The Great Fury (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lived Dutronc was not amused. He had demanded an emergency meeting with Morag.

Morag sat across him at the boardroom table and waited to be chastised.

“Morag, do you understand the markets, forward option trades and swops?” he asked quietly.

Morag knew she was in trouble. It was the tone of his voice. She felt her knees tighten together but she kept her face poker faced.

“We have forward buy options and we have sale options. We are stretched all over the place.”

“As a hedge fund?” Morag said to try a calming tone.

“Our property position is critically dependent on a fall in New York values, followed later by a rise in New York values. And do you know what that needs?”

“Contaminated sewers and rats and vermin wandering the streets,” Morag replied confidently.

“And have you seen the reports on the news. The reports that your contaminant is gone. The water is clear.”

“Yes and I can't explain it,” Morag admitted.

“Can you fix it?” Lived asked.

“As we speak Deirdre the witch is preparing to make her way into the water system via the old reservoir in Central Park. Within the hour she will have her spells ready to re-contaminate the water.”

“And what if it clears again?”

“We are on it sir. We have a connection.”

“Explain.”

“We have captured the fireman John.”

“Just like that, I was beginning to think he was too clever for you,” Lived said sarcastically.

“The Greyman made contact. John said he wanted a deal, so we gave him one.”

“A deal? How? why?”

“He understood that the contaminant was of magic provenance. He said he'd used the power of the Great Fury to eliminate it.”

“What's the Great Fury?”

“A sword, it would appear.”

“And?” Lived prompted.

Morag smiled.

“What?”

“You have to suspend logic and think of magic. The possible in another dimension.”

“What dimension?” Lived asked, his face showing his puzzlement.

“There is another dimension. We call it a dimension of magic.”

“Your magic is a chemical formula. I may not understand it but a contaminant is a chemical of some sort. That or a bacteria or a virus. It's not an otherworld event.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Morag said.

“Tell me what happened,” Lived demanded.

“John the fireman explained that when he plunged the sword, the Great Fury, into the water it immediately sent out an energy surge that covered the entire system and wiped out our contaminant.”

“Electrical surge?”

“Could be. We need to see a demonstration. We know it worked because the contaminant is gone but we don't know why.”

“So this John could be lying?”

“We think not. He is connected to a group of magic provenance. We were investigating them.”

“Why, investigating? why go there?”

“Magic in New York is our territory. We need to stay on top of developments. The back history involves the theft of a boy child and the fall of a God.”

“A God? Come on Morag, is this more of your Otherworld stuff?”

“Lived you know I can do magic, don't you pretend to be a logical man. You know.”

“OK Morag demonstrate this phenomenon to me and I'll be convinced.”

“We are rounding up the last of John's group.”

“When you have all that I'll block out some time and you can show me what we've got.”

“Yes sir,” Morag said confidently. “Suggest you join us in the reservoir.”

“Arrange it.”

“Yes sir.”

“Did you bring it? Our old friend,” he asked more gently.

“Yes, I have it here.”

As she spoke Morag reached down and then put an old horsewhip on the board table.

Lived gave a tight smile.

“It's been a while since I put the boardroom table to use,” he said.

They both stood. Morag could feel herself shake. He was going to take control of her now.

“We have to chastise mistakes,” he said. “All part of good corporate governance.”

***

It had taken a while to get organized but they were all there.

They were in a circle in John's apartment living room. In the center on the floor Maedbh sat with Venus in her lap alongside Oengus with Puca the poodle in his lap. Peter crouched uncomfortably beside Maedbh. Around the walls Hugo stood with three of his gang on each opposite side. John sat on his sofa the Great Fury open and laid alongside its scabbard on the coffee table.

Dearg Due stood near the window and the Greyman stood at the door.

“Tell her to touch it,” John said, referring to Leanan.

They had brought Leanan to the apartment after it was secured and Hugo and his gang put in place.

Leanan gave Oengus a warm smile and she crawled on hands and knees in his direction. Gently Dearg Due came and guided her to the coffee table and then retreated to her place guarding the window.

“What a pretty sword,” Leanan said.

Almost absentmindedly she ran her finger along the pulsating blade, tentatively as if afraid it might cut her. John suddenly reached forward and slapped her hand hard against the flat of the blade, using his own hand to provide a firm downward momentum.

For an instant the blade turned red and then resumed as if it had not been touched. Leanan pulled her hand free and stared at the pink burn where it had made contact with the sword. She stood and walked towards Oengus.

“I'm ok,” she said, addressing Dearg Due who was regarding her with concern.

“This young man is about to find out the meaning of the phrase ‘hell hat no fury like a woman scorned,' she said and kicked Oengus as she spoke.

“Ouch,” Oengus said but other than looking Leanan in the eye for a second he made no move.

John laughed, “Told you it could create good and cure evil,” he said.

“She's back to being evil,” the Greyman said with satisfaction.

“She sees evil as good and good as evil, so the sword works the reverse for her,” John explained.

“Leanan back off,” Dearg Due insisted. “You can vent your anger later.”

“What are you going to do with us?” Maedbh asked.

“For the moment I'll get you both some clothes. Wouldn't like you to catch cold,” John said.

“Don't waste your time,” Dearg Due said.

“Yeah man,” Hugo agreed, enjoying the sight of Maedbh in her towel, and his gang smiled in agreement.

John shook his head but rose and went to the bedroom. He re-emerged with some clothes.

“My partner was a smaller man than me and he liked occasionally to dress up,” he said, and he threw a dress and other women's clothes to Maedbh.

Immediately Maedbh stood and pulled on the dress over her head and pulled up the frilly pants. They were a loose fit but better than nothing.

John threw jeans and a shirt to Oengus, who put them on. He was a similar height to John and although the waist was loose they were a reasonable fit.

“What are we waiting for?” Oengus asked as they resumed their position on the floor. Puca gave a yap and climbed back into his lap and Maedbh picked up Venus and stroked her head.

“Patience,” John advised and sat back on the couch.

Some time later Hugo's cell phone rang. It was Nina.

“Nina,” he said. The others understood something was happening. They knew Hugo had stationed Nina to keep watch at the entrance.

“He's here,” Hugo said and put the phone back in his pocket.

“He will head straight for the sword. It is calling him. You must overpower him before he can touch it,” John said.

From her concealed spot in the stairwell Nina watched him. The Old tramp shuffled about in front of the entrance.

He did fit the description John had given. A tall well built older man but shabbily dressed and a confused look and staring eyes. To her he looked dangerous and she cringed when his gaze seemed to pass over where she was hidden. But he paid her no heed and he shuffled up the steps.

As instructed Nina had left the door unlocked and as he pushed and entered she rang Hugo again. “He's entered the building,” she advised.

They waited. It took what seemed a long time. Then they heard the faint sounds of someone on the other side of the door of the apartment.

There was a loud knock of a fist on the door.

“Coming,” John said and made towards the door.

Hugo signaled to one of his men and Joey, a huge strong young man, came off the far wall and joined Hugo in the small apartment hallway. They stood on either side of the door as John undid the locks.

Before he was finished with the locks there was a loud bang as the Tramp flung himself against the outside of the door. The frame shook but held.

“Whoa!” John shouted. “I'm letting you in.”

John got the door partly open as the Tramp threw himself again against the door. It flew back and unbalanced John as the heavy man came in through and ending in a heap on top of John.

Hugo hit the Tramp a sharp powerful blow on the back of the neck with his cosh and with a grunt, the man went down and lay still.

“Cool,” Joey said.

From John's previous briefing they had expected more of a fight. But it had worked well for them.

Joey helped Hugo drag the Tramp into the middle of the room and propped him between Oengus and a very startled Peter.

“Is he dead?” Peter asked.

“No, a mortal can't kill a God, not even one who has had his powers removed,” John said.

“Doesn't look much of a God to me,” Hugo said, kicking the worn shoe of the unconscious man.

“A God?” Oengus asked.

“Just a sarcastic remark,” John replied.

John became brisk.

“We have them all now,” he said. “Time to call your boss,” he added.

His remark was addressed to the Greyman because he had negotiated his deal with him.

“My instructions are to take the lot of you to Central Park. There we will meet our colleague Deirdre the witch and she will bring us down into the water system,” the Greyman explained.

As he spoke the Greyman threw his car keys to Hugo.

“Hugo,” he said, “bring the limo to the door.”

John stood and put the sword back into its scabbard. The tramp grunted as if something had struck him. The sword seemed as if to die, losing its color and looking like an old antique.

“Tie the tramp up. He looks powerful,” Dearg Due said.

“I have some plastic ties,” John said and proceeded to secure the hands of the tramp behind his back.

“The others?” he asked indicating to spare plastic ties.

“Whatever,” Dearg Due said.

John secured both Oengus and Maedbh and said ‘sorry,' as he secured Peter's hands behind his back.

“The animals, we should kill the animals,” Dearg Due added.

Both Venus and Puca made a dash for the living room door that Hugo had left ajar on his way out. The exit door was shattered and they made good their escape.

“I just knew they understood every word,” Dearg Due said as the animals disappeared out and down the hallway.

“Leave them,” John said, “we have enough on our plate.” He suspected that the poodle was the Puca and he was in his way a bit fond of the Puca.

“And what about your colleague Peter?” Dearg Due asked.

“What about him?”

“May I suck his blood, he does look tasty.”

Peter listened to the conversation with a shocked expression.

“Peter witnessed the previous event. We should keep him for corroboration,” John replied.

Peter regarded him with a puzzled frown but he sat still on the floor. Clearly he was not in immediate danger. Maedbh gave him a wan smile and Peter nudged her with his knee in appreciation. Their eyes met and Peter felt himself flush a little with a warm feeling.

Dearg Due was a tad disappointed but she could wait. Peter would be just as tasty later. She wondered about the minor exchange between Peter and Maedbh but decided they weren't an item.

Nina watched as the Limo pulled away with Oengus and Maedbh and Peter, all bundled alongside the smelly tramp in the boot. Dearg Due sat in the rear seat with Leanan while John sat up front and the Greyman drove. Hugo followed behind them with his men in their Ford-pickup truck.

“Nina can you get us to Central Park?” Puca asked. They had emerged from the shadows when the cars were gone.

“Turn yourself into a pigeon and fly?” Nina suggested with a note of sarcasm.

“Venus,” Puca said.

“Meow,” Venus said as pleasantly as she could.

“I'll get a cab and take you there but don't think I'll do more. Hugo and I are in too deep as it is.”

***

Lived Dutronc's face bore the reserved frown of a managing director. Nervously Deirdre led him and Morag down a dark tunnel.

“We'll have to scramble at the end to get over broken masonry but then we will arrive at the water system. There is a large pool area surrounded by a walkway where this tunnel used to feed the water system but of course it is now defunct,” she explained as she shone her torch to guide the way.

Dutronc and Morag were in bright reflective clothing and warmly dressed carrying large torches and, due to an instinct to male gallantry, Dutronc also carried the large but not heavy haversack containing what Deirdre had called her ‘spell.'

“I'm looking forward to the demonstration,” Dutronc remarked in conversational tones.

“Sir, I'm looking forward to seeing this sword in action as a counter contaminant,” Morag said.

Dutronc grunted, pleased Morag had not forgotten to address him as ‘Sir.'

“We have two versions of the spell plus a backup in the haversack,” Deirdre added.

“Good, good,” Dutronc said agreeably.

They had started down the tunnel as soon as Morag had received a call to say cryptically that ‘the party had been gathered and were on their way.'