The air was heavy with a heat that made even the darkness of the night feel like the light of day. It was the kind of summer night in the city that made walking feel like swimming and Audrey was already dreading shrugging back into the fashionable coat that went over her dress. A dress which was already several yards of fabric too many.
Audrey ran down the stairs of the lodging house, laughingly outpacing a young newsboy that only knew her as Miss Kai and never as Laces. She controlled her urge to jump onto the banister opting to at least jump down the last three steps. She stumbled upon landing, carefully being caught by a foot.
Audrey let her hand rest on the well-placed calf before looking up at its owner, sitting upon the check in counter.
"Matthew?"
"This here is Slingshot, and I'm Cap." Bottle Cap's voice was unnaturally loud at her elbow.
"On account of your collecting bottle caps." Audrey replied in a daze as her eyes took in her cousin. Matthew Kai was longer and leaner than he had been when she last saw him over the summer. She was sure the moment he stood he would be taller than her, but his eyes were still the same color as her sister's and his chin reminded her unmistakably of her father.
"Miss Audrey," Matthew winked at her.
A stampede of footsteps was coming downstairs now, as the younger newsboy that had been racing Laces pulled at her skirts from behind.
"Miss Audrey!" The little voice cried. She let her gaze absorb Matthew for another minute before spinning to the boy.
"Yes, Georgie?"
"You might the fastest girl I've ever seen." The boy stated in awe.
"Haven't seen many girls run, have you there Georgie?" Matt teases.
"Excuse him, please. He suffers from a lack of manners." Bottle Cap apologizes as he shoves at Matt. Audrey ignores them as she pulls a wrapped toffee piece from her skirts and bends down to Georgie.
"We'll just say you beat me." She winks at the boy as he greedily grabs the sweet. More newsboys press around her as she hears Elizabeth laughing from above her.
"Oy, you scabs stop crowding the ladies." Matt barked at the boys, from his perch on the counter. Audrey is struck suddenly with the echo of the memory of a prince on his throne, commanding his subjects. The newsboys step away from her skirts, some wandering away down the hall to the kitchens and others settling to sit on the steps again. Elizabeth is pulling their coats from the pegs in an easy manner, the young lady of society had grown fond of their visits to the lodging house.
"Miss Elizabeth, have you ever crossed the ocean?"
"Miss Audrey, you'll bring your picture box next time?"
The young voices clamored to be heard all at once before Bottle Cap let out a sharp whistle between his fingers. Elizabeth was still laughing as Audrey was begrudgingly pulling on her coat.
"Stop pestering the ladies, up with you all." Cap waved the boys away easily enough. The newsboys scattered at the command leaving Audrey momentarily wondering where Snipeshooter and Sand might be.
"We don't mind them, do we Audrey?" Elizabeth smiled brightly.
"Of course not." Audrey nodded.
"Best excuse them before they hide themselves in your skirts and you find yourself going home with an orphan." Matthew laughed as he jumped down from the counter.
Matthew Kai stood just a finger or two taller than her now, just a hair shorter than Bottle Cap and she knew the fact must drive her cousin mad.
"We didn't notice a carriage out front; might we walk you ladies to the main road and help you catch a hack?" Cap masqueraded a command in an ask masterfully. Audrey quirked a brow at him, but Cap just nodded impatiently back at her, as Matthew leaned into her shoulder to murmur.
"Don't be difficult." He whispered.
"That would be lovely of you both, wouldn't it just Audrey?" Elizabeth accepted the offer as politely as it was extended. It was Audrey's fault there wasn't a carriage after all. She had wanted to walk, as the summer light lasted so much longer into the evening. But walking in lower Manhattan, even in the light always made Elizabeth nervous and if Thomas knew of her plans, he'd have forbidden them outright.
Bottle Cap offered his arm to Elizabeth as he helped her step down from the front stoop. Audrey could hear the soft rumbling of polite conversation between them.
"Cousin, I thought you'd have better sense than to take to walking unaccompanied at night in this part of the city. Or any part of the city," Matt growled slightly as he guided her out the door.
"You may be the leader of Brooklyn, but best you remember I didn't mind the last blowhard. I won't mind you." Audrey snapped impatiently bristling at his censor.
"I could talk to someone you do mind," Matt snapped back as they started walking down the road, just paces behind Elizabeth and Bottle Cap. Matthew stepped around her to walk along the busy road, remembering his manners in spite of his annoyance. It seemed tempers were a familial trait. Audrey tried to step indignantly away from her cousin, but she barely lifted her leg to step forward before his fingers tightened on her arm, a plead more than a command in the press of his grip.
"You've stayed out of trouble?" Audrey asked quietly.
"You know as much about how I've stayed out of trouble, as I know about you stay out of trouble." Matt teased lightly. He wasn't one to pretend with her, that they weren't regularly informed of each other. Audrey knew when Matt had outgrown his winter coat and needed a new one, and Matt knew when his cousin was dining with diplomats or shopping on Ladies Mile. The two may have not seen each other in months, in person, but there wasn't a day that went by when they weren't aware of the other.
"The pins you've got in your hair, they the long kind that can be used to fight if need be?" Matt grouched. The light was beginning to wane, and the streets bustled with the movement of those heading in and out in equal measure, a city that never slept.
"What a silly idea, if I need to fight, I know how." Audrey rolled her eyes impatiently, flicking her skirts up from an abandoned wash puddle. She stepped forward, pulling away from her cousin, a moment of defiance.
"What if it's a scab that's bigger than you, your dainty fist won't do much." Matt crowded into her threateningly. He wrapped an arm around her waist, using his length to keep her steady and trapped at the same time.
"What a bully you've become Matthew Kai!" Audrey shoved but he didn't waver.
"You aren't parading around the city with Conlon and Kelly anymore, you should be taking better care. Even your Jacob is gone now, and I'd put two bits on how you ain't even notice how often he kept you safe from your own foolish decisions." Matt insisted.
"I'll have you know I spent most of my life parading this city alone." Audrey jabbed her elbow into Matt's gut, harder than she might have had he not gotten her angry. But Matthew kept pace with her step. "And I don't believe you spent much time on the streets until recently."
"But being a man," Matt began ignoring the way Audrey scoffed at the claim. "I haven't to worry much as you, and before, without the skirts and the fancy airs, maybe you could have been safe. Though I don't think Kelly and Conlon would agree."
As he invoked the older leaders a second time, Audrey stopped and spun to face him.
"Have they sent you to pester me?" She demanded dangerously. Matt laughed, the kind of snort that bordered on impertinence in young ladies and maliciousness in young men.
"I've never been an errand boy for Jack or Spot. I pester you for my own sake, and I haven't voiced my concerns to any of your guardians." Matt quirked a brow at her challenge. "Yet."
"Why have you concerns at all?" Audrey frowned at him, reaching into one of her skirt pockets to retrieve a sweet. She held it up for him, as a peace offering of sorts. Matt chuckled as he accepted the candy.
Bottle Cap and Elizabeth were nearly a city block ahead of them. Audrey could make out Bottle Cap animatedly telling Elizabeth a story of some sorts. Matt pulled her along into a quicker pace.
"There are reports, and Cammie had some troublesome months back. You've become a good mark. Best you not forget it." Matt growled to cover for his worry but Audrey heard it anyway.
"I'll be careful." She promised.
"Don't parade, if you must be out alone be more bird than lady." He begged. Audrey smiled. It seemed impossible these days, to be a bird without being a lady, but she didn't think that would comfort her cousin. She wondered for a moment if Slingshot had heard reports of her night at the Vanderbilt Party, of what had happened between her and Jacob Henry Canterbury. But she couldn't be sure if he did know he would bring it up, a frivolous concern compared to her safety, and if she tried to discover his knowledge, she might make him suspicious. It had been days, and it was beginning to seem she had truly had a moment of privacy.
Bottle Cap had hailed a hack and had gallantly helped Elizabeth into it and was now holding the door open patiently for Audrey.
"You knew we didn't have a carriage?" Audrey suddenly realized.
"You've become a predictable creature of habit, Miss Audrey." Matt pulled out a letter from inside his shirt and tucked it into her skirt's pocket.
"What of those airs of not being their errand boy?" She teased.
"Conlon doesn't take to being refused. Besides, I wanted to see you whole with my very own eyes." Matt ducked his head, easily and quickly pressing a kiss on her cheek. Cap took her around the waist and swung her into the carriage without any delay. Bottle Cap squeezed her hand just once before shutting the door of the hack and sending the ladies on their way home.