The Steampunk Detective (12 page)

Jack undid the latch and slowly pushed it open. The window looked out onto a small rear courtyard, a series of walls and the forest beyond. Jack looked just below the window. A small ledge ran the length of the building all the way to the end. If he could make it to the end, a thicker wall led from that corner to the end of the building. From there he could climb down to ground level.

The ledge only looked about six inches wide. Of course, he had walked along balance beams that width a million times – except he had a net below him when he did it.

Thinking of the unpleasant laugh of the man who had taken Scarlet away, he climbed out of the window, his feet finding the narrow ledge. His legs shook. He could not make such a dangerous walk if he was paralysed by fear. He took three deep breaths.

The shaking in his legs stopped. He took another final breath and started moving along the ledge, gripping the window at first for support, then holding onto the brickwork as he slid along the ledge. This type of work required his full focus. It also needed him to breathe in an absolutely normal fashion.

He heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. Jack stopped. If the person below looked up, he would be in a very bad position indeed. His nose twitched. A sneeze began to build in his nose.

Slowly, he eased his right hand along the brickwork to cover his face. He squeezed down hard on his upper nose. After a moment, the sensation passed. Footsteps sounded on the gravel below and he heard the person move back inside. Taking another step, he continued to move along the wall.

One step after another, he told himself. I’ll just count my steps. One, two, three, four…

He continued counting his paces. When he reached windows along the side of the building, he glanced inside each one and the rooms were – mercifully – empty.

The distant sputtering of a vehicle came from the other side of the castle. It could only be the moving of the prisoners to the doctor’s compound. He had to hurry.

Reaching the end of the ledge, he now jumped to the wall below and hurried along it to the end of the building. He looked down at the end. The wall measured about ten feet in height and looked to be quite smooth. Very difficult to climb down. Fortunately, a tree grew nearby. He leapt from the top of the wall onto a branch, swung momentarily, dropped down to the branch below and lowered himself to the ground.

“All in a day’s work,” he muttered.

Jack made his way through the forest until he reached a road. He had just tried to decide which way to go when he heard a steam truck approaching. He ducked behind a tree as it chuffed past.

Waiting till it turned a bend in the road, Jack came out of hiding and ran after it. He kept the truck some distance ahead of him – he could not risk the driver looking in his side mirror and seeing him jogging after the vehicle!

Finally he heard it slow down and Jack stepped back into the forest. He crept through the undergrowth until he reached a large wooden fence surrounding the compound. He cautiously climbed up over the top and dropped into the interior of the compound.

Surrounded by trees, he slowly crept through the undergrowth until he heard the engine start again. He reached the front entry to the compound just in time to see the truck drive away. A man in a lab coat closed the wooden gates and slid a piece of timber across, securing it.

That must be the doctor, Jack thought.

There looked to be three brick buildings within the compound. The doctor disappeared into the closest. Jack knelt in the undergrowth. He remained unsure as to his next course of action. Looking up at the sky, he reckoned it to be about two in the afternoon. He could wait till night to make his move, but he might be too late by then.

Creeping over to the first building, he risked a glance in the front window, seeing only a plain looking kitchen with a wooden bench. Not much to be seen there.

On a hunch, he decided to investigate the buildings towards the rear of the compound. He rounded the first building and went down a path to the next. Looking towards the remaining two buildings, he realised they looked strange, but he could not work out why.

The penny dropped. They had no windows. Very odd. He crossed to the front door of the nearest building. Made from metal, a single panel covered the centre of it. It had to be some sort of jail.

Other people could be held captive within the prison. Jack pulled back the latch on the panel. He could see only a set of bars and darkness within. The interior smelt like rotting food. He heard someone shuffling about within.

“Hello,” he said quietly. “Is someone in there?”

The shuffling grew a little louder. He heard footsteps approaching. Finally he saw a darkened figure appear at the end of the room.

“Hello,” Jack said. “Do you need help?”

The figure drew closer. Then, while it was still half way across the room, it leapt, covering the distance in a second. It slammed against the bars. Jack fell back in horror, stifling a scream.

The thing looked as if it had been born in a nightmare. Its facial features were that of a man, but there the similarity ended. Short, black hair covered its entire face. Its nose ended in a snout. The creature gripped the bars from the other side with hairy paws, snarling at Jack with sharp bared teeth.

The thing had once been a man, but somehow it had been altered so that it was now part animal. In fact, the more Jack stared at it, the more it resembled some sort of black bear.

Jack turned away in horror – and found himself face to face with the doctor.

“Not so fast, my little friend,” the doctor said, jabbing him in the arm with a needle.

Jack tried to dart past him, but the needle was already taking effect.

Chapter Fifteen

Jack awoke with a woozy sensation in his stomach and a cloudy head. A face hovered above him – a face he vaguely recognised.

Oh, crumbs.

The doctor.

The man introduced himself. “I am Doctor Moran. I wish to thank you for joining our little party.”

Jack shifted his head. He was on an operating table set at a forty–five degree angle in a cold, concrete floor. Jon Harker, Scarlet and a man he assumed to be Joseph Bell were all in a similar situation on tables to his right. Opposite them lay a series of benches with microscopes, test tubes, flasks and Bunsen burners. A line of windows ran along the top of the wall behind them. A bench lay beneath them. Jack was reminded of the interior of Mr Doyle’s apartment.

“What do you want?” Joseph Bell demanded.

“I am a doctor, charged with the task of unravelling the very fabric of life.”

“Who are you working for?” Scarlet asked.

The doctor smiled. “Some things are better kept secret.”

“You’re a traitor,” Jon Harker said. “You’re working with those blasted Germans.”

Doctor Moran shrugged. “I am a doctor. I am beyond nationalities. Beyond countries. I am interested only in my research and what benefits it may bring mankind.”

“Benefits!” The word exploded from Jack’s mouth before he knew what he was doing. “I don’t see any benefit to the person you have prisoner in your cell.”

“There have always been slaves,” he said. “Just as there have always been masters. Slaves must know their place is to serve just as masters know their role is to lead.”

“What have you done to that person?” Jack demanded, his voice shaking with both fear and anger.

Doctor Moran slowly walked around each of the operating tables. “Slaves must be conditioned. They must behave according to the dictates of those in charge.”

“But you’ve turned him into some sort of…animal,” Jack said, aghast.

“I have combined the elements of his human nature with that of a bear,” the doctor explained. “In this case, a bear.”

“A…a bear?” Scarlet stammered.

“I have created many such hybrids,” Doctor Moran said. “Bears, lions, pigs just to name a few.”

“But that’s inhuman,” Joseph Bell said. “Surely you can see that.”

“Their lives have been sacrificed for the greater cause of science,” Doctor Moran said. “Just as yours will be.”

“You’re a monster,” Jon Harker said. “You’re –.”

Mr Harker stopped in mid sentence. At that moment a figure stepped into the room. Hunched over and looking downwards, the person carried a tray with a flask of alcohol and a glass.

Scarlet gave a moan of horror. Even the men were speechless.

“This is Wilfred,” Doctor Moran said. “He once worked as a servant on the island for the previous owners. Now he is part man and part pig.”

“Is that what you intend for us?” Scarlet asked.

“I have had much success with the pig formulae,” Doctor Moran said.

Jack listened to the doctor in horror. How can he be so calm? Jack wondered. He might as well be discussing the weather.

The doctor poured himself a drink while Wilfred stood nearby, looking downtrodden and fearful. “I have not had the pleasure of using it on a woman before. Now that will change.”

“If you harm my daughter,” Joseph Bell started, “I swear I will –.”

Moran threw the glass at Mr Bell. It smashed, sending pieces everywhere. Blood started to pour down the helpless man’s face. Moran stepped over to the bound man and slapped him.

“No!” Scarlet screamed. “Leave him alone!”

The doctor ignored her and slapped him again. Seething with anger, he said to Bell, “You will not give orders here. I am in charge. You are just a laboratory animal.”

Scarlet started to weep.

The doctor marched to the door. “Come, Wilfred. We will let these rats think about their future contribution to science while I assemble their potions.”

The man–animal followed his master to the door. Moran closed the door and for a long moment the only sound was that of Scarlet weeping. Jack lay back in frustration. He had come such a long way to save his companions and now he could not even save himself.

Scarlet suddenly stopped crying. “All may not be lost.”

“What do you mean, my dear?” her father asked.

“When the doctor threw that glass at you,” Scarlet said, “some of it landed in the crook of my arm.”

“Can you get to it?” Jack asked.

“Let me try,” Scarlet said.

Jack could see her moving her arm against her body. After a moment she let out of cry of relief. “I’ve got it in my hand. I’ll try to cut the strap. Just give me a minute.”

It took longer than a minute. Jack kept looking at the door, expecting the doctor to return at any moment.

“Hurry my dear,” Jon Harker urged her.

“She’s going as fast as she can,” Joseph Bell snapped.

“I’m just saying –.” Mr Harker began.

“It’s alright gentlemen,” Scarlet said. “I’m almost there.”

Another long minute passed. Scarlet let out a sigh of satisfaction as she finally freed one of her hands. She immediately untied the leather strap restraining her other arm and started to untie her feet. Just as she stepped away from the table, the door slowly opened.

Wilfred stood in the doorway.

Jack and the others remained frozen, as if in time, staring at the pigman. In return, the man looked at them quizzically, sniffing the air as if the aroma could make him understand the scene before him. Scarlet smiled pleasantly at him and edged over to Jack’s bench.

Glancing back at the pigman, she said, “Hello Wilfred. You’re a nice man, aren’t you?”

Scarlet began undoing the leather straps restraining Jack’s hands. Wilfred watched the scene with interest. She undid Jack’s feet and he slowly slid off the table.

“What Doctor Moran has done to you is very cruel, Wilfred,” Scarlet said softly, slowly making her way over to her father and Mr Harker. She undid their restraints and the men climbed off the operating tables.

Wilfred sniffed the air. Suddenly Doctor Moran burst in the door.

“What is –?” He stopped in astonishment. Turned to Wilfred and hit him. “Kill them! Kill them all!”

As he ran from the room, Wilfred snarled and turned to them.

“No Wilfred. No!” Scarlet screamed.

The pigman started advancing on them. Mr Bell picked up a chair to defend himself.

“Quickly!” he said. “Jack and Scarlet! Through the windows!”

Jack helped Scarlet climb up onto the bench to unlatch the nearest window. Wilfred threw himself at the chair and tried to rip it from Mr Bell’s grasp. Jon Harker grabbed a metal lamp off the bench and struck at the creature’s head.

It swiped him sideways, sending him sprawling to the floor. Mr Bell tried to push the creature out of the room using the chair, but Wilfred wrestled it from his grasp and tossed it across the chamber. The pigman threw himself at Mr Bell, grabbing him around the throat.

“Wilfred,” Scarlet said in a stern voice. “Don’t do that.”

Her words froze the pigman. He looked up at her, his eyes examining her closely. After a moment, he slowly released Mr Bell.

“You remember you were once a man,” Scarlet said softly.

Wilfred seemed entranced by her voice. He tilted his head as if she were singing the words rather than speaking them. Jack could see some sort of humanity still dwelt within the creature. The two older men climbed up onto the bench. Scarlet motioned them through the window. Mr Bell made as if to argue, but Scarlet firmly grasped his arm and directed him through the gap, all the while keeping her eye on the pigman.

“You probably had a family,” Scarlet said. “You may have had a wife and children. At least you had a mother and father.”

As Jack climbed through the window, he looked back at the pigman’s face. The creature looked stricken with grief. Jack could not even begin to imagine what it would be like inside his mind. The evil Doctor had tried to turn him into an animal, but beneath the animal exterior, the soul of a man still dwelt.

Jack helped Scarlet up onto the window sill. Just before they dropped into the garden outside, Jack saw tears well up in the eyes of the pigman.

“What is that thing?” Mr Harker asked.

“It’s not a thing,” Scarlet said sternly. “It’s a man. A very tragic man, thanks to Doctor Moran.”

A scream emanated from the back of the complex. A very human scream.