Empire of Ruins (32 page)

Modo shrugged, equally confused, until he saw that they were passing the site of Victor House. It had been burned to the ground. Partial walls poked out of the rubble, all that remained of the grand home.

“Good Lord,” Mrs. Finchley said. “Do you suppose it was a gas leak?”

“It’s not an accident,” Mr. Socrates said gravely. “And if they’ve found one of our houses, they may know the whereabouts of all of them. Perhaps even the Permanent
Association itself has been compromised. That clockwork spider must have led them here.”

“Then what do we do?” Octavia asked.

“We find a hole to hide in,” Mr. Socrates said, then shouted out the window. “Driver! Take us back to the docks at once!”

“A hole?” Modo asked. “Where?”

“That will be a secret best kept until we arrive,” Mr. Socrates said.

Outside the carriage, Modo watched the familiar London streets pass by. If they weren’t safe here in the heart of the Empire, was there anywhere in the world for them to hide?

They arrived at Victoria Dock and unloaded the few carpetbags they had; Mr. Socrates hurried away to buy tickets. Modo and Octavia stood with Tharpa, watching the crowds. Mrs. Finchley looked calm, but Modo caught her fidgeting with her hands.

“What does it mean for us?” Modo directed his question toward Tharpa. “Has the Association collapsed?”

Tharpa shrugged. “We do not know. Better to discover this from a distance.”

When Mr. Socrates returned, they followed him down the pier, stopping before a ship called the SS
Canadian
.

“That’s a mail steamer, sir,” Modo said.

“Yes, and it leaves in twenty-five minutes. We will be on board. We have commissioned cabins.”

“Are you certain you want to take me with you?” Modo asked.

Mr. Socrates gave him a hard look, weighing his answer. “You need to be retrained,” he said. “And I will not abandon you here.”

Modo nodded. They climbed up the gangplank, and Modo turned to watch it drawn up behind them, half expecting an enemy agent to come running after them.

But no one appeared. And, just as Mr. Socrates had said, soon the ship was tugged out to the Thames and they began steaming toward what he hoped would be a place of warmth, rest, and safety.