Punch’s Cousin, Chapter 378

Odo ran until he thought his lungs would burst and his brittle, scrawny legs would snap like dry twigs. He didn’t even pause to go around to the rear of the Hotel Triumph. Instead, he ran straight through the gilt bronze doors into the lobby.


“Hey!” The desk clerk shouted. “You can’t come in here, Boy!”

Odo didn’t stop. He sprinted for the stairs, unsure if he was even breathing. His tiny, claw-like hands were slick with cold sweat and slid across the deep mahogany banister of the hotel’s theatrically proportioned staircase.

His mind raced even faster than his putrid, little body. “What am I gonna tell the old bitch? I don’t got no diamond. I gotta get that baby back to Mr. Cage before he notices…”

But, Edward Cage had noticed. Ferociously storming through the house, Edward Cage hollered for Odo. “Odo! You skeleton! Where’s my boy!” Edward burst into his wife’s boudoir, forgetting for a moment that Corliss lay suffering from the Yellow Jack.

He loomed over the miserable, frail woman and belched. “Where’s Holt? Where’s my boy.”

Corliss pulled back her lips to reveal gums and teeth that were thick with deep, purple blood.

“Where did Odo take the boy?” Edward bellowed.

“Odo?” Corliss croaked.

“Yes, woman!”

“Odo didn’t take that boy,” Corliss said, unaware of what had really happened.

“Who did, then?”

“His rightful family.” Corliss growled, flecks of bloof flying from her lips.

“What did you do?” Edward demanded.

“I told the doctor to take that boy,” she paused and coughed viciously, her poor, sad body gripped in pain. “I told him to bring the boy back to his uncle, the Duke.”

“You sow!” Edward screamed.

Corliss smiled. Sadly, she had no idea that Robert and Marjani had not gotten to the child in time and that Odo had left him with Agnes Rittenhouse.

“I ought to kill you myself.” Edward hissed. “But, I don’t have to. You’ll die all on your own.”

“No.” Corliss whispered hoarsely, the perspiration on her brow flickering in the firelight like diamonds. “Not this time, I won’t.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Edward spat as he rushed from the room.

Meanwhile, at the hotel, Odo finally reached Agnes Rittenhouse’s room where he found the door ajar. He could hear the clerk’s footsteps following in fast pursuit.

Odo burst into Agnes’ room and when he saw the bloody scene before him, he recoiled—contorting his mouth into a silent scream.

Paralyzed with fear, Odo didn’t even notice when the clerk entered the room behind him until he heard the man speak.

“What did you do, Boy?” the clerk shouted in terror, grabbing Odo by the shoulders.

“I didn’t do it!” Odo rasped. “I didn’t do it!”

At that very moment, as Edward Cage lumbered out of his house into the night, he was startled by a familiar whisper.

“Mr. Cage,” Iolanthe Evangeline grinned—her pallid face made all the more ghostly in the cold moonlight.

Edward turned to see Iolanthe standing behind him holding the two boys.

“You got him back.” Edward reached for the child. “You magnificent beast!”

Iolanthe handed the baby to Edward. “Did you doubt me? No one should ever doubt Iolanthe Evangeline. And, I don’t want you thinkin’ that they should.”

“Bless you,” Edward replied emotionally. “How can I ever thank you?”

“You can thank me by takin’ this other boy, too.”

“Whose is he?”

“Yours if you want him. He’s a fine, fat little thing. Ought to grow up nice and strong.”

“I see that,” Edward smiled.

“You want him?”

“Not until I know to whom he belongs.”

“Adrienne and Cecil Halifax.” Iolanthe laughed.

“I’ll gladly take him.” Edward chuckled. “Gladly.”



Did you miss Chapters 1-377? If so, you can read them here.