Finally, after what she guessed to be two days, she began to worry about what her aunt might be thinking. Madelina had to work not to pace the cell, to instead stay focused on the door and the sounds without. The door never seemed to be guarded, the men apparently confident that a scant handful of country misses couldn’t hope to get through the stout wood. Should she wait until all fell silent and free the girls? Doing so would squander her chance to catch Madam Dequenne, but remaining in the cell wore on Madelina.
Footfalls sounded in the corridor. Madelina stepped back, checking that the dirty shawl covered her face. The door opened and a weeping girl was shoved inside. The sobbing girl stumbled across the room in the dark. Madelina stepped aside, letting her reach the others. She hurried to the door, senses alert.
Men walked past. One called for water. They moved off, but dull sounds reached her from somewhere else in the building. Ignoring the girl’s tears and chatter, she kept her ear to the door.
After a time, footsteps returned. Madelina stepped away as the door swung open and two men entered. She tensed, hand sliding down her leg, ready to pull a pistol from under her skirt. The men each set down two buckets and left. A third, the one who’d abducted Madelina, entered with a stack of dingy looking towels topped with shavings from a block of soap. He set the stack on the floor.
“Get cleaned up pretty like. The madam is coming to see you,” he said and went back out, closing the door.
“The madam,” one of the girls whispered as elation shot through Madelina.
Someone began to cry.
Taking that as her cue, Madelina dropped the makeshift shawl to the floor and started to unlace her gown. She’d had enough of her role as a frightened country miss. Now, let them deal with Little Hook.
While the others whispered and stumbled through the dark to the buckets, she shucked off her dress, letting it pool at her feet. She adjusted her knives and pistols for easy use, then knelt to rummage in her discarded dress. She’d left the house with her bosom strapped down under her second disguise but stuffed her bodice with her hat and mask. Tying the mask about her face, she set to ensuring her hair was well enough pinned. Satisfied, she shoved the hat down on her head and moved to the door, hands outstretched to avoid running into anyone.
“What are you doing?” one of the girls asked.
“Washing up,” replied another.
“I mean her, by the door. It sounded like she undressed.”
“She did not,” Madelina said in her best young-man voice. “I did.”
A startled squeak sounded, punctuated by another sob.
“Who are you? Who’s there?” the first girl cried.
“Little Hook, at your service, ladies.”
“L-little Hook?” the sobbing girl repeated. “Not Lefthook?”
“If only Lord Lefthook would save us,” the third girl said.
“I will save you,” Madelina snapped, rolling open her lock picks and laying them within easy reach in the dark.
“How can we trust you?” the first girl asked. “How did you get in here?”
“I disguised myself as a girl so they would take me,” Madelina answered and selected two tools by feel. She slid a hand up the rough wood of the door until she located the lock. “I’ll have this door open in no time.”
“Then what will we do?”
“You will stay safe in this cell while I deal with the madam and those men.”
“But what if you can’t? Shouldn’t we run while we can?”
Madelina shook her head, though they couldn’t see her. “You don’t want to be out on the streets alone. I will take you to people you can trust.” She’d already decided the girls must go to Second Hope. Not only was Jasper’s charity organized to help them, he should hear their tale. He could put the information to good use. “They will help you.”
“Shouldn’t we tell the watch?” one of the girls asked.
“I’m not telling anyone,” another said. “If anyone finds out about this, I’ll never get a husband.”
“But we were never alone,” another pointed out.
“You may not have been,” said the one who’d been there the longest, “but I was. I’m not telling a soul.”
Madelina tried to ignore their chatter as she worked the mechanism inside the lock. She reached for a third pick, the first two already deployed. She slid it into place, then turned. With a click, the lock slid open.
