Part 20 (2/2)

ANGEL'S KITCHEN.

Chris Szego

”WZF'DR?”.

Kess said, ”Swallow, Bee.”

Bee chewed at a ferocious rate, swallowed audibly. ”What's for dinner?”

”More of what you're eating, so I hope you like it.”

”S'fine,” Bee said, already into the next mouthful.

Kess resisted the urge to tell Bee to slow down. In this part of Senneville, he who ate slowly, went hungry. Or she, as was likely the case with Bee. Kess was fairly certain, but wasn't about to ask. It was still marginally safer to be a boy, and here in the Darks, any margin was better than none.

The seeded roll and the stew disappeared faster than charity in hard times. There were barely crumbs left. Partly because Bee's technique was three quarters inhalation, but also because Bee was a tidy person.

As if that sounded some sort of silent direction, Bee gathered plate, bowl and spoon in one motion. ”I'll just do these up quick.”

Tidy and responsible. For months Kess had worried about Bee, who was neither Hap nor Cane, and who, though undoubtedly older, was the size of a fragile eight year old. But Bee would take nothing extra, would take barely at all, until, inspired, Kess had offered a job. Now Bee appeared at the Kitchen at midday, to help Kess with the mountain of dishes left over from the previous night's meal.

And Kess got to be sure that her smallest charge was eating enough, if not plenty.

And not 'charge'. Small, yes, and possibly fragile. But Bee's eyes were as old as everyone else's around here. As old as Senneville; as old as hunger.

Kess followed Bee into the dish room. Bee had already started on the cutlery. Kess went to work on the pots.

An hour later saw the dishes clean, and Bee out the door. Kess never watched when Bee left: it would be too much like prying. But she always knew the moment Bee had gone. And that was a problem.

If there was one lesson to be learned at the Angel's Kitchen, it was not to get attached. Not to the hungry crowd who came every night. Not to the wealthy few, who helped out until their hearts broke and they quietly disappeared. And never to the children.

A heavy fist on the door pounded her out of those thoughts. Kess looked through the mirrored arrangement Lucius had set up for her, and sighed. The young man was wearing Cane black. She didn't recognize him. He wasn't long in the Darks, not with that smooth skin, that bright hair. Farm boy, probably, recently come south.

She opened the door. ”Dinner's not for another few hours.”

”What?”

”You're early. Canes don't eat until eight.”

”What?” He shook his head. ”What are you talking about?”

”Dinner,” she said patiently. ”Canes eat at eight; Haps come at nine.”

The young man, boy, really, goggled. ”Haps? Here? In Cane territory?”

Hmm. If the Kitchen was now in Cane territory, the next few weeks would be... exciting. To say the least. ”Did Ash send you to tell me that? That Cane territory has grown?”

”Ash? Talk to me? Huh.” The boy pulled back, looked away. ”I mean, he will, soon. He'll know me. He'll know my name.” He said it like a vow, a prayer. Not to Bel, but to one of the older G.o.ds, who dealt in gold and fire.

From a boy who looked like he should have been piping the wild sheep down from their ragged hills, it was particularly ardent. And touching. Kess decided not to tell him that Ash knew his name, his hole, and likely, his entire life history.

”And it's all Cane territory,” the boy went on, fierce and proud. ”Ash just lets the Haps have a corner to give us something to do.”

Ah. That, if Kess wasn't mistaken, was a direct quote from Ash's welcome to newcomers. The territories hadn't changed, then. Good. ”So... I'm sorry, what's your name?”

”Mac.”

”...So, Mac, why are you here, again?”

Mac lifted his hands in frustration. ”I'm here for the Vig!”

Kess rubbed her eyes. Bel save me from the new ones. ”I don't pay vig. To anyone.”

”What?” This was outside his experience. He was s.h.i.+fting now from foot to foot. Nervous, new, and very eager to prove himself. And big. Not a good combination. ”Come on, lady...”

She moved forward, sharp, before he could square up. He went back, into air, then down a step, hard. ”Listen to me, Mac,” she said. ”You're a Cane. What are the Cane rules?”

They came automatically, a simple, s.h.i.+ning order to guide them through the Darks. ”'Cane helps Cane. Cane protects Cane. Cane hides Cane.' And, uh...”

”...No one messes with the Angel's Kitchen.”

”Yeah.” He frowned. ”How do you know?”

”Because this is the Angel's Kitchen.” Her tone, developed specifically for this speech, turned into ice, into hall. ”There is no Cane here, Mac. No Hap. No weapons, no fists. No rank. And no hunger. Canes come at eight; Haps at nine; everyone else until midnight. This is the Angel's Kitchen.” She leaned in, forced him to meet her eyes. ”And I am not the angel.”

Mac went down a step, then another. ”Right.” Down again, to the ground. ”Uh, I didn't mean to...” He stopped, bewildered. And all at once, desperately young. ”I thought the Angel's Kitchen was, you know, a metaphor.”

Hmm. Anyone in this part of Senneville who knew metaphor enough even to p.r.o.nounce it was worth a second look. Maybe Ash had sent him this way after all. ”No harm done. You were just doing your job as a Cane. I can appreciate that.”

She let her tone lighten, her eyes. ”Want to come in and look around?”

The flash of yearning she saw then, for the memory of walls, of safety, proved him as new to the Darks as she'd thought. Only the new had time for memory. But the way he straightened, and shook his head, proved him to be more than just new, or eager. Resolute.

Or, knowing Ash, romantic. G.o.ds help him.

”Can't,” he said. ”I've got another block to do.” He walked away, stopped after a few steps. ”But... thanks.”

Kess felt her throat tighten. Rarely did even the new have time for manners. ”Some other time.”

She closed the door firmly, and when he was gone, locked it. And if she stood for a moment with her hands over her eyes, there was no one to see.

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