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

by John Booth

  “In time for what, Ernest? The plan is to arrive at Glen Russell at dawn. If we reach Perth as early as ten tonight, we could be at Glen Russell by three in the morning. Trying to take Glen Russell at night is not a sensible option.”

  Trelawney shook his head as if to clear it.

  “All I know is that Laura and the others will require assistance and that even three in the morning might well be too late. If we get to Glen Russell after that, I suspect we will all be killed.”

  “Now that is a comforting thought, Ernest. Thank you so much for sharing it with me,” Belinda said dryly.

  “And so I arranged that we should meet up with Laura and Tom at the laboratory in the castle at ten o’clock tonight,” Arnold said in conclusion. The team had listened patiently as he told them all that happened in the castle.

  Cam nodded as she considered Tom’s plan. The boy had a talent for being direct, where she would have planned something much more complicated.

  “We saw a small part of the factory today and Tom is right, it is massive. Stumbling around it in the dead of night hoping to find the device would be a fool’s errand. On the other hand, getting the three of us into the castle without being detected is going to be equally difficult.”

  “We’re goin’ too,” Tricky protested. “There might be locks to pick.”

  Ebb nodded in agreement. In his view, if any of them were going to the castle, then they should all go.

  Cam scowled at Tricky’s reference to lock picking. It had always been easy for her at Hobsgate, but out in the field she kept coming across types of locks she had never seen before.

  “Just what we need, a family outing,” Arnold said despairingly. “Perhaps we should pack a hamper with food and take lemonade as well?”

  “We have worked well as a team, Arnold, and Tricky and Ebb have each played their part. We could easily have been caught by James Saunders today if it were not for them,” Cam rebuked.

  Daisy nodded. “I doubt we can stay in Glen Russell beyond tonight. Saunders will have gone to Lord McBride and told him about us. Tom’s plan is probably going to be our last chance to prevent the bomb being used and to rescue Laura.”

  “The question is; how do we get into the castle undetected?” Arnold asked.

  Cam took a deep breath. “Daisy has an invitation to the castle at nine tonight. Dougal McBride is determined to show her his etchings.”

  Daisy blushed. There was no doubt in Cam’s mind as to what Dougal was really after, and Daisy heard it in her voice.

  “It is a pity he did not invite us all,” Arnold said despondently.

  “If she ‘its ‘im over the ‘ead, we can get in,” Tricky said.

  The others stared at the boy in astonishment.

  “Could you take him, Daisy?” Cam asked when the shock wore off.

  “I could knock him down. If you and Arnold rushed him immediately afterwards, it might work,” Daisy said hesitantly. She had never been any good at unarmed combat.

  “You will not get a second chance,” Cam reminded her.

  “If you claim you were walking me to the castle door, you could be close to Dougal.”

  “You would still have to knock him down for us, Daisy,” Arnold said quietly. “And we all know you are enamored of him.”

  “I could do it to save London, not to mention saving Tom and Laura. If you promise not to hurt him too much; I am sure he is an innocent in all this.”

  46. Betrayals

  “I was wondering if you might reconsider the timing of setting off the bomb, Laird,” Blane enquired of Lord McBride. “Some of Scotland’s oldest and most noble lines will be present at the State Opening of Parliament. Surely, it will not affect the final outcome if you delay exploding the bomb until after the Christmas recess.”

  Lord McBride began to pace the room looking in many ways like a caged beast whose frustration had almost reached bursting point.

  “Blane, the whole point is to kill the English lords, their Hanoverian royalty, and their members of parliament in one fell swoop. The death of a few Scotsmen is a price well worth paying in achieving that endeavor,” McBride said irritably.

  “Have you considered, Laird,” Blane started, trying to find another argument to persuade the Laird to delay his actions, “How difficult it will be to get the first families of Scotland to unite against the English if there are deprived of their clans leaders by your bomb? They might even choose to side with the English in their grief.”

  McBride waved away the suggestion.

  “Most of the Scotland’s lords deserve to die, in any case. Their continuing acquiescence to their English overlords has allowed the English scum to rape our land, steal our resources, and subjugate our people. This purge is long overdue.”

  Blane felt shock run through his veins like freezing water. This was the first time Lord McBride had ever said that the target for his infernal device was more than just the English nobility and their politicians.

  Blane had enjoyed the game of planning how to give the English their just desserts as much as his Laird. It had been a pleasant fantasy to while away the hours of the night. Now that fantasy was in danger becoming a reality Blane was plagued with second thoughts. To kill so many innocent people was more than wrong; it was evil and Blane was finally seeing it for what it was.

  Yet he knew he was committed to this outcome every bit as much as his Laird. His hands were all over the creation of this weapon. Blane had found Clerkes and persuaded McBride to listen to his strange ideas. It was surely far too late to turn back the clock and to put their toys back into their cupboards.

  As if in answer to his thoughts, Lord McBride continued with his musings.

  “I have three MM3 agents in the cellars awaiting disposal in the loch. Should I go down, untie them, brush their clothes, and beg their pardon? One of them claims to be the MM3 Director of Operations. How do you think he would react if I were foolish enough to try such a thing?”

  McBride stared at his secretary and his eyes seemed to shine.

  “How many people did we kill with the test? One hundred? Perhaps it was as many as five hundred if we were to search the villages. You and I have purchased children stolen from their parents. Simply for the purpose of furthering our research into magic, so we might counter the English’s Empire’s greatest strength. With their four Class A heading an army of a few thousand they could defeat an army of hundred of thousands. We needed to find the weakness in their armor before we struck.”

  Blane saw an opening to suggest delay.

  “And we have failed in that particular task, Laird. Is that not a good reason to reconsider our actions?”

  McBride faced Blane and in the light shining up from the lamp on his desk he took on the look of a demon. He spoke triumphantly.

  “I know something you do not, Blane. All four Class A’s will be in London that day.” Lord McBride smiled with pleasure as he presented this astonishing news.

  Blane almost jumped in surprise. “I thought that Military Magic took great care never to allow even two of them to be in the same place at the same time?”

  “And so they do. It is official policy. However, Annelise Shultz has managed find a traitor in a senior position in MM1. He has arranged for all four Class A’s to be travelling through London at the same time while on their way to different parts of the country.”

  “He has not been told why since he lives and works in London. The Hungarians are willing to let all their English agents, and indeed their embassy staff, die in the blast. It will help them to deny any involvement when fingers are pointed.”

  “When they retrieve Miss Young, the Hungarians will be in a position to cripple the British Empire as they will have more Class A’s than them,” Blane pointed out.

  McBride smiled cunningly.

  “I have no intention of turning Miss Young over to them. She will be far too valuable to the New British Empire, or should I say the New Scottish Empire?”

  Blane frowned. “
Annelise Shultz is a dangerous woman to cross.”

  “I think her masters will bring her quickly to heel when the alternative is a dantium bomb in the Danube, exploding shall we say, in the centre of Vienna?”

  “I thought that London would be our only use of the bomb, Laird?” Blane asked in alarm. He began to wonder just what kind of a monster he had unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

  McBride’s smile turned into a wicked grin.

  “I had thought that myself until I talked to Hans this afternoon. He has opened my mind to a set of possibilities I had not previously considered. Why should we limit our ambitions to the British Empire when controlling the world is only a single step further?”

  “We are the only people who know how to build these bombs and Hans has made them small enough and resilient enough for us to plant almost anywhere without detection. We could end all war on Earth, if we are clever enough. A bomb hidden in every major city would soon end talk of revolt or treason against me.”

  Blane knew for the first time that he was working for a madman. However, the Laird was right about one thing, there could be no going back. To stop would mean the gallows for them both.

  Daisy knocked at the imposing castle door and stepped back. The rest of the team stood a few feet behind her. Tricky was watching Ebb, as he knew he could get a few seconds advantage, provided he read his friend’s reactions accurately.

  The door opened and Dougal stepped out. He looked surprised to see Daisy’s entire family standing out in the cold with her.

  “We thought it best to walk Daisy up to the castle as it is so dark,” Arnold said before Dougal could speak. “I don’t know how safe it is in Scotland, but in London it would not be wise for an attractive woman to walk so far alone.” Arnold put out his hand for Dougal to shake.

  Dougal smiled and stepped forward to take his hand.

  “It is perfectly safe in Glen Russell. Everybody knows everybody and nobody would attack a… “

  Dougal collapsed as Daisy hit him on the head with a heavy piece of wood that she had concealed within the sleeve of her coat.

  Arnold and Cam caught Dougal as he fell and dragged him into the castle. Tricky ran forward and opened the door wide so they could get in without difficulty. They laid Dougal out on the floor while Tricky and Ebb closed the door behind them.

  “Oh my God! I haven’t killed him have I?” Daisy asked in panic as she looked at the body on the floor. Cam pressed her fingers against Dougal’s neck and sighed with relief.

  “He has a strong pulse, Daisy. He is unconscious, not dead.”

  “Get him tied and gagged as quickly as you can,” Arnold ordered as nobody else seemed to be taking charge. He looked around and went to the first door he saw. A quick look at the room beyond convinced him it would do. “Bring him in here.”

  Daisy and Cam half lifted, half-dragged Dougal into the room where Cam preceded to tie him up while Daisy wiped his brow with her handkerchief.

  “Come on, Daisy,” Cam called impatiently as Daisy continued to fuss over Dougal.

  “You go ahead. I need to be sure he is all right before I follow.”

  “Daisy, you have no idea how to get to the laboratory.”

  “I was taken there by Dougal the other night. I’m sure I can find it once I get my bearings. You go ahead.”

  Arnold and Cam shared bewildered looks, neither was prepared to leave without Daisy, and neither had a clue how to make her come with them.

  “We ‘as to go,” Tricky said worriedly. Ebb nodded in agreement. The boys felt they were too close to the castle door for comfort.

  “Go on, all of you. I shall be fine,” Daisy said.

  She got up and started shooing Arnold and Cam towards the door.

  “I am more than capable of looking after myself and I am not leaving Dougal until I am sure he will recover. Now go.”

  Arnold and Cam shared a look of despair and Cam shrugged.

  “If you get us caught and killed, I shall never forgive you, Daisy Drew,” she said and gave her friend a hug. “Do not wait here for too long.”

  Cam and the others left the room with Arnold in the lead. Daisy saw a jug of water on a table and wet her handkerchief before caressing Dougal’s brow with it.

  Dougal moaned and his eyes flew open to stare at Daisy. He tried to move and discovered he could not, which made him struggle all the harder. He tried to speak through the gag and then began to struggle desperately, banging his head and shoulders against the nearby wall.

  “Do not struggle so, Dougal. We mean you no harm,” Daisy whispered urgently, placing her hand on him in reassurance.

  “Whmmmph wer.”

  “If I take off the gag, will you promise not to shout?”

  Dougal stopped struggling and nodded his head. Daisy loosened the gag and then removed it, keeping hold of both ends so she could force it back in place if Dougal had lied to her.

  “So you and your family are nothing but common thieves and brigands,” Dougal stated angrily when he recovered his breath.

  “We are neither, nor are we family. We are agents of Military Magic on a mission.”

  “Do not think me foolish enough to believe that Military Magic sends children of ten or twelve out on its missions?”

  “Cam, Arnold and I are agents of MM3, though barely out of training. We rescued Ebb and Tricky from where they were being held and brought them along with us. It is all very complicated,” Daisy admitted.

  “I seem to have nothing else to do at the moment, so why don’t you explain it to me?”

  Daisy knew that she should put the gag back on Dougal and go after the others, but she had vague memories of dreams where Dougal was by her side and more importantly, where he was needed. She sighed, it was difficult being a Precog. Sometimes, it was like living your life in a fog.

  “We were sent to rescue Laura and Tom. They had been kidnapped by an organization of criminals called the Brotherhood, which has infiltrated MM3.”

  “Who are Laura and Tom?” Dougal asked in confusion.

  “Laura Young is a Class A Spellbinder while Tom Carter is a Healer.”

  “Miss Young and Mister Carter were sent to my father by Military Magic. He told me so himself when he came back from London a couple of days ago.”

  “He bought them at a slave auction along with a young girl called Alice. He has purchased gifted children before, though we do not know why he collects them.”

  Dougal shook his head and winced at the pain the movement brought.

  “This is arrant nonsense. My father is a Lord and a respected citizen of the Empire. I know the children you speak of; he is paying for their education as a gift to their families.”

  “Your father bought Laura to replace two sick Spellbinders he employs. He needed her to extract pure dantium for Hans Clerkes bomb. A bomb he intends to use to destroy London.”

  Dougal gave Daisy a look of sheer disbelief.

  “I am sorry, Daisy. I thought you were a thief and now it is clear that you are sick in the mind and a pawn for the real thieves. Untie me and we can go and stop them. No one need get hurt.”

  “You felt the effects of their test explosion yourself. It shook the castle at the same time as we kissed last night. Surely, someone must have told you about it?”

  Dougal frowned. Word had reached Glen Russell that morning of a massive explosion the previous night somewhere near Inverness. Buildings had collapsed and people were killed. Everyone assumed it was some sort of natural disaster.

  “Why would my father do such a thing, even if such a thing were possible?” Dougal asked hesitantly.

  “You tell me, Dougal. We came to rescue Tom and Laura and found ourselves involved in this mess. Right now, my friends are risking their lives to steal this device and prevent a catastrophe.”

  Dougal’s frown deepened.

  “They will never manage to steal it, it is very heavy.”

  “Then you do know of it?” Daisy said accusingly.

&
nbsp; “I know of the Hans Clerkes device, which I thought to be an absurd toy. And it is true he took one of those devices north with him a few days ago. But I cannot believe that my father is involved in treason against the Crown. Even though he curses the English all the time; it is just the Scottish way of letting off steam.”

  “If Tom and Laura told you themselves that they were kidnapped and sold to your father, would you believe them?”

  Dougal thought about it and then nodded his head.

  “I certainly do not care if you try and steal Clerkes’ devices. My father has wasted far too much time and money on them as it is.”

  “Will you give me your word you will not do anything to hinder or stop us?” Daisy asked.

  Dougal felt an emotion run through him he had never experienced before.

  “Does my word mean that much to you?” he asked softly

  “Oh yes, Dougal. I believe that your word is your bond,” Daisy said fervently.

  “Then I give you my word. Untie me, Daisy and let us go and uncover the truth behind all this.”

  47. Caught

  “We goin’ to do it then?” Alice asked and the other girls nodded in agreement.

  “A train is coming,” Edith said, her eyes unfocussed on anything that was happening locally. What she saw in her mind was the train carrying Trelawney, speeding towards Perth. The image was overlaid with soldiers commandeering a platform and stacking boxes of ammunition as they awaited the train’s arrival.

  Farseeing never came with commentary, but in Edith’s case it always related to her, so she knew with certainty that this train and its passengers would impact on her life. She came back to the real world and the girls around her.

  “Soldiers too, I think they are going to attack Glen Russell.”

  “Even more reason for us to do some spying of our own,” Lucy told her. “We don’t want Ebb and Tricky beating us to it, do we? The two of them and their fancy spy friends shouldn’t get all the credit for stopping Lord McBride.”

  The girls had previously decided that if the world was going to end in Lucy’s predicted fireball, it was up to them to do something to stop it. Since the only place that they could think of that could cause such a disaster was Lord McBride’s factory, they had decided to go and investigate.