Cold Gold by Victoria Chatham Page B

“Until six-thirty.”
    King smiled at her and she experienced a chill as if she were being hypnotized by a snake. He lifted his hat again, turned on his heel and walked away from her.
    Serena made her way along Main Street. She kept well away from the Lucky Strike and crossed the street further along, much closer to the bakery and coffee shop. The shop smelled as delicious as yesterday, but Maggie wasn’t there.
    “Try over at the boarding house,” the young woman behind the counter said. “Mrs. O’Connor sometimes doesn’t come in until later in the day. You should catch her there.”
    Serena thanked her and trudged back across the street, pleased that she had thought to pack her rubber Wellington boots. The warmer weather had continued, making the street a quagmire.
    Intent on reaching her destination, she barely noticed the old drunk until s he was almost on top of him. He squatted down against the side of the building, covered in what once had been a colorful blanket but was now a threadbare and torn rag. He looked up and a salacious smile spread across his face. Serena shuddered and stepped around him. He reached out and caught the hem of her skirt. She quickly tugged it out of his hand. His laugh was more of a wheezy cackle as he let go.
    “Feed the dragon,” he croaked as he peered blearily up at her.
    Serena hurried on, her heart pounding. Whatever did the old fool mean? Feed the dragon, indeed. What dragon? She looked back once when she reached Maggie’s door, but Trader had gone. An uneasy stab of intuition told her he’d been waiting for her, but that couldn’t be. It must be a coincidence.
    She straightened her shoulders and opened the boardi ng house door on which a ‘ Room to Let’ sign hung. She found herself in a small foyer, far less opulent than the Eldorado, but clean and smelling of lavender polish. Maggie came bustling out from a back room and smiled when she saw Serena.
    “Ah, I wondered if I’d see you today. Come on back to my parlor.”
    Serena followed her along the hallway to a cozy room at the back. Comfortable looking chairs upholstered in green velvet sat on either side of a hearth in which a hearty fire blazed. Steam rose from the spout of a flame blackened kettle set on a trivet and a waiting teapot warmed beside it.
    “Would you like a spot of something the doctor ordered in your tea?” Maggie asked with grin.
    “At this time of the day?”
    “Now’s as good a time as any, me darlin’.” She reached over to a side cupboard and took out a bottle of gin, holding it up in a silent question for Serena’s preference.
    “No, I don’t think I will, but thank you all the same,” Serena said. “I have an invitation to dinner this evening and I’m going to need a clear head.”
    Intrigued, Maggie leaned forward expectantly. “Who’s been so bold as to invite you out?”
    “No one to get excited about.” Serena took her un-doctored tea and sat back in the chair. “Unfortunately, Douglas King caught me just as I was leaving the hotel.”
    “Hmm.” Maggie nodded thoughtfully as she sipped her tea into which, Serena noticed, she poured a healthy measure of gin. “He’s not a good one to cross, that man. You watch yourself around him. And he’s taking you to his club, I don’t doubt.”
    Serena shook her head. “That was his first choice, but I refused. We’re to dine at the Eldorado.”
    “That didn’t sit well with him, I’ll bet.”
    “No, it didn’t. But I am curious as to where he got the money to buy a place like the Men’s Club,” Serena mused.
    Maggie shrugged. “Like us all, he has his secrets. Now, what did you want to see me for?”
    Serena opened her mini-valise and pulled out her sketches. Maggie’s eyes opened wide when she looked at the first one.
    “That’s hardly what an audience at the club would expect.”
    “I know.” Serena grinned. “I thought I’d start by looking and sounding as demure and proper as possible. If I’m covered