City of Lies - Lian Tanner [45]
The boy turned around. “What?”
“Don’t keep this to yourself. Tell everyone. Everyone.”
Pounce saluted mockingly. His eyes glittered behind the mask—and he was gone.
When Goldie woke up some hours later, the lantern was guttering and Pounce was leaning over her.
“I didn’t find a ship,” he whispered, sounding pleased with himself. “Captain’s not a mate of mine. Ain’t leavin’ in an hour. Ain’t goin’ straight to Jewel.”
Goldie scrambled to her feet. “Will you take us to him?”
Pounce snorted. “Course I will. I ain’t got nothin’ better to do than take foreign snotties on a guided tour of the city.”
“How are we going to find him, then?”
“A map’d be no use.” Pounce turned away, then swung back again. Something clinked in his britches pocket. “You make lots of noise while yer gettin’ ready,” he hissed. “Mousie ain’t tired, don’t need ’is beauty sleep. You make as much noise as ya like.”
While Goldie tiptoed around the little room, waking Toadspit and Bonnie, Pounce stuck another stub of candle in the lantern and drew a map on the wall of the tunnel in charcoal. When he had finished, the three children from Jewel crowded around him.
Pounce stabbed at the bottom of the map with a blackened finger. “We ain’t ’ere,” he said. He stabbed again. “And the wharf ain’t ’ere.”
Goldie bent closer and saw five stick figures. Farther up was a picture of what might have been a boat.
“This,” continued Pounce, tapping a squarish blotch near the wharf, “ain’t a deserted stableyard. Me mate won’t be waitin’ for yez there.”
His finger went back to the beginning. “Now, ’ow do yez get to the stables from ’ere? It’s real ’ard. First, don’t go up this street. Then—”
His hand moved up the map. His britches pocket clinked.
Clink. Clink clink clink …
Goldie would have liked to have said goodbye to Mouse, but he was still asleep, and whenever she looked in his direction, Pounce’s mask glared at her. So she whispered her thanks and farewells to the pram instead, and hoped that somehow the mice would understand and pass her message on to their boy.
It was hard to leave the warmth of the little room. But at least they were not alone—the cat went with them, just as the fortune had promised. Goldie was glad. Harrow and his men were still out there somewhere, and she wanted her allies around her.
We’ll have Morg too, she thought.
But when they reached the mouth of the tunnel, there was no sign of the slaughterbird.
Toadspit bit his lip. “We should wait for her. She won’t be far away.”
“We can’t afford the time,” said Goldie. “Don’t worry; she’ll catch up with us. If she found us once, she can find us again.”
“Are you lying?” said Bonnie.
Goldie smiled. “No, it’s just us now. We don’t have to lie.”
“What do you reckon the time is?” said Toadspit.
“I don’t know,” said Goldie. “Two o’clock in the morning? Half past?”
With the cat trotting beside them, they set out along the dark streets, following the directions they had memorized from Pounce’s map. The rain had stopped, but streams sprouted in all directions, as if the earth was so full of water that it was leaking.
There weren’t many people around, and the only sound of the Festival was the occasional distant popping of thunderflashes. As the children approached the wharf, the streets became even more deserted.
The stableyard was halfway along a row of derelict houses. It had a high stone wall around it and only one gateway. There was no light showing.
The children and the cat stopped several houses away. “I thought Pounce’s friend would be here by now,” whispered Goldie.
“He’s probably inside, waiting for us,” said Bonnie. “Let’s go in. I’m freezing.”
Toadspit shook his head. “If he’s here, why isn’t he showing a light? I don’t like it. That yard’s a good place for a trap.”
In the back of Goldie’s mind, the little voice whispered, Beware.…
She turned to Toadspit. “I’m going to have a closer look. You two wait here.”
Toadspit nodded. “Be careful.”
With the cat trotting beside her, Goldie circled around the block so that she could come at the stableyard from