Holmes replied, with a brisk nod. âAnd this one . . . is interesting.â
âI donât suppose you want to make use of
my
Talent on the parents or the fiancé, do you?â Nan asked. She was a little concerned, since that was bordering on the unethical, especially when there was absolutely no proof that there was anything more going on than a girl who had run away and a fiancé who was experiencing relief at getting out of an engagement he might not, perhaps, have been wholeheartedly happy about.
âNo, no,â Holmes replied, waving her offer away. âIn a sense, thatwould be cheating. I prefer my own methods. But thank you for the offer.â
At that moment, Nan wished she had the originals of those letters in her hands, because she had another Talent that she had only touched on to Holmesâthe ability to trace where an object had been, its history, and something of the emotions of the latest one to have held it.
âIn that case, Holmes, I will see the young ladies to a cab, and would you care to come up to dine with us?â Watson asked genially.
âThank you, but Iâm dining out,â Holmes replied, standing up and reaching for his overcoat. âThere are some musical friends I wish to speak to tonight, and the only way to capture them is to lure them with a feast. Good evening to you all, and Iâll go out with you.â
â¢Â â¢Â â¢
âOi miss! Yer roight in time! Them birds been right goodâs gold!â said Suki, meeting them at the door to their flat. âAnâ Mrs. âOrace onây jest brought up dinner!â
âExcellent, my little imp,â said Sarah, stooping over to kiss the top of the little girlâs head. Or rather, the enormous bow that crowned it. Little Suki, having been dressed most of her short life in whatever her mistress picked up at stalls and rag-vendors, was inordinately proud of dressing well, in the neat little frocks Memsaâb had had made for her that looked as if they had come right out of the pages of a Kate Greenaway book. âWeâll all have dinner straightaway, then. Did you have a nice tea?â
Suki nodded; she was an attractive little mite. Her hair was a tumble of short black curls, she had a pair of enormous, beautiful brown eyes, and if her dusky complexion made some people suspect she owed her dark coloring not to Italian blood but to an African race, they were too politeâand too wiseâto voice that suspicion around Nan and Sarah. When she opened her mouth, she was pure Cockney, though she was trying very hard to âspeak roight,â so as not to shame the young ladies. âOi âad a loverly tea,â she replied. âMrs.âOrace give us all a curry.â By âus all,â of course, she meant that the birds had shared it. âShe do a bang-up curry.â
âExcellent!â Nan replied, hanging up her hat and shawl. âNow, what are we having for supper?â
âLamp-chops,â Suki said, forthrightly. âLamp-chops anââfixinâs.â
Nan whistled, and a moment later the birds came flying in from their own room. They had a room all their very own, which they knew they were supposed to remain confined to when Nan and Sarah were not about. It had an ultra-safe iron stove in the fireplace, good, heavy perches that would not fall over short of an earthquake, a bath pan for each of the birds, water and food dishes, and a multitude of âtoysâ of various sorts. And of course, when the girls were gone, Suki spent most of her time in there with them, keeping them company.
Neville landed on Nanâs shoulder, Grey on Sarahâs arm, and everyone went in to dinner together.
The flat was a very spacious one, above a bookshop also owned by their landlady, who had a smaller flat behind the bookstore. It had four bedrooms, one of which was the birdâs playroom, a sitting room, a dining room