City of Fire (City Trilogy (Mass Market))

by Yep, Laurence

  The officer nodded toward a bank of lights where new headlines streamed across. “We just saw it now.”

  “Well, the thief is right here trying to escape,” she said.

  The children were still where she had left them and they signaled to her.

  Roland had only moved a few paces away from the counter and was now talking with a beaming, bald-headed man.

  Bayang pointed at the disguised dragon. “There’s the thief.”

  Roland turned as the determined young officer bore down toward him. “Is there a problem, Officer?”

  When the bald-headed man turned, the officer stopped in mid-stride. “What’s the meaning of this, Jenkins?”

  Jenkins touched the visor of his cap respectfully. “This lady”— he indicated Bayang—”says that this gentleman”—he waved his hand now at the shape-shifting dragon—”is the museum thief.”

  Roland seemed amused. “What sort of prank is this, Pete?”

  “One in very poor taste,” Pete said.

  It seemed clear to Scirye that Roland’s money was protecting the thief as well as himself. It was too much for the girl to stand and she charged over.

  Scirye drew herself up and tried to sound like her mother when she was carrying out official business. “I represent the Kushan Consulate,” the girl announced. “They’ve got the ring.” As she waved a hand at them, the bundle of axes clinked. “Search them all. And their luggage, too.”

  “I am the manager of this seaplane port, young lady,” Pete spluttered. “Don’t tell me what to do. And don’t go about making such wild accusations.”

  Jenkins looked as if he were having second thoughts. Even so, he stuck to his guns. “Maybe so, sir. But we can’t let them go until we find out the truth.”

  The dragon must have had heard the clinking noise from within Scirye’s bundle and took the opportunity to whisper his suspicions in Roland’s ear.

  Roland raised his cane and knocked the rolled-up carpet from her arm. Though the fragment hung in the air, the axes with their golden shafts clinked loudly on the marble tiles.

  “I believe, Officer,” Roland drawled, “that you’ll find the axes were stolen from the museum.” He motioned his cane toward Bayang and the children. “There are your real thieves.”

  Scirye was furious when she saw that Jenkins was staring at them angrily. “He’s lying.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Roland,” Pete apologized.

  Roland raised a hand and fluttered his fingers. “No need. The poor granny must have gone senile, and she’s convinced her halfwit grandchildren about her fantasy.” Though he had spoken in a breezy tone, his eyes were hard.

  “Jenkins,” Pete said, “take this crazy mob away.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jenkins said miserably.

  Scirye

  When Kles wanted, he could be as huffy as a grand duchess who had just found a bug floating in her tea. He clapped his wings together with a loud snapping sound for emphasis. “How dare you arrest Her Ladyship?”

  Jenkins cut off the griffin. “No kidding? And just last week we had a screwball saying he was the King of England.” He smirked at Bayang. “And what are you? Her nanny?”

  Jenkins’s supervisor, Captain Honus, was a short, brown-haired man with a large head that seemed out of proportion to his body— almost as if someone had stuck a pumpkin on a body made out of wire. He turned his large head wearily so he could look at Jenkins. “What did you want to be when you were a kid?”

  Jenkins scratched his cheek. “I dunno. Maybe a cowboy?”

  “My mother told me to become a wizard,” Captain Honus grumbled, “but did I listen? No, I became a cop. And then when I retired, my wife told me to get a hobby, but did I listen again?”

  Jenkins grinned crookedly. “It doesn’t look like it.”

  “I took this job because I thought it’d be easy.” He gazed glumly at Prince Etre’s stiletto on his desk as if he wished it and his prisoners would vanish. “But every day seems to bring a new mess I have to clean up.”

  “Geez, we had no idea we were spoiling your day. So we’ll just leave,” Koko said, starting to sidle toward the door.

  Captain Honus jerked his head and Jenkins hauled Koko back where he had been standing. Then the captain picked up the telephone receiver. “I guess I’d better check this out with the consulate,” he said sourly and dialed the operator, asking her to get the Kushan consulate. After a moment, he put the receiver down. “The line’s busy.”

  “It’s probably all the press bombarding the consulate with questions,” Bayang suggested.

  The captain drummed his fingers on the desk. “Well, better put them in the cells until I can get through.”

  Scirye was disgusted. “But you’re letting the thieves get away.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion.” The captain shrugged.

  Suddenly Koko launched himself forward, knocking pens and papers to the floor as he slid across Captain Honus’s desk. The boy stretched his hand out imploringly. “Don’t throw me into the hoosegow. They made me do it.”

  Scirye muttered disgustedly under her breath. “What an akhu.”

  Leech was more open with his scorn. “Don’t you have any pride?” he demanded. “You knew what you were getting into it.” Seizing Koko’s collar, he tried to pull him from the desktop.

  When Koko twisted around on the desktop, pens, files, and framed photos crashed to the floor. “Don’t touch me.”

  The two boys rolled around, clutching at one another and swinging wildly, but they were so close the blows were ineffective. One of them, though, managed to knock off the captain’s cap.

  Captain Honus and Jenkins dragged Leech off of Koko and threw him roughly to the floor. “Put them in separate cells,” the captain panted. “They can cool off there while they’re waiting for the police to come from San Francisco.”

  Koko was in tears as he babbled for mercy, but the captain contemptuously pulled him off his desk.

  And though Leech was sporting a scraped elbow, he smiled briefly as he stood up.

  Koko was still complaining as Jenkins shoved all of them rudely out of the captain’s office and into a corridor. Barking came from behind a closed doorway. A sign on the door read, “Animal Quarantine.”

  The officer held out his hand. “And your bird—” He corrected himself as he gazed at the griffin’s fur. “I mean, your dog goes in there.”

  Kles’s wings snapped open and his beak parted to bite him.

  For once, it was Scirye who got to remind her griffin to behave properly. “Manners. We represent the Kushan Empire.”

  Kles settled back onto her gauntlet. “I beg your pardon, but I’ll have you know my ancestors were thinking and talking long before yours descended from the trees.”

  “He is also my companion,” Scirye said with great dignity. “Are you willing to risk a diplomatic crisis by treating him like a dumb beast?”

  “Well, no.” The officer scratched his ear. “But your dog… or is it a bird?” He settled for a more generic word. “I mean, your thingamajig can fit through the cell bars.”

  “He would never leave my side,” Scirye insisted.

  Captain Honus must have overheard through his open office door because he stepped into the corridor. “Handcuff that little windbag to her then.”

  The officer took out a pair of handcuffs. He snapped one around Scirye’s wrist and, after some head scratching, the other around the griffin’s waist.

  Now that justice was satisfied, Jenkins led them through a second doorway into a room with two holding cells on either side. The officer put Koko into a cell and Leech into the one next to him. Scirye, Bayang, and Kles all went into a cell opposite the boys.

  Koko threw himself at the bars, begging the officer to let him go.

  Kles gave him a contemptuous look and muttered darkly about cowards to Scirye.

  Leech sat on a bench, pretending to be in despair as he rested his head in his hands. He didn’t break the pose until
the officer had left.

  “Did you get something?” he asked softly.

  Koko kept right on shouting his pleas for freedom as he reached his right hand up his left sleeve and produced a large paper clip. Then, with an elaborate flourish, he took a letter opener from his right sleeve.

  “You’ve done this before,” Bayang observed drily.

  “A few times,” Koko agreed amiably. He resumed his loud pleas for mercy as he began to pick the lock with the clip and letter opener, working with all the precision and concentration of a surgeon.

  He bowed as his cell door swung open. “My, what a varied education,” Bayang grunted. Behind her, Scirye stood up and came to the bars to watch.

  “So have you,” Koko replied as he set to work on Leech’s cell. “You can learn lock-picking in a lot of places, but who teaches carpet flying?”

  “Who, indeed?” Bayang said carefully.

  Koko shot the woman a suspicious look and then went back to work. The next moment there was a click and the door swung open. “You’d think a new place like this would have better locks, wouldn’t you?”

  “Just be glad they cut costs somewhere.” Leech chuckled as he stepped into the corridor.

  As Koko and Leech started to walk past her cell, Scirye whispered, “What about us?”

  Leech shook his head. “You’re strictly dead weight. You couldn’t even outsmart a couple of airport flatfoots.”

  Scirye gripped a bar of her cell. “I would’ve come up with something.”

  “When are you going to realize that a spoiled rich girl like you just don’t belong with us?” Leech sighed. “Look. We’re doing you a favor by leaving you behind,” he said. “Go home and check on your mother. You’re lucky to have her. Leave the revenge to Koko and me.”

  Scirye felt a momentary twinge of guilt at the thought of her mother, but that was overwhelmed by the anger she felt at Leech’s arrogant attitude. Even though she knew she shouldn’t antagonize him, she snapped, “All my life, people have been telling me what to do, and you’re no different. Well, for once, I want to make my own choices.”

  Leech nodded slowly. “I guess I can understand that.”

  Scirye went on urgently. “If we hold you back, you can forget all about us. It’ll be our job to get ourselves out of trouble.”

  “Okay, we’ll get you out of the cell,” Leech said, but he sounded as if he were already having second thoughts.

  “Hold your horses,” Koko said and stared at the girl. “Who called me an ah-choo?”

  Scirye flushed. “It was akhu, and I… I judged you too harshly. I’m sorry.”

  “What is an akhu anyway, girlie?” Koko demanded.

  “A sort of rat,” Scirye confessed. “But I realize it wasn’t true.” She thought to herself, Yes, it wasn’t fair to the akhus.

  “Apology accepted,” Koko said, and swung his eyes toward the griffin on her shoulder.

  Kles’s feathers bristled on his head. “I have nothing to apologize for. And her name is not ‘girlie,’ it’s Lady Scirye.”

  Koko shrugged. “It’s no skin off my nose if you two are twins for the rest of your life.”

  Scirye reached behind her back and gave Kles’s tail a warning tug.

  Kles flung up a paw petulantly. “Oh, very well, a thousand apologies, et cetera, et cetera.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Bayang said. “Now release us.”

  Koko swung his index finger back and forth like a metronome. “Ah-ah-ah, toots. First, tell us why you didn’t identify yourself to Captain Honus right away?”

  “The agency wants to keep the magical division a secret, so we don’t advertise the fact it exists,” Bayang said. “I’m expected to get myself out of situations like this.”

  Koko gave a skeptical snort and jerked a thumb toward the door as he said to Leech, “Let’s go. Her story stinks to high heaven.”

  “You’re not going to leave us in here,” Scirye protested.

  “Once they get the consulate, you’ll be okay,” Koko said to her.

  “We have to help them,” Leech insisted. “They’re our friends, too, now.”

  “I am?” Bayang asked.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” Leech said.

  “My… professions a rather solitary one,” Bayang said thoughtfully. “It doesn’t lend itself to friendships.”

  Koko wrinkled his nose in disgust. “What have I always said about sentimental stuff?”

  “It’s a waste of time.” Leech shrugged.

  “Right,” Koko agreed. “It’s a luxury smart guys like us can’t afford.”

  Leech gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, buddy. I guess I’m just not as smart as you. Anyway, we’re going to need their help to get that dragon.”

  “Look, I’m sorry Primo’s gone,” Koko argued. “We tried to get his murderers and nearly got ourselves killed instead. Enough’s enough.”

  “Once you unlock their cell”—Leech looked sad but determined—”you can go your own way, Koko.”

  Koko rocked back on his heels, surprised and hurt. “But you and me are partners.”

  Leech leaned against the bars. “I can’t ask you to do something this dangerous.”

  “That’s for sure.” Koko began working on the lock, grumbling all the while. “You’re still just as wet behind the ears as when I found you. What’s the use of teaching you anything if you won’t listen?” In a minute, there was a click and the door swung open.

  Leech stuck out his hand. “Thanks, pal. When this is done, I’ll catch up with you sometime and somewhere.”

  Koko grabbed his friend’s wrist and tried to pull him along. “And I’m telling you to go with me.”

  Leech pulled free from Koko’s grip. “I didn’t leave one set of bullies behind at the orphanage to get under the thumb of another one.”

  Koko looked hurt. “You didn’t used to mind me telling you what to do.”

  “And I was grateful,” Leech said quietly, “because you taught me how to stand on my own two feet. So maybe I’m finally listening to my own mind and not other people’s.”

  “I never meant for you to ignore me, though,” Koko said. There were tears at the corners of his eyes as if he were ready to cry out of sheer frustration.

  “I don’t think Leech is as scared to be alone as you are, Koko,” Bayang said shrewdly.

  “All of you, quit your yapping. Everybody’s got to have a hobby, and mine’s keeping Leech out of trouble.” He rubbed his forehead. “But I ought to have my head examined.”

  “Ahem,” Kles coughed, and then tapped a claw against the handcuff cinched about his stomach.

  “Please,” Scirye added.

  “Okay, because you asked so nice,” Koko said, and had them free of the handcuffs the next moment.

  “Now I’ll need one of your hairs in addition to yours.” Bayang waved to the two other children.

  “What for?” Leech asked.

  “Ow!” Koko said as Bayang impatiently plucked a hair from his head. Entering his former cell through the open door, she laid the hair on the bench. Breathing on it, she muttered a spell and the next moment there was a replica of Koko sitting with a vacant expression.

  “For this,” Bayang said with a flourish.

  “Did you have to make me look so dumb?” Koko complained.

  “I think it’s an amazing likeness.” Leech grinned.

  “Of the harmless sort,” Bayang said, closing the cell door behind her as she stepped back into the corridor. “But even simple illusions have their uses.”

  Leech and Scirye voluntarily took hairs from their heads and Kles sacrificed a feather. Quickly, Bayang had images of all three acting like model prisoners in their cells.

  Moving quietly to the doorway of the holding cells, they peeked out and saw Jenkins feeding a form in triplicate into the typewriter. “Darn red tape,” he complained as he began to hunt and peck with his two index fingers.

  Bayang motioned them to step back. “What we need is a di
straction,” she said. They backtracked to the Animal Quarantine room. Shelves filled two walls with small cages on each. A regular menagerie of cats, dogs, snakes, and parrots immediately greeted them. In a larger cage against the third wall was a kangaroo.

  Bayang had no sooner opened the first cage before the children were helping her free the other animals. When even the kangaroo had been freed, Bayang opened the door and they shepherded the creatures outside.

  The freed animals erupted into the corridor, barking, meowing, squawking, and hissing with delight after their confinement. Bayang and the others made sure the creatures were heading toward the front door, listening to Jenkins and then the captain shouting.

  A few minutes later, they snuck back into the front room. The front desk was unoccupied now and through the doorway they could see Captain Honus’s office was the same way. While Scirye tried to call the Kushan consulate in San Francisco again, the others helped themselves to their belongings, which had been stuffed neatly into envelopes.

  Koko grunted to Bayang. “I still don’t trust you.”

  Bayang retrieved her purse. “We don’t have to be friends. We just have to be able to work together.”

  Frustrated, Scirye set the receiver back into the cradle. “Something’s still wrong with the consulate’s telephones.” Retrieving her stiletto from the envelope, she slipped it into her belt and then rolled up the axes in the carpet fragment again so she could carry it under her arm.

  She debated what to do with the gauntlet but slid that into her belt, letting Kles ride on her shoulder, which was his usual perch when her mother was not watching. With long practice, the griffin’s talons gripped her shoulder lightly but firmly.

  Then they walked out of the police station, trying to look more nonchalant than they felt.

  Bayang pointed inland to the recently built warehouses and hangars where there were as many trucks and people as in downtown San Francisco. “We can get lost in the crowd there.”

  If the terminal was the clean, pretty face of the seaplane port, the maintenance area where the seaplanes were serviced was its noisy, messy guts. Gone were the sculptures and flowers. New structures of a more utilitarian design had taken their place but were still huge enough to make the seaplanes seem like toys and the workers like ants.