The trouble with hairpins was sometimes they took an awfully long time to pick a lock. Lily had been at it a good hour when she finally heard the mechanism click. She tried the handle and the door swung open.
She and Malkin peered around its edge, before slinking out into the guild’s corridor.
“Claptraptions!” cried a voice behind them. “Where do you think you’re going?” It was Captain Springer.
“Nowhere,” Lily tried.
“I should think not.” The captain folded his arms in front of his chest. “London’s a very dangerous place, tiddler! Your papa told me to stand on guard outside your room all night if I have to, while he joins the search for Robert and the rest of them.”
“But don’t you see?” Lily said. “That’s exactly why you must let Malkin and me go. We’ve worked out where Jack’s going, and we can get Robert back.”
“I don’t know.” Captain Springer tutted and clucked like a cooling engine. “Better to leave things to the police.”
“They don’t have a clue, Captain. And neither does Papa. He wouldn’t listen!”
“Sometimes adults don’t.”
Lily wrung her hands together. “What can we do? We need to save Robert. It’s down to us. We’re the only ones who can do it – you have to let us go!”
“Sprocket-springs!” Captain Springer said. “What a decision…” He thought about it for a long time. “I’m afraid I can’t disobey specific instructions,” he said finally. “It goes against all my clockwork. But, perhaps, if I wasn’t paying attention… I’m only a clueless mechanical. If you ran away, I probably wouldn’t be able to find you. You and Malkin could probably sneak down the stairs, while I was looking the other way, and I wouldn’t even notice. Or perhaps I ran down during the night and you got past me that way.” He turned and stared hard the other way, as if he hadn’t even been looking for them.
“Thank you, Captain.” Lily patted his hand, then nodded to Malkin. “Come on, Malkin, we need to go to The Daily Cog to get Anna – we have to save Robert.”
They ran down the corridor, past the retired mechanicals in their cases, and down the stairs of the guild. As they sneaked past the large workroom, Lily saw that the door was ajar. She peered in, but there was only the elephant in the room. Lily was glad Papa wasn’t around – if he’d caught her loitering in the corridor, he would’ve sent her back to bed at once, and this time he would’ve made sure to double-lock the door.
Quickly, she signalled to Malkin and they sneaked onwards into the lobby of the guild…where Mr Porter – the mechanical porter – was wide awake and guarding the entrance to the building.
They hid behind an archway and peered out. To get to the main door, they would have to get past Mr Porter’s desk.
“Malkin,” Lily whispered. “You’re going to have to create a distraction.”
“What sort of distraction?” Malkin mumbled.
“I don’t know, do I?” Lily said. “A distracting one.”
“You want me to create a distracting distraction?”
“Yes!” she hissed.
“Fine. Then that is what I’ll do.”
Malkin raced out from their hiding place, barking as he did so. And when he reached Mr Porter, he pulled the paperwork off the mechanical’s desk and ran off with it down the corridor in the other direction.
Mr Porter gave a yelp of alarm that quickly turned to anger, and he stood and chased after Malkin, waving a metal fist.
Quick as you like, Lily sneaked out of the guild, leaving the door ajar for Malkin.
Once outside, she hid in the dark behind the doric column furthest from the entrance lamp, and waited cautiously for Malkin to catch up. And a few minutes later he darted out the door in a streak of orange, and paused on the steps, snuffling about. Lily poked her head out from behind the column and whistled to get his attention.
“You managed to lose Mr Porter then?” she asked as he wound towards her.
“He slipped on the polished parquet floor,” Malkin said with a spiky yellow-toothed grin. “We’d best get going before any guild member comes to see what the commotion’s about, and helps him to his feet.”
Lily nodded. They crept across the courtyard, through the gate, and out into the main street. Then hurried through back alleys towards Fleet Street.
Lily climbed from the top of the ladder and ducked under the G of the Daily Cog sign. The rooftops of London glistened in the gaslight of street lamps. Behind the shadowy dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, the night sky was flecked with heavy clouds, jagged as broken roof shingles. It looked as if a big storm was on its way.
She unwound Malkin from around her neck and dropped him by his scruff on the rooftop. Then she knocked at the door of Ladybird’s gondola, and pushed it open and entered.
Tolly was sleeping on the floor of the engine room. Lily tried to shake him awake, and when the paper boy wouldn’t get up, Malkin stuck his nose in Tolly’s ear.
“Oy! Gerr’off!” Tolly shouted, opening his eyes and shooing the fox away. But when he saw Lily, he smiled wide with surprise. “Lily, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
“I’ve worked it out, Tolly!” Lily cried.
“Worked what out?” Anna asked, ambling in from her berth in the corridor, with a loud yawn.
“Everything!”
“You should be with your father.”
“He’s gone out searching with the police,” Lily said. “But he doesn’t know where to look, none of them do. The map on the back of the Moonlocket – where Jack’s going – it’s the Fleet River, the Fleet Sewer! And it goes right under Queen’s Crescent, just as you said, Tolly, remember?”
Tolly rubbed his eyes wearily. “I think so…”
“So I’m sure that’s where Jack’ll be. He’s headed to recover the diamond. But if we hurry, right away, we might just be able to catch him.”
Anna shook her head. “No, Lily, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Lily felt that sinking feeling once again. She knew what was coming next…
“You’ve been in enough trouble as is,” Anna scolded. “It will be much safer if we let the police deal with this. I shall go and speak with them immediately. Tolly, why don’t you take Malkin and Lily straight back to the guild? And make sure you don’t dawdle or detour on the way. It’s not safe to be wandering off to look for Jack.”
Tolly held a lantern up high to light their way along Fleet Street as they walked towards the Mechanists’ Guild.
“Don’t take me back to my papa, Tolly,” Lily protested. “He won’t listen. He’ll lock me up again as soon as he gets back. He doesn’t understand Robert’s my friend and I owe it to him to do all I can to save him. I made a promise to look after him. I can’t just sit around and hope for the best.”
“I don’t know…” Tolly said. “Anna was very firm.”
“Please,” she begged.
“Remember, the longer we deliberate, the less time there is,” Malkin added gravely. He gave Tolly a big puppy-eyed look, and made a little whimpering, whining noise for good effect.
Tolly ignored him. “Anna’s only thinking of what’s best. And, as for your father, he’s probably just trying to look out for you too. This is a dangerous situation—”
“It’s not just that,” Lily replied. “He doesn’t trust me to do things on my own, because I’m different.”
“Different how? You look the same as anyone else.”
Lily felt sick. She couldn’t tell him about the Cogheart. He would think she wasn’t right. Think there was something wrong with her. Would he ever speak to her again if he knew?
She needed to tell him, but it felt as if she had swallowed a boulder. It sat like a heavy cold lump in her chest beside her heart, blocking the words from coming out.
“What is it?” he asked.
“If I told you the truth about me, you might not want to be my friend.”
“Why not?”
“It’s… I’m…there’s something unusual about me…” She put her hand to her chest. Her skin prickled with an electric discomfort. She wanted to reach out and take his hand, but her arm was shaking so badly she thought she might not be able to lift it.
“Papa thinks I can’t cope with anything because I’m a hybrid. Because I have a mechanical heart.”
Tolly stopped dead in his tracks and whistled. “Blimey, a mechanical heart – I ain’t never heard of such a thing.”
“It’s called the Cogheart – it’s made of clockwork and it might go on for ever. People have tried to steal and possess it. That’s why Papa worries so. But I want to take risks, do things. And today I need to rescue Robert. Despite the dangers, I have to prove Papa wrong. I need to show him that, just because I’m a hybrid, doesn’t mean I need to be kept safe every moment of every day. The truth is, I’m as strong as anybody else.”
Something about this chimed with Tolly; she could see it in his eyes. “I know what you mean,” he said. “People are always judging me the same way. Calling me a guttersnipe, or a ragamuffin. They think I’m not as clever or capable as them because of who I am. But, the truth is, I’m more so. I only wish I didn’t constantly have to prove it.”
He stopped in his tracks. “All right,” he relented. “I’ll take you to Queen’s Crescent. But, whatever happens, I’m sticking to you like glue.”
“And me too,” said Malkin, jumping up and nipping at Lily’s dress.