The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [45]
I meant to speak to the others about it at nightmeal, but I had not long sat down before someone came to tell me the doctor wished to interview me the next day.
15
I WOKE EARLY the next morning, feeling as if I had slept badly, though I could not remember any nightmare. Our rooms were always unlocked in the morning by one of the Misfits, and it was the only time we could really do as we pleased. Most mornings I readied myself for the day slowly, but today I was too apprehensive. I dressed swiftly and went straightaway to the kitchen. I was pleased to find Matthew had got there before me. He asked me about Cameo, and I had to shake my head and admit that she had not slept in her bed the night before.
We talked about what I had learned from Louis Larkin. Matthew was more worried than ever when I told him my theory that Selmar had been rendered defective by the doctor’s treatments. He suggested that we talk seriously about escape at midmeal.
I swallowed and finally forced myself to tell him that I would not be going to the farms that morning because the doctor had summoned me.
He looked aghast. “Do ye know Louis once warned me to watch out for him? He said there was a dragon in the doctor’s chamber. What does that mean, I’d like to know?”
“I hope I don’t find out,” I said.
The outside door opened with a gust of wind and a bang that made everyone including the cook turn and look to see who had come in. It was only a Misfit named Willie, whom Matthew nicknamed Sly Willie because he was a known informer. But just behind him came an older man who was a stranger. He was not a Guardian or a Councilman, but his clothes were so faded that it was impossible to tell if he wore the green of a traveling jack or the brown motley of a potmender. He must be one or the other, I thought. Who else would make the long, hard journey up to Obernewtyn?
“Who is that?” Matthew whispered.
I shrugged, but something about the stranger seemed familiar. He sat down at a table near us, and Andra gave him something to eat. He was very tall and tanned, and the knees of his pants were sturdily patched. He ate, shoveling the food down as Willie sat opposite him.
“So where do ye come from?” Willie asked.
“From the Lowlands,” the man grunted. “I had to cross badlands on foot. No one warned me that pass is tainted like it is.”
“As long as you kept to the path and didn’t stop, you won’t have been hurt,” Willie said. “We don’t get many visitors,” he added
The stranger shrugged. “I came up because I heard there might be work for me. Potmetal is my specialty.”
Hearing this, Andra came forward to speak with him. Most of the kitchen pots were in need of repair, and the potmender said he would do as much as he could that day and the next. The man spread out his tools to work, and the cook cuffed Willie and sent him about his business.
I had been told to wait in the kitchen after firstmeal when the others left to go down to the farms. I had thought Andra might decide to put me to work, but she did not, and so I watched the potmender at his craft. I was more convinced than ever that I had seen him somewhere before, but I could not remember where.
Then Sly Willie appeared again and, leering, bid me come with him to see the doctor and Madam Vega.
My mouth went dry, but I refused to let the informant see my fear as I followed him wordlessly from the kitchen and into a part of Obernewtyn I had not seen since the night of my arrival.
We passed through the entrance to Obernewtyn and into a windowless hall lit by pale green candles, which flickered and hissed as we passed. At the end of the hall was a small room with a single bench seat. Here, Willie told me to wait. My legs shook so much that I sat down and tried to make myself calm. I remembered all too well what had come of the last interview with Madam Vega, when I had let fear get the better of me. This time, I was determined to remain in control. If the woman did have some sort of sensitivity to Misfit abilities like mine, I must make sure I did not let her provoke me into using them. That way