Read Bloodfeud (The Scarlet Star Trilogy Book 3) for Free Online Page B

barrels or rescuing fish from the ice, wrapping it all in brown paper and bagging it up with the practice of years. Merion wondered if he had been mistaken about the men. Perhaps they were all simply brothers. Whatever they were or were not, his paranoia could at least be forgiven, after the last few months he’d had.
    Next he moved to the two smiling butchers, and rattled off the other half of his list.
    ‘Any squirrel in? No? That’s a shame. Rat? Yes, whole, please. Almighty knows what he’s having the chef cook up.’ (More laughter at that.) ‘And lastly, hopefully, some mole? Excellent! Magpie? Another whole.’
    Merion was secretly beside himself. He hadn’t expected to find so many shades in one place. He had his hands full within a few short minutes, arm sockets already aching from the weight of the paper bags. And he was only just getting started.
    The men hollered out the total and Merion carefully reached inside his coat pocket, trying not to jingle too many of his coins. He winced at the cost for effect, though he doubted it helped. The smiles of the men didn’t flinch, but their eyes did. Merion was quite clearly loaded, as Rhin would have put it. Oh, how he wished he could stop thinking of the little beast.
    ‘You need a hand, little man? For carryin’?’ one of the men asked, rounding the side of the counter.
    ‘No, thank you. I don’t have to go far,’ Merion lied.
    ‘Sure, little man?’
    ‘It’s a dark night,’ added another.
    ‘I’m fine, thank you. Honestly.’
    With the bill paid, Merion thanked the men a few more times and shuffled quickly out of the door, back into the gathering evening. The clouds had grown bored of pelting the city, and the rain had finally stopped. He set off at a brisk pace, heading north and taking some of the wider streets, aiming out of Cheapside and away from the river. He spied a pharmacy with a lantern still alight in its doorway, and hurried to it. It must have been past five o’clock already.
    Inside was cold, and reeked of mothballs and bleach. Merion had to breathe though his mouth as he set his bags of meat down and surveyed the counter. There were no muscle-bound quadruplets to greet him this time; just a thin woman who must have been part parrot. Her nose dominated her face, almost dwarfing the spectacles that balanced there. She had twitchy eyes, and wore a long, grey physician’s coat. Merion offered his best smile. This was not going to be as easy as buying meat.
    ‘Hello, I’d like to purchase some supplies for my master, Doctor Jepson, of Flint Street,’ he lied, hoping Flint Street wasn’t too far away.
    The woman pursed her lips for a moment, and studied Merion’s face. He kept his smile and pointed to the counter. ‘Just a syringe and a scalpel. He is currently in the middle of a surgery, and both have broken on him. Would you believe it?’
    The woman flashed him a glance that said no, she didn’t.
    ‘You’re the last shop I could find that was open. Hopefully you can help me?’
    With a tut, the woman unlocked the counter. ‘I was ‘alfway through closing up.’
    ‘I have the coin right here,’ he replied, digging out a pair of silvers.
    ‘It’ll cost you a bit more than that!’
    Two more silvers were added, and an extra large smile. ‘Your smallest syringe then, please.’ Clink went another few coins, making six. ‘And a needle and thread, perhaps. And seven small vials.’
    Another tut, as the items were lined up on the counter. ‘Perhaps a bag?’ Merion was pushing his luck. With a crackle, a paper bag was shaken out and passed over. He packed quickly and carefully, placing his new things on top of the carp, and then said his goodbyes. ‘Doctor Jepson sends his thanks. As does his patient, I’m sure.’
    ‘Hmmm,’ was all he got in reply.
    Outside was a flat grey; neither evening nor day. The clouds hovered over the now-distant spires, stealing their tips from view. Merion rolled his shoulders and hurried on