They were several blocks from the shop and started walking. The day was warm, and their clothing, which had been wet, quickly dried out.
Less than a block away from the shop, Squiggy grabbed Lenny by the lapel and pulled him into a nearby alley. “Lenny, did you see that?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Those two we’ve been following. They’re just down the street. You think they’ve been following us now?” Squiggy asked.
“Don’t be stupid. How could they possibly know where we are?”
“I don’t know, Lenny, but they got away from us good enough. Maybe they’re some sort of super spies?”
“I suppose it’s possible. That would explain why the boss wants them.”
“What do ya think we should do?”
“We watch them for now. If we get the chance, we grab them and let the boss decide what to do with them.”
Lenny peeked around the corner with Squiggy breathing down his back. He pushed Squiggy back and stood flush against the wall. Moments later, their quarry strolled past.
“Holy cow, that was close,” Lenny said, wiping his brow. “I could have reached out and taken a poke at them.”
“What do we do now?”
“We follow them like I said before. It’s perfect. We’re right behind them. They’ll never suspect a thing.”
“That’s why you’re the brains in this outfit, Lenny. You’re always thinking.”
“Gee, thanks, Squiggy. That’s real nice of you to say. Now, let’s get going before we lose ’em.”
~ * ~
“Do we go through here?” Jack asked.
His pocket had beeped, but despite keeping a close eye on his surroundings and looking inside every nearby crawler, crane, cart, and carriage, he didn’t see the two who seemed to be following them. They must be involved with the plot to destroy the piano company, and Jack was determined to not only catch the culprits, but to bring them to justice. He couldn’t shake the feeling he knew the two somehow. They was something familiar about those two.
He had to shake it off. Of course they looked familiar. He’d seen them so many times that day their faces were imprinted in his mind. He had to focus on the task at hand.
“Hello? Are you there?” Betsy snapped her fingers in front of his eye ports.
“Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”
“That much I gathered. Next time I’ll knock. Yes, let’s go through this passenger car. On the other side we can make our way back to the tractor. It appears our friend has already begun the loading.”
Huge gouts of smoke billowed from a massive crane atop the station. The crane’s claw delicately picked up one bundle of wood and expertly placed it inside the cart.
The crane and operator presented an interesting engineering problem. Jack was certain he could design a machine that could do the work autonomously rather than rely on a human at the controls. A human who might damage delicate cargo.
Still, this man moved the crane and claw with such precision Jack thought it entirely possible the operator might be able to pick pockets with the crane and go unnoticed. Well, unnoticed except for the incredible noise.
Betsy rapped her knuckles on his mask. “Focus, Jack. Focus.”
“Right, I’m sorry.” He adjusted his mask and looked about. No one had heard her use his real name. His identity was safe. “Don’t you think you should don your mask?”
“I shall don my mask when I feel the time is appropriate.”
She turned and grabbed the stair rail, but before she could get a foot on the first stair, a man appeared at the top. At first Jack didn’t think anything of the man in a long dark trench coat and top hat holding a black, silver-tipped cane. Only one thing made the man distinct looking. The mask.
It wasn’t a mask like Jack’s that covered his entire head. No, this was a simple affair that only covered the man’s nose and eyes. Even that didn’t disturb Jack. What did bother him was the fact the mask was striped in red, white, and blue. Not patterned like Old Glory, though. That would have put his mind at ease. No, these stripes ran in an entirely different pattern—the Union Jack!
Betsy turned to him and whispered. “British ninja. I’ve heard of these fellows. Stay quiet and let me do all the talking.”
He tilted his head and looked from her to the man in the Union Jack mask and back to her.
“Excuse us, good sir. May we pass? We have need to get to the other side of this passenger car.”
It was the British ninja’s turn to cock his head. Perhaps he thought they should be afraid. Perhaps he didn’t speak English. Perhaps he didn’t know what to do. The ninja turned and disappeared back into the passenger car.
“Hurry!” Betsy scurried up the steps and onto the passenger car.
Jack followed. Both stood at the top and peered into the car. All the seats were empty and there was no trace of the ninja.
“I wasn’t seeing things, was I?” she asked.
“No, I’m pretty sure we didn’t imagine the same thing.”
“Come on, we’ll have to look into this later. I’ll tell you about this on our way back to Sohmer and Company. I’ve heard that there might be British ninjas in town, and this is something I might need your help with.”
“Who are they?” he asked, trying to keep his voice low.
“They may be listening.” She held up a hand to shush him.
Jack looked up and down the tracks. “Betsy, there’s no one here.”
“Shhh, now follow me.”
She lifted the hem of her dress and glided down the stairs. The handrail felt a higher than it should. He thought he had his hand on the rail, but what he had a hold of moved with his hand like a lever. The steps shivered, and he had to jump from the train as the steps slid in.
The rest of the passenger car continued to vibrate and folded in on itself. It continued to condense and collapse until the car became nearly flat. Loud clacks and clangs came from the front and rear as it uncoupled, and once the sound stopped the passenger car slid sideways and under the station platform.
“Jack, what did you do?”
“I thought my hand was on the rail.”
“We don’t have time to deal with this. Let’s get to that shipment of wood.” Betsy trotted toward the tractor.
He followed. “Where is that passenger car going?”
“Most of the cars are collapsible. This allows them to be stored easily. You must have triggered the mechanism that put that car into storage.”
“Oh.” He picked up his pace to keep up with her.
Once they got to the tractor-trailer, a gang of men tossed ropes over the top and began securing the load. Now that they were off the platform Jack could take in the size of the shipment. On the trailer the wood had been stacked nearly forty feet high.
“Betsy, how are we going to get up there?”
“Why would we ride up there? I thought we were going to ride up front with the driver.”
“Who’s riding up front with the driver?” The man, with his rotund belly, greasy face, and dirty overalls, looked very similar to the man from the platform who now operated the crane.
Betsy curtseyed. “Good sir, my companion and I need to escort this shipment from the train station to the Sohmer and Company Piano Company.”
“Escort, eh? I ain’t never heard of no one escorting no shipment of wood nowhere before. This is highly irregular. Who are you anyway? Only workers are supposed to be on this side of the tracks, and you sure don’t look like no workers to me.”
She stepped closer to the man, glanced at his greasy coveralls, and stepped back. “We have permission from Mr. Sohmer himself to ensure this shipment arrives safely.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust me to deliver this? I’ve been doing this job for nearly forty years. It’s not like anyone pops up and steals a load of raw material. Especially not three and a half tons worth. Why don’t you two move along now and let me tend to my job? It’s not safe for civilians to be ov
er here. You’ll distract the workers.”
“But good sir—”
“Don’t good sir me.” The man made a shooing gesture. “Get back up on the platform where you belong. There’s man’s work going on here. I don’t need a woman and her pet, whatever that is, distracting my men. Go on now!”
She spun and grabbed Jack by the lapel and leaned in close. “Thank you for defending me. Now I have a plan. Let’s be quick about it.” She gave him a push.
“Where are we going? The shipment is back there. We must to stay with it. I’m sure the two I’m tracking are around here somewhere.”
“Yes, and there are British ninjas around here as well, and we can’t be standing around waiting for them to strike. We must get on that tractor, and we’re going to do it. Hurry and get onto the platform. I have an idea.”
“What are British ninjas? What are ninjas for that matter? I’m really confused.”
“Jack, you have to keep up. We haven’t much time.”
She led him to the spot where he inadvertently stored the passenger car. On the other side of the tracks a ladder went up ten feet to the platform. She crossed the tracks, ascended the ladder, and was moving down the platform before he could gather his thoughts and follow. By the time he got to the top of the ladder he could barely hear Betsy’s shoes clicking against the wood of the deck.
“Hurry up!” She called back without looking.
He trotted to catch up.
She stopped at the base of the crane and whistled.
The crane operator poked out his head. “What do you want? I already told you—”
“I need you to get us on that trailer.”
“I told you to go over there.” He pointed to the tractor-trailer.
“And I’m telling you that you must get me over there.”
“Just how do you expect me to do that?”
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head.
“Aw, now you can’t be serious,” the crane operator said.
She tapped her toe.
“You know what, I’m not getting in trouble for no dame. You get yourself over there.”
“I’ll be telling my father about this.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yeah, well I don’t care if your father is the mayor. I ain’t losing my job—”
“He’s Mr. Wilkes. I’m his daughter, Elizabeth.”
The man stood with his jaw slack for several seconds before he ducked back inside the crane. With a billow of black smoke the crane’s claw rose from the inside of the now empty container car and descended slowly to the deck.
“Get on Jack!” She took hold of one of the claw’s teeth with one hand and put a foot on the base.
He followed suit. He’d seen the crane operator expertly move the wood. That was inanimate. Jack wasn’t so sure they should be trusting their lives to this same person.
The claw came up slowly and swung over to the trailer, lowering them to within a few inches above the load of wood. They hopped off, and Betsy waved to the crane operator.
“Are you sure this was the best way? We could have gotten a zepcab and followed.”
She patted Jack’s chest. “And if something happened? We’d have to pay the cabbie then try to chase the people. No, this is the best way. We’ll be up high enough to see anything coming, and we have a great view of anything above. There should also be a ladder on the back of the trailer should we need to get down and deal with a situation.”
The tractor hadn’t taken off yet. He navigated his way to the top of the wood pile. Firstly, the wood made a great base with its flat surface. Secondly, the way the crane operator tiered the wood made it so they could view the entire street. Thirdly, the workers had the wood strapped in place making it a secure and stable.
Jack put his hands on his hips and scanned the area around the tractor. “This was a good idea.”
“Why, thank you, Mr. Kane.” She swatted his leg to get his attention.
He reached down and assisted her to the top of the wood pile.
“My pleasure, Ms. Wilkes.” He tipped his hat and bowed.
“I think after this shipment of wood is delivered safely, we should adjourn ourselves for dinner and continue this investigation after the sun has set.”
“After the sun has set?” He produced his chronometer and checked it. “That isn’t for another four or five hours. We can’t stop now. I have a feeling we’re getting really close. Those, what did you call them? British ninjas? Perhaps they have something to do with this. I strongly doubt they have an interest in the American piano industry, but they may be involved in some manner.”
“Jack, I’ve been telling you and my readers for years that the British conspiracy is alive and strong right here in New York. If something is afoot, they must be behind it. They simply must.”
He put his chronometer away and took out his tracking box. “But then what do the two fellows I’ve been keeping an eye have to do with all of this? There is no way two American boys would be working with the British to bring down the piano industry.”
She took a seat on the wood and patted her hand, signaling for him to follow suit. “Right now we don’t even know if they are working together.”
“Who are the British ninjas? I’ve never even heard of them before.” He sat next to her and returned the tracking box to his pocket.
After a deep breath, she began, “As you know, I’ve studied the British for quite a while. I’ve studied a lot of their history, and from what I’ve gathered, there was a large contingent of Japanese who migrated to many of the British colonies after the revolutionary war. The British were never ones to allow another culture to merge with them, rather they tend to absorb that culture into theirs.
“The British had a secret society of spies and special agents that comprised the best of the best. Many of these agents were foreign-born making it nearly impossible to detect them once they infiltrated a community or city. They would be free to do whatever it took to keep British interests safe and secure.
“You can see now why I publish my pamphlet to keep the public aware of what they are doing. Now that we’ve seen a British ninja near this wood, we need to really keep aware. It could not have been a coincidence he was there. They must be involved.”
Jack let all that soak in for a few minutes. As he did, the tractor started and left the station. He struggled to keep his balance, and she held him upright.
“I can see where you’d think that, Betsy, but we have no evidence the two people I’ve been tracking and have seen throughout the day are involved with these British ninjas in any way. We’ll have to assume, for the time being, they are not connected until we know.”
His pocket beeped.
~ * ~
The two minions followed the woman and the man in the mask to the train station. As closely as they watched, they lost them in the mass of people inside.
“We’re wasting our time. Let’s get out of here.” Lenny pulled on Squiggy’s arm and tried to lead the big man along.
The flow of people bumped and jostled them to no end and before they knew it, they’d burst through a doorway and out onto a platform.
“I’m glad we’re outta there.”
“You said it, Squiggy. Come on. Let’s return to the explosives shop and get back to the boss. He’s gonna be madder than a pit of pythons if we don’t hurry.”
“A pit of what?”
“Figure of speech. Let’s get moving.”
A silver-tipped cane poked Lenny in the chest. He looked up, and a man dressed in a trench coat and top hat gave them the once over. Lenny thought about pushing him away, but there was something about the way the small man stared as if he waited to see who would move first. The Union Jack mask covering up most of his face made him even more disturbing. Perhaps this was the agent they’d been sent to meet at the Waldorf Building.
“Mister Y?” Lenny asked hopefully.
Loud clanging erupted from one of the cars up the l
ine. The man in the top hat shifted his gaze. By the time Lenny and Squiggy turned around, the man was running full speed to a collapsing passenger car. On top were four similarly dressed men. It was almost as if they were in uniform.
“What do you make of that?” Squiggy asked.
“I wish I knew.”
The car completed its folding collapse and disappeared under the platform. Once the car was out of sight they saw the same man and woman they’d been running into all day trot across the yard. Even though they’d caught up with the two, Lenny suddenly wished he was somewhere else. It was uncanny how they kept running into each other. Almost as if the two were following them, instead of the other way around.
~ * ~
“Right there, Betsy, do you see them?”
It was possible she didn’t. Jack lowered a filter over his right lens that allowed him to better perceive the pattern and flow in the human traffic. For the most part people and vehicles moved either toward or away from them. Two people didn’t seem to fit with the traffic’s flow and had a stop and go, moving along diagonal lines compared to the normal traffic. There was also the fact one of them appeared to have smoke coming from some massive device on his back.
“Jack, sit down. It’s nearly dinner time and even if someone is trying to follow us, it’ll be a while before—”
Jack, still watching the movement of the traffic behind them, turned around to see why she stopped in mid-sentence. The reason was quite clear. She wasn’t there anymore.
“Betsy?”
A quick scan, and he could find no trace of her. He scampered down the length of the tower of wood and looked over the edge. If she had fallen then surely someone would have stopped to help her up. Jack rushed back to the top of the wood then leaned over the side but before he could continue down the other side a cane in his chest interrupted his progress.
From his bent position, he looked up into the face of a man in a top hat with a Union Jack mask. It could be the same man, but the eyes were different. The man smiled. Jack smiled back, but was sure the man couldn’t see the smile behind Jack’s mask.
The man kicked Jack in the face. This did little but cause Jack to jerk upright. The man who kicked him, on the other hand, doubled over in pain, dropped his cane, and fell off the trailer.
Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty Page 15
