Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,42
lighter judgment once I explained how badly injured Penelope’s daughter had been.
“Go back into the city, and see if you can find any more inns where Wexel and his men have stayed,” I told Topacia. “Maybe someone will remember something useful about them. And be careful. Wexel might have left a guard behind to deal with anyone asking too many questions.”
“I’ll find out everything I can,” Topacia promised. “Meet you back here at lunch to compare notes?”
I agreed, and we went our separate ways.
I pushed the wheelbarrow out of the alley and fell in step behind the miners. No one gave me a second glance, despite the steady squeak-squeak-squeak of the wheel.
I started to roll the container by the gargoyle fountain, but that uneasy feeling swept over me again. Some good luck certainly couldn’t hurt, so I stopped, dug a penny out of my pocket, and tossed it into the gurgling water. I had two more pennies so I threw them into the fountain as well. If one penny brought good luck, then three should give me a plethora of grand fortune. Either way, the superstition eased some of my nagging worry.
I left the wheelbarrow with a group of them outside the mine, then hurried through the entrance into Basecamp. I didn’t see Penelope in the cavern, so I got in line with the other miners.
Instead of Conley, a lower-ranking foreman was sitting at the checkpoint table. He glanced at me, marked something off on his list, and handed over my map and shaft assignment. He didn’t say a word to me, but nervousness surged off him, as clear and loud as cymbals clanging together in my mind.
“Next!” he bellowed.
Several miners were in line behind me, and I had no choice but to move forward. I stowed away my lunch box, pulled on my gloves, and shut my locker. The other miners were doing the same, and nothing seemed amiss, but I couldn’t quite shake my worry.
“Have you seen Penelope?” I asked one of the other miners.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Yeah. She already went down for the morning. Shaft 4, I think.”
The miner walked on, but his words made even more worry trickle through me. Penelope had lagged behind every morning, either in Basecamp or here by the lockers, so that we could go down into the shaft together. Perhaps she didn’t want to face me, given what had happened yesterday.
I dawdled by my locker, pretending to tighten my bootlaces, while the other miners streamed past me. Soon, I was the only one left, along with Reiko. The dragon morph had partially shifted and was sitting on a bench, using a file to add an extra sharp edge to her black talons. Her head was bowed, and she was focused on her filing, but the green dragon on her right hand swiveled around on her skin and stared up at me.
I nodded respectfully at the dragon, which rolled its black eyes and peered up at Reiko again. The morph kept right on sharpening her talons, still not looking at me.
I finished my pretend inspection of my bootlaces, then straightened up and reached out with my magic. Grimley. Come to the mine, please.
He answered me a few seconds later. Is something wrong?
I’m not sure. There’s no sign of Penelope or Conley.
On my way. I’ll find a spot on one of the rooftops and keep watch over the plaza.
I didn’t know how he could help me, but knowing he was going to be nearby eased some of my worry. Reiko was still filing her talons, so I turned my back to her, grabbed the chain around my neck, and fished my gargoyle pendant out from underneath my clothes.
The silver pendant was warm from where it had been resting against my skin, although the sensation quickly vanished in the cool air. I rubbed my thumb over the pieces of black jet and the blue tearstone shards that made up Grimley’s snarling face. The weight of the pendant in my palm and the pricks of the jewels against my skin steadied me. I rubbed Grimley’s midnight-blue eyes, my own version of a good-luck charm, then tucked the pendant back underneath my clothes and left the locker area.
A couple of miners were waiting to take a cart down into the shaft. Footsteps scuffed behind me, and Reiko joined the group. She leaned a shoulder against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.