The Curse of Salamander Street (26 page)

‘It would be no use, Barghast. This is not the time or the place and our troubles are not yet over, are they, Beadle?’

Beadle looked to the ground. ‘Not yet,’ he whispered, as if he didn’t want to speak.

‘What does he mean?’ Barghast asked.

‘Demurral follows us. He was at the Green Man. You are now a part of the mystery, Barghast, and you too, Tanville. We should have been more plain in our journey.’

Tanville Chilnam looked at Raphah as if she didn’t understand. ‘Demurral?’ she asked.

‘A magician and a thief, a collector of trinkets that he thinks will bring him power,’ Barghast said. ‘I took from him a piece of the true Cross. I heard that he even searched for the Keruvim – it was I who told him of its presence. I had been offered the Keruvim in Paris. It was enough to pay the ransom of a king and I had no reason to have such a device. I told Demurral in exchange for the true Cross.’

‘You?’ Raphah asked. ‘I am the guardian of the Keruvim. A guardian who lost it to the sea.’

‘Then it cannot be charmed by fish and will never be seen again,’ Barghast said.

‘Never,’ repeated Raphah.

‘So why does he still pursue you?’ she asked.

‘Why do you search for a lost portrait?’ Raphah replied.

‘Because I have to. It has to be taken home before it does more harm.’

‘And Demurral seeks that which in his hands will cause harm. It is his intention to kill me. Whilst I am the guardian of the Keruvim, its power is within me. If I am killed then he will have his desire and the power of God will be his.’

‘And he wants to kill Thomas and Kate and turn them into begging spirits,’ Beadle said.

‘And this is your journey?’ she asked.

Beadle nodded, a smile on his face as if he knew what she would say.

‘Then we travel together. This is not by chance that we have met. I now know that my quest lies in Salamander Street. In the carriage, Ergott dowsed for the hiding place of the children. I
looked upon his map whilst he slept – there is no such place as Salamander Street, it doesn’t exist. Yet Bragg had business there with a man named Galphus.’

‘Salamander Street is the road for which I search,’ Barghast said. ‘It is the last road I shall walk and if it is your destination then it is mine also.’ He looked at them and smiled. ‘I fear that a greater hand plays each one of us. Salamander Street cannot be found easily, only those invited will find the way.’

‘Bragg was invited,’ Tanville said. ‘He was to take that cup to the man called Galphus.’

‘Galphus?’ asked Barghast as Raphah listened. ‘The man is an alchemist, a dabbler, and if he has the key to Salamander Street, then a greater force possesses him.’

I
T was only a matter of minutes before they reached the alleyway that led from the factory to Salamander Street. It appeared to twist and turn less than it had before – no longer a labyrinth in which they would be lost, but an avenue that led them to a destination.

‘She’s pretty,’ said Kate as she tramped morbidly, her shoulders sagged and hunched.

‘Who?’ Thomas asked, knowing well who Kate meant.

‘Isabella. I saw the way she looked at you in the factory. She’s pretty, even for someone who’s been dead a hundred years.’

‘Doesn’t she frighten you?’ Thomas asked.

‘Frighten?’ Kate said in a voice that attempted to be soft and warm. ‘I’m not sure …’ She paused and shook her head. It was as if something was clinging to her skull, something dark, miserable and black. ‘Thomas, please, I need to have some
Gaudium
… Just a drop, let me moisten my lips.’

‘It’ll kill you. You heard Isabella. It’s poison,’ he replied.

‘Not if you’ve tasted it. It’s like honey and cream and it does things to your head, good things.’

‘And makes you want more,’ Thomas replied as he watched her warily. Kate appeared to hunch even further, clutching her guts and moaning slightly as if in pain.

‘Thomas, I need some – now.’ She looked at him pitifully, her eyes pleading. ‘Please Thomas. I will die without it, that’s what Galphus said, said I would die if I didn’t have one drop every day. What does a ghost know about it? She’s dead.’ Kate spoke quickly as she took a smouldering breath.

‘She’s seen things you haven’t,’ he said tersely.

‘She tried to kill me, drag me into her world, that’s what she wants to do. That hag wouldn’t care if I were dead. That’s what she wants, someone to share that picture and live in that rotting copse of stinking trees.’

‘A ghost couldn’t do that,’ Thomas protested.

‘Isabella tried to,’ she insisted as she stumbled on, falling over every tiny stone.

Kate didn’t finish what she had to say. The sound of running echoed through the passageways like a pack of dogs pursuing them through the night. The shouts of several Druggles chilled their steps as the beating of the Dragon’s Heart spread news of their escape through the factory. Thomas grabbed Kate by the hand and pulled her onwards. He ran faster, dragging her along the hidden lanes as the din of those who gave chase came ever closer.

‘I can’t run,’ she said as she pulled against him.

‘You have to, Galphus will take you,’ he pleaded, dragging her on.

Kate thought for a moment. ‘Leave me,’ she said. ‘Galphus has more
Gaudium
– he’ll give it to me.’

‘I can’t – won’t,’ Thomas snapped. ‘Always together – remember?’

‘That was then, this is now. Leave me. You get away, find Crane and come back.’

Thomas thought for a moment as the sound of the beating footsteps came closer still.

‘Look,’ he said pulling the
Gaudium
from his pocket. ‘Run with me and you can have a drop,’ he said as he ran from her.

Kate followed. She ran faster than before, somehow managing to keep pace with him. Thomas pressed on, not knowing which way to flee. He turned every corner and followed his heart. From somewhere in the darkness the voices got closer.

‘They’ll have us if we don’t get faster,’ he pleaded.

Kate slumped against the wall of the narrow alley and shrugged her shoulders. She stopped and looked around. In the light of the tallow lantern that hung from the stone wall, she saw the cuts to Thomas’s bare feet. ‘Let’s not go on. Take the
Gaudium
and die, be with Isabella … We’ll never escape. Can’t you feel it? Can’t you understand? This isn’t the real world, it’s all an illusion. We’re already dead and this is hell. Galphus is the devil and this is our punishment. That’s why you can’t get away from Salamander Street.’

‘I’ll not believe it. This is life and we’re alive.’

‘The
Gaudium
told me … We are dead. Dead as nails in a coffin lid,’ she said earnestly as she stared at him.

There was a rushing sound from the alleyway as the sound of heavy footsteps beat on the stone. It was as if a thousand feet ran towards them. Thomas snatched Kate from the path, pulled her into a small ginnel and held his hand across her mouth to shut up the words. She struggled to be free as a herd of Druggles rushed by, staves in hand.

‘See,’ he whispered. ‘They know we have escaped. If you want us to be killed just keep being the knave.’

‘I want the
Gaudium
,’ she said, not caring what was heard of her.

From over the wall they could hear the harping of music and the rolling of barrels. Thomas peered from their hiding place
and listened for the Druggles. They had gone. Looking up, he saw the light of the inn above the wall. Even higher was the meeting place of the roofs that blocked out the night. Holding on to the tallow lamp, Thomas hoisted himself on top of the wall. He bent down and as he twisted grabbed Kate by the arm and began to pull her to him. ‘Climb, Kate,’ he whispered as she scrambled towards him.

‘Why?’ she asked.

‘Just do it.’

Kate was pulled upwards until she sat with him on the wall. She looked at him and held out her hand. Thomas jumped to the ground on the far side of the wall and landed in a narrow yard of three brick walls and a doorway into the Salamander Inn.

A fiddle played and lilted the music back and forth. The door stood unlocked, releasing the sound of many drunken voices.

‘We have to take the chance,’ Thomas said. ‘Will you do it?’

‘
Gaudium
…’ she replied, as if to sign the deal. ‘Then I’ll come.’

Thomas hesitated for a moment. He could feel the pyx in his pocket. It burnt against his hand as if he held a hot coal.

‘One drop?’ he asked, knowing she would drink the lot given the chance.

‘One drop,’ she replied as a smile lit her face.

He took the pyx, unscrewed the lid and tipped it upon her hand. A large golden drop the size of several sorrowful tears dripped out. It fell upon her skin with a hiss. Kate licked it quickly as she closed her eyes and held her hand to her mouth. She said nothing. Every thought she had ever had rushed through her mind, and she slumped to the floor. Her eyes burst with a rainbow of colours as the world around her shimmered and the music from the Salamander Inn danced like butterflies before her face.

‘Gobwash and turdyguts.’ Kate groaned with a shuddering smile that looked as if it brought new life to her. ‘Can you see it?’ she asked.

‘What?’ replied Thomas as he looked about.

‘The music. I can see every note, it dances in the air.’

Thomas looked again. He could see nothing and hear nothing but the dull jangling of the violin and the stamping of many feet in time with its rhythm. From the noise within, it was obvious to him that the beer-house was full of people and a grand bacchanalia was taking place within its walls. The shouts of drunken men echoed from the doors and windows. Here were the people who lived clustered around the inn – men like Pallium, all indebted to Galphus, dangling like puppets.

‘We need to find Isabella,’ Thomas said as he listened against the door of the inn.

‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’ Kate leered. ‘Find Isabella, fancy that … Thomas in love with a pouting milksop.’

‘She wants to help us escape from this place,’ Thomas insisted.

‘She knows as little as I do,’ Kate said boldly as she pushed against the door to go in. ‘She wants to kill us both.’

‘Galphus …’ Thomas said.

‘I care not,’ Kate snorted.

With that she pushed open the door and shielded her eyes as the sharp light beat against her. A plume of thick blue smoke swelled out like a giant wave. It stank of heavy tobacco and beer and in Kate’s eyes was laced with strings of fine diamonds that danced like snakes upon the breeze.

The noise was intense. A babble of men grunted and groaned in some foreign language. They cared not for the two who stepped in from the cold night. Their entire gaze was fixed on a pair of fighting birds that danced and squawked upon the floor at the centre of the inn. No one seemed to notice the barefoot
lad and dishevelled girl who edged their way slowly into the room.

In the corner was a fire that spat wood sparks from the grate into the crowded room. A small bench was perched on the hearth. Thomas nodded for Kate to take a seat. He looked for Druggles. To a man, everyone who crowded around the fighting birds was a drunk. They slopped mugs of beer upon the floor, filling them from ornate pot barrels set upon tables. No one paid for their drink, all appeared to be free. They sang raucously, blind to Thomas and Kate as they cheered on the fight.

Thomas could see that the door to the street was bolted. He took two mugs of beer from a table and pushed his way through the crowds to the fire. Kate held her head in her hands and stared at the flames. She didn’t notice his return, her eyes oblivious to the world.

‘Drink this,’ he said as he handed her the mug.

She sipped the beer that washed against her nose like warm froth. Kate smiled at him and then reached out and touched his face.

‘Thomas,’ she said as if they were just met. ‘What are we doing here?’

‘Drink it and then we leave,’ he said above the cries of the dying bird as the victor plucked the feathers from its neck.

The men began to argue, angered by the lack of fight in the vanquished bird. A small vixen-like man grabbed another by the throat and began to peck at him with his fists. The two began to fight and roll about in the beer and sawdust that covered the floor. Thomas stood before Kate as more men joined in.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

‘Thomas,’ said Pallium. ‘I’m glad to see you alive. I heard that you were dead – thought Galphus had killed you.’

‘What would you care?’ Thomas said, pushing Pallium from him. He stepped back, grabbing the fire-iron as he stared at Pallium.

‘Quickly,’ Pallium said. ‘I know you cannot trust me, but I am with you. Crane needs your help, he is in serious trouble. Galphus betrayed him.’

‘More lies?’ Thomas asked as the fight went on about them.

‘I can get you from this place. Kate needs to be free from Salamander Street. She will die if she stays here. It is only a matter of time.’

Thomas looked at him as if every word he spoke dripped from his lips like vile slather.

‘Trust me,’ he pleaded. ‘Galphus has me gripped by the
Gaudium
– just like Kate. I have to do what he says. Now I want to be free.’ Pallium looked ashen and drawn. He nibbled on his fingertips and ducked behind the high back of the oak settle as the fight came closer.

Kate had returned to the fire. Her mind was lost in the embers. From above her she felt the wafting of a spider as it stirred the air upon its thread. She looked up and watched it fall helplessly from the mantel into the flames. Thomas looked at her and in that moment decided what to do.

‘Get us from this place, Pallium. Let this not be a trick or I’ll kill you.’

‘I’ll take you to Jacob Crane, that I’ll promise and it will not be a trick.’

‘How can we trust you?’ Thomas asked him.

‘You can’t,’ he said, ‘but I am the only hope you have of escaping the Druggles.’

Thomas grabbed Kate and pulled her to her feet and from her dream. Pallium turned and ran to the door. Thomas followed, his hand clasping Kate’s as the small vixen-like man was beaten upon the head with a dead chicken.

‘Crane needs you both,’ Pallium pleaded, out of breath as he ran ahead. ‘He is in much distress.’

They left the Salamander Inn and trotted along the street to Pallium’s house. The sound of the Dragon Heart could be heard chiming far away. It echoed through the roof-capped streets and chased the dust and dirt through the alleyways.

Kate murmured his words as she ran on. To her left and right she saw faces peering from frosted windows. They were all the same: meagre, sombre and pinched. They had large eyes that stared not at her, but into her. She felt that they all knew who she was and why she was running. She began to weep.

As they turned the corner the stink of the street began to grow even worse. They knew that they were near to where Pallium lived. The road became darker with no tallow lamps. Pallium ran ahead, waddling like a mother goose in baggy pants.

The door to the house stood open. Pallium looked for the key in his pocket and then went inside. Kate and Thomas followed.

‘Do you have
Gaudium
?’ she asked him.

‘Only enough for the day, only enough for me,’ he chirped happily as if he owned the world. ‘Quickly, there could be Druggles – they know you have escaped and will be searching for you.’

‘Why does Galphus keep people here?’ Kate asked.

‘It isn’t Galphus, but Salamander Street. Don’t you understand? We are all kept here by who we were before. Victims of our wicked hearts.’ Pallium laughed.

‘Before?’ Thomas asked. ‘What do you mean,
before
?’

Pallium pulled on the tie that hung loose around his scrawny neck. Taking the key he locked the door and sighed as if in deep contentment. ‘Before I came here I was a businessman. Had many things but wanted happiness. I fell in love and she
brought me here. I thought this would be the perfect place but it became a prison.’