by Simon Morden
The rest of the pirates filled the slopes, each gazing with wonder at the bizarre sight and the mean collection of buildings.
‘Is this supposed to be … ?’ asked Dalip, He knew that the real White City was the overgrown ruins down by the sea. This place was a shadow of it, barely a conscious aping of the fallen grandeur.
‘Yes.’ Simeon knocked his hat further down over his eyes. ‘Not much to look at, is it?’
‘No. But if this is where Crows came, this is where we’re supposed to be.’ Dalip felt his fist instinctively tighten about his machete’s grip, because there was Crows, standing amongst the robed figures, his tattered black cloak all but a shadow.
He searched for Elena in the faces around him, wondering what she’d do, now that she wasn’t alone and unarmed, but instead had an army at her back.
He didn’t have to wonder. She was already running forward, sabre outstretched.
‘Crows! Crows, we have come for you!’
‘So much for keeping a tight ship,’ said Simeon. Rather than be left behind, he started after her, catching her up and then pulling ahead.
Dalip felt his legs move, despite his better judgement, or because of it, he couldn’t tell. But he was advancing too, and with him Dawson, the steersman, Sebastian, and everyone else: a loose, uncoordinated wave, washing towards the strange robed figures, their flighty, dancing servants, and Crows.
They were spotted, although it wasn’t as if they were trying to hide any longer. Crows saw several faces he knew and had never expected to see again. He was the first to back away, but certainly not the last. All of them began to withdraw, those wearing robes first, their men afterwards, moving away from the stone cube they’d been so intent on dismantling. They headed down the slope towards the road and the buildings.
Elena picked up her pace. So did they.
Then it became a chase, and rapidly a rout, as the pirates raised their weapons and roared and whooped and ululated. They ran them down the street, and those in robes with their immobile white faces peeled off, heading to one door or another, thinning the pack down by twos and threes.
Dalip caught up with Elena, hooked his hand around her arm and pulled her back. She tried to shake him off, but he refused to let go.
‘Crows,’ she said.
‘We’re too spread out. Simeon, tell her.’
‘Chased the dastards indoors, but unless we go house to house, dragging them out by their scruffs, there’s no further advantage in our current position. Singh – you and Dawson gather the troops up at the defile, seal this place up tight like a cork in a bottle. I’ll hold the fort here until an orderly retreat – unlike our advance – can be achieved.’
Simeon sounded the horn, and the chasing pack slowed and milled about, staring up at the high, blank walls and tiny, out-of-reach slitted windows.
‘Come on, you sea-dogs. Rally and regroup. If the cowards won’t stand and fight, we’ll have to stir them in their lairs.’
Elena growled, and directed her frustration at Dalip.
‘We could have caught him.’
‘We were nowhere near catching him. And we know he’s here, that’s the important thing.’
‘This cannot wait!’ She backed away from him. ‘He must pay.’
‘He will. Just not this very second.’
‘If he escapes—’
‘We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t. But there’s no magic here: he can’t use his crows or cover himself in darkness or anything like that.’
‘You know,’ she said, ‘that his lying heart is the most dangerous thing about him. He needs no magic for that.’
‘Elena, we’ve cornered him and he’s not getting away. Let’s do what Simeon says, and you’ll have all the help you need to catch Crows.’
Dawson, holding the horn, sounded it again and started the general retreat towards the scattered cube structures. Dalip obeyed, and when she realised that everyone else was following, so did Elena, stamping her feet, cursing loudly and swiping at the air with her sabre. Dalip stayed away, and so did the others. Even Sebastian walked behind her, out of range.
They gathered amongst the stone cubes, which weren’t solid, but hollow, with heavy slabs making the roofs, and lockable doors built into the downslope faces. Which was interesting, considering that the robed people and their minions had been trying to pick one apart.
Dalip tried to find which one it was. Up close, they all looked the same, and it was only by carefully comparing where he’d been standing earlier with what he could see now that he found it, further uphill and at the end of a row.
The ground around it was no different – the cliff wall spalled shards like shattered bricks, so none of the buildings had used dressed stone. Just that where the edges of the other structures were straight, this one was ragged. Dalip circled it at a respectful distance, and wondered what it contained.
The door, when he tried it, was locked fast. But such was the dry-stone construction that he thought he might be able to peer through the cracks to see inside. The instant he put his hand on the wall, he felt a sharp sting. He jerked away, and clenched his fist tight. A bright drop of blood squeezed out.
When he thought he could, he unrolled his fingers and inspected the wound. Something had punched a hole in the palm of his hand, and it was bleeding. The steersman saw him and went to inspect the structure himself. Dalip waved him back.
‘Careful.’ He held up his hand as proof of the danger.
‘What’s inside?’
‘Something sharp.’ Dalip clenched his fist again. ‘They seemed very keen on getting it out.’
‘I’ll tell the cap’n.’
Simeon came over and inspected the problem.
‘If it was important to them, it’s important to us. Get it open.’ He frowned at door. ‘Have you tried knocking?’
‘Do you think it’d help?’ asked Dalip.
‘If it’s some fell beast inside, no, and we can safely leave it where it is. If it’s a captive of theirs, then the poor soul can be released into our care. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that.’
He strode forward and, avoiding any of the open stonework, rapped his knuckles on the thick wooden door.
‘Ahoy in there. Are you man, or monster?’
‘Fuck off.’
Dalip’s eyes went wide. ‘Mary?’
‘You can fuck off too.’
‘You know her? You’re full of surprises, Singh. Winkle the good lady out, if you please.’
Dalip approached, still nursing his hand. ‘Mary? It’s Dalip. You can come out now.’
There was silence. Then: ‘Dalip? Are you sure?’
‘As sure as I can be.’
‘Tell me something only Dalip would know.’
‘I …’
‘Well, go on, man,’ urged Simeon.
‘Boots. You wanted me to take someone’s boots, but only if they were dead.’
‘Did you?’
He looked down at the Wolfman’s boots. ‘Yes. Yes I did.’
The lock turned with a heavy click, and the door creaked open a sliver.
‘Come where I can see you.’
He stepped to one side, and he could see Mary’s dark eye flicker in the darkness. She looked him up and down, and after a moment, emerged blinking into the light. She had a slim dagger in her hand.
‘Did I do that to you?’ she asked.
‘This?’ He held up his hand. ‘Yes.’
‘Sorry.’ She shook her head. ‘What the fuck are you even doing here?’
‘I could ask you the same thing, but with less swearing. You went after Crows. You didn’t come back.’ He felt himself grow short of breath. ‘We thought you were dead.’
‘I had to stay with the maps,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t come back without them.’
Simeon stepped between them. ‘As touching as this unexpected reunion might be, I hear the call of treasure. Madam, does Crows still have the maps?’
‘Who the fuck is this clown?’
‘This is the pirate captain who took us on board, looked after us, sailed us across the sea and just chased those robed weirdos away.’ Dalip went to wipe the sweat away from his face with his hand, and winced as he inadvertently smeared himself with blood. ‘What happened to you?’
‘The maps?’ repeated Simeon. ‘We have an aversion to the land, and wish to be about our business. That business being, stealing the maps, spitting Crows like a spatchcocked hen, thumbing my nose at the Lords of the White City, and valiantly running away.’
‘You want the maps?’
‘Indeed. No greater prize exists in all of Down. Again, I ask you: does Crows still have them?’ The captain fixed her with a hard stare.
‘If you want Crows, then you’ll have to dig him out. He’s somewhere down there.’ She pointed over the top of the scree slope at the compounds. ‘These places are built like castles. You’ll have your work cut out for you.’
‘Indeed we will. We are, however, dread pirates, and shirking is not in our vocabulary.’ He bowed low, sweeping his hat off for the grand gesture. ‘Your appearance is most timely, and we are, as ever, pleased to serve the cause of freedom in this captive land. Dawson? Rally the troops. We have work to do.’
The horn brought the raiding party to order, and they moved as a mass, heading across the rocky slope towards the road. Mary called out to Elena as she passed by, but the blank stare that met her shout confused her.
‘I thought … what’s with her? Isn’t she, you know, glad I’m not dead?’
‘It’s complicated. She thinks you conspired with Crows to steal the maps from us, and get Luiza killed.’
‘But I didn’t.’
‘She’s not really worried about the truth. Promise me you’ll stay away from her until we can sort this out. She’s grieving, and Down knows it.’ Dalip looked at his palm, which had almost stopped bleeding, and was beginning to really hurt. ‘I should go with them. I’m part of the crew now.’
‘Where’s Mama?’
‘Back at the boat. She’s not exactly a fighter.’
‘And you are?’
‘For the right cause.’
She looked behind her at the stone shelter, then back again at Dalip. ‘I’ve got the maps here, in this shelter.’
‘You’ve what?’
‘Shut up. Not so loud. I went through some seriously fucked-up shit to get them, and I’m not going to hand them to Captain whatever-his-face-is, am I?’
‘God give me strength,’ he groaned. ‘I’ve got to tell them.’
She grabbed hold of his arm. ‘You do not. We need to get these maps out of here, back into Down proper, and work out what the fuck is going on. The ones wearing the long dresses – I don’t think they’re even human.’
Dalip pointed his machete at the backs of the ship’s crew disappearing over the rise. ‘They saved us – me, Mama, Elena – after you vanished. I – we – owe them.’
‘You might, but I don’t. Listen to me. Crows told us a whole load of bullshit: if there are any answers here, we’ll never find them. He brought the maps to the White City to give them to the Lords and Ladies, and in return, he thinks he’s going to rule Down. We need to find out how that happens, and we’re not going to if I hand everything over to your captain. Come with me, now, while they’re busy looking for Crows.’
Now he was breathless for an entirely different reason. ‘Is this worth people dying for? Because that’s what’s going to happen.’ He shook his head. ‘No. It’s not worth it.’
He tore himself free and ran after Simeon, the loose rock slipping and sliding beneath his feet.
21
As Mary watched him go, she remembered what Dalip had said, what seemed like an eternity ago. Whoever controlled the portals, controlled not just Down, but all of the Londons over all time. That was what Crows really wanted. And if the maps really did allow that, then whoever caught her first would win. Who would she rather see in control: a bunch of faceless monsters that Crows seemed happy to deal with, or a shipload of pirates that now inexplicably included Dalip, Mama and Elena?
There was really only one person she trusted, and that was always and only ever going to be herself. And even then, she wasn’t so sure.
Perhaps she could have gone after Dalip. She could have tried to bring him down and stop him, but he wasn’t the timid, skinny little thing he’d been before. She wanted him to come with her, and the maps, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
‘Fuck,’ she said, and retrieved the bag, holding it by its gathered neck. She stood at the entrance to the shelter and looked hurriedly around. Where could she go?
There were two ways out of the valley. Behind her, through the gorge, and ahead of her, across the river. The stepping stones and the path up the cliff were totally exposed. And the way through the narrow gorge was blocked, not just by the ferryman at the other end, but by a couple of lairy-looking pirates on guard at this.
There was nowhere in the valley she could hide, was there? All of the compounds were out: apparently that was where the Lords and Ladies lived, when they weren’t ripping their fake faces off. The shelters were, as she’d already proved, nothing but traps.
There was one building left that might offer her sanctuary: the dome-roofed circular structure. If it was some sort of church, then at least no one would attack her there, surely? It might be better than that, too. She could make a break for it, come nightfall. Even without magic to disguise her, she was good at sneaking.
The pirates would have to leave empty-handed once they’d flushed Crows out, and by the time the White City had reorganised itself, she’d be long gone, back into a place where magic worked. No Dalip, no Mama with her, but finding a place where a castle might grow wasn’t going to be difficult, not with all those maps. Down would provide. Wouldn’t it? The Red Queen would start on her own, but she wouldn’t stay that way for long.
She spent a second relocking the door behind her, and flinging the key wide and high so that no one would find it amongst the stones, then set off as fast as she could, arms windmilling to try and keep her balance, ignoring the taluses clawing at the soles of her feet.
She knew she was clutching at straws: here, where there was no magic, no sudden unexpected luck would fall in her favour. Despite that, she was still the sort of girl who’d leave herself open to one last let-down, just so she could tease herself with the thought that she was a worthless fuck-up who destroyed everything good in her life.
Dalip was just over the rise, telling his captain that she’d lied to them all, and the maps were right there. They’d be swarming back any moment to find her and force her to hand them over. Or run her through and prise them from her cold, dead hand.
She darted left, into the gap between the high walls of two opposing compounds, and stopped at the corner, opposite the round building. She had to cross the open space between the two, yet she could hear the pirates’ horn sound to signal yet another change in direction. She hung on to the wall, back pressed to the sharp stones, head tilted back towards the slit of sky. She was overlooked by the windows of the next compound down, and she thought she could see a flicker of movement behind one of them.
How long before the robed creatures regrouped and came after her as well? What if they decided to use force themselves, rather than rely on their servants? They’d outnumber the pirates then, and they certainly hadn’t revealed more than a fraction of what they were capable of.
She swallowed hard, and ran to the side of the domed building, flattening herself against it as if her red dress might disappear when turned sideways. She crept carefully around half of it, and there was no door.
The other half was
exposed – no sheltering walls to hide her. The pirates had headed back towards her stone shelter. She could move another quarter of the circumference around.
Still no door.
If she stepped out any further, she’d be seen. It’d take them a little while to spot her, and a little longer to reach her. There was nothing for it but to show herself and hope.
She was almost back to where she’d started when the cry went up. Which would have still given her time, if there had actually been a door for her to open and bar behind her. There was nothing. The circular wall was as blank as the roof. No door, not even the hint of a door. No way in, no refuge.
That, it appeared, was the end of that idea.
She was out of viable options. Time to just pick something and do it. So she ran down to the road, turned left and along to the sharp bend, where the track met the ridiculous stepping stones and wound up the side of the valley. The noise of rushing and clattering told her that the pirates were behind her, and she didn’t need to look back to check.
She skipped off the road, her skirts flying. The Lords and Ladies were all watching her now, openly from their first-floor windows, every one of them seemingly crowded with faces. Could she use them? Dare she?
‘What are you waiting for? Come and get me!’
The slope speeded her up. She drew level with the building by the river as the door was just opening. Her path flattened, and the chasm the river rumbled through was right in front of her, the thin pillars of stone looking increasingly dangerous as she closed on them.
She couldn’t hesitate. She pushed off from the edge, hit the first square on, took the second one safely, and very nearly missed the third completely. Stumbling was out of the question. It was a long way down, and she was carrying the wealth of Down in one hand.
‘That’s quite far enough, young lady.’ It was Simeon.
She stopped, halfway across. The pillar she was on was wide enough for both feet, but not much more than that. She looked at the far shore: three more pillars to go. She could manage those. If she reached the bottom of the stairs, she could climb up to the top of the cliff, and back into the magic.
