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She’d proo to secret places, too She’d spotted the professor, Miss Goodgrave, and Mr Harlowe going through the hidden passage in the library It had been after her bedtime when she wasn’t supposed to be up, but sometimes she couldn’t sleep and was bored She’d been in the parlor across fro tea with the important ladies of the city When she heard footsteps, she turned off her light and hid and watched She never figured out how they opened the secret door or where they went What did they do when they got there, wherever there was? She wanted to know

Well, if Miss Goodgrave got to sneak around, so did she She’d show the her rumpled dresses and found her coat She pulled it on, then slipped her feet into her everyday shoes, not the nice shiny ones Mirriaed her mind and kicked off the old ones She would wear the nice ones if she wanted to

The eleven hour bell had rung It was again past her bedtime, but it had never stopped her before She crept out of her room, down the stairs, and to the front door She turned the lock and let herself out

She stood frozen on the front step She had never gone out this late on her own Never She looked nervously up and down the street The laainst the houses and fences, beneath trees and shrubbery Anything could hide in those shadows and leap out at her

But the emperor wouldn’t let that happen, would he? That’s why there were so ht? To keep away monsters and bad er than she thought, walking past so ood shoes hurt her feet, and she was sorry she hadn’t worn her old pair Angry, she splashed in a muddy puddle

It was not until she reached the last house at the end of the street that she finally encountered an Inspector patrolling with his Enforcer The Enforcer shone dully beneath the light of a streetla out at this late hour?"

Arhys strode right up to hi only when she neared the Enforcer The Enforcer tilted its eyepiece so it could look down at her The lens in its eye whirred as it focused on her

I am not afraid, she told herself, but the Enforcer was so er close up

"Say," the Inspector said, "aren’t you Arhys? The little girl orks at Professor Josston’s?"

She gazed up at the Inspector He was impressive with his red unifornized him--Inspector Gant He’d come to the professor’s house before

"Yes, sir," she said as sweetly as she couldI need to tell you I want to tell you about the professor"

FOUND

Karigan was out of bed before the first strike of the ht bell faded When she left her roo with her except the map of the Capital, the mirror shard, the bonewood, and a canvas satchel she’d found in the downstairs cloak room She left behind the coiven her in her early days here, and a wardrobe filled with skillfully tailored dresses, hats, shoes, and gloves And veils Oh, yes, she was certainly leaving behind the veils

She ell-practiced by now in sneaking around the house at the deepest hours of night, though she had been chagrined to learn that Mirriam and Arhys had both observed her nocturnal activities She resolved to be extra careful, knowing the professor could also be prowling about on his own business

Taper in hand, she descended the stairs, and crept into the library Taking more care than usual, she made sure Arhys was nowhere to be found Then she went to the dragon on the bookshelf, twisted its tail, and the secret passage opened When the bookcase swung closed behind her, she finally felt totally committed She would have to come back to the house one last time, however, because she believed the doors to the old h thehtgown into her black soround This was her first ti the route on her very own Well, the first time had been sort of on her own But she’d followed the professor and Cade, and they’d been awaiting her at the other end What if the professor was there now? What if he came after her and found her in the old mill? Well, they’d have it out He could not force her to stay and play his mad niece for the rest of her life She’d rather live in the tombs

If need be, she had the skills to extricate herself forcibly from the professor’s control, but she’d prefer an aood to her He had protected her and taken her into his ho out, she did not have to take the chance of a confrontation of any kind

The underground was as she re on dusty s "I will see this the way it’s supposed to be when I get home," she said, but her voice sounded tiny, doubtful

She hurried on past the remains of the Cock and Hen, past the harness shop and all those buildings she had once known above ground and exposed to the sky

• • •

Once she cli The old building was dark No one awaited her, no one had accoiven her permission to enter She felt uncoht iron steps Where once she’d been accustoer, she had now beco around people in the professor’s house and escorted whenever she left She’d been made too comfortable and protected Perhaps less confident