Chapter 28

ChapterTwenty-Eight

“Ajob?” Clodagh howled the words as though they were the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “You want a job in Wildecliff?”

Thea winced and put down the small bundle of herbs she’d brought into town. “What’s so funny about that?”

“It’s just...” Clodagh waved a hand up and down Thea’s body as though that explained everything.

It did, in a way. Compared to her friend, who wore the latest in fashions, Thea looked a little... worn down. Clodagh’s dress was smooth and thin. It hugged her curves, where there were curves at least, with a sweeping square neckline. Slits up the sides of her dress showed off her long, freckled legs. Thea still wore the old style of clothing. Her skirts swayed around her waist in a giant circle whenever she moved, and her blouse tucked into the skirts to give her a tinier waist. But even her blouse had seen better days.

Thea’s family needed money. Sure, there were many ways they could help the town, and had in the times since the war. They’d made sure that food was available to the hungry masses while the town was rebuilt by all the people who desperately needed homes. But no one in Waterdown had money, and her mother was a bleeding heart when it came to starving mouths.

Some people could afford to order wood from other cities. They’d smuggled it in during the early stages of the war and then more often later on. Wood could burn, though, and Wildecliff had done everything they could to ensure that the wood was cursed when it had arrived on Waterdown’s shores. Whether it was wood-eating beetles or tragic rot that turned homes into mush, they’d eventually had to build stone homes.

Waterdown didn’t look like it used to. Everything here was rock and earth. None of the buildings were painted bright colors, and there were very few stores. Only those who hadn’t been able to leave were still here, and that meant money had gotten even more scarce.

“We need money,” she muttered, balancing the basket on her hip as she peered down the well in the center of town.

“You’ve got all the food and water you can want. What do you need a job for?”

“To rebuild the house. To get clothes on my mother’s back that aren’t ancient or moth eaten. To have something other than a curse that lingers no matter how long we try to fight against it.” She could continue, but Clodagh wouldn’t understand. Her father had done well after the war.

Clodagh sighed and seemed to understand that maybe, just maybe, this was something she couldn’t understand. And Thea needed her support for this.

A job was a job. It was money. And she didn’t care who was paying her.

Thea shrugged and added, “I just have to go sign the paperwork today and we’ll see where I’m headed. Someone will need a secretary or a maid or… something else.”

“You shouldn’t be focusing on getting paid, and instead, you should focus on getting married.” Clodagh crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her. “That’s what I did, and I think it was rather successful.”

“Of course. I should find an old man who’s going to die at any point. Then, when he does die under very suspicious circumstances, I will take his money and ride off into the sunset with my true beloved, who somehow did not conspire to do all this with me. Is that right?”

“Precisely.”

Thea rolled her eyes. Clodagh didn’t really believe she’d gotten away with all that, and no one assumed it was her? She was even madder than Thea had ever thought.

“Not all of us can get away with murder, Clodagh.”

“Not murder. He died of natural causes. That was proven time and time again.” Her friend brushed a billow of red hair away from her face and grinned. “All I’m saying is that I got the life I wanted. Money, the woman that makes me smile, and a house in Strongmeadow that didn’t get hit so hard in the war. You could try it.”

“I couldn’t stomach being with a man like that.” Thea made a face as though that wasn’t the real reason why she wouldn’t do it.

Clodagh saw right through her. With a soft, sad smile, Clodagh put her hand on Thea’s shoulder. “You know it’s been long enough, right? Ten years is more than enough time to forget him.”

Him.

The word that her entire world always revolved around. Everyone always seemed to think she could just let the memory go, as though she were blowing seeds from a dandelion puff. She should let all those memories float away in the wind, and then everything would be fine.

How was she supposed to do that when he had practically branded himself into her skin? Into her soul? Thea had lived and breathed for him. And now people wanted her just to let him go?

She was happier like this. Living without him was like living without a limb. But it was better than not living at all.

Clodagh sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know how you still even think about him. It’s not love, you’ve told me that enough times. But how can you let him live within you even as a memory?”

Thea shrugged. “I can’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t remember him.”

And that was enough of this conversation. Thea didn’t want to talk about Alistair anymore because… Damn it. Now she’d thought his name. She’d have to reset the calendar she kept in her house, and she’d been so good about not thinking the word Alistair.

Now she wouldn’t be able to stop. It had taken her months the last time to train her mind back to thinking about him and not giving damned Alistair Orbweaver even more space in her mind.

She shoved the herbs into Clodagh’s arms. “Would you give this to Miss Breathnach, please? She asked mother to help with her baby, apparently colic has been going around.”

The shock on her friend’s face was worth the risky move. Hopefully, Clodagh would deliver those herbs to the correct place and not just leave them on the well for someone else to snag. Either way, Thea needed to get out of this conversation before more dangerous memories popped up.

She marched down the street like a woman on a mission. And she supposed she was. A job waited for her; she was certain of it. Thea had woken up with a feeling that her life was going to change today. Of course, with a feeling like that, she’d gotten up to drink her tea and check the leaves for any messages.

Today she’d seen a spade for good fortune through industry over a straight line, which remarked on her careful planning. She’d done everything right, and now even the tea leaves thought she’d get a job.

She paused in front of the agency door. They’d gotten a sign, she realized with a little happiness. The quill and ink looked freshly painted and were lovely to look at. Although, they’d forgotten to name the agency.

But, then again, she didn’t know the name of the agency either. Maybe they didn’t have one yet.

She opened the door, and a bell chimed. There was only a long desk at the back of the room where a bespectacled woman stood waiting for any customers or job seekers to enter. The rest of the room was still blank, but the windows looked out onto the river. Mrs. O’Connor didn’t suffer fools being in her shop, and that’s why she said there were no decorations. No colors, no distractions.

But Thea’s eyes still strayed to the large windows. Boats had returned to their harbor. After so many years of still waters and an empty river, there were more boats than ever before. Each ship contained cargo, people seeking labor, and those who wanted to make a home in either Wildecliff or Waterdown. So many people who would return home or make a place for themselves here.

It gave her hope.

“Miss Thea,” the woman behind the counter said. “I’m glad you came in today! I was about to send one of the runners off to find you.”

They both knew very well that the agency didn’t have the money yet to hire any of the runners to find people. But Thea was pleased enough to think that someday, her job might give the agency enough coin to hire one of those boys. “Is that so?”

“There is a job for you. In Wildecliff.” Mrs. O’Connor slid a file over to her. “Secretarial work, mostly, although they did make an addition to the packet that you may help out the maids in the household as well. It sounds like there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“You know I’m no stranger to hard work.” Thea glanced over the document, trying to read through the fine print without looking like she didn’t trust Mrs. O’Connor.

Gods and Goddesses knew that the job agency had gone above and beyond trying to find a job for a young woman who hadn’t been formally trained. That had made it very difficult to get Thea a job.

But this was the first person who’d offered to hire her. She had to wonder why.

The document looked straightforward, however. Half of her time would be spent doing secretarial work that would be taught once she arrived in Wildecliff, and then she would need to spend the rest of her time with the maid staff.

She would have taken the maid’s job full time, so this was better than expected. Then her eyes strayed to how much they were going to pay her, and her jaw dropped open in shock.

She met Mrs. O’Connor’s laughing gaze. “Is that number right?”

“Which one?” The mad woman had the audacity to take the paper back and wiggle her glasses back in place. “I’m afraid I don’t know what number you’re looking at, my dear.”

“This one!” Thea leaned across the desk to jab at the paper. “That ridiculously high monthly allotment! They can’t be serious? Seven gold pieces for a month of work?”

For most jobs, that was the entire year’s worth of pay. She would have been lucky here to get a job that paid a silver a month, let alone gold.

“Yes, that looks to be the accurate number.” Mrs. O’Connor looked up at her through the glasses. “They were quite adamant that they wouldn’t pay less. And that someone of your arithmancy skills, with mathematical capabilities, and, of course, your glowing recommendations, was worth this amount of pay.”

Thea let out a shriek that rattled the rafters. “I have a job!”

“You have to accept the job first,” Mrs. O’Connor chuckled, then slid the paper back over to her with a quill and inkwell. “Sign here, date it, and make sure that you’re back here in a week to catch the first ship out to Wildecliff. There is a lot for us to do to prepare you for the work, but I think you’re qualified.”

Thea had never signed something so fast in her life. She left her mark as it felt like her soul took flight out of her body and soared into the heavens. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“You’ll have to tell your mother.”

Thea waved her hand in the air. “That’s fine. Marigold and her family are moving back into the house. Her husband has unfortunately discovered nothing in that mine of his, other than rock and dirt. Belladonna needs help more than ever with her three children. They’ll hardly even notice that I’m gone.”

“If you say so.” Mrs. O’Connor took the paperwork back and put it into a folder. “Just remember, your first paycheck goes directly to our agency and then it changes to ten percent every month for one year.”

“I’m more than happy to do so. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“How could I? You and your family have done more for this town than anyone else has. I’m very pleased to have worked with you, Thea, and I hope this job is everything that you’re looking for.” Mrs. O’Connor handed her back a secondary folder and smiled at her. “All the details are in here. The ship has already been chartered. I’m afraid you don’t have any seating underneath, but it should only take the day to get over to Wildecliff. Make sure none of your things get wet. And I believe it goes without saying, but this is a higher class household than most. You’ll have to be prepared to look the part.”

Thea would figure that out later. She ignored the flash of old fear and a memory of laughter as she walked down the street. Ten years had passed since that fateful day when she had decided she wouldn’t stay. Ten years was a long time for a child to grow into a woman and a city to grow up in general.

Straightening her shoulders, she nodded. “I won’t let you down. I’ll look the part, talk the part, and stay out of the way of whoever owns this house.”

The address made little sense to her, but most addresses were dodgy. She’d find a map or ask someone the moment she was off the ship. Hopefully, there were still bleeding hearts in Wildecliff who could send her on her way.

If not, she would figure it out. That’s what Thea did these days, anyway. She made do with what she had.

“Thank you,” she said one more time before rushing out of the job agency and back onto the street.

Pressing the sheets of paper to her chest, she looked up at the sky and mouthed another thank you to the gods that must be looking down at her with glee. Finally, after all her years of worship and being the perfect daughter, the gods had seen fit to bless her.

“So you got the job?” Clodagh’s voice burst through her bubble of happiness.

Thea whirled to find her best friend leaning against the wall of the agency, her skirts stirring in the breeze. “I did. I got the job, and it’s a damned good one. I can make sure mama has clothes. The house can get fixed. Maybe we can even hire a curse maker to bring it back to life! The same way Papa did.”

Clodagh rolled her eyes. “You know, I could have helped with any of that. You don’t have to move to Wildecliff to get money. The gods know I have more money than I know what to do with.”

“But now this money will be mine.” She slapped the folder against her chest. “And it even says I can bring Browning. What employer allows a witch to bring her familiar?”

“Someone who doesn’t care what spells you’re casting in their house. Must be someone who thinks they’re powerful.” Clodagh lifted a brow and shoved herself off the wall. She added, “Are you prepared to handle Wildecliff again? You hate Wildecliff.”

She did. More than anything else.

But she loved her mother more than she hated Wildecliff. So Thea nodded. “Can you show me how to fit in?”

“In Wildecliff? Not a chance.” But then Clodagh grinned. “I can make you more beautiful and confident, though. Who would dare say a single word against you when you glow like the moon?”