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I had to stop and wait for Keen and Casper They were so fascinated by their surroundings that they were acting more like country-bred food slaves and less like respectable servants

"My little snacks, do keep up," I said in , tapping his billy club against the ant uniforrand city," I said to hiine?"

"LeashesKeen’s scruffy outfit

"I’ll look into that, thank you"

I probably enjoyedin her ear

"Behave, or they’ll impound you," I said, and the look on her face was priceless It was a very real threat, but only for free Pinkies, of course, and only on thethe since I had looked at a Freesian calendar, and I didn’t kno close we ar Snow Ball We hadn’t missed it yet, as the air didn’t smell properly of snow and the streets were dry and still warm under my boots But it was close, and one never kne the weather would go The sooner I found my old nursemaid, the better Verusha saw and heard rand avenues without indulging in the many beauties of the White City We had spent the summers there most years, and I knehich shops kept the prettiest hats in stock and the softest dancing shoes and the finest feathered hair corand lady with a precious little Pinky girl on a jeweled leash, pretty as could be, and I took in a deep and appreciative breath Cleanliness, good breeding, and an understanding of one’s place were hallmarks of a royal servant

But when I looked closer, I saw the leash’s collar digging into the child’s tender white neck, leaving a red er, but now I just felt pity I could see in the child a reflection of Keen, but broken and tamed The child’s smile faded when herof a toy store, where she’d been gazing as if in a drearand dame’s skirt, I saw the child for what she was: a slave and a prisoner, held against her will

"Faster," I round trains that connected all of Muscovy with liness I would have once considered the walk to Verusha’s flat a pleasure, but I was too concerned about encountering so to the wrong Bludman or Casper to release his beast in a suicidal fashion Time was of the essence

Once ere down the marble staircase and in the station, I turned into a corner to fetch the coins and necklace froone

"Looking for this?" Keen held out the glistening trinket with a s smirk, and I snatched it fro so that, little fool"

As I s, I noticed that there were five ge instead of the three I’d reure you owe loved hands in her pockets and rocking back on her heels I began to see why she caused Casper such proble anywhere with her, she went and did soht back on that platter One step forward, two steps back, and now she was in deeper water than she knew

"Give theht for composure, and Casper’s hand subtly brushed ot one left, but I’llfor the tube" She held out a hand bri her alone outside the dress shop She was lucky she hadn’t been arrested But we’d already attracted enough attention, so I just said, "Fine," and picked three coins out of her glove, careful not to touch the stained leather

We were silent through the turnstiles and onto the car, aside from Keen’s whispered "Holy crow!" as we sat on the tufted velvet bench seat I’d been impressed the first time I’d seen it, too The tunnels looked like catacombs, old brick and stone with skulls and bones mortared into coant as the one that had brought us froed in gilt A violinist in the corner took up her boaying with the music, and Casper went still all over as plaintive music filled the air

"That’s brilliant," he said under his breath

"Welcoh several stops, changed trains at a grand station with soaring skylights, enor mosaics, and disembarked at the stop where Verusha had lived ever since retiring as my maid

"I will die here, darlink," she had toldback into her favorite chaise, surrounded by rich silks and soft furs, "but I think there will be many years before that happens"

She had been well over two hundred then And yet so toldthe needlepoint for which she was so farandchildren If not--well, I would cross that bridge when I came to it