Crimson Scarver : The Grace Flynn Chronicles

by P. L. McCall II

  Chapter 7 – The Sea Witch

  Mont Orgueil – Isle of Jersey

  Mont Orgueil’s walls cast long shadows in the night as torchlight lead the way for the small party of armed guards and a well-dressed gentleman. The prison did not often receive visitors who were not to remain as permanent guests and even more so at such a late hour.

  Daedalus’ arrival was quite unexpected and normally would have been turned down if not for the decrees he carried. Daedalus knew he was giving the prison’s warden a sleepiness night and he reveled in it, having been an island prisoner once long ago. The memory of that imprisonment also brought a deep pang into the heart and with much effort he sought to suppress the memory at once. Upon his arrival at the interior gates he was greeted by more French soldiers, who knew of his arrival and escorted him to a room where he was held until their Captain arrived. While he waited the guards searched him and found nothing of consequence. Thus he was considered not be a threat to the prison overall. Daedalus listened to his guards mumble in French about missing a card game to watch over him and about a local tavern named, Le Baiser du Dragon, where the ale and women both had a seedy reputation upon the nearby Parisian coast. Ironically that was Dr. Daedalus’ next stop, but for more pressing matters than debauchery.

  “My apologies, good Daedalus, the Admiral Prideaux requires that all visitors be searched. We live in volatile times, as you are well aware. I must inform you, that the Admiral will not be able to attend tonight’s assembly due to an Illness and sends his regards.” Captain Blanchard stated and handed Daedalus back his satchel. “We had only just received word from President Carnot and his command that all your requests be adhered to. I will take you to the room where you shall meet the prisoner.”

  The large room in which Daedalus was to meet the most dangerous woman alive also served as the dining hall for the prison. All the tables had been cleared away save for one placed in its exact center with only two wooden chairs in attendance opposite each other. Such table arrangements were often considered romantic in other settings, when a man and woman were present together. This was no such affair.

  Daedalus took his seat as instructed and opened his satchel pulling out a single dossier. He placed it closed upon the table and waited for Miss Flynn’s arrival.

  He did not have to wait long. Wooden doors at the opposite end of the hall, creaked open as a large guardsman entered pulling behind him a large iron pole. The strange rod connected to a collar about a shambled looking woman’s neck. She was followed by another guardsman of equal size as the first; he held the other end of the shaft. The woman was shackled and her chains jingled as she was guided to the table.

  Underneath her mop of unkempt hair, Daedalus could see that her hazel eyes burned with a silent green fire. She was a spirit unbroken even in this terrible place. Daedalus could not help but feel impressed, after previously reading her file; he knew this woman was something rare.

  The guards walked Grace Flynn to the other chair and forced her into it. They remained holding the restraint collar safely out of Grace’s reach.

  “You must be quite feral to get such large men to take precautions against your claws.” Daedalus quipped.

  Grace Flynn only glared at her guest and said not a word. Daedalus acted unperturbed by this and opened the dossier on the table, his eyes quickly scanned it.

  “Flynn, Grace…born in Wales, daughter of Niles Flynn shipwright and mother, Margaret Brooks, chamber maid. Your father killed during a dock heist and mother died of cholera. You were orphaned at fourteen and were forced into prostitution by a local madam. That led to your association with piracy and to a string of murders numbering potentially in the hundreds; hence you were dubbed the “Sea-Witch”. You have been accused of larceny, murder, smuggling, treason and buggery.” Daedalus grinned. “Buggery…You hardly look the type. There is always some sexually repressed lawyer or judge with a latent fantasy. Do you know the whole of society can be broken down into the need of two things, those being sustenance and the other copulation? Here I am straying from the point of my visit. Miss Grace Flynn, I am, Dr. Daedalus, your last chance to ever know freedom outside these walls.”

  “Whatever government sent you here, you can tell them I have nothing to say.” Grace Flynn growled.

  “Governments, how many of those must I continually endure?” Daedalus ran his slender fingers through his hair in mild exasperation. “I assure you that I am here of my own capacity and have need of your expertise. It would seem that both governments that you are so inclined to vex over, find you just as maddening.”

  Grace eyed the Daedalus and considered her response. “So you don’t work for the French or the English and you would have me believe they would just release me to you.”

  “How awe-inspiring that you are keeping up and I thought this was to be a one-sided conversation.” Daedalus quipped.

  “Who pulls your strings…Tesla & Low?” Grace growled.

  “I guarantee you Miss Flynn that the Tesla & Low firm does not nor ever shall have power over me. Long before Nicola and good old Archie, I was discovering the unimagined.” Daedalus grinned.

  “You know an awful lot about me but I have never heard of you.”

  “Oh my dear, you have, though the memory escapes you. I am much like the myths I pursue and eradicate, should that be a necessity. My origins are of little consequence to the matter of your release and future employment. Your cooperation is what must be established at present.” Daedalus opened his leather satchel and pulled out a collection of papers. “You will find these to be a standard contractual agreement from employer to employee with a few amendments to meet the requirements of your imprisoning governments and to meet my own requests as well. “

  “Contract… Are you bloody serious?” Grace laughed.

  “Quite serious, the contract is also for your benefit. It states that by serving as my associate, the governments who hold your prisoner, will lessen your sentence or quite possibly dismiss all of your current charges based on my reports of your actions while under my employment. There is also the matter of reimbursements for any services you provide me, for which I find to be satisfactory.”

  “I am no whore if that is what you are after!” Grace spat.

  “I have read your dossier and know quite well how you deal with interests of unwanted affections. In fact it’s your tenaciousness and sheer defiance in the face of insurmountable odds that I find most delightful. For what I will ask you to face while under my employment would make most women swoon with fear. I am quite sure Miss Grace Flynn that you have looked in the eyes of death and smiled. Just be advised by entering into this contract that one day it just might smile back. I would like to point out there is a clause for proper disposal of your body should it be possible considering the circumstances of your demise while in my service. I also provide a letter to any relatives of your choosing letting them know you did not suffer at the end and will opt a more plausible end that a commoner may understand.”

  “You are absolutely bonkers. Who are you? I do not have time for games even in this place.”

  “I assure you Grace Flynn this is no game. You can take this offer of employed freedom or rot in a cell in the middle of the ocean as two governments fight over who will carry out your sentence. I offer you a chance to prove that are you are more than a scallywag and that you can make a difference. I also offer you a chance to work with me, an opportunity many in this world would never pass up.”

  “You seem quite sure of yourself.”

  “Yes I am.”

  “There is just one problem with your contracts; I will not sign them willingly.”

  “Hmm…a most unfortunate problem for you, yet my offer still stands. Work for me and freedom might one day be yours.”

  “How do you know that if I do sign and leave with you. That I do not run away or simply just kill you?”

  “Many have tried, so your attempt would just be old
hat. There are things and places in this world you will see in my company that shall amaze and terrify you. Also, once you get to know me better and see my work you will never want to leave contract or not. So let us dispense with needless banter and let’s have your signature on these forms.”

  “Dr. Daedalus, the freedom you offer is worthless. I am weary of this world and will accept my fate.” Grace replied calmly.

  “There is one other thing I can offer you…revenge.”

  “Revenge…Against my enemies?” Grace laughed.

  “No revenge, for your father, the only man you have ever loved.”

  “My father died in a shipping accident!” Grace growled, while her guards drew their pistols upon her back.

  “You know that is not true. He was, as you have long suspected, the victim of a vampire’s wrath” Daedalus responded and waved the guards back.

  “Now you prove yourself to be crazy, by blathering about vampires!” Grace spat.

  “It is known that vampires often haunt the brothels for virgin blood. If one were to consider your past, one can assume you know quite well that I am not blathering.” Daedalus could see emotions stir in Grace’s visage. “Did you long for the creature that killed your father to seek your own neck for pleasure, so you could kill him?” He allowed his previous statement to settle in his listener’s mind. “Not the thing that most young girls forced into prostitution would hope for, but you, Grace Flynn, are something more than a forgotten flower.”

  Grace said nothing in response her eyes however did narrow. Daedalus assumed she was now calculating her next move.

  “I understand this is all very hard to take in and I know you are not one who gives trust so easily. I need your help in as much as you need mine. Your life has been adrift Grace Flynn, it time to hunt with purpose and track down this creature you have long sought.”

  Grace still did not respond.

  “I have chosen you a cover name, Virginia O’Conner. I think it suits your Welsh heritage. Please understand me when I say this, once long ago I was a prisoner too, I felt betrayed and angry while my enemy remained at large.” Daedalus paused. “The being you seek is called Varney, and he has killed more young women than any other monster in history. Now he seeks to potentially kill possibly thousands people in one fell swoop. There is young girl right now in her father’s arms that will remain safe, if you go with me now and stop this monster’s designs.”

  “Freedom and revenge,” Grace stated flatly. “Well Daedalus if you wish me to sign your little agreement, I will need to be unshackled.”

  “Gentlemen you may leave the keys to release the prisoner and make a way for her exit.”

  Daedalus commanded as he stood. He then asked for his coat and bowler to be retrieved.

  Daedalus unshackled Grace Flynn and she rubbed her wrists rhythmically. She then reached for the fountain pen. Her hand closed on it like a blade. Slowly her hand rose to a stabbing position. She eyed Daedalus who simply glared back. Higher her hand rose, the guards of the prison watched the scene unfold. Then Grace changed her grip and in one fluid motion signed the contract with a zealous flair.

  “Now that you are under my care and employment, Miss Virginia O’Connor we must get you cleaned up right away. Prison has not done you well.” Daedalus smiled.

  Soon Grace donned Dr. Daedalus’ bowler and overcoat and the pair were escorted out of the prison. When they arrived at the harbor a dirigible awaited them just off the coast, and for the first time in many months Grace inhaled fresh salty air. Daedalus motioned to a rowboat just off a nearby dock. The pair boarded it and they rowed out to the Pendragon and then climbed up a rope ladder to the passenger cabin area. After they boarded the vessel hummed to life and began its journey to Paris as instructed by Daedalus.

  “This vessel is amazing.” Grace remarked absently.

  “Grace from this point onward you must adhere to my commands both our lives depend on it.” Daedalus said firmly.

  “You get me to the beast that killed my kin and I will do the rest, problem solved, world saved.”

  “If it were only that easy,” Daedalus replied.