CHAPTER 28
APOLLO WAS JUST AS INGLORIOUS AS HE HAD been the first time Arthur had met him and on the several occasions since then. His robes were dirty sheets that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a hospital incinerator. He hoped that the god could convince Graham who he was and then wondered how he had managed to convince him. It wouldn’t have been impossible for him to believe, even now, that the man claiming to be Apollo was just a dirty drunk in a bad costume. But somehow he knew that wasn’t true and by the look on Graham’s face that same indescribable quality was at work on him.
He thought the Detective might actually bow.
“You are Detective Kable?” Apollo said.
He nodded.
“Then we have much to discuss.” He put an arm around Kable’s shoulder and drew him further into the room where Arthur knew the other gods were sitting and waiting. He followed them in and even though he had heard it all already he listened attentively once more.
When Apollo had finished Kable turned towards him. “Is this true?” he said and Arthur nodded. He believed it was. “And you can help me find Bridget?” Again Arthur nodded.
“But we need to be quick. If we don’t go tonight they might move on before we can reach her.”
Kable nodded, he looked like a man changed. The drunken tired look he had met him with was gone, replaced by a look of stoic confidence. “We can leave now,” he said.
Arthur nodded again. The night was young and he felt strong. He was as ready as he was ever going to be. “Let’s go then,” he said and offered Kable his hand. The other man paused to consider the gesture for a moment before taking it.
CHAPTER 29
THEY HAD STOPPED MOVING BUT SHE WASN’T SURE if that had been a good thing or not. The sound of the steam engine had cut out and she had been thrown around the box for a few moments before coming to a stop. Then it felt as if she were being lifted into the air followed by what, she had bruises to prove, was a short but sudden drop that left her sprawled across the floor.
She waited for something to happen, for another engine to start and a different type of movement to begin as it had before. But nothing happened. The stillness continued and cold seeped in through the microscopic gaps in the walls of the box. She shivered and wrapped the filthy blanket around herself. Wherever they were taking her it seemed they had arrived and soon she would discover what they wanted. One way or another it was nearly over.
The wood creaked, groaned and eventually cracked. She looked up as the roof was levered off her world and blinked in the bright night. Two men stood looking down at her. She recognised one of them by his red robes. He had been at the boat.
“That’s her,” said the other one who was younger but wore similar clothes. She reached out for their thoughts but found nothing. She wondered if that had ever been something she was able to do. Maybe she had imagined it. She couldn’t even find her mother and that seemed to prove it wasn’t real.
For a moment she thought they were going to put the lid back on the box and found the idea so distressing that she could feel tears welling up behind her eyes. But the younger man reached in and grabbed her wrist, pulled her up by it.
“There’s nothing to her,” he said. “What have you been feeding her Landrake?”
The older man turned away. “She’s had the same as the rest of us.”
The younger man didn’t seem so convinced but neither of them asked her. Eventually they would search the box and discover that she had been hiding half her rations each day because she had been worried that eventually they would stop coming and the thought of starving to death in that box was more than she could stand. It was already like she had been buried alive.
The water spread out before her, a rippling black carpet that caught the light of the stars like diamonds. She thought she might have actually gasped when she saw it.
Across the water there was a large building, a castle or some kind of fortress. There were other buildings as well but none of them were big enough for her to see clearly in the dark.
She found herself standing on a wooden platform. Through the slats she could see the water far below, crashing against the muddy bank. The two men with their hands around her wrists didn’t give her time to stretch and look around. They pulled her sharply after them as if she were a farm animal on its way to market.
Her legs were weak and shaky, after just a few metres she could no longer support her own weight and the men had to drag her behind them. It was cold and, once off the pier, the ground was covered in a filthy layer of mushy snow and ice that quickly soaked through her dress.
The men didn’t look at her again and she was too weak to keep her head up for long. Soon the long waterfront disappeared and all she could see was the ground beneath her.
It didn’t take them long to reach a small house close to the river. When she looked up she saw the dirty paintwork that peeled away in placed to reveal the brickwork beneath. One of the ground floor windows had been broken and a blank piece of wood had been put up on the inside. It looked as if a hard shove might knock the whole thing down.
They dragged her up the steps and through the front door. A fire scorched her skin. And the smell of meat made her empty stomach tremble. They carried her across the room and lifted her into a chair by the fireplace.
“What time are they due to get here?” Father Landrake said.
“He’s on his way now. We just need to keep her here and wait.”
“She’s not going anywhere, look at her. She could barely stand up by herself,” said Father Landrake. “I’m going to see what Jofrey’s cooking.
He started to walk away but the younger man grabbed him around the neck and he choked out a surprised gasp.
“You’re going nowhere Landrake. She might not look it but she’s valuable. More than our immortal souls if she gets away.”
“How’s she going to...” his final words were cut off as the younger man increased the strength of his grip. Father Landrake’s face started to turn red.
“Play stupid games on your own time Landrake. I’m not risking my neck over this. Got it?”
Father Landrake tried to nod but the younger man had too tight of a grip around his throat.
“I can’t hear you,” the younger man said.
Father Landrake’s face burned from red to purple and Bridget was sure that he would pass out at any minute but he didn’t. He managed to force out a choked and growling, “I understand.”
The younger man held him for a moment longer and then released his grip. Father Landrake collapsed on the floor rubbing his neck. “You could have killed me,” he said, still breathless.
“Get up you old fool. You need to watch her.”
Landrake pulled himself up by the chair nearest him and saw her watching him. “What are you looking at?” he snapped.
Bridget turned away.
They fed her meat and potatoes, watching her closely to make sure she ate it all. When she was finished she felt sleepy and yawned. She wondered if they had put something in the tea she’d drunk.
The younger man ordered Father Landrake to take her upstairs and put her to bed which he did with mumbling resentment. There was a bed with clean sheets and a lamp on a little table. She climbed in without needing to be told. Father Landrake sat down on a chair in the corner and turned down the light.
Her stomach was full for the first time in weeks and it seemed a lifetime since she walked so far. She was exhausted, she couldn’t keep her eyes open and barely even tried. She was asleep in moments.
CHAPTER 30
THEY TRAVELLED IN SILENCE. GRAHAM FOLLOWING ARTHUR THROUGH the unlit streets and dirty alleyways. He noticed almost none of it. By the time he could feel the chilly breeze coming off the water and smell the river he was a pent up ball of energy, ready to explode at a moments notice.
“Keep back,” Arthur said. There were people on the street now. Their progress slowed but he knew that they were getting near.
A few minutes later they stopped behind a wall that was falling down. It would offer little protection from attack but it might keep their presence hidden for a little while.
“See that house there?” Park said. He pointed to a grotty little shack that looked as if it should have been condemned and pulled down years ago.
Graham nodded. “Is she...?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Wait here,” Park said. He seemed to fade into the night until there was no trace of him.
Graham hunkered down against the wall and waited. It seemed impossible to believe that after all this time Bridget might be less than two-hundred feet away. He wanted to run up to the building and demand to be let in, force his way through and get his daughter. It took all of his willpower to do as Park had told him.
CHAPTER 31
ARTHUR CREPT UP TO THE HOUSE. HE COULD see the swirling mists of golden light that spun around it. It was a kind of magic that he was not familiar with. A spell of protection, most likely.
He looked back in the direction he had come from. Kable was hidden behind the wall which was good but they could be as careful as they wanted and it wouldn’t mean anything if they couldn’t get through the spell. Kable wouldn’t even be able to see the spell but just because he could didn’t mean he could do anything about it. It would be easy to lump vampires in with the likes of witches and wizards but the truth was Arthur no innate magical power.
Which meant he would have to think of another way through. Or wait for them to come out.
He moved as close to the misty light as he dared. The energy from it made the hairs on his neck stand on end. He didn’t like to think what might happen if he actually touched it, probably they would be cleaning pieces of him off the street come morning.
Through the window he could see what looked like a normal family scene. A man and a woman sat on chairs next to the fire with a lamp on the table between them. She was knitting while he read a newspaper. On top of that, like a double exposure, there was another scene. Two priests paced a dim, grotty room. He could see their mouths moving but couldn’t hear a word they said.
It was powerful magic. They were not taking any chances with the girl. The golden light seemed to cascade upwards, protecting the building all the way to the roof preventing anyone from climbing in or out of the top floor windows.
He circled the property, keeping low and discreet in case anyone should be watching. The golden magic surrounded the whole thing, there were no gaps and, as far as he could see, no way through. But there had to be a way to get in. He refused to believe that he could be so close and still fail.
Arthur went back to the wall where Kable was waiting for him. He looked like a man on the brink of breakdown and, Arthur suspected, the sudden absence of alcohol didn’t help.
“Did you find anything?” he said.
“This is the place. They’ve put up some sort of force field since I was here last.”
“Force field?” Kable said, a man who had only recently been introduced to the concept of magic.
“It’s protected,” Arthur explained. “Either because she’s in there or because of what happened before.” He had told Kable about his last visit to the house but left out the gory details of what had really happened. Now was not the time to explain it.
“What do we do now then?” Kable said.
Arthur sat down next to him on the damp ground. “We wait,” he said. Kable looked at him for a moment but then crossed his arms and waited along with him.
CHAPTER 32
MRS WHITE SAT IN THE DARK WEARING HER best clothes; a simple dress that she had last worn to her poor husbands funeral. The house was silent as it always was when the Detective was out. Not that he was a detective anymore. She had failed there but it wasn’t too late to make up for it. Soon her time would come.
She stood when she heard the carriage stop outside and opened the door. Detective Hayes walked towards her, head bowed as if this was a sad time. As far as she was concerned this was a happy time. The glory of God was being fulfilled. They were lucky to have a part to play in it.
“Good evening Mrs White,” Hayes said. She smiled at him to show that this was a good evening indeed. “Are you ready?”
“Detective,” she said, “I have been ready all my life.”
He smiled at her in the moonlight but she could see he didn’t really feel the joy in what they were doing. But that was okay, he would learn and in the mean time she would feel enough of it for both of them.
She took his arm and allowed him to walk her along the garden path to the carriage. It was a plain coach, dull black, paint fading and starting to peel. Nothing that would attract attention to them.
Detective Hayes climbed in behind her once she was seated and closed the door. The coach driver set off at once so either he worked for the Church or Hayes had already given him instructions. She held her crucifix tightly in her closed fist and recited the Lords prayer in a muttered voice over and over again. By the time they arrived at the little house her palm was bloody and sore.
The coach stopped on the next street but she could hear the gentle waves of the river crashing against the muddy shore. She had not expected to be present for this. The fact that she was proved the infinite mercy of the Lord. She followed the detective out of the carriage and the last part of her journey began.
CHAPTER 33
THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN MILLING AROUND IN the street were gone. Graham was cold through to his bones and the moisture had begun seeping through his jacket and into his shirt.
Graham looked up when he heard the coach stop. It was too far away to see anything but the sound carried through the silent streets. Park was looking as well.
“Can you see anything?” Graham said.
Park simply shook his head. The only thing they could do was wait and see if anyone came.
It seemed as if they wouldn’t. Graham held his breath and listened to distant footsteps but for a long time nobody appeared. When they did he couldn’t see their faces but one of them was a child, a little girl in a long flowing dress.
He was on his feet at once. Park must have got it wrong; Bridget wasn’t in he house at all, at least not yet. If he could get to her now, while she was outside of this force field and while there was just one person protecting her, he could grab her and run. They would chase him, of course, but he had desperation on his side.
A hand on his arm stopped him and he looked down to see Park still crouched on the floor. “Hold on,” he said.
“Hold on?” Graham hissed back. “What do you mean, hold on? That’s them isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Park said.
Graham turned and stared into the darkness at the two figures walking towards the house. For a moment it seemed like he could actually see Bridget’s face, her dark straight hair and the look of fear in her eyes. Which was of course impossible. And when he realised that he saw who it really was. “Mrs White,” he said and the figure walking beside her was, “Hayes.”
“You know them?” Park said.
He nodded. “She’s my landlady and he used to be my boss at the Yard.”
Mrs White and Hayes walked to the house and suddenly Park was grabbing his sleeve. “Quickly,” he said.
They ran towards the house. Graham kept as close to Park as he could but the man was faster than he ever had been. They reached the dirty old house moments after the door had closed behind Hayes.
“Excellent,” Park said. “Come on.” He dragged Graham up the steps to the front door.
Park pushed open the door and they were inside.
CHAPTER 34
SHE WOKE IN THE DARKNESS AND FOR A moment she thought she was still in the box. The idea made her feel ill and a burning sweat, like a fever, broke out on her neck. She sat up. A thin light came through the curtains and she could hear Landrake snoring on the chair. For a moment her relief at not being in the box overpowered her understanding that her guard had fallen asleep at his post. It came eventually and, even
though she was tired to the point of exhaustion and thought that she might actually be sick, she swung her legs off the side of the bed and felt the cold floor beneath her.
When she stood the wooden boards creaked and she stopped, convinced that the noise would be enough to wake Landrake, but he didn’t stir. She held her breath and took another step. The wind whipped rain against the window and she could feel a breeze. She crossed the room as quickly as she dared and then she was at the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” said a voice behind her and a hand grabbed her arm.
She was spun around and Landrake stood in front of her.
“You’re going to get me in a lot of trouble young lady.”
“Let go of me,” she said and pulled herself free.
He shrugged and she turned back to the door. It was locked.
“You can’t keep me here,” she said. “My fathers a policeman.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Landrake said, “we know all about your father. Take a seat.” He pointed at the bed.
She reluctantly walked back to the bed and sat. However she was going to get away it wouldn’t be through the door.
CHAPTER 35
THEY WERE IN THE HALLWAY AND IT WAS dark. A light was on in the next room and they could hear voices.
“We must move quickly,” Park said.
Graham nodded because he didn’t trust himself to keep his voice down.
“They will have her upstairs. I will keep them busy down here, you go and get her. Okay?”
Graham nodded again.
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