Revenge of the Brotherhood (Book 3 in the Tom & Laura Series) (28 page)

The Charger could not possibly hold all the treasure in the vault. The men knew exactly where to find the things they wanted and they jumped into action, using the powerful electric light mounted on the Charger’s roof to illuminate the vault.

“Three minutes,” Tony called out. The plan called for them to leave at four minutes, regardless of what they had loaded. However, the Charger was almost full. The men had practiced this maneuver many times.

“Four and let’s go.”

Brains and Ernie were already back and only Ross was still moving a box. Tony watched the seconds pass on his pocket watch and worried that his bind would fail at any second.

At four minutes and forty seven seconds, the Charger accelerated out of the room and down the ramp. The wall began to reform as the vehicle slewed to a stop.

“They were in the vault. The wall closed as I watched,” Edith said excitedly.

“Find out what they are using for transport,” Dougal urged.

“It’s another of those metal coaches. Like the one they took the Queen in.”

“Follow it and do not lose it.”

As the Charger travelled back to the Middle Tower gate and safety, Tony sought out the bind he was looking for. The Charger ran over and killed a soldier who foolishly tried to stop them with a rifle. They were out in the streets of London when Tony completed his bind.

The Hubris jerked and began to fall. Laura finished her bind as the lights failed.

Tony cursed as the bind he was holding burst into flames.

Ross laughed as the man stamped out the paper on the floor.

“I thought you were always careful with those things?”

“It’s the Spellbinder. I cast a bind to disable that flying thing.”

“So where is it?” Ross asked skeptically.

He pulled the Charger to a stop and both men got out of the vehicle to look. The sky was clear and there were only stars.

“I tell you the Spellbinder is up there somewhere,” Tony said desperately. Ross shook his head.

“Leave us if you want. Perhaps the Brotherhood will spare your family.”

Tony shook his head. When he got into the Charger he started to think about binds, but he could think of nothing that would help.

“What just happened?” Dougal asked. The ship was back on an even keel, but all had been chaos for a few seconds.

“Spellbinder attack. I fought it off, but he now knows we are somewhere close.”

“More to the left,” Edith said and Tom turned the airship.

Alan looked at a map and called out to his brother. “They are going down Lloyd’s Alley, I think.”

“Alan, tell Trelawney their Spellbinder might be on to us,” Dougal ordered.

“He says not to worry. They have nowhere else to go.”

The chase went on across London and the Hubris had to use full power to avoid loosing the Charger.

“They have stopped in some kind of yard,” Edith yelled.

Alan sighed with relief. “Trelawney knows. He worked out where they were going minutes ago. He say’s thank you and that we can go home now.”

“Bloomin’ cheek,” Tricky said. “We do all the work and he gets the credit.”

“Well, I, for one, do not choose to go home,” Dougal said. “Take us down, Tom. Andrea, go and tell Ebb and Jeremiah what is going on and stay with them.”

The rag and bone yard was dark and silent. However, someone unseen closed the gates behind the Charger. Ross turned the light on the roof on and the yard was illuminated in bright electric light. There was no sign of anybody. The four men got out of the Charger.

“We have the goods,” Ross called out. “It all went to plan.”

Four shots split the night, sounding together almost as one. Tony tried to finish the bind in his hand, but his hands failed him as a bullet stopped his heart. Ross was killed instantly. Brains and Ernie fell to the floor and writhed until two more bullets stopped their motions.

Baxter stepped out from behind an old door he had used for cover. His gun smoked in his hand. “That was tremendous fun. We must do it more often.”

Men appeared from out of the shadows and joined him. Several carried guns.

“It was a shame about the Spellbinder. Grade 1’s are almost impossible to find,” Harris said.

“No loose ends,” Baxter chided. “We eliminated their families tonight.”

One of the men stepped forward and punched Baxter in the stomach. “You talk too much.”

Baxter bent and retched onto the cobbles. He made no attempt to fight back against the man who had punched him.

Most of the other men unloaded the boxes from the Charger, while a few began pouring paraffin over the things in the yard. When the boxes were stacked up by the gate, they poured paraffin over the Charger.

The man who had punched Baxter stepped in front of the boxes. “Our transport should be ready and waiting. Open the gates.”

On the other side of the gate a dozen coaches lined the street. There was no sign of their drivers. Trelawney and his men stepped from behind the coaches with their weapons raised. Cam and Belinda stepped out holding shotguns.

“You are surrounded and outnumbered,” Trelawney shouted out. “Surrender now and nobody will get hurt.”

Baxter pulled out his gun and fired at Trelawney and then everybody dived for cover as bullets flew in all directions.

“They made a right pig’s ear of that,” Tricky said with disgust.

Antonia looked at Dougal. “Andrea tells me your gunners would like to join in.”

“Why not?” Dougal said. “Give them my permission.”

The Hubris was less than thirty feet above the yard. Ebb and Jeremiah fired at the men, ripping through the flimsy things they hid behind. Almost before it had started, it was over. The members of the Brotherhood lay dead on the ground. Flames started to flicker in a corner of the yard, and within a few seconds most of the yard was on fire.

Tom took the Hubris up and away to avoid the flames.

Alan looked at Dougal. “Mr. Trelawney is most annoyed. He asks who gave you permission to shoot. He wanted to interrogate those men.”

Dougal grinned.

“Tell him I have no idea what he is talking about as we are well on our way back to the Palace.”

Alan repeated the message to his brother.

Everybody looked eagerly at Alan, awaiting Trelawney’s reply.

Alan looked confused.

“Mr. Trelawney’s reply contains some words I cannot possibly repeat in front of the ladies.”

“Yes, you can, Alan. I doubt anything Trelawney says can possibly shock any of us,” Antonia said.

So Alan repeated the message out loud and it turned out she was wrong.

The End

Tom and Laura will return in
The Confucian Affair