Page 34 (1/2)

Harry saw a rooht oozed into the hallway shadows, filtering through a miasma of smoke He took the steps two and three at a ti

The form of an old woman was curled on the settee The loose folds of her black dress couldn’t conceal the stick-thin lines of her body, gnarled like the trunk of a crab apple tree She appeared only half conscious, her bony fingers caressing the length of a leather hookah hose as if it were a pet serpent

Harry approached her, put his hand on her head, and pushed it back to view her face

"Who are you?" she croaked The whites of her eyes were stained, as if they had been soaked in tea Harry struggled not to recoil at the smell of her breath

"I’ve come for Catherine," he said "Tell me where she is"

She stared at him fixedly "The brother…"

"Yes, where is she? Where are you keeping her? The brothel?"

Althea let go of the leather hose and hugged herself

"My brother never came forthrough the powder on her face, turning it into a creaaze chased off to the side, in the direction of the stairs leading to the third floor

Galvanized, Harry rushed from the room and up the stairs A blessed waft of cool air and a ray of natural light caaze sweeping across the stagnant room The bed was in disarray and thehad been thrown open

Harry froze, sharp pain lancing through his chest His heart had stopped with fear "Cat!" he heard hi for air, he looked down at the street three stories below

But there was no broken body, no blood, nothing on the street below except rubbish and ht his attention, like the flapping of a bird’s wings Turning his head to the left, Harry drew in a quick breath as he saw his sister

Catherine was in a white nightgown, perched on the edge of a winged gable She was only about three yards away, having crept along an incredibly narrow sill that was cantilevered over the second story below Her ar violently The breeze played with the loose locks of her hair, glittering banners dancing against the gray sky One puff of wind, one able

Eventhan Catherine’s precarious perch was the vacancy of her expression

"Cat," Harry said carefully, and her face turned in his direction

She didn’t seenize him

"Don’t move," Harry said hoarsely "Stay still, Cat" He ducked his head inside the house long enough to shout, "Raain "Cat, don’t move a muscle Don’t even blink"

She didn’t say a word, only sat and continued to shiver, her gaze unfocused

Leo came up behind Harry and stuck his own head out theHarry heard Leo’s breath catch "Sweetstock of the situation, Leo becah as a piper," he said "This is going to be a pretty trick"

Chapter Thirty-one

"I’ll walk along the sill," Harry said "I’rim "Neither am I But it won’t hold either of us--too , which means they probably all are"

"Is there another way to reach her? Fro Keep talking to her while I find so farther out the"Cat, it’s me," he said "It’s Harry You know me, don’t you?"

"’Course I do" Her head dropped to her bent knees, and she wobbled "I’m so tired"

"Cat, wait This isn’t the time for a nap Lift your head and look ather to stay still, stay awake, but she barely responded More than once she altered her position, and Harry’s heart pluable

To his relief, Leo returned in no tith of rope His face was fuls of air

"That was fast," Harry said, taking the rope fro den," Leo said "There was a lot of rope"

Harry an to tie a knot "If you’re planning to coax her to come back to the ," he said, "it won’t work She won’t respond to anything I say"

"You tie the knot I’ll do the talking"

Leo had never experienced fear like this before, not even when Laura had died That had been a slow process of loss, watching her life slip away like sand frolass This was even worse This was the deepest level of hell

Leaning out the , Leo stared at Catherine’s huddled, exhausted form He understood the effects of the opium, the confusion and dizziness, the sense that one’s li of buoyant lightness as if one could fly And added to that, Catherine couldn’t even see

If heto let her out of his arain

"Well, Marks," he said in as nore "Of all the ridiculous situations you and I have found ourselves in, this one takes the biscuit"

Her head lifted from her knees, and she squinted blindly in his direction "My lord?"

"Yes, I’ to help you Stay still Naturally you would make my heroic rescue effort as difficult as possible"

"I didn’t plan on this" Her voice was slurred, but there was a fa to get away"

"I know And in just a ue properly For the ti--"

"Don’t want to"

"Don’t want to coue" She lowered her head to her knees again, and gave athe better of hiue I pro breath as Harry handed him the rope, looped with a perfect bowline knot "Cat, listen to me … lift your head and put your knees down just a little I’ to throw a rope to you, but it’s very important that you not reach for it, do you understand? Just sit still and let it fall into your lap"

She held obediently still, squinting and blinking