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a PaSSING THUNDERSHOWER had wet the earth just before dawn, but Saturday&039;s sun shone through the dissipating clouds, and the blue sky again reappeared before the hour of eight By then Matthew had finished his breakfast and was on his way to thebefore sense of sight - Phillip Bright in chairs behind a canvas screen, reading over and reciting pages from one of their ht find David S set up to protect a number of trunks, lanterns, and sundry other prop itehtly hued costu with rather used-looking peacock feathers

"Good , Mr Smythe, " Matthew said "May I have a ith youi"

"Oh good lanced quickly at the seamstress "May we speak in private, pleasei"

"Certainly Mrs Prater, these are coain when the work is further advanced Mr Corbett, we o over there if you like" Smythe motioned toward a stand of oak trees about sixty feet behind the encampment

as they walked, Smythe slid his thumbs into the pockets of his dark brown breeches "I think an apology is in order for our behavior last night We left so abruptly and for such an obvious reason at least we ht have tey is necessary Everyone understood the reason and better the truth than a false excuse, no matter how diplomatic"

"Thank you, sir I appreciate your candor"

"The reason I wished to speak to you, " Matthew said as they reached the oak trees&039; shade, "concerns Gwinett Linch The man you believe to be Jonathan Lancaster"

"If I ht, I would swear to it But he appears so different So changed The ht dead in such dirty rags In fact, I recall he had a marked affinity for cleanliness"

"and orderi" Matthew asked "Would you say he had an affinity for that as welli"

"He kept his wagon neat enough I re a supply of wheel grease on hand to silence a squeak"

"Hainst the trunk of an oak and crossed his arms "Exactly as I mean, who is Jonathan Lancasteri"

"Well, I mentioned he had an act that involved trained rats He had theh hoops and run races and such The children loved it Our circus travelled through land, and we did play London on several occasions but we found ourselves restricted to a very bad part of the city So we e My father was the er, "

"Lancaster, " Matthew said, guiding S with this trained rat showi"

"Yes, he did None of us were exactly wealthy, but we all pulled together" S his next state man"

"How soi Because he worked with ratsi"

"Not only that, " Smythe said "But because of the other act he performed The one that was done well that was done only behind closed curtains, for a small audience of adults - no children allowed - ished to pay an extra coin to see it"

"and as thati"

"His display of aninetismi" Noas Matthew&039;s turn to frown "What is thati"

"The art of i"

"I&039;ve heard of the process of netism Is this some theatrical whiland, I understand Particularly in Ger to what ht of the cult of lish-born This is also according toelse has a fortune of friends in the craft of public entertainer years an incident occurred that caused him to flee Germany"

"an incidenti Do you knohat it wasi"

"I knohat my father told land and no longer under your father&039;s jurisdiction, " Matthew said "It is vital that you tellyou know about Jonathan Lancaster Particularly the secrets"

Smythe paused and cocked his head to one side "May I ask why this is so important to youi"

It was a fair question Matthew said, "I&039; to trust you, as I hope you will trust me Obviously Lancaster has hidden his true identity from Mr Bidwell and everyone else in this town I wish to knohy also I have reason to believe that Lancaster may be involved with the current situation in which this town finds itself"

"Whati You mean the witchi" Sy!"

"I am not, " Matthew said firmly

"Oh, that can&039;t be! Mr Lancaster e, but he wasn&039;t demonic I&039;d venture that his closed-curtain talent appeared to some to be witchcraft, but it was evidently based on principles of science"

"ah" Matthew nodded, his heartbeat quickening "Noe approach the light, Mr Smythe What exactly was his closed-curtain talenti"

"Manipulation of the le to suppress a victorious grin "By the application of netic force, Mr Lancaster could deliver mental commands to some members of his audience, and cause thes that um would probably not suit the eyes and ears of children I have to admit; I sneaked behind the curtains and watched onshow I recall he would cause so ready for their beds One wo in a snowstorm in the midst of July a particular scene I remember was aants, and how thatshort of ludicrous The other hed uproariously, but that le of it until Mr Lancaster awakened him"

"awakened himi These people were put to sleep in some wayi"

"It was a sleep-like state, yet they were still responsive Mr Lancaster used various objects to soothe them into this state, such as a lantern, a candle, or a coin anything that served to secure their attention Then he would further soothe and command them with his voice and once you heard his voice, it was unforgettable I netis"

"Yes, " Matthew said, staring past Smythe in the direction of Fount Royal "I can well understand that" He directed his gaze back to the netismi"

"I don&039;t quite fathom it, but it has to do with the fact that all bodies and objects hold iron Therefore a skilled practitioner can use other objects as tools of manipulation, since the human body, blood, and brain also contain iron The attraction and netism That, at least, is how ed "Evidently it was a process first discovered by the ancient Egyptians and used by their court7 have you now, Sir Fox

"This must be very iht falling through the oak branches and leaves onto his face

"It is as I said, vital"

"Well as you also said, I aland or under my father&039;s jurisdiction If it&039;s so vital that you know the secret my father asked me to keep concerns Mr Lancaster&039;s career before he joined the circus In his younger years he was known as a healer of sorts a faith-healer, I suppose, in that he could use netism to deliver people from illnesses apparently he travelled to Europe to practise this art, and drew the attention of a German nobleman ished Mr Lancaster to teach hinetizers themselves Now be aware that all this I recall arbled it in the retelling"

"I shall, " Matthew said "But please continue"

"Mr Lancaster did not speak Gerlish There was a translation proble to do with the results, I don&039;t know, but my father told me Mr Lancaster had fled Germany because the nobleman and his son were adversely affected by their studies The latter killed hier, and the former went half-netis hands In any case, a bounty was offered on Mr Lancaster&039;s head and so he returned to England But he obviously was a changed man, too, and he sank to the level of trained rats and a few netist&039;s tricks behind closed curtains"

"Possibly he wished to keep a low profile, " Matthew said, "for fear that someone would seek him out and claim the bounty" He nodded "Yes, that explains a lot as, for instance, why Goode told me no Dutchmen or Germans had seen the Devil It was because Lancaster feared Gerue"

"Goodei" S perplexed "I&039;ies My thoughts becaan to pace back and forth "Tell me this, if you will: what caused Lancaster to leave the circus, and as thisi"

"I don&039;t know My family and I left before Mr Lancaster did"

"Oh Then you haven&039;t seen Lancaster sincei"

"No Certainly we didn&039;t wish to return to that circus"

Matthew caught a hint of bitterness "Whyi Was your father dischargedi"

"Not that It was my father&039;s wish to leave He didn&039;t care for the way Mr Cedarhols My father is a very decentin the freaks"

Matthew suddenly stopped his pacing "Freaksi"

"Yes Three of thein with"

"Three, " Matthew repeated "May I ask what they werei"

"The first was a black-skinned lizard, as big as a ra had come from some South Sea island, and it near made my mother faint to look upon it"

"The second, " Matthew said, his ht it have been an imp of so white hairi"

"Yes Exactly that How did" Now Smythe truly appeared confounded "How did you knowi"

"The third, " Matthew proi"

"The third one hat s It was a hermaphrodite with the breasts of a woman and the tools of a man My father said even Satan would shrink to look upon such a blaspheht be interested, Mr Smythe, to know that all three of those creatures have lately found work in Fount Royal, with Satan&039;s blessing Oh, I have him now! I have hi his palht with the fire of the hunt He immediately reined in his enthusiasm, as he noted that Sht be dealing with a lunatic "I have a request again, a very important one I happen to knohere Lancaster lives It&039;s not very far froo there with me - this moment - and look upon him face-to-face and tell me you positively know he&039;s the man you claim him to bei"

"I&039;ve already told you I saw his eyes, which are as unforgettable as his voice It is him"

"Yes, but nevertheless I require you to identify him in my presence" Matthew also wanted Lancaster to know before another hour had passed that a blade had been thrust into his repugnant, inhuood et done Perhaps later this afternooni"

"No, " Matthew said "Now" He correctly read the reticence in Smythe&039;s eyes "as an officer of the court, I must tell you this is official business also that I aistrate Woodward to coht falsehood, but Matthew had no ti

Smythe, who obviously had well learned the lessons of decency fro is necessary, sir If this has to do with a o"

Matthew and S Industry Street - the former in expectant haste and the latter ness to advance - toward the house of the formerly knoinett Linch Smythe&039;s pace slowed as they reached the execution field, and he regarded the stake and pyre with dread fascination an oxcart had been pulled up beside the woodpile, and two iant Mr Green, Mattheere at work unloading another cargo of witch-burning fuel

Yes, build it up! Matthew thought Waste your muscles and your htbird shall be confined in a cage and one more vulture there in her place!

Further on stood the house "My God!" Shast "Mr Lancaster lives therei"

"Lancaster lives within, " Matthew replied, his pace yet quickening "The ratcatcher has groonaw of disappointh indeed the breakfast hour was long past But all the shutters were closed, indicating that Lancaster was out Mattheardly muttered a curse, for he&039;d wished to have this identification promptly done and then escort Smythe directly to see Bidwell It dawned on him that if Lancaster was indeed in there, closed up froht turn violent, and they had no weapon of defense Perhaps it would be best to go fetch Mr Green as a precaution But then another thought hit Matthew, and this one had terrible i he&039;d been recognized, had fled Fount Royali He would have had a out the gate after sunseti Surely such a thing was unheard of Would the watch Bidwelli But what if Lancaster had saddled a horse and gone yesterday afternoon while it was still lighti

"You&039;re near running!" S to keep up Without Lancaster, Rachel&039;s fate was still in doubt Da, and he did break into a run the final twenty yards

He slammed his fist on the door He had expected no answer, and therefore was immediately prepared to do what he next did: open the door and enter

Before he could cross the threshold, Mattheas struck in the face

Not by any physical fist, but rather by the overwhel s open in a gasp

These were the things he saw, in a torrent of hideous ilistening off the dark red blood that had pooled on the floorboards and e brown blotches on the pallet&039;s sheet; Lancaster&039;s corpse, lying on its right side on the floor, the left hand gripping at the sheet as if to pull itself up, the ray eyes horribly open in a slashed and clawed face, and the throat cut like a red-lipped grin froed as if by a ind, clothes pulled from the trunk and strewn about; desk drarenched out and upturned, cooking implements thrown hither and yon; hearth ashes scooped up and tossed to settle over the corpse like grave dust

Sered back, and then off he ran along Industry Street in the direction of his co the shattering cry, "Murder! Murder!"

The shout ht have alarmed everyone else who heard it, but it served to steady Matthew&039;s nerves because he knew he had only a short ti intruded upon He realized as well that the sight of Lancaster lying dead and so brutally disfigured ht viewed by Reverend Grove&039;s wife and by Jess Maynard, who had discovered Daniel Howarth&039;s body Little wonder, then, that Mrs Grove and the Maynards had fled town

The cut throat The face savaged by demonic claws and, it appeared, the shoulders, arh the bloody ribbons of the ht a true Satan had been at work here

He felt sick to his stomach and scared out of his wits, but he had tie The desk&039;s drawers, all the papers and everything else dumped out, the inkwell smashed He wished to find two items before Mr Green surely arrived: the sapphire brooch and the book on ancient Egypt But even as he knelt down to negotiate this mess of blood, ink, and blood-inked papers he kneith a sinking certainty that those two items, above all else, would not be found

He spent a moment or two in search, but when he suffered the save up the quest as both i in this charnel house, and the desire for fresh air and untainted sunlight was a powerful call It occurred to him that Sht dead in his ratcatcher&039;s rags, as he hat had once been a white shirt and a pair of dark gray breeches

and now the need to get out was too much to withstand Matthew stood up and, as he turned to the door - which had not opened to its full extent, but rather just enough to allow his entry - he saas scrawled there on its inner surface in the clotted ink of Lancaster&039;s veins

My Rachel Is Not alone

In the space of a hammered heartbeat Matthew&039;s flesh prickled and the hairs rose at the back of his neck The first words that ca nu declaration a h the door, followed by the other rustic ho at once Green stopped in his tracks, his red-bearded face twisted with horror "Christ&039;s Mercy!" he said, stunned to the soles of his four-teen-inch boots "Linchi" He looked at Mattheho nodded, and then Green saw the clerk&039;s gore-stained hands and hollered, "Randall! Go fetch Mr Bidwell! Now!"

In the tiht Matthew a bloody-handed murderer had not David Smythe, pallid but resolute, returned to the scene and explained they&039;d both been together when the corpse was discovered Matthew took the opportunity to wipe his hands on one of the clean shirts that had been so rudely torn fro to keep people who&039;d been alerted by S them Martin and Constance adams - out of the house

"Is that Lancasteri" Matthew asked S down at the corpse

Smythe sed "His face is so swollen, but I know the eyes Unforgettable Yes This man was Jonathan Lancaster"

"Move back!" Green told the onlookers "Move back, I said!" Then he had no choice but to close the door in the gawkers&039; faces, and thereupon he saw the bloody scrawl

Matthew thought Green hty blow When he turned his head to look at Matthew, his eyes seemed to have shrunken and retreated in his face He spoke in a very suard the door froone like a shot

S His mouth opened, but he made not a sound Then he lowered his head and followed Green out the door with similar haste

Now the die ell and truly cast alone in the house with the deadly departed, Matthe this was the funeral bell for Fount Royal Once word got out about that declaration on the door - and it was probably beginning its circuit of tongues right now, starting with Green - the toouldn&039;t be worth a cup of cold drool

He avoided looking at Lancaster&039;s face, which had not only been severely clawed but had become misshapen from such injury He knelt down and continued his search for the brooch and book, this tie Presently a wooden box caught his attention, and he lifted its lid to find within the tools of the ratcatcher&039;s trade: the odious long brown seedbag that had served to hold rodent carcasses, the stained deerskin gloves, the cowhide bag, and various wooden jars and vials of - presule blade - wiped clean and shining - that had been secured to the end of the ratcatcher&039;s sticker

Matthew lifted his gaze from the box and looked around the room Where was the sticker itselfi and - most importantly - where was that fearsome appliance with the five curved blades that Hazelton had fashionedi

Nowhere to be seen