by John Booth
“The enquiry was a political stage play designed to clear Lord McBride of being a traitor. To do that the Brotherhood had to be made a work of fiction created by a deluded Sir Ernest Trelawney. The truth and politics rarely sit comfortably together.”
“Oh, I see. In that case, Mr. Tompkins asked me to pass a message on to Thomas Carter concerning a boy called Ebenezer. This I did.”
“I already know that. What I do not understand is why and how this all relates to the Brotherhood’s latest plan. They are parasites who believe that they should be given the Empire’s wealth without having to work for it.”
Andrea laughed. “You have just described the House of Lords.”
Jones smiled. “There is some truth in that. However, our betters use legal means to rob us. The Brotherhood kill, extort, and kidnap to get their hands on our money. There is a difference.”
“Perhaps it is only about the boy?”
“You might be right, but if not I expect that Carter will arrive with a battalion at his side. That is Trelawney’s way, to surprise us all.”
Andrea blinked as a thought struck her, and then she smiled.
“Perhaps he will arrive with enough hubris to save the day.”
Andrea knew that Jones had no knowledge of what the Kansas project was and she thought that was a good joke.
“I believe a battalion would prove more useful,” Jones said sourly.
Annelise Shultz paid for her drink and went to sit in the snug. This was a room set aside in the tavern for those who wished to talk quietly. She sat and nursed her drink alone. It was English ale, which meant it tasted as though no one bothered to strain the bits from it, it was warm, and it was unconscionably bitter. Annelise wondered why the English were so fond of such a noxious brew, but to drink it gave her anonymity and that is what she sought.
A man in a heavy coat sat beside her. Annelise did not let the smile she felt inside show in her face. This man was typical of the senior end of the British intelligence services and must think a heavy coat in a heat wave would protect his identity.
“Good day to you, Mister Harris. Do you not find a coat hot in this vether?”
He nearly choked on his ale, a fact which Annelise found delicious. That people like this ran the largest empire the world had ever seen was an insult to her country and to the rest of the world.
“I have been instructed to give you this.” He pulled a large manila envelope from his coat and put it down on the table.
“Discrete to a fault,” Annelise replied, but her irony was lost on the man.
Annelise opened the envelope and found it contained a list of women and their addresses. It was a short list as few unescorted women would be attending the wedding. Looking down the list, Annelise picked a woman called Gladys Talbot for no other reason than her dwelling was near to the church.
“Will that do?” Harris asked. He sounded anxious to Annelise.
“It vill.”
When he was gone, Annelise considered how she would kill the woman and assume her identity. She would also need to buy a dress suitable for a wedding, one that would conceal a long barreled pistol.
14. Wakening
Daisy put out a hand and woke when she encountered the rough bark of a tree trunk. Her pillow was her rolled up coat. It had been a warm night and her clothes felt damp and sticky.
Laura was already up, dividing the small amount of food they had left into two. To be precise she was cutting a large biscuit with a knife.
“We should have brought more food with us,” she said dismally.
“You were anxious to leave at the time, remember?”
Laura took out the bind and looked at it critically. “Either I am getting more powerful or this paper and ink are better than anything I’ve ever used before. The General and Captain Trentwood are not going to be best pleased when they wake up again as girls.”
Daisy stifled a giggle. “It will be good for them. They might even learn to like it. I have never regretted being born female.”
“Except for a few days every month,” Laura pointed out.
“There is that.”
“Do you think they are looking for us?”
Daisy sat up and took the half biscuit she was offered. “Will the Army be looking for a Class A runaway, when there are only seven of them in the whole world? I expect that the whole British Empire will be on the alert for you within the week. Not to mention the Austro-Hungarians, the French, the Russians, and just about everyone else with a lust for power.”
Laura looked downcast. “I never asked for this. I would have settled for being a Grade 1. Nobody wants my talent for anything good, just for making bombs and killing people.”
“We have to play the cards we are dealt, Laura. We need to get on. We must be well into rebel territory by now. We should look out for a farm or a village where we can buy some food.”
“Do we have money?” Laura asked in surprise.
“I have some gold and silver coins that will see us through.”
“You do think ahead.”
Daisy smiled. Some futures were getting more likely and it was just possible there was a way they might survive.
General Brent-Smyth looked himself in the mirror and was disappointed by what he saw. There was no sign at all that the damnable girl’s spell was wearing off. He wondered where she had found the tools to create such a lasting change. Then there was the never ending tiredness afflicting them all. His men found it difficult to mount horses, let alone beat the woodland for the missing women.
“Lieutenant Kincaid, Telepath, reporting as ordered, Sir.”
The General noted that Kincaid had become a girl that looked about nine. Of course, before the change he was only sixteen. Telepaths were rare and the General had been lucky to be assigned one. The General wondered if that was good luck or bad luck. The girl looked ridiculous in Kincaid’s uniform with the trousers turned up all the way to her knees.
“Have you heard anything back from the War Office?”
The girl looked as though she might be about to wet herself. She had her hands over her groin and her legs were twisted together.
“Well?”
“Eric never stops laughing at me, sir. It’s very hard to keep the messages straight.”
The General fumed silently. He had ordered Kincaid to keep their change secret, but he had told his brother long before the order was issued. It would be the talk of the War Office by now, and everyone would be laughing at him.
“Pull yourself together and stop crying. Have there been any new orders?”
Kincaid made an effort and wiped his face. “There is a new message from the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. ‘Recover Laura Young unharmed soonest. No excuses for failure will be accepted. You will be tried for treason if she is not recovered alive and without injury.’ That is the only message, sir.”
‘Alive and without injury.’ It was clear to the General that his superiors were well aware of his feelings and were letting him know what would happen if he acted on them. It didn’t matter at the moment. His men would not be able to begin the search until this damnable bind was broken.
“Get out of here.” The little girl ran, but not before the General saw the wet stain forming at her groin.
Tom enjoyed flying the Hubris. The weather was fine and there was not a cloud in the sky. There was nothing for Antonia to do at the attitude controls and she left her seat to stand with him behind the wheel. The other members of the crew were getting some much needed sleep in the cabins to the rear.
“I like a man who knows where he is going.”
Tom laughed. “I am following those railway tracks. According to Dougal they will lead us to New York.”
“Where he has a warehouse where the ship can take on supplies. I know, I was here when you were talking about it.”
“It is very rude to listen in to other people’s conversations.” Tom turned his head to kiss her. She put her arm around his waist and cuddled up to
him.
“I am capable of a great many rude things, Thomas. How high up do you think we are?”
Tom glanced at the barometer next to the air speed gauge. It was supposed to give them a rough indication of height.
“According to that thing, we might be a mile up, though that’s from sea level. The air certainly seems thin enough. Perhaps we should descend a little.”
“We are doing things no one else has ever done before.” Antonia squeezed Tom harder as she looked out to the horizon.
Tom turned the big ship’s wheel a quarter turn as the tracks below turned to follow the contours of the land.
“I like being the first. But if you want to go down, you will have to go back to the altitude controls and adjust them.”
Antonia dropped to her knees and slid in front of Tom, her back just touching the wheel. “Are you sure about that?” she asked as she undid his buttons.
“Not while I’m steering,” Tom protested, but the truth was it was only half a protest.
“This will certainly be a first for mankind and something I do not suppose your Laura will ever do for you.”
It was without doubt a very pleasurable first.
Gareth Jones used the knocker on Trelawney’s door and stood waiting patiently for someone to answer. He knew he was swimming in deep waters and one wrong action could put him in the Tower of London, or more likely get a blade slid between his ribs and up into his heart.
Arnold opened the door and stood paralyzed with shock at seeing the Director of MM1 at the door.
“Are you going to invite me in, Tompkins?”
Arnold stepped back from the door and waved Jones in. Jones waited impatiently for him to show him to Trelawney and when Arnold finally got the message he traversed the hallway at little short of a run. Arnold stumbled into the study trying to collect his thoughts and his breath.
“Jones, MM1… here.”
Jones stepped into the room before Arnold could try for a more coherent sentence.
“Why Gareth, how unexpectedly good to see you.” Trelawney waved Jones towards the chair that Belinda was getting out of. She took her knitting to sit in a chair beside Trelawney.
“I will just…” Arnold pointed at the door.
Trelawney shook his head. “You are part of the team now, Arnold. That means you get to stay.” Arnold ended up standing by the door as he couldn’t quite bring himself to sit down in such illustrious company.
Jones settled into the chair.
“Can we provide some refreshment?” Belinda asked.
Jones shook his head. He leaned forward, his hands on his walking cane.”
“I know something is going on, revolving around you, and I want to help.”
Trelawney smiled thinly. “There is always something going on, Gareth. Our nuptials are only a week away, for example. May I congratulate you on your promotion? I have heard good reports about you since you took over from Sir Anthony.”
Jones was not going to be fobbed off and knew what he planned to say could well cost him his career.
“I will give you information that gives you a hold over me; then I will tell you something that gives me a hold over you. I need you to trust me.”
Trelawney said nothing, simply keeping his eyes locked on Jones.
“Laura Young has run away from the Army in Brittany. She is a fugitive from the Empire and faces trial for treason when caught.”
Belinda leaned forward and spoke with some intensity. “Is Daisy Drew with her?”
“As far as we know, the answer is yes.”
Belinda gave a sigh of relief. “Then all is not yet lost.”
Trelawney gave his wife-to-be a warning look and then turned back to Jones.
“Laura must have been severely provoked to run away.”
Jones agreed wholeheartedly with that. “The idiots in the War Office gave her to General Brent-Smyth. He made a deal with her that she would render the rebels helpless if he promised to take them prisoner.”
“That sounds like a good deal,” Belinda said. “It would save the Army months of campaigning and troop losses. Having the enemy soldiers in a stockade would give us an excellent bargaining chip to end the war early and avoid revenge attacks.”
Jones looked at Belinda with new respect. It had taken the War Office several days to reach the same conclusion. He knew that she had been much more than a secretary in MM3, but her fierce intellect came as a surprise.
“Unfortunately, the General was not as wise as you. He has been under some pressure for his lack of progress and saw a chance to end the war in a few days. Baxter had only loaned Miss Young to him until next Thursday, as part of his deal with her was that she could go to your wedding.”
“You are going to tell me he killed the rebels.”
“Right down to the small boys. He also encouraged his men to rape the women and girls as he thought that would lead them to greater efforts.”
“Someone should shoot the bastard,” Belinda said quietly.
“It is always difficult to punish a successful General, Miss Mann. As it is, he may well end up in prison for other reasons.”
Trelawney stabbed a finger at Jones. “Has it dawned on the Army that they have destroyed their chances of ever using the greatest Spellbinder in history? She was coming around to working for them and this fool has ended it.”
Jones gave a short nod. “They have now it has blown up on them. The Admiralty is calling for changes to the structure of Military Magic and Palmerston is spitting blood. Heads will role over this.”
“Has she made good her escape? Brent-Smyth’s best chance of surviving this with his career intact is to kill her.” Belinda’s question caught Jones off guard. He had not reached that conclusion, but now it was pointed out to him, it was obvious.
“Palmerston must have come to the same conclusion. He has ordered Brent-Smyth to ensure her safe return at the price of his career. But Brent-Smyth is in no position to carry out any orders at this moment.”
Trelawney, Belinda and Arnold stared at Jones.
“Miss Young placed a bind on the troops rendering them ineffectual and transformed all their officers into young girls.”
“How long ago was all this? Surely such a bind would have broken by now?”
“About a day and a half and it was still holding when I left the office.”
Belinda laughed. “That girl never fails to surprise me. Perhaps there will be justice for Brent-Smyth after all. No matter how secret the Army tries to keep it, that story will be as far as China by the weekend and Brent-Smyth will be a laughing-stock wherever he goes.”
“He will certainly try to kill her,” Trelawney said soberly, “whatever his orders.” Trelawney paused for a few seconds. “Gareth, I believe you had a second thing to tell us?”
“I know that you sent a message to Thomas Carter and are behind the attacks on my men. You only had to ask and I would have happily relayed your messages.”
Trelawney looked at Belinda and she nodded.
“As you know my wife-to-be is an Empath and she has just indicated that it is safe to trust you. The Brotherhood has wormed deep into Military Magic and my late second-in-command was a member. We were certain that Baxter and Harris were members and there was a question mark over you. Only people we were certain of know what is going on.”
“Your dismissal as Director of MM3 was faked?” Jones asked.
Trelawney sighed. “Real enough. The Queen and Palmerston would have fought it for me, but my Precog talent said I should accept my fate. I could never discover who the Brotherhood were from within Military Magic because they kept me too busy. Outside it, I had a chance.”
“Have you made progress?” Jones asked excitedly.
“A little, but that is the lesser problem. Before I left my post it became clear that the Brotherhood were planning a major operation. The Precogs keep warning Baxter, but he ignores them as he is part of it. There is a threat to the Royal Family, which is why we are
gathering at the wedding to discuss it, but I am sure such a threat is a diversion in part.”
Jones nodded and waited for Trelawney to continue.
“The Brotherhood are thieves and like all thieves their only interest is money. When we stopped the auctions at Smee’s house we deprived them of a major source of revenue. Selling aberrant magicians made them a lot of money. Then Lord McBride nearly blew their membership to kingdom come, and they all know the truth of that. They need a big victory soon or their members will desert them.”
“And how will they make money from attacking the Royal Family?”
Trelawney shook his head. “I wish I knew. There is another thing; they have decided to kill me and my wife at the wedding. I cannot see how that benefits them. It will certainly result in a massive tightening of security around Her Majesty. At the moment, nothing makes sense.”
Cam had gone deep undercover. Trelawney offered to put her up in his house, but there was far too great a chance that someone would see her. Similarly, all the safe houses were known to Baxter, and Trelawney warned her not to use any of them.
However, there was one house in the city that might be unoccupied. So it was that she broke into the house of the late James Saunders, once second-in-command of MM3.
It had not been occupied for nearly a year, but someone had cleaned out all the food that might have rotted and all Saunders’ books and furniture were still in place. It felt haunted, but Cam had never been a strong believer in ghosts.
She took the risk of visiting the local shops and buying provisions. Out in the suburbs people were nosier than in the centre of town and there was a risk someone might see her enter or leave the house. But so far, she had been lucky.
Now she needed to venture into the city to buy a dress for the wedding. She certainly could not return to pick up her trunk at Liverpool Street Station. Since the Queen was to be in attendance, she needed a stylish dress that would not be out of place for the function. The last thing she could afford was to stand out. The dress also had to conceal Trelawney’s large pistol.
