Necropolis

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘LADIES AND GENTS! IT IS MY VERY GREAT HONOR TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO YOU, A MYTHICAL CREATURE NEVER BEFORE SEEN! THE QUEEN OF ATLANTIS HERSELF! SYRENA… THE MERWOMAN!’

  ‘Merwoman?’ Olivia sniggered as they slipped through the curtain and back into the curiously lit corridor.

  Scarlett shrugged, her own smile tugging at her lips.

  ‘You haven’t seen anything yet,’ they passed by the glowing colored globes. ‘I’ll show you around while we wait for Pearl to charm the masses.’

  ‘How long will that take?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘Oh, as long as it takes to empty their wallets I imagine,’ Scarlett glanced at Olivia and they both burst into laughter as they pulled back the next curtain.

  They stepped into another circular tent. The roof was decorated in a similar fashion, only instead of blues and greens, the gauzy materials were shades of red, orange and gold giving it the feel of living flames.

  There were rows of curved benches and seating running the circumference of the tent, curiously interspersed every few feet with buckets of water and sand. Hung from the canvas walls were massive posters of a large fiery bird engulfed in flames and a woman breathing fire.

  ‘Nix, the astounding fire breather…’ Olivia read quietly from the posters.

  Her curious gaze tracked over to the center of the staged area and watched the young woman standing there holding a lit torch.

  Her long black hair was braided back from her face, falling down her back, along the line of her spine until the end brushed the top of her buttocks. The intricately bound braid was fastened at intervals along its length, with thin bands of gold.

  Her hazel eyes were edged with thick black kohl giving her an exotic almost Egyptian look, to match her lightly bronzed skin. Her arms were left bare, with thick gold cuffs encircling her biceps and her wrists. She wore a dark colored vest scandalously covered with an exposed, heavily embroidered corset, which stopped at her hips and flared out into loose fitting harem pants, complete with dainty feet covered by Persian silk slippers.

  ‘Isn’t all this is bit risqué for a bunch of strait-laced Victorians?’ Olivia muttered to Scarlett.

  ‘You’d think, wouldn’t you?’ she grinned, ‘but the Victorians liked a bit of titillation with their righteous morality. They’ll cast her a loose woman of low morals and consign her to the devil I have no doubt, but it won’t stop them paying good money to see her.’

  ‘Who is she?’ Olivia muttered as she watched the woman blow against the torch and let loose a violent burst of flames.

  ‘Josephine Tully,’ Scarlett replied, ‘although around here she’s known as Nix.’

  Olivia took a step further into the tent and gasped quietly as she felt the floor ripple slightly beneath her feet. She felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise and a muted buzzing in her ears. There was magic here, strong magic hanging hot and heavy in the air.

  Olivia turned questioningly toward Scarlett.

  ‘They’re protective wards,’ she answered the question before Olivia could ask. ‘Magical fireproofing, I guess you’d call it.’ Scarlett breathed deeply, ‘pretty decent too. Pearl must’ve a paid a great deal for magic of this quality.’

  Suddenly there was a commotion at the other side of the tent, a peal of silvery laughter followed by a loud crash, as a girl of no more than ten leapt through the solid wall of the tent, appearing from nowhere, and followed by an enormous black dog. They chased each other in raucous delight, clambering over chairs and benches, upturning buckets of water caught up in their game of chase. It was all going fine until the dog leapt and the girl disappeared, reappearing a few feet away. The dog’s claws skidded along the straw covered ground, unable to stop his momentum as he crashed into the fire breathing woman.

  She stumbled and lost her grip on the lit torch. Her costume caught on the flames, she let out an ear-piercing scream and within seconds her whole body burst into a fiery husk that imploded and collapsed in on itself, leaving a smoldering pile of ashes on the ground.

  Olivia’s mouth fell open in absolute horror, having just witnessed a woman burn to death in seconds. Although, strangely, Scarlett didn’t seem too bothered.

  The young girl skidded to a halt and looked down at the grim pile of gray ash as the dog howled next to her.

  ‘Well that’s done it,’ the girl frowned. ‘Pearl’s gonna be so mad.’

  The dog howled again and shimmered leaving a gangly prepubescent boy standing in its place. He knelt down next to the ashes.

  ‘We’re really sorry Nix,’ he spoke earnestly to the pile of dust, ‘please don’t tell Pearl.’

  ‘I think it’s a little late for that,’ Olivia murmured.

  ‘Just watch,’ Scarlett chuckled.

  At first, Olivia thought it a trick of the flickering braziers lighting the tent, but the pile of dust twitched, then moved, a small landslide of ash slithered down and a hand reached up, followed by another. Then a dark head appeared with long loose jet-black hair spilling unbound around a pair of naked shoulders.

  Olivia’s mouth fell open once again as she watched the naked woman haul herself out of the pile of ashes.

  ‘For God’s sake Silas,’ she hissed at the boy as she clipped him round the ear. ‘What did I tell you about playing your stupid games in ‘ere.’

  ‘And that’s why Pearl pays for magical fireproofing,’ Scarlett muttered under her breath.

  Nix stood up, her long dark hair covering her breasts and her hand covering lower. The tent flap opened behind her and one of the stagehands hurried forward and handed her a rough blanket to cover herself with.

  ‘We’re really sorry Nix,’ the boy called Silas replied sullenly as he rubbed his ear.

  ‘Yeah, well,’ Nix frowned, ‘now I have to go and change… again. If you don’t want Pearl finding out I suggest you both clear up the mess you made before the punters show up.’

  She turned abruptly on her heel and stormed out of the tent wrapped in nothing but the blanket, her hair still smoking slightly.

  ‘What?’ Olivia exclaimed breathlessly, ‘just when I thought I’d seen everything.’

  ‘Nix is a Phoenix, a creature of flame. When consumed by fire she’s reborn from the ashes,’ Scarlett replied as the boy and girl approached them.

  ‘Neat trick,’ Olivia muttered as the young girl caught sight of Scarlett.

  ‘Lady Rebecca!’ she exclaimed in delight as she skipped over and wrapped her arms around Scarlett’s waist.

  ‘Hello Etta,’ Scarlett leaned down and hugged the small girl, ‘you’ve grown.’

  Etta grinned revealing a row of tiny teeth as her curious gaze tracked over to Olivia.

  ‘This is my friend Olivia, she’s from America.’

  ‘Where the cowboys come from?’ Silas perked up in interest.

  ‘That’s right,’ Olivia replied with a friendly smile.

  Etta tucked herself into Scarlett’s side, hiding herself shyly in the voluminous skirt of her gown.

  ‘Is she one of us?’ Etta whispered.

  Olivia dropped down slowly until she was the same height as the little girl. She tugged off one of her gloves and unfolded her hand. As she did so two of her dragonflies burst into life, dancing merrily above her palm, flickering with multi-colored flames.

  The little girl’s lips formed a silent ‘o’ as the flickering reflections of the dragonflies danced in her dark eyes.

  ‘Can I touch it?’ Etta breathed as she leaned closer.

  ‘Sure,’ Olivia replied softly, ‘go ahead, it won’t hurt you.’

  She reached out her tiny inquisitive fingertips toward the nearest dragonfly. It bumped her fingers playfully before shooting into the air, spiraling upward, then darted back to Olivia. Both the dragonflies settled back into her hand, her palm glowing for a second before they disappeared.

  ‘Ain’t never seen nuffink like that before,’ the boy Silas blinked in awe.

  ‘I’m Henrietta Shaw,’ the little girl held ou
t her hand to Olivia, ‘everyone here calls me Etta. I’m the little ghost.’

  Olivia glanced down at the girl’s pretty, white dress. Beneath the hem were a pair of frilly bloomers covering white stockings and on her feet were delicate little white slippers. Her face had been dusted with a fine layer of pale powder making her dark chocolate eyes even darker. Her long dark colored hair fell in ringlets to her waist making her look like a china doll.

  ‘The Little Ghost?’ Olivia repeated.

  ‘I can walk through walls,’ she announced proudly, ‘you wanna see?’

  ‘I did see earlier,’ she nodded recalling the moment Etta had burst through the wall and inadvertently set Josephine Tully on fire. ‘My uncle Davis has the same gift; he can walk through solid objects too.’

  Olivia turned to the tall gangly boy hovering protectively over Etta. His feet were bare, but he didn’t seem too troubled by the cold, his short pants ended just below the knee and he wore a collarless shirt. His inky colored hair was a shaggy mess as if he’d merely hacked at it with a pair of gardening shears. Dirt was smeared across one cheek and his fingernails were split and filthy. His voice warbled between the beginner’s baritone of a young man and the squeak of a much younger child. She probably would have guessed his age at maybe twelve or thirteen, a boy on the cusp of manhood.

  ‘What about you?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘Silas Rathesbone,’ he nodded his dark eyes still a little wary of the stranger. ‘Dog boy.’

  ‘Dog boy?’

  She watched raptly as he shook his head, fur sprouted from his face, his eyes darkened and changed shape and his nose elongated. He shook his head again and his features once again returned to normal.

  ‘Come on Etta,’ he grasped her hand gently and tugged, ‘we’d better clean up the mess before Nix gets back. If she tells Pearl what we did there’ll be hell to pay.’

  Etta nodded and giving a little wave to Scarlett and Olivia, danced off with Silas at her heels.

  ‘They’re inseparable,’ Scarlett murmured as she turned and headed for the next corridor.

  ‘Are they siblings?’

  ‘No,’ Scarlett shook her head, ‘but they’re both orphans. Silas came to Pearl first, Etta sometime later. They’ve been in each other’s pockets ever since.’

  ‘What is he exactly?’ Olivia asked curiously. ‘I hardly think ‘dog boy’ is an actual species.’

  ‘He’s a shapeshifter,’ Scarlett answered. ‘I’m sure he could probably take other forms if he wanted to, but he seems most happy as a dog. Half the time he ends up sleeping on Etta’s bed curled up on her feet, so his fur keeps her warm.’

  ‘That’s quite sweet actually.’

  ‘I’ve always thought so,’ Scarlett agreed. ‘He’s one of Pearl’s side show attractions, but he can’t actually demonstrate shapeshifting or there’d be a riot. The way I understand it, he holds himself halfway through a transformation, half boy, half dog, so it looks more like a kind of weird genetic abnormality.’

  ‘Another one of Pearl’s misdirection?’

  ‘Something like that,’ Scarlett nodded.

  They lifted the curtain to the next tent and were greeted with a loud booming voice.

  ‘LADY REBECCA!’

  Olivia glanced over in time to see an enormous man stride across the tent. He had to be at least seven feet tall, extremely broad and powerful. All he needed was scars and stitching and he could have doubled as Victor Frankenstein’s monster. Except he didn’t look like a monster, his blue eyes sparkled merrily, and a wide jovial smile creased his face causing his bushy handlebar moustache to curve upward. His head was as bald as an egg and as shiny as a brass bed knob. He was shirtless from the waist up, his chest a thick rug of curly brown hair as he enveloped Scarlett in a bear hug, literally sweeping her off her feet.

  ‘For goodness sake Luthor,’ Scarlett laughed as he set her down, ‘in the name of decency will you please put some clothes on.’

  ‘You know he’ll just end up ripping them,’ a soft amused female voice spoke from behind him.

  ‘Ada,’ Scarlett smiled warmly as Luthor stepped aside and the small blonde-haired woman appeared.

  ‘And who might we have here?’ Luthor rumbled good naturedly, his voice echoing throughout the tent.

  ‘Olivia,’ Olivia replied as she stared up at the huge towering man.

  ‘American?’ he chuckled, ‘well you’re a long way from home, aren’t you?’

  ‘You have no idea,’ she murmured.

  ‘Well welcome to Madam Pearl’s,’ he grinned.

  ‘Olivia,’ Scarlett introduced them properly. ‘This is Luthor Hill and his wife Ada.’

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Olivia held out her hand to the petite blonde woman.

  Although the woman grasped Olivia’s hand without difficulty, it was obvious from her fixed gaze that she was blind.

  ‘We have to get set up ready for the show,’ Ada told Scarlett easily, ‘but will you stop by for tea soon?’

  ‘We’d love to,’ Scarlett smiled.

  ‘She’s blind,’ Olivia remarked as she watched the mismatched couple walk away. ‘It’s funny, I wouldn’t have known until I got close enough to see her eyes, she’s so fluid and graceful. She doesn’t even lean on him for guidance.’

  ‘She doesn’t need to,’ Scarlett motioned for Olivia to continue walking. ‘It’s true she’s completely blind but… how can I explain it. She’s completely aware of everything surrounding her. She has extra heightened senses, incredible reflexes, speed, hearing, sense of smell but more than that, she has… well I suppose the closest way I can describe it, is like echolocation.’

  ‘Echolocation, do you mean like sonar?’ Olivia frowned thoughtfully, ‘like a bat?’

  ‘Exactly, she is able to detect objects surrounding her by the sound echoing off them. She experiences the world completely differently to the rest of us.’

  ‘What about her husband?’

  ‘Luthor?’ Scarlett smiled, ‘he’s a great big bear of a man, isn’t he?’

  Olivia looked up at the posters hung along the tent wall.

  ‘Thor the immortal,’ she read aloud.

  ‘That’s his stage name,’ Scarlett nodded, ‘another one of Pearl’s biggest attractions. Luthor is impervious to pain and injury.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘If you took a scalpel and carved his chest in half, not only would he not feel it, the skin would simply seal itself back together. I don’t really know how or why it works but Luthor’s body is able to continuously regenerate itself.’

  ‘Wow,’ Olivia’s brows rose, ‘this is incredible. I’ve never seen so many magically gifted or supercharged people in one place and Pearl is making money off them like they’re a bunch of freaks?’

  ‘It’s not like that exactly,’ Scarlett came to a stop in a small storage area beside a large wooden crate stuffed with sawdust. ‘Pearl took them all in and gave them a home, she gave them a family… she gave them each other. Sure, she makes money off them but she’s also keeping them safe.’

  ‘It sounds,’ Olivia frowned, ‘complicated.’

  ‘It is,’ Scarlett nodded. ‘The thing is, Pearl may have taken them off the streets and under her protection but make no mistake, Pearl is not someone you should trust.’

  ‘I’m glad you know it,’ a new voice intruded.

  Olivia turned to find Madam Pearl propped up against a larger crate, her white hair gleaming in the soft light as she lifted a thin black cigarillo to her ruby lips and inhaled deeply.

  ‘Pearl,’ Scarlett started.

  ‘Lady Rebecca,’ she blew out a long thin stream of smoke, her dark eyes appraising, ‘what brings you to my humble door?’

  ‘We’re looking for Eden,’ Scarlett replied. ‘Do you know where we can find her?’

  ‘Where else?’ Pearl shrugged, the black lace of her shawl slipping from one shoulder, ‘in the garden.’

  Scarlett pursed her lips as her brow folded thoughtfully. After a moment
her smoky colored eyes turned to Pearl.

  ‘We need a way in,’ she finally said.

  ‘Lady Rebecca,’ Pearl’s lip curled, and her voice wrapped around the name, leading Olivia to suspect that Pearl was aware that wasn’t Scarlett’s true name. ‘I’m sure you know more entryways than I do.’

  ‘We need something… inconspicuous. I don’t really want to announce my presence.’

  Pearl’s dark eyes lit, and her nose twitched.

  ‘I could of course provide a doorway,’ she smiled slowly, ‘but it’s gonna cost ya.’

  ‘How much?’ Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘Five pounds.’

  ‘Five pounds?’ Scarlett’s brow rose.

  ‘Each.’

  ‘Two,’ Scarlett countered, ‘you seem to forget what a useful ally I’ve been and continue to be.’

  Pearl stood staring contemplatively. She took another long deliberate drag on her cigarillo and let out a thin winding stream of smoke before finally sucking on her teeth.

  ‘Three.’

  ‘Done,’ Scarlett nodded.

  ‘Up front if you don’t mind,’ Pearl added.

  Scarlett reached into the small velvet tasseled bag hanging from her wrist and handed over a few folded banker’s notes. Pearl counted them carefully before folding them and tucking them into her ample cleavage and nodding in satisfaction.

  ‘Come with me,’ she turned and began to stride away.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Olivia whispered as she struggled to keep up.

  ‘I told you,’ Scarlett murmured under her breath, ‘to see the fortune teller.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘Shush not now Olivia, just trust me.’

  ‘I don’t seem to have much choice, do I?’ she frowned.

  After a moment they came to a small hexagonal tent and Pearl led them inside. It was devoid of any other people and was low lit with small braziers. It was filled with cabinets of morbid curiosities, severed hands and preserved body parts, strange shrunken heads and jars of dead reptiles. Strangely assembled animal skeletons had been pieced together from different species and several taxidermy experiments again saw the taxidermist piecing together parts of different animals to create weird hybrid creatures.