to read the contents to both him and the witnesses, as a formality of official " He cast about for a word "Possession"

"You&039;d best rein in your runaways," Greathouse cautioned, and moved the cane aside "What prisoneri and where is hei"