Anne Perry - A Christmas Promise

She blinked, staring back at him. “’ow’ll I know if yer do?”

“Because I shall send a message to you in Heneage Street.”

“Oh. Thank you…Mr. … Balthasar.”

G racie completed her work as soon as possible, knowing she was skimping, and telling herself she would make a better job of it tomorrow. As soon as the cleaning looked finished, at the quickest glance, no rubbing fingers over things to make sure, she wrapped herself up in her heavy brown wool shawl. Tying it tight under her chin so it was thick and lumpy to keep the rain out, she raced into the street holding her head down against the wind and the sleet. She knew the way to Minnie Maude’s house even without having to look, never mind ask, and she was there inside ten minutes.

She stopped well short of the house itself. She was a little bit in awe of Aunt Bertha, and she definitely did not want to encounter Stan again. Although since he was a hansom cabbie and it was a bitter day just short of Christmas, there should have been any amount of trade for him in the streets a little farther west, so he was unlikely to be home.

Still she waited, shivering in a doorway opposite, holding her shawl tighter and tighter around her, in spite of the fact that it was wet most of the way through. Eventually she saw Minnie Maude opening the door. She stepped out, her pale, little face bleak, looking one way and then another as if perhaps Charlie might come down the cobbles, in spite of all reason.

“Stupid little article!” Gracie said savagely to herself. “’e in’t comin’ ’ome!” She found her own voice choking, and was angry. It wasn’t her donkey! She’d never even seen him.

She moved out of the doorway and marched across the uneven road, her boots sloshing in the puddles where stones were missing and the water had collected.

Minnie Maude saw her immediately, and her face brightened into a wide smile.

Gracie’s heart sank. She could do nothing to justify it. She waited while Minnie Maude went back inside and then barely a moment later opened the door again and came clattering across the road.

“Yer find out summink?” she said eagerly, her eyes bright.

Gracie hated it. “Nuffink for certain sure,” she replied. “But I told a wise man about it, an’ ’e thinks as there could be summink bad. ’e said ter leave it alone.”

Minnie Maude’s eyes never left Gracie’s. “But we in’t goin’ ter …”

Gracie shivered. The wind was cutting down the street like a knife.

“Come up inter the stable,” Minnie Maude said quickly. “It’s warm in there, up where the pigeons are. Anyway, I gotta feed them, since Uncle Alf in’t ’ere anymore.” There was only a slight quiver in her voice, and she turned away from Gracie to hide the look on her face. Because she concealed it, it was even more telling.

Gracie followed her back across the street, tugging at her shawl to keep it around her shoulders. They went around and in through the back gate, then across the cobbles to the stable door. This was where Charlie had lived, and Gracie stared at the rough brick walls and the straw piled on the floor. She noticed that Minnie Maude walked through so quickly that she could hardly have seen anything but a blur of familiar shapes.

In the next tiny room, half-filled with hay, a rough ladder was propped up against the edge of the loft, and Minnie Maude hitched up her skirts and scrambled up it. “C’mon,” she invited encouragingly. “I’ll ’old the top fer yer.” And as soon as she reached the ledge of the upper floor, she rolled over sideways and then knelt, gripping the two uprights of the ladder and hanging on to them. She peered down at Gracie, waiting for her.

Wondering where her wits had gone to, Gracie grasped her skirts halfway up her legs and climbed up, hanging on desperately with her other hand. She reached the top white-knuckled and cursing under her breath. Some days she doubted she still had the sense she was born with.

“Careful!” Minnie Maude warned a trifle sharply as Gracie swayed. “Yer don’ wanna tip it off. We’d ’ave ter jump, and there in’t nuffink ter land on.”

Gracie clung on desperately, feeling her head whirl and her stomach knot. She said nothing, concentrating fiercely on what she was doing. She couldn’t let Minnie Maude see how scared she was. Minnie Maude would lose all trust in her. She took a deep breath and drew herself up onto the ledge, teetering for a moment, her legs in the air, then scrambled forward and fell flat on her face. She sat up, trying to look as if nothing at all had happened.

“’is name was Mr. Balthasar,” she said solemnly.

There was a kind of whir of wings and a clatter as a pigeon burst through the narrow entrance in the roof and landed on the wood. Minnie Maude ignored it. Gracie felt her heart nearly burst out of her chest.

“Did ’e say as summink ’ad ’appened ter Uncle Alf?” Minnie Maude asked.

“’e di’n’t rightly know,” Gracie said honestly. “But ’e reckoned as it were bad, cos o’ them takin’ the cart, an’ all.” She lowered her voice. “Minnie Maude, ’e said as ’e thought the golden box were a casket, an’ could be summink really important, an’ mebbe that’s why Uncle Alf were killed. ’e said as we shouldn’t go on lookin’ fer it, in case we get ’urt as well.”

“But wot about Charlie?” Minnie Maude asked.

“’e said as donkeys are useful, so they’ll prob’ly look after ’im, feed ’im, an’ give ’im somewhere ter stay.” She remembered Mr. Balthasar’s face as he had said it, the dark, sad look in his eyes. She had seen that look before. He did not mean it. He had said it to comfort her. Now she was saying it again, to comfort Minnie Maude.

Minnie Maude stared in front of her. “’s all right,” she said quietly. “Yer don’t ’ave ter look fer Charlie. I un’erstand.”

“I di’n’t say I weren’t gonna look fer ’im!” Gracie retorted with indignation. “I’m jus’ tellin’ yer wot ’e said!”

Minnie Maude raised her eyes very slowly, bright with hope.

Gracie could have kicked herself, but there was no escape. “We gotta think fast,” she warned.

“It’s cold,” Minnie Maude replied, as if it were the natural thing to say. “Let’s go over inter the ’ay.” And without waiting for agreement, she tucked her skirt up again and crawled back into the dark, rich-smelling crowded space in the corner. She went into it headfirst, then swiveled around, and a moment later her face appeared and she smiled encouragingly, a long wisp of hay behind her ear.

Gracie had no dignified choice but to follow her. She tucked her skirts up also and crawled across the space to the bales, then pushed her way in, twisted around, and sat down. It was prickly, but it smelled nice, and it brought back dim memories of the past, of being in the country, long ago. She imagined in time it would be quite warm where they were, compared with the stone floor below.

“Summink really important,” Minnie Maude said thoughtfully. “S’pose it would ’ave ter be, ter put it in a casket, an’ all.” She sat motionless, her eyes very wide. “D’yer think it’s magic?”

“What?”

“Magic,” Minnie Maude repeated, her voice hushed with awe.

“Wotever put that inter yer ’ead, yer daft little article?” Gracie demanded. “In’t no such thing.” Then the minute she had said it, she wished she hadn’t. Minnie Maude was only eight. Gracie should have let her have a year or two more of dreams.

“There’s Christmas,” Minnie Maude whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.

Gracie struggled desperately to retrieve the loss. “That in’t magic,” she answered. “That’s… that’s God. It’s diff’rent.”