Phantoms In Philadelphia (12 page)

“Pursuing. Now come along,” I said, picking up my
pace.

Nicholas walked toward the river and turned down
Front Street. I looked over at Jack. Jack was not at all
surprised.

Nicholas turned down an alley that led to a row of
bandbox houses, and we stopped at the corner. Nicholas pulled a
handkerchief from his pocket, placed it over his nose and mouth,
then tapped on the door with the end of his walking stick. When the
door opened, he went in. I did not wait for Jack, but moved down
the alley, hunching low to move beneath the window and then rose to
my full height. I leaned against the front of the house beside the
door. Jack came up beside me shaking his head in amusement. Even
dressed as I was to make morning calls, in a white gown, and long
blue pelisse fastened tight to protect me from the cold, I was not
above venturing into the unsavory parts of the city if it would
provide useful information.

“Leave it open. I will not remain long,” Nicholas
said to someone inside. The door was left open, and we listened as
Nicholas told someone he had come for the dolk af hemmeligheder.
Nicholas knew Danish? Dolk af hemmeligheder meant dagger of
secrets. An artifact, surely.

“What
,”
Nicholas shouted, and I jumped a little. I glanced at my brother,
but he had sucked in his bottom lip as he always did when he was
trying to keep from laughing out loud.

“Give me that!” A moment passed then Nicholas ground
out, “You fool! That is the sign of the Phantoms. When last did you
see the dagger?”

For a moment, I was sure that they
were mistaken, for I had not been to this house before. It dawned
on me like rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds.
Jack
.

A deep voice rumbled, but I could not tell what he
said.

“It is a good thing then that I have the box, lest
you allow them to steal that as well.” Another rumbling sounded,
but Nicholas cut him off. “I do not care what you have to say. Be
prepared to meet me on the morrow at Stark Manor for the meeting.
As the new lord of Levitas, your negligence shall be dealt with
accordingly.”

We moved away from the house in a low, swift run.
Nicholas was the new lord of Levitas was he? Well, we would have to
see what we could do to disrupt his plans, and we now knew who held
the black box.

“Jack, how did the mark of the Phantoms come to be
in that house?”

“Not here,” he whispered, so I remained silent for
the walk home.

Once we were in his library, and the door was
closed, he unlocked a drawer in his desk. My father had built both
Jack’s desk and mine in my bedchamber. They were each filled with
secret compartments, but Jack’s desk was larger. He pulled a dagger
from one of the drawers. It was the same dagger that had been in
the Levitas book. Dolk af hemmeligheder was what Nicholas had
called it.

“Levi came to tell me that he had found the giant.
He, Leo and I paid a call and found this lovely piece of
craftsmanship,” Jack explained as he admired the dagger.

The hilt was, upon close
inspection, pure gold, and the thick blade was engraved in the
center with an eagle perched on the top of a throne. Above it were
the words Min Herre, min
Konge.

“My Lord, my King,” Jack whispered almost
reverently. We did not know what the significance of the dagger was
but holding it I had the feeling I was staring at something
important.

“That was the giant’s house? He works for
Levitas?”

“So it appears. His name is Dimitri, and I am told
that he frightens children,” Jack said.

I shuddered, touching my neck where the marks from
his large hand had faded. “Not only children. He frightens me.”

Jack was too absorbed in thought to pay heed to my
words. “What did the letter from Hannah say?”

“It was an invitation to a party at her house. One
of those sordid affairs,” I said pointedly for I knew Jack had
attended a few of those parties.

Jack locked the dagger back in his desk. “According
to the Levitas book, all meetings begin at nine. I saw Nicholas
giving the coded handshake to several of the men, Mr. Knowlton
included.”

“Ephraim’s father? Well, Mrs. Knowlton has
complained about her husband a number of times to our mother.”

“Now we know the date and location, though I have
never heard of Stark Manor,” Jack said, moving to his wall of
bookshelves to retrieve a book.

Nor had I, but I knew that Leo would know. Leo was
not only a member of our team but was Jack’s valet and spent his
free days exploring the countryside.

“Should we assemble our team?” Jack asked over his
shoulder.

The giant, the black carriage, Pierre’s capture, the
men who had murdered Ben, and now the artifacts; they were all tied
to Levitas. Freddy had described the black carriage as being the
one to capture George, but thus far, the only information that we
had learned was that his servants thought he was on a trip to visit
his nephew in Charleston. If Levitas had snatched him, then his
servants would surely have known. His servants were as close as our
own. We had to find George, but if he were with us, he would tell
us that Levitas was most important. I had a strange feeling though
that if we took Levitas, we would find George.

“No. I believe that you and I
should see what this is all about first.” Then could we move in
with the aid of our friends who were constables and watchmen and
destroy their traitorous society as my father had wanted. “But,
Jack,” he looked over his shoulder again, “this time we go
together
.”

Bess

L
eo had
come through for us with the location of Stark Manor. It was a
house outside the city and one of the country houses that the more
affluent citizens flocked to during the summer months. After there
had been a citywide epidemic of yellow fever in 1793 that took the
lives of nearly five thousand people, those who could afford to do
so quit the city for the fresh aired country.

When we reached Stark Manor, it was hidden from the
road by a long lane in the middle of a large wood. We rode past the
lane, circling the house through the trees, and stopping where the
woods dipped down a hill then opened into a meadow that had a small
pond. We tied our horses there, making sure to secure them where
they could graze.

As we came upon the back of Stark Manor, we halted,
my breath stalling for a moment.

The back of a three story gray
stone country house was before us and built onto the back of the
house was a two story round structure that had a colorful glass
dome rising as high as the roof. Jack and I exchanged a look of
wonder before scouting the area. There was a stone courtyard and
drive that came down the side of the house directly to a large
stable building. The courtyard was clear of people, so we sprinted
across the green lawn and on around the left side of the
house.
At the front, the first windows
looked into an empty dining parlor, and the door that led from the
room was closed.

I kept watch while Jack tried to open the window.
The first one he tried was unlatched, so he pried it open and
climbed through. I followed, closing the window behind me. As I
placed my ear against the door, all sounded quiet. Jack grabbed a
red apple from a compote of fruit, placed it in his pocket, then
nodded his readiness. Easing open the door; all was clear in the
wide foyer, but voices came from behind a closed door across from
the dining parlor.

We ascended the staircase, which had plush, but
faded red carpet that muffled our steps. In the dark upstairs
hallway, the only light came from the windows in the large
bedchambers that we passed. There was one door that beckoned to us.
It was black with a golden lion head shaped knob. After listening
for sounds on the other side, I slowly turned the knob. It opened
into the round room, and I let out a little gasp. We stepped off
the carpeted floor of the hallway onto a black iron walkway that
followed the walls in one large circle.

In incredulous awe, our eyes took
in the ornate surroundings.
Carved and
painted on the center of the floor below was a large emblem of a
golden pyramid with a gold lightning bolt through the center and
running along the outside were leaves and vines of ivy.

Gold throne chairs with blue cushions lined the
walls angling toward a platform against the far wall that held
three larger thrones. The same emblem that was on the floor was
also on the wall behind the platform. It was the most ostentatious
room that I had ever looked upon. Jack shut the door to the hall as
I looked fully around the room. There were three doors that led off
the walkway, with matching doors on the first floor. A few alcoves
were carved into the walls along the walkway with either half naked
statues or groups of palms that covered the alcove. I raised my
eyes to the dome, even larger than it had appeared on the outside.
The sides were etched glass stained red, blue and gold, but the top
was of clear glass, and I could see the darkening sky above. It was
nearing nine, and the light was fading. I moved to the right,
following along the iron walkway as I counted the throne chairs
below.

“There are thirteen in all,” I said to Jack. I
started to say something else when Jack held a finger to his lips
and pointed to an alcove behind me. I pushed through the palms
followed immediately by Jack as he leapt through. We resettled the
leaves to wait for whatever it was that Jack had heard.

A loud
thud
echoed through the room, and I
tensed.

“Light all the candles. The twelve will arrive
soon,” a deep voice said from near the door. We stayed completely
still as two men walked their way around, lighting the candles that
were set in gold sconces along the walls.

The same gruff voice yelled, “Don’t be lighting
those, fool!”

Soft glow from the candles lit the room as the sky
above turned black. Boots stomping along the walkway moved closer
to our hiding place, then stopped right before us. We did not move,
and I did not breathe. I closed my eyes and began to pray.

“What time are they to arrive?” A different man’s
voice asked.

“Even now the first carriages arrive. The ceremony
will begin at nine rings of the clock. Come, we must get to our
places,” the gruff voice replied before moving away.

The door closed with more force than necessary, and
I released my breath. Jack was sitting against the wall across from
me, and when my stomach growled, loud and surly, he chuckled.

“I have not eaten since breakfast,” I whispered.

Jack pulled the apple from his pocket and tossed it
to me. I caught it, twisted the stem out, then placed my thumbs on
the top of the apple, applying pressure and pulling out. The apple
made a crunching noise as it split in two. My father had taught us
how to split apples with our hands when I was nine. He would say
that one never knew when they would be without a knife.

We sat eating apple pieces and watching the room
below through the small gaps between the leaves. It was almost like
a picnic, if you did not count the murdering lunatics, giant, or
throne room of iniquity. At our angle, we could see the door below,
all the thrones on the far wall, and part of the platform.

Ten minutes passed before the doors below opened,
and men started entering the room, each was holding a single lit
candle. Every man placed his candle in the sconce beside his chair
then stood silently. They wore long, blue capes with hoods pulled
up, shading their faces from our view. Their suits under the capes
were dark blue with golden scrolls running along the sides of their
trousers and up the sleeves of their coats.

A white haired woman entered wearing the same cape
but with a dress underneath. A gold chain encrusted with sapphires
hung around her thin neck. She moved to the throne directly across
the room. A silent moment passed before two men, one of them
Nicholas, entered, walking together toward the platform. A silent
minute passed, and when the doors opened again, a figure dressed in
a long white cloak entered. I leaned forward for a better look at
the woman in white. She was not as ethereal as I had first thought
her in Washington. I felt Jack tense beside me. His eyes were
intent upon the woman in white. There was something between them,
something that ran deeper than her grazing his arm with that shot;
I would swear to it. I looked back down in time to see her smirk at
the men on the platform.

All air left me in a rush as my mind reeled. I knew
that smirk. I knew that smirk well. Her hood was covering her hair
completely, but both her height and slender frame assured me. The
woman in white was Hannah Lamont.

Jack was still watching her, but after a moment, his
eyes widened and he leaned forward on his hand, as if trying to get
closer to her.

“Yes,” I hissed. He looked at me, and I nodded,
watching as his jaw began to work. He was trying to gain control of
his emotions.

Hannah stood before the chair next to the
white-haired woman as the man who had entered with Nicholas stepped
forward and spoke.

“Let the ceremony commence. Brothers and sisters, as
you know at our last meeting we swore in our new leader. It is with
humble unworthiness that I present to you the new lord of
Levitas.”

Nicholas took a step forward, stood next to the
other man on the platform, and returned Hannah’s smirk, but she was
not paying him any heed. Her attention was focused on the crest on
the floor. I wanted to shoot them both. Not to kill, but to repay
them for all the trouble, the disappearances, the giant, the pain
they caused Jack. It would be so simple; there were two of them,
and I happened to have two pistols. All it would require would be
aiming my pistols...