Of course, Felix understood exactly what she said.
But Maisie did not. To her, it sounded like gibberish.
She sighed.
“Um . . . ,” Felix said. “Maisie lost . . . her necklace.”
Clarice frowned.
“What kind of necklace?”
“Just a small piece of porcelain on a thread,” Felix said. Then he added, “It had sentimental value.”
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Maisie asked, forgetting that Clarice couldn’t understand her, either.
“What?” Clarice said, confused.
“Could you please not say anything?” Felix said to Maisie. “For once?”
“Fine,” Maisie muttered.
He was right, of course. But she didn’t want to admit that.
“Did you follow us here?” Felix asked Clarice.
She blushed.
“Well, yes,” she said.
“Why?”
“I can’t explain it,” she said thoughtfully. “You two seem like you’re from somewhere far away.”
“We are,” Felix said quickly.
“And the astrologer said—” Clarice stopped abruptly.
“What did he say?”
Her blush deepened. “Well, he said you were performing magic of some kind. Maybe even black magic.”
Felix forced a laugh. “Magic? Us?”
Clarice didn’t laugh. She just waited.
“What’s she saying?” Maisie whispered.
Felix shot her a look to be quiet.
“I guess when people come from different places, they look so unusual that some people don’t trust them,” Felix offered.
“I suppose,” Clarice said slowly, considering this.
“For example, where we come from, women don’t dye their hair like you. At least, most women don’t. And they don’t pluck away all their hair here,” he added, touching his forehead.
“Really?” Clarice said, interested.
“And they also don’t put all that white stuff on their face.”
“But light skin is beautiful,” Clarice said. She glanced at Maisie. “I suppose if you’re born with it, you wouldn’t have to use face powder,” she said.
“We have very different ideas of what’s beautiful,” Felix said.
“Hmmm,” Clarice answered.
“We dress differently and—”
“What is the place called that you come from?” Clarice asked, surprising him so much that Felix answered honestly.
“The United States of America.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Clarice said, doubt crossing her face.
Of course you haven’t, Felix thought. It hasn’t been discovered yet.
Maisie was staring at him in disbelief.
“Did you just tell her we were from the United States?” she said.
“Shhh,” Felix ordered.
“Where is it?” Clarice was asking. “Near France? Or England?”
Felix shook his head.
“Much farther than that,” he said. “It’s across a big ocean.”
“But if you went across the ocean,” Clarice said, “you’d fall off the edge of the earth.”
“What? No,” Felix said.
“Yes,” Clarice said. “Everyone knows that. The world is flat, and if you go too far, you fall off.”
“The world isn’t flat,” Felix said. “It’s round.”
Clarice laughed.
“Either you’re teasing me or you’re crazy,” she said.
A vague thought came into Felix’s mind. Didn’t they kill people who they thought were witches? Didn’t they kill people who challenged what they believed to be true?
He forced a smile. “Of course I’m teasing you,” he said. “How silly! The world, round!”
She laughed, relieved.
“Are you from somewhere near India?” she asked.
Felix took a long hard look at Clarice.
“Yes,” he said. “Right near India.”
“Things are very different there,” Clarice said.
Felix nodded.
“How come you’re so quiet, Maisie?” Clarice asked, startling Maisie.
Before his sister could say anything, Felix said, “She has a sore throat.”
He pointed to Maisie’s neck and gave a little cough.
Clarice’s eyes widened.
“Did that happen last night when the Pazzis burst in?” she asked softly, one slender finger touching the two small dots on Maisie’s neck.
“Yes,” Felix said.
“That explains it,” Clarice said.
“Explains . . . ?”
“This,” Clarice said, and she opened a small purse around her waist and pulled out a long piece of thread.
Maisie grinned.
The shard hung from the center.
“Maisie’s necklace,” Felix said gratefully.
Clarice handed it to Maisie.
“I guess when that sword grazed her, it cut the thread,” Clarice said. “The maid found this under the table this morning.”
Maisie grinned even more.
She was holding the shard. And she understood everything that Clarice had just said.
CHAPTER 12
CARNIVAL!
The next day, Maisie and Felix were invited to walk in the Grand Procession. They would wear their masks and costumes—a black hat and coat for Felix, a long red velvet dress with lacing across the bodice for Maisie. Felix, of course, didn’t like his costume. At all.