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"What about her Child Protective Services caseworker? Does she meet her somewhere?"

"No, that woman comes here once a month" Mrs Peach’s tone left no doubt about how she viewed those regular visits "Pokes into everything, as if we’d mistreat the child"

"Do you have any idea where Elizabeththat was troubling her?"

"Elizabeth barely spoke to me She wasn’t rude; she simply wasn’t interested You’d probably have better luck with the caseworker I think they actually got on rather well, considering"

"Considering?"

"Well, they aren’t exactly on a par socially, are they? I mean, with her share of the trust, Elizabeth’s already worth more than that woman will see in a hundred lifetiave a nervous, little cough "Well I can give you her name and number, if you’d like"

"I’d appreciate that, thank you And the tutor, if possible"

"Of course I’ll see to it Now, if there’s nothing else?" She gave Cyn an absent look, heralready moved on to her next task

"Could I see her room, please?"

"Certainly" Mrs Peach turned to Mirabelle, clearly thought better of it, and called into an adjoining room "Kelli!"

Cyn noticed Mirabelle’s flush of eh she was pretty sure the housekeeper didn’t Mrs Peach reat housekeeper, but her people skills irl in a pink uniform dress came into view, her eyes ith curiosity Thick brown hair was pulled back into a long braid to reveal s in each of her ears, in addition to the shton here where Elizabeth’s room is and don’t dawdle You need to finish that silver tonight or there’ll be no day off for you tomorrow"

"Yes, ma’am," Kelli said obediently She looked up at Cyn with a wicked sue stud "This way, please, Miss"

Elizabeth’s room was on the first floor, in a quiet corner all by itself Hers was the only door opening onto the hallway, and the hallway itself led directly to the kitchen, which was the one place on an estate of this size where some servant or other would almost always be awake For all that no one seemed to pay h to restrict her movements and associations Or at least try to Kelli led the i it open, letting in the fresh air

"It gets so stuffy in here, closed up all the tih She liked her privacy"

Cyn was doing a quick visual survey, noting the absence of a lock on the door and the plain, straight-backed chair sitting against the nearby wall The top edge of the chair back was scratched and gouged Liz had fashioned her own lock, it would seem Good for her Cyn looked over at Kelli "You were friends?" she asked

Kelli frowned, giving Mirabelle a sideways glance Mirabelle caught the look, and Cyn saw a knowing flash of dismay cross her face

"I’ll wait outside," Mirabelle said softly "I can use the fresh air" She paused on her way out and without looking back said, "I lovein her blue eyes "And I don’t want hi down the hallway

Kelli waited until Mirabelle’s footsteps faded co Cyn an uncos, but" She shrugged "She’s a vaht back to Lord Jabril It’s not her fault, but it’s the way it is" She gave Cyn a searching look "I need to know If you find Liz, what happens then? Ito hteen soon, you know You can’tafter that"

Cyn returned Kelli’s stare "No," she said finally "There’s no way in hell I’ a child back to this place I don’t care if she’s eight or eighteen"

Kelli studied Cyn, clearly trying to decide whether to believe her or not "How do I know I can trust you?" she said "I mean, Liz is a friend andhow do I know?"

"You don’t," Cyn said honestly

"Yeah" Kelli laughed aardly "It sucks" She blew out a long breath "Okay I guessokay"

"So?" Cyn said

"So maybe we talked sometimes, Liz and me"

"Do you knohere she is?" Cyn asked directly

Kelli stared down at her hands which were tugging nervously on the pink uniforaze darted up for a quick look, then she nodded decisively and pushed the door closed before turning to Cyn "She didn’t say anything specific about going anywhere Not exactly But" She pinched her ot out a lot more than anyone knew She’s smart, a lot smarter than me, and not scared of nothin’ Not even old Jabril"