Well, here he was. Except that was Gavar Jardine’s doing, at Daisy’s request. Nothing to do with any scheme of Jackson’s at all.
Luke sheared the axe head down the side of the stump, swearing as the wood simply crumbled and fell to bits in his hand. He was missing something. What was it?
Here was a curious thing: Gavar Jardine had been instrumental in Oz’s escape, too. He had walked right past the three of them in the prison, when it seemed unthinkable that he wouldn’t have noticed them. And Jackson had doubled back towards the Equal, leaving Luke and Renie to get Oz to Angel. There’d been gunfire and a yell, but the Doc wasn’t hurt. Had the two of them staged everything?
Luke remembered Jackson’s shocking words on the day he told them about the Proposal. When he’d admitted that he had an ally among the Equals.
‘Someone close to power,’ the Doc had said. ‘He sees every shadow in the House of Light.’
Who was closer to power than Gavar Jardine? A parliamentarian. A member of the Justice Council. An heir who seemed destined for the Chancellorship himself one day.
Luke’s brain raced, snatching up more clues. The man had a common-born child. He had used his Skill to strike down everyone at the MADhouse, yes, but only after that maniac Grierson had ordered open fire on the crowd. Gavar Jardine might have caused anguish, but he had saved lives.
And while it was cute to think of Gavar busting Luke out of Millmoor at Daisy’s request, it wasn’t very plausible that a ten-year-old – even one as cool as his sister – would have come up with that idea herself. Had the heir planted the suggestion, knowing it’d be a good cover?
Luke wasn’t certain. But for now, it seemed to be the only scenario that explained everything.
Everything, except one crucial question.
What was he needed for here at Kyneston?
18
Abi
It was all going to work out, it really was. They’d have a quick ten years.
Abi had worried about Luke initially. He’d seemed spaced out during those first weeks here. And he’d not said a lot about his time at Millmoor, beyond the easily inferred facts. One, it hadn’t been much fun, and two, he didn’t want to talk about it.
At least he’d arrived in one piece, despite all the rumours of unrest, and that stray mention of a doctor and an accident. More than that, Luke had done some serious growing up in Millmoor. On the awful day that he’d been torn from them, he’d displayed a strength of character she’d never suspected, and that seemed only to have deepened during their time apart. He’d filled out, too, in a way that made her glad her baby bro was safe from the clutches of her man-eating school friends.
All in all, she was one proud and relieved big sister. And now that Luke was with them, hopefully things would finally settle down and the Hadleys could get on with doing their days.
Except, Jenner was still acting coolly.
And Abi still had no clear recollection of what had happened that evening in the Great Solar.
What’s more, the dog-man still wouldn’t tell her what he had done to supposedly deserve his humiliation at the hands of Lady Hypatia. Wouldn’t, or couldn’t.
The way Kyneston’s other slaves seemed content to pretend the man didn’t exist was frankly disgusting.
‘You’ve got to forget about it, love,’ the housekeeper said, over a cup of tea one afternoon. ‘He’s no good, and no good will come of getting involved.’
When Abi demanded to know why, the answer was always the same: because he’d been punished by Lord Crovan, a fate reserved only for the most wicked. Couldn’t they see they had it all backwards? The severity of the man’s punishment was no proof that he deserved it.
‘Come with me,’ she told Luke one evening when they’d done the washing and wiping up. Daisy was upstairs reading as Libby settled, and Mum and Dad had gone to visit friends along the Row. ‘There’s someone I want you to meet.’
Luke had grinned, happy to humour her. Something inside him had relaxed, unwound, these past couple of weeks. At first he’d seemed agitated, almost like he’d missed Millmoor. She’d wondered if he’d met some girl in there and was pining for her, but he’d poured scorn on that idea. Maybe he’d just needed time to adjust.
Lady Hypatia hadn’t been at Kyneston since the New Year. However, she’d be down soon with an advance party from her own dowager seat of Ide, and one from Appledurham, to get the wedding preliminaries underway. That meant the dog-man hadn’t left the kennels since Luke’s arrival from Millmoor. Did her brother even know he existed?
Apparently not.
‘Please tell me what I’m seeing here,’ he said angrily, as Abi hesitated at the entrance to the kennels, wondering how to do exactly that. ‘Because it looks an awful lot like a naked man in a tiny cage.’
Luke’s voice was tight with outrage. Abi could have hugged him. She knew she wasn’t going crazy. Knew it was unbelievable and just plain wrong that anyone should be living like this.
‘We’ve got to get him out,’ Luke said.