Mistress of the Storm by M. L. Welsh

– was it aimed at
her
?
    Then she glanced up at Grandmother – and jumped in fright. The old lady was so angry she looked like a completely different person. Her previously elegant face was distorted with fury. Verity was terrified. She’d never seen anyone change so dramatically. So it was Grandmother the boy was signalling to … Now Verity was even more confused. Did that mean he
knew
her …?
    ‘Pipe down.’
Isaac Tempest pulled Jeb firmly back into his seat on the dinghy. Jeb glowered but didn’t argue. ‘There’s nothing to be gained from such bravado,’ his grandfather said firmly.
    ‘I’m not scared,’ muttered Jeb defiantly.
    ‘Well, you should be,’ said Isaac. Changing the subject, he nudged his grandson to look in the direction of the quay. ‘See there: Captain Abednego making his way to the Spyglass, if I’m not mistaken.’
    Jeb followed Isaac’s nod to find the dark giant. Abednego carried his powerful frame with an agile grace that seemed only to emphasize his strength. Ignoring the furtive glances and whispered comments, he expertly tied his boat to the town jetty and made his way across Wellow quay to the famous Spyglass Inn, pausing only to stare openly at the lone Preventative Officer who was happily making his way through the crowd.
    Jasper Cutgrass had only just started working his way through the files of the Town Records Bureau, but he was certain that being in Wellow itself would bring him closer to the truth. For Jasper was a man obsessed. His sole preoccupation since he was a child had been the mythical technologies attributed to those smuggling villains, the Gentry. Wellow had so many records and documents he’d never seen before. He was positive the Gentry’s paper trail would reveal what he sought.
    Meanwhile he couldn’t resist taking a few minutes out to see for himself the characters so familiar to him from the scandal sheets, articles and papers he had pored over during his long years of research.
    There – closer still than his first glimpse last night – was Abednego. Jasper had seen drawings of the famed captain, read descriptions and imagined him for himself. But now he was just yards away, truly larger than life.
    And Isaac Tempest – sitting in that boat with a young lad. The notorious Isaac Tempest: charmer, rogue, astutebusinessman … and former leading light of the Gentry. So it was true, he really
was
still alive.
    For a second everything went black as a gigantically obese woman smacked head-on into his chest, winding him completely. ‘Mind where yer going,’ she snapped aggressively. A young man with a very unpleasant odour stepped around him.
    Oblivious to the pain, Jasper hugged himself with excitement. That had to be two of the Usages. The unique combination of facial features was a clear giveaway. Jasper’s face – so unreadable – betrayed nothing, but inside he was a maelstrom of emotion. Wellow was more than he could ever have hoped for. Soon, he knew, he would find out who had made the precious Gentry device that he kept in the bag at his side.
    Villainous hurried to catch up as his mother continued to shove and push her way through the crowd.
    ‘What the hell’s a customs man doing in Wellow?’ she spat. Through the crowd she sighted her quarry. Abednego was on the other side of the quay, heading from the Spyglass to the jetty. There could be no mistaking the dark Goliath.
    As he followed his mother, the youngest Usage noticed that Abednego was lost in thought. Perhaps it was his imagination, but there seemed to be something in his bearing that spoke of loss. And fear.
    Villainous said nothing to Mother Usage, of course. Anything that didn’t concern her was meaningless to her.Furiously she barged her way through the gawping strangers and their squawking children, seething with impatience. At last she came within snatching distance of her prey.
    Mother Usage was a whale of a woman; a corpulent hulk of flesh so big your first thought was