Scotland Hard (Book 2 in the Tom & Laura Series)

by John Booth

  Belinda hoped that Trelawney would return from his meeting with the Secretary of War soon. He needed to have this information in his hands as quickly as possible.

  “This is complete nonsense, Sir Ernest,” Sidney Herbert, Secretary of War for Her Majesty Queen Victoria shouted. “You want me to believe that one of our most important industrialists is a traitor and that he has somehow constructed and set off the biggest bomb in history. It is unbelievable and ridiculous.”

  “The evidence is mounting and will soon become undeniable,” Trelawney replied patiently. He was worried for the health of the Secretary of War, who looked far from well. The news Trelawney brought had done nothing for his disposition.

  “A few words on a telegraph message. That is all you have. I can hardly take it to Lord Palmerston and expect him to dispatch the army on the strength of that.”

  “The maid Jane Muldrow is being asked to describe Sir M even as we speak. I would stake my career that the man she describes will be a match for Lord McBride.”

  “You have staked far more than your career on this Sir Ernest, believe me. If I take this to Lord Palmerston and it turns out to be a mistake, he will have you confined to the Tower for the rest of your life.”

  “Then you will inform the Prime Minister?” Trelawney asked as he got up to leave.

  “I will, God help me,” Sir Sidney agreed. “I thought that sending Miss Nightingale to the Crimea was the hardest thing I would ever do in my career, but this may well top it. You had better be right about this, Ernest. This thing could start a civil war with Scotland. The Empire could be riven by it. You know how deep resentment against Westminster rule rankles in certain quarters up there.”

  “You should be more concerned about what McBride intends to do with this new weapon of his. It’s very possible that if we go to war with Scotland, they might win.”

  Having made his point, Trelawney took his leave of the Secretary of War and made his way back to MM3.

  Sidney Herbert sat down at his desk looking pale. He poured himself a large glass of brandy with shaking hands. Sweat poured down his face. He knew he would have to tender his resignation soon, despite the objections of Lord Palmerston. He was not a well man and this job called for a man with an iron heart and mind and body to match. He would walk over to the Prime Minister’s office just as soon as he could catch his breath.

  “How did he sleep?” McBride asked a woman sitting by a door.

  “He was very weak through the night, Laird,” she said with concern. “He seemed a little better first thing this morning when he was able to take a little chicken broth. That was about an hour ago and he has been resting since.”

  Lord McBride nodded and ushered Tom forward.

  “Go to him and do your work, Healer. Try not to put him under any strain as I believe his heart will not take it.”

  Tom nodded and opened the door. He entered the room quietly with McBride and Laura following close behind.

  Andrew Baxter lay in a small bed not making a sound. The skin of his face was drawn taut as if it was a rubber balloon stretched tight over his skull. He was hairless, exactly as Giles was, but looked to be in a much worse condition. Tom sat in the chair besides the bed and braced himself for the task ahead.

  When he felt as ready as he believed he would ever be, Tom placed his hand lightly on Baxter’s hands, which were folded on his chest.

  “Well boy?” Lord McBride asked a few moments later.

  Tom withdrew his hand from Baxter’s and looked into Lord McBride’s eyes.

  “This man is dead and has been for at least half an hour. There is nothing I can do.”

  A series of emotions ran across McBride’s face before settling on rage. He picked up the chair from the end of Baxter’s bed and raised it high above his head, advancing at Tom.

  “No!” McBride yelled. “He is not supposed to die today. You are lying.

  Tom put his arms above his head in an attempt at protection as Lord McBride swung the chair down at him.

  40. Healing & Helping

  The blow never struck. Tom opened his eyes and it took him a few seconds to register what was going on. Laura held the legs of the chair behind Lord McBride stopping him from swinging the chair and was holding on to them with what looked like a death grip. McBride appeared to be bereft of his senses because he shook the chair and growled like a dog in his efforts to dislodge Laura.

  Tom stood up and shouted as loudly as he could.

  “Lord McBride, it was not my fault.”

  McBride stopped as if turned to stone and the madness drained from his eyes. He let go of the chair and Laura fell to the floor taking the chair with her. The woman they had met outside flung open the door and rushed to Baxter’s side. She crossed herself and drew the sheets over the man’s head.

  “Poor man, he must have died just after I fed him this morning. His body is almost cold.”

  Her words brought McBride out of his trance and he shook himself as if to remind his mind where his body was. Tom darted past him to help Laura up from the floor. The chair had smashed into her forehead and she had a nasty bruise forming on her temple. Tom lifted her to her feet and saw that her eyes were glazed over. He put his hand onto her forehead and the healing power flowed out of him.

  The bang to her head had cracked her skull and her brain was bruised. Tom saw blood starting to collect in her temples and force the surface of her brain in on itself. He stopped this happening as her skull knitted itself back together seamlessly and the swelling on her forehead disappeared.

  As always, since his powers had increased, Tom found his mind rushing out of control through Laura’s body; damaged corpuscles, pimples and the slightest lesion were healed as his power flowed in and out of her every cell. He saw with a shock that took his breath away, that something was seriously wrong with her blood. White cells were beginning to attack the red without reason. His power flowed into the marrow of her bones and found little patches of damage, which it repaired as it passed through.

  For Laura, Tom’s healing felt like a religious experience. Lights flashed before her eyes and she tasted blood in her mouth when he started. Then her vision cleared to normal and then went beyond normal towards a clarity she had never experienced before.

  Her hearing cleared as the hiss of pumping blood was replaced by the sound of birds twittering in the castle grounds. She could taste Tom’s earthy musk in her mouth and hear his lungs opening and closing while his heart thumped on at an accelerated rate. Laura felt desire rush through her as she stared at his moist lips.

  Then it was over and she felt Tom stagger. Laura’s hands flew out to hold him and she hugged him close to her. She felt stronger and more alive than she could ever remember. She wanted to dance, run, or scream, but instead held onto Tom as he fell on top of her.

  McBride turned and saw the two young people holding each other in what looked like a lover’s embrace. He had no idea that Laura had been injured and that Tom had just healed her. In fact, he had largely forgotten that he had been in a rage less than a minute before.

  “We don’t have time for any of that sort of thing,” he told them brusquely. “With Andrew dead your talents have become vital again, lassie, and you canna spend your time kissing and canoodling.”

  “Tom needs a few moments to recover from the healing,” Laura spat back.

  McBride thought that she must mean Tom’s attempt to heal Baxter and he softened his tone.

  “Very well. I will wait for you outside, but don’t be longer than a few minutes about it.”

  McBride left the room along with the nurse and closed the door, leaving them alone with Baxter’s body.

  “Tom, are you all right?”

  Tom shook his head and raised it to look into Laura’s eyes.

  “Laura, we must get you away from that laboratory. Something was starting to eat away at you from the inside. That room will kill you if you spend much more time in it.”

  “Gordon Kemp has spent m
onths if not years in it without any apparent harm,” Laura said dismissively.

  “He must be a lot less sensitive to whatever is causing the sickness than you are. Your blood was starting to fight itself. I know this for a fact,” Tom told her urgently. He knew deep in his heart that he had to get her away from this place and quickly.

  “Arnold is starting in the laboratory this morning. He will be in as much danger as me. We cannot leave until we can take the device and the prepared dantium. I will try and find out today just how much more they need.”

  “We should run. Right this minute, and as far away as we can get.”

  “We can’t go without the device. I will not be responsible for the deaths of the people of London.”

  Tom stared into Laura’s eyes and saw the determination in them. He found it unfathomable how she would refuse to kill to save her own life, but would put that same life in peril for people she had never met. It was a courage beyond any he had known and seeing it in her eyes stiffened his own resolve.

  Laura pulled him closer to her and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

  “Thank you for saving me once again, Tom,” she said quietly.

  “Let’s go and see if Arnold has managed to fool a scientist into thinking he’s an engineer,” Tom said and burst into a broad grin. “Cam does have a habit of getting him into awkward situations, doesn’t she?”

  Belinda brought Trelawney a letter with the Prime Minister’s seal on it. A runner had rushed it into the outer office a few moments before.

  Trelawney took the envelope and tore it open eagerly. A quick scan told him all he needed to know.

  “That message from Glen Russell was a godsend,” Trelawney explained. “I doubt the Cabinet would have moved on Bentley’s telegram alone. The Prime Minister is issuing orders putting the 73rd Highlanders Regiment in Perth under my direct command. They will be mustering what men are available for immediate action and will be fully ready by the time we get there.”

  “We are going to Scotland?” Belinda asked in surprise.

  “In an act of delicious irony that I’m sure you will appreciate, we will be taken there in one of Lord McBride’s new steam engines. MM1 agents will be accompanying us as bodyguards. However, I don’t believe that we need fear the Brotherhood, as I’m sure they would not have aided Lord McBride had they known the details of his plan. All the evidence suggests they are a London based organization and I very much doubt they wish to die in an explosion.”

  “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “Our train will be given priority over the regular services and we will take the fastest route to Perth. We should be there sometime tomorrow morning and we will move out once the troops are onboard. We shall use the same train to take us up to Glen Russell. We should arrive there sometime tomorrow afternoon, God willing.”

  “I had better get my coat then,” Belinda said cheerfully. “I hear that it can be cold in Scotland at this time of year.”

  Tom and Laura followed McBride into the laboratory. Arnold looked up from his work and smiled as they entered.

  “Lord McBride, it is a pleasure to meet you again,” Arnold gushed. “And you have brought some guests with you. Do you wish me to give them a tour of the laboratory?”

  “Where is Gordon?” McBride asked impatiently.

  “He is in the other room with Giles Summers. They are setting up two rods for the experiments today. I understand Mr. Summers will be processing one of the rods while another Spellbinder will be processing the other. I have not yet been introduced to this second Spellbinder.”

  Laura put up her hand and waved her fingers while grinning. Arnold gave a very good act of appearing to be surprised.

  “Miss Young? You are the second Spellbinder? I thought you were a simply a guest of Lord McBride. Do forgive my overwhelming stupidity.”

  “Yes, yes, man, never mind all that. Just get on with your work will you,” McBride snapped at Arnold. Arnold diligently returned to a flask, which he was heating with a Bunsen burner. Impurities on the tripod it sat on were causing green and red flames to spill over the flask.

  “Are you working on an important experiment?” Tom asked as he moved closer to Arnold. He was a little surprised at Arnold’s confident manner in using the equipment.

  “Indeed,” Arnold told him. “Once the clear liquid inside has reached the appropriate temperature, determined by bubbles of gas being given off, I shall add it into a receptacle over here into which I have placed the dried tips of leaves obtained from the Far East at not inconsiderable expense. The dried leaves will infuse the liquid to produce a delicate brown solution. Mr. Kemp is very concerned that I time the infusion carefully to obtain the maximum concentration before decanting the resultant liquid into these other receptacles over here. This is an important experiment and I hope to produce a successful, if not exceptional outcome.”

  “You are brewing tea,” Laura said, clapping her hands together with delight.

  “I prefer to regard it as an important experiment combining technical expertise with deeply ingrained cultural values,” Arnold replied in an offended voice. “I have successfully carried out this experiment twice this morning and this time I have to satisfy Mr. Summers.”

  “I’m glad to see that engineering degree from Cambridge is not being neglected in your role,” Tom said in a serious tone of voice.

  “I believe my education and my diligence in learning have made me ideally suited for my current task,” Arnold replied in an equally serious tone.

  McBride had not been following the conversation. He had been starring through the thick glass windows into the room beyond. Gordon Kemp and Giles Summers were moving the second of two rods into place above the vats. Both were wearing thick rubber suits. Kemp saw McBride watching them and gave him a cheery wave. Lord McBride responded listlessly.

  McBride turned towards Arnold.

  “I have other things to do this morning and it will be some time before Gordon and Giles finish their task and have washed themselves down. Therefore, I will take my leave of you. Please inform them when they get here that Andrew Baxter passed away this morning and that he will be buried tomorrow at noon.”

  After a short pause in respect of the dead, McBride became more businesslike.

  “You must impress on Gordon and Giles how imperative it is that sufficient pure dantium is produced for the second device. Even if Miss Young is unable to perform the process, I expect the two of them to produce enough dantium by tomorrow morning. My engineering team is waiting for the material to finish the second dantium ball. Tell Giles that I am relying on him, now that he is well again.”

  “I will tell them all you ask, my lord,” Arnold replied. McBride nodded his head in approval and walked from the room.

  Laura went to the door that McBride had left through and checked that he had gone.

  “If Giles Summers can finish the device tonight, then we must strike tonight as well,” she told them.

  “I have a pen, paper and ink for you, Laura,” Arnold said as he dug into his pocket. “Not good quality for a Spellbinder I am afraid, but the best we could find.”

  “I am surprised you found anything at all,” Tom said as Arnold handed over the front part of a pen, a tiny glass tube of ink sealed with a small cork and some small sheets of paper.

  “Cam thinks ahead, and she purloined these from the hotel we stayed at in Perth,” Arnold explained.

  Laura hoisted up her skirt and slipped the items into her underwear, much to Tom’s embarrassment. Arnold, on the other hand, looked on with a smirk stretched wide across his face.

  “They will have to do,” Laura said grimly. “Now, how is that tea coming along?”

  41. Magic & Master-Spies

  Madam Hulot picked up the cane that was both her symbol of authority and instigator of painful justice. She admired herself in the mirror before setting out for the day.

  As always, she was wearing black, black in mourning for her dead husba
nd, Francois, who had brought her to this heaven country where men wore skirts and went to protestant churches to worship their false God. Her husband had showed her the extreme discourtesy of dying by slipping on autumn leaves in the city of Stirling and breaking his neck. This meant that she was required to work for a living, something she had never expected to have to do.

  She was well aware that the girls under her charge had nicknamed her the Black Widow, though they never dared to say it to her face. The adults in the castle picked it up from the girls and its use was now well spread. It did not bother her overmuch, but it did give her motivation to swing the cane a little harder whenever she was punishing the evil little creatures.

  Madam Hulot believed that young girls needed to be punished severely and regularly. It was the way her father had raised her. He often told her as he was beating her, that women were corrupting of men in their wanton ways and desires and that only regular punishment could keep them on the straight and narrow path that God ordained for them.

  She left her room and started the descent through the castle to her schoolroom. She smiled grimly as she slapped the cane hard enough into her palm to sting. She only taught the children in the morning today and she intended to make it memorable.

  The afternoon was reserved for the ungodly experiments that Lord McBride’s investigators insisted on carrying out on the children. Madam Hulot believed the experiments blasphemed the word of God, but her main complaint against them was that they did not cause the children any pain.

  “The Black Widow was certainly in a bad mood this morning and no mistake,” Edith Trenchard said as she rubbed her burning bottom. “Let us give thanks to the Good Lord that this afternoon will be spent with the Laird’s mad scientist.”