by Clive Mullis
They were in the Marshes, an old area of Gornstock famed for its bohemian attitude and architecture: now, an eclectic mix of old and new, but it still retained its original ambience. Cornwallis’ father had bought a property here for when he didn’t want to go home, consequently, with the rich buying up properties, it became a very well-to-do area.
In the old days, The Marshes had been known as The Marchess, for reasons nobody could fathom, but over time, the name modified into its current form.
Cornwallis climbed out and stood looking down the street. Big old houses mingled with chic eating places and bars; most times, the area didn’t see much life until later in the evening so it had yet to get into full swing. It took him a moment to get his bearings, but when he did, he smiled.
‘Out you come, girls. Coggs is right. They’ve arrived.’
The street the cart had gone down led to one of the most important and feared buildings in old Gornstock. Now, it had become a genteel members club for the very rich, but in the old days, the Morris Ring would meet there to let its hair down. It was a den of iniquity, a hotbed of vice with gambling, girls and drink. All interests were catered for, nothing was taboo: rumour had it that criminals were taken there for the sole purpose of entertainment for the Ring, and the Ring were very fond of thinking up new and inventive punishments. Old documents were discovered during the clubs refurbishment, where it appeared they marked out of ten their impressions of said punishments.
Beneath the building, in the cellars, there were tunnels, and no one knew where exactly those tunnels went, as over the years, they had either collapsed or been bricked up.
Cornwallis now suspected that one of the tunnels led to the Yard. He wondered how the feelers were going to get in, but then he realised that the barrels could well look like beer and wine to the uninitiated. A delivery that could get them into the cellars.
‘Wait here, Coggs,’ said Cornwallis, as he beckoned the girls to come with him.
There were quite a few people out and about: some for an early evening stroll, some coming home from work, and they “Good eveninged” their way down the street towards the dead-end, where they paused.
Cornwallis took a peek and then grabbed hold of Winnie. ‘They’re offloading, let’s get a closer look.’
Leaving the other two to wait, he and Winnie edged into the street. They walked slowly, but not too slow as to raise suspicion. Up ahead, the cart had parked next to the club. The hatch on the street pavement had been opened, and the feelers rolled the barrels down into the depths. As they walked closer they began to see a little more, then suddenly Cornwallis turned and folded Winnie into his arms.
‘Don’t look ahead, there’s a group of men just on the far side. I wondered how just the three of them were going to get all those barrels through. Now we know.’
The three feelers made quick work of getting the barrels down the chute and into the cellar. As the last one banged and bumped its way down, somebody jumped on the cart and began to turn the vehicle. The group of men emerged from the shadows and began to dive into the cellar.
What the cellarman thought at the influx of draymen was anyone’s guess, but Cornwallis thought that he would probably be fast asleep anyway at that very moment.
‘Come on, let’s get back,’ he said to Winnie, as the cart trundled past. He daren’t look to see the driver.
Olive, Hope and Mindy were where he’d left them, standing around the corner. He had a dilemma: should he risk allowing one or two of them to help him?
The empty cart could move faster now and he didn’t have much time to think. ‘Olive, you with me and Winnie, Hope and Mindy get back to Coggs as quickly as you can and follow the cart. I suspect it will go to the Yard. Find one of our team, there will probably be someone in the nearest underground, and let them know what we’re doing and that we might need some help. With luck, we will get into the Yard from beneath.’
‘Yes, Mr Cornwallis,’ replied Hope and Mindy in unison. They turned and then ran off to Coggs.
Cornwallis took a deep breath. ‘Right, girls. Let’s go.’
Frankie eased past the underground entrance that Rose had just dived into and continued to follow Magot and Foley, who turned at the junction towards the Yard. He slowed a little more and eased into the traffic. Immediately, he pulled over to the left.
‘Verity? You still there?’
‘Yes, Mr Kandalwick.’ Verity stepped out into the light.
‘Good. You see that cart over there? Well, that’s the one. It’s full of stuff that goes bang. Jump up here and we’ll see where it stops.’
She jumped up and sat down quickly, excitement running through her veins. For the first nanosecond, she thought she’d sat on a cushion, but by the second nanosecond, she realised that it wasn’t. The cushion came alive.
‘Aargghh! Shit!’ said the cushion, before releasing a sharp hiss and sharp claws.
Verity jumped up in alarm.
‘Sit down,’ ordered Frankie.
‘It’s a cat.’
‘Of course it’s a cat, what do you think it is?’
Verity stared down as Fluffy stared up.
‘Shift over Fluffy, and give her some room.’
Fluffy did and Verity gingerly sat back down.
‘You have a talking cat.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘Sorry, thought you all knew,’ replied Frankie.
‘No, well, I didn’t.’
‘Well, youse do now,’ answered Fluffy in a huff.
Magot and Foley had brought the cart to a stop and were now just sitting there as if waiting for something. Frankie pulled over again.
‘Jules?’ he called.
‘Here, Mr Kandalwick. That looks like the thing we’re after, that cart over there,’ and she pointed.
‘It is, now go and round up all the other girls. You need to go to the underground. Sergeant Morant is there,’
‘Okay, Mr Kandalwick.’
Jules hurried off into the dark as Frankie parked up. Fortunately, there was a bit of traffic around which made blending in a little bit easier.
Frankie pondered the situation whilst Verity and Fluffy eyed each other warily. Eventually she succumbed and began to stroke him. Fluffy began to purr.
‘Not so loud,’ suggested Frankie, giving him a nudge with his elbow.
‘Sodding ‘uman’s,’ replied Fluffy.
Frankie stared ahead. He wondered why they had parked the cart in that particular spot and what they were planning to do. This cart seemed to have a smaller quantity of barrels, so the other cart had the bulk, but where had it gone? He knew that Jack followed it, but he wondered what was happening, where he had gone, and what sort of situation he’d found himself in. No doubt he had it all under control — or at least he hoped so.
The girls started to drift past as Jules relayed the message. Up ahead the target still just sat there and he reckoned someone had got their timings wrong. If it had been him doing the planning then it would certainly be going a little slicker than this — bunch of amateurs, he thought.
As the last girls filed by, Frankie stopped Hettie and Bragwin, and they were eager to see what would happen next.
‘Stay here and keep an eye on that cart,’ he said. ‘You can join Verity here. Can any of you drive?’
‘I can, Mr Kandalwick,’ said Hettie.
‘Good, then you can swop places with Verity. ‘I’m going to the underground. One of you come and fetch me if something begins to happen.’
The girls nodded and Hettie jumped up as Frankie jumped off, Fluffy hot on his tail.
Verity broached an idea and the other two eagerly nodded their agreement. There would be a bit more of a risk for Hettie as she had spent all day in the Yard, and might well be recognised, but nobody should recognise either her or Bragwin.
As Frankie turned the corner, two of the girls decided to have a wander.
Arm in arm they began a slow walk up the road, back where they had just come from, towards the ca
rt with the barrels. They had a simple plan: just walk far enough up and then cross the road and come ambling back down and see if they can see anything which might give them some help. It gave them a sense of purpose, and if they saw nothing, then they hadn’t lost anything either.
They could see the cart on their right as they walked up and they noticed that the two feelers on board were getting a little agitated. They seemed to be arguing with each other.
Verity and Bragwin followed the path along until they had gone a good couple of hundred yards past and then stopped, turned around, and began to walk back. They crossed the road and now slowed their pace even more as they approached the cart.
They wanted to see why they’d parked the cart in that particular spot. As the girls got close, they could see that a path led down between two parts of the building. They couldn’t see where it led, but it was definitely a way in. The two on the cart still argued with one another, the older one berating the younger, and by the look and sound of things, he wasn’t being particularly nice about it.
‘This is all your fault, you knob-head.’
‘Weren’t.’
‘Bloody well is… Look, shush.’
Verity and Bragwin were now level and the two men stopped arguing and just stared ahead. The girls saw the tarpaulin and Bragwin tried to count the bumps as she looked out of the corner of her eye.
As soon as they’d passed by the argument began again.
‘You wait ‘til later, someone ain’t gonna be happy.’
‘You told us to start out.’
‘Din’t.’
The girls walked a bit further, and then the two men went out of hearing. They crossed the road and headed back towards Hettie.
‘What’s happening?’ asked Hettie.
‘They’re arguing,’ replied Bragwin. ‘I’d better go and tell Mr Kandalwick.’
‘Hang on, someone’s joining them. Look.’
Another cart had just pulled up behind the first, and from her vantage point, Hettie could see a man get off and walk forward. He seemed to talk to the men for a couple of minutes and then all three looked down the path. The two then jumped off and they all began to unload.
CHAPTER 33
MacGillicudy hurried back up to the entrance with Tiffany who jogged to keep up. When he got there, he found Frankie had now joined them and appeared to be discussing options with Rose. The new recruits milled about within the entrance, and it seemed to be just a little bit busy, as no one wanted to go too far down the dwarf tunnels without a dwarf being present, just in case another dwarf took exception.
‘How many have we got?’ MacGillicudy asked.
‘Well, there’s five in here and three out there. Four are with Jack, but don’t forget we have Dewdrop too,’ replied Frankie.
Rose looked towards Trugral. ‘Would Goodhalgan let us have some dwarfs?’ she asked, sweetly.
Trugral thought for a moment. ‘Possibly, but you know he doesn’t like to get too involved.’
‘If the Yard goes up, don’t forget you now have an entrance leading to it. The blast might well do some damage to your side of things too.’
‘Ah, yes, that’s true. How many do you need?’
Rose smiled. ‘How about twenty?’
‘Er, excuse me,’ said Dewdrop, quietly, but as loudly as quiet would allow. ‘But a cab has pulled up and a couple of girls have got off.’
Just then, Bragwin came in. ‘Sergeant Morant… Oh, I mean, Commander. Another cart has arrived and parked up behind the first. They’re unloading. Hope and Mindy are here too.
Rose turned and walked quickly over. ‘Two carts?’
‘Yes, and the second is empty.’
Mindy and Hope walked in and were relieved to see everyone there.
‘Mr Cornwallis has sent us,’ said Hope. ‘The cart has been unloaded and taken into the cellars of a club in—’
‘The Marshes?’ interrupted MacGillicudy.
‘Er, yes, sir,’ replied Hope. ‘Mr Cornwallis has gone after them with Olive and Winnie.’
MacGillicudy smiled coldly.
‘Where are they unloading?’ asked Frankie, bringing the carts at the Yard back to mind.
‘There’s a little path where they’ve parked,’ answered Bragwin. ‘I don’t know where it leads, but they were arguing about being too early when Verity and me walked past.’
‘Walked past?’
‘Er, yes. We thought it might be an idea to have a closer look, and the men on the cart don’t know us.’
‘That could’ve been a bit dangerous,’ replied Rose, but glad they had used their initiative.
‘A path? Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that,’ said Frankie, thinking.
‘Forgotten about what?’ asked MacGillicudy.
‘The path that runs down to the basement where the dormitories and training rooms are.’
‘The dormitories? There’s no one sleeping there at the moment, they’ll have the run of the place,’ said MacGillicudy. ‘That means that someone inside has opened the door for them. If they had a key they wouldn’t have waited outside.’
They formulated the plan pretty quickly. Rose, MacGillicudy, Dewdrop and Hettie were to go into the Yard the normal way and make their way down to the dormitories. Frankie would take everyone else in via the path. They would just have to trust that Cornwallis would enter the cellars and meet up with the dwarfs. Trugral agreed that the twenty dwarfs would go down as soon as they could.
Cornwallis waited a few seconds and then tentatively opened the hatch and peered in. There didn’t appear to be anyone around and it seemed quiet. The barrel chute hadn’t been taken away so he quickly spoke to Winnie and Olive.
‘Wait here a minute, but remember that the last one down shuts the hatch.’ He then launched himself down the chute.
At the bottom he took a moment to look around; there were no signs of any feelers.
The place was stacked high with wine, beer and spirits of all types and concoctions and he wondered what the landlord of his local would think about all this; Eddie would be jealous, he thought, as this reeked of the affluent and well-heeled.
A dim light came from within the cellar and he wondered where it came from, so he decided to have a look before signalling for the girls to come down.
He saw a couple of boots sticking out from behind a rack of wine and it looked like the owner had decided to inspect the ceiling. A further examination found that the boots belonged to someone who wouldn’t be doing any inspecting for quite a while, probably the cellarman. A lantern burnt high on the wall right next to a door.
He returned to the chute and waved the girls down. ‘There’s somebody around the corner, he’s unconscious, so don’t trip over him,’ he advised.
‘Okay,’ replied Olive.
‘I think I’m more worried about who made him unconscious,’ said Winnie, taking a look. ‘He’s had a bang to his head,’ she concluded after a few seconds.
Cornwallis nodded. ‘Shows just how serious this is. A law protecting feeler is no longer protecting the law. We kick seven colours out of anyone we find. Okay?’
The agreement passed unanimously.
‘Right, let’s find this tunnel.’
The big and maze-like cellar had racks and stacks full to bursting, most of the contents being extremely expensive. They found the tunnel behind a very nice vintage. They’d pulled the rack out, and it seemed as if they’d used a very large sledgehammer as bricks were scattered all over the place leaving a very large hole.
Cornwallis put his finger to his lips and then looked in. Far ahead, he could see a moving light, and he heard a rumbling sound in the distance.
‘Must be the barrels,’ he said quietly.
There didn’t appear to be anyone guarding the entrance, presumably because they had to use all their manpower or because they were too confident or perhaps, they didn’t care.
‘Come on, then,’ he said to the girls. ‘Keep low and keep as quiet as you can. Let’s just
hope that Mindy and Hope find someone.’
MacGillicudy marched up the steps and into the reception with Rose, Dewdrop and Hettie in tow. He was not in the best of moods but he tried hard not to show it.
Sergeant Trout presided at the lectern; new in the rank, which explained why he’d drawn nights.
‘Open up, Sergeant; if you please.’
The door opened and they all walked in. He really wanted to announce that just a few feet below them, some of their fellow feelers wanted to blow them to kingdom come; but he knew he couldn’t take the risk because some up here were probably involved and would warn those down in the basement.
Rose grabbed hold of Dewdrop and ushered him through to the canteen then over to the door that led down to the dormitories and training rooms. MacGillicudy and Hettie waited out of sight for a moment to see if someone followed Rose. He grabbed hold of a truncheon, which a lazy feeler had left hanging around, for Hettie to use, just in case.
He watched Rose go through the door and, satisfied that no one had seen her, followed shortly after.
Rose waited just a little way down the corridor right by the stairs that led down. MacGillicudy checked his watch; they had another couple of minutes to wait.
The commander nodded and they pulled out their truncheons. Hearts began to beat a little bit faster as the wait continued. If it was all going to plan then Frankie and the girls were doing exactly the same. They were nearly there, just a few more seconds.
They silently descended the stairs to the bottom where another door opened into the passages. MacGillicudy checked his watch again, then grabbed hold of the handle and gently began to twist his wrist. The door clicked and silently began to swing back on its hinges.
The two carts were empty: Magot, Foley and the unknown third feeler were now inside.
Frankie clamped the carts so that they couldn’t be driven away and then led the way to the door with the girls, who were armed with batons supplied by the dwarfs, and despite their feminine appearance, looked a mean bunch with murder on their minds.
