The Crimson Skew (The Mapmakers Trilogy) by S. E. Grove (5)

4

Five Letters

PRIME MINISTER GORDON Broadgirdle had clearly expended significant resources and no small amount of energy on his War Room. Lavish and excessively comfortable, it seemed to suggest that war was a cozy business—even a luxurious business—to be enjoyed from the confines of a cozy and luxurious chamber.

Shadrack hated it.

Everything about it turned his stomach. The room looked out in the direction of the Public Garden, its wide windows curtained with ochre velvet. Pin-striped wallpaper, dark blue and white, was interrupted by portraits of pre-Disruption politicians. Shadrack felt dizzy whenever he looked at it. Heavy armchairs upholstered in tan leather waited obediently around a polished oval table. In the humid air that even Broadgirdle’s expenditures could not avoid, everything was faintly damp; with some distaste, Shadrack marked a whiff of mildew. He suspected it came from the over-thick carpet, dark blue to match the pinstripes, which muffled even Broadgirdle’s heavy tread when he strode into the room.

And stride he did, every morning at eight-hour, thirty. Broadgirdle met with his war cabinet each day at this time, and he clearly enjoyed the meetings as much as he enjoyed his sumptuous War Room.

“Good morning, gentlemen!” He beamed, pulling out a chair beside Rupert Middles, the recently appointed Minister of State and the architect of the “Patriot Plan,” the parliamentary bill that had closed the borders to foreigners. Middles, with his outsized mustache and fat fingers, sat across from Salvatore Piedmont, the Minister of Defense.

“Good morning, Prime Minister!” Piedmont replied, harrumphing with energy. “A fine day to plan a war!” Shadrack groaned silently; he said the same thing every morning.

Salvatore Piedmont was a military man who had seen better days. His father had been a general in the first years after the Disruption, when slave rebellions in the south led to the formation of New Akan. Piedmont had inherited from his father a dislike for rebellion and a trenchant certainty that New Occident’s armed forces could solve any problem, great or small. Over the course of his long life, he had seen those beloved armed forces marginalized as New Occident remained at peace with its neighbors. Now, well into his eighties, he was delighted that they were finally in the spotlight. Broadgirdle, for his part, seemed not to mind that the head of the Armed Forces was a rather weak-witted octogenarian. It made it all the easier to have his way.

“Good morning,” Middles agreed, sitting up in his chair. He had still not overcome the sense of importance that came with being appointed Minister of State, and whenever Broadgirdle was present, he set his face into a stern mask, as if determined to embody the air of gravity and solemnity required for his position.

“Good morning,” Shadrack said wearily.

Broadgirdle flashed him a serpentine smile, pleased as ever to see Shadrack’s dispirited exhaustion. “We have a great deal to discuss today. I have reports from Griggs and June.”

“What does June say, then?” Piedmont rumbled happily. “A fine soldier. A very fine soldier, Erik June.”

Shadrack suppressed the desire to roll his eyes.

“He and Griggs both report considerable obstacles to their progress,” Broadgirdle said.

“What?” cried Piedmont.

Middles frowned worriedly. “More sinkholes?”

“Indeed, gentlemen. More sinkholes.” Broadgirdle sat back and watched them levelly, as if awaiting an explanation.

The first sinkhole had appeared in early July. Overnight, an entire city block in the western portion of Boston had disappeared into a gaping hole whose black depths seemed endless. There were no survivors.

The second had opened two days later, this time southwest of the city. Fewer lives were lost, for the area was less densely settled, but it was just as confounding. In total, seven such sinkholes had appeared within a day’s ride of Boston, and now more were appearing where the New Occident troops were meant to march. Shadrack had heard no shortage of desperate theories—the poor construction of roads, improper drainage, unprecedented volcanic activity—as well as more informed scientific debate, but as yet no one had been able to suggest a convincing explanation.

“It is a considerable problem,” Broadgirdle said, looking meaningly at Shadrack, as if he were responsible. “The troops are following maps made by the war cartologer, and that war cartologer is not accounting for sinkholes.”

“Well,” Shadrack said dryly, “the sinkholes don’t always appear where I ask them to.”

Broadgirdle raised an eyebrow, unfazed by the sarcasm. “There should be alternate directions for each route.”

Shadrack was about to protest that this would create a logistical nightmare, but he was interrupted.

“Excuse me, Prime Minister,” a woman’s voice said. Cassandra Pierce, Broadgirdle’s new assistant, had materialized at his elbow. She handed him a piece of paper. “I thought you would want to see this before it’s published. It will be in this evening’s Boston Post. I understand it’s already gone to press.”

As Broadgirdle silently read, Shadrack could see the effect of the text on his countenance: first surprise, then anger, then a concerted effort at composure, and, finally, a settling disdain. “Who wrote this?” he asked coolly.

“The editors,” replied Pierce.

“May I?” Shadrack asked.

Broadgirdle handed it over with a sneer. “I’m not entirely surprised no one is willing to sign a name to such a piece.”

Shadrack scanned the beginning of the editorial:

END THE WESTERN WAR

The editors appeal to the Prime Minister and Parliament to reconsider the costly and fruitless war with our neighbors. At the root of this war is Parliament’s border policy, which is so intolerant to foreigners. This policy has provoked New Akan and the Indian Territories to secede; it has provoked the United Indies to declare an embargo. As a result, New Occident finds itself isolated and friendless where it was once at the center of the hemisphere’s trade.

What do we gain by such policies? What do we gain from expansion to the west? Is the acquisition of Baldlands territory truly more valuable than the thousands of dollars in weekly trade with the United Indies? Is it more valuable than peace with the Territories? Is it more valuable than the port of New Orleans? We think not.

Shadrack had to stop himself from nodding his agreement at every line. Finally! he thought. Someone is writing reason. I hope the reading public comes to its senses.

“Outrageous!” Piedmont declared, his voice trembling. Shadrack looked up to find that the Minsters of Defense and State were both reading over his shoulder. “‘What do we gain?’ An absurd question that could only come from a civilian.”

“I notice that the editors don’t mention how the border policy has kept them safe for so many months,” Middles sniffed. He shook his head. “Another reminder that our system of purchasing parliament seats is invaluable. Can you imagine if such rabble had a voice in government?”

“Regardless,” Broadgirdle observed, “many of the rabble do read. And since this piece is already in press, I think it expedient to write a reply.” His voice was calm, and it was apparent that he had already devised a solution to the problem.

“A reply!” Piedmont exclaimed. “Surely this does not even merit a reply.”

“I think it does. And who better to write it than our Minister of Relations with Foreign Ages?”

Shadrack yanked his eyes up from the editorial. “I . . .” he began. “I am not sure I’m the right person for it.”

A smile began on Broadgirdle’s face, and Shadrack felt the widening grin like a vicious bite. It reminded him of everything that the man had done to compel him into his present predicament. Broadgirdle had learned that the two foreigners living in Shadrack’s home, Theodore Constantine Thackary and Mrs. Sissal Clay, were using falsified citizenship papers, and had threatened to deport them; he had somehow discovered Sophia’s entry to the Nihilismian Archive under false pretenses, and had said he would inform the archive so that they could press charges. Every member of his household was at the prime minister’s mercy. Every one of them would be lost if Shadrack did not do as Broadgirdle asked.

The desperation Shadrack felt was no less for being familiar. He had no choice but to labor as War Cartologer for a war he detested. He had no choice but to support policies that he considered discriminatory, injurious, and rash. He had no choice now but to write a scathing reply to the editorial, despite the fact that he agreed with every word of it.

—August 3, 16-Hour 40—

“READ THE LAST part again, Shadrack,” Miles ordered, scowling, “from arriving in Pear Tree.”

Shadrack looked around his kitchen table at the others, who nodded their agreement. The kitchen of 34 East Ending Street, with its disordered piles of maps, its mismatched dishes, and its fragrant peach cobbler, could not have been more different from Broadgirdle’s War Room. And the plotters who met twice a week in the kitchen could not have been more different from the Prime Minister’s war cabinet—but they were just as determined in their objective.

Miles Countryman, explorer and adventurer, was Shadrack’s oldest friend in New Occident. He was also the most argumentative person in Boston. He fought with Shadrack about everything from the pitfalls of politics to the size of a proper meal. Mrs. Sissal Clay, the housekeeper who resided on the top floor, was a widow from Nochtland, and since arriving at East Ending she had not argued with Shadrack even once. She almost never traveled.

The last two plotters were so dissimilar that they made Miles and Mrs. Clay seem like two peas in a pod. Nettie Grey was the very respectable daughter of Inspector Roscoe Grey, and Winston Pendle—Winnie for short—was the very disreputable son of an asylum inmate. Though Winnie was rather cleaner of late than was his custom, since he was now living with Miles instead of on the street, he had a persistent unruliness that no amount of clean clothes could repair. He perched crookedly on his seat while Nettie sat with perfect posture. He tousled his hair as he pondered Shadrack’s news, making a tangled nest of it, while Nettie’s hair was plaited beautifully. He chewed thoughtfully on a pencil, leaving it mangled, while Nettie remained calm and still.

What the plotters all had in common, different as they were in their ages, backgrounds, and tendencies, was a loyalty to the residents of 34 East Ending Street—present or absent—and an invincible loathing for Prime Minister Gordon Broadgirdle.

On the day Theo had been conscripted and sent to war, he had extracted a promise from Winnie that he would look after things in Boston while Theo was gone. Winnie took the promise seriously. The following day, he had made his proposal to Shadrack. The five of them would work together to bring Prime Minister Gordon Broadgirdle to justice. They would make him pay for the murder of Cyril Bligh, the missing Eerie he had taken prisoner would be found, and upon his imprisonment the senseless war with the west would end.

Shadrack had agreed, partly because he could see in the dirty little boy’s fierce eyes that he would go after Broadgirdle with or without him, and he rather thought Winnie’s chances were better if he had assistance.

Their progress was discouraging, to say the least. No new evidence had emerged to implicate Broadgirdle in Bligh’s murder. Not even the slightest clue—beyond a memory map found by Theo—pointed to the Eerie’s whereabouts. The five of them were unable to learn more about Wilkie Graves, the man Broadgirdle had been before bursting onto the political scene in Boston. While the plotters plotted in vain, Broadgirdle’s war was in full swing.

And, it seemed on August third, things were getting worse.

Shadrack’s friend Pip Entwhistle had arrived early that morning with correspondence from the Indian Territories: a letter from his friend Casper Bearing and four others like it. The plotters listened in silence as Shadrack read aloud one horrible story after another. The effects of the crimson fog were everywhere catastrophic; its source was a complete mystery. When he was done, Shadrack stood up and rested his forehead against the kitchen cupboard in despair.

For some time, no one said anything.

“Flowers and rotting meat. What is this blasted fog?” Miles finally demanded, pounding a fist on the kitchen table. The empty plates with their spoons and the dish of peach cobbler rattled in alarm.

Shadrack straightened. “I have no idea, Miles. I’ve never heard anything like it. But I reported it to Broadgirdle.”

“To Broadgirdle?” Miles cried. “Why tell that villain?”

“Think, Miles—all of those soldiers heading into the Territories.” At the other man’s frown, Shadrack continued. “Whether you like my decision or not, it does not matter. Broadgirdle already knew of it. He might be a villain, but he is not wholly incompetent.”

“We wish he were,” Miles growled. “And what does he mean to do about it?”

“He is sending the troops protective clothing.”

“Fat lot of good that will do.”

Mrs. Clay had been brought to tears by the account of the children locked in the pantry. She looked down at her half-full teacup and uneaten cobbler. “May the Fates help us,” she said now. “Perhaps it is some kind of ill wind—like the weirwinds that are so much more common in the Baldlands than here.” Her voice grew agitated. “Perhaps they are moving east!”

“It sounds manmade to me,” Miles countered. “Too convenient that it has struck in four towns and all of them towns in the Indian Territories.”

“What if there is a new Age,” Mrs. Clay said, even more agitated, “like the Glacine Age to the south, and this fog is what emerges from it? Recall that the soil in the Glacine Age is poisonous. Why not an Age with poisonous air?”

“Nonsense. Then why does it always strike at dawn and in localized areas?”

Mrs. Clay pondered for a moment. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “It could be a creature from a different Age—a monster of some kind that breathes these poisonous fumes.”

Winnie waved his chewed pencil for attention. “What are we going to do about Theo?” he asked, interrupting the debate.

“Exactly,” Nettie said, shooting Winnie a glance. “We have to warn him somehow.”

“We have only a few days,” Shadrack replied, “before Theo enters the Indian Territories. I presume from what Broadgirdle has said that most troops will have the protective clothing before crossing the border.”

“That’s not enough,” said Nettie.

“I don’t trust anything Broadsy sends,” Winnie said at the same time.

“We need to do more,” Shadrack agreed. “I can warn him in a letter, but without knowing who or what causes this fog, I cannot advise him how to prevent its effects. But I have an idea for how to minimize the likelihood of an encounter for Theo’s company.” He unrolled a paper map that showed a detailed portion of western Pennsylvania and lower New York. “All of the attacks that I have heard of have taken place in towns—usually midsized towns. I might be wrong, but perhaps more isolated places are safer. This is a copy of the map I sent today to Theo’s company, plotting their movements west. You can see here”—he pointed to a clump of trees—“that I described the easiest path as one cutting through this sparse forest. What this map fails to show,” Shadrack continued with a smile, “is that this route will lead into a deep ravine, which it could take days to emerge from.”

“So getting Theo stuck in a ravine is the solution?” Winnie asked skeptically.

Shadrack looked deflated. “It keeps him away from the nearby towns where the crimson fog might appear.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Nettie reassured him.

“It’s only a short-term solution,” Shadrack admitted, sitting down heavily. “The long-term solution is to bring Theo home. And to find the source of this fog. And to end the war.” He put his head in his hands.

“We need to get a closer look at the fog,” Miles said. He pushed back his chair and stood. “And we need a scientist capable of studying it.”

Shadrack lifted his head and looked wearily at Miles. “A scientist? What are you suggesting?”

“I think you should send the best explorer you know and the best natural scientists you know to discover what is afoot. In other words,” he said, grinning fiercely, “I go west. And you write to Veressa and Martin Metl.”

“Oh, yes!” Mrs. Clay exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the mention of the famed Nochtland cartologer and her botanist father. “They will certainly help us.”

Shadrack considered in silence, his eyes lighting with faint hope. It had not occurred to him to ask for the Metls’ expertise. “Martin and Veressa. Why did I not think of them?”

“Because you are overworking your brain, which is already of limited capacity, and you forget too easily about your friends. As I well know,” Miles added, looking more pleased than offended.

Shadrack’s shoulders lifted. “It might work, if you are willing—”

“Of course it will work. I know everyone who has written to you, and I know where to find them. Martin knows more than anyone about strange substances. And Veressa knows how to keep her father from going overboard with dangerous experiments.”

Shadrack smiled wryly. “She does not, however, know how to prevent you from going overboard.”

Miles beamed, delighted with his plan. “All the better. I can be ready to leave in an hour. Tell them to meet me near the town of Pear Tree.”