Arthur Quinn and Hell's Keeper

by Alan Early

‘It’s me, Ash,’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ she said eventually. ‘It’s you.’

  ‘No, you don’t get it. It’s me. It’s Arthur!’

  ‘Is that so?’ Ash looked from Stubble-face to the boy with a bemused expression, as she tried to figure out if she should remember him. Eventually she said, ‘I’m sorry, Arthur, but I don’t know you.’

  ‘Yes, you do! At least, I know you. I’m Arthur. I moved into your estate last October and … and … I’m your best friend …’ He trailed off as her face remained blank.

  ‘I think I’d remember that,’ said Ash, sceptically. She turned to the other boy. ‘Where did you find him, Donal?’

  ‘He escaped from the Croke Park camp,’ answered the boy Arthur had been calling Stubble-face in his head.

  She looked surprised now, sort of interested. ‘Really? Well, that’s a turn-up for the books.’

  ‘Why’s that?’ asked Arthur.

  ‘Because in all the time that camp has been open, not one person has managed to break out that we know of. Except you.’ She looked away thoughtfully, then turned back to Donal. ‘We’ll bring him to headquarters and lock him up, as a precaution.’

  ‘What! Why?’ Arthur looked at Ash.

  ‘Because we don’t know if we can trust you. You could be a spy for Loki for all we know.’ She considered him thoughtfully. ‘Although I doubt you’re any real threat to us.’ She turned back to Donal. ‘Keep an eye on him until we get back to base.’

  The teenager nodded and grabbed Arthur in the crook of his arm, starting to pull him out of the café.

  ‘Wait! Please!’ Arthur begged as Ash turned back to her checklist. ‘You have to listen to me!’ His socks slid over the floor, refusing to give him any traction. He searched his memory for anything that would change Ash’s mind. Every moment he’d ever spent with her rushed through his brain, images flickering like a movie screen. Every moment. Every laugh. Every smile. Every story. And then–

  ‘Remember Clare Pond!’ he exclaimed finally, just as Donal had him at the door.

  ‘Wait!’ Ash ordered, looking up. ‘What did you say?’

  Arthur shrugged out of Donal’s strong grip and walked back to her.

  ‘Clare Pond,’ he repeated breathlessly. ‘She was your friend before you started school. But she went to a different school and after that she didn’t want anything to do with you. You were hurt, very hurt. But then you saw her briefly last summer and she’d changed. She was nice to you. She even apologised.’

  As Arthur blurted out this story Ash’s mouth opened in shock, her eyes fixed on him.

  ‘I … I never told that to anyone,’ she said.

  ‘No one but me.’

  She looked him straight in the eye. ‘Who are you really?’

  Pulling a chair out from under the table, Arthur sat down. ‘I’ve proven that I know you, that I’m your friend,’ he said.

  ‘No, you’ve proven that you know Clare Pond, not me,’ she said warily.

  ‘Ash, I know you don’t believe me, but you have to. If you just give me a chance, I think I can convince you. But I’ll need your help. I need you to answer my questions first.’

  ‘Convince me? Huh. We’ll see,’ she said somewhat reluctantly, keeping an eye on Donal to make sure he was close in case Arthur turned out to be some sort of nut. ‘Go ahead then. Ask.’

  ‘What happened, Ash? How did you get to be here? What happened with Loki?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ She shot a confused look at Donal, then back to him. ‘Everyone knows that. You’d have to have been living under a rock not to know about the Great Flood. Anyway, I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t even like to think about it.’ She looked down at her hands; her knuckles were white, she was gripping the table so tightly.

  ‘You have to tell me. Just humour me. Imagine that I actually have been living under a rock. Please, Ash, please!’ He laid his hand over one of hers. ‘Ash …’

  She jerked her hand away uncomfortably. ‘All right. Where do you want me to start?’

  ‘With the flood.’

  ‘OK.’ Ash gathered her thoughts for a moment before beginning. ‘It was late October last year when Loki first appeared to the world. He came out of nowhere and no one has any explanation for where he was before then. He … uh … he …’

  She looked away, her eyes turning glassy as she bit her bottom lip in guilt.

  ‘What happened, Ash? What did he do?’

  She stared at a spot on the floor, not saying anything.

  ‘I’m to blame,’ she told him eventually. ‘I’m to blame for everything. For all of this, for the way the world is. I was walking home from school that day. I don’t know why. I usually get the bus. But I wanted to walk. Something felt like it was missing so I decided to walk so I could have time to think. Anyway, that was when Loki abducted me. I didn’t know what was going on but I was so scared. He took me to a tunnel under the new metro site and forced me to open this underground cavern that the World Serpent was in. I don’t know why he chose me, but he needed someone and I guess I was an easy target. You see, he wasn’t able to touch the key that opened the cavern. It was some kind of pendant.’

  ‘Like this?’ Arthur pulled the pendant out of his T-shirt.

  ‘Exactly like that,’ she said, her eyes bulging at the sight of it. ‘How did you–’

  ‘I’ll tell you after. Go on.’

  ‘OK. Loki blew a hole in the wall of the cavern to release the Serpent into Dublin. While he was doing this I managed to sneak away and escape back up the tunnel. But at that moment I don’t think he really cared. I’d done what he needed. The monster was free. Loki and the World Serpent started their conquest of humanity that day. By the time I got back to the surface, they’d already brought the Great Rain and within a few hours the whole country was flooded. I rushed home but I was too late. I discovered that he’d destroyed my house and taken my family.’

  Arthur felt himself breathe a sigh of relief; the rest of the Barrys weren’t dead at least.

  ‘No one knew what to do. The rain clouds spread everywhere – all over the world – and they flooded everywhere. The army tried to take him and the Serpent down, but they failed. Even the UN sent in troops, but Loki changed them and now they’re part of the Wolfsguard. It’s like this the world over.

  ‘Now the Wolfsguard act as Loki’s police force and they’re not afraid to use violence to keep the people in line. The day after the flood they started rounding up everyone who’d survived. They took people in boats to camps like the one you were in. Large, open spaces with high enough walls to keep the water out.’

  ‘And when it rains, the prisoners are forced to drain the place,’ murmured Arthur, ‘one bucketful at a time … How many camps are there?’

  ‘Who knows. We think there may be as many as ten in the city but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess. Some prisoners don’t go to the camps. If they’ve got a useful skill, the wolves use them. Doctors or vets, I guess. Or mechanics who can build and mend jet skis and weapons. Some of them – the stronger ones – get turned into wolves. At least that’s what we believe. Anyway, I managed to avoid capture, keeping to side streets in a raft I made, hiding in vacated buildings that rose above the waterline. As I moved through the city I found other survivors hiding. Mostly kids. It was easier for them to hide. We banded together for safety and they kind of adopted me as their leader. I don’t really know why, especially after what I did.’

  ‘You’re clever, Ash,’ Arthur said. ‘Clever and strong and brave and full of ideas. Everyone knows it the moment they meet you. And all these people,’ he waved a hand at the centre, ‘they know it too. They know you would never have helped Loki if he hadn’t forced you. If you weren’t the person you are, we could never have stopped Loki before.’

  ‘I don’t understand what you mean. No one stopped Loki. That’s why we’re in this mess.’

  ‘Yes, you did. We both did. And we will again.’

  ‘We can’t. N
o one can defeat him. We’re just trying to survive and not get caught.’ She pointed out of the café to where people were still loading up trolleys with essentials. ‘Do you think we like this? Having to hide and scavenge and steal? It’s the only choice we have if we want to go on living!’

  ‘Ash, we can stop him, trust me. Think of your family.’

  ‘And the others,’ added Donal behind him.

  ‘Others?’ Arthur asked. ‘What others?’

  ‘A while ago, we managed to hack into the Wolfsguard’s computer system,’ Ash explained. Even in this terrible situation, she was still an electronics wiz, thought Arthur proudly. ‘And we found out that Loki has eight people held in his inner sanctum.’

  ‘Who are they?’

  ‘My parents,’ Ash began, counting them off on her fingers. ‘My sister Stace and my brother Max. Then there’s someone called Joe Quinn and someone else known simply as Fenrir. The last two are kids about our age called Ellie and Xander Lavender. I don’t know anything about any of these people apart from my family and I certainly don’t know why Loki would want any of them. But they’re obviously important in some way. I just hope they’re important enough to keep alive.’

  Arthur felt like jumping for joy. They were all alive! Held captive by Loki but alive nonetheless!

  ‘Ash,’ he said urgently, leaning forward, ‘Joe is my dad. Ellie and Xander – Ex, as he likes to be called – are our … well, my friends. And Fenrir helped us defeat Loki before. They’re all his enemies or family of his enemies.’

  ‘OK, Arthur. You seem to know an awful lot about Loki. I think it’s time you told me your side of the story.’

  ‘This will take a while,’ he warned her. And he was right; it did.

  Chapter Thirteen

  While Arthur told her his story, Ash’s rebels (as he’d come to think of them) had been busy accumulating all they’d salvaged from the deserted stores and then loading it into the waiting speedboat, which was now packed to the brim. As Ash, Donal and Arthur arrived at the window through which they’d entered, Arthur could see that the rebels had done a sterling job of fitting most, if not all, of their findings into the little vessel. It was painted white, though the sludge that covered it from years of use made it closer to a charcoal grey. Despite its apparent age, it seemed to be in reasonably good condition and the engine was ticking over smoothly as the rebels got ready to leave. A few of the kids had squeezed themselves into the boat along with the loot; a couple of them were even perched on top of the sacks full of clothes, batteries, torches and food.

  The rest of the rebels – including Arthur’s rescuers – were seated on jet skis, two or three per model. The ski nearest the window had been left for Arthur, Ash and Donal, so they climbed out onto it. Donal got on in the steering position with Ash behind him and Arthur behind her. They clamped their arms around each other tightly then Ash gave a thumbs-up to Donal.

  ‘Ready!’ Donal called to Egg-head, who was already turned in the direction of the exit. He nodded, revved up his own ski, which had two young women as passengers, and sped off. The rest followed straight away and, as soon as they could, arranged themselves in a tactical formation with the speedboat in the centre, guarded on all sides by the jet skis. As on the journey to the shopping centre, Egg-head led them, swooping down narrow streets with grace and ease, always two steps of the route ahead of the rest.

  Arthur gripped Ash tighter. She glanced over her shoulder and flashed him a reassuring smile. He smiled back, still not quite believing that he had found her. He had actually found her. In a city that was submerged and with its survivors captured or scattered he had managed to find the one person he really needed to. It was only sinking in now what a great and miraculous thing this had been. It was almost as if someone had guided him to her. But after a devastating and depressing couple of days, he really didn’t care how it had happened. Discovering that Ash was not only still alive but also free, and had a group of rebels following her, was just the boost Arthur needed. With her to help him, he suddenly felt that maybe, just maybe, they might have a chance against Loki. Although he still had to convince her that she could help.

  He thought back to what he’d told her in the shopping centre. After he’d filled Ash and Donal in on everything she’d forgotten, his best friend hadn’t said anything for a few minutes. He had given her the hammer as evidence when it came up. She held it in her lap, feeling the heft of it, then she put it back on the table with a thunk. When he’d finished, Ash had pushed her chair back, the legs scratching against the tiled floor, and started pacing the empty café. She walked to the far wall and Arthur watched as she studied the menu blackboard hanging there. The lunch deals were still written on it in multi-coloured chalk, with little doodles of flowers and butterflies decorating the list. She rubbed a thumb across one butterfly, slicing it in two. Now it was just two C-shaped wings with no body to bind them together. Without warning, she rolled her hand into a fist, scrubbed a thick, straight line through the entire menu and turned back to Arthur and Donal. She brushed her hands clean as she strolled back towards them.

  ‘That’s a lot to take in,’ she said.

  ‘It is,’ Arthur nodded, observing her closely.

  ‘How do you expect me to react to all that?’

  He shrugged his shoulders emphatically. ‘I dunno. I was hoping that you’d believe me.’

  ‘What do you think, Donal?’

  He grimaced. ‘It’s a difficult one to buy,’ he said. ‘A bunch of kids defeating a Viking god of mischief and his all-powerful XXL snake? But then again, only a year ago no one would have believed in Loki or that all this,’ he waved an arm about the deserted centre, ‘could happen at all. We live in a different world now.’

  ‘True,’ Ash said, mulling over the prospect. ‘That’s very true.’ She reached the table again and looked Arthur square in the face.

  ‘OK, Arthur,’ said Ash. ‘My instinct says that I should trust you. And I think I do. But that doesn’t mean I believe your story.’

  ‘But the hammer–’

  ‘Is a nice find and we might have use for it–’

  ‘But–’

  ‘Let me finish. For days after the flooding, I was sure I was dreaming. I had completely convinced myself that I would wake up at any second to the smell of sizzling bacon. It took me a while to realise that it wasn’t a dream, that this was all really happening. What I’m trying to say is we all have different ways to deal with what the world is today. You can believe your fantasy but don’t expect me to do likewise. The time for daydreaming is over.’

  Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Ash shot him down.

  ‘That’s the best you’re going to get out of me at the moment,’ she said. ‘It’ll take a lot more than a nice little kid’s story to convince me. But right now, we should go back to HQ.’

  Despite the weight of the extra riders, the jet skis seemed to be as fast as ever as they glided through the waters that covered Dublin. Arthur supposed that the Wolfsguard made sure that their main mode of transport would be kept in good condition. The speedboat was also flying along and the couple of rebels perched on top of the salvage kept watch for any approaching enemies through pairs of binoculars. Even with that precaution, Arthur was worried that some guards would spot them. The sound of jet skis racing through the city was loud enough, but adding the angry roar of the speedboat to the mix seemed to be a recipe for disaster. Yet as they skimmed along the water, luck seemed to be with them. For the moment, at least.

  Arthur had completely lost track of where he was shortly after leaving the shopping centre, but at one stage they were forced to pass through a wide open space, where there was no trace of any building or tree poking above the surface of the water. It was as if they were cutting across an open lake and he could see the flood receding over the horizon. When he looked down, all he could see was the darkness of deep water and his eyes couldn’t even pick out the bottom. Suddenly he realised where he must be.

 
; ‘Are we over the River Liffey?’ he shouted at Ash, raising his voice so she could hear him over the engines.

  She nodded and he gazed with wonder at the water again just before they ducked back down some more side streets. The Liffey had overflowed into an even greater river than usual, flooding the streets and laneways around it, covering even the bridges. He realised that crossing it meant they were heading for the south side of the city.

  Moments after that, one of the watchmen on top of the loot started waving frantically to slow down. The drivers obeyed and instantly they all heard the sound of engines behind them. Arthur realised that if they could hear the Wolfsguard then the Wolfsguard could probably hear the rebels’ engines in turn. With the expanse of water making any sound echo more than usual, it was nearly impossible to tell how far off the noise was, but he waited for the inevitable sound of them drawing closer. However, seconds later it faded away. Clearly the Wolfsguard hadn’t realised that the engines in the distance weren’t those of their colleagues and were heading off in a different direction, or they had already reached their location. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as they moved off once more.

  Soon after, the convoy started to slow down. They passed a few tree tops just above the surface of the flood; strands of moss and weeds clung to the gnarled branches. Arthur peeked past Ash’s shoulder at the construction looming out of the water ahead of them. Grey stone walls stretched off in both directions at right angles to each other. Beyond the walls, he could just about see the building itself. Like the perimeter walls, it was a stone structure, with an unusual rounded end and two storeys rising above the water. Tiny square windows punctuated every few feet along the surface of the building, with blackened iron bars criss-crossing them. The other end of the structure was attached to an equally tall square building, more traditional in design, with large Edwardian windows blocked up with bricks and a flagpole thrusting up out of the flood. Half an Irish tricolour hung there, shredded and hanging limp and soaked along the pole.