The Duchess Hoax (World of Jordinia)

Chapter 7: Elsi

AT LONG LAST, JUST AS she was beginning to wonder if she would ever hear from the two men again, Elsi spotted the posh black carriage coursing up Mrs. Steinar's driveway beneath the setting sun.

Finally. Elsi carried her carpetbag, lightweight with her meager belongings, down the narrow, wallpapered stairwell. She bade goodbye to Mrs. Steinar's niece, who sat cross-stitching in the parlor. The girl barely nodded in acknowledgment, and Elsi realized how little she would miss this place and these people, even despite all of Mrs. Steinar's charity. Hopefully, Elsi was coming into a way to pay her back, and wouldn't be a charity case for much longer.

"Your chariot awaits, Your Highness," sang Hugo Vogel through the open window as Elsi made her way down the garden path. A coachman stood, waiting with the passenger door open for her. Elsi felt like true royalty as she slid onto the leather padded seats, dropping her carpetbag on the floor between her mismatched shoes.

"Well, I'll be." She gazed about the velvet interior.

Misters Vogel and Marchbanks were sitting opposite her. The former looked perfectly relaxed, the latter positively stiff.

"Good day, Mr. Marchbanks," she ventured to greet him.

The man grunted.

"My associate is a man of few words." Vogel thumped him on the knee. "But I'm sure we'll make each other's acquaintances in this, er, cozy arrangement."

Elsi did not miss the sidelong glower Marchbanks gave him.

"Mr. Vogel," she started, but he held up a hand.

"Hugo," he corrected her. "And Sol." He indicated the other. "None of this 'sir' and 'mister' business. If anything, the fancy titles belong to you, Your Highness."

Elsi couldn't help but giggle at his exaggerated speech, and Hugo joined in. Sol did not.

They were waiting several minutes when it became obvious that the carriage wasn't moving.

"What's the holdup?" Hugo called to the driver.

"Cat or somefink," said the man. "It's spookin' the horses."

"Cat?" repeated Hugo.

With a gasp of realization, Elsi opened the carriage door and leapt down. She brushed past the team of horses to see, sure enough, the white specter peering up at them from Mrs. Steinar's garden.

Elsi knelt to pet it. The creature obliged, closing its eyes with a mewl as her hand ran the length of its sticklike, protruding spine.

"Wish I could take you along, little fellow. But I must go now. And so should you." She stroked between its ears, eliciting a purr. "Find Schroeder's Inn or the alley behind it, where you can sneak scraps. You must be finding food somewhere, if you're still alive and about."

"Wouldn't touch 'im if I were you, Miss," warned the driver. "Could be rabid or worse."

Elsi was quite sure the creature wasn't rabid, but there was no use arguing. "Farewell, little friend," she told it.

The cat watched her go, eyes gleaming, as though it knew her secret.

Elsi climbed back into the carriage, the anticipation of the forthcoming journey filling her with an altogether new and heady delight. She settled in, smoothing her skirts when Sol announced, "I used to have a cat."

Finally, the wheels began to turn. Elsi watched out the window as Mrs. Steinar's house rolled past. "What was his name?" she asked.

"Her name," the man replied, "was Hecuba."