by Mark Hayden
Rick waited until I’d finished and until we were in stationary traffic along the Victoria Embankment before he turned to face us. ‘Are you okay, Conrad? Sounded bad.’
‘I’m fine. What can you tell me?’
He looked at Myfanwy. ‘I can’t put a Silence on her with that binding, and I don’t know much myself. I know that it’s gone to CobroM, which is where Hannah is now.’
Myfanwy raised her eyebrows, but was too polite to say anything. I turned to her. ‘Cabinet Office Briefing Room (Magick),’ I said, ‘and that’s all I know about it.’
‘Me too,’ added Rick. He took a moment to drive twenty metres along the road. ‘Have you heard about the Glamour of me and of the Countess?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you know as much as I do. Hannah decided the operational priority was to get all potential targets to a place of safety, and that for all sorts of reasons, your house is the safest. When we get there, I have to wait until she can video call us all. Well, you, me and Vicky.’
‘Then let’s sit back and enjoy the drive,’ I said. ‘Wake me if I snore.’
‘Seriously?’ said Myfanwy. ‘You’re going to sleep?’
‘Best thing. I’m shattered.’
Whatever the Warden had done, it had left me feeling wrung out and gritty eyed. In the safety of the Volvo, I had no trouble sleeping. Myfanwy shook me at the service station, and we had a fun time in the disabled toilet. Not.
After that, I made her stand under the outside canopy while I walked backwards until I felt the bond tug. I was far enough away for some privacy, and I called Mina.
‘Has Vicky shown you where the thermostat is?’
‘Conrad! Are you OK? Vicky kept trying to reassure me, but she was so upset I couldn’t help worrying.’ She dropped her voice. ‘That friend of hers is scary. She doesn’t like you.’
In the background, I could hear muzak. ‘Where are you?’
‘Tesco’s in Bishop’s Cleeve. Stocking up for Easter. It was ever so funny.’
‘What was?’
‘Desirée wanted to ask me if I eat British food, but she was too polite. She and Vicky have left me to shop and they’ve gone to the garden centre for some totally weird Mage reason.’
You will have noticed that I hadn’t actually answered her question about whether I was OK. That’s one of the reasons I love her.
‘We’ll be there at nine.’
‘Good. I can’t wait, though I hadn’t expected my first visit to Clerkswell to be quite such a public event. Vicky actually used magick to find the airing cupboard so we could get bedding for everyone. Oh, one more thing. What should I tell people about me? Vicky says you’re such a big figure in the village that everyone will talk. Are you really a local celebrity?’
Rick appeared from the shop and waved at me to get a move on.
‘Got to go, love. Tell them what you like. It’ll be fun.’
‘It will. Take care. Love you.’
Back in the car, Myfanwy plugged her phone into the new charger and settled in for a mass catch-up session as soon as it had rebooted.
While she waited, I said, ‘Tell me about yourself. Are your parents Druids? Brothers and sisters? What have you told them about all this?’
‘Mam and Dad are Druids. They’re not Gifted, but they know magick. They know I’m in trouble, and they’ll have heard about the Dragon. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do. You know they can’t visit, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Neither can my brother. His wife has a small Gift, and they have two kids.’ Her phone pinged alive and her eyes were dragged down, like my eyelids. I was asleep before she’d unlocked the pass screen.
Rick woke me when we were ten minutes from home. Five minutes later, I told him where to pull in, just before the sign saying Clerkswell welcomes Careful Drivers. As we’d headed west, the clouds had piled in and it was raining. Being a true gent, Rick held the umbrella while Myfanwy and I prepared for the ceremony. Before we could get going, a BMW pulled up. It was Giraldo, one half of the husband and husband team who run the Inkwell pub. He’s not really called Giraldo.
Look at it from his point of view. He’s coming home from a shift at GCHQ, and in his headlights he sees a black man in combats holding an umbrella, me in my RAF uniform and a strange woman holding her arms out like a sacrificial victim. Of course he pulled over to see if everything was okay.
‘Evening, Conrad, has your car broken down? Need a lift?’
‘No thanks, Mike. This is my new housekeeper. She’s Welsh,’ I said, as if that explained everything.
This is the English countryside. Of course it explained everything. ‘Nice boots,’ he said to Myfanwy. ‘Watch you don’t get them dirty.’
‘Who was that and was he really checking out Rick?’
‘Later, Myvvy, and you need a proper cover story. Are you ready?’
‘Go for it.’
‘Myfanwy Lewis, you are bound to this place and parish for a period of three years and may not depart from this place or practise magick without leave from the Court. Do you accept this binding?’
‘I do.’
I snipped the cords with my nifty enhanced wirecutters. I did have a moment’s hesitation, but there was no magickal mishap; all four cords parted safely. Myfanwy rubbed her wrists and took a deep breath.
‘Cartref yw cartref, er Tloted y bo.’ She smiled at me. ‘Home is home, however poor it may be. This is your home, Conrad, I’ll try to make it mine.’
I stuck out my hand. ‘Welcome to Clerkswell.’
The other two were in a hurry to get out of the rain. I wasn’t, and not just because I was the only one with a proper outdoor coat. My paranoia was telling me, loud and clear, that this would be a good time to make absolutely sure.
‘Open the boot, Rick, and both of you switch off your phones. In fact, switch them off and go and stand over there.’
Rick did as he was told; Myfanwy watched for half a second before joining him. I lifted the tailgate and heaved the luggage aside. The battery was under a panel, and I disconnected it.
‘What’s he doing?’ I heard her say.
‘Wait and see,’ said Rick.
I’ve said before that Mages are not keen on the twenty-first century. In general. Why would you bother with a GPS tracker when you can use a crystal ball? But that bomb was a game-changer. It was mundane, but I’m willing to bet that magick played a part in its manufacture. And it had a radio trigger.
I took out my multi-spectrum RF detector and switched it on. Any vehicle tracker has to phone home, and that’s its Achilles heel. The five lights on the little box flashed on, then went out. A few seconds later, one of them flashed on again. I walked round the car a few times and got confirmation. There it was. Every ten seconds, it was transmitting. I called them over.
‘So now they know where you live,’ said Myfanwy.
‘If you do a Google search, you’ll find a picture of me getting my DFC. The caption says, “Squadron Leader Clarke, of Elvenham House, Clerkswell.” If they’ve half a brain, they already know where I live. I think there’s going to be a reception committee.’
‘What we gonna do?’ said Rick.
‘Vicky can’t walk without a crutch. Desirée doesn’t have an Ancile. It’s down to you and me.’
‘And me,’ said Myfanwy. ‘And don’t say it doesn’t affect me. It does. The court order allows me to perform magick in self defence. And don’t either of you dare say anything about me being a woman.’
‘Three hours ago, you said you were a sitting duck. Your gender doesn’t change that.’
I thought about the half mile to home. The best place for an ambush would be after we turn off what passes for the main road and go down Elven Lane to Elvenham House. On the corner is the church and churchyard.
‘Myfanwy, can you make a Glamour of me sitting in the front seat?’
‘Not my strong point, but yes.’
‘Rick, are you happy draw their
fire while I try to intercept?’
‘I can run faster than you, and you’re not armed.’
‘True, but I grew up here. I know every inch of this village, and you’ve only been once.’
He chewed it over. ‘What’s the plan?’
‘Let’s get moving. We’ve been sitting here too long.’
As we got back in, I had to get some items from the boot, and Myfanwy peered over my shoulder. She ignored the Kalashnikov and focused on the Cramp bark bush. ‘Wow! Who enchanted that?’
‘Priorities, Myvvy. Later.’
I told Rick to drive to the pub and called Vicky. ‘Can you and Desi get to the end of the drive. No lights, just check for anyone lying in wait.’
‘Seriously?’
‘I’m probably just going to get wet and look foolish, but there is a tracker on the car, and someone did try to blow us up this morning.’
‘On it.’
Rick pulled up at the Inkwell, and I got out. ‘Drive slowly, but not too slowly, and watch out. Give me two and a half minutes to get in position.’ I didn’t wait for a reply.
I jogged across the village green, past the Elven Lane turning and along the north wall of the churchyard.
The main entrance to the churchyard is actually on Elven Lane, about three hundred metres before Elvenham House. No one would go to the churchyard on a dark, wet Thursday in normal circumstances, but tomorrow is Good Friday. To my relief, the church was dark.
I climbed over the side gate and used the black form of St Michael’s Church to screen my approach to the south west corner of the churchyard. The main lights on the spire had been turned off for Lent, but there was still a spotlight on the clock, and a streetlight on the corner. Past the church, there were lots of graves to hide behind, if I could be bothered to crawl. I touched the Hammer and raised my Ancile.
Because of the rain, I couldn’t hear anything, but I saw headlights coming up from the pub. I dodged up to the war memorial, and as Rick slowed down before the turning, I lowered my head and ran zig-zag through the graves.
It was pure luck that I had my head down when a blinding flash of light came from near the wall, followed by a boom and bass crack. What the hell?
Rick was on the Lane, and just in front of him, an oak tree was collapsing in slow motion onto the road. Rick slammed on the brakes, and I sprinted towards the gate.
A shadow flitted in front of me. The tree hit the road, and I couldn’t tell whether Rick had missed it or been crushed. Either way, he and Myfanwy were very vulnerable. The shadow became a man, standing by the open gate and raising his hands. I had no choice but use the gravel path to close the last five metres, and he heard me.
A jet of flame arced round in front of the Mage, enough to grill me before I could duck, but he panicked and missed, and I was past his guard. I slammed into him and drove him into the gatepost. He wasn’t a fighter. He didn’t try any martial arts manoeuvres, but he did have a free hand to try magick. We both burst into flames.
Everything flammable I was wearing started to combust. That is not a nice feeling. He didn’t much like it either, and he stopped whatever magick he was using straight away, but we were both on fire.
‘Conrad! Mine!’ shouted Rick.
I staggered back and dived into the gutter, where rainwater was gathering. The Mage tried the same trick on Rick as my comrade closed with him, but Rick has a proper weapon, not my empty gun. Rick was smoking when he dived forward and drove his Badge of office into the Mage’s ribcage. I focused on rolling in the water.
‘Conrad! Are you hurt?’ said Myfanwy. She looked round and unfocused her eyes. ‘I can’t sense anyone else. Are you okay?’
‘I think so,’ I said, sitting up. ‘Good job leather doesn’t burn well, or my hands would be en croute. Can you pull my gloves off? They’re still hot.’
I held up my hands and she carefully peeled away the leather before giving me a hand up. I stared at my fingers, flexing and checking. With no accelerant to sustain the flames, they’d gone out quickly. Everything was singed rather than burnt . I turned to look at Rick, and he was just standing there.
At his feet was the body of the Mage, Rick’s long dagger sticking out of his chest. I went up and took his arm, turning him away. ‘Well done. That was good work.’
‘But I’ve killed him.’
‘And I for one am very grateful for that. It’s shit, isn’t it?’
I held on to his arm while he processed what had happened. ‘Yeah, it is,’ he said with a shudder.
I looked over my shoulder. ‘Myvvy, call Vicky.’
‘I don’t need to.’ She pointed over the fallen tree. Two women were running towards us, with a third hopping behind them.
Desi and Mina dodged round the fallen tree. Desi paused to see what was going on, while Mina flung herself at me. Thankfully, she stopped herself in time.
‘My god, Conrad. You … you’ve been scorched. What happened? We heard the bang and came running.’
‘We need to move,’ I said. ‘Myfanwy, keep watch up at the crossroads. Rick, help me shift the human torch into the car. There’s enough room to get round on the other side of the tree, so you drive off quick. Desirée, you and Mina check inside the churchyard, along the right hand wall. Look for a rucksack or something.’
‘You can’t order me around,’ said Desirée.
‘Suit yourself. I’ll send Vicky in to give Mina a hand.’
‘You can’t…’
Mina marched up and grabbed her arm. She marched her past the body and said, ‘I’m on licence. If I get arrested, there’ll be no parole.’
Vicky arrived as Rick and I were trying to decide how to move the body. She was well out of breath, but didn’t waste time. She opened the back door of the car and went to get a towel from the boot.
‘Shall I take out my Badge out of his chest?’ asked Rick.
‘Not yet. He’ll only bleed more if you do, and I only had that car valeted a few days ago.’
He shook his head and bent down to take the dead Mage’s arms.
Rick drove carefully round the fallen tree and off towards Elvenham House, using a strip of grass in front of the Church Well, and until the Council came to clear the tree, the grass was likely to suffer significant damage, especially when the milk tanker turned up. Nothing stops a milk tanker.
‘That was some homecoming,’ said Vicky.
‘I’ve had better.’
‘Mind if I sit down. Me foot’s killing me. A gallop up the lane to deal with an ambush was not what the Healer had in mind when she said “light use”.’
She hobbled over and parked herself on the fallen tree. I joined her and checked to see if my cigarettes had been damaged when I rolled in the gutter. They hadn’t. Good.
‘Are you burnt?’ she asked.
‘A bit. Nothing too serious. My uniform’s ruined. Hannah’s going to love a £400 bill for a new one.’
She put her hand on mine, just for a second, just to let me know she’d have been there for me if she could. That meant a lot.
‘How did he make fire like that?’ I asked. ‘It was nothing like a Dragon.’
‘Pyromancy,’ said Vicky. ‘I can do a bit – you’ve seen me light the fire at your house. That was at a nice safe distance, with nicely combustible wood. Very few Mages have a talent for the serious stuff, and most don’t develop it as such. They usually become Artificers. This guy clearly had a serious talent, but not much experience. That’s why he’s dead and you’re alive.’
‘Comforting thought. I hope I don’t meet his master any time soon. Did you recognise him? He can’t be that much older than you. You might have seen him at Salomon’s House.’
‘No. I even checked what was left of his Imprint after Rick disrupted it. Never seen him before.’
‘Talking of Imprints, what’s this about me having an extra bit attached? I trust you, Vic, of course, but it’s a bit a facer when someone tells you your soul is no longer 100% your own.’
&nbs
p; She made a gesture of uncertainty with her hand, a sort of shoulderless shrug. ‘I had to tell you, but there’s not much I can say. It happens naturally, over time. I bet if I looked at your Mam and Dad’s Imprints, I’d find points of symmetry. This was sudden, and it has to be down to the Warden. I was exaggerating when I said 102%, more like 0.2%. It’ll probably fade, but do let me know if you develop an interest in fly fishing.’
‘Fly fishing.’
‘Aye. It was one of his hobbies.’
There was a moment of silence, apart from the rain hitting the road.
‘Thanks for the taped message,’ I said. ‘Very useful. Saved a lot of explanations.’
‘You’re welcome. Seemed like a good idea.’
I smiled. ‘If there’s a next time, try not to think you’re telling it to me. Just give the story as if you’re on the radio or something and it’s not me specifically listening.’
‘Why would there be a next time?’
I shrugged. ‘Things are getting complicated. We might need to split up.’
‘Aye, well. We’ll see.’
I stood up. ‘Can you walk?’
‘I’d rather not.’
‘I’ll head to the house and give Rick a hand. He can come and get you while I try to drag Hannah out of the CobroM meeting. She needs to know this straight away.’
‘Fine. I’ll take charge out here. If Mina and Myfanwy let me, and if Desi doesn’t have a diva strop.’
I said nothing and limped down Elven Lane.
7 — Secret Santa
The guy on Hannah’s left didn’t introduce himself, but he didn’t need to. They were sitting rather closer to each other than they would have chosen, because the angle on the video camera wasn’t good. Or maybe they were quite happy to share their personal space. For a bureaucrat, he’s not bad looking, I suppose. I didn’t check with Vicky to get a female perspective. We were rather more spaced out at our end, gathered around my partners’ desk in the Elvenham House library. I never did find out where Hannah and her friend were sitting.
