Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds (26 page)

‘Mad!’ shouted Walpole as Ebenezer Wolf began to writhe on the floor. ‘Mad and a liar!’

Without thinking, Charity leapt from the balcony to the dais below. Walpole turned. Charity pushed him from the stage to the floor and into the crowd of men. Grimm and Grendel jumped to their feet as Bardolph cowered behind them. Grendel drew a pistol from his coat and took aim.

‘No!’ shouted Walpole. ‘Not here!’

‘Will not one of you help this man?’ Charity screamed as he grabbed hold of Ebenezer and tried to prise open his mouth and stop him swallowing more of the explosive.

‘Too late, dear Charity,’ Ebenezer sobbed as he coughed. ‘Forgive me for this – I could not bear the shame. I know the judge of all will not condemn me as these men have in their hearts.’

‘No, Ebenezer … It shouldn’t be this way,’ Charity replied as he cradled the man in his arms.

‘Stand aside,’ Ebenezer whispered. ‘You know what is to come.’

Ebenezer Wolf gripped his stomach as the hexagenamite bubbled in his guts. Charity dived to the floor, looking for a way of escape.

‘You’re mine now!’ screamed Walpole as he snatched the gun from Mister Grimm and took aim.

It was as he was about to fire that Ebenezer Wolf exploded. There was a blinding flash of light as a purple fire instantly consumed him. Walpole was blown from his feet. A ball of silver cloud then mushroomed to the ceiling filling the room with dense smog. A shimmering grey dust blew about the hall and fell like snow as Ebenezer’s ashes were scattered by the explosion.

Charity seized his chance. He leapt from table to table as he ran towards the window at the far end of the room. Goose and port wine were scattered across the floor. The man in the fez reached out to stop him. Charity, seeing the shadow of the man in the mist, kicked a stuffed goose from its plate. The half-eaten bird hit the man in the face, knocking him to the floor.

‘Stop him!’ shouted Walpole as Grimm and Grendel set off in pursuit.

Walpole took aim with the pistol and fired into the mayhem. The bullets shot over Charity’s head and through the window. One shot hit the stained glass figure of Alderman Periwinkle between the eyes. The crowd scattered. Grendel leapt from across the room like a demented deer as Grimm pushed through the screaming crowds of men who now clung to the tables for fear of being shot.

Walpole fired wildly until he emptied the chamber of bullets. In desperation he threw the pistol as hard as he could. Charity sprang from the final table towards the window. Covering his head with his arms, he dived through the stained glass. The portrait of Alderman Periwinkle crumbled as Charity burst into the night.

‘Stop him!’ Walpole screamed hopelessly as Charity vanished.

Landing on the sloping grass, Charity jumped to his feet. He knew he would have to run, and that nowhere would be safe. Walpole would have his men at the Golden Kipper before he could make it there.

Jumping the railings of the town hall, he ran towards King Street. Charity knew he would be safe with Mister Quadlibett. He looked behind to the dark shadows and slowed to a walking pace. The streets were damp and empty. He pushed his hands deep inside his coat and shrugged his shoulders to shake the chill from himself. He sighed, knowing his friend was dead and he was responsible. There was much about working for the Bureau of Antiquities that he hated.

As he turned into the long alleyway from King Street to the Market the enfolding darkness pressed in against him. He stopped for a moment and listened to see if he was being followed.

‘Don’t turn around,’ a calm, heavy voice said as Charity felt the tip of a sharp blade press into his back. ‘The boy for the diamonds – that is what we want. He is well – but if we don’t have the Ghost Diamonds at midnight then we’ll feed him hexogenamite and give what’s left of him to the fish.’

‘How do you know I have them?’ Charity asked.

‘Mariah Mundi – he talked. We know everything,’ the man replied as he pressed the knife deeper into Charity’s back. ‘The graveyard, midnight. Come alone. The church door will be open … You have four hours. See to it you bring the diamonds.’ His voice was a stern and urgent whisper.

‘If you kill him then I will track you down and take your life in return for his,’ Charity said bitterly.

He felt the blade move from his back. He turned. The man had vanished. Darkness was all around him.

C
HARITY
took the longest route he could find to Mister Quadlibett’s shop in the Market vaults. Walking through the wet lanes, he stopped at every corner and waited to see if he was being followed. It was a surprise that there were no Peelers out on the crowded streets. News of the explosion of the Mayor was being passed from man to man. Traders with handcarts spoke of it with every sale. The tale was augmented with every telling until it was said that half the council had died in the conflagration.

Charity kept his face hidden with his scarf. He was covered in mud and his clothes were tattered from the tearing of the glass. He looked like a dirty, wet vagabond and was not out of place on such a dark night. He waited by the doors of the Emporium on Market Street. No one came this way, not after dark and not on such a night as this. They would stick to the East Bar with its chestnut vendors and beer carts.

From the doorway he could see the entrance to the vaults. Charity expected it to be guarded by at least one of Walpole’s men, but from where he was he could see no one. A solitary gas lamp lighted the street. A thick, shimmering haze of rain fell
constantly. Charity used his scarf to wipe the mud from his face as the water drenched him. He went several more yards and hid in the doorway of a derelict shop.

Footsteps echoed suddenly down the street. They walked quickly and were definite in their purpose. Charity pushed himself back into the deepest recess of the shadows. He held his breath for fear of being heard. With one hand he groped for the pistol in his pocket and made ready to fire. He knew he could just shoot through the pocket.

The footsteps got closer.

‘Captain Jack?’ asked a voice like that of a waiting beggar.

‘Titus Salt,’ replied Charity. ‘How did you know I was here?’

‘Seen it, seen it all … Bad things Jack, things you shouldn’t face alone,’ Titus replied.

‘You’ve done enough – helping me could get you hanged,’ Charity said as he stepped from the darkness and checked that Salt had not been followed.

‘I know what’s to come and I won’t be hanged. Never saw it all – but know enough that you need help,’ Titus said as he tried to smile.

‘Then whisper as we walk and tell me what you have seen,’ Charity said as he took Titus Salt by the arm and walked him down the dimly lit street to the doors of the Market Vaults.

As they stepped inside Titus finished speaking. Soon they were at the door of Quadlibett’s Vendorium. Charity turned the handle and went in as if he was expected. Mister Quadlibett came out from behind the counter.

‘Am I to be wrapped in tape?’ he asked jokingly. ‘And Titus Salt, the keeper of monsters – I haven’t seen you in two years.’

‘Fish keep me busy, Mister Quadlibett. Finding enough for them to eat takes all my time,’ Titus replied.

Captain Charity locked the door to the shop and pulled down the blind. Instinctively, Mister Quadlibett dimmed the
light and ushered both men through the narrow doorway to the room where he lived.

A warm fire burnt in the stove and as always the kettle rattled on the warming plate. Quadlibett nodded for them to sit by the fire as he got in his favourite chair and pulled the blanket over his knees.

‘For the first time in my life I know the cost of having someone close to my heart,’ Charity said with a broken voice. ‘They have Mariah, and in exchange they want the Ghost Diamonds. I have no choice. Midnight, at the old church by the castle. I should go alone.’

‘I insist I come with you – all I could see in my vision, Mister Quadlibett, was a creature with a metal skull that breathed fire. Consumed half the town. and I know in my heart it wanted to kill Jack …’

‘Then we shall all go and fight this beast together,’ Quadlibett replied excitedly.

‘No,’ Charity said. ‘I wouldn’t put you in danger. All I would ask you to do, Mister Quadlibett, is to meet the last train. I pray that the man I want to see will be upon it.’

‘And what of me?’ Titus Salt asked begrudgingly. ‘I’m not letting you go alone.’

‘Very well, but I cannot say you will be safe,’ Charity replied.

‘All will be well, all will be well,’ Titus said, the flickering of the candle casting a dark shadow across his face.

‘Do you have the parcel I left with you?’ Charity asked Mister Quadlibett.

‘Indeed,’ he said as he got from his chair and rummaged behind the casks stacked against the door to the tunnel. He returned to the fire clutching the Ghost Diamonds wrapped in the pillowcase. ‘I have to say that I did indeed look. Never have I seen such fine things – but there is something quite impious in their nature. It will be good for you to give them away,
regardless of their value. The boy Mariah is worth every stone.’

‘If you give them to Bardolph then more men will chase the Ghost Diamonds and lives will be lost,’ Titus Salt muttered as he rubbed his hands in the heat of the flames. ‘Greed is a strange thing, it makes fools out of the wise and murderers from the faint of heart.’

‘That is why I thought they would be best in the hands of the Bureau of Antiquities – at least they would never be seen again,’ Charity replied. ‘Now it is time for us to be about our business. Keep safe, Mister Quadlibett.’

Charity wrapped his scarf around his neck and checked the bullets in the chamber of the pistol before slipping it back in his coat. He pulled up his collar and turned to leave.

‘One thing,’ Quadlibett said. ‘If all fails, I will look after Mariah as if he were my own.’

Charity smiled and squeezed his hand.

‘We’ll see you again, Mister Quadlibett. I promise you that,’ Titus Salt whispered as they left the Vendorium.

In the street outside the Market Vaults they heard the church clock strike eleven times. The rain had stopped, leaving the dark lanes sparkling as if crystals had been cast amongst coals. Titus Salt walked on ahead, his face to the wind that blew from the north. The town was deserted. It was eerie and silent. Titus stopped and let Charity walk ahead, each man taking his turn in checking to see if they were being followed. They turned the corner by the broken-down houses on to Rope Walk and passed by the charnel grounds.

Charity could see the whirling arms of the windmill blades on the cliff edge. They creaked as they turned, rattling with every gust. He went ahead, keeping to the shadows, as Titus Salt followed on behind. Every ten paces he would stop and turn. Then, stepping from the shadows, he would skip three paces to make up the distance between himself and Charity.

As they walked up the long hill the looming presence of the old church came into sight. At one end were the old ruins that stuck from the ground like the ribs of a long-dead animal. The lights of the houses on Paradise cast the shadow of bones against the walls. Facing them was the church and before it the graveyard.

Charity and Titus slipped quietly over the wall and were quickly consumed by even darker shadows. They made their way through the tall stones and sepulchre tombs with their doors and engraved walls. The shadow of the great church made the pathway doubly dark. Around each stone were piles of damp leaves browned by death and stinking of rot.

As they reached the solitary lamp by the west wall, they could see the door to the church was open.

Charity signalled for Titus to take a hiding place.

‘Wait here,’ he said in the faintest whisper. ‘I shall go in alone.’

Titus could not protest. Charity placed his finger upon his lips to stop him from speaking. In an instant he was gone into the dark church.

Once inside, Charity stopped and looked about him. At the high altar a single candle burnt brightly. There was the smell of incense mingled with the damp fragrance of the old hymn books stacked by the door. Pools of water from the broken roof glistened along the aisle like the footprints of an ancient amphibian. The sound of the cascading drops echoed upward to the high vaulted roof. There was emptiness to the place, as if the angels had been long gone and no one had noticed their reluctant departure. The keepers of the stones had gone about their mumblings day in, day out, not realising that they were alone. In their wisdom they had kept the traditions made by men and forgotten the love that bound the place stronger than mortar.

Charity shivered as he listened to his own footsteps. He walked slowly between the rows of planked seats. He sensed the church was empty. Something drew him to the altar. He climbed the three steps and stopped by an old tomb of a faceless knight.

Tracing his fingers over its features he saw the nose had been shattered. The knight stared up at him in the shadows like a street fighter, a broken-nosed pugilist knocked down for the last time.

‘Quite a place to end up,’ said a voice from behind him.

Charity turned quickly but could see no one.

‘Zogel?’ he asked. ‘I was expecting –’

‘Bardolph and his pocket policeman?’ Zogel asked. ‘It’s I who sent for you, Jack. I want the Ghost Diamonds.’

‘How do you know I have them with me?’ Charity asked.

‘I have Mariah Mundi – a pleasant boy, but speaks too much.’

‘He would have told you nothing,’ Charity replied, knowing Zogel lied.

‘He didn’t have to. I had him snatched from the Prince Regent,’ Zogel said and then paused. ‘By the way, I no longer want to buy it. Bardolph can have it and turn it into a temple for the Society of Truth.’

‘Thought that would be your ambition?’ Charity asked.

‘I am beyond dressing up and giving signs. The Bureau of Antiquities should keep you informed. Dedalus Zogel is now the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of the Americas. The richest man in the world has his own licence to print money.’

‘Is that why you had Lincoln and Garfield murdered?’ Charity asked.

‘I wouldn’t use such a cruel word as that. They were in the way and so were moved to one side. Both of them foolishly
asked for an inquiry as to who ran the bank. But he who pays the piper calls the tune. They didn’t listen.’

‘So –
you
are Skull and Bones?’ Charity asked cautiously.

Zogel looked around and spoke only when he knew he was alone.

‘That I am – the power behind the power as people keep saying,’ he replied.

‘So why do you want the diamonds?’ Charity asked as he put his hand in his coat and held the grip of the pistol.

Zogel clicked his fingers. Two men dragged Titus Salt inside the church and pushed him to the floor.

‘You should have come alone. Now I have Mariah, Sacha and this tramp. Strange how friendships can be our downfall.’

‘Where’s Mariah?’ Charity asked.

‘He’s outside. As soon as I have the diamonds I will let him go.’

‘How can I be sure?’ Charity asked.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’ said Zogel sheepishly.

‘Have you ever told the truth?’

‘In all things,’ Zogel said as he twisted the knot of his necktie.

‘Then tell me why you had Hoetzendorf and the others killed,’ Charity asked.

‘Simple – they owed me money. They bought things and didn’t want to pay. I had to make an example of them. Can’t have people buying guns and not paying. Saw to it myself.’

‘The hexogenamite … It was you who framed me,’ Charity said as a cold draught shivered through the church.

‘Simple, really, as I said. I needed them dead so I invited them for a display of the
Irenzee
. I pleaded to their sense of vanity. Told each of them they would be the only nation in the world to have such a ship – a submersible, a craft that can slip into any harbour undetected. Once they were in the hotel the
rest was very easy. I was sad that I couldn’t watch them explode. I heard it was quite spectacular.’

‘You killed all those people because of money?’

‘I would have killed them for less,’ Zogel replied as he laughed.

‘And you set me up so the evidence pointed to me?’ Charity asked as he clicked the lock of the pistol.

‘Not my idea. That was Inspector Walpole, a man with a sense of humour and a nagging hatred of you. Jealousy does strange things.’

‘Prepared to see me hang and not to tell the truth?’ Charity said.

‘I was going to tell the police as soon as I was safely away that Walpole was behind it all and have him hang as well, but how things change.’

‘And all for your own self-interest?’ replied Charity as another shivering blast swept icily through the church.

‘Then I take it we have a deal?’ asked Zogel as he sat on an ornate chair by the altar. ‘The diamonds?’

‘Once I have the boy,’ Charity said as he looked for a way to free Titus Salt.

‘This is a done deal, Jack – there’s no room for negotiation. It’s how I say or not at all. I could take the diamonds from you now and kill you both,’ Zogel said as he stared at Charity. ‘It’s my generosity of heart and colonial spirit that stops me from having you shot. The diamonds, Jack?’

‘Very well – take them,’ Charity said reluctantly as he threw the bag to the floor and watched the diamonds scatter across the dirty tiles.

Zogel bent down and picked them up one by one. He raised a diamond to his face and stared deep inside.

‘Can’t be – don’t look a day older than I do now,’ he said as he studied the ghostly reflection that twinkled in the diamond.

‘Where’s the boy?’ Charity insisted as Zogel placed the diamonds one by one back into the bag and clutched them tightly in his hands.

‘He’s here, Jack.’ The clear voice stilled the moment.

There was a rush at the church door as several men in long coats armed with pistols stormed in. Isambard Black stood in the shadows, holding Mariah close to him.

‘Isambard Black and the Bureau of Antiquities – how interesting,’ Zogel said as he laughed.

‘And Commissioner Ritchie of the Metropolitan Police,’ said a tall man who pushed through the flank of Bureau agents. ‘We heard everything, Zogel.’

‘Shame you’ll do nothing about it,’ Zogel said as he walked casually towards them. ‘I would suggest that you let my men go. I will of course follow them, and the
Irenzee
will leave without hindrance.’

‘You killed those men and you expect to walk free?’ Black asked.