Mumbersons and The Blood Secret, The

by Crowl, Mike

  No one spoke for at least two minutes. Finally one woman broke the long silence. From the enormous diamond ring she wore Billy felt sure it was Ms Nordal, the Triple W Sister he’d met last night. He shivered, and pointed her out to Olivia, who nodded.

  ‘Sisters,’ Ms Nordal said, ‘I am happy to confirm that the Factory is functioning exceptionally well, and continues to provide us with the most handsome profits. Fabulous profits, to quote a former sister of ours.’ There was a ripple of laughter around the table, a sound like wine glasses being crushed.

  ‘However,’ Ms Nordal went on, ‘those fabulous profits are nothing - as you know - compared to what is hidden beneath this very building.’

  To Billy and Olivia’s surprise, some of the women began to make a low growling noise, the sort of noise you hear when several dogs start to creep up on a stranger they think is threatening their territory.

  One of the women leapt up from her chair. She seemed to grow taller as she stood. Her long diamond earrings not only caught the sun and blinded you, but jangled and knocked against her cheekbones with a sharp tapping sound. ‘Curse those who cursed it!’ she cried, flinging her arms wildly about her, in a way that didn’t at all suit her formal attire.

  There was more growling around the table. Then almost all the other women jumped up as well, as though they’d been pulled out of their seats. Their shadows danced grotesquely on the wall opposite the windows. They seemed to be snarling at someone who wasn’t at their meeting.

  Only Ms Nordal, and another woman who was plumper than any of the others, stayed seated, and silent. After the noise had gone on for some moments, the plump woman, who wore a diamond-studded collar that made her neck seem longer than was natural, lifted her hand high, and spoke. ‘Sisters. Take your seats.’ The women gradually sat, some still muttering.

  But the one who’d started all the shouting remained standing, as though she refused to be told what to do. She stared wildly at Ms Nordal, who ignored her.

  ‘Ligula, please sit,’ said the plump woman. ‘We must remain calm - as we have for a very long time.’

  ‘For too long, Metabola!’ snapped Ligula, her earrings flying around her head as though they wanted to beat their owner into submission.

  Metabola, the plump woman, spoke quietly as more muttering went on around the table. ‘Yes, I know it has been an extraordinarily long time. But that time is almost over. And then our continuing patience will be rewarded.’

  ‘When we get the Blood!’ interrupted Ligula, waving her arms jaggedly in the air. ‘The Blood!’ she shouted, baring her teeth at Ms Nordal.

  Billy felt sick: he was sure it was his blood they were talking about.

  Ms Nordal turned her eyes to Ligula, and said, in a voice that cut the air in chunks, ‘I have already reported to you that there was another child here last night. That child interrupted us, and the boy escaped. It was not the fault of my menials.’

  Ligula sneered. ‘You should not have entrusted the task to those drones!’

  ‘Slaggard is a fool!’ shouted another woman, who had an enormous hairpin holding her hair so tightly across her scalp it seemed to be pulling it out by the roots.

  Ms Nordal struck the table with her fist. ‘I will not be shouted at in front of my own Sisters!’ The table, which had seemed to be as solid as a rock, shuddered between the women like a pool of disturbed water. 'Slaggard did exactly as he was required at the barber’s. He took enough blood to allow us to do the test.’

  ‘And the test worked,’ said Metabola, seemingly undisturbed by the anger swirling around the table.

  ‘But we didn’t get the rest of the blood, Venska,’ said Ligula to Ms Nordal. ‘Unless you are lying, and have hidden the blood from us.’

  ‘What are you accusing me of?’ said Ms Nordal, her face flushed.

  Ligula leaned forward on her jagged arms and, without any warning, spat at Ms Nordal. The other women hissed, though whether it was at Ligula or Nordal Billy couldn’t tell. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Olivia shudder.

  Ms Nordal’s face warped into a look of absolute hatred. ‘You spit at me?’ she said. ‘You challenge me? I will not forget.’ A buzzing sound went round the table like a faraway chainsaw cutting down trees.

  Olivia looked afraid. It was the first time Billy had ever seen her afraid.

  Metabola, who continued to remain calm in spite of Ligula’s bad behaviour, drew her neck up and revealed yet another layer of diamonds on her collar. ‘Sisters. We must not allow friction between us to upset our plans. As long as we keep our heads we will succeed. Remember, it’s only a very little time before the...’ She began to say a word beginning with tre, but stopped herself. ‘I needn’t say what will be ours,’ she continued after her hesitation. ‘You all know it.’ The women glared at her with fierce eyes, as though she had almost given away a secret. ‘We will have it once more - as soon as the blood is ready - and no one will ever take it away from us again!’

  ‘Then get the blood, Venska!’ screeched Ligula.

  ‘We don’t have it yet!’ said Nordal, her look increasing in hatred towards Ligula, to the point where it seemed as though she might leap up and strangle her.

  Several of the women jumped up and chanted, ‘The Blood,’ over and over. The noise was so harsh the two children blocked their ears.

  Venska Nordal stood up. It was as if a darkness hovered around her, like a black rain cloud on a sunny day. She reached into her sleeve, and...

  To Billy and Olivia’s surprise, Metabola raised her hand. Somehow the mere raising of her hand was strong enough not only to quieten the room but to calm all the ugly tempers. Somehow she’d brought a blanket down on all the noise and anger, and muffled it. She smiled. ‘Time for some tea!’

  The other women turned to each other and said, ‘Tea, let’s have some tea.’ The pack of wolves had turned into sweet, gentle, polite grandmothers. The horrible caterwauling was over.

  But Billy was horrified. They’d be coming through the connecting door into the room where he and Olivia were hiding, and would see them. ‘Quick, into one of the cupboards!’ he whispered, but the cupboards were locked or full of cups and other crockery. They looked around in panic. Could they get to the door in time, without being noticed? Were they going to have to race out of the building - Billy for the second time - being chased again by people who wanted his blood?

  They were about to give up in despair they heard an unfamiliar voice from the other room chortle, ‘Tea? Tea? What kind of a drink is that for a celebration? We’re on the verge of victory. We’re about to defeat our old foes - at last! - and you want to celebrate with tea?’

  ‘Coffee, then,’ said another unfamiliar voice, and they all laughed, though it wasn’t quite the kind of laugh you wanted to hear, even on a sunny afternoon.

  ‘Let’s celebrate properly!’ said the woman who had spoken first. ‘Here - try this!’ There was a crash as though the wind had blown all the windows in. The women shrieked with enthusiasm. Next there was a thud, and then more thuds, and then a great deal of rattling, as though dozens of plates had landed on the table at once. Muffled, softer sounds followed while the women’s raucous laughter increased in volume. ‘Champagne!’ squealed one. ‘A toast to the Blood!’ howled another. Then they all began talking at once, each voice becoming louder than the others.

  Billy and Olivia snuck back to the hatch and peered through the gap under the shutter. Where before the table had been empty of all but the vase of roses, a feast was now laid out: bottles of wine and champagne were popping their own corks, glasses sparkled in the sunshine, food sat on innumerable plates - far too many plates for thirteen women - and the food was so rich the children could smell it from where they knelt. Their mouths began to long for it, and for a brief moment they wanted to rush into the room to join the feast. Thankfully they realised this wasn’t a wise idea. They could see some of the women helping themselves to far too much food and drink, while others s
kipped and danced around the room, spilling wine and dropping whole cakes off their plates. The shrieking and laughing made the children’s nerves jangle.

  ‘I knew there was magic going on here,’ said Olivia.

  This wasn’t the sort of magic Billy wanted to be involved with. ‘It’s time to go,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen enough.’

  Olivia agreed. They crept towards the door, although it was unlikely they’d be heard with all the noise in the other room. Billy looked out into the corridor to make sure Lavitch, or any other security guards, weren’t around. Olivia checked as well. They tiptoed as fast as they could along the corridor, glancing over their shoulders to make sure no one was following them, and snuck down the stairs.

  But when they reached the foyer, they saw the shadow of a large figure darken the outside of the revolving doors. And then the person to whom the shadow belonged appeared. He had his back to the doors, as though he was waiting for someone to arrive.

  It was Lavitch.

  ‘The Sick Bay!’ said Billy. ‘Come on.’ He raced down the corridor hoping they wouldn’t set off any alarms (though when he thought about it, the women hadn’t caused any alarms to go off), and pushed his way through the Staff Only door. Lights flickered on automatically as he and Olivia ran down the stairs into the basement.

  ‘I hope there’s no one down here,’ said Olivia, stopping suddenly. She held herself tight against the corridor wall, and stared back and forth. ‘How will we get out?’

  ‘Trust me,’ said Billy. He’d remembered something about the Sick Bay from the other night. He’d noticed that the key to the exit door - the one that led to the outside steps - was sitting in the lock. It had a large green tag on it. He hoped it was still there.

  They ran to the Sick Bay door. It was unlocked, which was a relief. He carefully pushed open the door, hoping Slaggard wasn’t waiting.

  Empty!

  They ran to the exit door where the key was still sitting in the lock. Billy opened it and held the door open for Olivia to come through. But she bent down and picked up something that had caught her eye.

  ‘Hurry up!’ said Billy, trying to get her out the door. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’ve seen something.’

  ‘I need to lock the door behind us.’

  ‘Lock it,’ said Olivia, ‘and throw away the key.’ She was more interested in inspecting what she’d found.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ said Billy. ‘Let’s hide it here.’ He pointed to one of the flag stones that made up the steps from the basement. It was loose. ‘We’d better both remember where it is, in case we need it again.’

  After hiding the key they ran up the steps. Billy stopped suddenly, and as always, Olivia banged into him. ‘Watch out!’ he said. He’d looked up to see where the security cameras were. There was one immediately overhead, but as long as they stayed close to the wall it wouldn’t see them. They needed to be careful of the one that picked up the bushes and trees hiding the mini-door in the wall.

  They crept along the outside of the Extension again. There were only two cars in the park now. They had just reached the part of the wall opposite the trees and bushes when they heard men’s voices coming from inside the building. They were on the other side of a nearby door and were coming closer.

  ‘We’ll have to run for it!’ said Billy. They raced towards the bushes and scrambled in under them, breathing hard. The men came out of the building, and one of them said, ‘What was that?’

  ‘What was what?’

  ‘Saw something out of the corner of my eye, a dog, or a rabbit. Went racing across the yard.’

  ‘Dunno. Suppose animals get in and out of here sometimes. When no one’s looking.’

  The men strolled towards their cars. ‘Yup. Security’s not what it’s cracked up to be.’ They laughed, got in their cars and drove towards the main gate.

  Billy finally allowed himself to breathe normally. ‘What did you pick up?’ he asked Olivia.

  ‘This. It was under the cabinet near the door.’ She opened her hand to reveal a short piece of glass stuck to a sliver of painted wood. The glass was thick. It was window glass.

  Chapter 9 - A visitor at the Factory

  Olivia put the piece of glass inside a pouch she carried in her pocket. ‘That’ll keep it safe.’

  Meanwhile the two cars had driven out of the gate, which always opened automatically for outgoing traffic. It was about to close again when another car arrived from the outside. Lavitch ran over and pressed the button to hold the gate open. He was obviously expecting the visitor, who drove into the car park in a tiny metallic blue vehicle, the sort sometimes known as a Bubble car, but which was in fact, a Fortwo.

  The car drove up in front of the old mansion. Lavitch yanked the car door open. A little man in a steel-grey suit slid himself out, and gave Lavitch a curt nod. Lavitch acknowledged his nod by slamming the car door behind him, which made the man jump, then accompanied him towards the revolving doors.

  Billy said, more loudly than he intended, ‘I know that man. He’s the jeweller we saw this morning. He’s got Granddad’s diamonds.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me anything about diamonds.’ Olivia stood up and pushed through the bushes. ‘Let’s find out what’s going on.’

  ‘Wait! What about Lavitch? He’ll be guarding the front door.’

  ‘We can go through the Sick Bay.’

  ‘We don’t know where the man’s going. It’s a big building.’

  Olivia sighed. ‘The only people in the building, as far as we know, are the women upstairs. So that man must be coming to see them. Or at least one of them.’

  ‘Maybe. What if the women have separated? What if they’re scattered around the building?’

  ‘With the size of that feast,’ said Olivia, peering out of the bushes, ‘they’ll be there for a half an hour yet.’ She made sure she wasn’t seen by the security camera, then ran across the yard. Billy followed a few seconds later, thinking that it wasn’t long since they’d done this already. They edged along the wall, found the key under the stone, and let themselves in. ‘I’m keeping this in my pocket,’ said Billy. ‘In case we have to leave in a hurry.’

  Olivia shrugged. She was focused on finding the jeweller.

  The corridor from the Sick Bay was as silent and empty as before. There was no one in the area beyond the Staff Only door, but in the foyer, at the bottom of the stairs, Lavitch was standing with the jeweller. Lavitch had his back to the corridor. He was speaking into the walkie-talkie he held in his left hand. His right hand was still bandaged from where he’d got it caught in the revolving door yesterday.

  The jeweller was so short he could have fitted comfortably under Lavitch’s elbow. He wiped his brow more than once while his eyes flicked from one side of the room to the other. In his hand he carried a box, an identical box to the one he’d put Mr Mumberson’s diamonds into that morning.

  ‘Yes, he’s here now,’ said Lavitch into the walkie-talkie. ‘Right.’ He looked down at Adiblo. ‘She’ll be here in a minute. They’re finishing afternoon tea.’

  ‘I don’t want to disturb her...’

  ‘You won’t be disturbing her. She’s very pleased to hear your news. She insists on seeing you straightaway.’

  The jeweller looked pale, and his hands were shaking. Billy was worried about staying where they were, with Lavitch so close at hand. He knew that even though the man was large in every respect he could move very fast. But he really wanted to know why the jeweller was here, and what he intended doing with his grandfather’s diamonds.

  The stairs echoed the clatter of a single pair of high heels. Ms Nordal appeared and stood a few steps above the two men. ‘Mr Adiblo?’ she said, without a trace of welcome on her face.

  ‘Yes, that’s right. You’re Ms Venska?’ He bowed his head, as though he was standing in front of the Queen, and then had to look up at her from under his eyebrows.

 
‘Venska Nordal.’ She didn’t offer to shake hands. ‘Let me see the diamonds.’

  Adiblo handed the box up to her. ‘They’re uncut, as I said on the phone. They’re worth a great deal of money.’

  ‘I’m not unfamiliar with the value of diamonds, Mr Adiblo.’ She opened the box, and was immediately captivated by its contents. ‘Beautiful. Beautiful.’ She seemed unable to take her eyes off the jewels. ‘Some scruffy old fool brought them in, did he?’

  ‘How did you know that?’ asked Adiblo. ‘I didn’t say a word to Mr Lavitch as to how they arrived.’

  ‘I know exactly where these diamonds came from, Mr Adiblo. I recognise their quality. They were stolen from my sister’s diamond mine, no doubt on the day she was murdered.’

  ‘What?’ The rest of Adiblo’s body joined his hands in trembling. ‘I know nothing about their origin. I contacted Mr Lavitch because he said, when he visited me the other evening, that you were interested in anyone wanting to sell diamonds.’