A Skin of a Dragon (The Guild of Gatekeepers Book 1)

by Frances Jones

  'Sorry, ma'am,' I coughed as a cloud of dust rose into the air.

  'Well, I'm going inside to rest my poor feet for a bit. When I come out again, I expect to see not a speck of dust on these rugs,' said the old woman.

  'Yes, ma'am,' I croaked.

  With that, she trotted back into the kitchen and left me alone with the rugs and paddle.

  'Tabatha,' I whispered when she had gone.

  'Here,' whispered Tabatha from a bush nearby.

  I dropped the rug and paddle and rushed to where she was hiding. 'Did you hear that?'

  'Yes,' replied Tabatha, 'but what's to say she's right? If the King is being held in secret the maid is hardly likely to know of it.'

  'What do we do then?' I replied. 'I can't just wander in and start poking round, even if she does think I'm the hall boy.'

  'Of course you can!' said Tabatha. 'Look, you've still time. That old dear won't be out for another half an hour at least. There are only a few places where the King could be held. He won't be near the front of the palace, where he could be seen from outside, or on the ground floor, where he could easily escape. Go and search the upper wings at the sides and back.'

  There was no point arguing with Tabatha and no time either. I sprinted back across the garden and peeped round the door of the kitchen. Sure enough, the old woman was asleep with her feet resting on a stool beside the fire. I slipped past without a sound and navigated my way through the kitchens, stores and servants' quarters.

  'Hello, lad,' came a voice suddenly from behind.

  My heart almost stopped at the sound. I turned around to see one of the guards taking his supper while seated on a barrel of ale in the pantry.

  'You must be the new hall boy,' he said, rising to shake my hand.

  'Yes, sir,' I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

  'Mrs. Thomas hasn't been giving you too much trouble, I hope?'

  'No, sir,' I replied. 'I'm just trying to find my way around.'

  'Oh, well in that case allow me to give you the grand tour!' said the guard, standing up and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. 'I'm Samuel.'

  'Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm Tom,' I replied. I wasn't sure whether to bless or curse my luck.

  ''Tis quite easy to find your way about the place once you are familiar with it,' said Samuel as he led me into a vast hall then up a winding staircase and along so many corridors that I quickly became quite lost. 'Most of the wings are empty much of the time, but who knows how things will go for His Majesty! Perhaps these rooms will be filled with the voices of grand folk once more.'

  'Is he really being held here- the King?' I asked.

  'No, and I should know if he was,' said Samuel. 'You can see for yourself: all these apartments are empty,' he opened one door after another onto lavishly ornamented bedchambers and drawing rooms, but there wasn't a sign of anyone having stayed in them recently.

  'You'll not find much to do, but I'm sure Mrs. Thomas will keep you busy. If you ever need a quiet five minutes to yourself, you come and find me; I know of a few hiding places which I use to keep out of her way!' said Samuel with a wink. 'Well now, I ought to be getting back to my duty or the other guard will be wondering what has become of me. Can you find your way back from here? If you take the servants' staircase at the end of this corridor, you'll find it brings you out by the kitchen.'

  'Yes, sir, and thank you,' I replied.

  'My pleasure,' replied Samuel. 'Well, until next time.' He doffed his helmet and departed back down the main staircase.

  I followed the corridor to its end where the servants' staircase led down to the ground floor as Samuel had described. I took the stairs two at a time as I wondered frantically whether Mrs. Thomas had slept through my little excursion, but to my relief her soft snores could be heard coming from the kitchen as I reached the bottom of the staircase. I slipped quietly past and out into the garden where Tabatha was waiting.

  Chapter 66

  'Well?' Tabatha asked.

  'No time to explain now,' I replied. 'Suffice to say the King isn't there. Let's go.'

  We scrambled up into the lower branches of the trees that lined the garden walls and clambered over the wall. To my immense relief, Colonel and Ruby were still waiting patiently where we had left them.

  'Back the way we came?' I asked breathlessly as I jumped down from the wall.

  'Yes,' replied Tabatha. 'Keep looking ahead and try not to look suspicious!'

  We set off with Tabatha riding Colonel while I led Ruby as before. It was close to midnight, and the roads were quieter than they had been earlier in the evening. A freezing mist hung over the river and crept up the banks, swirling around Ruby and Colonel’s feet as it reached up to the road. The rhythmic patter of their hooves was the only sound to be heard until the swirl of the river against the piers of the bridge reached our ears and grew gradually louder.

  'We ought to have brought a lantern; I can't see a thing,' I said as we passed under the tunnels formed by the buildings above. The night sky was completely obscured, and the candles and fires that had showed through the windows and lit our path earlier were now extinguished.

  'Hush!' whispered Tabatha, rising in her stirrups and squinting into the darkness ahead. 'There are two men with horses waiting at the other end of the bridge. I think it's a checkpoint.'

  'What do we do?' I hissed. 'We need to turn back!'

  'No, it's too late; it'll look suspicious. Say nothing and leave me to speak. Remember you're my servant. Keep your hood up and only speak if they speak to you first.'

  My feet felt like lead weights as I walked the last few yards to the end of the bridge. The men had already heard the horses approaching and now stood in the middle of the road with their guns ready in their hands, blocking our path.

  'Halt!' called one of the men as we drew closer.

  Tabatha tugged on Colonel's reins, and we stopped before the end of the bridge.

  'Your names,' demanded the man coming closer and eying Tabatha suspiciously.

  'My name is Catherine Berkley, and this is my servant, Joseph Fisher,' replied Tabatha.

  'And what are you doing on the roads at this hour of the night?' said the man.

  'My business is no concern of yours,' replied Tabatha with feigned outrage.

  ''Tis my business because Parliament has made it my business,' growled the man. 'There are too many Royalists about, so kindly tell me what brings you out on a night such as this, and if I am satisfied with your explanation then you shall be on your way without further hindrance.'

  Tabatha sighed with mock exasperation. 'Very well,' she said shaking her head. 'I have been to visit my sister in Belgravia. She is expecting her first child. I have not seen her since she married her husband in August, and time seemed to run away with us as it is wont to do when women are reunited after a long while apart.'

  I kept my eyes down and tried not to attract the guards' attention. They had so far taken no notice of me, but my heart thumped so loudly I marvelled that they did not hear it.

  The man nodded and seemed convinced by Tabatha's story. 'On you go,' he said, stepping aside for us to pass, 'but in future, beware travelling unaccompanied after dark. There are unsavoury sorts about on the roads.'

  'Thank you, sir, and I most certainly will,' replied Tabatha sweetly. 'Good night.'

  The ten steps or so until we were off the bridge were the longest of my life. I half expected at any moment to feel rough hands on my shoulders yanking me back and bundling me into a waiting carriage to be taken back to the Gatehouse. When we were a safe distance from the bridge, Tabatha stopped.

  'Phew,' she whispered. 'That was unnerving to be sure. You may ride Ruby now; I shall take us home by a different route. I wouldn't like to meet another of that pair further down the road, and I'll wager there will be more of them on the outskirts of the city.'

  'What if there are check points all the way back to Richmond?' I cried. I was sweating in spite of the cold.

  'They will o
nly be manning the main roads, I'll warrant, but I know other routes to avoid them. Follow me.'

  We rode through the slums and poorer districts of the city without meeting any more checkpoints, but as we passed beyond the city limits and prepared to join the main road out of London, Tabatha turned aside and guided us away from the road and into the darkness of the surrounding land. From there, we walked and led the horses by their reins, for the ground was marshy and treacherous, but Tabatha guided us with confidence, keeping as much as possible to the fields that had been drained for farming. By the small hours of the morning we had reached Richmond and left the city far behind.

  I was exhausted and could barely put one foot in front of the other as we slipped into the churchyard, silent and unnoticed. As we made our way down the tunnel, hurried footsteps rushing to meet us echoed along the walls.

  'Thank goodness you're back!' cried Eliza. 'I haven't slept a wink. Was the King there? Did you see him?'

  'No', I replied wearily, 'His Majesty is most definitely not being held at St. James' Palace. We are no closer to finding him.'

  Chapter 67

  Eliza and I set about making the table ready for breakfast, absorbed in our own thoughts, while Tabatha groomed Colonel and whispered softly to him. He at least seemed oblivious to the despondent mood of the humans around him.

  'What do we do now?' asked Eliza at last.

  'We watch, and we wait,' replied Tabatha. 'They cannot keep the King hidden forever, wherever he is.'

  'I don't think I can stand much more waiting,' groaned Eliza. 'We haven't heard from George for weeks, I'm afraid for my father, and I daren't even think what tortures poor Rupert has been subjected to.' She shuddered and drew her hand across her eyes.

  I felt wretched. I wished I could say something to reassure Eliza, but the situation was bleak, and nothing I could say would alter the fact.

  'Tabatha is right,' I said at last. 'The King can't be hidden away forever. 'Tis a new year tomorrow; let's see what it brings.'

  1649 arrived bleak and cold. In the early hours of New Years' Day Eliza and I crept up to the churchyard. A dusting of snow had settled upon the headstones and frozen ground, but everywhere was silent and still; even the earliest risers were not yet awake to welcome the new year.

  'He is out there somewhere,' said Eliza looking east towards London. 'If only we knew where.' She shivered and huddled closer to me.

  'We will find him,' I murmured. Almost without thinking my hand brushed the bundle of rags in my pocket, and I felt the dragonskin beneath them. It seemed so inconsequential, wrapped in rags and tucked away in the pocket of a boy while the most powerful magician in the country sought desperately for it, and while I, by some strange quirk of fate, found myself wondering how I would ever be able to set it in the hands of the King.

  'It's freezing! Let's get inside before we catch our death,' I said.

  For almost a month we heard nothing more of the King. Tabatha went out every night scouring the roads and taverns for news, but not a whisper of his location passed anyone's lips, though his fate was much debated. Eliza and I grew restless and anxiously counted the days since we had last heard from George.

  'It has been forty-four days,' said Eliza.

  'I doubt Bill and Frigg can find a way to reach us down here, if they can even find us,' I replied, trying to remain optimistic.

  Eliza shook her head. 'George would find a way to get a message to us if he could. Besides, we go up to the churchyard every night. Bill and Frigg would have found us by now. Something is wrong, I'm sure of it.'

  Even as she spoke, the sound of Tabatha and Colonel returning from their recon echoed down the tunnel.

  'Tom, Eliza! I have news of the King! ' said Tabatha. ''Tis not good, I'm afraid; he is being tried for treason.'

  'When?' I cried. 'Where is he being held?'

  Tabatha looked grave. 'The Gatehouse,' she replied. 'I was met on the road back by a mutual friend of mine and George's, a merchant by the name of Peter Garrett with whom I have done business previously. He told me that he has it on good authority- from a guard at Westminster Palace no less -that the King is standing trial there but is being held in secret in the Gatehouse because Cromwell fears the Palace or the Tower of London may be stormed by Royalist sympathisers.'

  'It makes sense to keep him somewhere secret, I suppose,' I said. 'But who knows what spells Devere may be working against the King! We must go at once!'

  'No, we should wait and make a plan,' said Tabatha. 'You have only one chance. If you rush in blindly you'll surely be caught and get us all killed. You are going to meet the enemy on his own turf. You must be prepared.'

  'We still have the transmogrification potion,' said Eliza. 'We can use that.'

  'And what if Cromwell is already at the Gatehouse when you arrive?' said Tabatha. 'Do you not think Devere may be a little suspicious to be confronted by two Cromwells? We must find out exactly when the King will be there and when Cromwell will not and make our move then.'

  'Well, that is easy enough,' said Eliza. 'We should just go at night.'

  'But would Cromwell arrive unannounced at the Gatehouse in the middle of the night? I think not,' persisted Tabatha. 'We must think up a pretext. You need to be convincing. This isn't simply about getting the dragonskin to the King; you need to get back out alive as well.'

  Chapter 68

  The following evening, Tabatha did not go out. She stayed behind, and we talked long into the night about how we might get the dragonskin to the King.

  'I don't think we can wait any later than tomorrow,' I said. 'The risk of what Cromwell and Parliament may do to him outweighs any risk to us.'

  'Very well,' said Tabatha. 'We will travel by night when it is safer, and we will all travel together. At least then if we fail, we all fail together.'

  The next night was cloudy and moonless. Tabatha would not risk a lantern to guide us on our way, and so we picked our way across the rural hinterlands around London in the darkness.

  The horses snorted and scrambled across the uneven ground so noisily that I marvelled that we did not meet any resistance, yet we did not see either man or beast until we had passed safely into the city. As we reached its outer limits Tabatha decided it was safer that we proceed separately.

  'I know a safe house where we can stay until morning. Head for the Gatehouse but turn left down the little street opposite the clock tower. There is an inn there, and the landlord is a friend of mine. When you get there give him my name. He will not ask any questions. I will go forward alone and scout out the Gatehouse, then I will find you at the inn when I'm done. Do you know your way from here?'

  'I do,' said Eliza.

  'Good. Remember to keep away from the main roads where there may be checkpoints. Wait for me at the inn, and do not proceed until I come back to give the all clear.'

  With that, Tabatha set Colonel to a trot and disappeared into the darkness ahead. Eliza and I followed behind a little slower, neither of us particularly regretting our leisurely pace. Now that it had come to it, the danger seemed very real and immediate. We rode in silence, each absorbed with our own thoughts and curious about what the other was thinking.

  'What will you do when this is over- if we make it out alive?' said Eliza at last. 'You told me you were afraid of what would happen when we spoke about it on our last day at Treadway Castle.'

  'I did, didn't I?' I said. My thoughts at once turned to the words Edward had spoken to Rupert while I recovered from my ordeal in the mirror. 'Getting out alive seems more than enough of a challenge. I can't really think beyond that. What about you?'

  'It depends on what becomes of the Guild,' replied Eliza. 'Devere will still be the Keeper, and while he is, all members are bound by his command. I'm afraid the danger doesn't go away once the dragonskin is with the King.'

  'You're right,' I said, 'but we should not be thinking of it. Tonight, all that matters is getting the dragonskin safely to His Majesty.'

  Ralph and Rub
y trotted along the narrow, cobbled streets and shadowy alleyways and carried us by the quiet, forgotten backstreets into the very heart of London. Despite the night chill, I welcomed the cold air on my face; the ride and the tension had left me feeling sweaty and light-headed.

  'There's the clock tower,' said Eliza at last.

  I had hardly noticed where we were going since Tabatha left us, but sure enough we now stood before the clock tower, looking down the quiet street opposite to the black, lightless form of a tumbled-down and forgotten-looking building.

  'This must be it,' said Eliza.

  We dismounted and led the horses down the street to the inn. It was cloaked in darkness except for a single oil lamp burning in the parlour window where an old man sat dosing. Eliza tapped the window softly and he woke up with a start.

  'Who's there?' he called, squinting through the window.

  'We are friends of Tabatha's,' called Eliza softly through a crack in the glass.

  'Oh yes, come in, come in!' he called back as he stood up and disappeared behind the parlour door. A moment later he stood at the front door with a lamp in his hand.

  'I'll see to your horses. There are stables round the back. I have a room at the back for you as well. It's quiet and out of the way.'

  The old man led us up a dark staircase, along a corridor and to a room at the back of the inn. It was plain, but a small fire was already burning in the hearth.

  'Shout if you have need of anything,' said the man as he closed the door softly behind him and left us alone without another word.

  'What do we do now?' asked Eliza when his footsteps had faded back down the staircase.

  'I guess we just wait for Tabatha,' I replied, 'though it’s anybody's guess how long she will be.'

  'Well, you sleep if you think you will be able to,' said Eliza, settling in a chair beside the fire. 'I know I won't.'

  I moved over to the bed and cast myself upon it. Despite my anxiety, I couldn't bear the thought of pacing the floor and watching from the window for Tabatha to return. I shut my eyes and waited for sleep to find me.