Winter of the Passion Flower (The de Vargas Family) (11 page)

Spinning around, she saw two more mice rise
to their back legs as the trap closed around her. She spun back, throwing her
right leg out in a strong kick, hitting Mr. Brixton on the chin, knocking him
to the ground. The little man squealed as he hit the floor hard, rolled over to
the dark corner, bouncing off the brick wall. She ran for the door as one of
the other men lunged at her, grabbing her around the waist with furry hands.

She bit. She slashed. She screamed. No
holds barred, she fought dirty.

Her life depended on it. Using her
fingernails, she grunted with satisfaction as skin ripped beneath them. Her
adversary released her as she ran for the road, pulling the scarab controller
from her bag.

Damnation. Her vehicle was gone.

Turning swiftly, she saw three men heading
toward her. Brixton brought up the rear, limping. As she looked at him, the
little man raised a small ray gun, pointing it at her head and she dropped her
papers, pulling her knife from her boot as she jumped to the left. She ducked
and weaved, running for her life, grateful for the sturdy boots under her
loose, flowing skirt. She pounded down the street past the Rattling Cat, egged
on by the screaming of the dollymops. Light rays from Mr. Brixton’s gun bounced
off the buildings around her and small clumps of brick rubble fell to the
ground.

“Run, sweetheart. Run!” The high-pitched
excited squeals followed her as she ran. A string of curses sounded behind her
as the two women stepped in front of her pursuers.

“Fancy a bit of skirt, gentlemen?”

The men pushed them aside roughly, running
after Indigo as the women cheered her on. The delay gave her enough time to get
around the corner to the next street. She turned her head from side to side,
searching for a hiding place. The top of a massive oak tree rose behind the
houses in the laneway at the end of the street. Running to the end of the
street, Indigo crouched behind the steam pump on the footpath, watching the men
come around the corner. They looked up and down the street, and exchanged a few
words before they split up and began searching down the short alleyways.
Waiting until the three men were all out of sight, Indigo sprinted for the
corner, throwing the scarab controller over a garden fence as she ran past.
Heart pounding and dry-mouthed, she swung up onto the lowest branch of the
tree, quickly pulling herself up the branches, thanking her stars for her
childhood tree climbing exploits with Sofia. She laid flat on the widest branch
near the top, hidden amongst the foliage, tucking her loose skirt beneath her
legs and the footsteps of her pursuers pounded on the macadam under the tree as
they neared the end of the street. Brixton gave a triumphant cry as he spotted
the scarab controller in the garden. Pushing open the front gate with a loud clanging
noise, he pounded on the front door of the house, demanding entry in the name
of Duke Lorca in his little squeaky voice.

“Bugger off, or I will send for the
constabulary.” A querulous old voice berated them. They argued loudly about
which way to go before moving away and their words faded, but Indigo suspected
one of them stayed close, lingering quietly in a garden at the end of the
street, not far from the base of her hiding place.

She closed her eyes and stayed still and
silent, the cold hard branch pressing against her back as she thought up
horrific payback for Leopold Lorca. Minutes passed and their voices floated up
to her as the three men headed back to the township. She smiled with grim
satisfaction at the frustration she could hear.

“You can tell the duke we lost her,
Brixton. I’m not going to”

“Where did she go?” Indigo recognized
Brixton’s voice.

“We’ll tell him she’s a witch,” the other
man replied. Indigo bit her lips to stop herself laughing aloud.

Fools. They were not the brightest of henchmen,
shape shifters or not.

“The duke is going to be extremely
displeased.” Brixton’s voice wavered and he sounded close to tears. Indigo
smiled to herself, imaging Lorca’s displeasure as their voices faded away. She
lay back on the branch, looking at the stars in the cloudless sky above as she
waited for rescue.

* * * *

At the same time as Indigo entered the
Market Hall, the captain was on the suspension bridge to Duke Lorca’s castle.
Zane clung grimly to the rope as the bridge swayed precariously beneath him
above the massive drop to the wild sea below. Duke Lorca watched him through
the monocular device on the parapet and spoke to the man standing next to him
as they laughed together, watching Captain Dogooder fight his way across the
swaying bridge.

“If you didn’t wish to speak to him
urgently, I would take great pleasure in dropping the bridge and watching her
brother fall onto the rocks.”

“He is not her brother, you fool.”

The duke’s jaw dropped as he lowered the telescope,
glaring at the comptroller general. “Don’t you…how dare…” Leopold spluttered.

“Captain Dogooder is my man and I have
summoned him to report on what he has found. Her crew is in the lockup and he
has infiltrated her business. I suspect, knowing the captain and his reputation
with the ladies, he may also have infiltrated Madame Vargas.” He laughed loudly
at his own joke. “However, I suspect there is more to Madame Vargas than we
have seen. We shall see whether the Captain can be trusted or not. I have
information from the laboratory and we shall see if Captain
Dogooder
lives up to his name”

The duke spluttered and stammered as he
searched for words.

“Enough, man. Captain Dogooder will be at
the door in a moment. If you want her space at the Great Exhibition, you will
do as I say.” His steely gaze left the duke speechless. A peremptory knocking
heralded the arrival of a manservant who bowed to the duke.

“Your Grace, a Captain Thoreau is here
asking for an audience with you.”

“He may enter,” said the duke, pulling
himself up straight and retrieving some of his dignity.

The captain sauntered through the door and
stood looking at the two men awaiting him. His face was expressionless and he
bowed to the duke before nodding at his employer. “Your Grace. Sir.”

“Good evening, Captain. I hope you have
much to report?” asked the comptroller.

The duke led them to a large table covered
with parchments. The comptroller pulled an ornate timepiece from his pocket to
check the time. “Madame de Vargas will be with us shortly. Duke Lorca has
kindly arranged her accommodation in his dungeon.” He smiled in anticipation of
her arrest looking across at the captain as if to gauge his reaction. “Now,
please tell me what information you have gathered over the past two days.”

“Madame de Vargas is importing flowers to
develop in her conservatory. She is determined to replicate many tropical
environments in her tourist biomes. Despite her outstanding looks and her hard
demeanor, Madame is not very clever. The man known as Mr. Grimoult, who is her
manservant, is the organizer of the enterprise. Madame de Vargas merely
provides the wealth and the exotic persona.”

The comptroller looked hard at him.
“Captain, did you see any sign of a laboratory in the manor house or in the
biomes?”

“No, sir. Madame Vargas took me on
extensive tours of the whole complex over the past two days. There is no
laboratory there. She would have been vain enough to brag about it. I only saw
conservatories for propagation.”

The comptroller looked across at the duke,
nodding, and the beady eyes of Duke Lorca glistened. Zane looked up, with
surprise on his face, as Lorca’s face started to shrink and disappear. The
large rat jumped onto Zane’s arm, sinking his sharp incisors into the captain’s
wrist. The comptroller smiled at the duke as Zane slumped in the chair.

“Now, we will await the arrival of Madame
Vargas. I shall get the truth. It is obvious this man has sold himself to that
woman.” said the comptroller general. “I shall enjoy this very much.”

* * * *

Indigo was still lying on the hard branch
at the top of the tree. The town had bedded down for the night, cottages
gradually dimming their lights until eventually the whole town was in darkness.
She had been entertained for a short time when one of the dollymops looked
after the needs of a sailor with great enthusiasm and much giggling at the base
of the tree. As midnight approached, her limbs had become unbearably stiff as
the cold seeped through her clothing, but she did not move in case a mouse or
man remained on watch below.

“Duke Lorca, you are a dead man,” Indigo
promised silently.

A carriage cruised slowly through the
streets of the town. Looking down, she recognized one of the vehicles from her
manor driving along the cobbled street. She carefully climbed down from the
tree and waited for Mr. Grimoult to stop the vehicle beside her.

“Not a successful meeting, I presume,
Madame?” he commented.

“No, Mr. Grimoult, and the curs have also
taken my scarab.” She climbed into the old fashioned steam-powered carriage.
“They shall pay for that as well.”

Fog surrounded them as the vehicle slowly
made its way above the country lanes toward the manor. Mrs. Grimoult met them
in the foyer, wringing her hands before she locked each of the cogs on the
massive door behind them.

“We have more bad news, Madame. The captain
has not returned. As you instructed, I followed him and he made his way to
Castle Lorcathian. I also observed the conveyance of the comptroller general
enter from the ocean into the castle earlier today.”

Indigo pondered Mrs. Grimoult’s news. “Do
you think we need a second rescue for the night? Or have I trusted too well?”

“Madame, I believe Captain Dogooder is
solid. I have no doubt he is a loyal servant. Your captain will not betray us,”
said Mr. Grimoult.

“All right then, Mr. Grimoult. I will
change and we will embark on another rescue mission. Would you please prepare
the air capsule?” She strode through the manor house, heading for her rooms.

Shortly after, Indigo emerged from her
dressing room dressed in her aviator’s suit, her black hair confined under a
tight helmet, making her unrecognizable. Dials covered the sides of the helmet,
with a small mouthpiece extending from a flap on the front chin piece. She
carried a small ray gun, agreeing with Mr. Grimoult’s assessment of the
situation.

Rescue may prove difficult.

“Are you sure you are up to this, Madame?”
Mrs. Grimoult held her hands together tightly.

“Molly.” Indigo bent to the housekeeper to reassure
her. “If you remember, I spent half my childhood up a tree with Sofia. It takes
more than one night in a tree to give me the vapors.”

She had told Mr. Grimoult of the shape
shifting earlier that night, but she did not want to worry the little housekeeper
any further.

“Time to leave.” Indigo headed for the
vehicle storage room on the lower level of the manor house. She stepped up the
ramp to a compact air capsule with Mr. Grimoult close behind. He closed the
door up as Indigo hit the keyboard of a small analytical engine mounted next to
the controls. A small map of the duke’s house appeared on the screen and she
scanned each room with a click of the optical device. All was quiet, with no
sign of activity.

“Are you certain the captain entered the
castle, Mr. Grimoult?”

“Yes, Madame. Mrs. Grimoult followed him.
The castle has been under observation since he arrived. He has not left, by
road, air or sea. Your captain is still in there.”

“There must be a room we do not have access
to via the time viewer. Would you please position the ship in the air space on
the western side of the castle?”

A loud hiss of steam sounded and pushed the
ship upward vertically, and they exited the building through an opening in the large
tower on the ocean side of them manor. The air capsule crossed the open fields
between the manor and the castle. With another hiss it turned toward the ocean
before hovering high above the western wall of Castle Lorcathian. Indigo
entered their coordinates into the machine and grunted with satisfaction.

“Found him. He is in the dungeon, but it
will be difficult to access him there. I need a diversion.”

Anger filled her as the figures on the
screen moved. The comptroller moved closer to Zane, who was strapped to a
chair, straining at the leather that confined his arms and legs.

“Not much longer, my sweet.” Indigo
murmured. “Leave him alone, you cowards.”

The duke appeared on the screen, advancing
toward the captain with a large magnet in his hand. Lorca moved it in and out
of Zane’s vision.

“Fuck, what are they doing now?” Indigo
cursed soundly as Zane’s head slumped and his eyes closed. The comptroller
walked across, speaking to him and she saw Zane’s lips move in response. She
understood and reacted instantly. Turning to Mr. Grimoult, she spoke urgently.
“We must move quickly. Drop me onto the parapet and create a diversion on the
lower level on the eastern side.” As she spoke, Indigo looped a rappelling rope
around her suit, tying a double figure eight fisherman’s knot under her
breasts. She attached the ray gun to her belt and Mr. Grimoult secured the
other end of the rope to a large brass hook on the opening of the airship.
Before Mr. Grimoult could acknowledge her request, Indigo jumped, landing on the
parapet thirty feet below.