Katherine Woodfine - The Midnight Peacock

Mei Lim was looking over her father’s shoulder at the newspaper, her long black plait falling forward as she did so. ‘Is it really true that the King is going to be there?’ she asked, her eyes wide.

‘It sounds unlikely, I know,’ admitted Sophie. ‘But apparently the Queen is a great admirer of Monsieur Chevalier – and the King knows Mr Sinclair too, of course.’

‘Mr Sinclair knows everybody ,’ added Lil. ‘The King is even going to make a special appearance to the crowds outside, from the balcony of the Marble Court Restaurant. It’s supposed to be a secret but of course, everyone knows about it.’

Sophie smiled, knowing exactly what she meant: a secret was never a secret for very long at Sinclair’s.

‘Well, I s’pose the King does have good reason to think well of Sinclair’s,’ said Mei’s older brother Song, from where he stood at the stove, stirring a big iron pot that smelled deliciously of ginger and spices. ‘After all, it’s thanks to Sinclair’s very own detective agency that he got back the painting that was stolen from him,’ he went on, with a grin.

The rest of them were crowded around the table in the little back room of the Lim family grocer’s shop. L.LIM & SONS couldn’t have been more different from the grand Sinclair’s department store, but it was one of Sophie’s favourite places in the world. Tonight, the back room felt even cosier than usual, in the light of the flickering gas lamp, with the snow still coming down outside. At one end of the table, Mei and Song’s younger brothers – the twins, Shen and Jian – were drawing with a new packet of coloured chalks that Leo had sent them as a Christmas present. Whilst Lil regaled Mr Lim with a lively account of one of Taylor & Rose’s recent cases, Mei and Sophie helped Song bring the dishes over to the table, and a few moments later, Mrs Lim came bustling through from the shop to join them for the evening meal.

‘So how did it go this evening?’ she asked, squeezing in between Lil and Mr Lim, adding to the twins: ‘Boys, put those away – it’s time to eat.’

‘Do you know, I really think it might have been our best session yet,’ declared Mr Lim proudly. ‘Some of our young ladies are proving themselves very talented.’

Song chuckled as he took his seat on a stool next to Sophie. ‘Maybe some of them are a bit too talented. I was worried that Miss Clifton was going to do Lil an injury!’

‘Huh – that’s what you think!’ declared Lil, brandishing her fork. ‘I could get the better of Connie any day you like.’

‘And are you girls still telling people that you all belong to a sewing society?’ asked Mrs Lim.

Lil grinned. ‘Of course. We say we’re sewing banners for the suffragettes to carry in their parades. Even Billy and Joe don’t know what we’re really up to.’

‘I still don’t understand why it has to be such a secret,’ said Song.

‘We promised that we’d keep it quiet,’ Sophie explained. ‘Some of the girls are worried that their parents wouldn’t like it. They’d think it improper.’

‘And a sewing society sounds so frightfully innocent ,’ said Lil with satisfaction. ‘Not even the most prim mama could possibly object to that!’

Mr Lim frowned. ‘I hope that none of the girls’ parents would have any serious objections to the classes,’ he said in a worried tone. ‘I wouldn’t want any of them to find themselves in trouble at home.’

‘Trouble at home isn’t the half of it!’ exclaimed Lil at once. ‘Why, some of these girls are doing awfully dangerous things – taking part in rowdy protests, and chaining themselves to railings, and goodness knows what else! It’s fearfully important that they can defend themselves properly.’

‘It’s a good thing we’re doing, Dad,’ Song reassured his father.

‘I think so too,’ agreed Mrs Lim decisively. ‘The way I see it, a young girl should know a little about how to defend herself. With any luck, most of them won’t need it – but there’s certainly no harm in being prepared.’

Sophie nodded. It had been her own desire to be prepared that had begun all this. Ever since she had come face to face with the Baron, she had felt frustrated and worried by her own weakness. She knew that if she ever encountered him again, she did not want to feel so vulnerable. She felt certain that if she were prepared, she would be able to sleep more soundly at night.

It was to Song that she had finally confided this. Over the past few months, he had become a particular friend. Sophie enjoyed his company, and admired his ambition of becoming a chef in a big London restaurant one day. She knew she could rely on him for a common-sense perspective. Song was always sensible and practical, and this had been a case in point: he had understood how she had felt, and had come up with a solution. ‘You ought to talk to Dad,’ he had said. ‘Kung fu is exactly what you need. It’s not about being big and strong, but using your opponent’s strength against them. You know Dad learned a bit from the monks, when he was a boy – and he’s been teaching me some, since the summer when we had that run-in with the Baron’s Boys. Maybe he could teach you too?’

As soon as she had heard of Sophie’s plan, Lil had at once said that she wanted to join in too. ‘That sort of thing is tremendously useful for actors. Awfully good for flexibility and posture. Besides, we’ve got ourselves into some tricky situations in the past. In our line of work, I can’t help thinking that it would be a jolly good idea for us to know a bit about how to defend ourselves.’

Of course, Mei wasn’t going to be left out, and next had come Connie Clifton, a friend of Leo’s from art school and a committed suffragette. ‘This is exactly what we need!’ she had exclaimed. ‘We heard that some of the other suffragette groups had been learning ju-jitsu – suffrajitsu, they’re calling it. We’re dying to learn something like that too. Could some of us join your class? We’ll pay, of course. Mrs St James will be thrilled!’

Now their practice sessions had become a weekly event. Mrs St James, the leader of Connie’s group of suffragettes, had arranged for them to have access to the basement of an East End Mission Hall, where Mr Lim, with Song acting as his assistant, could teach a dozen young ladies at a time. She even provided tea and buns for them all afterwards. Each girl paid a little for her lesson, and Mr Lim had been heard to say that at this rate, teaching would soon earn him as much as his grocer’s shop.

Sophie still wasn’t sure that what she had learned would help her if she was to come face to face with the Baron in another dark alleyway – but the sessions certainly made her feel better. She liked the challenge of learning something new, and for once, being small wasn’t necessarily a disadvantage – she might not be as tall or strong as Lil, but in spite of the encumbrance of skirts and petticoats, she was quick and light on her feet. The lessons were fun too: she felt quite certain that the sombre East End Mission Hall had never heard anything like so much giggling and shrieking. Best of all, afterwards, she and Lil would come back to the Lims’, where Song would make them all supper. Now, as Lil told the others about their planned visit to Winter Hall, she sat back and listened, letting their words wash over her and enjoying the familiar sound of their voices.

After supper she went through into the little scullery to help Song clear away the dishes.

‘You’ll be away for Christmas, then?’ he said. ‘We were going to ask whether you’d like to come here.’

‘I’d have loved that,’ said Sophie, as she stacked up the plates beside the sink. ‘But I couldn’t pass up the chance to go to Winter Hall.’ She quickly explained about the letter from Miss Pennyfeather, and Song listened with interest.