Biting back my frustration, I switch to the one at the other end. My arm has begun to lose feeling, but I keep working at the lock. I twist and tug the aglet, madly searching for the release, careful not to break it. But the road has become a twisted jumble in front of me, and I cannot find my way.

Breathe.

Mum taught Jamie and me the art of tatting. As with most things, he caught on faster than me. After working our shuttles, he’d end up with a pretty lace snowflake, and I’d have a nest of thread, soggy with tears. Mum said the trick was learning how to breathe. Slow and easy. Somehow, breathing untied the knots.

Click.

With a cry of relief, I turn the knob and swing open the door. Fresh air cools my face. I feel around for a switch, and light pours over me. Blinking hard, I try to adjust my eyes to the brightness. The narrow staircase rises before me.

Grabbing my shoelace, I climb to the landing, where another door blocks my way.

It is locked.

32

I rest my head against the door, feeling tears come. I’ll have to do it all over again. But my aglet is in shambles, worn down to a frail nubbin.

A yelp on the other side of the door startles me. Another yelp follows that sounds more like a yip-yip! Then the sound of scratching. Strudel?

“Valora?”

“Jamie?” Tears well up. “Jamie, oh, Jamie!” I blubber.

“Sit tight, Sis. Tao’s picking the lock.”

Moments later, the doorknob twists, and my cage opens. Jamie, holding my second boot, grips me in an embrace.

“Oh, Jamie, it was dark, and I wanted to die.”

“But you didn’t. And I’ve got you. Come on, now, don’t cry.”

Tao tucks a simple hairpin into his braided beard. “Magic fingers.” I guess finding enlightenment hasn’t dampened the man’s skills.

I find a smile, despite my tears. “Thank you, Uncle. Thank you, too, Strudel.”

The poodle puts her paws on my leg and sniffs me with her narrow snout.

Jamie eases my foot into my second boot while Tao helps me relace my first one with his nimble fingers.

“S-s-skel—”

“We figured. The purser didn’t let us store our money, so we came back and found that slop bucket and his dogs in the room, tearing the place down.” The light glints off Jamie’s sharp-looking teeth as he yanks my laces tight. “Skeleton’s wishing he really was dead. Bo gave him quite a mousing.”

“Tell me the lads didn’t fight.”

“I sent them to find the other Johnnies, but they brought back Mr. Domenic instead.”

“Dina’s father?” An image of the brawny man with his bulging arms and thick neck appears in my mind.

“You should’ve seen him toss those jackasses like sacks of straw. Ming Lai said he used to be a professional wrestler.”