Ash and Quill(90)

Dario came up the steps, where Brendan and Jess were locked in communication, and said, "You never told me you lived like a real grandee, scrubber. I'm impressed."

"Yes," Jess said, "you would be."



The warm welcome lasted through a receiving line of uniformed servants-all armed, Jess noted, even the maids and cooks-and stepping inside the hall was like taking a trip a thousand years into the past. The place was obviously well maintained, but ancient, from the enormous carved beams that rose far into the shadows, to the three huge fireplaces big enough to burn half a tree at a time. There were giant feasting tables that could seat at least a hundred, and tattered old battle flags hanging from the walls.

Best of all, the hall was lined with bookshelves, double Jess's height, that stretched the length of the room on both sides. A dizzying archive, and everything in it original. Callum Brightwell's warehouse, right out in public view.

That, for the first time, made him feel less trapped.

"Mr. Grainger will show you all to your rooms," Jess's father announced, and then beckoned to Jess. "Not you, boy. I'll need reports. And I'll need to speak with you and your big friend Thomas. Oh, and I understand you have books you've rescued from the Black Archives of Alexandria. I'll be needing those as well."

"There's my father," Jess murmured to Thomas. "I was afraid someone had taken his place."

"Do you trust him?" Thomas asked, just as quietly.

"Do you?"

"I trust everyone. Until I see I shouldn't. But you know him."

"Yeah," Jess agreed. "I do."

That wasn't an answer, but Thomas didn't push for one; they walked together after Callum, through the great hall. A grand stone staircase big enough to march five across up it lay beyond, and split to the left and right. Callum went right, and Jess had been correct: he didn't need the cane at all.

The top of the stairs led to another grand hallway lined with tapestries and paintings, and at the end of it, with a fine lord's view of the deer park and gardens beyond the walls, lay his father's office. It was surprisingly familiar. Jess remembered the desk, with its carved crouching lions. Da must have had it rescued out of London. More shelves of books, expensive warm rugs, and a smell of leather and old paper.

This was like coming home.

"Sit," his da said, and took his own advice. His winged desk chair was new, and quite like a throne. Jess took one of the three matching seats that faced the desk. The one Thomas chose was almost big enough for him. "Books?"

"They're coming," Jess said. "Dario and Khalila will deliver them."

"Good." His father sat back and studied them. Warm smile, but his eyes were like cold pebbles at the bottom of a frozen lake. "I understand that you built the unfortunate Philadelphians your press. And it worked."

"We did," Thomas said. "And it did." He had his bag with him, and now he pulled out a copy of the blueprints that he'd sketched aboard the ship. "Here is what we built. Of course, we can improve on it."

Brightwell picked up the paper and peered at it closely. Jess knew that frown. It was mostly for show, done to get the best deal in any negotiation. It was so ingrained that he doubted his father even noticed he was doing it. "Doesn't look like much, to be changing the world. That's what you're promising?"


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"Yes," Thomas said. "If you give me the tools, Jess and I will build one for you. We'll need supplies. I can make you a list."

"Then, do that." Somehow, Callum made it sound like a failure that Thomas hadn't done so already. "You find my son an adequate assistant, or do you need someone better trained?"

Thomas looked up, and for the first time, his smile flattened and his blue eyes seemed darker. "I don't take your meaning, Mr. Brightwell. Do you not think your son is good enough for such a job?"

"I suppose he's bright enough, but-"

"He is bright enough," Thomas said. "And I don't need anyone else."

For the first time that Jess could remember, his da didn't have a ready response. He parted his lips and looked at Thomas curiously, then shook his head. "If you're satisfied," he said. "Of course."

Thomas stood up and took the plans back, to Callum's astonishment-and, if he had to admit it, to Jess's own surprise, too. It was a bold move. One that Callum debated challenging, and then clearly decided to let pass. "When can you start building this wonder?"