The Monster Within (15 page)

‘I'll take a closer look,' Jack said.

‘I can go.'

‘In that dress? Wait here.'

Jack cautiously advanced. He had to stand on tiptoes to see in the windows, where
he saw a desk, a bookcase and a painting over a fireplace. It all looked completely
normal—and tidy.

‘What the hell do you think you're doing?'

The voice belonged to a bearded man standing at the corner of the building. He had
a rifle pointed at Jack.

‘Uh, nothing,' Jack said.

‘What do you take me for? A fool?'

Jack decided it was a rhetorical question.

The man waved the weapon towards the back door. ‘Get inside. And don't try anything
smart.'

Jack was forced to a chair in the kitchen. His mouth dropped as a door flew open.

‘What an unexpected surprise,' John Fleming said from the doorway. ‘One of Doyle's
brats has come to play.'

A pair of handcuffs was produced and Jack's hands secured behind him.

‘Doyle and his secretary have already been arrested,' he told the other man, ‘but
that still leaves the girl.'

‘The police are on their way,' Jack said. ‘Scarlet's bringing them.'

‘What?' Fleming's eyes narrowed. ‘You're lying.'

‘Maybe he's not,' the bearded man said. ‘We should leave.'

‘The kid's lying, Tony. I'd stake my life on it.'

‘I wouldn't,' Tony said. ‘Get the car from the barn. We'll move to the house.'

Smash!

‘That came from the front!'

‘Wait here,' Fleming instructed. ‘I'll see what's going on.'

After Fleming left, Jack said, ‘That'll be the police. They're probably surrounding
the whole property.'

‘Shut up.'

‘You might only have seconds. The sooner you get—'

‘Another word out of you and you'll be sorry!'

‘I don't think so.' The voice belonged to Scarlet. She stood in the doorway with
a revolver in her hand. ‘Drop it! Now!'

The rifle clattered to the floor.

‘Now lie face down on the floor. Do it!'

Tony did as told. Scarlet snatched up the key and undid Jack's handcuffs. She scooped
up the rifle. ‘Don't get off the floor!' she warned Tony. ‘Or else!'

She dragged open the kitchen door and pulled Jack towards the nearby woods. ‘Come
on,' she urged, dropping the rifle in long grass. ‘We haven't much time!'

‘What do you mean?'

‘I broke the front window. Then I rounded the house and came in through the side.
Fleming was already out
the front, so I locked him out.'

‘Bazookas! But what about the gun?'

‘I found it in one of their drawers,' she said. ‘It's not loaded!'

They sprinted through the forest. After following a small stream, they eventually
came to a heavily wooded gully inhabited by a flock of black grouse. The birds took
off as they approached.

Jack drew Scarlet to one side. ‘I can hear someone,' he whispered.

They ducked under some growth overhanging the riverbank as the sound of footsteps
drew nearer. It was Fleming and Tony, but they couldn't make out their words.

‘What should we do?' Scarlet whispered.

‘Stay here for the moment.'

They waited until the men moved away. It was quiet in the woods now, the only sound
the gentle current.

‘Jack,' Scarlet said. ‘I think they're gone.'

‘I think so too.' Jack touched the locket and compass in his pocket. ‘Let's backtrack
and find the road.'

They emerged from the undergrowth, following the stream back in the direction of
the house. A line of partly submerged rocks formed a natural bridge, and they scrambled
up the other bank towards the road. Then came the sound of an engine and they spotted
a steamtruck moving among distant trees.

‘That's the road,' he said. ‘Let's go.'

The forest met the road about half a mile away.
Jack began to breathe easier. Once
they reached it—

Crack!

A bullet spattered into the tree next to them, the echo reverberating through the
forest. Their pursuers were a hundred feet behind.

‘Run!' Scarlet hissed.

More shots rang out. The trees flashed by: green splashes of oaks, willows white
with lush leaves.

Jack could feel his heart thudding in his chest. An image flashed through his mind.
A tiger named Rajar, back at the circus, had been raised and trained in captivity.
Despite its fierce appearance, it was a pussycat for its owner.

But then it had changed completely. Over the space of a week, the tiger had turned
from a gentle beast to a bad-tempered monster, eventually mauling its trainer, Eddie
Taylor. The reasons had been a mystery, as had been so many things in that last year
at the circus.

Another shot rang out, breaking Jack from his reverie. They were almost at the road
now, but no closer to safety. In a moment they would be out in the open. He nudged
Scarlet, pointing.

‘To that hill!' he said.

Angling across the crest, they were momentarily out of their pursuers' sight. Now
they could reach the road in safety.

On the other side lay a field with grazing horses. After crossing it, they climbed
over a fence. On a steep embankment, a sleek grey mare eyed them warily. She
was
a beautiful animal, well cared for and probably worth a fortune.

Jack approached her as calmly as possible. ‘There, girl,' he said. ‘We just need
a little help.'

Then Jack was on her. He may not have ridden for years, but he had ridden bareback
a hundred times at the circus. He didn't have reins, but he didn't need them. Another
shot rang out and Jack dragged Scarlet onto the horse behind him.

‘Come on, girl!' he yelled, urging the horse on with a squeeze of his legs. ‘Go!'

The horse took them along the embankment beside the road and out of sight. A rise
brought them to the fence where Jack geed the horse over. Rounding a bend, they followed
the road for another mile until a car approached. The driver slewed the vehicle across
their path.

‘That's Lord McGahan's prize steeplechaser!' he yelled, bursting from the car. ‘What
the hell do you think you're doing?'

Jack and Scarlet dismounted, handing the horse over. The man's eyes widened. ‘I know
who you are,' he said. ‘You're those terrorists from the papers.'

‘No, not at all,' Scarlet said. ‘We just look like them. People have been saying
that all day.'

They hurried down a path, with the man waving his fist behind them.

‘I didn't know you could ride,' Scarlet said.

‘You never asked,' Jack said. ‘Where to now?'

The sea came in sight as they came over a hill. ‘We're
only a few miles from the
coast,' Scarlet said. ‘I think that's Musselburgh. The more distance we put between
ourselves and Castle McDibben, the better.'

As they followed the road to the coast, Jack spotted a steamcar in the distance,
heading towards them.

‘Maybe we can hail them down,' Scarlet suggested. ‘They might give us a lift into
town.'

The glare of sunlight flashed off the windscreen as the steamcar chugged towards
them. Jack raised a hand in greeting. At the same time, he heard another vehicle
approaching from behind.

As the steamcar ahead drew closer, Scarlet grabbed his arm.

‘Jack!' she said. ‘The driver—'

‘Oh no,' he moaned. Fleming and Tony were in the front seat.

He looked back again. The other steamcar was growing near.
We're caught between them
,
Jack thought.

There was no time to clamber over the wall. The open field was their only way out.
Fleming's steamcar skidded to a halt and he leapt out, gun raised. Jack pushed Scarlet
to one side as he fired.

The bullet whizzed past. Scarlet slipped and fell. Jack tried dragging her up, but
he knew they would never escape in time.

This is it
, he thought.
This is the end.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A hail of gunfire rang out as they threw themselves flat to the ground. Jack thought
of his parents. He thought of Mr Doyle and Gloria and Miss Bloxley. How sad they
would be to hear of their deaths. He hated the thought of Mr Doyle being so unhappy.

He doesn't deserve that
, Jack thought.

Scarlet squealed. ‘Jack! Look!'

He raised his head. Fleming and Tony were motionless on the ground. Dead. But who—

Then Jack saw them. ‘Mr Doyle!' he cried. ‘Gloria!'

Mr Doyle and Gloria ran towards them and they hugged. They had been in the second
steamcar.

Mr Doyle had Clarabelle in his hand. ‘I dislike
killing people,' he said. ‘But sometimes
it is unavoidable.'

Jack had never felt so relieved to see anyone in his life. ‘But how…'

‘I will explain,' he said. ‘It's similar to a case I investigated involving a packet
of mushrooms, a rubber donkey and a—'

‘Ignatius,' Gloria interrupted. ‘That can wait until later. Shouldn't we contact
the police?'

After giving Jack and Scarlet another hug, she climbed back into the vehicle and
left, leaving Mr Doyle to search the bodies of the two men. When he returned to Jack
and Scarlet after a minute, he said, ‘They're not carrying any identification. No
papers. Nothing. It's as if they're ghosts.'

‘But how did you get here?' Scarlet asked.

‘I sent a message to Greystoke at Scotland Yard after we were arrested by that idiot
Wolf. It took some time, but he was able to wrangle a meeting with us.'

Jack felt like the world had turned upside down. ‘A meeting? Wasn't he just able
to get you out of jail?'

‘It wasn't that simple. Bomb-making parts
were
found in our home,' Mr Doyle pointed
out. ‘Obviously they were planted, but the police could not simply release us. I
had to contact Grimsby to get us released.'

‘Grimsby?' Scarlet said.

‘My lawyer. He is excellent, but it was several hours before we were released. By
that time, Gloria's and my pictures were already in every newspaper in England. And
when I reached Scotland, I saw I had been upstaged—by yourselves!'

Jack suddenly remembered. ‘Miss Bloxley! Is she—'

‘Fine. She only suffered a flesh wound. Enquiries in Edinburgh directed us towards
Castle McDibben. There we encountered a man leading a rather beautiful grey horse.
He was in quite a state.'

‘We…uh…borrowed his mare.'

‘So I gather,' Mr Doyle said.

‘Have you discovered anything else?' Scarlet asked.

‘Only that the Valkyrie Circle is a widespread and powerful organisation. I'm still
not sure what their connection is to Domina. Why would a terrorist suffragette organisation
be associated with a gang of technology thieves?'

Gloria returned with the police. The man in charge was a sergeant by the name of
McPherson. He looked none too pleased to be confronted by the two dead men on the
road. Or by Mr Doyle.

‘I understand you're currently on bail,' he said. ‘Which means you breached your
conditions when you crossed the border.'

‘I apologise,' Mr Doyle said. ‘I never have been very good with directions.'

McPherson glared. ‘I don't like trouble in my town,' he said, stabbing at finger
at him. ‘And I want you out of here as soon as possible.'

Mr Doyle gave him some contact details before they all climbed into the steamcar
to drive away. Jack sat in
the back seat with Gloria, who gave him another hug.

‘I'm glad you're all right, Jack,' she said. ‘We've been terribly worried.'

‘We've been fine,' Scarlet said.

‘Fine?' Jack squawked. ‘People have been using us as target practice!'

They returned to Castle McDibben and searched the building, but found nothing.

‘It's been used as an operations base,' said Mr Doyle, ‘but these men are professionals.
There's no evidence of anything linking them to the Valkyrie Circle.'

‘What should we do now?' Jack asked.

‘Back to England, my boy,' he said. ‘We'll make our plans from there.'

They drove back to Edinburgh, where they all caught a train. Jack and Scarlet sunk
into their seats and fell immediately asleep. They pulled into Victoria Station late,
and it was after midnight by the time they arrived back at Bee Street.

Jack felt strange returning to the apartment. It seemed like a million years had
passed, but it had only been a few days. Wolf's men had had little success in turning
the apartment upside down. It would have taken months to search through all of Mr
Doyle's possessions. In his own room, he found his drawers open and the contents
turned out.

Mr Doyle stuck his head in the door. ‘I'm sorry about the mess,' he said. ‘All our
rooms went through a similar search.'

‘How can they suspect you of being a terrorist?' Jack asked. ‘It's ridiculous. Especially
after everything you've done for England.'

‘They were just following orders,' he said. ‘You must sleep, my boy. We've all had
a difficult few days.'

The next morning, Jack found Mr Doyle and Scarlet eating breakfast in the kitchen.

‘I've had a message this morning from Greystoke at Scotland Yard,' Mr Doyle said
as Jack piled strawberry jam on his toast. ‘It seems the prime minister is now insisting
they work with the Wolf Pack to bring the Valkyrie Circle to justice. Greystoke has
asked us to help.'

‘They've got a hide asking for help after they had you arrested!' Jack said.

‘That wasn't Scotland Yard,' Mr Doyle said. ‘That was Wolf and his blasted men. Besides,'
he added, ‘when England calls, every Englishman must do his duty.'