Monstrous Races (22 page)

'Max has sorted it,' Rufus said softly, 'I thought you knew. We're to go into hiding in a secure room, one that leads to an underground canal and comes up outside the city walls where we run like the wind if they've infiltrated the city or even better we get a lift from an Ethiopian Pegasus if we can get hold of one. It's too risky to try flying out from here, we'd be an easy target. That's why you've got your gorgadon suit, so we can pass undetected. He's got gendarme uniforms lined up, our own spies who've been biding their time in his army, even fake stones that look almost the same as yours. We're on red alert as of tomorrow, that's when we think attacks will happen within Brayston trying to flush us out into the open. It's all been arranged,' he muttered, seeing the defiant gleam in her eyes.

'Well nobody thought to mention it to me,' she said calmly, her voice taking on a new, edgier timbre. 'And believe me, I'm the best hope you have. I'm afraid that the plan has to change. Max won't even need to know,' she added before he had the chance to speak. 'Just me and you Rufus.' She noted his harrowed expression and patted him on the shoulder.

'Thank you for no
t doing that on my head,' he adde
d glibly.

It was a balmy morning when Elli finally got up and walked over to the curtains in her room. She looked out and saw activity in the street; Madam Valencia was sweeping the pavement outside her house, and Uncle Frankie and his eldest son were embroiled in a deep conversation about the benefits of fried fish oil.
All of it fake
she thought,
if you know where to look
. In the distance she saw a winged horse flying high above the clouds, a swirling speck in the rolling sky.

She looked down at her bag containing the gorgadon suit and gave it a hearty kick before flicking through the sketchbook once again. There was a horse in there, accurately drawn and abandoned half-way through, and a picture of a rooster's head that filled the page, its beady eyes staring out at her and the reflection of something lurking inside them. There were smaller pictures of dragons and again the picture of the girl with a smattering of freckles and an uncertain smile.

The knock at her door was measured and unobtrusive, so Elli knew it couldn't be Rufus. 'Come in,' she called, after hiding the book under the sheets. Alpha Sawyre appeared in the doorway, her dark-grey robe wrapped around her and her liquid brown eyes full of concern.

'May I sit down Elli?' she asked in her molten voice, and Elli realised she had nodded just after the event. She sat down gently on the edge of the bed and tilted her greyhound head towards her, her hands clasped in her lap. 'I've been giving some thought to this,' she said, gesturing at her own necklace and at the ring shaped pendant it contained. 'My St
.
Christophe, thinking about who gave it to me and what it means. It's a symbol of my faith. If I had to choose something that represents who I am I suppose that I'd choose this,' she said, looking at Elli's fyrestone. 'I just wondered what your feelings are about your symbol Elli?' she asked, watching delicate hues of blue and green slowly sweeping around the blue stone inside.

Elli shrugged, looking down at the stone that she felt softly humming against her skin. 'I don't think it represents who I am,' she said slowly. 'Not yet anyway. Perhaps something I could be. What I can't work out is why Lord Lansdown wants it so much. He's already rich, he's already powerful, why risk everything just to be more rich and powerful?'

Alpha Sawyre smiled weakly and held out her hand. 'Sadly we can't see inside his mind, but if we could I'd imagine it was a strange place to be. Perhaps he just wants it without really knowing why, some people are like that. It's hard to understand people who want power so much when it's not something you've ever craved. But you should think on this Elli, because you obviously have a great deal of power with that stone, for good or for ill,' she added gravely, her eyes reflecting flashes of emerald green and
vibrant blue.

'I was
happy at the Dogheadhood,' Elli
said wistfully. 'Life was much simpler then. But this thing chose me, and I'll make the best of what I've got. What worries me is how it affects the people I care about.' Alpha Sawyre nodded gently, and held Elli's hand in hers.

'Exactly,' she said. Elli was about to speak when a rush of noise and galloping hooves clip-clopped towards the house from the street below. There were shouts and calls, mostly muffled, and Elli and Alpha Sawyre looked at each other, eyes wide and afraid.

'Stay here,' commanded Alpha Sawyre as she
leapt
grac
efully from the bed. She moved
towards the curtain and peered through it, hearing the front door slam open and heavy footsteps walking around downstairs. Rufus appeared a
t the door, his eyes wide and a
sheen of sweat glistening on his dark brown fur. He gasped and spluttered, pointing at the bag lying abandoned on the floor.

'We'll need that,' he managed, as Elli poured him some water from the jug by her bed. He took the cup and flung the water over his head, before holding it out for more. 'They've got Effi and Maud,' he said finally, tipping his head back and pouring the cup into his open mouth. 'Six of them went in first thing this morning and sent us a note. We've been waiting for them to try to grab you so we didn't think about protecting them. Max is livid. He's pacing. Whatever you do, don't disturb him when he's pacing.'

'What do they want?' asked Alpha Sawyre, her voice clear and sharp.

'Take a wild guess,' he answered, grabbing the pitcher and pouring himself some more water. 'They're threatening to do te
rrible things to them if we don
't meet their demands, including escorting you,' he said pointing at Elli, 'to the city gates.'

Elli sat back on the bed and felt a wave of nausea tickling her insides. 'How do we get them out? I can't leave them in there with those...monsters,' she finally spat out, forcing her eyes not to brim with salty tears as her stomach heaved at the thought of it. 'I'll go to them.'

'Is this Effi Willingness and Maud O'Leary we're talki
ng about?' asked Alpha Sawyre,
a slight smile at the edge of her lips. 'Of Cheese
Alley. The great-dane
dog-head and the gorgadon who likes pink.'

Rufus nodded and Alpha Sawyre broke into a large grin, her eyes shining. 'Oh I really don' t think that will be necessary,' she said to Elli, smoothing down her robe. 'Not necessary at all.'

They sat quietly in the front room of the house as Max walked rhythmically up and down, up and down. Now and again they'd hear him sigh, loud and long, a sigh of deep frustration and pent-up fear. 'You both need to go into hiding,' he said finally, his
chest heaving powerfully and his voice gruff. 'Rufus knows what to do. We've got a girl on standby to replace you, she'll be wearing a fake stone. Hide down there now and we'll send you a signal when it's time to run.' He kicked a wastepaper basket that was sitting neglected in a corner and sent it hurtling towards a window. 'They're trying to flush you out, they know the street is covered. When I get hold of them...'

'Rufus,' said Alpha Sawyre, her voice measured and calm. 'I think we'd all like some tea. Elli, would you please help him?' she asked, walking towards Max. Elli followed Rufus into the kitchen, glancing behind her once to see Alpha Sawyre holding Max's large hands in hers and whispering into his floppy ear.

Rufus almost dropped the tea-tray when he heard the laughter, a giggle that had lost all semblance of control coming from the room he'd just left. There were two sounds, both uncontrolled and laughing joyously together. He slowly put down the crockery and walked to the door, opening it gingerly before peering into the room for a moment and then shutting the door again. He looked across at Elli and gestured with his thumb towards the closed door with a look of extreme puzzlement. Elli gestured back with raised hands and they carried on making the tea, whispering to one another.

'I've never heard her laugh like that,' he said. 'Even when I tripped up over the Arch Deacon and landed in Mrs Deacon's cleavage. Everybody laughed but her.'

'Are they hysterical?' asked Elli, reaching up to collect the biscuits. 'There's been so much pressure on us all, perhaps this news has just sent them over the edge.'

'Not that I know of,' said Rufus, taking the biscuits first and passing them down to Elli after taking half for himself. 'Never. He's normally the calm one, he sorts everything out while other people get hysterical. And he loves Effi and Maud, they helped us out when Mum left,' he said, scratching his muzzle thoughtfully. 'It's actually a bit distasteful. I'll stay here for a minute, you take them in their tea,' he said with a heavy heart-felt sigh.

Elli wondered if the sound of rattling crockery would alert them to her presence, and coughed loudly as she went through the door just in case it hadn't. Alpha Sawyre and Max were both sitting down, Max in his large comfortable armchair and Alpha Sawyre perched daintily on the arm. Both were relaxed and seemingly happy, and Elli saw that his hand was resting over hers. He noted her glance and removed it delicately.

'Thank you Elli,' said Alpha Sawyre, running her hand through her thick silky fur. 'And I'm sorry about that. You must be terribly confused.'

Elli put the tray down on the table in front of her and looked up.

'Let's just say things aren't always what they seem,' added Max.

'And sometimes they are,' replied Elli, giving them both a knowing look and pouring out the tea. She heard Max splutter slightly and sat down herself, seeing Alpha Sawyre smile gently in spite of herself.

It was less than an hour later when a single rider arrived at the house, a pale and watery boy called Tom who worked at the fishmongers and carried the smell around with him. He jumped down from his horse and walked it to the stables at the end of the road, peering around him furtively before receiving an almost imperceptible nod from Madame Valencia. He walked quickly up to the high wooden door of Max's house and found it open before he'd knocked.

He stood in the middle of the room now, his face pale and his movements jittery amongst the opulent furnishings. 'It's over,' he spluttered, choosing his words carefully. 'It was horrible. We heard crashing and banging, then there were screams...' He trailed off, his brow sunken and his breathing laborious. Rufus was shaking his head, his mouth hanging open. 'We tried to get in but there was no way, we were too late,' he said sadly, his hat crushed between his hands and his eyes wet. 'They were thrown out into the street in the end, no clothes, nothing.' There was silence and then Rufus' eyes opened wider.

'Who was thrown out?' he asked as realisation began to dawn around the edges of his mind.

'Two dog-heads, big ones too, three humans and an ogre. Went clean out of the window. Luckily it was open first or there would have been an almighty mess. They didn't even have their boots on this time.'

'Tom, do you mean that Maud and Effi are alright?' asked Elli, her voice brimming with wonder.

'Well, they were making scones and a gigantic rice-pudding when I left,' he said, his eyes full of longing. 'I said I'd go back for some, if that's alright with you.'

'Give them my love,' said Max with a heartening grin. 'And use this to buy them some flowers,' he added, passing him some coins. 'One of those is for you by the way. Was anything broken?'

Tom looked up at him, the coins held tight in his fist. 'I think one might have broken his nose in the fall.'

'In the house,' Max said patiently. 'Was anything damaged?'

'Don't think so,' answered Tom. 'Looked clean as anything when we went in afterwards. Like it had just been done.'

'It probably had,' said Alpha Sawyre quietly, 'but not by Maud and Effi.' She looked across at Max and they smirked, whilst Rufus watched them both and collapsed into a seat.

'Still,' said Max, sitting up now, 'that doesn't change anything. Kidnapping and
threats against innocent old
ladies shows just what they really are. I take it the ones who
did this are on their way here?' Tom shook his head slowly, his eyes darting from Max to Alpha Sawyre.

'The gendarme came to collect them, and one of them had a message for you. Here,' he said, fishing into his pocket and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Max nodded to him discreetly and he bowed low, before walking out leaving a fine trail of mud behind him. Max read the note and passed it to Alpha Sawyre, who folded it up neatly and held it in her hands. 

'It would seem that we have friends in high places,' she said, looking shrewdly at Elli and Rufus. 'How fortuitous. And that
said friends
are happy to hold these individuals for the time being whilst we concentrate our efforts elsewhere.' Elli risked a fleeting glance across at Rufus, who was looking at the ceiling with great interest. 'Now, I suggest that you two disappear to the safety of the basement and stay there until you get the signal. It would appear that there is also an impromptu celebration day scheduled for tomorrow with entertainment and sporting games, all kinds of things. And that the presence of all citizens is mandatory. There will be clipboards apparently. Our names and those of many others who live in and around this street are missing as a result of some oversight.' She stood poised in the centre of the room, her body perfectly still.