Page 25 of The Amsterdam Enigma (The Continental Capers of Melody Chesterton #3)
Alessandro’s cutting phrase ran through her mind: “All your presence will do is distract us if we need to protect you.” Was he right?
Was she being stubborn and wilful, distracting the two men from their mission?
After all, it was their mission, wasn’t it?
She was merely tagging along and forcing her way in.
Suddenly, Melody felt exhausted, and not just because she had been waking up so early.
She was constantly fighting for her place in these investigations and wasn’t even sure why.
Alessandro clearly didn’t want her involved, and Rat seemed to accept her assistance reluctantly.
Once again, she thought of London and all that she missed.
Melody felt so despondent that she barely noticed her surroundings. All she wanted was for Rat and Alessandro to hurry up and find whatever evidence they were after so she could return to the hotel and put an end to the charade of her being a needed part of the investigation.
Just as she was feeling rather sorry for herself, there was a noise behind her. Before Melody could react, a hand covered her mouth, and an arm gripped her tightly, leaving her unable to move.
Melody felt a warm breath on her cheek and was gripped by fear as a voice whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you.
” She struggled in vain against her captor’s vice-like hold.
A range of possible scenarios flickered through her mind: was this a footpad who could be placated with whatever coins she hoped to find in Rat’s jacket, or had they been followed despite their best efforts?
Another whisper, “Melody. It’s me.” It took her a moment to realise who was speaking and to cease struggling, but even then, she couldn’t reply in amazement because of the hand over her mouth. “I’m going to remove my hand and let you go,” the voice said. “Please don’t scream.”
The moment she was free, Melody whirled around. It was so dark she could barely see the face before her, but she could see enough to recognise it matched the voice.
“William!” she gasped in amazement. “What are you doing here?” By here, she meant Amsterdam, this street in the middle of the night, and with her.
Ever since he had walked out of that door in Fes, Melody had wondered where he was.
Had Captain Somerset stayed in Morocco? Had he been recalled to London in disgrace?
The one thing that had never occurred to her was that he might be in the Netherlands.
“There isn’t much time,” William said hurriedly. “I wanted to talk to you without anyone around.”
“And so you followed us here at midnight and scared me half to death? You couldn’t have just sent a note?”
“I wanted to be sure,” he answered cryptically.
“Sure of what?” As happy as Melody was to see William Somerset, she was more than a little irritated by what was starting to resemble a scene out of a penny dreadful.
“Melody, there is so much I want to tell you, but your brother and Foscari might return at any moment. Could you slip away tomorrow to meet me? Come to the Hortus Botanicus. I’ll be waiting for you in the Palm House. ”
Somerset hadn’t even waited to hear whether she was prepared to meet him before naming a spot. Was this arrogance or desperation?
Melody decided that the question could wait for now. “I’ll come with my companion, Mary, and will meet you there at ten o’clock in the morning.”
“I need you to come alone,” William pleaded.
“Going out alone will look far too suspicious,” Melody informed him pertly. She was about to tell him they had been followed and that she was worried she might be followed the next day, when something occurred to her. “Is this the first time that you’ve followed me?”
It was too dark to see William’s reaction, but if a tone of voice could be sheepish, his was when he replied, “I’ve done it once or twice.
” Before Melody could berate him or ask anything more, William continued, “I wanted to find a time to speak to you alone but you always seemed to be with someone else: that Foscari fellow, your brother, or the Moroccan boy. Also, as I said, I needed to be sure of something.”
“And now you are?”
“Can we talk about this all tomorrow, Melody?”
Melody couldn’t imagine where this was all going, and was tempted to keep pressing. However, this was hardly the ideal time or place, and she was supposed to be keeping watch. Although, if it had been William following them all along, perhaps she didn’t need to.
Finally, deciding that all her questions and admonishments could wait until the following day, which was probably later that same day, given the hour, Melody made it clear to William that she was willing to wait, but expected to hear the full story.
What was telling was that he asked nothing about why she was waiting out in the dark, dressed in men’s clothing.
It seemed he had some sense of what they were up to.
There was a sound coming from across the street, and Melody turned her head for a moment.
When she turned back, William was gone. From what she could see, the sound had come from some rats.
Melody found this more of a consolation than she would under other circumstances.
Melody wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there when she saw movement in the alley.
She hoped it was Rat and Alessandro and hesitated whether to shine the lantern.
Just as she thought she should be better safe than sorry, she heard a bird’s call.
Not just any call, but the high-pitched trilling song of a canary.
Melody hadn’t heard that sound in a long time.
When she and Rat had lived on the streets of Whitechapel, it was the signal he used to tell her it was safe for her to emerge from wherever he had been hiding her for the night.
A canary meant come out, the rasping caw of a crow meant she should stay where she was.
He had used the bird calls occasionally since then, but not for many years.
Indeed, not since they were children playing on the grounds of the Pembroke Estate.
She understood what it signified; it was Rat and Alessandro coming down the alley. Melody breathed a sigh of relief.
In no time at all, they were in front of her. Melody hugged her brother, grateful their break-in had been so seemingly uneventful.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked Alessandro.
“Why don’t we have this conversation back at the hotel?” he replied. “I’d like to leave here and it’s late. To answer your question simply: we found some interesting things, I believe.”
Yet again, Melody would have to wait for information. Though Alessandro was right, it was late, and she was tired. She sighed but didn’t argue. The walk back was in silence.
When they parted ways, Alessandro asked Rat, “You will let me know what you discover?”
“I will.”
Well, that was cryptic, Melody thought. She wanted to insist that Rat meet her for breakfast and tell her what they found.
However, considering how late it already was, and that she was supposed to meet William at ten o’clock, she decided it was best not to tempt fate by meeting her brother first and risking questions about where she was going.
Instead, Melody said nothing as she and Rat made their way back to their rooms. The back door of the hotel had been locked, but Rat had easily picked that.
When they had climbed the stairs and reached Melody’s floor, Rat said, “I have some work to do tomorrow. Why don’t you come to my room after lunch, and I’ll explain everything?” That suited Melody’s plans to meet William perfectly, so she agreed and then wished her brother good night .
Melody slipped into her hotel suite only to find Mary sitting in one of the armchairs, asleep, clearly waiting up for her.
At the sound of the door closing, Mary jolted awake. “Thank heavens. I was getting so worried. I won’t ask where you went and what you did, but I am very glad to have you home safely.” She gave the young woman a warm hug and then turned to go to her bed.
As late as it was, Melody didn’t fall asleep as quickly as she hoped. Instead, she lay in the dark going over and over her conversation with William. How long had he been in Amsterdam? How many times had he followed her? What was he doing there, and what did he want to tell her?
It was some time before she finally fell asleep. She had set the alarm clock to wake her in a few hours; without it, she might sleep the morning away by the time she drifted off.