Zach gives Mackie a mock salute as they pass each other and ducks under the light.
He tucks the piece of paper in his back pocket and heads down the corridor, towards the dining car. Already he can smell something curried and warm and sticky, but it’s not dinner time for him, not yet. The rest of the crew are still hauling gear from the Grit down that avenue of dead bodies walled up in stone, and that’s what he needs to be doing right now. Not making a tit of himself mooning over a girl who won’t ever look at him twice.
***
Back in the office, Belinda is watching Lara over the half-moons of her glasses. She’s accompanied again by the woman sitting beside her, stitching up a hole in her goose-feather cape.
‘So, have you decided to join us?’
Lara thinks of everything she’s seen today: the spots on the mirror in the guest cabin; the Grit rising above the mausoleums through the mist; the dancers sprawled on the stage before class; the weight of the spanner in her hand; the melody of the Pearl waltz; the star at the centre of the pink-fleshed apple on the act three backdrop; the Crow veering away from the Pearl at the last moment; the warm,animal smell of Zach’s hair as they were pressed together in the confines of the lighting box; the sound of the yews dripping through the ghosts that watched them push the flight cases between the graves. The woman in the goose-feather cape smiles sadly at her.
‘Yes.’ She swallows, makes her voice clearer. ‘I have.’
‘Excellent.’ Belinda slides a piece of paper across the desk. ‘The pledge I need you to read and repeat back to me, but the contract you can take away with you. You have seven days to sign and return it to me with your details. Any questions?’
‘Does anyone ever break their pledge?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it usually grim?’
Belinda shrugs. ‘You had a better vantage point to watch the show than most. You saw our audience. Not the most powerful, not the most dangerous tonight, but creatures who do not belong to the world you joined us from this morning. The pledge – like so much else here – keeps us safe.’
Lara nods. ‘Thank you. I’d like to pledge please.’
‘Good.’ Belinda turns to Mackie and raises her eyebrows.
‘I trust, Mackenzie, that you do not need me to provide you with the words to read?’
Mackie shakes his head, plants his feet wide apart and clasps his hands behind his back.
‘I, Mackenzie Boswell, so named by my father Harrison Boswell, do pledge my heart and body toThe Apple and the Pearlas technical director, to hold the hearts of the crewin my hands, to watch over every part of the Grit behind and including the curtain, to care for the scene and the set including the Pearl when nesting in the Grit, for a year and a day.’
Belinda sits with her head a little cocked, staring at the blank wall above the cartoon-like treasure chest next to her desk, apparently listening for something. Then she starts and nods curtly.
‘All fine, thank you.’ She looks at Lara. ‘Your turn.’
‘I, Lara Pearson, so named by my mother Edith Pearson, do pledge my heart and body toThe Apple and the Pearlas—’
She pauses, looks at the paper in her hands.
‘Lighting assistant, to care for the equipment given to the Grit, to light the above show as I am instructed, to aid in the care for the set and scenery, for a year and a day.’
This time, Belinda doesn’t stare off into the distance. She nods, takes the bunch of keys from her desk and swivels around on her chair to one of the thick, iron-bound chests that sit behind her. There is a clinking noise, and when Belinda faces them again she holds two tiny crystal vials in one hand and two long needles in the other.
She nods to Mackie as she wipes one of the needles with an antibacterial wipe, and he holds out his index finger. She pricks it, squeezes a bead of crimson blood out of it and holds the vial labelledTechnical Directorunderneath to collect it. She plugs the vial with a cork, leaves it on the desk and gestures to Lara as she wipes down the next needle.
Of course, Lara thinks as she holds out her finger for theprick.What part of you thought you weren’t going to have to sign in blood?
Belinda stands up, brushes her trousers down and gestures to the door.
‘Thank you, all complete.’
Mackie beckons to Lara, holding the door open for her. ‘You’re one of us now,’ he says, and although he means it as a joke, his voice has a severe edge to it. ‘The cargo carriages aren’t packed yet and the rest of them’re no doubt ballsing it right up without me. We’ll sort that out, then it’s dinner time. No fun until the work is done.’
***
When they’re gone and she’s finally alone, Belinda sits down heavily in her chair. There is still the pile of offerings to be catalogued and stored, then she has to get the Pearl from Mackie and take it to the engine, and then get back here to her office to hear and count the tolls of the bell. Only then will she be able to go to Gino and get the plate he’ll have saved for her.You eat last, says the phantom voice of Percy Montgomery, the old company manager, in her ear.Don’t even think of relaxing until after the midnight bells and the Grub is on the move again. We’re the first and last link, the Crow’s right-hand man. We are responsible for them all and you must never forget it.
