Violet looked up worried as Qismah walked into her office ” how is she?”
the gazelle sat on the corner of the desk ” she’ll be fine, aside from abraded wrists and ankles, and that cut on her shin where she stumbled into a boot scraper , shes just feeling the effects of the ether, he really did use a bit much”
the rabbit stabbed her letter opener into her desk again, the table top showing signs of several such attacks in the last few hours since her niece was found wandering in an alley,” so he didn’t …..” Violet let the rest hang in the air unsaid”
of course not” Qismah replied “Ive never seen him have any sort of psychical interest in any one, except for you of course, and half of that i think was the desire to make you one of his song birds”
violet shuddered” i remember when father died and i took over,my first and last trip to Eliot’s ‘aviary, all those poor women, im still amazed they were alive”
Qismah gently took the letter opener out of her mistresses paw” why didn’t you just kill him then if you knew he was such a monster?”
the older woman leaned back in her chair “because he was just to damn useful,he got things done, and he was afraid of me, he was controllable”
Qismah put the letter opener in a drawer” and now’
violet shook her head ” now he doesn’t fear anything, hes just a wild animal “
“so what do we do then?”Qismah said as she moved behind the rabbit and placed her hands on her shoulders,
“we fort up as Omig would Say” violet mumbled as she stared down at the ruined desk top ” we just do as Eliot asked and leave him alone, and hope he does the same”
Qismah sat on the window ledge and watched ducks on the canal get sucked into oblivion by unseen wiggy fish “Omig would find him and kill him if you told him to’
the rabbit shook her head ” i know he would,and he’d try to kill him,but it would all come down to which saw the other first and who got the first blow in, no id give Omigs odds at killing Eliot as less than 50%, so hes more effective as a guard than as a hunter”
the gazelle watched the last duck disappear in an explosion of water, blood ,and feathers “what about Mr Wright?, he seems capable of doing the job”
Violet laid her head on her forearms “no im seriously reconsidering our business deal with him”
Qismah looked genuinely surprised ” why he seems more than able to do the job?”
Violet leaned back and rubbed her temples her left ear twitching ” its because of what Eliot said to Olivia, about his being more of a monster than i can possibly imagine,if Eliot was still working for us I’d write it off as a little professional jealousy, but for him to warn me off now means he’s actually afraid of him, and any monster that scares Mr Eliot, scares me twice over, i remember the fight in front of the hospital, and how the cat dug hienrichs bullet out of its self and tossed it away as if it were nothing,those were more than normal Moreau”
the gazelle cocked her head”Therianthropes?”
violet nodded’ most likely, and more trouble than we need, no our best bet is to sit back and wait”
Qismah looked at her Mistress” wait for what?”
Violet frowned ” for Eliot’s songbirds to start appearing. and for Hienrichs to kill the bastard!”
John paused and waved goodbye to the clerk as he exited the telegraph office, the weekly visit was becoming a ritual, like church, and much like visiting church it left him feeling disapointed in the powers that be. His situation, even with the elimination of the team sent to capture him was still unchanged, and now, he could swear he was being shadowed, no, he Knew he was. And every now and then the wind would change and he’d catch the scent of that cat, Mr Eliot somewhere nearby.
So here he was, standing at the door of the telegraph office and staring across the canal at the Solano Imports warehouse, contemplating his predicament. The situation with Mr Eliot was quickly becomming untenable, a complication on top of his already numerous complications, and one he felt he couldn’t deal with on his own.
The wolf moreau took one step out the door of the telegraph office then immediately turned on his heels and marched back in, grabbing a pen, some paper and a small envelope and quickly jotted down a message.
“We need to talk, preferably somewhere safe from that Cat. J.W.” The wolf, satisfied with his penmanship, quickly stuffed the note into the envelope and marched across the bridge to the Warehouse, pausing at the door to slip the envelope through a small gap at the bottom. He then gave a heavy rap on the door before walking briskly away up the street.
violet was watching some workmen change out her desk, when Omig came in with an envelope”this just came by under door postage”
The Rabbit looked over the envelope than ripped it open and read aloud”We need to talk, preferably somewhere safe from that Cat. J.W.hmmm what do you think Omig?”
the wolf glanced over her shoulder”you meet with him and you’ll have more that just Eliot on your tail, the urchins have been fallowing him all over town, and the militia,”
violet dropped her paw to her side” yes big, brutish,and hardly subtle our Mr Wright,well maybe we can meet on the Olympian, but first i have business with Hienrichs”
omig looked puzzled ” what business?”
Violet turned and looked him strait in the eyes”i need to tell her about Eliots song birds”