The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll & Mademoiselle Odile

832019 The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll amp Mademoiselle Odile

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullthe-strange-case-of-doctor-jekyll-mademoiselle-odile 112



Text copyright copy 2012 by James Reese

Map copyright copy 2012 by Laszlo Kubinyi

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership

175 Fifth Avenue New York New York 10010

macteenbookscom

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reese James 1964ndash

The strange case of Doctor Jekyll amp Mademoiselle Odile James Reese

p cm mdash (A Shadow Sisters novel)

Summary In this prequel to ldquoDr Jekyll and Mr Hyderdquo set in Paris during the 1870s

Prussian siege an orphaned sixteen-year-old girl whose knowledge of witchcraft includes

transformation spells meets a young medical doctor from London

ISBN 978-1-59643-684-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-6189-9 (e-book)

[1 Characters in literaturemdashFiction 2 WitchcraftmdashFiction 3 Shapeshiftingmdash

Fiction 4 OrphansmdashFiction 5 Paris (France)mdashHistorymdashSiege 1870ndash1871mdashFiction

6 FrancemdashHistorymdashOccupation and evacuation 1871ndash1873mdashFiction]

I Title

PZ7R2551St 2012

[Fic]mdashdc22 2010053366

Roaring Brook Press books are available for special promotions and premiums

For details contact Director of Special Markets Holtzbrinck Publishers

First edition 2012

Printed in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2



CHAPTER ONE

The House of Primates

The two men mistook me for dead but I was very much

alive And regrettably so

No doubt I appeared dead Henry would later say that hisbreath caught after the crash when he saw me sprawled there

in the new-fallen snow arms and legs akimbo and my skirts

askew My face and neck were sprayed with blood droplets of

blood that ldquoglintedrdquo (said he) in the thin wintry light

Irsquod snuck into the zoo at the Jardin des Plantes an hour

earlier to conduct my experiment among the primates Irsquod

heard on the streets that the elephants were to be slaughtered

on New Yearrsquos Day Not for sport but rather for sustenance

For food The elephantsmdashCastor and Pollux by namemdashwere

much beloved true but the people of Paris were starving

They no we had already slaughtered all the other animals in

the zoo Now only the elephants remained (And the chimps



4

of course but they were safe for now Too like us the people

opined) It was to be a big and bloody affair the taking-down

of the elephants with dignitaries clergy and the like and so

Irsquod hoped the hubbub would let me do what Irsquod come to do at

la singerie the faraway monkey house in peace in private Alas

no such luck

Rather I did conduct my experiment but I was still staring

at what Irsquod wrought I was stunned actually too stunned for

tears as I backed away from the cage wherein the chimpanzeehad changed so drastically It was then I heard the approach

of Henry and his manservant Poole Of course I did not know

them then (And would that Irsquod never met them at all)

In the late-day light with the whole of the city silenced by

the recent snowfall and stilled by the Siegemdashfor the Prussians

having 1047297nally defeated France having felled Napoleon III nowheld Paris as choking hands hold a throatmdashIrsquod misheard the

muf1047298ed speech of the men I thought they were yet some dis-

tance off and that Irsquod have time to steal away unseen

Instead I had just rushed around a hackberry bushmdashstill

looking back over my shoulder at the primates as if the mur-

dering one might bend the bars and escape and come after

memdashwhen I ran straight into Poole Tall and bony Poole who

had hundreds of hammers in his jacket pockets or so it seemed

Whump and down I went

My heart was already beating wildly owing to all Irsquod seen in

the chimpsrsquo enclosure since Irsquod introduced the salts and the

spell (my so-called experiment) and all hell had quite literally



5

broken loose but once I ran into Poole well the last thing I

recall is the breath rushing fast from my lungs whoosh Like a

bellows Then all my other senses followed suit abandoning me

such that I fell like a sack of grain onto the snow And there I

lay some while (apparently)

Henry knew soon enough that I was alive quite My pulse

was strong said he Yet still I presented a most curious sight

For there I lay at length and though I am rather tall I must have

appeared taller still skinny as I was (Irsquod been rendered down tobones by the want of food) And I was dressed in those rags

to which Irsquod been further reduced Worse still that spray of blood

which colored my neck and face Blood that had no discernible

source At least not upon my person This Henry determined

after a cursory examination (for which I was blessedly uncon-

scious) And so Where had the blood come from Such was the topic of conversation between the two men as I

began to come round And once my senses and reason returned

I immediately set about changing said topic Foggy-headed

though I was still I knew I needed to sway the gentleman from

the consideration of the blood and its source A distraction was

wanted A diversion

ldquoAu secoursrdquo I fairly screamed sitting upright and clutching

both 1047297sts to my bosom Help For Henrymdashwho seemed to me

then to be between twenty and twenty-1047297ve years of agemdashhad

laid his cold 1047297ngers along my bare neck monitoring my pulse

and the rings ( jeweled rings I remarked) on two of his 1047297ngers

were like ice His 1047297ngers were cold yes but those golden rings



6

were worse When he made to slip his hand further in to

gauge (I suppose) the truer state of my heart by calling upon it

at home as it were I resisted Loudly ldquoMon dieu Nonrdquo

Suddenly I was a demure demoiselle set to scream a second

time for help not the starving streetling Irsquod become since ar-

riving in Paris six months prior several weeks shy of my sixteenth

birthday

ldquo Mademoi selle nordquo stammered Henry drawing back His

face went pale setting in stark relief his warm brown eyes andblack facial hair well-trimmed sideburns and a bearded trian-

gle upon his chin Soon hersquod rouged from embarrassment a red

to match that of his full 1047298eshy lips Indeed he 1047298ushed not only

upon his cheeks but the muscled 1047298esh of his neck reddened now

as well As did the very lobes of his ears ldquoYou mistake my intent

I am a medical doctor and I merely meant to determine rdquoWhereupon he began to fumble both the buttons on my chemise

and his French but his 1047297ngers were too cold now to manage the

buttons and his skill (or lack thereof) in my native language did

not serve him well I might have pitied the man then if I hadnrsquot

been so bent on self-preservation

Pity Perhaps thatrsquos not the word but I felt something for

him then as he knelt beside me If not pity a desire to to

help him somehow Why had he no hat no gloves in this bitter

cold Indeed in the tumult his single concession to the coldmdasha

red scarfmdashhad come unwound and showed his shirt open at the

neck quite revealing alabaster 1047298esh and a thin trail of blackest

hair tending downward



7

I returned from this reverie when Henry hardened suddenly

and said

ldquoOh blast it Poole It seems she hasnrsquot a word of English

Do something wonrsquot yourdquo

Of course I had a few words of English all right even back

then but what good would it do me to let them know that Irsquod

only have to answer the many questions they would ask

The older man neared He knelt Then as if he were the

doctor he pushed my eyelids up (none too gently) with his 1047297n-gers and had himself a gander underneath The nerve of

him And breathing his bitter stink right into my face all the

while

ldquoShe seems well enough to me sir I say leave a few coins

and letrsquos rsquoead rsquoome Best to avoid any kind of scandal with this

type of 1047297llette I think they call them And may I remindyou sir that Cheffy was planning to serve up that 1047297ne sliced

spaniel with a bit of boudin and now that we couldnrsquot get rsquoold

of any blood for a boudin well shersquoll be none too pleasedrdquo

Now perhaps my English still quite spotty on the day in

question gives me no right to quote Poole so but his look

which sluiced with such disdain down the length of his long

nose like sewage down a drain told me I understood his mean-

ing all right if not his every word And I certainly understood

1047297llette He took me for a street whore

The blood old Poole mentioned must surely have been

elephant blood destined for a boudin Blood sausage Surely

that explained the presence of these twomdashthe dandy and his



8

manmdashin the zoo on this day at this hour Were they gourmets

Epicures bent on such delicacies as elephant-blood boudin

Alas no matter now

ldquoMes rats Mes ratsrdquo I began to scream Where are my rats

Yes rats

Any meat suf1047297ces in the eyesmdashand belliesmdashof the starv-

ing Trust me And though Irsquod not yet fallen to eating the crea-

tures myself Irsquod been selling rats to starving Parisians for some

while Two sous a piece Three for the 1047298eshier ones Irsquod had abasketful on my arm when Irsquod crashed into Poole Irsquod picked

them up that morning freshly skinned from a friend

It was then while rambling on about my rats that I struck

upon what seemed a surer diversionary tactic an actual plan I

reasoned that if these two had braved the cold on New Yearrsquos

Day to try to bribe someone into handing over a bag of ele-phantrsquos blood for boudin then surely they would be interested

in actual elephant steaks

ldquoI know where rdquo I began my English breaking even as I

spoke it ldquo Bifteck Bifteck drsquoeacuteleacutephant I know where To getrdquo

ldquoWhatever is she saying Poole lsquoBeefsteakrsquo does she meanrdquo

ldquoI think so sir But itrsquos elephant steak shersquos on about me-

thinks Oh this damned French It slithers about the ear

like a conger eel it does And of course there are no steaks to be

rsquoad just yet sir Irsquod know as Irsquove called in all me chits at the mar-

kets And Rodolphe at the Cafeacute Anglais assures me that 1047297rst the

steaks would rsquoave to be marinated a good while and as theyrsquove

only just trundled them beasts from rsquoere an hour past rdquo



9

ldquoOui oui Elephant steaks I know where you can acheter rdquo

I made the universal symbol for money with my thumb fore-

and middle 1047297ngers No man mistakes that

ldquoShe claims to know where one can buy elephant steaksrdquo

offered Poole

ldquoYes thanks Old Socks That much I gotrdquo And turning to

me his interest or rather the interest of his palate very much

piqued Henry asked slowly ldquoWhere Tell me where made-

moi selle rdquoI had him The chimps might well have been a million

miles away

In the course of all this confusion Irsquod managed to cup some

snow in my hands Irsquod used it to wipe from my face the blood

the blood of that most unfortunate primate the one done to

death by my miscraft let me call it Now that the bloodwas gone the menmdashor Henry at leastmdashseemed to forget about

it And still I kept clamoring for my rats which lay scattered

here and there in the snow My basket had rolled quite near

the primatersquos enclosure when Irsquod fallen Now Poole was none

too pleased when his master offhandedly bade him pick it up

And if Poole did not hate me by then the deal was done when

next Henry said ldquoAnd round up the childrsquos wares wonrsquot

you Poolerdquo

When the servant hesitated Henry admonished him the

more ldquoReally Poole itrsquos the least you can do You came rsquoround

that high hedge like a Prussian on patrol Caution was in order

man The childrsquos been laid out 1047298at andmdashrdquo



10

ldquo lsquoChildrsquordquo muttered Poole plucking the rats up by their

stiffened tails ldquoIf thatrsquos a child Irsquom the bloody ghost of Prince

Albert And I daresay caution was called for by both parties

sir Besides whatever is the girl doing rsquoere at this late hour any-

way before this rsquoowling bunch of beasts in a park closed to the

publicrdquo

Henry offered no answer indeed he seemed to only half

consider the question For which I was grateful very Yet the

longer we three lingered before the primate house the moreprecarious my position became

In fact Poole now stood near the iron rail that circled the

tall cage staring in at the simians the maddened chimp in

the front as well as his fellows cowering in a back corner of the

cage He had only to nose around a moment to discover that

the primatesrsquo madness was owing to more than our collisionAnd I had no idea how long the chimp would hold to its

changed state seeming twice the beast it had been before Irsquod

bewitched it so

ldquoThe avenue Friedlandrdquo said I to the doctor having to

practically shout it over the chimpsrsquo infernal din ldquo Le boucher

Deboos in the avenue Friedlandrdquo I opened my eyes as wide

as I could and then I blinked enough to cause a breeze Oui

I 1047298irted

ldquoThat is where the elephants are to be rendered down to

meat At a butcherrsquos shop in themdashrdquo

ldquoOui monsieurrdquo It was information enough to get the men

off my scent as it were but I knew it to be true as well for



11

mon ami Julien was the son the 1047297ls upon the butcherrsquos sign

Deboos et 1047297ls That very morning while picking up my ldquowaresrdquo

from him hersquod told me about the secret plans for the elephant

steaks Several were to be diverted from the main shop in the

avenue Friedland to the familyrsquos outpost on the rue Tique-

tonne in Les Halles the marketplace of Paris

Poole dropped my basket at my side for still I sat in the

snow no longer stunned but yet scared and cold Very I

stood up shakily Henry offered his arm which I took Thesleeve of his long coat was cashmere the cuff furred As I stood

to full height I was heartened to see that he was taller than I

by several inches

Then as I stood there shivering Henry took his red scarf

and looped it around my neck I didnrsquot refuse it ldquoMercirdquo said I

I didnrsquot know what the scarf was made of all I knew was thatit lay on my neck as soft and warm as a kiss and was most wel-

come

I picked up my basket Poole had stuck the rats into it pell-

mell Their stiffened and snow-slick carcasses poked out from

the bran Irsquod packed in the basketrsquos bottom to absorb the last

of the blood It all made for a most horrid bouquet I thanked

Poole He did not acknowledge my thanks asking instead

ldquoYes whatever is going on rsquoround rsquoere then What are these

beasts gibbering on about And whatrsquos that thing the big

one is rsquoolding on to Damn my eyes if it isnrsquot one of your rats

Did the fellow squeeze through these rsquoere bars and offer up rsquois

two sous thenrdquo



12

ldquoLeave her be Poolerdquo said Henry as if calling off a dog

He was brushing snow from my skirtsmdasha gallant if somewhat

too intimate actmdashand I feared hersquod feel the beltlike band of

hammered gold I wore around my waist Had it been visible

when 1047297rst theyrsquod found me when my skirts had risen up to

disclose who-knew-what-else I 1047298ushed at the thought Bad

enough theyrsquod seen me so indisposed but what if theyrsquod seen

the waistlet as well with its dangling charms amulets and

packets of potions set among the 1047297ve palm-sized books Motherhad fastened to it by holes bored in their corners It was a page

in book 1047297ve Physicae that had started all this when Irsquod seen in

my motherrsquos cramped scriptmdash1047297lling those pages and quite

often the margins as wellmdasha spell marked ldquoCaution Transfor-

mativerdquo And so it appeared to be judging by the actions of

the chimp on which Irsquod cast it not a half hour past Cautionindeed

Poole was speaking on and on but I feigned ignorance of all

he said of all he asked Then I gave Henry a lookmdashboth

plaintive ( Help ) and impatient ( Letrsquos go )mdashand he silenced his

manservant with ldquoHer pulse is yet a piston Poole and she

wants a spot of peacerdquo A proper gentleman the doctor then

introduced himself I suppose it seemed the time to do so

now that his hand was removed from my 1047298esh and skirts and I

was 1047297nally on my feet



Text copyright copy 2012 by James Reese

Map copyright copy 2012 by Laszlo Kubinyi

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership

175 Fifth Avenue New York New York 10010

macteenbookscom

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reese James 1964ndash

The strange case of Doctor Jekyll amp Mademoiselle Odile James Reese

p cm mdash (A Shadow Sisters novel)

Summary In this prequel to ldquoDr Jekyll and Mr Hyderdquo set in Paris during the 1870s

Prussian siege an orphaned sixteen-year-old girl whose knowledge of witchcraft includes

transformation spells meets a young medical doctor from London

ISBN 978-1-59643-684-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-6189-9 (e-book)

[1 Characters in literaturemdashFiction 2 WitchcraftmdashFiction 3 Shapeshiftingmdash

Fiction 4 OrphansmdashFiction 5 Paris (France)mdashHistorymdashSiege 1870ndash1871mdashFiction

6 FrancemdashHistorymdashOccupation and evacuation 1871ndash1873mdashFiction]

I Title

PZ7R2551St 2012

[Fic]mdashdc22 2010053366

Roaring Brook Press books are available for special promotions and premiums

For details contact Director of Special Markets Holtzbrinck Publishers

First edition 2012

Printed in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2



CHAPTER ONE


















4






no such luck






















5



















wanted A diversion









6







birthday





















7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























CHAPTER ONE


















4






no such luck






















5



















wanted A diversion









6







birthday





















7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























4






no such luck






















5



















wanted A diversion









6







birthday





















7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























5



















wanted A diversion









6







birthday





















7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























6







birthday





















7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























7


and said









while

















8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























8



Alas no matter now


Yes rats























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























9





offered Poole





miles away











you Poolerdquo







10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























10






publicrdquo










bewitched it so





I 1047298irted







11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























11











by several inches




come










two sous thenrdquo



12

























12























Documents

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll & Mademoiselle Odile