Heartbeat

Chapter 16- Meg

Meg planned to hold a meeting with the other Pigeons during the funeral. It would mean they were less likely to be interrupted, and she wanted to speak with them herself before they would be inevitably interrogated about the missing poison.

Performing the autopsy on Dame Cora's body had been horrible—the pressure of discovering the truth while exposing Sal to the work and the smell. Meg had hated it all. She had found the poison three hours before telling Clem. She knew the implications of the poison being discovered. It was kept in bottles, making it look like standard medicine that anyone could buy in a shop and was always locked in the office next to Meg's in the Warehouse.

Meg was a terrible liar, both verbally and in Hand. And Clem's ability ensured she liars were discovered through their revealing heartbeat. Regardless of the truth, Granny would blame her. Meg could not think of a plan to prove her innocence and decided to get drunk. It hadn't been her most intelligent decision, but it was all she could think to do.

Meg thought back to Sara holding her gun up at her, and Meg was drunk enough to wish she would pull the trigger. It would be better than whatever Granny would do to her. She reflected.

Clem had grabbed her in the hallway as she was heading to the Warehouse.

"You know I know you're innocent. And you know Granny will believe you as well." Meg had still been drunk and could barely follow what Clem had said. She just jerked away and walked to the Warehouse. Clem said something else to Sal, but Meg hadn't heard it.

Meg extracted most of the alcohol from her bloodstream shortly after separating from Clem. It was a trick she had learned from another Grisha a few years earlier. She had never told Clem about it, as Clem would have always made her repeat it or show it off.

Once Meg felt sober, she unlocked and opened her office door to address her group of Pigeons. Sal was waiting behind it. Meg acknowledged her by tipping her chin down and moving past her down the stairs. A worker occupied every machine. More machines would fill the office daily, and their numbers would double.

Meg was not born into leadership and had very little interest in it. However, she felt responsible for protecting the primary workers she had helped find and hire.

She stood at the front of the room and waved her arms. Even with their lack of hearing, it would be difficult to get their attention above the sound of the machines. One by one, they stopped working and looked up at her. Meg waved them toward her, and they all picked up their stools and walked them over to surround her.

Meg scanned their faces; almost all were her age or younger except Germaine. An older woman from the Shu Han was the first person they had hired. She had been a beggar who survived by doing odd jobs but had somehow avoided indentured slavery.

Clem had been the one to discover her. She had roamed the streets constantly when she was young and had noted Germaine. Meg wasn't sure what her real name was, but Clem had named her this as a child. Germaine couldn't write or read and never demonstrated any abilities to communicate verbally. Nevertheless, she took to Hand immediately. She was only refusing to respond when asked for her name. Meg had no idea how old she was, she looked older than Granny, but Meg supposed that was from living on the streets of Ketterdam for years.

Tohan, Jetto, Vikrum, Galit, and the rest. All found and offered work. After that, families contacted the Widows directly to ask for a job for their child, sibling, or cousin. Meg knew. Before this, if you had no money, being unable to hear in Ketterdam was as good as a death sentence.

Meg momentarily wondered how many more needed saving but shook herself to avoid this thought process. Single-minded.

She breathed through her nose and ensured all could see her. Then, she backed up a step and communicated.