Copper Visions Read Online Free Page B

David said, letting go of his shirt. “My apologies. Perhaps you will allow me to make it up to you by assisting with your task?”
    The young man swallowed nervously. “I don't need any help and I don't want to be in your way. I'll just go back inside until you're done out here, shall I?” He backed towards the doorway he'd tripped out of, glancing behind him briefly to keep from running into the wall.
    “Yes, you do that,” David said, closing the door on the young man then listening for movement inside. When he turned away, he looked at Sophie, holding up their prize. “Maybe they were stupid enough to discard this outside their back door.”
    “You think that's what he was after?”
    “Undoubtedly. We startled him but he was coming through that door like someone in a hurry. You don't simply slam open a door into a busy alley, like this one clearly is, unless you're not thinking particularly clearly about what your neighbors will think should you hit one of them.”
    “Could you tell who he was working for?” Sophie asked. “There was something on his livery but I couldn't see it well enough.”
    “Nor could I,” David said. “Come, we'll see if we can make out what kind of place this is from the front.” They moved quickly through the alley, both certain the young man was going to be back with reinforcements. It was a risk going to the front door but it was the only chance they had of discovering who they were dealing with.
    There was indeed a plaque next to the front door. However, there was also a woman of the kind Sophie usually associated with the charity workers she'd seen at the mine; clean and starched much stiffer than she needed to be, everything about her was neutral and tight, everything pulled a little too taught for strict necessity. “You must be the people skulking around the back,” she said with a slight sneer to the word people. “Well, come on in then, they're expecting you upstairs.”
    “We're expected?” Sophie exclaimed.
    “Indeed, yes,” the woman said, smiling a tight little smile. “A bit early, to be sure, but that's better than being late.” She twitched her skirts and went into the house.
    David followed her and paused on the threshold as he caught the full import of the plaque said; Society for the Abolition of Infernal Mechanisms and for the Betterment of the Working Class. He moved cautiously into the house, keeping Sophie slightly behind him.
    It looked like a well-appointed house that nobody lived in. The light from the windows danced over light-colored furniture that showed no signs of wear. Dust motes moved lazily through the light but hadn't had the nerve to settle on anything. Matched leather bound books sat decoratively on shelves set into the walls.
    “This way if you please,” the woman said. She led them to a set of carpeted stairs with a banister polished to a high shine.
    “Ma'am, what's your name?” Sophie asked, running her hand lightly on the wood, watching the light scratches her metal fingers left behind.
    “You may call me Mrs. Perkins,” she said stiffly.
    “Is that actually your name?” David asked.
    “No,” she said, pivoting at the top of the stairs and leading them down the hall. The upstairs continued the trend of being scrubbed, polished and new looking. Mrs. Perkins knocked on a door, waited a moment, then opened it. “Here we are, go on in.”
    Three men were sitting in wing-backed chairs, glasses in hand, in a circle of similar, empty chairs. The young man they'd seen in the alley was standing behind the one to the far left, glaring at them. Sophie's erstwhile client stood up to greet them.
    “Miss Sophie! Such a pleasure to see you again. Please, won't you and your friend come in and join us.”
    As David and Sophie moved further into the room, Mrs. Perkins closed the door behind them and the ominous click of the door being locked.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Chapter 6 – Gentleman's Agreement
 
    “Please, sit down, Miss