"It cost me all that I had, and all that I will ever have. And now that I have seen it, and opened it, the obsession has been lifted from me as if it never existed, and I wish to blazes I had not had it stolen from its owner and brought to me.
"But it is too late now for forgiveness. It is far too late. If you must open it, and knowing you, I think you must, please ensure you are fully protected. It is old, it is dark, and it is angry. And I fear it is coming for me now.
"Forgive me, old friend. I must put this thing in your trust. Do with it what you will.
"But please, for the sake of our friendship if nothing else, be bloody careful.
"Your friend forever,
"Edwards."
*
Carnacki carefully folded the paper up and put it away in his pocket again before continuing.
"Of course, after reading that, there was only one course of action to purse; I knew that I would have to open the bally thing to see what had got the old chap in such fear for his life. But Edward's letter had given me pause for thought, and, again, there was also the fact that I might be destroying, or contaminating, evidence pertaining to his murder.
"This time, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and that I should make good on my promise to the inspector to keep him informed. I made a quick visit to the post office and sent a telegram to the Yard, requesting that Whittaker pay me a visit at his earliest convenience, and left the Scarab and the box it came in on the table in the dining room.
"I came through here to the parlor for a snifter and a smoke while I waited. For a while I was even able to settle, lost in reminisces of my poor dead friend, and wondering at the nature of the obsession he had mentioned in his letter. It was an obsession he had hidden so well over the years that he had never once mentioned it to me despite the long hours we had spent in each other's company.
"But the bally locket preyed on my mind, and after a while I could not think of anything but what might await to be found inside the dashed thing, and what it might have to do with Edwards' death.
"And there was still no sign of the inspector returning my message. I felt rather twitchy, and it was a tad too early to take to the bottle for comfort. In the end, I gave in to my impulses, took the scarab locket through to the library, and set the electric pentacle up over the defensive circles I have etched into the hardwood floor.
"I hooked up the strongest of my batteries and switched on, before taking a chair, the scarab, and a magnifying glass, into the heart of the pentacle. I deduced that, just as the pentacle protected me from exterior action, so too it would serve to protect me from anything the scarab had to surprise me with."
*
"As I was stepping inside the circles, the blue valve flared very slightly and dimmed again, but I thought nothing of it at the time. My whole attention was now on the scarab, and how I might open it without doing any damage to the locket.
"I sat down, and, ever so carefully, pried it open with my thumbnail. The old hinge creaked rather alarmingly, but the locket came open without a hint that it might break. The inside of both halves was burnished silver that had been polished to an almost mirror-like sheen, and the back piece was engraved in tiny, delicately inscribed, verse. I was able to make out the words, but only with the aid of my magnifying glass.
"I had expected hieroglyphs, but what I got was Greek. I translated along in my head as I read, somewhat slowly, as it had been quite some length of time since my last reading of that ancient language.
"'All people who enter this tomb, make evil against this tomb and destroy it, may the crocodile be against them in water and snakes against them on land. May the hippopotamus be against them on water and the scorpion against them on land.'
"It was a curse, of course, and a dashed ancient one at that. Now that I had read that far, and had a good look at the artifact itself, I suspected that the scarab locket had once hung around the neck of a member of Egyptian royalty, and had probably been purloined from there when the tomb was opened. I could now also understand, at least in part, what had so obsessed my old friend, for it was indeed a thing of great beauty, even discounting its obvious historical importance.
"What I did not yet understand was how Edwards had allowed the curse to put him in such an obvious funk, or how it might have somehow contributed to his demise. I have come across many such warnings in my studies, but I could see nothing that might frighten an experienced old hand like Edwards, or lead to his gruesome death.
"I was thinking that this whole bally experience might be as a result of the old prof's overwrought imagination when the blue valve flared alarmingly, so bright that it blinded me momentarily. At the same instant I felt tightness at my throat. Firstly, it was little more than a difficulty in drawing breath, but that quickly turned into a full-on assault, gripping at me as if I wore a noose. All too quickly the constriction became so severe that the pain was excruciating and blackness crowded in, the darkness of death swelling up, ready to take me down and away into the black."
*
"It was pure instinct that saved me. I stood quickly, dropping the scarab onto the seat of the chair. I felt, frantic now, around my neck. There was nothing there for me to take hold of. But it continued to tighten, and if I did not do something about it immediately, I would never take another breath.
"With the last of the air left to me already wheezing out of my chest and blackness creeping at the edges of my vision, I stepped over the circles and out beyond the defenses onto the library floor.
"The constrictive force at my neck and throat was lifted as if it had never been there and I was able to draw in a huge gulp of air. I stood, hands on knees, for a minute or so, drawing in whooping breaths until I felt able to stand upright again.
"It was only then that I noticed that the blue valve was pulsing, a definite rhythm, like a slow heartbeat. The air inside the pentacle above the still open scarab and the chair swirled and thickened, as if a dense fog was rising from within the locket itself. The blue valve kept pulsing and, fed by the light, the fog coalesced and took form.
"A serpentine body slithered, its flanks pulsing in time with the blue valve as it solidified into something that was most definitely tangible. Within a minute a large, thick-bodied snake was coiled around the legs of the chair. In circumference the thickest part of the body was larger than one of my thighs and I guessed it would be near twenty feet, if not more, in length should it be able to straighten itself. It raised a head the size of two fists put together and looked straight at me. The hood of the huge cobra, for that was indeed what it was, opened as it hissed, slithering out a moist forked tongue and showing me its fangs. The sound grated on my ears like fingernails on a chalkboard.
"I remembered the words I read in the locket.
"'All people who enter this tomb, make evil against this tomb and destroy it, may the crocodile be against them in water and snakes against them on land'
"I had narrowly escaped being beset by one of the very beasts mentioned in the warning.
"I realized something else as I watched the serpent breathe in and out in time with the pulsing of my valve. I was looking at the thing that had got poor Edwards.
"Once my breathing had returned to something approaching normal, I took a step back toward the defenses, trying to get a closer look at the thing. I was immediately thankful that I had the foresight to examine the amulet inside my defenses; the green and yellow valves flared wildly as the serpent tried to strike at me, and blue sparks of static electricity flew around the serpent's form like bottled lightning. I had inadvertently caged the beast inside the circles.
"But as I stood there watching it writhe and thrash in its attempts to escape, I didn't have a bally clue as to what I should do next."
*
Carnacki stopped again, and rose from his chair. We, from long familiarity with the beats and rhythms of his tales, knew this was our cue and we all followed his lead, moving to refill
our glasses.
Arkwright, as ever, was keen to fill the lull in the story with questions. Carnacki was also, as ever, expert at avoiding giving away any clue as to the direction the story might take toward its conclusion. As a matter of fact, this kind of gentle sparring between the two of them often did much to increase our anticipation for the remainder of the tale to come, and tonight was no exception.
As eager as children at bedtime, we settled with our glasses charged and our smokes lit, ready for the rest of the story.
*
"I was not given any time to consider my next action, for that decision was taken from me by a loud knock on the street door. I had one last look at the defenses, trying to convince myself that they would hold in my absence, and closed up the library before heading to answer. I had no way of gauging the strength of the serpent, and all that I really knew was that I had a few hours left in the battery that powered the valves. I could only hope it would give me long enough to come up with a solution.
"Inspector Whittaker was waiting on the doorstep when I opened the door, and it was only then that I recalled I had sent for him; my encounter with the serpent had taken up all of my concentration.
"'You have new information for me? Have you remembered something?' he asked.
"'Let us say, there has been a development.' I replied.
I invited him in, showed him into the parlor, and over a smoke, explained about the package I had received and the manner in which it had come to me. Of course, he asked about the contents so I fetched the letter and the box from the dining room. His left eyebrow raised quizzically as he read it and then read it again, more slowly the second time.
"'And what was inside the box?' he asked after he was done.
"'That is rather difficult to describe,' I replied. 'It was an Egyptian Scarab locket, of some great antiquity.'
"He handed the note back to me.
"'I too have some information to impart,' he said. 'I believe we have uncovered the locket's rightful owner. A businessman in Cairo has been in touch with the Yard to file a complaint against your Professor friend. We have had the chap's credentials checked and he seems to be exactly who he claims to be, a man of some wealth and influence in Egypt. He has made an allegation of theft of an unusual item of jewelry, and from the description he has given to us, I believe we must be talking about this self-same pendant that is now in your possession. I assume you still have it?'
"'I do indeed,' I replied, as yet unsure how I was going to explain what was coming next.
"'Where is it now?' he asked.
"'It is in my library.'
"'And may I see it?'
"That was the question I had not wanted to hear. I stalled for time, my mind racing.
"'Do you have any clue as to the nature of my particular area of expertise, inspector?'
"'I know you are regarded as an expert in things esoteric and strange, and that you have the ear of some people in high places that place credence in your ability.' He smiled. 'One hears stories, even in my own small area of expertise. Besides, I try not to call on a chap without knowing at least something about him.'
"I decided to go with my instincts again, which told me that the inspector would at least consider what I had to say and not dismiss me out of hand.
"'What I have in the library certainly comes under the term esoteric,' I said. 'I must ask you to prepare yourself, and I need your promise that you will not do anything hasty. It could be dangerous, for both of us.'
"'Is anyone in trouble?'
"'Only ourselves, and only if we are not careful,' I replied.
"'Then you have my promise,' the inspector replied. 'I am not a hasty man.'"
*
"He kept his word when I showed him into the library, although I think it was more wonderment, awe, and a hint of fear that struck him immobile rather than any predisposition to not be hasty.
"'What in blazes is it?' the inspector whispered after a time.
"My pentacle sent washes of color all around the room, across the wooden floor, over the ranks of high books and shelving, and swirled, like rainbow clouds, across the ceiling. The serpent was still inside my circles, still contained, lying coiled around the legs of the chair in the center. The blue valve pulsed, beating in time with the sinuous breathing of the beast that looked at me with unblinking eyes. It had stopped attacking the defenses but somehow this cold, uncaring stare was worse, for it told me that the serpent was ready to wait me out, and I was only too aware of the finite life of my battery.
"The inspector was still waiting for an answer to his question.
"'I was trying to ascertain the nature of the thing before you came to the door,' I said, and laid out the situation for him. 'It appears my defenses are holding it, but the battery will not last forever. And as to your question, I believe it is what a layman or a newspaperman would call the external physical realization of a curse. To put it in my terms, it is something from the Outer Dark realms beyond our own that has attached itself to the locket and brings harm to those that would dare to open it without having an understanding as to its nature.'
"'I see. Or rather, I don't. But I trust my eyes, and I'll take your word on the curse part. The main question is, how do we get rid of it?'
"'In theory, it can be dispatched back to its sleep by returning it to its rightful owner so that he in turn can return it to the place where it originally slept, dormant and controlled.'
"'We can probably do that given we now know about our businessman in Cairo.'
"'Yes indeed. That is where it must be sent. But first, we must get the locket closed again. And that means going inside the pentacle and evading the serpent.'"
*
"We stood there in the library smoking while I contemplated the problem. I was also watching for any sign of dimming in the valves, for by my calculation, it was close to being run down. The inspector picked up on my concern, but from a slightly different perspective.
"'What happens if you let the battery run down on your contraption?' he asked.
"'I have been wondering that myself,' I said. 'I believe that when the protections are gone, the serpent will be free to fulfil the curse, and it will be coming after me, as I was the last one to open the bally thing.'
"'Probably not a good idea to wait until the last minute then,' he said, and I rather agreed with him on that score.
"The serpent was keeping its gaze directed on me, and I felt the baleful stare, almost as a physical force pressing on me. I stepped closer to the pentacle. The head came up, the large oval cowl opened out and a forked tongue tasted at the defenses, causing the yellow and green valves to flare wildly before settling again.
"'I think he likes you,' Whittaker said sardonically.
"I must admit he was taking the situation jolly well for a policeman. He did not seem in any fear now. He was more curious as to the nature of the thing I had trapped there in the library. He joined me in considering the best way to go about ridding ourselves of it, as if it was another puzzle that could be solved with the right approach and a number of clues to chew on. We talked through several scenarios, and I was pleased to discover an open mind, and an analytical one at that. Indeed, he was the first of us to suggest an approach of action.
"'I've been watching his eyes, Carnacki,' Whittaker said. 'He's following you everywhere.'
"'I've noted that too. But I'm not sure how that changes anything.'
"Whittaker smiled, but didn't let me in on his thinking.
"'Stay right where you are, old bean. I want to check something.'
"He sidled away from my side, circling the room until he was on the opposite side of the pentacle from me; I could barely see him through the washes of color from the valves. The serpent never shifted its gaze from me.
"'Here we go, then. Get ready,' the inspector shouted.
"'Ready for what?' I called back, but he was already on the move.
"He strod
e forward, stepped over the defensive circles, and reached for the locket where it sat on the chair."
*
"The serpent's response was immediate; it struck out at him, but in one move the inspector had his left arm up to defend his face while his right grabbed the locket, snapped it shut one handed and threw it, chain and all, out of the defensive circles.
"The blue valve blazed, almost blinding as the amulet passed through the boundary of the circles, but the man's throw had been so straight that all I had to do was raise my hand to catch it, and in a second the locket was nestling there in my palm.
"Whittaker's ploy had, however, not proved totally successful, for although the locket was closed, the beast was still imprisoned inside the pentacle. Even now the serpent was upon him, great coils, already tightening, thrown around his legs, hips and chest and heading inexorably for his throat. The blue valve pulsed and blazed, and the serpent's eyes grew brighter in turn. I did not consider that to be a coincidence.
"I stepped forward, locket still in hand, and stamped down, hard, on the blue crystal, which cracked, splintered, and fell apart in a shower of blue dust. The rest of the valves all blazed as one, and shrieked, like a gull denied bread. A great black coldness washed like a wave through the room.
"I felt a momentary tightening at my throat, but it was weak, and passed quickly. When I looked down there was just the pentacle, the valves all dull and still now, and Whittaker, lying, gasping for breath, beside the chair in the center of the circles.
"He smiled wanly.
"'That went quite well, don't you agree, old man?'
"'I thought you said you weren't a hasty man?' I said as I bent to his aid.
Carnacki: The Edinburgh Townhouse and Other Stories Page 7
