relief—you saved me from a union with such a man and all the horror you might imagine that entails. And for that I thank you.”
“I took no pleasure in it,” I said. “But at least it improved your lot.”
“Two, boy,” said Hawkins. “She said two.”
“Unfortunately,” said Corrine, “you also deprived this station of an entrée into the highest portions of Elm County society.”
“There wasn’t anything high about Maynard,” I said.
“Yes, but you understand my meaning,” she said. “Now I am condemned to spinsterhood and out of connection with the ladies of that country. Had the union with Maynard been achieved, that connection would have proven fruitful for the strength and intelligence of the Underground. I believe you can see how.”
“I can.”
“And so by Maynard’s death we lost an investment. Months of planning were gone and we were forced to make do with what remained.”
“She means you,” said Hawkins ruefully. “Had to carry you off.”
“And while you have not given to us in the way in which we believed Maynard would, you have given your share. We know what you did in Philadelphia and in Maryland. Have you made an acquaintance of the powers which, a year ago, you only dimly perceived?”
I said nothing. I did indeed have an acquaintance, but there was still something missing, something that would unlock the deep memory at will, and allow me to conduct the train, as I wished, along the track. And even if I had understood it all, I still remembered Harriet’s warning, and I believed her when she said that the power was for me, not for them.
“We are not without gratitude or admiration, Hiram. And yet this hardly brings you to a settling of the account.”
“I am here,” I said. “As much as possible, of my own will. Tell me what you need. Ask me. I shall do.”
“Good. Good,” said Corrine. “You recall your father’s servant, Roscoe?”
“Of course,” I said. “Brought me up top.”
“Well, Roscoe has passed. It was his time.”
“I’m sorry to hear it,” I said.
“As soon as Roscoe started going down,” said Hawkins, “your old man Howell sent a letter to Corrine, here. He wants you back—in Roscoe’s place.”
“Recall now the intelligence we were to garner from the union between myself and Maynard,” said Corrine. “Perhaps you would like to be the source of this intelligence. We desire a knowledge of your father’s situation and the future of Lockless. Would you help us?”
“I would,” I said. My suddenness shocked them, for I was pledging myself to return to the man who was my master, even if he was also my father. “But I need something from you.”
“I would say you’ve gotten plenty,” said Corrine.
“No more than I deserved,” I said.
Corrine now smiled at me and nodded. “Indeed,” she said. “What do you wish?”
“There are two still there—a woman and a girl,” I said. “I want them out.”
“The girl is, I assume, the one you ran with. Sophia,” said Corrine. “And the woman would be your caretaker from your earliest days at the house, Thena.”
“Yes, them,” I said. “I want them conducted to Philadelphia through the Ninth Street station and Raymond White.”
“Forget it,” said Hawkins. “All you’ll do is bring down Ryland, likely right on us. The girl who ran with you, gone again as soon as you get back? And then the woman who is like a mother to you? No, that don’t work.”
“And this Thena woman,” said Corrine. “She is past the age when we can justify such a journey.”
“I know the dangers and I know the problems,” I said. “And it don’t have to be now. But I want it on the books. I want you to promise me that when the time is right, that we will get them out. Listen, I am not the same man. I know what this war means, and I am with you in it. But I cannot rescue on a symbol. They are my family, all the family I have ever had. And I want them out. I cannot sleep until they are out.”
Corrine appraised me for moment. She said, “I understand. We will do it. At the right time. But we will do it. For now, prepare yourself. You leave tomorrow. I’ve already informed your father to expect you.”
* * *
—
And so early the next day, I awoke, washed, and donned my old clothes, clothes of the tasking man, and when their coarse threading chafed my skin I saw a black gate clanging shut before my eyes.