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gone.
    ~*~

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Jonathan’s eyes widened with excitement as he peered at the clockwork medallion on Celeste’s throat.
    “Ingenious,” he proclaimed, straightening up. “I’m very happy to have such an unusual item in my collection. No doubt almost as pleased as you will be to have it removed, Miss Flaherty.”
    “Quite.” Celeste curled her toes around the bars framing the leg of the stool Jonathan had offered.
    Their clothing was still damp, but Jonathan had stoked the fires in his work area and it was quite toasty as he set to work. Despite her ordeal, Celeste’s bright eyes had taken in the room with avid interest. Brace knew he’d found himself one amazing woman.
    His friend had set out a variety of cutting tools and a stack of soft cloths. “This is going to hurt, I’m afraid.”
    “Freeing me cannot hurt more than my initial imprisonment,” she assured him.
    Brace was amazed by how still she stood, how patient and stoic her expression, as Jonathan slowly cut off the clockwork medallion. After about twenty minutes he had sawed away the surprisingly thick bars pierced through her throat and removed the chain. Only one of the spots had bled and Brace had been quick with the towel, keeping her skin dry so Jonathan could continue working.
    Jonathan placed the medallion on another towel. “Toss the bloody one into the fire, will you?”
    Brace complied, wishing he could do the same with the medallion itself.
    “I wonder if the magnet destroyed the mechanism completely,” Jonathan mused.
    “I would expect so. It needed to be rewound in the morning, but it always worked through the night.” Celeste fingered her throat, covering the holes left by the removal of the clockwork medallion.
    Without speaking, Jonathan pulled a tattered sheet off of what seemed to be a board leaning against the wall, but turned out to be a mirror.
    Celeste stepped toward it and stared at herself. After an audible sigh, she said, “At least it is gone, but there is no way to repair the damage.”
    Brace gestured to his friend’s worktable. He rubbed his fingers together, meaning money, then pointed to himself, hoping Jonathan understood. His friend nodded and moved to the space and started rummaging through wooden drawers. From one of them, he pulled a small cherry wood box and opened it. He made a small sound of satisfaction and returned to the mirror.
    “Perhaps this will help for now?” he asked, holding the open box to Celeste.
    “It’s lovely,” she said.
    Brace craned his neck, trying to see.
    Jonathan pulled out a heavy silver chain. “I couldn’t sell it because it is not at all the current style, but I thought it was beautiful when I made it.”
    The chain was attached on either side to a frontispiece of rectangular silver. A slim channel of green stones was fixed across the metal.
    “Here,” Jonathan said, undoing the clasp and standing behind Celeste. He dropped the necklace over her head and settled the rectangular piece across her throat. “It covers the pierced spots perfectly.”
    Brace stepped to Celeste’s side as she admired the effect. She still wore only the thin white dress, the hem darkened by rain, but with the majestic necklace she looked like a queen.
    Celeste smiled. “I love it, but it must be so expensive. I have nothing to trade.”
    “It’s just glass beads,” Jonathan said. “I was going to reset it if I found a buyer.”
    “A gift,” Brace said. “I want you to have it, Celeste.”
    She turned to him and put her hand on his arm. Her eyes shimmered with happiness.
    Jonathan cleared his throat. “I’ll need to ready a bed for you. But stay here until I have a fire lit and find blankets. Twenty minutes or so?”
    Brace nodded without taking his eyes from Celeste. She stepped toward the mirror and her hips swayed a little, reminding him of an invention Jonathan had showed him once. Would it still be in those drawers of his? He wanted her to forget