“I can send her to Aldridge Castle. She’ll be safe there.” Kendra waited a beat. “I promise to keep her safe. Please tell me where she is, Beatrice.”
“I don’t know where she is.”
Kendra let out a frustrated breath. “You didn’t ask her where she’s been hiding when you saw her?”
“I never saw her.”
“But . . .” Kendra frowned. “I don’t understand. Did she send you a note?”
“No. She was here—but I never saw her.”
“Then someone else saw her?”
“No.” Beatrice slipped the needle into the gown she’d been sewing, and set the bundle aside. Slowly, she hoisted herself out of the rocking chair. “Edwina slept in the theater,” she told Kendra as she walked to the shelves. “Sometimes in this room, sometimes others. Like a little mouse, she was. But she kept the few things she owned in a basket. This basket.”
Beatrice brought down one of the baskets woven out of straw. “Weren’t much, but they were dear to her,” she said, lifting the lid. “Yesterday morn, I noticed the basket had been moved. When I looked inside, Edwina’s things were gone. This was left in its place.”
She reached inside, and brought out what looked like a large, copper bullet.
“What is it?” Kendra asked, puzzled, when Beatrice gave it to her. On closer examination, Kendra saw dimples, like a golf ball, hammered around the middle, and an intricate scrolled pattern carved into metal at is base. The object tapered to a smooth pointed tip and was hollow on the inside.
In answer, Beatrice took back the item and slipped it on her left thumb. She held up both hands, each thumb now covered.
“Ah. A thimble,” Kendra said.
Beatrice nodded. “Yes, but I’ve never seen the likes before. It’s old. Looks foreign.”
“May I?”
Beatrice plucked the old thimble off her thumb and dropped it into Kendra’s open palm.
“Why would she leave you a thimble?” Kendra asked, sliding her own thumb into the cylinder.
For the first time, the old woman cracked a smile. “She knows I can always use more thimbles. Edwina and I shared this one.” She wiggled her other thumb. “We always complained about Mr. Myott’s cheeseparing ways. I reckon she came to collect her things, and left this behind to let me know she was all right.”
Kendra took the thimble off. Grit coated her skin and thumbnail. She rubbed it curiously with her index finger.
“I didn’t have a chance to clean it proper,” Beatrice said, watching her. “I’m going to soak it in water and lye to get some of the crusty spots clean.”
“Do you mind if I take it with me? I promise to bring it back.”
“Why? How’s it going to help you find Edwina?”
“She got it somewhere. Given its age and the grime on it, maybe a used clothing shop. Or a pawn shop. If I take it around, maybe someone will remember it.” Though why would Edwina spend her coins on an old thimble? Most likely, she’d found it on the street.
Still, it wassomething.
“I’ll bring it back tomorrow,” Kendra repeated. “I promise.”
Beatrice pressed her lips together for a long moment, then nodded. “If that thing can help you find Edwina, keep it. And when you find her, I expect you to send her to your castle, where she’ll be safe. I have your word?”
“Yes,” Kendra said simply. And prayed that she wasn’t making a promise that she wouldn’t be able to keep.
Chapter 35
Kendra noticed the nondescript black carriage parked down the street as soon as Coachman John let her out in front of 25 Bedford Square. She wasn’t surprised when a grubby street urchin raced over to her.
“Oye, there. Bear wants ter speak with ye!”’
