Devon Monk - Cold Copper

Fear. Cedar could smell fear on the man, could see it tied up in the stiff angle of his shoulders and set of his jaw. The man wasn’t afraid of Cedar.

No, he was afraid of Father Kyne.

Cedar took a moment to look at the priest, trying to see the threat in him this man obviously felt. He sensed nothing threatening about the priest, nothing that made him uneasy. Only a calm sort of certainty emanated from the man. As if he unflinchingly knew who he was, and just as unflinchingly knew his place in the world.

“How is your wife?” the priest asked quietly.

“Fine,” he said without looking at Kyne.

“No sign of Florence?”

He shook his head, mouth pressed tight.

“The baby is doing well enough?”

“Wife keeps him tied to her at all times, night and day. Even sleeps with us now.”

Father Kyne looked past the man to meet Cedar’s gaze.

“Florence is six,” he said. “A sweet child with a wide imagination and several playmates that only she could see. Disappeared just last week. We’ve been saying our prayers for her.”

“Prayers haven’t brought my girl back,” Mr. Peters said stiffly. “You won’t speak of her again. God’s given me his answer.”

“Yes,” Father Kyne said, holding Cedar’s gaze. “I believe He has.” And in his eyes was the faith that Cedar, or perhaps the Madders, was the answer to all their prayers. The answer to finding the children.

Cedar didn’t much like being the servant of things beyond this world. But it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been called to help those in need.

“Hello,” Miss Dupuis said, sweeping into the room with a rustle of taffeta and wool. “Have you brought the charges leveled at the brothers Madder?”

“Are you Miss Dupuis?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Then yes, these are from the mayor. Trial begins at dawn tomorrow. Good day, ma’am.” He turned and was out the door like his heels were on fire.

Cedar watched him mount and ride off. He didn’t even throw a single backward look.

“His wife and I were children together,” Father Kyne said. “Her parents were faithful to the church when my father guided the congregation. Once my father died, she did not return. Then, three days after her daughter went missing, she came to me. Asking for my help. Pleading for me to find Florence. To do anything in my power.”

“So you called the Madders.”

“I searched for her daughter, before the snow set deep. Found nothing. Nothing but sorrow in these winds. And then I remembered the promise, our family promise. Yes, I called the Madders.”

“Who have been thrown in jail,” Miss Dupuis said as she untied the leather strips and opened the satchel.

“They promised to find the children,” Father Kyne said. “I think they meant for you to do so for them now, Mr. Hunt. That you would find the missing sons and daughters. That you would find Florence Peters.”

“I said I’d look for them,” Cedar said. “But I think the Madders want my favor for the Holder repaid first.”

“You said you were once a God-fearing man,” Father Kyne said. “Can you be a God-trusting man if it will mean the burden of your curse is lifted?”

“Trust isn’t something I shrug into and out of, Father Kyne. If you want me to kneel before God so that the children can be found, I’ll do so. But if you expect me to become faithful to Him, it would be a lie.”

Father Kyne nodded, dark eyes weighing Cedar’s soul. “There is a reason you are on this earth. There is a reason you bear this burden. God knows the heart of every man, and sees the good in each of us. He will guide us down this path, you and I.”

“Will breaking the curse take long?” Cedar asked.

Mae shook her head. “I’ll need to go into town for some herbs, but if what Father Kyne and I have discussed is possible, it will only take a few minutes to put the spell together for you and Wil, and, hopefully, not much longer for it to come to full strength.”

“Why are we waiting?”

Mae glanced at Father Kyne, then back at Cedar. “We both agree it won’t last for more than a few hours. We’ll want to begin it after sunset if it’s to last most of the night.”

“So it’s temporary?”

Mae smiled, and for the first time in a while looked excited and pleased with something that had to do with magic.

“It should be,” she said. “A very gentle sort of way to stave off the curse for a short time. If it works well, we should be able to do it again tomorrow night and the next. Perhaps even…even as often as you like. A respite when you want it. A way to control the beast. But first I’ll need those herbs.”

“I would be happy to take you into town,” Father Kyne said.

“Thank you,” Mae said. “Miss Dupuis, is there anything we can pick up for you while we’re there?”

Miss Dupuis was leaning over the table already reading through the documents she had pulled out of the satchel. “No, I don’t believe so. I’ll just put some water on for tea. I have reading to do, then an argument to reason out. They’ve been charged with theft, claim jumping, and suspicious activity toward the United States.” She turned the page. “Oh.”

“What?” Cedar asked.

“Murder.” She looked up, her brown eyes wide with surprise. “They’ve been charged with murder.”

Cedar stepped over so he could read the paper in front of her. In tight, clean script it clearly said that all three brothers had been involved with the disappearance and murder of a man named Roy Atkinson.

“Who’s Roy Atkinson?” Miss Dupuis asked quietly. She glanced up at Father Kyne. “Have you heard of him?”

“He was mayor of this town. Before Mr. Vosbrough stepped in. A good man, interested in connecting Des Moines to the rail, interested in the city growing and thriving. But he was unwilling to do the sorts of…immoral things Vosbrough has done.”

“Do you have any proof of those immoral things?” Miss Dupuis asked.

“No. No one does. A Vosbrough buys favor as easily as most people buy wax.”

“I wasn’t expecting murder charges,” Miss Dupuis muttered, more to herself than anyone else in the room. “Perhaps I will go into town with you and Mae, Father. The city hall should have records, business records, land records, things that might help me understand what Roy Atkinson was involved in and why someone may have wanted to kill him.”

“You don’t think the Madders actually…” Mae said. “Actually may have killed him?”

Miss Dupuis picked up all the documents, tapped them endwise on the tabletop, then placed them back in the satchel. “The Madders don’t shy from force, when necessary. They have a moral code that isn’t always discernable. But they don’t kill in cold blood. It is against the vows of the office they hold.”

“What office?” Cedar asked.

She closed her mouth and shook her head slightly. “That is for another time, Mr. Hunt. For now, I need information if I am to make a coherent argument toward their innocence.”

“We’ll all go to town then,” Mae said. “Let me get my coat.”

“I’ll follow behind a bit,” Cedar said.

Mae stopped and waited for his explanation.

He closed his hand around the cold copper in his pocket. “There are a few things I want to check on. I’ll meet you either at the herb shop or city hall.”

“We will try the shop on Ferry Street first,” Father Kyne said. “If they don’t have what we need, we’ll try the shop a few streets over.”

It didn’t take any of them long to dress for the weather and saddle the horses. Cedar saddled up too, but waited until they were well down the lane toward the city before leading his horse out of the barn.

Wil, who had been sleeping off the day, waited for him in the shadows of the trees outside the barn.