After the War: A Novella of the Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney Page A
Authors: J. Kathleen Cheney
Ads: Link
head. “So the Russian curses you
—
I mean João
—
to forget everything, using the dead man’s blood as the sacrifice, and he and the remaining man flee.”
Alejandro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait. If I was incapacitated, how could I know they fled? So that I could put that in the story, I mean.”
“This is a story,” Joaquim said patiently. “Perhaps when you wrote it, you simply inserted the most logical conclusion.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t made things up. Now they couldn’t be sure the man who’d cursed him was a Russian or that he’d even been involved in an effort to steal German battle plans. He might have been brought in to help steal someone’s lunch menus. This wasn’t evidence at all, and it didn’t bring back his memories. “How does knowing this help us?”
“It gives me information to give to Bastião,” the duke said, “something more to pry with. We know the approximate date, and now we have an idea what the operation was intended to do. With that he might be able to wheedle out the names of the others involved.”
“And the one with a Russian name is the one who can take this curse off me,” Alejandro said.
Serafina regarded Alejandro with knitted brows.
Joaquim’s lips pursed as he thought that over. “True. I suspect the Russian isn’t the one pursuing Alejandro, though. More likely to be the final member of the team.”
The duke’s brows pinched together. “Why do you say that?”
“Because the Russian would know whether or not his curse would hold. The person leaving notes for Alejandro seemed unaware that Alejandro still didn’t remember who he was. He fears that Alejandro will tell someone where to find the missing stones.”
Now they had an idea what the man threatening Alejandro wanted.
Diamonds . This was all about diamonds.
Chapter 3
----
Friday, 25 June 1920
S ERAFINA HAD CHOSEN the Café Elite for lunch that day, and Alejandro could guess why. Her younger sister, Mariona, had joined them, and after eating, the two suggested they might wander along Santa Catarina Street where the new café sat. The street was lined with shops and close to the Herminios department store.
Mariona sat with them now, sipping her coffee and trying hard to look sophisticated. Only eighteen, she was young enough to gape at the café’s ornate Flemish mirrors, the plaster carvings of cupids and flowers, and the conservatory in the back. The newly opened café had been decorated in the Art Nouveau style and Alejandro didn’t think he’d ever seen one more beautiful. He suspected it would soon become one of the city’s most popular cafés, although he didn’t care for the name. He didn’t see himself as one of the elite, not after nearly two years spent digging sewers and laying paving stones.
Mariona whispered something into Serafina’s ear, the two of them making a very vivid picture. Serafina’s sister shared her fair skin and black hair, startling against the deep red velvet of the banquette on which they sat. And they were dressed nearly alike, Mariona in a stylish peach-colored dress, and Serafina in the same color but with an overlay of ivory lace.
Serafina smiled at whatever her sister said, her dark eyes laughing. “Mariona and I are going to visit the shops, if you don’t mind. Can you find your way home alone?”
Serafina didn’t realize it, but he wasn’t alone. Now they knew the threat to Alejandro was more than just words scrawled on paper. Now they knew what someone didn’t want him to talk about. There were diamonds involved, and people would kill for that. The footman Roberto sat at a table out on the street, close enough that he could keep an eye on Alejandro. Pressed into guard duty by the duke, Roberto had expressed his relief at the chance to spend a few afternoons beyond the butler’s watchful eyes. And although Roberto hadn’t trained for guard duty, he’d seen battle.
“I’ll be fine,” Alejandro told his
—
I mean João
—
to forget everything, using the dead man’s blood as the sacrifice, and he and the remaining man flee.”
Alejandro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait. If I was incapacitated, how could I know they fled? So that I could put that in the story, I mean.”
“This is a story,” Joaquim said patiently. “Perhaps when you wrote it, you simply inserted the most logical conclusion.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t made things up. Now they couldn’t be sure the man who’d cursed him was a Russian or that he’d even been involved in an effort to steal German battle plans. He might have been brought in to help steal someone’s lunch menus. This wasn’t evidence at all, and it didn’t bring back his memories. “How does knowing this help us?”
“It gives me information to give to Bastião,” the duke said, “something more to pry with. We know the approximate date, and now we have an idea what the operation was intended to do. With that he might be able to wheedle out the names of the others involved.”
“And the one with a Russian name is the one who can take this curse off me,” Alejandro said.
Serafina regarded Alejandro with knitted brows.
Joaquim’s lips pursed as he thought that over. “True. I suspect the Russian isn’t the one pursuing Alejandro, though. More likely to be the final member of the team.”
The duke’s brows pinched together. “Why do you say that?”
“Because the Russian would know whether or not his curse would hold. The person leaving notes for Alejandro seemed unaware that Alejandro still didn’t remember who he was. He fears that Alejandro will tell someone where to find the missing stones.”
Now they had an idea what the man threatening Alejandro wanted.
Diamonds . This was all about diamonds.
Chapter 3
----
Friday, 25 June 1920
S ERAFINA HAD CHOSEN the Café Elite for lunch that day, and Alejandro could guess why. Her younger sister, Mariona, had joined them, and after eating, the two suggested they might wander along Santa Catarina Street where the new café sat. The street was lined with shops and close to the Herminios department store.
Mariona sat with them now, sipping her coffee and trying hard to look sophisticated. Only eighteen, she was young enough to gape at the café’s ornate Flemish mirrors, the plaster carvings of cupids and flowers, and the conservatory in the back. The newly opened café had been decorated in the Art Nouveau style and Alejandro didn’t think he’d ever seen one more beautiful. He suspected it would soon become one of the city’s most popular cafés, although he didn’t care for the name. He didn’t see himself as one of the elite, not after nearly two years spent digging sewers and laying paving stones.
Mariona whispered something into Serafina’s ear, the two of them making a very vivid picture. Serafina’s sister shared her fair skin and black hair, startling against the deep red velvet of the banquette on which they sat. And they were dressed nearly alike, Mariona in a stylish peach-colored dress, and Serafina in the same color but with an overlay of ivory lace.
Serafina smiled at whatever her sister said, her dark eyes laughing. “Mariona and I are going to visit the shops, if you don’t mind. Can you find your way home alone?”
Serafina didn’t realize it, but he wasn’t alone. Now they knew the threat to Alejandro was more than just words scrawled on paper. Now they knew what someone didn’t want him to talk about. There were diamonds involved, and people would kill for that. The footman Roberto sat at a table out on the street, close enough that he could keep an eye on Alejandro. Pressed into guard duty by the duke, Roberto had expressed his relief at the chance to spend a few afternoons beyond the butler’s watchful eyes. And although Roberto hadn’t trained for guard duty, he’d seen battle.
“I’ll be fine,” Alejandro told his
Similar Books
