The Skeleton Clock

by Justin Richards

  The tentacle slapped against Jake’s foot, and he leaped through the narrow gap after Sarah, into the darkened room beyond.

  They slammed the door shut. The light faded to a tiny strip round the door frame. Then the door hit something and stopped. Slowly, it started to open again.

  ‘It’s getting in!’ Sarah shouted. ‘It knows where we are.’

  With all his remaining strength, Jake leaned into the door and pushed. An ear-splitting screech filled the air. There was an unpleasant, wet sucking noise. Then the door slammed shut. And everything was utterly dark.

  Chapter 19

  ‘Great,’ Sarah said out of the darkness. ‘Now what do we do?’

  ‘We stay in here,’ Jake said. ‘Until that thing goes away.’

  There was a muffled thumping coming from the other side of the door.

  ‘And what if it doesn’t go away?’

  Jake didn’t answer that. He was feeling round the frame of the door. ‘Mandrake turned on lights, we saw him.’

  His fingers grazed a protruding switch. He pressed it and the harsh white lights came on, making them both blink.

  ‘Well, if we get bored waiting,’ Sarah said, ‘at least there’s plenty to read.’

  They were in a metal-lined square room. It wasn’t very big – perhaps twelve feet across. But the walls were lined with shelves.

  ‘It’s not all books,’ Jake said. ‘What’s all this stuff?’

  He pulled a plastic case from a whole shelf of identical cases. The lid was transparent and inside he could see a silver disk. ‘DVD’ he read. ‘Could be anything.’

  Sarah was examining a row of small cardboard boxes. There were full of reels of what looked like film. But when she held them up to the light, they could see tiny images of pages of text. ‘Micro-film,’ she read off the side of one box. ‘Micro is about right.’

  In one corner, the shelving stopped to leave space for a wooden desk. A flat screen and a keyboard stood on the desk. A computer, Jake realised, like Revelle had in his office.

  ‘He’s got some serious stuff here. And he’s gridded for power. I wonder where he gets the money.’

  ‘Selling information to Miss Patterson and others,’ Sarah guessed. ‘This must be where he keeps all the good stuff, the valuable books. Knowledge and information he doesn’t want anyone else to have.’

  ‘Unless he sells it to them, you mean.’ Jake turned slowly in a complete circle, taking it all in. ‘So much information. Where do we start?’

  ‘Start?’ Sarah said. ‘What are we looking for?’

  ‘I don’t know. Anything useful. Anything about what they’re up to – Mandrake and Miss Patterson. Anything about the chess pieces and that muttering Head.’

  ‘The shelves are labelled,’ Sarah said. ‘But we need something more specific to look for.’ She walked slowly round the room, reading the labels. ‘Genetics. Atomic Theory. Hansard, whatever that is. Whatever any of this is.’

  ‘Azuras,’ Jake said. ‘I’ve heard the word before, I’m sure. Miss Patterson said something to Mandrake about Azuras, and it was the name of the ship the diving bell crashed into. Or part of the name.’

  Sarah was frowning. ‘I’ve heard it before as well. I can hear someone saying it. A man’s voice. Very quiet. I was…’ She closed her eyes, trying to think back to when it must have been. ‘Wasn’t my father…’ Her eyes snapped open. ‘I was with you – remember?’

  Jake shook his head. ‘No. No, I don’t. Where could it have been? Are you sure it was me?’

  ‘It was Atherton,’ Sarah realised. ‘He said something about Azuras. When he told us to take that clock. What does it mean?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jake told her. ‘But it keeps cropping up, so it must be significant.’

  They started either side of the door, working their way round the room, reading the labels on the shelves and examining the books and documents. They ignored the DVD discs and the microfilms. The noises from outside had faded and stopped, but neither of them wanted to risk looking to see if the Kraken was gone. And they had a purpose now, something they could achieve.

  At last they found what they were looking for. It was a book, on the shelf right next to the desk as if Mandrake liked to keep it to hand. Sarah lifted it down, reading the faded gold lettering on the dark leather spine:

  ‘Gilgamesh, Beowolf, Azuras and Other Legends of Old.’

  ‘That must be it,’ Jake exclaimed.

  ‘Oh, you don’t say?’

  Sarah was already opening the book on the desk. It was old, with brittle yellow pages. The title page gave no date, but it described the book as ‘Being a translation from the original ancient languages by Tristan de Beauville’.

  The text was printed, but each section started with a full-page illustration that looked as though it had been drawn and coloured by hand. One showed a man standing on an island looking out over a flooded valley. People were swimming to safety as small stone-built houses were swept away.

  The next section started with a painting of a huge hairy creature bearing down on a warrior holding a sword.

  Then Sarah turned to another picture. Printed across the top of the page was a single word: ‘Azuras’. Below this was a human head, staring out of the page at them. Its eyes were dark and empty as if it was a statue, and although the colour was flaking off with age, the head was painted gold.

  ‘This is it,’ Sarah said quietly. ‘The Legend of Azuras.’

  She turned the page, and they both leaned closer to read.

  *

  Long ago and long forgotten, Azuras the Great sought the secret of eternal life, which he believed was known to The Ancients. For years he toiled and laboured. He sought wisdom and he experimented endlessly. But still the Great Secret eluded him.

  Azuras was a mighty leader in his country, which is many miles and many moons-travel away from here. The wisest man in all the land was Rahan, and Azuras was sure that if anyone held the secret of eternal life it would be him. Azuras also knew that Rahan would part with no secret unless it benefited all the people, and all the people ruled over by Azuras saw their ruler as a mighty tyrant.

  So Azuras devised a ruse, a way of tricking Rahan the Wise so that he would distil a potion – an elixir – that would allow whoever drank it to live forever.

  But having brewed the potion, Rahan realised he had been tricked. He caught Azuras in the act of drinking the elixir. Rahan raised his sword and struck the head of Azuras from his body, before – or so Rahan hoped – the elixir could pass down his throat and bestow upon him the longevity he so richly craved.

  Seeing the fate that had befallen their leader, and fearing the powers of Rahan, the bodyguards of Azuras sealed the chamber where both men were. Orders were given that it should not again be opened until Rahan was sure to be dead.

  For a hundred years the chamber remained sealed, until it was opened again by Castigor – great grandson of Azuras, who had succeeded Elman the son of Azuras and Wichlan the son of Elman. Inside Castigor found Rahan the Wise, ancient and shrivelled but still in the best of health, playing chess.

  The pieces of polished ivory were intricately carved and the chess table was of the same material embossed with images of war depicting the chess pieces in combat. Each and every square on the board was an ornate pattern carved into the surface.

  Each and every chess piece could move on its own, directed by the players’ instructions and making its way unaided across the board. As a piece moved to a new square, it slotted into its allotted space, turning a mechanism that kept account of the movements and would allow no wrong moves or deliberate deception.

  But the strangest thing that Castigor witnessed was not the chess set, or even the carved table or the moving pieces. It was not his grandfather’s enemy who survived despite the years and the solitude and the lack of sustenance. It was Rahan’s opponent in the game at chess – a golden head.

  Mounted on a stone plinth, it was the head of a statue. But its eyes could
see, and it could speak – calling out the moves of the game... And as it called out each move, so the appropriate pieces on the table made their way across the board as if they had a life of their own.

  ‘Our time is ended,’ Rahan said as he finally won the game and took the pieces from the board. While the golden head protested and sobbed in frustration, Rahan the Wise set the pieces back on their starting squares on the chess table.

  And it was now that Castigor recognised the head. For the carved features were the image of his great-grandfather, Azuras. The elixir had worked its power and all that remained of Azuras was his head – doomed to live forever.

  *

  Sarah closed the book. ‘It’s just a story,’ she said.

  ‘Though it does explain your talking Head,’ Jake told her.

  ‘It’s not mine. You think it could be true?’

  Jake shrugged. ‘The Head exists. They were talking about Azuras. I think Mandrake and Miss Patterson think it’s true. At least, some of it.’

  ‘I suppose legends are based on truth. Then they get distorted and exaggerated as the years go by. As they are told and retold, changed and embellished.’

  ‘There has to be something in it,’ Jake said. He counted off the points on his fingers as he spoke: ‘There’s the Head, the chess table and the pieces. The mention of Azuras by name.’

  ‘What about Atherton’s clock? Why did he mention Azuras when he was giving us the clock? This doesn’t say anything about a clock.’ She tapped the cover of the book. ‘And the monsters?’

  Jake glanced at the door. ‘Like that thing out there. And the Phibians.’

  ‘The Phibians aren’t monsters,’ Sarah snapped back, surprising Jake with her sudden anger.

  ‘OK, right. They’re… Well, I don’t know what they are.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Sarah said quietly. ‘It’s just… Being stuck in here, you know?’

  ‘I know.’

  They stood in silence for several moments, listening for any sounds from outside.

  ‘I think it’s gone,’ Jake said at last. ‘We should take a look.’ But he didn’t relish the idea.

  ‘Be careful,’ Sarah warned.

  Jake got ready to open the door. There was a simple handle on the inside. Sarah was standing by the light switch. Jake nodded, and she turned off the lights.

  Carefully, gently, slowly, Jake turned the handle. There was a click as the catch disengaged. He pushed the door open, just enough to let in a strip of flickering light from the tunnel outside. Just enough to see that the tunnel seemed deserted.

  He listened, then hearing nothing pushed the door open a little more. He gripped the handle tight, ready to pull the door shut again if he heard or saw anything. If a tentacle reached round it and tried to grab him.

  But there was nothing. Breathing deeply with relief, he opened the door fully and the two of them stepped out into the tunnel.

  Sarah looked round anxiously. ‘Which way do you think it went? We don’t want to meet it coming back again.’

  Jake shut the door. ‘Let’s go back to Mandrake’s. Then down the tunnel to the White Tower and see if we can get out that way?’

  Sarah nodded. ‘We don’t have much choice. You know,’ she said as they started back down the book-lined tunnel, ‘the scan of the Head that Miss Patterson did – it showed what looked like a skull inside it. A human skull.’

  ‘Azuras?’

  ‘Depends how much truth there is in that old story. Mandrake might know.’

  Jake stopped dead. ‘Maybe you can ask him,’ he whispered.

  A figure was approaching them along the tunnel. It was Gabriel Mandrake.

  ‘He’s seen us,’ Sarah said.

  ‘Maybe we can rush him. Get past and run for it.’

  But three more figures were appearing out of the shadows behind Mandrake. The light glittered on their shimmering scales and made their large pale eyes seem to glow.

  ‘Ah, young Jake isn’t it?’ Mandrake said as he approached. ‘And the resourceful Miss Hickson. Miss Patterson and I were wondering if you could help us with a little experiment.’ He walked slowly and purposefully towards them. I think Miss Hickson knows what I mean.’

  Chapter 20

  The tunnel ended in another of the large metal floodgates. Revelle opened it slowly, wondering what he would find the other side.

  It opened into the back of the large chamber where he had seen the Phibians coming in from under the water. As before, there were scientists working quietly at desks and benches, or sifting through the pile of detritus in the middle of the chamber. But there was no sign of any of the Phibians.

  It had worked before, and it might work again, Revelle thought. He closed the floodgate behind him and walked purposefully across to the metal stairway. He didn’t walk too fast, he nodded and smiled at several of the white-coated scientists and technicians who glanced up at him.

  ‘Are you looking for Miss Patterson,’ a woman with dark hair and spectacles asked, looking up from a computer screen.

  ‘I am,’ Revelle said. ‘Any idea where she is? I’m supposed to be meeting her in a few minutes.’

  ‘She took Gantman and Kline to examine the Head,’ the woman said. ‘Some new project she wanted to discuss.’

  Revelle nodded. ‘That’s the meeting. That’s what I’m here for. Thanks so much.’

  Even if he could carry it on his own, which he doubted, now was obviously not the time to try to steal away the precious Head. He could try to hide it somewhere, but he would rather not alert Miss Patterson. Better to get out of the White Tower and report in to the Watch. He couldn’t see Albright agreeing to arrest Miss Patterson, but he couldn’t stop Revelle arresting Mandrake for the murder of the Revenue Officer. Especially as Albright was probably at home by now anyway. But he’d make doubly sure the paperwork was in order.

  No one challenged Revelle as he made his way out of the White Tower. The whole building was illuminated by huge spot lights that must eat up electricity. There was a boat dropping off a group of Defeaters ready to come on duty for the night shift. Revelle flashed his Watch badge and the boatman agreed with a scowl to take him to the Watch Tower.

  ‘You’ll get paid,’ Revelle assured him. ‘Give me your license number and I’ll put in a chitty as soon as you drop me off.’

  The boatman gave a hollow laugh. ‘Thought you said I’d get paid.’

  ‘Tell you what,’ Revelle said. ‘You wait for me at the Watch Tower, and I’ll pay you myself. As soon as you get me to Mandrake’s.’

  The boatman’s eyes narrowed as if he thought this was some trick. But he grunted and nodded, and started his motor.

  ‘Couldn’t afford the fuel if it wasn’t for the contract with the Defeaters,’ he told Revelle after a few minutes. ‘Any contracts going with the Watch, you know about?

  ‘Doubt it,’ Revelle admitted. ‘Anyway, we’ve probably got less money for fuel than you have.’

  The boatman’s scowl slid into a grin. ‘You could be right at that.’ He nodded back towards the White Tower, glowing impressively in the spotlights. ‘Nice to see someone has fuel and money to burn, though.’

  *

  Despite the fact it was after nine o’clock at night, Cath was at her desk and Albright was in his office.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Revelle asked Cath. ‘You should have left hours ago.’

  ‘Yeah, well you know how it is,’ she said. She ushered him quickly back out of the office and on to the spiral stairway outside. ‘When someone important from the White Tower sends a message that an Officer of the Watch has been causing trouble and they want him arrested and delivered to them immediately without him having a chance to speak to anyone…’

  Revelle stared at her. ‘Which Officer is that?’

  ‘Like you don’t know.’

  Revelle blinked. ‘Oh,’ he said realising.

  ‘Albright’s doing his nut. He’s got Mason down at the docks, Henley is checking that floating jungle you call
your home.’

  ‘It’s a garden. And it is my home.’

  ‘Well, whatever it is, you can’t go back there. So what are you going to do?’

  He was thinking quickly. Obviously Miss Patterson wanted things contained. She didn’t want him talking to anyone, and she wanted him under arrest. If not dead. ‘I need to see Albright,’ he decided.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘He may be the only friend I have.’

  ‘Oh thanks.’

  ‘Apart from you,’ he added quickly. ‘I know you’ll do what you can for me.’

  ‘I will,’ she said seriously. ‘But don’t worry. That doesn’t mean we have to go out together or anything.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Joke,’ she explained. ‘Ha ha,’ she added humourlessly. ‘Albright’s in his office. You want me to come with you?’

  ‘Better if he thinks you don’t know anything about this.’

  ‘Revelle,’ she said, ‘I don’t know anything about this. Except that you’re in deeper than ever before and you’ve upset some really important people. So – you going to tell me?’

  ‘I upset a lady called Miss Patterson at the White Tower. I don’t know what her status there is, but she’s important. And she’s…’ He wasn’t sure where to start. ‘She’s up to no good and she has to be stopped.’

  ‘So what are you going to do?’

  ‘I’m going to try to get Albright off my back. Then I’m going to arrest Gabriel Mandrake.’

  ‘And that will help – how, exactly?’

  ‘It’ll make me feel a lot better. And it might just keep two kids alive.’

  ‘That boy who was here? The waterlark, Jake?’

  ‘And the Toymaker’s daughter. That OK with you?’

  She nodded. ‘Tell Albright I’ll come with you to Mandrake’s. You might need help.’

  *

  Jackson Albright wasn’t surprised to see Revelle. He’d stayed at the office because he expected that was where Revelle would turn up. Knowing how politically naive the man was, he probably hadn’t even realised Miss Patterson was after his blood.