CHAPTER ELEVEN

Fear caught at her body and dragged her backwards, but not before she saw the shock of fury and revulsion that crossed Sorrotore’s face. He exited the box at a run.

She darted back into the shadows and turned to Arkady and Samuel. She fought to conquer the fear, to beat it down; she would not let it swallow her.

‘We have to go,’ she said.

‘Go where? This is where we live!’ said Arkady.

‘Sorrotore’s here. He saw me. And, if he finds me … I have his ring with me.’

Arkady’s face creased. ‘What ring?’

‘I took a ring from his mantelpiece – I think it’s evidence of something horrible. Someone came searching for it, under my bed—’

‘But—’ began Arkady, but Samuel interrupted him. He had seen the panic in her eyes.

‘We can’t wait here,’ he said. ‘The audience is allowed to come backstage, if they’re rich enough. We’ll go out the back way.’

They darted out of the wings, down the corridor. Vita stumbled on the slippery floor and fell, scraping her palms on the wood, but then she was up again and her eyes defied comment. They ran for the stage door, which was ajar, the night air blowing in. Samuel was ahead and darted through it.

Then without warning Samuel jerked back inside, snatched open another door off the corridor and pushed her through it. The three stood in a chaotic props cupboard: masks, capes, and a donkey’s head were stacked, teetering, on shelves. A pile of hair showed itself to be a stock of false moustaches.

‘What’s going on?’ hissed Arkady. ‘This is hardly the moment to be accessorising.’

‘There’s a man waiting out there,’ said Samuel.

‘What did he look like?’ asked Vita.

Samuel shook his head. ‘I only glimpsed him – but tall, and dark-haired. He had a rich person’s face, and a lot of oil in his hair.’

‘That sounds like him.’ Vita stared around them. The room was windowless. ‘Are we trapped?’

‘We’ll go out the other way,’ said Samuel. ‘Through the lobby, and the main doors, like everyone else – we’ll blend in.’

Arkady grabbed his father’s top hat from the shelf. ‘Put this on.’ It slipped down low over her ears. He snatched up one of the moustaches and tried to fix it to Vita’s upper lip.

‘Sure,’ said Samuel, ‘because that’s the way to blend in – a girl in a moustache and a top hat.’

‘Then what?’ said Arkady.

Vita put the hat and moustache back on the shelf, and Samuel offered her a dark-brown trilby from a hook. It fitted perfectly. She tilted it low over her eyes.

‘Better,’ she said. ‘Let’s go.’

They ran back through the corridors, through two side doors, and they were out, suddenly, in the sparkling lobby, the vast sweeping staircase ahead of them. A family of six – two adults and four children, all exquisitely dressed – were moving slowly down the stairs, the chattering three-year-old setting the pace. Samuel gave Vita a push, and she fell in behind them, trying to look as if she belonged.

At the bottom of the stairs stood the woman in the dusty-pink dress, looking at her watch. Nearby, a girl with a white-blonde plait was winding a thin coat tight around her shoulders.

Look normal, Vita told herself, scanning the crowd. And indeed, to the people passing by, she looked like just another theatregoer, albeit one with unusual taste in hats.

The girl with the blonde plait turned, and Vita’s stomach swooped. It was Silk, her mouth turned down like a horseshoe, her eyes focused on something behind Vita.

Vita twisted to follow Silk’s glance – to where a foot now appeared around the corner of the building, and Sorrotore’s black cashmere coat swung into view.

Vita slipped behind the tallest of the children as Sorrotore passed by.

It all happened very fast. Silk crossed in front of Sorrotore, her head low, and her hand flickered out.

Sorrotore was of a class trained not to see the poor. He ignored her, and called out to the woman in pink. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear – I did say not to wait! I thought I saw an old business associate.’ He took her arm, and turned, once, to scan the steps behind him. Vita pressed herself further into the family group, head down, sliding behind the mother’s back. Sorrotore gave a hiss of annoyance, turned left, and started walking with the woman in the direction of Central Park. Silk set off in the opposite direction in a walk that was almost a run, and Vita drew a breath.

The family raised six collective eyebrows, finding a girl in a trilby and red boots suddenly in their midst, but the adrenaline thundering through Vita’s blood protected her from embarrassment. Arkady and Samuel came running down the steps.

‘Did he see you?’ said Arkady.

‘Are you OK?’ said Samuel.

Vita nodded. ‘We need to follow.’

Rimsky fluttered down from the rooftop of Carnegie Hall, landing on Arkady’s shoulder.

‘Follow Sorrotore?’ he said. ‘Are you mad?’

‘No. Follow a girl.’

Samuel smiled his half-smile. ‘A specific girl, or just girl pot luck?’

‘I’ll explain on the way. I know where she’ll be.’