Revenge of the Brotherhood (Book 3 in the Tom & Laura Series) (5 page)

“What?” Tom had no idea what Antonia was talking about. “I will take my leave with apologies for the intrusion.” He turned back to the door.

“Stop!” The command was imperious. “There must be full restitution.”

“What?”

“You use that word too often. Has nobody told you? Since you have seen me as Eve was before she bit into the apple, it is only right that you offer me the same opportunity.”

Tom resisted the urge to say ‘what?’ yet again. Nevertheless, she could not possibly mean what he thought she meant.

“You want me to…” he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

“Strip, young man. Before you leave this room I expect you to show me your body as it left your mother’s womb. Now get on with it.”

Tom found it hard not to look at Antonia’s near naked body. It was having inevitable results and the last thing he could do right now was get undressed.

“You need to dress. I will leave and we can discuss this later.” Tom was surprised at the coherence of his words. His insides seemed to be filling with butterflies.

“You will disrobe here and now or I will have you brought up on a charge.”

He could get a prison term if she made a formal complaint about his intrusion and they were both well aware of it.

“You win.” Tom knew when he was defeated and began to take off his jacket.

Antonia smiled for a second and then her face became hard. “Take off your boots, then your shirt, vest and trousers. And don’t you dare turn your back on me.”

Tom had to sit to remove his boots. Antonia moved closer and adjusted the skirt that barely covered her body. From his position in the chair he saw the light from the window between her legs and as the skirt lifted he saw wisps of hair.

“Get on with it.”

When he stood, the bulge at his groin was obvious. He hoped she would realize that he couldn’t possibly remove his trousers. It would be obscene. He took off his shirt as slowly as possible. He wore no vest as the local weather was so warm.

“Trousers off now.”

“B-b-but.”

“Now.”

Trying to think of nothing but Queen and country, Tom removed the last items of his clothing. At least he could use his hands.

“Move your hands to your sides. Excellent. My sister compliments you on the length and girth of your manhood.”

“What?”

Antonia laughed. “There you go again. Stand by the bed and put your hands on your hips.” Tom did as instructed, though he felt like a fool, an uncomfortably erect fool.

“I am a telepath, remember? My twin sister Andrea is in constant communication with me and we see through each others eyes, hear through each others ears and even feel the touches the other one makes.”

Antonia had moved behind him and he sensed her hands come close to his buttocks.

“I th-th-thought telepaths only had verbal communication?”

“Most do, but Andrea and I are unusually close. It is difficult at the moment because she is many hours ahead of me. She is currently in her bed… touching.”

Tom heard Antonia’s skirt fall to the floor.

“Turn around, young sir.”

“I am pledged to Laura.” Tom stayed facing the bed.

Antonia’s fingers walked across his groin until they found their target.

“Laura would be Miss X in the hearing reports? We suspected she must be a Class A, though they were careful never to say. Does that feel good, Thomas Merlin Carter?”

“I m-m-must not.” Tom felt his resolve failing as the sensations intensified.

“And have you consummated your relationship with this Laura?”

“N-n-n-no.”

Antonia laughed and withdrew her hands before Tom could explode.

“A girl should never marry an inexperienced man. Now turn around and let me teach you a thing or two. Andrea is getting highly impatient.”

5.
  
Flight

He received his summons from Miss Grange as soon as he arrived at the first class of the day. Alice’s eyes followed him as he walked out of the room, as did most of the rest of the class. Being called to the Headmaster’s office was never good.

Tricky stood outside the Headmaster’s office and knocked firmly. He trembled as a familiar voice barked ‘enter’ and opened the door.

“Ah David, do come in and sit down.” Dr Glyn Thomas was young for a headmaster. In fact, he looked far too young to have a doctorate in the science of magic, but despite his youthful looks he was nearly thirty.

Recruited by Alistair McBride to investigate aberrant magic users he had tested and probed them at Glen Russell until Lord McBride met his death. Glyn was well aware that the children he tested were kidnapped, but the research had been too fascinating to abandon. Instead of the hangman’s noose he expected, he was offered the post of Headmaster at the school Military Magic set up to continue his investigations. He was grateful for the second chance they gave him.

Tricky didn’t sit, choosing instead to stand in front of the Headmaster’s desk. Glyn decided to overlook his blatant disobedience.

“You might wonder why I have summoned you.”

“If it’s about bunking off, well t’aint only me,” Tricky said defensively.

Glyn stopped in surprise. ‘
Some of the children were missing lessons
?’ He would have to investigate that when time permitted.

“No, it is about young Ebenezer.”

Tricky stopped worrying about his own troubles. Ebb had been away sick for nearly a month and he missed him greatly.

“’e ain’t dead, is ’e?” Tricky felt cold and slumped into the chair behind him. Ebb had been his best friend since the day they met.

Glyn shook his head.

“Not yet, but there is now little hope. He has asked to see you and Lucy Williams before he passes.”

“’as you ’ad a proper ’ealer see ’im?” Tricky demanded. Lucy had left the school weeks before Ebb. Despite Ebb’s apparent infatuation or possibly because of it, Tricky had little time for the Welsh girl.

Glyn was finding the boy’s questions a little irritating.

“Of course we have had Healers see him. He is an important asset and we would not let him die without trying all we could. We took a Grade 1 healer away from Buckingham Palace and he could do nothing.”

“’ave you let Tom see ’im. Tom’s better than all your other ’ealers put t’gether.”

Glyn sighed. He had known the boy would ask that question even though Carter was only a Grade 2 Healer at best. Ebenezer had demanded the same. Why they believed he was special was beyond him.

“Lieutenant Carter is out of the country on assignment. I made a request to Military Magic and they informed me he was unavailable. They would not even indicate which continent he was on.”

Tricky nodded as if he was satisfied. It was clear that the Headmaster would be of no use. He would have to get Tom back on his own.

“There will be a hansom cab waiting for you at midday break. Cook has prepared a packed meal for you. It will take you to Ebenezer and will make the return journey starting at four o’clock. That should give you a good two hours to say goodbye to your friend.”

Tricky left the room without saying a word. His head was abuzz with half thought out ideas.

Tom woke early and tried to wash the guilt from his body with copious amounts of cold water. Despite his best efforts, all he managed to do was to get clean.

He was not surprised to find Antonia sitting at the dining table eating her breakfast.

She smiled. “Do you think today will be as educational as yesterday?” she asked innocently.

“What did Tom learn yesterday?” Dougal asked as he entered the room.

“You did show him your big toy, did you not?” Antonia asked. “It is typical of a man to want to have the biggest sausage in the world.”

“I showed him the Hubris if that is what you mean,” Dougal sounded tetchy. “And today he will be one of the crew on her maiden flight.”

Antonia switched looks from amused to eager in the blink of an eye. “Can I come too? I have always wanted to fly.”

Dougal smiled. “And what do you think Military Magic would say if they found out I had risked one half of their best telepath team on an untested vessel?”

“I would never tell them.”

“I’m sorry, Antonia. Perhaps next year, when all the tests are complete.”

Tom wasn’t that sure he wanted to go on the maiden flight. However, he was not going to say no after Antonia had shown such enthusiasm. It would have been unmanly.

“I’m sure my education today will far outweigh anything I learned yesterday,” he said. Looking directly at Antonia he found himself adding. “And certainly it will be much more enjoyable.”

Antonia smiled warmly at Tom, while her hand, below Dougal’s sightline, made a very rude gesture.

Tom smiled sweetly back at her. While she had done things to him and with him that he would never have thought of, and brought him considerable pleasure in the process, he had to end their relationship because his heart was Laura’s.

The cab took Tricky out of the heart of London to a grand mansion set in acres of landscaped gardens. There was even a lake in the distance.

“You have two hours, sir. Don’t be late,” the cabbie said, checking the time with his pocket watch. He got down from the cab to feed his horse.

Tricky nodded and ran to the door. There was a big iron bell pull, which took all his strength to use. Somewhere deep in the house’s interior he heard a bell ringing and a couple of minutes went by as he waited for someone to come to the door.

A fat woman in a white smock answered the door.

“Tricky, err, David Hart to see Ebenezer Sweeting, your ladyship.”

The woman smiled at the use of such an inappropriate title. “You are expected. Young Ebb will be so happy to see you. Follow me.”

She led him up a curved open flight of stairs and along a corridor before ushering him into a room and closing the door behind him.

Lucy sat by the side of the bed with her hands on her lap. She and Ebb looked a little guilty as if they might have been holding hands before the door opened. Exactly five seconds before if Tricky was any judge. Lucy was two years older than Ebb and at 13 was showing signs of becoming a woman. Ebb looked in a bad way, white and thin, as though he hadn’t eaten for days.

“Yes, we were. What of it?” Ebb asked as Tricky opened his mouth.

Tricky closed his mouth again. Conversations were always a little complicated with Ebb.

“Pull up that chair,” Ebb suggested as words formed in Tricky’s mind. Ebb was speaking in unusually precise posh English, which Tricky found perturbing.

“Lucy has trouble following mi words,” Ebb said and grinned.

Tricky nodded and when he opened his mouth this time, Ebb didn’t stop him.

“Well, I am sure I can match you with superior electrocution,” he said solemnly. “Dr Glyn said you was at death’s door and ’ere I find you canoodling with a floozy.”

Lucy put her hands to her hips and Ebb put a hand out, instantly stopping her outburst before it happened.

“’e… he does not mean anything by it. It is his idea of a joke,” Ebb said quickly.

Tricky grinned and Lucy relaxed back in her chair, looking slightly mollified.

“How long they given you then?” Tricky ignored Lucy’s look of outrage. He was Ebb’s mate and he needed to know.

“Two weeks, maybe three. Only Tom can save me and they won’t call him.”

“Dr Glyn said as ’ow ’e was out of the country.”

Lucy gave Tricky a pained look.

“Then I’m a gonner for sure.”

“I wish we could contact him,” Lucy said. “I am sure he would come.”

“That’s strange like.” Tricky wracked his brains trying to remember what Daisy Drew had said to him. It was months ago, at the end of the hearings. “The last thing Daisy said to mi was, ‘Tom will come in time if you needs ’im, but you ’as to contact ’im the quickest way.”

“What’s that mean, telegraph?” Ebb asked.

Lucy performed a pretend slap at Ebb’s face and he lay back on his pillow grinning. “She meant by telepathy. Can Alice send him a message?”

Tricky shook his head. They would be out of range of Alice and yet he had only gone a few miles. “Nah, she must mean like proper telepaths. Thems what can talk across the world.”

“Do you know any?” Lucy asked eagerly.

“Nah, but I knows someone what does.”

Tom stood on the flight deck of the airship looking out of the front windows as the hangar doors slowly opened. He felt like a fool as he was the only person present who didn’t have a job. Not that there were many people on the deck. Dougal stood behind the man who operated the large ship’s wheel; the deck was raised a step behind the man so Dougal didn’t have to strain to look over his head. The wheel turned the propellers from side to side at the rear. The wheel was currently set for straight forward as a red line on the wheel aligned with the one on the deck.

A second man had a speed control that could change the velocity of the propellers from full ahead to full astern in five increments either side. It was currently set in the middle position and the propellers weren’t moving.
 
He also had a control that could tilt the propellers up or down. Apart from being a different color it looked the same as the speed control. There were two lookouts at the side windows checking ‘port’ and ‘starboard’.

There was a lot of room for passengers on the ship. Tom had been given the grand tour and been surprised how big it was. It had bedrooms, a kitchen, storerooms and a large room where people could sit and watch the world go by. If they opened the windows they could even shoot at people on the ground. There were hatches in the floor that led to the two Gatling gun positions, but Dougal didn’t take him down into them. They wouldn’t be manned on this mission, which was to test the maneuverability and stability of the ship.

The men outside the ship loosened the ropes and the floor moved upwards.

“Is this normal?” Tom asked as he tried to keep his feet.

Dougal laughed. “The ship is neutrally balanced, which means it should neither go up nor down unless the propellers or the wind pushes it. But we need to clear the lead shield so we have made it slightly lighter than air. We can always jettison some Elitos later, if we have to.”

Tom nodded as if he understood. The man with the speed control pushed it forward one notch and they began to leave the hanger. As soon as they were clear of the lead box he pushed the other control forward one notch so they wouldn’t hit the roof. It occurred to Tom that one man could probably pilot this ship, if he was out of his mind.

Once clear of the hanger, the man pulled the attitude control all the way forward, and as they began to rise he increased the speed. They rose dizzyingly fast in the first minute. The ship rolled alarmingly in the breeze.

“Father had postulated that we might need wings on the side to keep the ship stable, but he decided the weight of the engine would be enough to stop us rolling,” Dougal said helpfully. Tom hoped he wasn’t going to lose his lunch.

As their speed increased so did their stability. The ground was moving past at a surprising rate. The man at the speed control moved it to the middle position.

“How fast are we going?”

Dougal looked at a dial set in the roof in front of him. “Our speed relative to the air is 30 knots. That’s the design speed. Our speed relative to the land depends on the speed of the wind.”

“Is 30 knots the same as 30 miles per hour?” Tom asked.

“A little faster. Nautical miles are longer than ordinary ones. It helps when plotting your course at sea.”

Dougal was a veritable mine of useless information.

“Take us round in a circle to come back to the shed in an hour. Tom and I will see what the rest of the ship feels like.” The man at the wheel grunted.

Tom found it difficult to take his eyes off the scene in front of him. He held onto the metal hand rails to follow Dougal off the bridge. To his surprise, the large room was not unoccupied. Antonia sat on one of benches with a wide smile all over her face. Dougal was furious.