The Steampunk Detective (11 page)

Jack heard the front wheels splash into the water. The vehicle paused momentarily. Jack looked up. An island lay to the north. He could not see a boat. Possibly a boat was due to arrive –.

The engine suddenly surged.

The truck drove at full speed into the water.

Chapter Thirteen

Jack was so surprised he almost let go of the roof. He stared open mouthed ahead of him as water rose up around the vehicle. The truck swayed from side to side. Allowing himself a backward glance he saw the pebbled shoreline behind him. The road he had travelled down disappeared into the hills receding away from him.

The engine changed as new sets of cogs and levers were brought into play. He felt a new surge of power from the rear of the vehicle. The truck began to cut through the waves like a boat.

A memory surfaced from the depths of his exhausted mind.

The underneath of the truck had been oddly shaped. He remembered it now. Earlier in the day he had not given it a second thought, but the undercarriage of the truck had been designed to do exactly this – travel across the water.

This vehicle could move as easily across the waves as it could the land. Jack found he could relax his body slightly. The ‘boat’ moved much more smoothly than it had across the landscape. He still had to hold onto the top of the truck, but not as tightly.

The water splashed up across the front of the vessel. The cold water and the offshore wind were almost refreshing after the day’s journey across the land. He looked up ahead of him. He had been right in his guess about the island. They were rapidly approaching it. A castle rose up high in the centre of the landmass. A thick curtain of forest enveloped the rest of the land.

He laid his face flat on the roof.

Not much longer now
, he thought.
Please. Not much longer.

The vessel arrived at the shore and slowed down as it reached a sandy cove. It jolted once or twice on the shore and Jack heard the shifting of cogs and gears again. After a momentary whirring of engine parts, it gripped the shoreline and started up the beach.

A large cave loomed ahead of them. Jack lifted his head slightly. All he could see was darkness.

Bazookas!

They were driving straight into it!

A moment later a large black sheet slid over the top of the truck. The weight of it almost dragged Jack off, but he hung on for dear life. Suddenly he found himself inside a large room, dimly illuminated by gas lamps. He could see the tops of shelves and drums stacked almost all the way to the ceiling as the truck drove onto a level concrete surface. 

The truck drew to a halt, jolted once and the engine cut out.

Jack almost wept with relief.

He heard people climb out of the vehicle. At one point he heard the angry voice of Jon Harker followed by a thump. Their captors had a long conversation in German. After a time their footsteps headed towards an open doorway leading away from the chamber.

A confusion of footsteps and mingled voices headed away from Jack. The gas in the lamps continued to keep the interior of the chamber dimly illuminated. He rolled painfully onto his back.

Rather than travelling on top of the truck, he wished it had simply run straight over him. Every muscle in his body ached from the tension of the day’s journey. It seemed like an eternity ago that he had leapt from the side of the metrotower onto the airship.

He closed his eyes.

I’ll just rest for a minute, he decided.

Just a minute.

Just a…

Chapter Fourteen

Jack awoke in gloomy darkness.

He found himself staring up at a stone ceiling. He woke from a dream where he had been buried alive and so he hit hard at the stonework, thinking he lay within a coffin many feet under the earth. The impact of his hand against the cold surface brought him back to reality.

Of course, he remembered. The airship. The truck. The island.

He lifted his head slightly. Only about a foot lay between him and the roof, a godsend, really, because the unlikely hiding place had kept him safe. He rolled over. His body felt stiff, but the total exhaustion that had plagued him the previous day had evaporated.

A sudden panic seized him. He had slept for who knows how long and in the meantime anything could have happened to Scarlet Bell and Jon Harker. He had to find and rescue them.

Jack almost laughed out loud.

He was only a kid. How could he hope to rescue Scarlet and Mr Harker? Still, he had come this far. Not everyone could have done that. Now was not the time to doubt his abilities. All he had to do was find them and get out of here.

Wherever ‘here’ happens to be
, he thought.

Listening hard, Jack realised he could not make out a single sound. Good. The occupants of this building were obviously located some distance away from here. He slid around until his legs dangled over the front of the vehicle. He stepped down onto the bonnet and then onto the floor.

He swooned and grabbed the vehicle for support. For the first time in twenty–four hours he stood on solid dry land. Taking a hesitant step he found he could walk.

His thoughts about the chamber around him were correct. It seemed to be some sort of storeroom, packed with boxes and containers. He lifted a tarpaulin and beneath lay some sort of drums. They smelled of oil. Jack made his way to the door, looked down the corridor and saw a long, thin tunnel leading away from him, lit intermittently by oil lamps.

Looking back into the room, he wished he had a weapon, but nothing looked usable. Clenching his jaw, he decided to continue without one. He had only one thing on his side – the element of surprise. The kidnappers had no idea they had been followed. He wanted to keep it that way.

He continued along the tunnel. Walking as quietly as possible, his footsteps still seemed to echo as loudly as if he were walking across a tin roof. The tunnel seemed to go on forever. He wondered where it led. Probably the castle he had spotted from the water.

Finally he reached a wooden doorway, set into the stonework. If the door were locked from the other side, then he would have to give up, but if it were unlocked…

He gripped the ancient handle and turned it. Nothing happened. Then it gave a rusty squeak and he found he could pull the door towards him. He looked out into another stone corridor.

Empty.

He entered. A steep, winding staircase lay at the far end of the room.

As Jack climbed the stairs he listened for sounds from within the building. Distantly, he thought he heard the sound of voices, but the sound was so muffled it was impossible to tell. The ascent seemed to take forever. Finally he reached the top. The stairs met another corridor.

Jack peered in both directions. Nothing moved in the corridor, but now natural light penetrated a number of windows. He had finally reached ground level. The building looked very old. Probably medieval. The structure was clean, dry and cold. He had been in a few other similar buildings with his parents over the years.

He tiptoed to his left. Windows looked out onto an open courtyard. Two men walked purposefully across from one side to the other. Jack’s heart raced with fear. He hurried along the corridor until he reached another intersection. Voices echoed down the passageway towards him.

He slowly made his way down the corridor until he reached a closed door. The voices seemed to be emanating from the interior. He placed his head against the door and listened hard. They seemed to be speaking German. He backed away. Making his way down another passage, he met up with the kitchen. A table covered with a tablecloth sat in the centre of the room. A preparation bench ran along the side.  An open door at the other side led out to a grassy area.

A pot was boiling on the stove.

Someone was cooking, Jack realised. They might be back at any –.

Footsteps emanated from the corridor behind him. He made for the exit door, but caught sight of someone heading up the path at the same time. He was trapped!

Jack made for the only hiding place in the room – the table. He climbed under just as someone bounded down the stairs. A woman wearing a long skirt. A moment later a man entered from the garden. They spoke in German for a moment before one of the chairs was suddenly pulled out from under the table.

Jack’s heart almost stopped. He pulled back under the table as the man sat down. Holding his breath, Jack dared not move as the man continued to speak to the woman. She dished out some food onto a plate and it clanked as she laid it onto the table.

The man said something, laughing. Suddenly the woman was dragged close to him and she sat, squirming on his lap.

Jack rolled his eyes.

Bazookas!

A cat sauntered into the room. Jack looked in horror at the creature as it slowly strolled across the room. Its eyes fixed on Jack and strolled directly towards him.

Go away
, he urged, glaring at the creature. It ignored him completely, taking up residence in the tiny gap under the table. Jack tried to push it away. He waved his hands at it.

Suddenly the man’s foot moved forward and connected with Jack’s leg. Jack bit back a scream as the man pushed the woman off his lap, dragged the chair back and stood up.

“
Vas ist das?” the man said.

Thinking quickly, Jack grabbed the cat and flung it out from under the table.

The man laughed, picking it up. He and the woman spoke for another moment until footsteps sounded on the landing. Another man arrived.

“They have finally spoken,” he said. The man spoke with a broad American accent. “The man, Bell, revealed the location when his daughter was threatened.”

The other man replied in German.

“English, please,” the other man said.

“My apologies,” the German said. His voice broad and loud. “Are they still upstairs?”

“Yes.”

“I will contact headquarters and find out what we will do with them.”

“Surely we will just dispose of them?”

“Most likely,” the man said. “But I will check. If we kill them prematurely, they are difficult to bring back.”

They laughed.

The three people exited the room and Jack found himself alone with the cat. He slumped onto the floor under the table. They most likely intended to kill Scarlet and the others. He had to act now.

Jack climbed out from under the table and made his way to the doorway leading to the passageway. Making his way carefully to the end, he arrived at a set of stairs. The man had said Scarlet and the others were located upstairs.

Scaling the steps cautiously, he suddenly heard footsteps coming along the hallway towards him. He raced up the remaining stairs as quietly as possible until he reached the top. He stopped. The footsteps passed by the bottom. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned his attention to the upper level. The corridor headed in two directions, windows on one side, doors on the other.

Oh dear
, he thought.
So many doors and so little time.

He turned left and started down the corridor. He tried the first door and eased the door open. Nothing. An empty room. He continued down the corridor. He could not just simply try every room, otherwise he might stumble upon the kidnappers.

Glancing down the corridor, he looked at the doors receding away from him. They appeared identical, but Jack suddenly realised a large key poked out from the lock of one of the doors.

Why would they keep a room locked?

He cautiously made his way down the passage. Placing his ear against the door, he tried to listen for sounds. Nothing. He let out a sigh. Finally he turned the key in the lock, grabbed the handle and inched the door open. He saw a mirror. A sideboard. A bed. A chair…. with someone tied to it.

Scarlet.

She sat in the chair, her hands and legs tied to a sturdy wooden chair, a gag across her mouth. She looked up at him with amazement.

He closed the door, hurried to her side and removed the gag.

“Oh Jack.” She almost wept with relief. “How is it you are here?”

“It’s alright, Scarlet,” he said. “I hitched a ride on the balloon and then the truck.”

“Where are we? Is Mr Doyle with you? What –.”

“Hang on a minute and I’ll explain.” He started to tell her his adventure when he suddenly heard the distant sound of voices. Crossing to the door, he stuck his head into the hall. The voices were drawing closer. Now he heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs.

He closed the door. There was no time to untie Scarlet. If her assailants were returning to the room, then he would be captured and none of them would escape. He made a difficult decision.

“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” he said. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer.”

“What –.”

He retied the gag, all the while hearing the approach of footsteps. The kidnappers were almost at the room! He scurried across the floor and rolled under the bed.

Not a moment too soon. Jack heard someone fiddling with the lock. He peered up at Scarlet and saw the panicked look in her eyes. She allowed her head to sag, as if asleep.

Two people entered.

“I thought I relocked the door,” a man with a deep voice said.

“No matter.” The other spoke with a slight accent. “She is securely tied.”

Deep voice untied Scarlet’s feet and dragged her into a standing position.

“Your father has been most helpful,” he said. “We needed only to threaten your safety. A man is only as strong as his weakest link.”

Scarlet said something through the gag.

“Never fear, my lady,” deep voice said. “We are taking you to the doctor in the forest. He will look after you.”

The other man laughed unpleasantly.

They dragged her from the room and closed the door behind them. Jack heard a rattling at the lock – and then he heard the key turn.

No!

He heard the footsteps recede. After a moment, he made his way to the door and tried it. Locked!

Bazookas!
he thought. How would he get out of this?

He looked around the interior. There was only one way out. The window. He crossed to it. It was a double hung window where either the top or bottom could slide or overlap the other.