20

‘No, miss, you’re mistaken,’ I stuttered.

Even so, I directed Peg to stand safely behind me again.

‘I’m not mistaken,’ Miss Stine said. ‘Since being in Sweepfield, I’ve heard your story and it interests me greatly.’

This might’ve been a compliment for some people. But to me, who’d endured more than my fair share of being pointed at and talked about, it made my heart sink.

‘I’m someone who lost her mam and her eyesight, that’s my story,’ I said, bitterly.

‘But I’d no idea this girl was blind!’ Mr Walton cut in. I sensed he was pointing at me. ‘She wanders the streets at night, snoops about up here. And she looks right at me when I speak. It’s the other girl, the little one who seized our other specimen, that I thought—’

‘Save your excuses.’ Miss Stine interrupted him. ‘Lizzie, how would you like to stay at Eden Court for a few days to help me in my work?’ She sounded excited.

‘What, here?’

‘Yes.’

I was aware of Peg clinging to my dress. On my left, Miss Stine’s cool fingers circled my wrist. And behind us those jars of deformed creatures, and Mr Walton breathing short, impatient breaths through his nose.

‘No, miss,’ I said. ‘We must get home.’

Her grip on my wrist tightened. ‘So must I, Lizzie. I’m needed back in London but I’m staying on at Eden Court solely to find out more about what happened to you in that lightning storm. So you really must help me. My future ambitions could depend on it.’

‘You want to find out … about me?’ I didn’t much want to think about that day. And I certainly didn’t want to talk about it to a stranger.

Yet there was something about the way she asked. She was showing an interest in me – not in a whispering-behind-hands kind of way, but because she wanted to hear the truth.

‘Yes,’ Miss Stine said. ‘I’m a scientist, an anatomist. I study how the human body works, and recently I’ve become very interested in electricity. You’ll see how important you are to my work soon enough.’

My mouth dropped. ‘So you’re the scientist?’

All this time I’d been certain it was Mr Walton. So had most of Sweepfield.

‘How can that be, Miss Stine?’ Peg sounded as confused as I felt. ‘You’re a … umm … well … a girl.’

Miss Stine gave a little laugh. ‘I’m a bit older than a girl, but you’re right, this work is mostly done by men. It’s made things hard for me. People see a person in skirts and – whoosh – they make assumptions about how I should be. Never mind that I might be on the brink of an amazing discovery. What matters most is how I look.’

I nodded: I knew what that felt like.

‘It’s why I hide myself away most of the time,’ said Miss Stine. ‘But don’t be afraid, Lizzie. You’ll be safe here.’

‘What about him, though?’ I nodded in the direction of Mr Walton. ‘He had our Peg locked up in a cellar.’

‘I told him to keep her hidden but I’d had no idea he’d put her down there. I can only apologise.’ She sounded suitably ashamed. ‘Mr Walton, my assistant, was a little over-enthusiastic in his duties yesterday. He will follow orders more closely from now on.’

Mr Walton coughed uncomfortably. Despite his expensive voice and smart clothes, he was, in fact, a servant. It wasn’t him who had rented Eden Court, but Miss Stine, and it made me braver somehow, because whatever threats he’d made, he wasn’t lord and master, after all.

Yet still I couldn’t shake off the sense that something wasn’t right. If Mr Walton was working for Miss Stine, then how nasty did that make her? And this troubled me the most, because she didn’t seem very nasty at all.

‘We really can’t stay, miss,’ I said. ‘Da will wonder where we’ve got to.’ Which wasn’t true; he’d be in Bristol by now and the lie made me flush.

‘We’ll send word to your father. Peg can take a message.’

At this, Peg buried her face in my ribs. ‘I’m not going nowhere without you, Lizzie!’

‘Come now, no tears,’ Miss Stine said.

‘Hush, Peg,’ I said, trying desperately to think of a solution. If only Isaac hadn’t disappeared like that, then he could’ve taken her to Mercy’s.

‘I won’t go back to Sweepfield on my own,’ Peg insisted. ‘Everyone there hates me. If you try to send me, I swear I’ll run away again!’

Which was no sort of answer. I think Miss Stine realised it too.

‘I know!’ she said, as if the idea surprised her. ‘Why don’t you both stay? It could be of great help. You’ll be perfectly safe.’

It was the second time she’d mentioned our safety.

‘You promise?’ I said.

‘Absolutely. Have no fear.’

She’d shifted position a little so the light was behind her, which meant I could just about see her outline. She was small for a grown-up – not much taller than Mercy.

‘You want to study me?’ I asked again.

‘Exactly I am on the brink of a discovery so …’ she searched for the word, ‘… incredible, it will change the course of science, of HISTORY! Wouldn’t you like to be part of that with me, Lizzie? Wouldn’t you like to be FAMOUS?’

Behind us, Mr Walton shuffled his feet. My stomach did a nervous clench.

‘I don’t fancy it much, to be honest,’ I muttered.

All I’d ever wanted from life was to work hard and keep geese and eat supper each night at a table with those I loved. Yet how could I explain it to someone like her who wanted so much more?

I took a deep breath and tried.

‘I don’t want any more attention, miss. I don’t want people always pointing at me in the street. I just want to be, like I was before …’ I couldn’t say the rest. Not the words ‘accident’ or ‘lightning strike’ or ‘blindness’, or ‘my mother dead in the snow’. In my mouth they’d turned to dust.

‘Lizzie, your life has changed. It won’t ever be the same, so it’s pointless to wish for it.’

‘But …’ I tried to protest.

‘What I’m working towards is something miraculous.’ She talked me down. ‘Something so ambitious that will one day it will save the lives of our loved ones. Or perhaps even bring back those who’ve already died.’

‘Oh … goodness …’

Was she serious? Could science do that?

It was a stunning and completely terrifying idea, and for a moment my head went dizzy. Then I remembered what Da had said about Mr Walton’s work. He’d called him a genius and said one day he’d be famous the world over. Which must mean Da didn’t know of Miss Stine’s existence. But for that night on Mill Lane, she really had stayed hidden away, doing her work in secret.

‘The world doesn’t care for female scientists, you know,’ Miss Stine said. ‘My research could change all that forever. It could prove that women are just as intelligent, just as hungry to achieve as men. We wouldn’t be solely wives and mothers and sisters and daughters. Our names would be on statues, on monuments, written in the history books. Think of that, Lizzie.’

It sounded incredible. And the way she seemed willing to share all this made me feel important, like I was to be trusted with her biggest, wildest dreams.

‘But my da won’t like us being here,’ I said, unsure what else to say. ‘He told me to come straight home.’

‘Don’t fret, I’ll pay very handsomely for your time,’ Miss Stine replied.

It was getting harder to refuse. With this cold, wet spring there was already talk of crops failing and food prices rising. As well as finding Peg safe and sound, Da would be pleased if we earned a bit of coin.

‘You’ll be working for me just as your father does making my shelves, though he believes they’re for Mr Walton, which keeps things simpler,’ Miss Stine added. ‘So what do you think? Do say yes.’

The sensible thing would be to say no and go home. Yet still I dithered. These past few minutes Miss Stine had spoken to me as if I was someone worth knowing. Something had shifted, like a fast-asleep part of me had woken up at last.

‘Oh, and Lizzie,’ Miss Stine said before I had a chance to speak. ‘We have other guests too – important people from London with modern ideas like mine. They’re travelling to Europe and have stopped in on their way. I want you to meet them tomorrow.’

I gulped. ‘Oh … I mean … gosh.’ It sounded terrifying and yet a thrill of excitement ran through me.

‘So, will you accept my invitation to stay? Will you two also be my guests?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ I said, trying not to grin. ‘Yes, all right.’

Though it didn’t seem I had much choice in the matter, either: she still had hold of my wrist.

*

A maid called Ruth was summoned to escort us to a bedchamber upstairs.

‘Miss Stine’s put you in a room at the top of the house,’ she said. It was the same woman who’d earlier answered the front door to me. ‘A smart room it is too,’ she added with a sniff.

‘What’s eating her?’ Peg whispered, as we followed her up countless flights of stairs. ‘She looks awful grim.’

I prodded Peg for being cheeky. ‘She’s busy with those London guests and now she’s got lumped with us, that’s what.’

At the very top of the stairs, we went through a door, then along a twisty passage and down a single step that nearly sent me flying. At last, we reached our room.

‘This is yours,’ said Ruth, opening the door. ‘Though why you’re still here, I don’t know. You should’ve gone home when you could.’

I wanted to ask what she meant. But by now Peg had pushed her way past us both and was squealing in delight at our bedchamber. Ruth left without a by your leave.

Not knowing what to make of it all, I hovered in the doorway. Perhaps we should go home. It wasn’t too late to change our minds.

Yet inside the room Peg grew ever louder. She was laughing too, and sounding so joyous that despite my doubts, I couldn’t help but smile. ‘What is it, Peg? What can you see?’

‘It’s wonderful!’ she cried, pulling me across the threshold. ‘It’s the grandest bedchamber I’ve EVER known. And it’s all ours!’

I laughed. ‘For a night or two, maybe. Don’t get too used to it, mind.’

Yet I sensed Peg was right: the room was beautiful. Even the air felt soft and warm and expensive. Any doubts I had began to melt away.

‘The bed is VAST, Lizzie! It’s got curtains draped around it, and the bedsheets are so white, and the pillows soft feather ones …’ She let go of me and crossed the room. ‘Oh! You can see all sorts out this window.’

‘Like what?’

‘The driveway, stables, trees …’

As she prattled on I heard the joy in her voice, and it made me smile more. ‘’Tis better than that cellar, anyhow.’

‘Oh it really is!’ Peg gasped. ‘There’s a jar of biscuits by the bed, and a roaring fire, and they’ve even left us fresh nightgowns to wear.’

It sounded almost too good to be true.

Kicking off my boots and stockings, I walked barefoot across the carpet towards where patches of grey light indicated the windows. One sash was raised a little, the air coming in smelling damp like rain was on the way. I leant my elbows on the sill and breathed deep.

Ruth was probably exaggerating, I decided. Or irritable and tired. Miss Stine had been polite and charming, and she was oh so clever to be doing such important work. I’d never met a real scientist before, especially not a lady one. And the way she’d spoken, promising things I’d not thought possible, made my own mind flare up like a piece of just-struck tinder. It was impossible not to be intrigued. Anyway, we’d only be here a few days – and kept in the height of luxury too. I’d be mad not to enjoy myself.

The floor creaked as Peg came to join me at the window.

‘Lizzie,’ she said, sounding serious. ‘I hope Spider’s all right without us.’

‘He’ll be fine. Our house isn’t fancy like this place, and that’s good if you’re a cat because there’s plenty he can catch and eat.’

‘Like spiders,’ Peg agreed.

‘And flies.’

‘And mice.’

‘And the pie Mercy brought this morning …’

A noise drifted in through the open window. I stopped to listen. The sound made my blood chill.

Peg heard it too. ‘What was that?’

I didn’t answer; I didn’t know how to.

It was the howl of the wild animal. And a reminder: not all guests here at Eden Court were of the human kind.