Millie stood on the doorstep of Ackerbee’s Home for Lost and Foundlings and tried to compose herself. The building’s tall, narrow façade was unmistakable, but a light had been left on inside its porch, and the brass nameplate beside the door gleamed. If Millie had been in any doubt about whether she’d reached the right place, that would have put an end to it.
She took a deep breath, steadied herself and then pulled on the bell. Faintly, she heard it jangling inside the house and bit her lip at the thought of how early—or late—it was. She hated having to cause such a disturbance, but she knew she had no choice.
Several minutes passed before Millie saw a light in the hallway. Through a glass panel beside the front door, a woman’s tired face peered out at her in confusion. Seconds later, Millie heard the door being unlocked and a heavy bolt being drawn back.
“Are you looking for Ackerbee’s?” said the woman, opening the door wide. She smiled wearily at Millie, her brown eyes warm and welcoming.
“I’m looking for Miss Ackerbee herself,” said Millie, finally finding her voice. “There’s something I need to tell her.”
“You’re in luck then, for I am she,” said Miss Ackerbee, stepping back to admit Millie into the hallway. “Do come in. You look like a large cup of cocoa would do you good.”
Millie stepped through and Miss Ackerbee closed the door behind her. In the shadows at the far end of the hallway, Millie saw another woman, her tousled copper-brown hair coming out of a loose plait, hurrying toward them. She wrapped a dressing gown around herself as she came.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, looking at Millie. “Does someone need help?”
Miss Ackerbee nodded. “Everything’s fine, Rebecca dear. Perhaps you’d join us in my parlor while I chat with this young lady. Can I tempt you with cocoa? I was just about to go to the kitchen for some.”
“Please, let me take care of it,” Rebecca said. “You get our guest settled.” Miss Ackerbee nodded at Rebecca and led Millie through into a room with a long low couch, a chair and a small table in one corner and a desk in another. Millie felt herself begin to shiver, in both relief and shock and also with simple exhaustion, and she allowed Miss Ackerbee to lead her gently to the sofa.
“Now,” Miss Ackerbee said once Millie was settled, “can you tell me what the trouble is?”
“It’s Tess,” said Millie simply.
Miss Ackerbee’s eyes opened wide and she sat forward. She took one of Millie’s hands in hers. “I didn’t dare hope,” she said in a quick, tight voice. “Is she all right?”
Millie didn’t know quite how to answer. “She was, last I saw her. But, Miss Ackerbee, I don’t know for how much longer. She’s in trouble, you see.” Millie paused to think, trying to make sure she was remembering Tess’s message properly. “She told me to tell you one thing, one word. It was quicksilver. I don’t know what it means.”
Miss Ackerbee bent her head for a moment, and when she looked back at Millie, her eyes were wet. “I know what it means, my dear. I know. Thank you.”
Rebecca came into the room with a tray bearing three steaming mugs of cocoa and a plate piled high with chocolate biscuits. Miss Ackerbee let her set the tray down before turning to her.
“This brave girl has come here with a message from Tess, my dear,” Miss Ackerbee said. “I feel we should be ready for action.”
Rebecca slid to her knees on the floor in front of Millie. Her face was drawn with worry. “We’ve been writing to the post office box he left us with,” she said. “But there’s never a reply. Is she getting our letters?”
Millie shook her head, her face twisting with distaste. “No, ma’am. There hasn’t been anything. She’s keeping them from her, and keeping her letters from being sent too.”
Miss Ackerbee frowned. “She?”
“I think this is a conversation best had with a cocoa in hand,” said Rebecca, handing them each a mug. “Let’s get started.”
After Millie had told Rebecca and Miss Ackerbee as much as she could, she was ushered upstairs toward the dorms.
“Please,” she whispered. “Really, there’s no need—I have a cousin who has a position in town. I can go to her and—”
“Nonsense,” insisted Miss Ackerbee. “You’ve come all the way here to help one of my girls and now I’m to turn you out into the night? I won’t have it. You must get some rest and then we’ll make sure you’re delivered to your cousin. Until then you’re safe here.”
“Well—thank you,” Millie replied. She was exhausted, that much was true. But she wondered how safe she was here really. The memory of Mrs. Thistleton’s face, twisted with rage, loomed in her mind, but she shoved it away and tried to stay calm as Miss Ackerbee led her to an empty bed.
“You’ll be fine here till morning; do make yourself at home,” she whispered. “And try to get some sleep, my dear. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us, and for Tess, tonight.” She patted Millie on the shoulder and left her to it.
Millie was slipping off her second shoe, getting ready to place it carefully on the floor beside the first, when she heard the whish of a match being struck. Then the corner of the room pooled into light, a gentle glow from a candle showing her several wide-awake faces. Four girls in various stages of dishevelment sat crowded onto a single bed. All of them were looking at her, and Millie shrank a little under their scrutiny.
“We heard the bell—was that you ringing?” one of the girls began in a loud whisper. “Do you know Tess?” asked another, and “What’s happened to Tess?” asked a third, all at the same time. Millie’s mouth fell open as she wondered who to answer first, but no sound managed to come out.
“Hush,” said the fourth, a tall, strong girl with a long yellow plait down her back. “Let her get used to us first.” Millie blinked at them all for a moment or two. “Now,” the girl with the plait continued, “that should be quite long enough. Time for introductions. I’m Proserpina, but everyone calls me Prossy. Pleased to meet you.”
Another girl sat forward, similar in build to the first, but dark where the other girl was fair. “I’m Priscilla. Call me Prissy.” She looked at Prossy and then back at Millie. “And no, we’re not related. Just in case you were wondering.”
A small girl was next, her black hair in a profusion of tight, neat braids. “I’m Eunice,” she said, holding out her hand to Millie, who stretched across the bed she was sitting on to shake it.
“And I’m Wilf,” said the fourth, a pale girl with her dark hair in a neat bun. “We’ve been missing Tess so much. Has something happened to her? Only, Miss Ackerbee mentioned her to you just now.”
Millie looked at them each in turn, all hanging on her next word. “I’m Millicent, but Tess calls me Millie” was all she could say.
“Then you’re Millie to us, too,” said Prossy, smiling warmly.
Millie returned the smile, some of her shyness falling away. “Thank you, miss,” she said.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake—none of that ‘miss’ stuff, please,” scoffed Prissy. “You’re not in service here.” Then she paused thoughtfully, taking in Millie’s clothes. “Speaking of which—where were you in service? The place they’re keeping Tess?”
Millie nodded. “Roedeer Lodge, miss—whoops,” she said, feeling her cheeks burn. Prissy simply nodded encouragingly. “It’s in the grounds of Fairwater Park,” she continued.
Prissy turned to Wilf. “Well done, you,” she said. “You were right.”
Wilf nodded, looking grim but pleased. “Is Tess all right?” she asked, and Millie looked at her. She took a moment to get her thoughts straight and then told the girls what she knew—how Tess had been doing experiments of some sort in the old chapel at Roedeer Lodge and how Mrs. Thistleton had trapped Millie into telling her where Tess went at night. How she’d been dragged there to witness Tess’s fate.
“I was stupid to think Mrs. Thistleton wouldn’t know something was happening,” Millie said mournfully. “No housekeeper worth her salt doesn’t notice missing matches and pilfered candles and suspicious creaks after dark and lanterns bobbing over the garden. I should have thought of that.” Millie paused, shaking her head. “It’s my fault,” she said miserably. “She was caught because of me.”
“Look, that bit can’t be helped,” said Prissy, giving Millie a friendly pat on the arm. “This Thistleton creature sounds like a pill. It’s not your fault. You’ve done what you can to get Tess’s message out. That’s all she could want.”
“But that’s not enough. We need to try to get her away from there,” Millie said, looking back up at the girls. “And we only have until Friday. Tomorrow, really.”
Wilf nodded. “Yes. We know about the party,” she said.
“It’s more like some sort of demonstration,” Millie said. “Mr. Cleat’s bringing all his Society crowd. I really don’t know much else about it, besides that it had Tess worried for some reason. And then when Mrs. Thistleton attacked her…” Millie paused, shuddering at the memory. “She’s important to them, that much I know. They need her for something. And whatever it is, Tess wants nothing to do with it.”
Wilf took a deep breath, trying not to think about what might have happened to Tess—and to Violet. Focus on getting them back, she told herself in as fierce a voice as she could muster. “You’ve told Miss Ackerbee and Rebecca all of this?”
Millie nodded. “Tess had wanted to call for help but she had something she needed to do first. I never asked her what; that was her business. But after tonight, her message couldn’t wait anymore.”
“And what did Miss Ackerbee say she was going to do?” Wilf’s large green eyes were narrowed and her whole body seemed pointed, like a nocked arrow.
Millie tried to think. “She mentioned something about a lawyer. She’s going to telephone in the morning and—”
“No,” Wilf said, dropping the word into Millie’s sentence like a guillotine. “No more lawyers. They take too long. This is up to us. We’ve got to get her back, right now.”
“We can’t go now, ninny,” said Prissy. “How are we going to get there? How are we going to get in? It’s not like you can just walk into Fairwater Park.”
“Well, actually, I think I can get us all in,” said Millie, straightening up. “And in a way where we won’t be noticed. Do you all have a black skirt? And a white blouse?”
“Do we have what?” said Prossy, looking faintly disgusted.
“Something that would pass for a maid’s uniform,” said Millie. “There’ll be loads of extra staff on Friday for this event Mr. Cleat’s planning. Nobody will pay the slightest bit of attention to a few new faces. We’ll blend right in.” Millie’s bright expression faded a little. “Or at least, you will. I hope nobody at the Lodge spots me.”
“I’m sure we can manage to beg, borrow or steal the right clothes,” said Prissy, shrugging. “And we’ll hide you somehow, Millie.”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Millie said distractedly. She slumped a little, tiredness overwhelming her. “All I know is Tess didn’t want anything to do with whatever Mr. Cleat’s planning. I want to be there to help her stop him and maybe to get her away, if we can.”
“So do we,” said Eunice in a determined tone. Then she yawned and rubbed her eyes. A wave of yawns traveled around the group.
Millie yawned so widely her ears popped and she realized the truth of the matter: there was nothing to be done for Tess now. If what she’d gleaned from Mrs. Thistleton was accurate, Tess was important for whatever was to happen on Friday. They had to hope she’d be as safe as she could be in that horrible place until then.
“At least we’ve got a plan,” said Wilf, looking at them each in turn. “We have a way out of here, thanks to Eunice, and now thanks to Millie we have a way into the park. It’s better than nothing. And though I wish we could go sooner, we’ll make our move at the right time.”
“Friday it is,” said Prissy, crawling onto her own bed. “Sleep well, everyone.”
“Sweet dreams,” added Prossy, already pulling the covers over her head.
Wilf blew out the candle and soft darkness filled the room. “Millie?” she said after a moment or two, just as Millie’s eyes were adjusting to the dark. “Thank you.”
A sleepy chorus of thanks came from the other beds, all except Prossy’s—soft, contented snoring had already begun from her corner of the dorm.
“It’s what friends do,” whispered Millie into the night.