Chapter Seven: Saying Goodbye

The nights were getting colder and, even with a decent jacket, it would be a hard time sleeping rough. Val didn't want to sleep rough, and she dare not go back to an alms house or a church-run orphanage, since those were the folks who were after in the first place. If she hadn't been obstinate, she could have taken those three shillings from Penny and boarded somewhere for two nights while she sorted herself out.

She hadn't taken the shillings, though. All of her meager savings aside from a pair of tuppence were in a little decorative bowl back in Galvan's room, because she'd assumed she would be coming back. Annie Stuffs, the stuffed dolly that her mother had once given her, was back there, too. All she had was her Clyve outfit, a pair of tuppence, and the knife that she barely knew how to use, though Ginn and Ette had started to teach her.

It was getting close to evencall and the sun had dipped below the buildings across the Green Procession. Merchants were closing their shops for the day and the constables were shooing loiterers from the walkways. Val pulled herself up from her secluded spot before they had a chance to jab her with their billy-clubs and headed for Mrs. Lavoie's House for Orphaned Children, keeping a watchful eye for anybody from the Penitent Order, not to mention any number of people sniffing after a five crown bounty.

By tomorrow morning, they would probably be passing out fliers with an updated description on it. Wanted: Missing Girl, may be wearing a courier's cap and a twee vest. Goes by Valerie or Clyve. She would need new clothes. Somebody at Mrs. Lavoie's would be glad to trade for like-new clothes. She should probably hack her hair off for good measure. Ette had taught her enough about disguise that she just might manage to be somebody else again.

"I haven't got any chits, but I've got four pence," Val said. She couldn't quite meet Mrs. Lavoie's steely gaze.

"I can't let you in, Val…"

"I've got chits back in my… my room…" she almost choked up over that. It wasn't her room anymore, was it? "I'll get them tomorrow."

"It's not about the chits, it's about…" Mrs. Lavoie swore under her breath, which was very uncharacteristic of her. "Keep your pence and get in here, girl. One night. You can stay one night, and then you either make yourself scarce or you let me take those five crowns. Almighty knows we need them."

Val had been right - she had no trouble whatsoever getting rid of Clyve's getup. She even got a decent jacket out of it, though it wouldn't be enough come wintertime. She kept Clyve's shoes, though, because those were nice for just about any outfit and would probably last through the winter.

She huddled in with the other orphans, eight to a room, and found herself unable to sleep. The mattress was too lumpy. Too much whispering, snoring, and shifting about. The air was too stuffy. She was used to sleeping in her… in Galvan's room, on Galvan's bed. She was also terrified of what she was going to do tomorrow. Val didn't think she'd be able to sleep at all, but when she rested her eyes it was suddenly morning. Soon, it would be risencall and Mrs. Lavoie would force her out onto the streets.

"Do you know where Pudge went?" she asked Angie Mottle - she wasn't sure what Angie's last name was. They just called her mottle because she had patches of skin with no pigment, which clashed with her otherwise dark shade, maybe two shades darker than Val.

Angie combed her hair and tapped her foot. "Hmm… I heard he went to the printworks. Think they offered him an assistantship. You and him used to be mates, right?"

"Still are as far as I know."

Angie slooowly glanced in Val's direction. She didn't like that look at all. "I heard the pale brothers were after you. Heard there was a big reward on your head… you do anything wrong?"

"No, that's all taken care of. Big misunderstanding, really," Val said.

Of course, the gig would be up as soon as Angie saw the new fliers, which she was bound to do. Angie wasn't as clever as Pudge, but there was a lot of room for cleverness below that.

Val tied her shoes and donned her new jacket, noting that it was in need of a wash. Then she skulked toward the main hallway, waiting for the risencall bell and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Just as she rounded the corner, she heard voices. Mrs. Lavoie and… Ginn Vinzenno?

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Vinzenno, I don't know anything about Val's whereabouts," Mrs. Lavoie said.

"You have to… you have to let her know," Ginn said. She wiped tears from her eyes and took a deep breath, perhaps not wanting to weep in front of the onlooking children. "Just… please, just tell Val to come back home. Please come back home, Val…"

Mrs. Lavoie was visibly distraught, but she remained steely. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I hope you find her."

Every fiber of Val's being wanted to rush out and hug Ginn and apologize for running away. To go back and help with bondswork and take baths in the basement every other day and sleep in her own room, warm and safe. But that just couldn't happen anymore. If she went back with them, then she'd be found and the Pale Order would probably do terrible things to the Vinzennos, too. The only way she could protect them was to stay away.

Still, she couldn't bear Ginn and Ette not knowing. They'd wonder what had happened to her. They'd wonder what they'd done wrong, and they hadn't done anything wrong at all. Val crept from her spot behind Astrid Lavoie's autumn jacket and into Mrs. Lavoie's office, where she purloined a quill and a sheet of light green stationery, which she then used to write her letter to the Vinzennos:

Ginn and Ette,

I'm really sorry I ran away. The Penitent Order's found out where I am and they're sure to come for you if they think I'm still staying there. I had a really nice time staying with you and learning all about being a good bondsgirl. I wish I could stay longer. No idea where I'm going to stay now. Please don't hate me.

Love Your Friend,

Valkyrie Valicent

Mrs. Lavoie interrupted Val half-way through but, after a little waffling, let her proceed because she could tell it was important. Val folded up the letter and stuffed it in her new dirty jacket before hopping off Mrs. Lavoie's seat and offering her a handshake.

"Good luck, Valerie," Mrs. Lavoie said.

Val had long since given up on trying to correct Mrs. Lavoie. "Thanks. This was my favorite orphanage."

Mrs. Lavoie nodded, as if that was a given, and then gestured Val toward the door.

+++

It was good timing when Val left, because she was about twenty yards out the door when a group of brothers from the Penitent Order marched on by, likely with a writ to search the place for her. Ecclesiastical writs didn't have the force of law, but most people didn't know that. Val knew this from her work as a bondsgirl - a writ just meant a bishop had given something his go-ahead. For what that was worth, Val might as well write her own Writ of Valkyrie and expect people to follow it.

Letter in jacket, she made her way toward Resonant Square the roundabout route, hoping to avoid the throngs of people with a renewed interest in finding her, even if the latest description was just as inaccurate as the old one. Val couldn't exactly hide her eye color without alchemical eyedrops, but as long as she kept her eyes down nobody would notice.

She took the Bezmer Byway, which was seldom-traveled because it was too narrow for carriages and too close to the old canal, which was unpleasant to be around. Val held her nose and took the byway for five blocks before cutting through an alley and, mostly through guesswork, making her way toward Resonant Square through the press of buildings. That's how it was with Wayfair's network of alleyways - there was quite a bit of guesswork involved in whether one would take you to where you wanted to go, whether the way would be passable, and whether you would meet any unsavory folk along the way. Nobody bothered Val, though, because she looked like she knew where she was going (which was only partly true) and didn't look like she had anything valuable on her (which wasn't technically true - she was pretty sure her mother's old pendant was silver).

She climbed over the stinking ruins of about a hundred barrels that had once been filled with stuff, through a twenty-foot stretch where the old stone and concrete had been overrun by little yellow fungi that crunched underfoot, and over the huddled form of somebody who was unconscious or possibly several days dead. The smell was inconclusive.

Val took a left toward what she thought would lead to a street about a block and some change from the Vinzenno's business/home. She rounded a corner, damp, deteriorated brick underfoot, and almost ran into the armored back of a red- and blue-clad brother-knight of the Penitent Order who, along with about a dozen of his brethren, were crouched in wait in the alleyway. That couldn't be coincidence. Val crept back around the corner and listened for a moment.

"Any eyes on the little bitch yet?" one of them whispered.

"Not yet, but on the days she doesn't go out with the bastard bounty-hunter, she goes down to the herb shop. And, if we don't see her out in the street, that means she's inside. As soon as the bounty-hunter gets back, we'll storm in and take the three of them…"

"Can we do that? Just storm in?"

"The bishop's given it his blessing, hasn't he? Even if the billies get sore over it, it's not like anybody will spend more than a night in the clink. Think you can spend a night in the clink without getting too handsy?"

"Get bent, Borsoth."

"Oh? Is that what gets you handsy?"

Val had heard about enough. Even if they didn't spot her, which they wouldn't, it sounded like they assumed she was inside. They were going to storm in and take Ginn and Ette as soon as he returned from his morning bounties which, depending on the bounty, could be anywhere from mid-afternoon to… well, about now. Damn.

She darted past the crouched brother-knights and continued straight (well, as straight as the alleyways would allow, which wasn't very) for another two-ish blocks, going as fast as she could without slipping on bits of muck, gunk, or sewage, which all belonged in different categories of filth. She also kept an eye out for more brother-knights, spotting a trio of either knights or cutpurses crouched in wait at the first exit to Resonant Square proper.

She zigzagged through to what she thought was the Vinzenno's building and got to climbing, ratcheting herself up the extremely narrow and somewhat variable gulf between their building and the next one over until she was about two floors up. From there, she sidled along the lip of the ledge until she found herself without a building behind her. Anybody looking up would see her and, if she lost her grip, they would see her falling. It was about twenty-five feet down onto filthy brick and concrete.

Val prayed to the old gods, which she didn't entirely believe in, that she'd got the right building and the right floor. Two windows over should be Galvan's room, to which she always kept the window at least a crack open, even though Ginn had told her to close it when she left in the morning. Thankfully, Ginn hadn't closed it since she left.

Val crouched, stuck her fingers under the windowsill, and lifted, very nearly slipping and falling to her demise, or at least significant injury. She got a pretty impressive splinter but managed not to fall. She swung through the window and promptly tripped over the end table and found herself sprawled against the floor with a sore rear. Three seconds later, Ginn thumped up the stairs and stormed in, dagger drawn.