The eyeball bat looked from her to the stack and then back again several times. She also looked at the haul and realized its concern. That’s an old blanket. It may not be able to hold more than four. It certainly would not hold six heavy books from here to Belamy’s place, but would it hold for the few moments it would take to get the makeshift bag down to the street? We’re gonna find out. She nodded to Rattle to show she understood, then pointed back to the shelf to indicate she was good with the risk.
When she let it go, Rattle landed softly again, and began its slow creep to the second shelf. Within a few minutes it had made a fifth selection, and while Skate was getting that one off its place, it made the sixth. Worth the risk, she decided.
After both books were added to the taller-than-expected stack, Rattle crawled back to the window and perched on the ledge. Skate wrapped the blanket around the stack and tied it, making a passable bag out of the old cloth. There was not nearly as much room as she wanted to grab the bundle by, but that was the trade-off of taking more books.
Seeing the bag made and ready, Rattle jumped into the snowy night air. Besides a brief rush of air as it took off, the creature’s exit was as silent as could be hoped for. It would wait for Skate and the bag in the street below. Originally, it had been just going to go with Skate to help as her lookout, but with two more books in tow, it would now be helping to carry the load.
The load in question was considerably heavier than had been accounted for in their planning, which made the next part of the job much more difficult. The books had to be tossed out the window to land safely in the snow. “The snow and the blanket should protect the books well enough,” Belamy had said when Skate had explained her plan to him, “and I should be able to fix any damage that might occur anyway.” With the extra weight and lack of any meaningful way to get a sufficient grip on the blanket bag, it would end up being less of a throw and more of a shove out of the open window. But as long as the bag stayed tied on the way down, it would be fine.
Skate strained to get the bag up onto the ledge, which groaned under the weight of the books. The noise conjured rustling from Gherun’s bedroom. Swearing mentally, Skate gave a great push (or a push as great as her small frame would allow) and sent the tied bag tumbling over the edge. She closed the window with as much care as she could in her haste, and bolted back for the door. Her hand was on the handle when she heard another door open.
“What the devil are you doing?” Gherun’s low voice was groggy and angry. She assumed his expression matched how he sounded, but did not stop to check. His door slammed behind her on her way out of his neatly organized home. The scramble down the servants’ stairs was both undignified and noisy. There was no time to change into her first set of clothes. Can’t leave ’em, though. Even an idiot would be able to trace those things back to Belamy if they took the time. Seeing how much money was represented in a place like this, there was little doubt at least one idiot would, in fact, take the time, so the clothes had to leave.
Skate was passing the second-floor landing when she felt steps other than hers in the narrow corridor. She stopped and listened. They were not fast or coming from above. She cut back and turned out on the second floor, throwing her back to the wall to let whomever it was pass. The night manager’s unpleasantly whiny voice mumbled past her as he ascended.
She caught only small bits of his irritated muttering: “Bully…entitled…useless…” Gherun must have rung for a servant rather than chase her himself. Judging by his plodding speed, the night manager was unaware of the nature of the call. After he had gone a few steps past the landing, Skate jumped back down the stairs, taking them two or three at once to get to the servants’ dressing room.
The servants’ floor was as dark as she’d left it, but she knew where her destination was this time. That knowledge, combined with her rejection of stealth in favor of speed, made her trek in and out of the dressing room much faster than her previous visit. She threw the nice coat on and stuffed the boots and dress into the servants’ blouse that she was going to end up keeping, apparently. The gloves, she took a few seconds to don in order to gain some protection from the cold. Then it was back up the stairs, though mercifully only one flight. Her clothes were bulging weirdly in her uniform, and every step brought a toe of one of the boots digging into her ribs.
On her way up, she heard a fast rumbling from above. The night manager had apparently been apprised of the situation and was hastily making his way back to the ground floor; whether he meant to chase her down himself or only alert the nearest patrol, Skate neither knew nor cared. She had reached the ground floor ahead of him.
She shot out into the main common room and slammed the stairway door shut behind her. A heavy table sat nearby, which she heaved in front of the closed door. It wouldn’t stop anyone from getting through, but might slow them down. She brought her shoulder and arm down to bear the impact of pushing open the heavy front door.
The night outside was cold, snowy, and quiet. Skate knew about where the bag would be, and knew that she had only moments to get to the books before the area was swarming with Guards and servants out to stop her.
She rounded the corner of the impressive building, cringing as the snow filled in the low-resting servants’ shoes with each step. In the lamp-lit street, it was not hard to find the blue blanket-bag.
It had not split or spilled on its way down, and Skate would have shouted for joy if she’d had the breath and senselessness to attract attention to herself. Instead, she ran through the snow and, after getting as good a grip as she could, hefted the haul over her shoulder, stomping through the snow toward the alley where a familiar set of thin black spider’s legs hung half in shadow and flapping bat’s wings caught her ear.
Two feet into the shadows, Skate dropped the blue bag with a heavy thud; more snow caught by overhanging rooftops meant less cushion on the ground below. She quickly untied her makeshift bag and turned to Rattle.
“Get two of them, go as high as you can to stay out of sight, and get yourself back to Belamy. I’ll meet you there. Get in through the window to my room. Got it?”
The thing flapped in agitation and pointed a leg at itself and then to Skate.
“I’ll be fine. I’m from these streets, remember? I can get there safe enough. Go on!”
Skate hoisted the top two books in her arms for Rattle to gather more easily. This time, it accepted the load without any objection, though the wings began to flap with effort rather than anger or concern. Skate dropped back down and tied up her bag again, giving herself a much easier amount of empty bag to grab hold of. Rattle disappeared with surprising speed into the night sky.
A whiny, irritating male shout broke the silence of the night air: “Guards! Thief! Guards!” The night manager had evidently acquired a bell before getting outside, because a ringing clamor accompanied his panicked call. She heard another voice; the manager had brought out the servants’ entrance door guard to aid in his hollering. The shouting and ringing followed Skate while she made her escape, but got quieter and quieter the farther away she ran; the night manager had not given chase.
Exhilaration, giddiness, and fear mixed and shot through her as she snuck around corners and through narrow openings. The thrill of escape was always a heady sauce, and being nearly caught only made the effect better and worse. Being terrified and alert and successful all at once made her legs pump with ease despite the cold, made her hearing sharp despite the blood rushing like a river behind her ears, made a tangled knot in her stomach even as she fought back fits of laughter. The wave of contradictory and intoxicating sensations was familiar, but never had they felt so intense. Is it because of the mark being so rich, or the worth of the goods, or something else? she wondered as she backed against a wall, having heard heavy steps moving quickly down the next street.