‘You want the Cradle for yourself?’ I ask Hickory. ‘Why?’
‘That,’ Violet says, ‘he hasn’t told me. But you heard him, it’s obvious. He hates this place. He wants to unleash the Cradle Sea and destroy the Manor. He’s no better than Roth.’
‘Better-looking than Roth,’ Hickory says. ‘Don’t smell half as bad either.’
I want to punch him. Square in the nose. ‘You heard what my dad said, idiot. The Manor binds the Otherworlds together – if it goes, they all go. You’d really kill every living thing in existence because of your beef with this place? You’re sick in the head.’
‘Maybe,’ Hickory says. ‘Maybe not.’ He smiles. ‘Now, are you two gonna get to the point anytime soon or are you gonna stand around and chat while Roth makes a more lifelike mask out of your pa’s handsome mug?’
I step in to kick Hickory, but Violet pulls me back. I figure she’s gonna give me the ol’ he’s-not-worth-it line, but all she says is, ‘I’ll handle this.’ Quick as lightning, she grabs him by the hair with one hand and snatches the knife from her boot with the other. Holds the blade to his throat. ‘This pointy enough for you?’
Hickory coughs, grunts and grimaces. Then he cracks up.
‘What’s so funny?’ I ask.
‘You two. Acting all tough and in control when we all know you need me. Lost little ducklings want a guide to the river.’ He nods down the passage. ‘Voices travel far in here. Sorry to hear Bluehaven’s gone to hell, ladies, but – hey – what can you do?’
‘This should be easy, then,’ I say. ‘Do you know where we are?’
Hickory flicks his head at the statues either side of him. There are small symbols carved into their foreheads. Violet asks what they are. I shake my head in disbelief.
‘Directions,’ I say. ‘Signposts. We’re way back near your hideout, Hickory?’
‘Different hideout. Old one. Carved these symbols a long time ago.’
‘And you know a path to the river from here?’
‘Good path. Safe-ish path.’ He tilts his head my way. ‘Think you’re right, by the way. Manor wants us to get to the Cradle before Roth.’ Us, he says, bold as goddamn brass. ‘Don’t suppose you’ve asked yourself why, though? The things you saw in your dreams. Why the Manor showed them to you. More importantly, why you cause the quakes.’
‘Hickory.’ Violet tightens her grip on the knife. ‘Don’t.’
His face lights up. ‘Ah, so you’ve thought about it. Waiting for the right moment to tell her, huh? Didn’t want to spring it on her till she got her full strength back?’ Hickory tut-tuts at me. ‘Always the slow one, Jane. Been so focused on Violet’s past and mine, you haven’t even given a second thought to your own.’
Violet pulls on his hair again, tilting his head right back. He swallows hard, bobbing his Adam’s apple up and down above the blade.
‘It’s okay, Violet,’ I say. ‘Let him talk.’
She backs off and lowers the knife. Hickory stretches out his neck, sighs dramatically.
‘You and your folks went inside the Cradle. Swam in its waters without dying. Seems it gave you some sort of connection to this place. Maybe you swallowed some of the Cradle Sea. Maybe you made it all the way to the foundation stone and cut yourself on the rock. Maybe Mummy and Daddy let you hold the third key and you tried to swallow the thing – I don’t know. Point is, your blood carves up stone.’ He lets the thought stink up the room for a moment. ‘Just like one of the Makers, no?’
The name slips from my lips before I can stop it. ‘Po …’
Hickory rolls his eyes. ‘Not Po, idiot. Aris. Shaper of stone? Although who’s to say there isn’t a bit of Po in you as well? Maybe a bit of Nabu-kai, too. Who knows what you’re capable of? I bet that’s why Roth was having trouble getting inside your head on the train. Never seen that happen before.’
Violet shuffles her feet. ‘I think he’s right, Jane, considering everything John said. I mean, if Winifred had known you’d gone into the Cradle, if she’d known about the three keys, I’m sure she would have made the connection years ago but, well, she didn’t.’
I run a finger over my bandaged hand. Could it really be possible? Is that what Dad was trying to say before Roth got on the train? Yes, Jane, you were born in the Manor, but the Cradle Sea infected you? A wave slammed us into the foundation stone and some of the Makers’ powers stuck to you? People on Bluehaven always treated me like I had some sort of disease, and maybe they were right. Maybe there is something inside me. Something abnormal. Jane Doe, Cursed One through and through.
‘Anyway,’ Hickory says, ‘something to mull over on the way. Been a while since I’ve seen these symbols, but I remember ’em well enough.’ He tips his head to the door behind him. ‘You should see what’s back there. Very pretty.’
Violet’s gaze lingers on me. She’s waiting to see if I’m gonna freak out about the whole connection-to-the-Manor thing. I nod an I’m okay, but the truth is I’m not sure how I feel. Sick? Scared? Confused? All I know for sure is I need to get moving again.
‘How far away is it? The river.’
‘Not far. Getting there’s the easy part. River starts at a weakened gateway. Branches off into a thousand channels, many of ’em deadly. You saw it in your dream, Jane. Rapids. Whirlpools. Bet you didn’t see the prison camps, though. More than a few. Leatherheads ferrying prisoners and supplies – very tricky. But I can help you. Most importantly, I can get us a boat.’
I swallow hard. Far as I’m concerned, the boat seals the deal.
‘How can we trust you?’ Violet asks Hickory. ‘After everything you’ve done.’
‘You trust that I want to get to the Cradle as much as you.’ Hickory hauls himself up, grunting against the ropes, standing tall. ‘That I want to beat Roth even more.’
Worst-case scenarios swarm. Tricks, traps and back-stabbings. I’m beginning to think I’ll never be free of this guy. The Great Adventurer. The Great Pain in My Arse.
‘So,’ he says with a smile, ‘who wants to untie me?’
THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS
We’re lucky the door opens inwards because there’s about a foot of black sand on the other side. The candles and torches flicker on. My jaw drops. We’re standing on the upper landing of a grand, two-storey hall that’s more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen. There are crystals growing from the walls, hanging from the ceiling, sprouting from the sandy staircase right in front of us. White crystals, pale purple crystals, milky blue crystals. Some of them look like swords, others like mounds of coral clinging to the stone. And they’re glowing.
‘Told you.’ Hickory stretches and sighs. ‘Just imagine the world they come from.’
‘I’m just glad we’ve finally found something that isn’t trying to kill us.’
Hickory screws up his face. ‘Yeah, about that. Don’t touch ’em.’
‘Why not?’ Violet’s on her guard. Ready to shoot, dive and roll.
‘Not like normal crystals.’ Hickory snatches a candle from its bracket and tosses it down the stairs into a patch of blueish daggers. As soon as it connects, they make sounds like cracking ice and grow several inches, right before our eyes. ‘They respond to touch. Anything but other crystals. Some of the corridors ahead are pretty choked.’
‘Pretty choked? Hickory, you said this path was safe.’
‘Ish. Safe-ish. And it is. Leatherheads steer clear, most of the booby traps have either been set off or jammed, and it’s the most direct route to the river. Promise you that.’ Hickory nods at Violet’s rifle. ‘By the way, no guns. Shatter a crystal, pieces go flying. Grow where they land. Blasted a piece into a Tin-skin’s mouth once. Wasn’t pretty.’
‘No shooting. Got it.’ Violet shoulders her rifle and raises her knife again. ‘But just so you know, I can throw this just as fast. Don’t get any ideas.’
‘Yeah,’ I tack on.
I decide to lay some ground rules. I have the key. I’m the one who’s been inside the Cradle befor
e. It’s my dad who’s been captured. Sure, I’ve just found out I might have dead god juice swimming through my veins or a bit of foundation-stone grit lodged under my skin somewhere, and I feel like I’m gonna throw up any minute now, but I’m taking charge.
‘Stay five paces ahead of us at all times, Hickory. You stop if we tell you to stop, you run if we tell you to run, you slap yourself in the face if we tell you to slap yourself in the face, and you speak only when spoken to.’
Even Little Miss Stab-Happy gets a rule.
‘While I’m at it, no more hand slicing.’ I wave my hands around my body. ‘All this right here – strictly off-limits to knives, spears, machetes, cutlery, anything sharp or pointy.’ The rule’s met with silence, like she actually has to consider it. ‘Violet –’
‘I just think that –’
‘Violet.’
‘Okay, okay, no more slicing.’
‘Promise.’
She sighs, like I’m the one being unreasonable. ‘I promise I won’t slice, cut, stab, scratch or graze you for as long as I live. Now can we get a move on, please?’
There’s so much sand on the stairs we pretty much slide down them, careful to avoid the crystals growing on the banister. The black sand is rippled down here, shaped by a long-forgotten, Otherworldly wind. Tiny dunes are heaped at every door. There isn’t a footprint in sight. Most of the candles have been swallowed or ripped from the walls, but the crystals light the way. Hickory leads us down a corridor, passing through pockets of white, purple and blue, even a stretch of pale, glittering pink. It’s like walking through a treasure chest.
Apparently we’re heading to a small Leatherhead camp at the start of the river, right at the base of the gateway, so we can make sure we won’t miss the hall of waterfalls.
‘Angry but brief,’ Hickory says when Violet asks what kind of welcome we can expect. ‘Only a few Leatherheads. Lightly armed. We take ’em out, pick a boat, float away.’
We wind our way through the overgrown corridors, and I actually don’t mind the crystals. I count them, look for shapes in them, wonder what would happen if I shoved a bit into Roth’s ear, anything to avoid thinking about all the terrible things he could be doing to Dad right now. Torturing him, reading him, making his feet spasm and dance. Throwing him in some dark, cold and lonely cell. Worse, a cell packed with Tin-skins. On top of all that, there’s our upcoming river cruise to not-think about, and my possible connection to the Manor.
I mean, why deal with things you’re not ready to deal with?
But I can’t stay distracted for long. Hickory’s already testing my rules. When I tell him to slow down, he walks right in front of me. When I tell him to speed up, he walks too far ahead. Worst of all, he spins around and screams at me right when I’m ducking beneath a crystal stalactite. Violet yells at him, but I keep my cool.
I know what he’s trying to do.
‘It’s not gonna work, you jerk,’ I say, shoving him along. ‘Trying to scare me into causing another quake? Why the hell would you want me to cause one in here anyway? We’re surrounded by stone, in case you hadn’t noticed. Like, mountains of the stuff.’
‘I’m just curious, is all. What’s it feel like when it happens?’
‘It feels like shut-up-and-keep-walking.’
‘Like you’re part of the rock? Does it hurt?’
I trip him up and he stumbles into a mound of white crystal on the wall. Only just manages to get clear before a dozen foot-long daggers stab the air. ‘Did that hurt?’ I ask.
Once-Upon-a-Little-Violet steps between us.
‘You,’ she points at Hickory, ‘leave her alone. You,’ pointing at me now, ‘watch the walls. If this stuff blocks our path we’re screwed. And both of you, keep it down.’ Flick goes her knife. ‘Move it.’
Hickory draws ahead, a little too far again, but I let him go this time. We enter a rose-coloured corridor lined with statues, most of them covered by the crystals. They look like sparkling, people-shaped lumps. I decide to see if I can hold my breath till we reach the last one.
‘So what does it feel like?’ Violet asks. I shake my head. Nice try. Not gonna happen. ‘You’ll have to talk about it at some point, Jane. You can’t ignore something like this.’
‘Not ignoring it,’ I wheeze without breathing. ‘Just don’t want to think about it.’
‘You’re being stupid.’
‘Probably. But I’m allowed to be.’ My lungs can’t handle it. I huff and puff four statues from the end. ‘Look, I haven’t even got my head around the fact that you’re nearly as tall as me now. Actually, are – are you taller than me? Wait. No. See, you’re wearing boots.’
‘Jane –’
‘I need some time to think, Violet. I’m glad you’re here. Really. Just let me get to the heavy stuff in my own time, okay?’
‘Fine,’ she says.
But it isn’t fine. Two seriously overgrown hallways later, when we’re crawling on our hands and knees and I’m busy looking for animal shapes in the crystals, she’s at it again. ‘This isn’t just about you, you know. You’re smack-bang in the middle of it all, true, but we’re dealing with the fate of all worlds here.’
‘You’re more annoying than you used to be.’
‘You’re dumber than you used to be.’
‘Maybe I was always this dumb. Maybe you just forgot.’
‘Cut the crap, Jane. You have this power for a reason, so –’
‘Don’t call it a power.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it sounds lame.’
‘This … ability, then. You may not like it, but you can’t deny we’ll probably need to trigger it again at some point.’
‘Trigger it? No, no, no. No more slicing. I told you.’
‘But –’
‘My ability has almost killed us twice in a few days. Well, twice in six years for you, I guess. But still.’ I want to turn around and look at Violet, but I’m still crawling and there isn’t enough space between the crystals. ‘Or have you forgotten what happened at the festival?’
‘Of course I haven’t forgotten,’ she says. ‘But what if you could learn to control the quakes? You cause them when you get a bit … you know …’
‘Crazy?’
‘I was going to go with emotional, but yeah. And when your blood hits the stone during those moments, things really go nuts. It’s like it supercharges the connection. But what if you could command the quakes without losing your mind or spilling blood? It could come in handy, Jane. I mean, you just derailed a train. You’re a walking, talking weapon.’
‘It’s too dangerous, Violet. You said it yourself, people died at the festival. That’s on me. And you know what? It does feel like I’m part of the rock, and it hurts like hell. I feel it tearing apart, every crack. I can’t control that sort of – that sort of –’
‘Power?’
‘Yes. I mean, no. I said don’t call it that.’
‘But if you practise –’
‘No,’ I say again, more forcefully this time. ‘Look, you say I can cause the quakes because something happened to me inside the Cradle. Fine. But what happened? Did we really make it all the way to the foundation stone? If the Sea’s so dangerous, why didn’t it kill us? Does my dad have the connection too? Does my mum? Will she be able to tell us how to find the Cradle entrance? Or what the hell we’re supposed to do once we’re inside it? I mean, does the third key switch on some sort of ancient machine?’
‘I reckon so,’ Hickory butts in. ‘Bet there’s some infernal contraption in there. Gigantic stone cogs. Paddlewheels to channel the Sea. Turn the key, pull a few levers –’
‘The point is,’ I shout over him, ‘it’s guesswork. We don’t know, Violet. I don’t know. Every answer we get just leads to more questions, and I’m sick of it. So no, I don’t want to control the quakes. I don’t want to have anything to do with them. No. More. Slicing.’
‘And if we run into the Spectre that caught Elsa?’ Violet says. ‘
Have you thought about that? I mean, that was where she was Gripped, wasn’t it? What if it’s still there?’
‘I don’t –’
‘And what about the fact that Roth read John’s mind on the train? Huh? What if Roth saw the hall of waterfalls? What do we do if he’s headed there right now along a different path? What do we do if there’s a whole platoon of Leatherheads waiting for us?’
‘I don’t know!’
I shout the words so loudly it startles us both. I didn’t realise we’d entered a new hallway. Didn’t realise we’d stood up and stopped moving. This isn’t like us. Not like me and mini-Violet, anyway. Sure, we could annoy each other, but we never argued about anything serious. Me and mega-Violet’s a whole new ballgame.
We’re still trying to work out the rules.
‘I’m sorry, Jane, but the Manor brought me here to help you.’
‘So go beat up Hickory again or something.’
‘I heard that.’
‘Shut up, Hickory.’ I glance at Violet’s boots. Can’t help wishing they were little red ones caked in mud. Familiar boots. ‘Look, I know this is bigger than me and my parents. And maybe you’re right. Maybe I do have this – this thing inside me for a reason. Maybe I will need to trigger it again. But if I do, I’ll deal with it then. Right now, I need to stay focused on finding Mum, rescuing Dad, and taking them home – wherever home is for us now. Thinking about this any other way … it’s just too much, kid.’
I brace for another argument. Violet just stares at the sand. I set off again, following Hickory’s tracks, and that’s when she says it, quietly, almost to herself.
‘Don’t call me kid.’
A TIGHT SQUEEZE
By not far Hickory obviously meant really, really far because I swear we trek for hours. The Manor feels less and less Manor-ish with every turn. Older, rougher, more like a cave system than anything. A mineshaft riddled with holes and fissures. Enormous pillars of milky blue crystals breach walls and crisscross hallways, skewering the odd Leatherhead skeleton. Torn leather suits and gas masks hang from their bones.
Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds Page 19
