Free Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 02 by The Magician's Ward (v5.0) Page B

gave
her a sharp look. "So? And what hasn't he done?"
                "Nothing. It's just . . . different. Toffs take a bit
of getting used to, that's all. I'm fine."
                "You're
a sight better off than you'd have been if you'd stayed here, and don't you
forget it," Tom said emphatically.
                "I ain't
likely to, what with regular meals and all," Kim said. "Why did you
want to see me? And what was that about Matt's uncle? Who is he, anyway? You
never used to have anybody to help out."
                "Matt
is one of my Jenny's nephews," Tom said, and Kim grinned at the possessive
fondness in his tone when he spoke of his wife, even in passing. Some things
hadn't changed. Oblivious, Tom continued, "Her sister's eldest boy, come to London to learn a trade."
                "So?
Ain't he working out?"
                "He
was working out fine, until somebody talked Jack Stower off the transports.
That's why I wanted to talk to you."
                "Stower's
loose? When did that happen?" Kim was surprised, but not unduly alarmed.
Jack Stower was Tom's brother-at-law, and a bad lot if
there ever was one. Kim had never had much use for him, but she'd never feared
him as she had his boss, Dan Laverham. And both Jack and Dan had been arrested
a year ago, when she'd first hooked up with Mairelon. A twinge of uneasiness
shook her. "Laverham ain't loose as well, is he?"
                "No,
he danced on air last November. It's just Jack."
                Kim blew
out a long, noisy breath. "Then I don't see what you're nattered about.
Jack will have it in for me, but I can handle Jack now."
                "I
thought that's what you'd say," Tom said gloomily. "And if it was
just Jack Stower, I wouldn't have sent for you to come here. But he's hooked up
with Mannering, and if that don't worry you, it ought to."
                "Why?
Jack may think he can borrow enough to turn himself into a toff, but it ain't
going to happen. And if he's in over his head with Mannering and the other
cent-per-cents, he'll have more to worry about than me."
                Tom
stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.
"I forget how much has changed since you've been gone. Mannering ain't
just a moneylender, these days. He's got ambitions."
                "Like
what?"
                "Like
rounding up anyone with a hint of magic to 'em, and persuading them to work for
him."
                Kim
snorted. "Laverham tried that once, and Ma Yanger gave him a week's rash,
and Sam Nicks pitched him out a window, and George and Jemmy and Wags gave him
an earful in the middle of Hungerford Market. You're telling me a creaky old
moneylender's had better luck?"
                "A
lot better luck, one way and another, and nobody knows why. George and Jemmy and Wags turned him down when he first tried, right
enough, but two weeks later they were working for him. Sam was stubborner, and
he woke up one morning in an alley with his throat slit. Ma Yanger ain't
working for Mannering, but she ain't working for nobody else, neither."
                "Ma
Yanger's given up witching people?" Kim said incredulously.
                Tom
nodded. "She's holed up in her rooms, and she won't see nobody . Been that way for two months now. And that's how it is
with everyone else--they're working for Mannering, or they ain't working at
all. And since Stower came back, Mannering's lads have been asking about
you."
                "Me?"
                "Stower
told him you can do magic, and that you were getting training from some
fancy toff wizard. I think Mannering would like to get his hands on both of
you. I figured the toff could look out for himself, but I thought somebody
ought to tell you what was up afore you found out the hard way."
                "Thanks,
Tom." With a shiver, Kim