Chapter nineteen: A new view

Trigger warnings for those who need them

No trigger warnings.

Alice gently shakes me awake as we port in Halagat.
The sky is bright-red with evening pollution and the city is up ahead, dressed in street lamps and strings of lanterns.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here.
Looks like a lot has changed.
We get up and get spat off the boat together with all the other passengers only just managing to collect our things beforehand.
“Where do we go now?” Alice asks me as her eyes dart from place to place, taking in the new surroundings.
I pull out my watch.
Only seven? Looks like we didn’t delay at all.
That’s good.
“Go to the hostel, then see if we can find a bite to eat.”
“Right away? Can’t we have a look around first?” she pouts.
“You can look on the way. If we don’t drop our bags within two hours of landing the hostel patron is allowed to cancel our room.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s to prevent rooms staying empty after a shipwreck or other calamity. Two hours is enough time to run to your rooms if the trip got delayed by an hour.”
Alice frowns at this but she doesn’t speak.
She’s been doing that a lot lately.
I give her some space to collect her thoughts but all she has to ask is “So which way should we go now?”
That’s an excellent question.
“I’ll check the wayfinder.” I tell her and walk to the large column that stands in the middle of the square.
The column is made up of four grooved poles with slats layered between them.
“How does it work?” Alice asks, eyes still glued to the wooden behemoth.
“All the names of the businesses in Halagat are written on these signs and they point in the direction you need to go. There are also signs around the city to help us further if we need to change course. So keep an eye out for those, the hostel is called The Dancing Dog”
The girl’s mouth cracks into a grin “Venusia could definitely benefit from a system like that.” she inspects the signs intently.
“I think they’ve run out of room to place the signs in.”
She chuckles “Fair point. Have you been to Charalia before?”
“I have, on a few work-related instances.”
“What kind of instances?”
“Well, sometimes people don’t want to come to you to pick up the ship and they rather have it delivered.”
Alice frowns at this. Knowing her she’s trying to form an opinion. I points to a slat that says ‘dancing dog’ and points all the way down the shoreline.
She can form an opinion on the way.
“This way.” I tell her.
We start to walk.

Her eyes keep drifting all over the place as we walk.
It’s a small miracle she doesn’t run into the many rocks, wooden posts and other people inhabiting the shoreline.
I expected to be walking straight into the city rather than around it.
Now there’s the city on one side and the sea on the other.
But it’s pretty as the sun goes down.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask Alice.
“Just that this place looks so much different from Jaobai.”
“What about Cygne?”
“More similar but still strange. The language isn’t quite right, the windows aren’t quite right, but they do use the same green clay roof tiles that I’m used to and they do dress in suits and dresses rather like Cynian fashion. Although…the shapes of the silhouette are also different. Or that’s fashions changing I’m not sure.”
“Uhu” I listen to her ramble on for a bit while I keep an eye on the road and the signs leading the way.
“-Oh and I don’t like the automobiles, they’re too loud.”
Interesting, “But carriages are loud too?”
“Granted, but they don’t sound this unpleasant.”
“I rather like the sound of engines.”
“Oh! I mean, I didn’t mean to offend. I just-“ I put a hand on her head and ruffle her hair slightly “I’m kidding. Well I do like the sound of engines but it’s okay if you don’t.”
“Oh, uh okay.” she pushes some hair behind her ear and retreats back into her mind as we walk the rest of the way.

The hostel a simple roadside affair on the edge of the city.
We didn’t get to enjoy our seaside walk for long.
But I much rather have a sit and supper anyway.
We enter the hostel and are immediately accosted by a sour-looking gentleman with a top hat and a pair of tiny spectacles “Do you have a reservation?” he sneers.
“Yes, under Castella.”
The man scurries off and checks a register bound in leather. “First name?”
I look to Alice.
“Oh uh, Alice, Alice Castella.” Alice adds quickly.
The man frowns as he flips back and forth in the ledger. “Ah, you used the Cygnian spelling, no wonder I had difficulty finding you.” He grumbles. Then gets up and walks to a tall wooden locker to pull out a key with a round brass tag. “You’re room twenty eight. Up two stairs and follow the sighs from there.”
He holds it out for a second, I gently nudge Alice to take it. She almost careens forward with my touch.
“Right, thank you sir.” She looks around.
“Left side.”
“Yes thanks you.” Alice charges the stairs.
I follow patiently.

The room will do.
I put down my things and take off my coat.
“What’s that smell?” Alice asks with disgust written all over her face.
“Cigar smoke.” I tell her, then head over to the window to balance out the smell with the smell of motorcar exhaust.
“If it’s smoke, then why doesn’t it smell sweet?”
“Opium smells sweet, cigars just smell disgusting.”
“They really do.” She pulls out her watch “So now what?”
“I’ll check downstairs to see if they still have supper, otherwise we’ll have to find a place outside to feed us.”
“All right, thank you Dana.”

“Well, luckily for you I keep a pot of soup on the fire just in case.” The tenant tells me as he signals me to follow him.
We head to a small, brick kitchen.
The man pulls two bowls off the shelf and ladles in a couple spoons full of the green substance.
“What flavour is the soup?” I ask carefully.
“Cucumber.”
“Interesting, and do you happen to have bread as well?”
“Bread too? Is the kid that hungry?”
“I don’t know but I am. We had a pretty long trip to get here.”
“Oh all right but I’ll add another quarter copper to your bill.”
“That’s all right.”
The man nods and starts rummaging through the cupboard “Say, you’re one of those manta people right?” He asks, face hidden behind the cupboard door.
My hand absentmindedly drifts to the iris-band around my arm. “Yes I am.”
“What do you specialize in?”
“Mechanics, flying and household medicine.”
“I see. Never mind then. Forget I said anything.” He pulls back a half-loaf of dark bread and two wooden spoons.
“You needed something else from a manta?”
“Not me. But…”
“But?”
“My daughter in law has had a hard time managing the household every since my son died.”
“May I ask when he passed?”
“Four months back.”
“My condolences.”
He takes a deep breath “Thank you. I’d ask if you could give her a hand cleaning up but I don’t want to insult your skill.” He sets it all down on a board.
“My skill has no feelings to insult. Where does she live? I should have some time on my hands tomorrow.”
“Really? Oh it’s only a few blocks from here.” he hands me the tray and walks to the front desk “I’ll write it down for you.”

I push the door in with my foot and find Elizabeth reading in a chair by the window.
“Luckily for us, our gracious host keeps a pot of soup at the ready just in case.” I announce myself.
She holds up her finger at me to let me know she heard.
I set down the tray as she makes her way to the end of the page.
Then she looks around for something to stick in the pages, finds the receipt of out room and tucks it in.
She puts away the book and says “Thank you Dana.” immediately followed by “What flavour is it?”
“Cucumber.”
“Cucumber?” She sounds surprised but to be frank so was I.
I hand her a spoon. “Try it first, if you hate it we can look for something else.”
“Of course, thank you.”
I try the soup and think it’s pretty good, if a little bland.
Elizabeth seems to be dislike it. Pulling back her upper lip as she eats.
But she doesn’t comment on it.
“Do you want some bread?” I offer.
“Yes, thank you Dana.”
Eating food she doesn’t like even after I offered to look for something else?
Maybe she is becoming an adult after all.
Alice looks up at me, a question mark floating over her head.
I must have let out some chuckle or something. “It’s nothing, I tell her. What have you been reading?” I gesture to the book.
“It’s called ‘The book of Wisdom’, it was in the room already.”
“What’s it about?”
“I’m not entirely sure but it has these songs in it. Like, there’s a battle between good and evil but there’s also a lot of other symbolism that I can’t seem to crack.”
She picks up the book with one hand while continuing to eat with the other.
She swallow “Like this, the Good One does deeds the Bad One doesn’t dare to do. I think the capitalization means it refers to something significant but I have no idea what.”
“I think that’s be the names of their deities.”
Alice looks at me with question marks floating above her head.
“This book isn’t just a piece of fiction or a collection of songs. It’s a religious text. To some people these stories are very important.”
“You mean like the joulao in Hamala’s cabin?”
“Exactly.”
“Does that mean I wasn’t supposed to touch it? Did somebody forget theirs? Maybe we should tell the tenant it’s here.”
“I think the tenant put it here on purpose. In case someone stays here who forgot theirs. Then could still read this one.”
She nods, wipes her bowl clean with her last bit of bread and then starts flicking through the book again. From the expression on her face she’s once again completely lost in thought.
I collect her now-empty bowl. “I’ll bring this back to the owner and ask whether I’m right about the book being here on purpose. After that it’s probably a good idea to call it a night. Gotta have your wits about you for the test tomorrow.”
She signals she understands, I chuckle and leave the room.

The next morning, after breakfast, we head to the first testing location.
A school-building called ‘Willows Way’ with a copper roof and large round windows.
Alice seems more sluggish than usual, dragging her feet behind her rather than walking in front.
“Did you sleep well?” I ask her.
“Oh, uh, not really. But I’m fine.”
“How come?”
“Huh?”
“How come you couldn’t sleep?”
“Oh! Uh…”
“MILDRED HOPE MURDERER OR VICTIM? RACETRACK OWNER TELLS HIS TALE!” A newspaper boy cries out.
Alice startles and looks at the source of the sound.
A small boy in a flat cat.
The newsie pounces “Paper miss.”
“Uh, how much is the paper?”
“Quarter-copper miss.”
“Oh, uh in that case, yes please.” she starts looking for her wallet. I pick a half-copper from my pocket and hand it to the boy. “Keep the change.”
“Thank you miss.” The boy gleams before tipping his cap and rushing to his next victim.
I give the paper to Alice. She looks at it confounded “But it was only a quarter copper.”
“You’re expected to tip for your paper. These kids don’t get paid nearly enough by their bosses to flog these and the customer needs to make up the difference out here.” not to mention the actual flogging if they don’t make enough money for their boss.
“That’s odd.”
“It is how it is. Even as a manta I have to pick my battles. And I don’t think I’d win against the practice of tipping any time soon.”
Alice hums, nose already deep inside the article.
“How about you read the paper after the test?” I ask politely.
“Oh! Right, sorry.” She rolls up the paper and stuffs it in her pocket.

We find the school with little trouble.
After a while you find that a growing group of people are heading into the same direction, so you just end up following them.
The school has an arched copper roof and big round windows.
We follow the crowd inside.

Inside is a long hall with three doors leading away into the classrooms. Above each of the rooms is a sign that denotes the age range of the students; zero to four, five to eight and nine to twelve.
I assume today there’s an exception.
“Do you know which classroom you need to go to?” I ask.
“Not really to be honest.”
“Then let’s ask.” I want to head to the first door but she grabs my sleeve. I look back.
“I can do it myself.” she tells me.
“Of course.” I watch as Alice walks to the door and enters without knocking.
Then returns a short minute later with a red face and the announcement “It’s the one at the end of the hall.”
“Then we’ll go there.”
Inside the room we find a tall lady in a dark-green dress-suit, standing right behind the door.
“Name” She states shortly.
“Alice Chatman.”
The woman drags her finger down a list and then tells her “Seat fifteen.”
Alice nods “Thank you.” She then looks at the tables nicely arranged in a six by six grid. And furrows her brow at them.
“Name.” The woman asks me.
I wave away the question “Oh I’m just here to drop her off. Are you okay Alice?”
The girl’s ears grow red, she swallows hard and then turns to the lady in green “Excuse me Miss. The desks don’t have numbers on them. How do I know which one is fifteen.”
“Count front to back from door to window.”
“Oh I see.” She turns to me “I’ll be fine Dana, see you in an hour.”
I nod. “See you in an hour. Good luck.”
I watch her count her way to her desk for a bit.
Then pick the note with the address I got from our tenant from my breast pocket and head on my way.

I knock on the door of the little house.
“Yes?”
“Good morning madam. My name is Dana and I’m a manta-“
She rolls her eyes “Not interested.” and moves to close the door.
“I’d like to help you clean your house if you let me. Your father in law sent me.”
At this her expression turns from annoyance to outright hostility. “Seriously?”
“If you don’t need help then I can leave again. I didn’t mean to offend.”
“No, wait. Come in and tell me what you see.” She steps aside.
I enter the house, expecting to see a mess or at least some clutter but instead. “I see a perfectly ordinary looking living room.”
“Thank you!” She sighs “You have no idea how I’ve longed to hear that. Can I offer you a cup of tea?”
“You can.”
“Have a seat, I’ll put on a kettle.” she says while retreating into a second room.
I sit down on a simple wooden chair and try to find some sort of justification for the old tenant’s concern.
“Do you take anything in your tea?”
“No thank you.”
“All right.” She returns with a tray for two and sets it down on the table “There you go.”
“Thank you.”
She sits down across from me and picks up her own cup “Ever since I married Jonathan that man has been tirelessly looking for fault in me. Now that he’s passed I guess he just stopped being subtle about it.”
“I take it you don’t need any help from me then?”
“Oh I do, I need someone to tell that grumpy old bastard to mind his own business.”
“I’m not sure that would help your relationship with him.”
She grunts loudly “I know, but all the really cares about is Jonathan junior, I’m just an unfortunate consequence.”
“You have a son?”
“Yup. I love him dearly but he’s also the only reason his granddad and I have to speak with one another. And I think if it were up to him he’d just take him away from me and cut out the middle man.” She picks up her cup and takes a sip from her tea “I won’t let him of course.”
Realizing I accidentally ran into a much different issue than promised, I pick up my teacup. Have a swig and get ready for a nice, long, talk.
“Could you elaborate, please?”

An hour later I find Alice sitting on the steps of the school, nose stuck in the newspaper.
“How did it go?”
“I think it went well. I thought the answers were pretty obvious. But then on the other hand that may mean I didn’t think about them hard enough and then I could have it all wrong.”
“I doubt that’s the case.” I sit down next to her. “Anything interesting in the news?”
“Remember Jimmy Hope and Nicholas Cain?”
“Who?”
“Jimmy Hope and Nicholas Cain. Back when we were in Callahaggy the city was in mourning because of two dead race-car drivers. One died in the race while the other got hit by a car only a few days later.
Oh right, we ran into a notice when the others were looking for new identities. “I vaguely remember that.”
“Well, it now turns out the car Cain got run over with was his own. It wasn’t at the scene of the crime but found five miles away by the docks.
And to top it off Jimmy Hope’s sister, Mildred has gone missing. So people are speculating whether she’s running away from the press to grieve in peace. Or whether she’s running from the law instead.”
Sounds to me like a lot of people having opinions but very little basis to put them on.“What do you think? Do you think she did it?” I ask.
Alice shrugs. “I don’t have enough data. It sure seems suspicious but I don’t think suspicious is enough to judge people over.”
“Good, now how about we have a bit to eat and discuss what to do on your day off tomorrow?”
“Sounds good.”