The Unnaturalists

“You have ten seconds to hand over the toad or I’m sounding the alarm.”

“I don’t have it!”

“One-one thousand, two-one thousand . . .”

“I really don’t!” He turned out his coat pockets.

“Three one-thousand . . .”

He unbuttoned the frog buttons of his coat and showed her the inner pockets. “I don’t have it!”

“Vespa,” a voice called from the landing, “who are you talking to in there?”

“Five one-thousand, six one-thousand . . .”

“Look, I know you don’t believe me. I know you think I’m a no-good Tinker thief. Your father is planning to use you as bait to lure the Manticore. He wants her Heart for some dreadful purpose. She needs your help. If you’d just be reasonable . . .”

“Nine one-thousand. Ten.” She smirked.

Syrus dove for the window as she reached for the lever over her bed. He shimmied down the drainpipe as fast as he could. Just as he touched ground, the banshee alarm atop the house began its ear-shattering scream. It was soon taken up by other alarms along his route as he dodged between shadow and everlantern down through Midtown.

CHAPTER 13

Talk at every meal for the last several days has been nothing but building castles in the air. It’s almost as though the break-in with the Tinker thief never happened. Aunt Minta rambles on about the fine clothes and jewelry I’ll have, the engagements with Lady Whatsit and Viscount So-and-so. I talk with her of these things because it feels too dangerous to speak of anything else. I keep hearing the Tinker boy’s words in my head. Your father is planning to use you to lure the Manticore. I can’t begin to imagine what he means by that. And I’ve still heard nothing from Hal.

Discussing dresses and shoes is a relief, but there’s no greater relief than being allowed to enter the Museum at Father’s side. I have so much work to catch up on. It’s wonderful to pretend that life is as it has always been—no Tinker thieves or dangerous Architects, no witchcraft in my blood. I can even imagine that Lucy Virulen will forget about me. Somehow, I doubt I’ll be so lucky.

I try to distract myself as we walk up the steps to the Museum’s arched entrance by asking Father what he thought of the strange, white-eyed man who leaped in front of the trolley. I haven’t asked at home because Aunt Minta wouldn’t find it fitting conversation for a lady.

Father frowns. “White-eyed man?”

“Yes, the one who caused the accident. What was wrong with him, do you reckon?”

“I don’t know what you mean about white eyes.” He sounds irritated. Why? “But,” he continues, “I’d guess he was just a vagrant. No one to concern yourself with. You have much greater things to worry over now.” His smile is weak as he pushes open the heavy wooden door.

He’s lying. He remembers just as well as I do. But why would he pretend that he doesn’t? As far as I know, Father has never lied to me. Why would he start now over such a trivial thing?

Unless it’s not trivial at all.

Might it have something to do with his Experiment?

A chill slithers up my spine.

We pass through the atrium with all my display cases filled with glittering wings and false eyes. I think again of Piskel stuffing his cheeks with jam cake, and I feel like a butcher rather than a skilled unnaturalist.

There’s a commotion when we enter the Main Hall. I look toward the Sphinx, ready to engage in our customary morning battle of wills, pretending to forget that day when it nearly became a battle of life and death, but her plinth is empty.

The Sphinx is gone.

Father and I look around wildly, all conversation regarding the white-eyed man forgotten. Everything else is in order—the Wyvern, the Dragon hatchling exhibit, and the Griffin are all still in their places. There are no signs of struggle. Several Pedants and Scholars are examining the plinth and the nearby field box.

“What happened?” Father asks.

“She’s just gone,” old Pedant Tycho says.

“Are you certain?” Father says. “You’ve checked all the Halls and places where she might hide?”

Pedant Tycho nods. “’Twould be very hard to hide a Sphinx. And we’ve already seen how she might react were she set loose.” His eyes slide toward me. “Looks like an inside job,” he says. Despite his intimation, everyone can see that this is not my fault. I haven’t been here for several days.

“Like the Grue,” someone else mutters.

“Have the Architects infiltrated us?” another asks.

I can’t help but look around for Hal at that, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I don’t want to believe he would be behind such a thing, but then again, he’s the only Architect I know. The Architects steal or release Unnaturals from time to time, saints only know why. Father has always been certain that’s what happened to the Grue when it disappeared last year shortly after Charles came. I think about the breathing I heard in the dark downstairs and shiver.

Dim greenish light filters down onto the empty exhibit. It tricks out the scales of the Wyvern in the adjacent alcove. If the Architects are stealing specimens, what are they doing with them? And what will become of the Museum? I’m suddenly angry at Hal. If he is behind this, more than just his precious Unnaturals could be affected. I look at Father, who’s rubbing his chin with a gnarled hand. Ultimately, the responsibility for all of this rests on Father’s shoulders. I know there were repercussions from the loss of the Grue, though Father never speaks of it. I cannot imagine how he will fare with the loss of a prime exhibit like the Sphinx.

Father shakes my elbow to make me pay attention. “I must go to my office now, Vee,” he says. “This security issue is very serious. Stay in the Cataloguing Chamber today, do you hear?” He mops sweat from under the Sheep of Learning with his handkerchief.

I nod. His black robes swish down the corridor and off toward the old observatory.

He’s not going to his office.

Hm.

I follow him, far enough behind that I can see the edge of his robe as he turns corners. He vanishes through the observatory doors just as I peep into the corridor.

I follow, walking as softly as I can, but there’s no need. There’s a deep hum and rumble from within that obscures all sound. One of the doors is still ajar. I slip inside.

I’ve always loved the old observatory and was sad when it was mostly dismantled. The Pedants of the Astronomy Division said the ambient light from the Refineries made it hard to see the stars, so they moved the telescope to one of the mountains outside Scientia. But the old orrery is still here; the planets on its skeletal arms are connected by long cobwebs. Near it rises the sleek dome of a hellish-looking machine I’ve never seen before. Hoses snake out from its center like tentacles toward laboratory benches. A glass container sits under the mouth of the machine, and in it stirs the restless black sand of the Waste.

Father is over on the other side of the array. And there’s someone with him. Two someones.

I creep a little closer, hoping I’m well-hidden in the shadows of the entryway. I know I should be writing my letter of apology to Pedant Simian about the loss of his collection or perhaps helping the Scholars search for the missing Sphinx (if they would allow me), but I want to know what Father’s doing. He used to tell me everything; I don’t understand why he won’t now.

Charles leads a girl to the table, a girl with a checkered headband and long, dark hair. A Tinker? What is Charles doing with a Tinker girl?

“Don’t you have other things to do besides skulking around your father’s laboratory?” someone whispers behind me. All the hairs on my neck shiver.

Hal.