Clause thirty-one: a ramp is deemed to exist

Vee Lark spent six hours witnessing Cornelius Vane’s will. It was her birthday. Because she witnessed it, the law says she cannot inherit under it, so she got the dog and a working knowledge of every clause.

That second inheritance turned out to be the most useful thing in the game.

Pencil turnaround of Vee Lark in a black dress and long gloves — Vee, turned four ways. The heading: “reads the small print. all of it.” The margin: gloves to the elbow, because she signed nothing.

The navigator problem

Most racing games with two people in the car give the passenger one job: shout the next corner. It is useful, and after twenty minutes you stop hearing it. We wanted Vee to be impossible to tune out, and the answer was already in her backstory. She knows the will. So the will can change.

Codicils

A codicil is an amendment to a will. In Rally Mortis, it is a rule that arrives in the middle of a race, read out by Vee as it takes effect:

Clause thirty-one. A ramp is deemed to exist. (One does. Use it.)
Clause twelve. Right of way withdrawn. Rudely.
Clause nine. Time is of the essence. Mine especially.
Clause three. Period of mourning. Look sad. Drive fast.

Each one bends the race for a while: a shortcut opens, a route closes, the clock speeds up, the bailiffs get interested. The clauses are written in proper legal English, then Vee translates them into something you can act on before the next bend. The idea is that you learn to listen for her voice, because her voice means the rules just changed.

Wade at the wheel in a chauffeur's cap, Vee in the passenger seat — The deal, in one panel. Wade drives and keeps his hands on the wheel. Vee knows the clauses. Fifty-fifty.

Who she is

Vee is 27, a former runway model and, until very recently, the fiancée of a man considerably older and considerably richer, about which she has no illusions and few regrets. She is the funniest person in the car and knows it. She is also the only person in the story who has read the whole will, which makes her the most dangerous heir in Valmora. The family has not noticed yet.

Vee Lark sits on the bonnet of a car in grey overalls — Vee in work clothes. Grey overalls, a borrowed garage and a plan that she has not told Wade about.

I know every clause in that will. I witnessed it. Six hours. On my birthday.

Next week: cars. One of them is a hearse.