6

Elizabeth was just inside the front door and she grabbed Megan by the wrist as they came in.  The girl laid her ears flat and tried to yank away, but Jess took her other hand and Megan fell quiet.
“It's okay.  She's just had little too much excitement on the first day out.  She’ll be fine after she’s had some time to calm down,” Jess said.
“I’ve already heard.  You’re supposed to keep her out of trouble like that,” Elizabeth said.
	She turned and jabbed a finger into Megan's chest.
	“You’re supposed to listen to Jessie.  I don’t care if you hate her, or if you wish us all dead.  You wouldn't be the first.  But while you’re my responsibility, you will do as you are told,” Elizabeth said.
	Megan sneered and swatted her hand away.
“Or what?” she said.
“Or I will give you back to Marcus tomorrow and he’ll have to find someone else to teach you what he wants you to know.  And they won’t be someone who's likely to care what happens to you,” Elizabeth said.
Megan visibly shrank in on herself, and Elizabeth’s expression softened.  She took hold of Megan’s arm again, but this time she gave the girl a familiar pat on the back of her hand.
“Just try.  Please?  I gave you to Jessie because she’s a sweet girl, and because she’s brighter than anyone else in the House.  Including me,” she said.
“I will,” Megan said.
There was something in the set of her jaw that made Jess doubt that she meant what she said, but Elizabeth smiled at her and put her other hand on the small of Megan’s back, steering her towards the back of the room.  Jess started to follow them, but Elizabeth shook her head and pointed at the stairs leading up to the service rooms.
“You have a visitor to see to,” she said.
“But you said I wouldn’t while I was doing this. I mean, I still have to find Megan some clothes and she doesn’t have a key to the room.  What’s she going to do in the meantime?” asked Jess.
“I know what I said, but this is a special case.  She paid four times your price and she wouldn’t see anyone except you.  Take care of her and you can keep all of the money for yourself,” Elizabeth said.
“She?” said Jess.
	Jess had never been sure how she felt about the females who sometimes visited the House.  They were usually older than the males, and they were richer or married to rich partners.  The few she had been with had been kinder, too, and more sure of themselves, which meant she could almost enjoy herself with them.  She just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were traitors.
	Still a little light headed from a second cup of rum-laced chocolate bought on the way back to the House, Jess went up the stairs to see who was waiting for her.  The red flag was up over her old room, which was a small comfort.  Although they were supposed to be interchangeable, each girl left her personality on her usual room and Jess never felt comfortable about using someone else’s bed.  When she went in the room appeared to be empty, though she could smell a hint of perfume that she didn’t recognize and there was the subtle warmth of body heat in the air.  The bed was still rumpled from the last time she'd used it and when she bent down to straighten the sheets, she heard the bathroom door click open.
“I think there's been a slight misunderstanding,” Sarah said.
It took all of her self control not to turn around, or pick up the heaviest object in the room and throw it.  Instead, Jess sat down at her dressing table and started to brush her hair.
“Customers don’t usually talk.  We only have forty minutes and each one of them cost you money.  There’s a screen, if you want some privacy while you get undressed,” Jess said.
“So you are going to be a pain in the ass.  Cath was right about you,” Sarah said “Will you just listen to me for a minute?”
“I haven’t had much practice with females, so it could take a little longer than usual.  I can’t make any exceptions, no matter how much you paid, so you might as well get started,” Jess said.
“We don’t burn down Houses.  We don't kill people, not on purpose.  We only want to help you,” Sarah said.
The brush caught in an unexpected tangle in Jess’s hair and jerked out of her hand.  The noise it made when it hit the floor made her jump and bang her knee on the edge of the table.  She stared at it for a long minute, then stood up without turning around.
“Do you?  Well, you’re going about it the wrong way,” she said.
“You mean in the restaurant?  We are trying.  I’m sorry, but we don’t have much experience with this.  You ran out before we had a chance to explain,” Sarah said.
“I mean making friends.  I hate this place, and I hate the people who come in here.  Did you stop to think how I might feel about your paying for me?  Did you even bother to think at all?” she said.
She was shouting and she knew that Elizabeth would be angry when she found out, but she couldn’t stop herself.  Her hands clenched into fists and she couldn’t stop herself from shaking.
“It was the only way I could think of to get to you,” said Sarah.
“You could have asked.  But you don’t ask whores, do you?  I know what you think, it’s what everyone thinks.  You aren’t getting your fucking money back,” said Jess.
She took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands while she sought to get herself back under control.  Sarah left the doorway where she’d been standing and sat down on the bed.  She picked pieces of fluff off of the blanket, and when she spoke again she sounded tired.
“I know what you do.  With the other girls, I mean.  I wish I could think that I would do the same, if I were in your position.  I've always wanted to be a hero,” Sarah said.
	“That’s what everyone says, but how many people actually try to help?  Outside of the Houses, I mean, where they might actually stand a chance of getting things changed.  Do you really want to help, or is this just the crusade of the week?” Jess said.
	“We’re serious,” Sarah said.
	“Why?”
	Jess sat down on her stool again, but no matter how she squirmed she couldn’t get comfortable. She wanted to believe what Sarah was saying.  Except for Elizabeth, nobody had really offered to help her before, and Elizabeth was watched too closely to do much good.  She couldn’t really blame the other girls.  They had enough trouble just surviving on their own, or they were forced into the kind of selfishness that was necessary to keep them from starving.  People like Sarah had no excuses.
	“Where were you thirty years ago?  Ten years?  Last month?  All of a sudden it’s fashionable to care about us, so here you are, all concern and holy charity.  But what if you’re too late?” she said.
	“Don’t let that get in the way of what might be your only chance to help put an end to all of this.  Do you want to spend the rest of your life setting one girl free at a time, or do you want to do it all at once?” Sarah said.
	“Who told you about that, anyway?  None of the girls I've helped would talk,” Jess said.
	She stopped by the doorway and stuck her head out into the hall.  The whole floor was silent.  That wasn't unusual by itself, but it was the kind of silence which suggested that all the girls had crept up to their doors to listen in.
	“I don’t think it’s much of a secret anymore, but I don’t think you have to worry about it too much.  Even Marcus Keppler couldn’t object, as long as you stick to the rules,” Sarah said.
	“But you’re asking me to break the rules.  Who told you that I was the person to come to for that?  What is it you think I can do?” Jess said.
	“You can get people to trust us.  We can’t talk to most of the girls in the other Houses, because they’re too afraid of getting caught.”
	“They should be.  Nobody wants to be hanged as a traitor,” Jess said.
	“So you aren’t going to help us?” Sarah said.
	The girl sounded genuinely disappointed, and Jess had to fight to ignore the pang of sympathy that shot through her.
	“I don’t see why I should,” she said, but she didn’t leave the doorway, even when Sarah stood up and smiled at her.
	“I think you will,” Sarah said.
	“On the condition that you help me get Megan away from the city.  Your girlfriend said that she was Captain Coburn’s daughter.  Get her on his ship before it leaves, and I will see what I can do,” Jess said.
	“Cath is the person to talk to about that.  Her father only tolerates me as long as I stay out of sight.  But I’m sure she'll agree,” Sarah said.
	They went downstairs together, with Sarah walking a little ahead of her to keep up the illusion that she was still nothing more than a customer.  Megan was safe at the bar with a glass of one of Samantha's potions in front of her.  There was no sign of Elizabeth, but the old vixen normally stayed in the back during business hours anyway.  At the bottom of the stairs, Sarah pushed a gold coin into her hand and surprised her by giving her a kiss on the cheek.
	“My cousin was in Copper House for a while, until someone set her free.  She wouldn't say who, but I think I know,” Sarah said.
	Jess watched Sarah walk out of the door and away into the snow.  It was nearly dark and, for a moment she considered going after the girl to see her home, but Sarah didn’t seem like someone who needed any protection.  She dressed well, but she carried herself like someone who had grown up on the street.  Instead, Jess went to the bar and straddled the stool next to Megan.  She picked up the tumbler, sniffed it, and took a careful sip.
	“Cheap whiskey.  The least you could do is give the poor girl something worth drinking,” she said.
	“You want me to give my best stuff to a virgin?  Not until I know she won't waste it,” said Samantha.
	“Well give me some, then.  She can try some of that and if she doesn’t like it she can spit it back in the glass. I don’t mind drinking after her,” said Jess.
	She paused when Megan put a hand on her arm.
	“Would she really give me back to him?” said Megan.
	She looked smaller now, more drawn in on herself, and the mane of fur on the back of her neck hung in limp strands down to her shoulders.  Jess could see tears standing in the corners of her eyes.
	“I wouldn't let her,” said Jess.
	“Why?” Megan said.
	“Because I promised I'd look after you, and I meant it,” said Jess.
	But if Megan heard her reply, she gave no sign of it.  She had laid her head on Jess's shoulder and fallen fast asleep in the time it took her to draw three breaths.  Samantha put her glass down and came out from behind the bar to help carry her upstairs.
	They found Elizabeth waiting for them in the master bedroom. She sat crosslegged on the floor with her back to the fire and a thick blanket was wrapped around her shoulders.  There were piles of cloth all around her and a half-finished dress lay across her lap.  She watched silently while they put Megan to bed and Jess tucked blankets around the girl to keep her warm.
	“Forty years ago, when I was your age, I would have been finished by now.  My fingers don’t bend the way they ought to anymore,” said Elizabeth.
	She held up the dress and Jess recognized it as one of Elizabeth’s own, with the lace frills removed.  It was plain black and maybe a little too severe for someone as young as Megan, but it was better than the rags the poor girl had now.
	“Thank you,” Jess said.
	“I thought you might need to be reminded you're not alone,” Elizabeth said.
	Jess sat down next to Megan on the bed and watched the snow fall as the light faded.  Tomorrow, they would try again.