Free The Last Honest Seamstress by Gina Robinson Page A

moveable things. Tell them to hurry. We haven't got much time."
    He yelled for his cabin boy Billy and made his way to the office with the fourteen-year-old tagging after him. "Tetch, load all our records onto the Aurnia. Don't forget the cash box. I hope to hell we have a pile of cash on hand. Who knows whether the banks will burn or not. Then get out in the street and recruit any men you can find to help us load the warehouse stock onto our girl. Pay them whatever you have to."
    "Yes, sir." Tetch was already busy grabbing ledgers as Con spun around and almost ran into the boy.
    "Billy, come with me." Con paused a minute on the pier outside the office to gaze up into the city. His face was set. People were pouring down to the waterfront. It wouldn't be long before the smoke and the sheer volume of people would make the streets impassable. Fayth was up there somewhere. Alone? Without help? He mindlessly punched one fisted hand into the other. How was a lone woman going to save herself? Or anything of value from her shop?  
    "Billy, I want you to find me a horse and wagon."
    The boy turned to him with eyes wide with fear and confusion. "What do you need a horse for?"
    "I've got an errand in the city."
    "We're going into the city?" The look on Billy's face said he thought Con was crazy, but the boy was smart enough not to voice his opinion. "There's no way I'm going to be able to find a horse and cart that's free, Captain. Looks to me like every one in the city's being used. Half of 'em at least are heading toward us."
    Con surveyed the sight in front of him. The boy was right, but he wasn't deterred. He couldn't leave Fayth alone to fate in the hell fury of flames terrorizing the city.  
    "We're going to get us a horse and cart if we have to steal them. Come on." Con turned on his heel in time to see Tetch headed up the pier with the cash box under his arm. Con felt in his pockets. He hoped he had enough cash to get what he wanted.  
    "Tetch!" he yelled. "Tell Sweeney to sail if the pier's threatened, whether I'm back or not. Captain's orders."
     
    Fayth soaked an old blanket, and struggled to hang it. Wet, it was heavy and awkward to handle. Frustrated, she tossed it down and tried hanging out a dry one, pouring water over it with a pitcher, hoping that it would wick down.  
    A volley of gunfire sounded. She screamed and pulled back from the window, certain the crowd of desperate people had gone mad and violence had erupted.  
    Someone yelled from the street that the ammunition store had gone up. It was just possible to hear him over the continuing gunfire. Fayth dropped the blanket she held. It was no use. She didn't care about the building.  
    She gathered her most treasured possessions together, threw some of her clothes in a suitcase, and carted them downstairs, dragging an empty suitcase with her to the sewing room. Her fingers trembled as she began undressing the dress forms that held her precious half-finished gowns, throwing them into the suitcase as she went.
     
    Con bribed the owner of an empty cart with all the cash he had in his pocket. "I'll bring her back to the wharf. I promise."
    "Don't bother. Give it to the next guy who needs it. I stole it myself." The man jammed the money into his jeans and disappeared into the crowd.
    Billy scrambled up into the passenger seat next to Con as he clucked to the horse. "I hope you're not planning on hauling much, Captain. If you are, you wasted your money. This old nag hardly looks like she can pull us."
    "She'll do. See how calm she is in all this commotion? She'll keep her head and get us through, that's the main thing." Con slapped the reins. They pulled out into the thickening throng, headed for the smoke and flames up the hill.
     
    Bedlam reigned in the dust-covered streets outside as merchants dragged their goods into the middle of the uneven madness. The fire burned less than a block away. The smoke sat in the air thick and heavy. It was as if night had