Page 65 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
Chills raced down Penny’s back. The young lordling might have killed him at that. If he had, Penny couldn’t blame him.
Soon, they were far enough from the shore that the world actually seemed peaceful. The steady rhythm of the waves and the rush of the wind were the only sounds besides the stroke of the oars through the water. Greer kept rowing as if their lives depended on it, and they just might have.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Penny asked at one point, when Greer stopped rowing and just sat there, panting with the effort.
“We need to get to Newquay at the very least,” Greer answered. “If we’re not on the first train to London, we’re in trouble.”
Penny nodded in agreement. “Let me row for a while.”
Greer grimaced, then shifted so Penny could take his place. Penny still didn’t know what he was doing, but his clumsy attempts at rowing were better than nothing.
“I don’t ever want to see the sea again after this,” Penny said with a morbid laugh as Greer checked on Lord Fabian. “I’ll stay close to land from now on, thank you very much.”
Greer grunted, which might have been amusement or agreement. “You’re nearly frozen through,” he said, speaking to Lord Fabian.
Lord Fabian didn’t answer. He had fallen into a half-stupor once things had quieted down.
“My clothes might fit him,” Penny said breathlessly as he rowed. “Good thing we have our cases with us.”
Greer nodded and made another sound, then stretched forward, reaching past Penny to fetch one of the cases in the front of the boat.
It was all so surreal. As Penny rowed through the ocean, something he’d never imagined he’d do in his life, Greer opened his case and sorted through the clothing there. Greer managed to dress Lord Fabian as the boat bobbed along, but with very little help from the man himself. Whatever strength Lord Fabian had had in the moment when he’d lunged at his former tormentor and most likely drowned the man, it was gone now.
By the time the dark outline of Newquay came into view on the horizon, Penny was so exhausted he thought his arms might drop off. He and Greer took turns rowing through the night, but neither of them had enjoyed a good meal in far too long. As they rowed their way to a beach close to the town, but not too close, all Penny could think about was food and whether they might be able to get some.
Dawn was just beginning to break as the bow of the boat hit sand. Greer jumped out and dragged the boat the rest of the way onto land, and as soon as it was safe, Penny helped Lord Fabian out onto the sand. The young man was shaking violently at that point and still mostly insensible.
“We aren’t going to be able to walk into the train station and buy tickets in this state,” Penny said grimly once they’d hauled their cases and Lord Fabian up onto a hill near the shore.
“That’s where your skills come into play, isn’t it?” Greer asked, nodding to the small village only a few hundred yards to the side.
Penny followed Greer’s gaze to the collection of small buildings and the laundry that hung on a line, flapping in the breeze. Stealing some poor fisherman’s clothing likely wouldn’t help them once they reached the train station, but it was a solid idea.
An hour later, once the sun was up, though not very far, they’d walked to the outskirts of Newquay, where Penny liberated clean, dry clothing for the three of them, as well as handfuls of berries from obliging bushes and some milk from sleepy cows. They managed to keep their cases with them, though the contents were likely ruined, so that by the time they reached the train station in Newquay, they only received a few strange looks instead of outright hostility.
“We’re in luck,” Greer announced as he returned from the ticket office with three tickets for a first-class compartment in his hand. “There were still seats, and we’ll have the entire compartment to ourselves.”
“Thank whatever gods still exist,” Penny sighed in relief, then helped Greer steer Lord Fabian to the waiting train.
He was almost convinced they were free and clear. Almost.
Once they had Lord Fabian tucked safely into their compartment, Greer guarding him, Penny hopped out again with a handful of coins, hoping to buy enough food to carry them all the way to London. He had fifteen minutes until the train would depart, which was more than enough time to slip out to the street in front of the station to buy several pasties, cheese, and fruit from the vendors who had set up there.
That was where he saw Hammond and the guard from the castle.
“…a red-headed man, a gentleman with black hair, and a frail lad with blond hair,” Hammond was telling a policeman who stood near the end of the row of stalls. “They may all be soaked and in poor condition.”
“I can’t say as I have seen anyone fitting those descriptions,” the policeman said in return.
Penny tugged the cap he’d nicked along with their clothes farther over his hair. He paid the woman selling cheese, tucked all of his purchases tightly under his arm, and walked casuallyback toward the station. Running would have been a dead giveaway that he was up to no good.
That didn’t stop his heart from hammering as he showed a porter his ticket, then made his way to the train, which was clearly ready to depart.
“Is everything alright?” Greer asked as Penny leapt into the compartment, then immediately turned to lower the blinds on the windows.
Penny shook his head, then nodded to the sliver of window he’d left at the bottom of his window.
Greer crouched to look out, then caught his breath. “Shit,” he hissed.
