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Final y, Boots cleared his throat delicately "Very good, Lady Maccon If you do not require anything further?" And without waiting for her to reply, he turned to leave the room
"Pip pip Must, you understand, press on Top of theto you"
Alexia trailed hione?"
"Can’t tel you that, I’m afraid, Lady Maccon I understand it’s not safe Not safe at al
"
Alexia’s confusion turned to worry
"Not safe for whom? You, me, or Lord Akelda his master’s new location
Boots paused at the door and looked back "Now, don’t you worry, Lady Maccon; it’l be al right in the end Lord Akeldama wil see to it He always does"
"Where is he?"
"Why, with the others, of course Where else would he be? Off and about, you kno it goes A goodly nu, as it were Gone to find…" He trailed off "Oops Never you mind, Lady Maccon Just attend to what his lordship said about the cat Toodles" And, with that, he gave her a funny little half bow and let himself out of the house
Alexia,roo odd about the animal, apart from the creature’s murderous tendencies toward tassels, was the metal col ar about her neck Alexia unclipped it and took it over to theto exah to unrol into a flat ribbon and had been punched al along in an apparently rando She ran one glove-covered fingertip along the indentations, trying to rehrepetitive tunes that so delighted children and so annoyed adults If this ribbon alsoto it Rather than search Lord Akelda what exact device she was looking for, and figuring the vampire in question would not be so irresponsible as to leave it on the premises, anyway, she could think of but one person who could help her at this juncture--Madae
CHAPTER THREE
Alexia Engages in Ento to kil Lady Alexia Maccon It was most inconvenient, as she was in a dreadful hurry
Given her previous familiarity with near-death experiences and their coood self, Alexia should probably have al owed extra time for such a predictable happenstance Except that in this particular instance, the unpleasant event was occurring in broad daylight, while she was driving down Oxford Street--not, as a general rule, the expected time or location for such an event
She wasn’t even in a rented hackney She’d grown to anticipate regular attacks when hired transport was involved, but this ti in a private conveyance She had pinched Squire Loontwil ’s carriage As her dear stepfather was giving her the royal heave-ho, she figured he wouldn’t mind if she loaded his personal oods and stole it for the day As it turned out, he did mind, but she wasn’t there to witness his annoyance He had ended up borrowing his wife’s pony and trap, a contraption decked in yel ow tul e and pink rosettes, which was vastly il suited to both his dignity and girth
Her attackers didn’t appear wil ing to fol ow previously established patterns in the , they weren’t supernatural For another, they were ticking
--quite loudly, in fact Lastly, they were also skittering They were undertaking the ticking because, so far as Alexia could deteret too close, they were clockwork, or so the skittering because they were beetles--large, shiny red beetles with black spots and es that poked upward in place of antennae
Ladybugs were invading her carriage, a whole herd of the was about the size of Alexia’s hand They were crawling al over the conveyance, trying to break inside Unfortunately, this did not require ence, as theabove the door was open wide enough for any old kil er ladybug to sneak right in
Alexia lurched up, crushing her poor hat against the ceiling of the cab, and tried to slam the sash closed, but she was far too slow They were remarkably fast for such tubby creatures A closer view of those antennae revealed tiny beads offrom the tips--probably some brand of poison She reworked her assesss-- ugh
She grabbed for her trusty parasol and bashed the first one that she could with the heavy handle The bug crashed into the opposite wal , fel onto the back-facing seat, and scuttled once eneral direction Another mechanical beetle crawled up the wal toward her, and a third pushed itself off of thesash at her shoulder