"I came after you," he continued. "I knew you wouldn't find her this mornin'. I found out where she's been livin' the past year."
"And, of course, there is the matter of that other half-crown," Zach suggested, keeping a careful eye to the street about him.
It wasn't unusual for someone like the Snipe to work with someone else in his thievery. Often the cohort was a street urchin. Without family or the ability to work, the child became a willing accomplice.
"Ain't nothing free in this 'ere life, Cap'n. But then I suppose you're a man who would understand that. A half-crown will do, but I really ought to charge you more." He ran a gnarled hand, minus two fingers, across his grizzled chin.
Zach studied the beggar carefully. Undoubtedly the man was lying, but what did he have to lose? He'd followed every lead, knocked on the door of just about every shop, eatery, and whorehouse within a twelve-block radius. He'd begun with faint hope this morning, telling himself that people rarely moved far beyond their beginnings. But as the hours wore on, he'd been forced to admit that, after thirty-five years, Lydia Roberts had either disappeared or she was dead.
It was late, time was running out. In another hour he'd be forced to return to theRevengeto make the final plans for the raid that evening. After that, everything would move quickly. There would be no time to search again. Having done what he had planned, he would have to leave London forever. Like his father, he would be an exile, but a willing and very rich one.
"Very well, but you had better be telling the truth." He grabbed hold of the front of the man's moth-eaten coat. "If you're lying, I'll take you back to my ship and chain you in the hold. Then, when we are well out to sea, I'll cast you to the sharks. They're not picky about their next meal."
In all his years, the beggar had never known fear. But he did fear this man, and the gleam in those steely gray eyes. If ever he'd looked death in the face, he was doing so now.
"If you do me in, how can I take you to Lydia?"
As silent understanding passed between them, Zach set the man back down at the pavement. "Take me to her and there's a full crown for you. Lie to me and I'll cut your throat."
"Right yer are, Cap'n."
Zach was hard pressed to keep up with the man as he wove his way expertly through the mass of humanity at the open market they passed, and then a tavern, several brothels, and a smithy's shop.
"Here we are, Cap'n," the snipe announced.
Zach gave the bandicoot a look that could have split a man's head in two. "Why didn't you tell me about this place this morning?"
"Because I didn't know of it. Lydia moves around. She has to."
Zach eyed him sharply, wondering what line of business Lydia had taken up over the last years. The beggar indicated a long flight of outside stairs leading up the side of the building that housed what was obviously a fish market. With his other hand, he indicated it was time for payment.
"Stairs," Zach grunted out. "Clever. And by the time I return, you're gone. Not likely, my friend." He spoke the last words coolly. Amidst loud protesting, he dragged him up the stairs with him, and knocked at the door.
After several minutes, a slender young girl peeked from behind curtain. They heard the bolt at the door slide back, and she poked her head out.
"What yer doin' here, Snipe?" the girl exclaimed.
"This here's the one I was tellin' you about. He's come here to see Lydia."
"Gor!" the girl breathed out. "I thought you was twistin' me arm. But she can't see no one. She's real bad today. You know how she is when she gets one of her spells. It's all I can do to keep her quiet. I can't afford to be put out of this place if they hear her cryin'."
"He's got gold coin, Tilly," the Snipe informed the girl, his eyes widening for emphasis. "He just wants to ask her some questions. That's all. What harm could it do the poor soul and then good coin to ease her misery?"
"All right." The girl named Tilly stepped reluctantly aside. In spite of her manner, the small room was clean though sparsely furnished, and what smelled like a stew simmered at the coal stove. A cloth decorated with hand stitching covered the table set with two chairs, a rocking chair with two slats missing from the back was set before the fireplace, and a door at the back led to another room.
"I'll take that full crown now," the Snipe told him.
"I want to see Lydia, first." Zach turned to the girl, not wanting to frighten her. "I just want to ask her some questions about someone she knew a long time ago. That's all, and I'd be more than willing to pay for her time."
She laughed. "That's all Lydia has nowadays. She's a good soul, but I warn you, it's a bad bargain." She made a circling motion at her head. "She's not herself, know what I mean?"
"Crazy?" Zach asked.
Tilly shook her head. "She likes for people to think she is. But I see a look in her eyes sometimes—not dangerous or anything like that. She has some strange ideas, but yer can talk to her if you like." The girl's gaze fastened on the bulge of coin in his coat pocket.
"I'll be right back. Then maybe we can find something else you'd be liken', Cap'n." She hinted as she disappeared into the other room.
"Cap'n?" the Snipe prodded.
