Ether & Elephants (31 page)

“Of course.” Pritchard strolled over and offered Nell his arm. She took it with the one that wasn’t hovering just above the slit in her skirt. When she saw Charlie being dragged from the carriage by an Indian servant, her head went light and she stumbled.

He’s alive!

Nell wrenched herself from Pritchard and ran for Charlie, shouting his name. Behind her, she heard Tom bellowing hers but she didn’t turn.

“Miss Nell!” Charlie threw himself into Nell’s arms just as she heard the click of a pistol cocking next to her left ear.

“Stand up and let go of the boy.” Pritchard’s voice was cold as ice. So much for thinking the professor was just a dupe. “If you behave, I won’t be forced to shoot you.”

Nell stood, but Charlie refused to release her hand. It was funny how his touch gave her strength. Carefully not glancing about for any of her other protectors, instead she looked Pritchard up and down, studying him like the insect he was, subtly trying to tuck Charlie behind her.

“Is your research so pitiful that you’re forced to take funding from mad scientists?”

Pritchard laughed, but the gun in his hand didn’t waver a bit. “My research goes well beyond this little hellhole, you interfering witch. It’s I who pay them, not the other way around.”

“You’re the Alchemist.” Her gaze flew over to meet Tom’s, which registered shock followed by resignation. They should have guessed that rather than suddenly becoming a genius, Barclay, or Berrycloth, or whatever, had merely found a better scam—procuring bodies for Pritchard’s experiments.

“Such a lovely epithet,” Pritchard said. “I’ve been proud of that one since the first time your people used it, when I was working on the cure for black lung.”

“That was you? Using children to test your formulas.” Nell remembered how little Ivy had nearly died, and how when she hadn’t, Pritchard’s partner in that research had tried to kidnap her.

“Of course it was. If I could have perfected that cure, I’d have become the richest man in England, probably the world. My lead-to-gold formula worked, but the process was so lengthy and expensive that there was barely any profit, even with using the discarded children as miners. But now, oh, now I’m onto something much more lucrative.” He looked around the train platform and jerked his head toward his associates. “We need to get somewhere less public. Go fetch the elephants. And someone get me something to tie this bitch’s hands, as well as her so-called brother over there.”

With a gun pointed at her head, Tom was helpless to do anything foolish, just as she didn’t even have time to sing and compel them to drop their weapons. One of them would have a chance to fire before the compulsion penetrated his will. Tom handed Polly his weapon. “Great to see you again,
wife
.” There was more venom in that last word than Nell had ever heard him use.

“You stupid sod.” Polly laughed while she used her own scarf to tie Tom’s hands. Her husband disappeared around the side of the station where the elephant paddock stood. Once Tom was secure, she knocked him over the head with his own pistol.

Nell cried out as Tom slumped unconscious to the ground, and she cursed violently as Polly moved over to tie Nell’s hands with the scarf from around Nell’s neck, then used Charlie’s necktie to secure his as well.

“He really should have been out of the way by now. A pity the snake didn’t do its job,” Pritchard said with a bored yawn.

The husband reappeared with three elephants, each wearing what looked like a small coach on its back. A howdah, she’d learned, and the ones on these animals were workmanlike wicker, not the fancy ceremonial ones she’d seen in Calcutta. Though probably designed for one, each basket would easily hold two people.

Nell took a second look and had to fight a sigh of relief. While the servant led one of the elephants, the other two were led by Vivek’s men, who wore robes similar to the other guides, or grooms, or herders they’d seen in town. That had to be a great indignity, since she was sure they’d dropped a couple of caste levels when they’d changed clothes. If they were here, that left the two soldiers to follow and help. Nell liked those odds.

“Only two men.” The Alchemist’s servant spat on the ground. “All the others have run off. I will steer, sahib.”

“Very well.” Pritchard gestured toward the animals. “Polly, take the boy with you. Barrow, take his high-and-mightiness there, and don’t be afraid to shoot him if he causes trouble. Nosy Miss Hadrian is coming with me.”

“We have to ride those…
things
?” Polly shuddered.

“What did you think when I said we’d travel by elephant?” Pritchard motioned to his servant, who somehow managed to make one of the elephants kneel and dragged a set of wooden mounting steps over beside the howdah.

“I thought they’d be pulling a carriage or something,” Polly grumbled. “That can’t be safe all the way up there.”

Pritchard nudged Nell’s nape with the snout of his gun. “Get in, Miss Hadrian. Time for that tour I promised you. Now no tricks, or I won’t hesitate to kill Sir Thomas.”

“Delighted, I’m sure.” She marched up the steps and let the servant help her into the basket seat since she couldn’t use her hands. Once she was in, he climbed in beside her, the weapon balanced on the wicker armrest between them. The servant, Kumar, took his place on a small pallet right near the elephant’s neck.

Then she watched helplessly as Aadi and Rajit carried an unconscious Tom into one of the others, dumping him on the floor of the howdah, while Barrow, as Pritchard called him, climbed into the seat and rested his feet on Tom’s back.

Nell swore she was going to kill that man herself, and before the day was over. Rajit took the driver’s place, while Aadi continued over to assist Charlie and Polly onto the final animal, plopping himself down on the pallet with the same small crop the other drivers carried.

At Kumar’s command, the elephant stood, and Nell braced herself with elbows and feet, since she couldn’t hold on with her hands. The three great beasts moved slowly away from the station, with theirs in the lead, the howdah swaying as the elephant lumbered along. Eventually, Nell caught the rhythm and was able to keep her balance without straining every muscle. That gave her the advantage of being able to work at the knot behind her back, since she was angled just slightly toward Pritchard.

“Why gifted children in the warehouse?” She fought to keep her voice level and not let her nausea at what they’d found show.

“Previous experiments indicate a far better survivability,” he said with utter scientific dispassion. “As your little friend Ivy proved, when she was the only one to survive my black lung cure.”

“That wasn’t because she was gifted. That was because she’s part fey.” At this point, there probably wasn’t any harm in letting him know, and Nell had been taught that in any hostage situation, one of the best things to do was to keep them talking. “Elves are naturally resistant to disease and have an ability to heal themselves and others.”

His eyes widened and he gaped for a moment. “Hadn’t thought of that. I wasn’t even aware there were part-elves among us. Damn, if I could only have harvested her blood!”

She glowered, fury damping down her revulsion. “And werewolves, among other things. Gifted is a broad category. Not all of them are the same. So what were you testing in Birmingham besides making gold? Another black lung cure?”

He sniffed. “Not at all. I said I’ve discovered a much more lucrative drug. This one gives me absolute and total mind control.”

“The zombies.” Of course. The pieces of the puzzle clicked together. “But if you’ve perfected it already, why do you need the Eye of the Buddha?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Learned an awful lot, haven’t you, you little snoop? I did do extensive research in Jamaica on the practices of voodoo, and that is the basis of my current drug.”

She kept silent, her rapt gaze encouraging him to continue, which he did. “As it happens, the formula isn’t perfected. Oh, I can turn the weak minded into soulless slaves, but there’s a flaw. They’re unable to act without direct instruction. They totally lack wisdom. The Eye of Buddha is said to be one of the most powerful magickal talismans in the world. With it, I can confer the ability to make decisions, as long as they’re in line with the instructions my zombie slaves have been given.”

“You’re a sick bastard, aren’t you?” She said the words as pleasantly as if remarking on the sunshine. “How many customers do you have lined up to buy this drug? Hundreds? Thousands?”

“Not so many, my dear. That would dilute the value.” He tsked. “Only a few select clients, warlords, primarily. Dictators or those planning coups. Men willing to pay millions of pounds. And that’s just for the product. I’ll not sell off the formula, not that it would work, since only I would be able to infuse it with the magick from the Eye of the Buddha. I have everything in place. Now all I have to do is find that damn ruby.”

Nell wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Which is where Charlie comes in. Polly or Barrow mentioned that the son they’d thrown away had a gift for finding things, didn’t they? So you told them to get him, and bring him here.”

“Of course. Why waste a valuable resource just because the brat can’t see?” His dislike of his hirelings was plain. “While Barrow was perfectly fine running my laboratory and mines in England, he’s an idiot sometimes. I can hire a dozen servants to lead the boy around. I think I’ll even keep him, just for the next thing I need to find.”

“No.” The denial slipped out before Nell realized she’d said it aloud, but she lifted her chin and kept going. “Charlie is going home with me. But you’re welcome to think what you like. Soon enough the tables will be turned.”

“Stupid bitch.” He backhanded her casually across the face. “Your only purpose here is to extract money and a cessation of hostilities from that ass Shanku. His people have been causing me no end of trouble, and he’ll be willing to pay a small fortune, including deeds to the land where the temple sits, in return for the safety of his beloved half-caste daughter.”

Oh, Baba Vivek would be giving them something all right. Probably cannon fire to begin with. Nell sat silently and worked at her bonds. The silk scarf was slippery material, and the knot wasn’t well tied. By the time they reached a small swell, with a handful of ruins in the valley beyond, she’d loosened them enough that she could slip one hand free when she got the chance. She’d shoot Pritchard right now, but while Polly might balk at killing Charlie, Barrow sure as hell wouldn’t think twice about shooting Tom. So she waited.

From the opposite direction, huge clouds of dust approached the ruined temple complex. The excavation area wasn’t large, perhaps six or seven buildings with a few tents set on stilts around them. One building, newer than the others, appeared to be a hastily built barn. Nell supposed that’s where the zombie horde was kept.

The trumpet of elephants sounded from the other side of the ruins, which were perhaps a half mile off. It was hard to tell distance on this vast plain broken by only by millet fields and tiny farm dwellings, with just a small copse of trees here or there.

The dust cloud was too big to be a group of two or three elephants like theirs. No, Nell was sure this was the group from Shanku, the horsemen, the elephants and the guns. Inwardly she cheered.

“Faster,” Pritchard barked.

Kumar flicked the elephant with the whip. Nell could almost sense the poor beast’s anger. She hummed a soothing tune, and soon the elephant was moving ahead at a higher speed and the sensation of anger and distress had dissipated.

Hmm. Nell knew elephants were smart. Were they enough like humans that she could control them with music? It might be worth a try.

Men—or something that had once been men—began to pour out of the barn, carrying a motley assortment of guns, swords and agricultural implements.

With a war cry that could most likely be heard for miles, Vivek’s horsemen swooped down on the shambling zombies and began to cut them down, while up on a small rise, three elephants stopped as their riders dismounted to set up the cannons.

Nell closed her eyes and said a short prayer to Jagganesh, since it was his temple, that Pritchard wouldn’t use this as an excuse to kill the hostages.

“Charge,” he yelled instead.

With another few flicks of Kumar’s whip, the lead elephant began to run and Nell had to go back to bracing herself in the seat.

With a flutter of wings, a silver bird landed on her shoulder.
Lark
. She’d left him behind at Shanku, which had been a mistake. While he looked like a silly toy, he had a small dart in his beak. Wink never made any of their companion animals without some weapons.

Nell hummed the command notes, and before he could see what had happened, a small needle shot out, striking Pritchard in the forehead.

With a curse, he jerked off a shot, but due to the jolting movement, he missed. Before he could fire another, he slumped over.

Nell held her bonds toward Lark and whistled the notes that meant
cut.
Now her hands were truly free and she drew the stun gun from the sheath on her thigh just in time to see Kumar leap at her from the driver’s pallet. She shot him midair and he fell to the earth, trampled beneath the beast’s giant feet. Nell immediately sent Lark to Tom, who used his limited supply of commands to try to get him to dart Barrow as well.

Then Nell sang, begging the elephant to slow. Miraculously, it did.

She nearly wept in relief, but there wasn’t time. There was plenty of work to do. She bade the elephant to turn around and stop. It did, essentially causing Polly’s beast to swerve and send the howdah swaying wildly, while right behind it, Barrow’s did the same. Aadi and Rajit both took advantage of the diversion and leaped into their howdahs to rescue the hostages.

The sounds of battle filled the valley below. Nell prayed her father would stay safe, even as she had her elephant draw up next to the one holding Charlie and Polly.

While Polly wrestled with Aadi, Nell steadied herself on the edge of the howdah and prepared to jump.

“No,” Tom shouted.

Nell looked over to see that Rajit and Tom had overpowered Barrow, and pulled their elephant up on the other side of Polly’s. Aadi got in a good punch to the woman’s jaw and she fell. Nell immediately sang the elephants to a halt, then down to their knees.