Johnson sprang across the room. Yogoroth must not be allowed to pull that cord. L’Etoile needed time, even if it were only to die in peace. But she would wait to know the outcome of this struggle before doing away with herself; Johnson felt sure of that.
The velvet cord with which the wizard had hoped to summon help had caught on one of the candle sconces. As he fumbled to untangle it Johnson closed with him.
Yogoroth managed to pull the ceremonial knife from his belt. He slashed at Johnson as Johnson hung grimly on to him. The blade sliced through Johnson’s overalls and across his stomach. It was only a flesh wound but it bled.
Yogoroth shouted, “I have you, dog!”
He rushed in to deliver the coup de grâce, but Johnson was essentially unharmed. He leapt back, tossing Yogoroth’s cloak over his head as he closed on Johnson for the kill.
Yogoroth sprang away, cursing, wrenching the cloak from his head. Johnson’s eyes swept towards the eastern wall, open to the sky. Strong pre-dawn light illuminated the east. How much longer before he could enlist the aid of the amulet?
They circled, knives in hands, Johnson holding the queen’s blade, the wizard his ceremonial knife. As they passed by the bench that held the laboratory equipment Yogoroth snatched up a dagger that lay among the pots and jars and hurled it at Johnson with deadly accuracy. Johnson was passing the carved wooden screen the wizard used to curtain off his laboratory area when not in use. The dagger passed cleanly through his shoulder and lodged itself in the screen. He knew he was lost if he couldn’t wrench himself free. Without an ability to manoeuvre, the wizard would soon get past his guard and land a telling blow.
The wizard dipped his ceremonial knife into a dish of green powder that stood on the end of the bench.
“One touch of this, my bravo, and you will be as useful as a dead lion. Ah, but you will have your uses when you awake!”
With a shock Johnson realised that Yogoroth planned to take him alive. It seemed the knife had only to break his skin and the chemical on it would render him unconscious, probably for hours.
The wizard came on at a run. It was almost sunrise. Desperately, Johnson abandoned his attempts to get free and steeled himself to parry the wizard’s strokes. Yogoroth closed. With his right hand Johnson managed to seize the wizard’s knife arm and hold it away from him. He held his left arm aloft, exposing the amulet.
The sun rose. Its first slanting rays hit the amulet.
Johnson found himself struggling with the wizard on the railway tracks near the entrance to a tunnel. As he fought to avoid the knife that Yogoroth still wielded, Johnson could hear the rumble of a train advancing through the tunnel behind them. From somewhere, he could hear Colin’s voice.
“Back here, Bob. Back here!”
Johnson and the wizard stood grappling on the tracks. Johnson wanted only to get away from the train that bore down on them shrieking. Live now, worry about the wizard later. The rails shook, the brakes screeched, the train whistled one long, desperate sound of warning.
The wizard released Johnson at the sound of the train whistle. He spun around to see what demon Johnson had summoned to save himself. Johnson wrenched free and leapt towards the safety hole in which Colin stood, shouting. He had one glimpse of the wizard’s gold robes billowing in the train’s headlights, then the train was upon him.
“Christ, mate,” Colin said when the train had passed, “why’d you leave it so late!”
Johnson climbed out of the safety hole and walked to the spot where Yogoroth had gone under the train. Nothing. He walked the tracks for thirty metres in either direction but he could see no sign of the wizard. A thin piece of gold silk fluttered on the tracks at the entrance to the tunnel. He picked it up.
“People are always losing things,” Colin observed, coming up to him and fingering the fabric. “They blow down into the tunnels from the platforms. It’s expensive. Do you want it for your wife?”
Tears of relief came to Johnson’s eyes. “You’re all right.”
“I was always all right,” Colin replied. “It was you we had to worry about.” He slapped Johnson on the shoulder.
Johnson turned and began to run back along the tracks towards Central Station. Somewhere L’Etoile was waiting. But how long would she wait?
He leapt up onto Central Station’s platform and ran up the silent escalators. The clock read 5.05 a.m. as he rushed into the main concourse, avoiding ambulance officers running the other way, carrying stretchers.
Panting, he leant his back against the sandstone pillar where his adventure had first begun. Soon, he knew, the sun would rise above the top of the building opposite. Doubts wrenched him this way and that. What if the amulet didn’t work a third time? Even if it did, should he go?
As if to answer his question, a taxi pulled up outside Central Station’s main entrance. His wife Laurel emerged from it, shrieking.
“Where is he? I must see him.”
Johnson made up his mind. He was ready to let this world go.
A crowd began to gather. At 5.07 a.m. the ambulance men returned carrying two bodies on stretchers. Laurel had to be forcibly restrained from flinging herself across one of them.
An ambulance bearer spoke to her. “I’m sorry. He’s gone.”
Another spoke to calm her. “He wouldn’t have felt a thing.”
The mist he had experienced on the tracks after the accident descended upon Johnson again. The ringing in his ears returned. But it was softer now, almost pleasant. The mist swirled around him, obliterating everything. He could no longer see the sun. He seemed to be moving through a long dark tunnel, but he felt no fear. Only an overwhelming sense of peace.
In the bright light at the end of the tunnel stood his parents, and Will, his kid brother.
They held out their arms to him.
END
From the writer to you
If you enjoyed this story, would you mind taking a few seconds out of your busy schedule to let your friends know about it, perhaps on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter?
Thank you, and best wishes,
Dani
About the author
Until the publication of her novel MagnifiCat at the end of 2013, Danielle de Valera was best known for her short stories, which won a number of Australian awards and appeared in such diverse publications as Penthouse, Aurealis, and the Australian Women’s Weekly. Many of her short stories are set on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia, where she has lived since 1977.
More O’Neill and Lawson (aka God) stories
“Last Train to Parthenia” is the 8th story in the O’Neill, Star and Lawson series.
The 1st, “Busting God,” is available at:
[Undercover narcotics agents Michael O’Neill and Baby Johnson are sent to the northern rivers of New South Wales to bust a heroin dealer so big everyone up there calls him God.]
[Michael O’Neill and Baby Johnson, still suffering from PTSD, quit the Australian Narcotics Bureau and move to the far north coast of NSW. Each hopes love will save them.]
The 3rd, “Stella by Starlight,”is available at:
[Released from jail, Lawson, formerly the heroin manufacturer known as God, fails in his attempt at suicide, but he manages to save Star from her abusive relationship with Wayne.]
The 4th, “Star’s Story” is available at:
[Almost all the men in Star’s life have turned out to be violent. In choosing Wayne, she thinks she is breaking the pattern.]
The 5th, “The Real Thing” is available at:
When Lawson is forty he goes to Maralinga to investigate a mysterious coin found there. Here he meets Jamie Stanborough, who seduces Lawson for his own ends.
The 6th, “Trio” is available at:
“Trio” consists of 3 very short stories: “The Sunflowers; A Happily Married Man” and “The State of Grace”.
The 7th, “Transference” is available at:
[When O’Neill finally breaks up with Azure, he seeks help. Unfortu
nately, he becomes obsessed with his psychiatrist Adrianne West.]
To preview the 9th story in the series, “Trio”, go to:
https://danielledevalera.wordpress.com/short-story-previews/
The last two stories featuring the characters introduced in “Busting God” will be released in the first quarter of ‘15. If you’re a short story aficionado and you’d like to be notified in advance of their release, please send me an email at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to add you to my mailing list.
Other works by this author
MagnifiCat: an Animal Fantasy, 70,000 words, 288 pages.
[Meet the Katt family. Despite the love in their little cottage, they’re finding it hard to make ends meet. When the bank won’t grant more time t pay the mortgage, the Katts must find a way to save the day. A feel-good, animal fantasy for adults with the fairy tale ending we’d all like to have.]
“Frankie and Juno”. Very short story, 1,000 words, 3 pages—a quick read.
[Frankie, a lovesick tom, falls for the beautiful Juno, an elegant white cat, but the relationship is not a success.] On Derek Haines’s e magazine Whizzbuzz Shortz.
https://www.derekhaines.ch/shortz/2013/12/frankie-and-juno-a-fable-by-danielle-de-valera
Connect with me online
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@de_valera
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielle.devalera
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DanielledeValera/about
My blogs: 1. About Writing and Writers: https://danielledevalera.wordpress.com
2. Manuscript Development Services: https://patrickdevalera.wordpress.com
Questions or comments?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me at: [email protected]
Need help with your writing?
I’ve been a freelance manuscript assessor since 1992, and an editor (copy, structural and creative) for even longer; I can also help you with simple formatting, if you are working in Word. I love helping emerging writers, and my rates are very reasonable. Check out:
https://patrickdevalera.wordpress.com/manuscript-development-services/
One last thing ...
If you enjoyed this story, would you mind taking a few seconds to let your friends know about it, perhaps on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter?
Thank you,
Dani
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