“Change the subject,” I said, and she must have heard something in my voice, because she did.
“I’ve finally managed to make contact with the rogue known as the Mole. Thanks to some rather imaginative work by our communications staff, who turned out to be far too au fait with underground information systems for my liking…You did say you wanted the Mole brought back into the fold…”
“He could be very useful to us,” I said, just a little defiantly. “When he went rogue he went underground, literally, and put together an information network unmatched anywhere else in the world. He knows things, things no one else knows. And he’s in contact with all kinds of powerful groups and individuals who wouldn’t even dream of talking to us directly. We need the Mole, and his sources.”
“Well, unfortunately the Mole refuses to leave his hole,” said Penny. “Even though we did everything we could to reassure him of his safety here. He’s made it very clear he won’t leave his refuge for any reason. But you must have impressed him, because he has agreed to help us search out information on what the Loathly Ones are up to, and the possible locations of other nests. Right now he’s teleconferencing with some of our brightest technogeeks, and no doubt teaching them all kinds of unfortunate new tricks.”
I nodded and slowed my pace a little. Penny was starting to puff. “That’s really the best we could hope for, with the Mole,” I said. “I’ll talk to him later. Any other rogues surfaced yet?”
“We’ve put the word out,” said Penny. “But it’s up to them to contact us. And many of them have good reason to be … cautious. So; that’s all my news. I am off. Things to see, people to do…”
“Anyone in particular?” I said. There must have been something in my voice, because she looked at me sharply.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. I’m going to see Mr. Stab.”
“You really don’t want to talk to him,” I said. I stopped, and she stopped with me. I considered her thoughtfully. She had a fierce, defiant look, so I chose my words carefully. “You don’t know what he is, Penny. I’ve seen some of his victims, or what was left of them, cut open, gutted. I once saw a cache of his old victims, sitting together around a table, propped up and mummified, so he could visit his old kills and glory in them. Savour the memory of their horror, and their screams. He’s not human, Penny. Not anymore. He made himself over into something else entirely, back in 1888.”
“You don’t know him like I do,” said Penny. “You’ve never taken the time to talk with him, listen to him, like I have. There’s more to him than you think. He needs…help, someone who cares enough to help him change. Anyone can be redeemed, Eddie.”
I was still struggling for something to say when she turned on her heel and strode away. I could have gone after her, but I didn’t. It wouldn’t have done any good. Some people just won’t be told. They have to find out for themselves, often the hard way. And what man ever understood what a woman sees in another man? And just maybe… she was right. Maybe Mr. Stab could be saved. Molly believed in him. I … didn’t. This was Mr. Stab; murderer and ripper of women for over a century. A century of slaughter, of women who also probably thought they understood him, right up to the point where he drew his knife.
So I went off and found a private place, locked the door, and called on Merlin’s Glass to show me what Penny and Mr. Stab were up to.
You’re using the Glass too much, Molly said. Getting dependent on it. But I was just doing what I had to. For the family.
Penny and Mr. Stab went walking through the grounds, down by the lake. The sky was very blue, the trees were bowing slightly under the urging of the gusting wind, and pure white swans sailed majestically over the dead-still waters of the lake. Penny made encouraging noises to them, but none of them would come close while she had Mr. Stab with her. The two of them walked on together, smiling and talking like old friends.
“So,” Penny said, “Did you have a good time, killing all the Loathly Ones?”
“Not really,” said Mr. Stab. “They didn’t die like people do. There was no real suffering, no horror in their eyes, and such things are meat and drink to me.”
“Was the whole thing as big a disaster as Harry keeps saying?”
“No,” said Mr. Stab after a thoughtful pause. “We stopped the Loathly Ones from bringing their unholy master through from Outside. Destroyed their tower, killed most of them, and scattered the others. Edwin came up with the plan that made that possible. If he hadn’t, if that Being had come through, that would have been a disaster, and the whole world would have paid for it. Humanity itself might have been wiped out…even me. It was an interesting sensation to find myself face to face with something worse than I am.”
“Do you still feel the need to kill?” Penny said abruptly. “Or are you…satisfied, now?”
“I still feel the need,” said Mr. Stab. “I always do.” He looked at her bluntly. “Why do you seek me out, Penny? You know what I am. What I do to women. Do you want me to do it to you?”
“Of course not!”
“Then why, Penny?”
“No one’s ever as bad as they’re painted,” she said after a while.
“I am.”
“Perhaps. I’ve heard all the stories. But I wanted to meet the man behind the stories. Something…draws me to you.” Penny looked into his face, meeting his cold gaze unflinchingly. “Everyone can be saved. Everyone can be brought back into the light. I’ve always believed that.”
“What if they don’t want to be saved?”
“If that were true,” said Penny, “you would have broken your word to Molly by now. You live here with us, surrounded by temptation, but you do nothing. Molly said you were a good friend to her.”
“Molly believes…what she wants to believe,” said Mr. Stab.
“So do I,” said Penny. “Enough talk of dark and unpleasant things! Let me take your mind off such things, for a while.”
Mr. Stab nodded slowly. “Yes. You might be able to, at that.”
“I thought a picnic,” Penny said cheerfully. “I’ve got a hamper all set out, in that little grove over there. Shall we?”
“Why not?” said Mr. Stab. “It’s been a long time since I did anything so … civilised.”
“We need to get to know each other better,” said Penny. “How long has it been, since you could talk freely to anyone? How long since anyone would just sit and listen to you?”
“A long time,” said Mr. Stab. “I have been alone … a very long time.”
“I can’t keep calling you Mr. Stab,” said Penny. “Don’t you have a first name?”
He smiled. “Call me Jack.”
“Oh you,” said Penny.
And they walked on together, arm in arm.
I put the Merlin Glass away and headed for the front entrance at speed. I didn’t want Penny alone with Mr. Stab, far away from help. I didn’t think he’d dare hurt a Drood right in the shadow of Drood Hall, but… I hurried through the hallways and connecting rooms, and all the way my family drew back and gave me plenty of room. Some glared, some muttered, but none of them had anything to say to me. Just as well. I had nothing to say to them. When I finally got to the front entrance, Molly was there waiting for me, along with one familiar face and one strange one. She had them both in vicious ear holds, putting on just enough pressure to keep them both quiet and grimacing at her sides.
“Look what I found!” Molly said cheerfully. “Sneaking around in the grounds…”
“We were not sneaking!” protested the familiar face, with as much dignity as could be managed when someone is twisting your ear into a square knot. “We were just…taking our time about making our presence known.”
“Hello, Sebastian,” I said. “Been a while, hasn’t it, since you betrayed me to Manifest Destiny, and then tried to kill me. Who’s your wriggling friend?”