The Orphan of Cemetery Hill - Hester Fox Page 0,71
had heard him; she was staring at her hands, which were clutched around her cup. The sound of glasses clinking and the boisterous voices of the after-work crowd swelled up around them. When she spoke, it was sudden and in a low, urgent tone.
“What do you know of resurrection men?”
Taken by surprise by the sudden change of subject, Caleb frowned. “I know that grave robbing used to be a lucrative business in the medical field, and that there has been a spate of snatchings lately in Boston after a decade of nothing.” He didn’t mention that his own father had been a victim.
Alice nodded. “Edinburgh lives in the shadow of the murderers and body snatchers Burke and Hare, even twenty years later. But even before I came here, I’d heard stories of men digging up the graves of the freshly dead in Massachusetts for dissection and experimentation.” She wrinkled her nose in a gesture that reminded him of Tabby. “I never thought that someday my fate would be so bound up in the actions of such men.”
She took a long breath, and Caleb waited for her to continue. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Did Tabby ever tell you anything of her early life?”
Tabby knew so much about him, from his distaste for the shipping business, to his history with his father. But he knew very little of her aside from the fact that she was fiercely loyal to Eli and Mary-Ruth. He suddenly realized he was hungry to know everything about her, and ashamed that he had never asked when he’d had the chance. He shook his head.
“I suppose not, given that she never mentioned me.” Alice sighed. “Our parents died in a carriage accident when I was ten years old and Tabby just seven. Our mother’s sister and her husband took us in, being that they were our only family. It was no secret in town that our mother was a clairvoyant and they assumed that Tabby and I were, as well. We—”
Caleb nearly choked on his drink. “Wait. You’re telling me that you and Tabby are... That you have...” he trailed off. Good God, had Tabby been telling the truth? Was it even possible?
Alice looked surprised. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything, but in order to understand the story I’m about to tell, you need to understand where we came from.”
“Tabby said that she could speak to the dead, and that she had spoken to both my father and my fiancée on my behalf. But I rather thought she was, er, mad. Or at the very least, having a laugh at my expense.”
Alice looked taken aback. “She told you all of that?”
He nodded.
“The Tabby that I knew would never, ever tell someone about her special abilities, not after what happened to her. If she did indeed tell you, then she must hold you in the highest of esteem.”
Caleb sat in stunned silence. Regardless of whether Tabby did indeed hold some special power, she had confided in him about something that was deeply personal to her and he had been scornful and derisive, accusing her of lying.
Alice continued. “In any case, there was no love in that household, no nurturing or protection. Instead, my aunt and uncle saw us as a means to make money, and held séances and parties where we were forced to try to contact the dead for their friends and strangers alike. They envisioned a traveling act, with the two of us performing séances for audiences around the country. Tabby was more sensitive than me, and I knew that if we didn’t get out of that house, that she would be permanently scarred. So I started stealing bits of money here and there from our aunt and uncle, and made plans to escape to Boston.
“The night that Tabby and I arrived in the city, I had gone to look for lodgings, for somewhere safe just to spend the night. Tabby was afraid that our aunt and uncle had followed us, and said that she felt like we were being watched. If I had been a better sister, I would have paid more attention to what she was saying. But as it was, I was tired and hungry and I thought I knew better. So I left her alone on some church steps while I went off to look for a place to sleep.”
Alice paused in her story as the bartender came and refilled her cup. Caleb absorbed this incredible story; why had Tabby never mentioned