Agatha & the Scarlet Scarab

by Karl Fish

  ‘Flying across the Channel. Put me back through, now,’ she demanded.

  ‘Geschwader Führer eins (Squadron Leader One). Ihr endgültiges ziel?’ Belle fished for an answer and waited.

  ‘Die Munitionsfabrik bei Ambledown.’

  Belle immediately cut off the communiqué. ‘Thompson! Thompson, did you hear that? Did you understand?’

  ‘I understood enough,’ he replied.

  ‘Children! Children!’ Belle screamed down her exchange, directing her calls back to the village. ‘Please, somebody, you must evacuate! Repeat, evacuate, now!’

  Silence.

  *****

  ‘I don’t know you. Whatever Tuchhandler’s plans might be, I am finished. I have delivered on the promise. Hand over my father.’

  ‘Jennifer.’ Noone stepped forward, tossing his gun towards her and relinquishing his supportive arm of Sir Wallace. ‘Somehow, I believe we may be on the same side. However perverse that seems to us both right now. I am not your father’s keeper. I am escorting him from the Institute. The girl you speak of, is she still alive?’

  ‘I doubt we are on the same side. And, of course, she is still alive,’ she replied, firing a shot past his ear.

  ‘My name is Nathaniel Noone. I am not Tuchhandler’s servant. Think back, hard. Your father saved my life. We have met before; many years ago now. You were only a girl. Think, Jennifer. Think, Jennifer.’

  ‘It’s a trick. You don’t know me.’

  ‘Take your father. Here,’ Noone offered, gently encouraging Sir Wallace forward. ‘I’ll step back. I need you to trust me.’ Noone placed his hands on his head and stood there unprotected.

  ‘Young lady, he is telling the truth,’ Archie interrupted.

  Jennifer knew of Archie, the single man who could not be influenced by the Ethereum due to his lack of sight. Louds had tried many times.

  ‘Shut up, both of you. Shut up!’ Jennifer James called back.

  Muttering to himself over and over again, Sir Wallace James shuffled towards his daughter.

  ‘I am Dr Mialora. I am Dr Mialora..’

  Still training her pistol on the men, Jennifer cautiously approached her father.

  ‘Dad, it’s Jennifer. Dad, can you hear me?’ she said through trembling lips. Her eyes were welling up. ‘It will be alright. We need you away from this place. It will subside, I know. Trust me, I know.’

  ‘Jennifer, you do know, don’t you?’ Noone began to speak. ‘I have seen you since. In a different guise. I couldn’t recall it at all, and most likely you would not have remembered me like I did not remember you at first. Dressed in animal skins, standing out from the crowd, and influencing those who Tuchhandler defined. Though we both knew him as Draper.’

  ‘You know Donald?’ she shot back.

  ‘Your father saved my life and Donald Draper took me under his wing. He was my mentor, it pains me to say. He stopped me from going insane, despite my obsessions. He saved me from my numerous attempts to end my own life.’

  ‘We were to be married, Donald and I. Father insisted on it. I wanted to make him so happy.’

  ‘Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that is what Sir Wallace would have wanted for you? Think, Jennifer. Think. All of us just pawns in a far greater game. Draper the grandmaster.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Nothing makes sense to me.’ Jennifer continued to weep, with her father cradled against her.

  ‘No one has all the answers, I assure you. The only truth we know is that little girl, in the back of your car, connects everything. The man you know as Brian Louds, the man your future husband seduced you for, he is known to me as Salazar and all he wants in the world is to sacrifice that little girl.’

  Jennifer James stepped back to the car, buckling her father in the passenger side and looking down on the comatose teen.

  Barking echoed down the passageway as Luna announced herself into the big wide world outside.

  Noone turned to see the hound bounding their way as bullets had encouraged her to leave.

  ‘Nathaniel. Nathaniel,’ came the sinister voice of Salazar. ‘A peace offering,’ he announced.

  From the shadow of the doorway walked Professor Meredith Malcolm. The ceremonial knife had now been removed and held beneath his throat as he carried Gemima in his arms.

  ‘Sabine Erket or do you prefer Jennifer James now?’ Louds called out. ‘Bring the girl to me. Bring her to me now. I will release your father from my service as promised.’

  Jennifer dipped her head before rising up obediently. She scooped Aggie from the rear seat and began to march towards Louds. Noone stepped in her way, his back blocking Louds’ sightline.

  ‘Don’t do this,’ Noone begged.

  ‘Kill him!’ Louds cried out.

  Jennifer looked Noone directly in the eyes and then fired.

  *****

  ‘Children, please! One of you, please! You are in immediate danger,’ Belle’s voice continued in desperation.

  ‘Miss Soames,’ came the welcome reply. ‘We have lost the girl. They have her,’ Nelly confirmed.

  ‘Listen to me, the bombers are coming. They are targeting the munitions in your village. You must evacuate immediately.’

  ‘Nosey – I mean, Nelly, sorry,’ came Eric Peabody’s breathless voice. ‘Tinker’s on his way to Bott’s. He has an idea. He wants this radio too.’

  ‘Miss Soames, we’ll be back to you as soon as we can be,’ Nelly said disconnecting the cables. ‘Where’s your sister?’ Nelly asked.

  ‘Fishing someone out of the Amble. Then she’ll be helping us proper.’

  A swift jaunt through the purple smoke to the Sheriff’s office and they joined Sister Harvey, Wilson Bott, and Tinker the tailor as they reorganised the room.

  ‘Here, Nelly. Place it here,’ Tinker encouraged her, grabbing the flailing cables and connecting them through his own suitcase device. Pressing the microphone into action Tink began.

  ‘Miss Soames, they call me Tinker. Tell me what you understand.’

  ‘A German bombing party are on their way. They are targeting your munitions factory.’

  ‘If they are successful the South Downs may fall,’ he replied.

  ‘You must suppress the light source you must suppress the lights. It guides their path.’

  Eric shook his head. He had been trying to douse the flames and bunting but the water just encouraged them.

  ‘We’re lit up like a beacon. They’ll find us easily,’ Tinker replied.

  ‘Then you must leave. Save as many of you as you can. Leave now.’

  ‘Wilson, connect that public address system and wait on our orders. Eric, Sister, you know what to do. Go now,’ Tinker ordered.

  Eric Peabody leapt from the room and raced down the Steep, an armful of gas masks dragging behind him. Rushing as fast as he could, he placed a mask on every child he approached. As the Ethereum filtered out, he encouraged them to follow him and do the same. Soon, child after child came round. Sister Harvey followed in the same vein, approaching the adults. Stunned and bewildered, they gradually came round.

  ‘People of Ambledown,’ Wilson Bott’s voice reverberated around. ‘We are under attack. Move calmly and quietly to your shelters.’

  *****

  Nathaniel fell to the floor. Aggie stared back at the scarred man whose voice she had recognised all those days ago. Motionless as she was, she had still heard every word. How wrong she had been. He was far from the monster she recalled that infamous night just weeks ago when he’d kidnapped her at Florrie’s. Remembering her Uncle Gideon’s note, all made sense now.

  Trust no-one, as she had understood it, actually meant, Trust Noone. Nathaniel Noone.

  Nate smiled upward at Aggie while he lay there on the ground as Jennifer James carried her away. A single tear fell from her eye as his face slumped down upon the floor.

  ‘Come, child,’ Salazar encouraged them. ‘Soon, it will all be over.’

  Aggie felt a sharp prick of pain as
Jennifer James administered the final shot into her arm and led her into the passageway and through to the sacrificial chamber.

  *****

  ‘What’s going on, Belle?’ Thompson asked nervously.

  ‘They’re evacuating. They’re not sure how long they have.’

  ‘And the children? Are they safe?’

  ‘The girl was taken. Belchambers’ niece,’ Belle confirmed with a tear. ‘Lord knows the whereabouts of Belchambers and Noone.’

  Thompson left his station and returned to the dome to look down on London. The smoke was dissipating, and people were beginning to move once more; frightened, confused, but alive. He could only hope Ambledown would survive.

  *****

  ‘That’s the lot, Tink. They’re moving on out,’ Eric announced, returning to the Sheriff’s. ‘Any news?’

  Tink’s disappointed shake of his head saw Eric’s shoulders slump.

  ‘Come on, Eric. Let’s find your sister and seek shelter,’ Nelly encouraged him.

  ‘I’m not going back to the Poacher, not never.’

  ‘Come. I know just the place.’ Nelly guided him.

  *****

  ‘I take it she is still alive?’ Louds asked.

  ‘Of course, she is,’ Jennifer James replied. ‘Shall I wake her?’

  ‘Now, wouldn’t that be sadistic?’ Louds laughed.

  The descending stone steps challenged her as she gripped Aggie tightly.

  Louds eased the stone wall entrance back into place and closed it behind them. ‘Place her here,’ he said excitedly. ‘Such a pity you couldn’t stick around to see the finale,’ Louds whispered into Gideon’s ear.

  Raising the ceremonial blade by the hilt. He flashed it downwards towards Gideon. Jennifer flinched as the knife made contact with the restraints and not the man himself.

  ‘I will not waste the ceremonial blade on him any longer or tarnish it with his blood. He is dying, slowly and painfully. He has bled and soiled the chamber enough’ Louds announced. After hauling Gideon’s shoulders forward, and dispersing him off of the black stone, Jennifer James was directed to step forward with Agatha’s motionless body.

  What little light remained of the flames sent sinister shadows up from below. Louds draped the ceremonial robe upon himself, finally confirming his true historical identity, Salazar. The half-mask of Horus sat upon his head. Its feathers and beak reflected back upon the namesake of the statue that overlooked the altar. The statue of Anubis in his darkest stare looked down upon him with envious eyes.

  ‘The girl. You may lower the girl,’ Louds ordered. ‘Wait, turn her around.’

  Jennifer cradled Aggie as his blade tore through the back of her cloak.

  ‘The true mark of the moon,’ he confirmed, running his cold hands over the girl’s back. ‘Do you think I would have forgotten?’ he stared at her, expressionless.

  Jennifer James began to retreat from the altar, and out of reach of the blade.

  ‘Come, come. You have given me more than I could have wished for. Do not be afraid. There is still a place for you by my side,’ Salazar reassured her.

  A smash of glass from the laboratory above sent shudders down her spine. Salazar pulled the blade out and moved towards her.

  ‘What was that?’ he screamed.

  Nervously, Jennifer went to offer a response just as The Lady flapped through the trapdoor, once more attracted to the shimmer of the blade as it caught the crescent moon.

  ‘Kill it! Kill it!’ he ordered Jennifer James. ‘Its feathers can finish my mask.’

  Jennifer reached deep within her cloaked pocket.

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ Salazar hurled at her. ‘Shoot it.’

  Clutching the instrument between forefinger and thumb she looked at the prism above. A short cloud-burst darkened the room.

  ‘I need a clear shot. I need the moon,’ Jennifer explained.

  ‘Just start firing. That room is insignificant now.’

  ‘Three, two, one,’ she counted down.

  ‘Fire!’ Salazar ordered.

  She opened her hand and the magnifying glass revealed itself as the moonbeams penetrated its multifaceted face. Instant, brilliant light blinded him and forced him backwards.

  ‘Now, Aggie! Now!’ Jennifer screamed.

  Agatha transformed from motionless victim to immediately sitting upright. She put her hand in her pocket and reached the gun that Jennifer had set there just moments before. She instantly squeezed the trigger, sparking the gunpowder, igniting the bullet, and hurtling it down the barrel. Salazar flew to attack her with the blade, allowing the gunshot a clear path to his ribcage. As the single bullet tore straight through him, it sparked on the stonework behind. The sheer force sent him backwards.

  It could have been the gods or sheer adrenaline but he did not stop. He stumbled forward once more, blood now gurgling from his mouth, and made one last dramatic lunge to murder Aggie.

  Bang!

  A single shot from above the trapdoor sent Salazar crashing to the floor. His own blood now filled the all-seeing-eye that surrounded them.

  The light from the magnifier illuminated the room. The moonlight had supercharged its powers. The Scarlet Scarab ignited. Its brilliant red responded to the light burning through the room. The heat became too much to bear in the laboratory as the books began to catch fire.

  ‘Jennifer, enough! Enough!’ Noone cried from above the trapdoor as the heat began to rage.

  Jennifer James dropped the magnifier. Her hand was blistered and burned. Aggie fell from the large black stone. Gideon unconscious was by her side.

  ‘Uncle Gideon! Uncle Gideon!’ Aggie clutched at him. She still felt the lightness of breath flow from his chest. ‘He’s alive! He’s alive!’

  Fire leapt from book to book. Noone’s scarring was more resilient than most to the heat but nevertheless, he was beginning to choke from the smoke.

  ‘We have little time. Come on!’ he screamed to them.

  Forcing the hidden doorway backwards he descended the stairs.

  ‘Come on! Go, go!’ he yelled at Aggie.

  ‘I’m not leaving him,’ she cried back.

  ‘None of us are,’ Jennifer comforted her. She took Gideon’s legs as Nathaniel secured him under the arms. ‘Quickly, now move.’

  The acrid black smoke descended quickly as they forced their way onwards.

  Finally, fresh air as they stumbled over the orderly and to safety.

  ‘Nathaniel, is that you?’ Archie cried out. ‘I smell smoke.’

  ‘The institute is on fire. We must move quickly.’

  ‘But what about the men? They’re just ordinary men like you and me?’ Archie replied. ‘What about Pop Braggan? Is he safe too?’

  Noone stared back quizzically. The army of men had been employed to kill them just moments before and Archie wanted him to save them?

  ‘He’s right,’ Jennifer agreed. ‘They would not have been in control. It isn’t their fault.’

  ‘What?’ Noone replied in disbelief.

  ‘I know this place as well as anyone,’ Jennifer advised. ‘I can help them. Look after my dad.’

  Sprinting back into the passageway, Jennifer James was soon engulfed in the suffocating smoke as the laboratory burned.

  ‘Jennifer, wait! Jennifer!’ Noone screamed. He cried out and chased after her.

  *****

  ‘Eric, you know the hidden-tunnel-ways out of Gideon’s, don’t you?’ Nelly asked.

  ‘Of course,’ he replied.

  ‘Get yourself and your sister there. It’s the safest place in the village.’

  ‘Come with us, Nelly.’

  ‘I’ll join you shortly. Jane is still rounding up the last of the children.’

  Eric led Elizabeth to the cobblestone home of the keys at the foot of 1a The Keep before entering Gideon’s house.

  ‘Halt!’ came the accent from within the cellar. A shotgun pointed at them both, a gas mask covering Nan’s face.

  ‘Y
ou stupid old bag!’ Eric screamed back at her.

  ‘I have my orders, Eric. To defend this house for Gideon.’

  ‘Well, Gideon and Agatha are gone. You hear me? And if you’re stupid enough to sit here when the bombers come, so will you be.’

  The housekeeper looked out of the doorway. The purple smoke was now subsiding as Nelly and Sister Jane Harvey wrangled several children towards them.

  ‘Gideon won’t like this,’ she announced.

  ‘Well, that proves how little you know him,’ Elizabeth replied, snatching the gun away from her. ‘What’s so damn important in that cellar?’

  Nan tightened her lips as the children flowed in.

  ‘Wait,’ Elizabeth halted them. Henrietta Huntington-Smythe and her friends were trembling pitifully. ‘Nan, find them all blankets. Grab supplies.’

  ‘Follow me,’ Eric shouted as they traipsed upstairs and into Aggie’s room. ‘Through the wardrobe. All of you, follow Lizzy through the wardrobe.’

  Elizabeth held a solitary candle as they crouched down in the long stone alley.

  ‘Stop at that torch,’ Eric advised them. ’No further.’

  The torch splintered the hidden junction. Should they have to take flight, Eric knew where to go. Gideon had drilled him plenty of times. The tower of The Keep certainly wouldn’t be the safest place this time.

  *****

  ‘Jennifer, Jennifer?’ Noone called out in the darkness. Soon the light from the Scarab offered up a route through the stone.

  ‘Nathaniel, this way. Follow my voice.’

  Noone entered the room they had sought to destroy. The exchanges and spools were cast out in front of him. The stark difference between the smoke-filled tunnel and fluorescent bulb light caused Nathaniel to squint.

  ‘I take it this was your handy-work?’ Jennifer replied pointing out the spoilt reels of tape. ‘Never mind,’ she replied before continuing. ‘Men of Silvera. OBEY! Men of Silvera OBEY!’ she began to repeat.

  Throughout the Institute the men began to sway in unison. Her voice was reinvigorating them.