The Strange Case of Finley Jayne
Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'.Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behaviour has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience.Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined… An ebook exclusive prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.
Читать The Strange Case of Finley Jayne онлайн беплатно
Praise for Kady Crossâs Steampunk Chronicles
ââ¦perfect for the beach, and Iâm desperately hoping that
someone will adapt it for television.â âKirkus reviews
âA steampunk mystery with a delicious love triangle and
entertaining Jekyll and Hyde element.â âRT Book Reviews
âIf you are looking for a wonderfully fun romp through
an alternate history set in England with technology and romance strewn throughout, try The Girl in the Steel Corset.â âDiana Chen, School Library Journal blog
âFinley is such a strong female lead. She stands up
for herselfâ¦Sheâs fierce and intelligent and gets to wear a cool steel corset!â âTwoGirlsandaNovel blog
âWow. Fantastic Steampunk novel with everything you can imagine.â
âLov Liv Life Reviews blog
âThe Girl in the Steel Corset is an elegantly
written and entrancing mysteryâ¦â âFiktshun blog
Also available from Kady Cross and
The Strange Case of
Finley Jayne
Kady Cross
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER ONE
London, The Age of Invention, late April 1897
âYouâre the very spawn of Satan and Iâll not have you darken this door ever again.â
Finley Jayne jumped as the door was slammed in her face, leaving her standing alone in the small, damp flagstone square that acted as the servantsâ entrance to the town house.
Sheâd been firedâwell and goodâby Mrs. Brown, the housekeeper. Normally being called the spawn of Satan would upset Finley, but lately sheâd begun to wonder if the sentiment wasnât true. This was, after all, the second job sheâd been let go from.
At least the old crone could have let her collect her things.
Just like in a stage-comedy, the back door opened once more and Finleyâs carpetbag sailed out of the dim interior. She caught it before it could strike her in the face.
âOy!,â she cried, but the door slammed shut againâand this time Mrs. Brown locked it from the inside. She heard the tumblers fall into place as the bitter old woman turned the wheel engaging the mechanism which could only be opened once again by a punch card.
Mrs. Brown had taken Finleyâs punch card from her room before firing her.
Of all the bloody rotten luck. Tossed out without a reference for something that wasnât even her fault. She hadnât been the one to slap young master Fenton hard enough to make him cry when he tried to take a fourth biscuit from the tea tray. That had been the governessâMiss Clarkeâwho had a particular habit of striking small children.
Miss Clarke slapped the boy, and then Finley punched Miss Clarke.
How was she to know the womanâs teeth were so brittle that theyâd fall out? Theyâd certainly been healthy enough to cut Finleyâs knuckles. And not having much experience with violence, how was she to know that ânormalâ girls werenât supposed to have the strength to send a full-grown woman, three stone heavier than herself, flying backward several feet?
As she lowered her bag to her side and walked toward the stairs to the street, Finley had to be serious long enough to realize that she hadnât been fired for striking the governessâMrs. Brown struck the maids all the time. Sheâd been fired because there was something wrong with her.
She wasnât right. Was it the work of the devil? She didnât feel evil. Even when that darkness came over her and made her do the things she shouldnât do, it didnât feel wrong or bad. And she wasnât going to apologize for knocking Miss Clarke on her fat behind when the older woman had brought a child to tears.
The memory of it made her grit her teeth as she climbed the cracked and crumbling stairs. Even the smells and sounds of Mayfair didnât dent her anger. And now she had to walk through Grosvenor Square with hair frizzy from working a steam press all morning. If sheâd known sheâd get sacked she would have hit the cow harder.
She stopped two steps from the street. This was exactly what was wrong with her. Sheâd be thinkingâcould be about nothing in particularâand sheâd have a dark thought, like hitting someone, or saying something true, but cruel. But unlike regular people, sometimes she couldnât help but give in to temptation.
Perhaps it was the devil, after all.
Just like that, her anger receded, leaving a ball of fear and dread in her belly so cold and hard it felt like lead. She was unemployed in a city where good jobs for a girl were scarce, and without a reference.
She was, as her stepfather would often say when he thought she couldnât hear, âbuggered.â
The thought of her parents only brought her mood down lower. How was she going to explain to them that sheâd lost her position because she couldnât control herself? They didnât know about these strange incidents. When she was younger they were so infrequent she barely gave them a thought, but they started getting worse shortly after she got her first monthly, and now happened regularly enoughâand without warningâthat oftentimes she wasnât even aware anything had happened until it was far too late.
