Patrick O’Malley has arrived in Pittsburgh in the mid-19th century with a job to do. His assets are a Letter; a stolen vial of unicorn tears; and his own attitude. What follows is a fragment from “An Understanding”, a work in progress that started as a short story but now seems to want to stretch itself a bit.
“It will be difficult,” she warned. “I will need three things to begin the working.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“I will need the heart of the city to start with.”
O’Malley laughed. “You already have it. You’re working with it every day! Steel, Lady. Steel. It’s the bones of Pittsburgh, as I’ve been told. They’re using it to build the bridges, line the streets, erect the buildings.”
She snorted. “Perceptive of you. That’s the easiest to find, though. I will also need the tears of a unicorn, and the only one who has ever obtained those…”
“… was Titania,” O’Malley finished. “Here.” He pulled the black bottle out of his pocket and tossed it at the Lady.
She caught it and gave him a suspicious look, then uncorked the bottle and sniffed. Her eyes went wide.
“They’re the real thing, God’s honest truth.” If there was a sense of smugness in his voice, it was probably deserved. “Which reminds me. I’ve got an appointment to be murdered later, so Magcráic and I have to get on with it.”
“What?”
“The Diathuatha,” Magcráic said.
The Lady shook her head. “That one. What did you do?”
O’Malley nodded at the bottle in her hands.
“Oh. Yes.”