5

Tilly fell back, almost landing in the fireplace as she scrambled to cover up the map. The figure slowly stepped forward into the dim glow cast by the fire. It took Tilly a few seconds to recognize the Sterlings’ new nanny, Zhang. She had arrived a couple of days ago, just after the old one had left. The Sterlings were really losing staff. A new nanny and a new doorman in two days. Tilly wasn’t surprised.

Athletic and serious, Zhang didn’t look much like any of the other nannies who had passed through the Sterling house. She scanned the room side to side and wrinkled her nose slightly. The burnt smell from her drawing still hung in the air. Zhang furrowed her brow and looked inquisitively past Tilly.

She gulped and sat bolt upright on her map, hearing the parchment crumple underneath her with a sickening feeling. Zhang stepped toward her.

Tilly roughly wiped away her tears. “Do you need something?”

Zhang opened her mouth and then seemed to change her mind. “Janice says you’re late. She wants you up in the kitchen right away.”

Crap. Tilly had completely lost track of time. Janice was going to kill her. “I’ll be right up.”

Zhang didn’t move. She seemed to expect Tilly to go up with her.

“I’ll be there. All right?” Tilly said firmly.

Zhang reluctantly nodded and headed back up the stairs. Tilly sat dead still. As soon as the door clicked shut, she gingerly rolled off the map. 

Eleven years without a crease, and now it was crumpled like a piece of trash. Tilly squeezed her eyes shut to stop herself from crying. Hold it together. You can’t risk anyone coming down here again.

Drying her hands on her sweater, Tilly rolled up the parchment as carefully as she could. It would take too long to wrap it in the leather. That could wait till she got back. She was starving, and if Janice was really mad, she might not get dinner at all. After sliding the map back into her jacket pocket, Tilly rushed up the stairs.

In the lobby, she almost walked into Archie, who was speaking in a concerned voice with a woman in a long black coat and a police officer. Archie shot a glance at her out of the corner of his eye while the woman in the long coat spoke, gesturing upstairs. Tilly bowed her head and walked past. “They will need to come with us right away,” was all she caught from the conversation.

A warm gush of air enveloped Tilly as she cracked open the double doors of the Sterlings’ apartment. She tiptoed past the overdecorated twelve-foot Christmas tree and the giant marble fireplace casting a bright glow over the enormous living and dining rooms.

Charlie’s mother, Failine, lounged on the sofa, chatting with her upstairs neighbor. “Have you gotten the invites? After so many years, I don’t even know what to wear anymore.”

“Heard they’re keeping the badging ceremony for the Grace low-key,” said the neighbor. “More incidents last week. Close-by islands. A few kids went missing, and they—”

The neighbor dropped her voice to a whisper, and Tilly didn’t catch the rest.

Tilly spotted Royce in the far corner reading. He was back. Royce was apparently Tilly’s connection to this whole family. A distant relative who had taken her in after she lost Mama. He had more or less ignored her since that day and often disappeared for weeks at a time for work.

I’ll ask him. Royce would surely remember something of the man and his words stating that he would come back for her. But then again, it had happened at Central Park. She had been handed over with no explanation to a complete stranger. But Tilly was unsure now. Had it really happened that way?

“You’re late!” Failine yelled at her from the sofa.

Tilly jumped.

Failine tapped on her watch. “Hurry up, will you? The kids are waiting for their dinner. What were you doing all this time?”

Tilly lowered her head and moved quickly. It would only be worse if she said something.

Failine looked her up and down as if she were covered in grime. “And take off that jacket. I don’t want it dripping everywhere! Why do you always wear that thing inside?”

Tilly hurried along faster, past Royce. He didn’t seem to notice. Her question would have to wait.

From the dining table, Charlie cast a nasty glare at her and went back to the card game he always played with his friends. “I’m casting a Cloudera,” he announced, rubbing his hands together.

“No way! Not allowed,” yelled Melvina.

“It is. Watch!” Charlie cast the dice.

The table erupted in argument.

“Quiet!” barked Failine.

Tilly kept her head down and walked into the kitchen.

“Don’t touch that!” Janice snapped at Zhang. “On the side! Sauce on the left. How many times do I have to repeat?”

Zhang stood at the counter with a tray of dinner things, fuming.

“Where did you work again? You people just get worse and worse,” Janice huffed as she pushed in next to Zhang to arrange the tray herself.

Zhang looked as if she was about to pummel Janice, but instead she took a deep breath and stepped back, fists clenched.

Tilly had picked the worst time to walk in. Janice looked up, her face puffed up like an angry beetroot. “You!” She clenched her teeth and couldn’t seem to spit out the words. Instead, she pointed sharply at the sink, which was piled high with dishes. Tilly scurried over to it. With her back to the chaos, she only heard the expletives and groaning from Janice.

After ten minutes of dropped spoons and broken dishes, Zhang managed to take all the dinner trays out. With that done, Janice grabbed her hip flask from the cupboard and huffed away to take her break.

Tilly let out a sigh of relief. She pulled an old plate from under the sink and scrounged together her own dinner from the bits left over in the saucepans. Zhang walked back in and, seeing that Janice was out, closed her eyes and sighed too. She smiled at Tilly briefly before rushing back out the door. Having picked out as much as she could from the saucepans, Tilly stashed her plate safely back under the sink and went back to the washing.

A couple of minutes later, Zhang walked back in with Archie. “Here, have something, quickly.” Zhang poked around the cupboards and pulled out some crackers and fruit. “You won’t get anything out there when the blizzard gets worse and the shops close.”

Tilly kept her head down but could see Archie pacing impatiently. “Forget about the food. We don’t have a lot of time. Something weird is going on.”

Zhang turned to him, concerned. “Those people down there—”

“What the hell’s going on here?” Janice boomed from the doorway. “Lobby staff don’t eat in here,” she said, eyeing Archie viciously. “Now get out of my kitchen!”

Zhang glared at her, but Archie grabbed her arm. “C’mon, can’t afford to make a scene here,” he whispered. He led Zhang out of the kitchen, casting a quick glance at Tilly.

Janice refilled her hip flask from a bottle stashed deep in the pantry. “Those dishes better be done when I come back,” she barked before slamming the door.

Tilly had no intention of being around when Janice returned. She rushed through the dishes, grabbed her plate, snuck a slice of cake from the fridge, and headed out the door. It was impossible to avoid the living room on the way out, but if she was quick and quiet, they’d be too absorbed in dinner to notice.

Instead, she found Failine and Royce having a heated conversation with the woman in the long coat from the lobby. The police officer stood just behind her, his hands clasped behind his back. Failine rubbed her temples with her fingers.

Royce raised his voice. “Don’t be ridiculous! It’s the middle of a blizzard.”

Royce almost never raised his voice. In fact, Tilly hardly ever heard him talk.

The distraction was convenient, and Tilly used it to slip out the door unnoticed. In the lobby, Archie paced quickly with his hands clasped behind his back. Tilly walked past him but paused at the top of the basement stairs and sighed. She felt bad for the way he had been kicked out by Janice. The shops would already be closed. They might even be closed the next morning at this rate.

Tilly walked back to his desk and put down the plate of food. “You can have this.”

Archie turned to her with a look of surprise. He opened his mouth, but just as he was about to speak, the door opened upstairs. Royce stepped out.

“Tilly,” he called out, coming down the steps. “Wait just a minute.”