She nodded and began chatting away loudly. Jim and Cobb ducked into the next alley. They watched intently but all they could see were two shapes in the fog. Jim slid out the blade from his swordstick. Being the better fighter as he was trained in the martial art of Gung-Ho, he gave Cobb the deadlier sword while he held onto the outer cane.
Silently the two of them stepped out onto the street and followed the two shapes. Up ahead, Adele stepped into the circle of light cast by the street lamp and calmly turned to see what her followers would do next.
They stopped at the edge of the circle, looking about them for the other two they were expecting to see. All Cobb could see in the fog was that they were as tall as him and Jim, who were both over six feet, and dressed in hooded cloaks.
Jim rapped the metal ferrule of his cane on the floor to grab their attention. They whirled around and stepped back, into the light. Jim and Cobb advanced on them.
‘You are Rufus Cobb?’ one of them asked in an unfamiliar accent.
‘Yes,’ replied Cobb. ‘Why are you-?’ That was as far as he got before they drew bladed weapons and attacked them. Expecting the attack, both Cobb and Jim were able to block the strike with their own weapons. Jim studied the blades held by their opponents, they were daggers, each blade was about twelve inches long and curved from side to side as it progressed towards the point. It was also covered with ornate engraving down its length. Not the usual weapon of a street thug, he reckoned.
Experienced in sword fighting, Jim was able to keep up with his sparring partner, the cane giving him longer reach to break through his opponent’s guard and strike him about the head. On one such blow he caused the man’s hood to fall back, exposing his long hair, but even more revealing was the man’s ears – they were pointed!
Jim gasped and took a step back. ‘Cobb!’ he cried. Cobb glanced across and froze for a second as he saw the startling evidence revealing that their two attackers weren’t human. At that moment they redoubled their attack and Cobb and Jim were soon overwhelmed. Jim’s cane was cut in two by a lucky blow, leaving him holding just a stub in his hand, whereas Cobb, not being experienced in anything much more than a pub brawl, was being beaten down despite his advantage of wielding a sword.
Adele began to fear for their safety and removing her gloves rubbed her hands together. As she drew them apart a ball of flame appeared, which grew larger as she held them further apart. Finally she had a fireball the size of a football hovering between her open palms.
‘COBB! JIM!’ she shouted. They saw what she intended and backed off but not before Jim gave one of them a straight leg kick to the chest to drive him into his accomplice. This meant the two of them were side by side as Adele cast the flame ball at them.
It burst over them and showered them in fire. It spread as if it were petrol until they were covered in flame. They began to scream and beat at the flames but it was no use. Cobb and Jim took off their coats and despite the fact that the two assassins had just tried to kill them, attempted to smother the fire but being Magickal in origin it resisted all mortal attempts to extinguish it.
The two attackers stopped screaming as they reached that point where the mental faculties had shut down and the body’s nerves and muscles were acting autonomously. One of them sank to his knees and toppled over, the other one staggered around until he collided with the wall of the bridge. He fell forward over the parapet and dropped into the water.
Cobb went to Adele who stood there with her hand over her mouth, horrified at what she had done. He put his arm around her and the three of them stood there wordlessly as they watched the flames until they finally died down.
Jim went over and peered at the smoking corpse. ‘What were they?’
‘My guess would be Elves,’ replied Cobb.
‘Elves? Elves? Are you serious? What, you mean Elves like I’ve read about in the papers?’
‘Yes, those Elves. You saw their ears.’
‘But why would they try to kill you? They knew your name, that wasn’t a random attack.’
‘I’ve no idea.’
Adele was quietly sobbing into Cobb’s chest, ‘I killed them ... I killed those men.’
‘There, there now, take it easy. It was us or them. You just saved mine and Jim’s lives.’
‘But I killed them!’
Cobb dug into his pocket and took out the police whistle he always carried. Handing it to Jim he told him, ‘Take this down the street a ways and keep blowing it until the police turn up. I’ve got to stay here and look after Adele.’
Jim nodded and taking the whistle headed off into the fog.
***
Several days later Cobb entered the office of Inspector George Benton of Caledonia Yard. They had been friends for years and when he had been on the force Cobb had been Benton’s inspector. Eventually George had been promoted to Cobb’s old job of running the team that they had both served on.
George was just pouring himself a cup of tea from the kettle that hung over the fireplace.
‘Morning George.’
‘Morning Cobb, fancy a cup of tea?’
‘No, I’m good thanks.’ He took a seat in front of George’s desk.
George finished making his tea and then sat at his desk. ‘Thanks for coming in, Cobb. I just need to explain a few things about how the case is going.’
‘A few things?’
‘Look, first of all no one’s in trouble. The police commissioner has made it perfectly clear that you and your friends are to be treated as the “victims” not the villains. You know he always had a soft spot for you.’
‘Yeah, good old Sir Arthur.’
‘Anyway, each of you will have to testify at the coroner’s court but that’s all. No charges will be pressed as it’s quite clear that Adele acted in self-defence.’
‘I sense a but in there somewhere,’ said Cobb, suspiciously.
‘Well ... it’s this Elf business that has got everyone a little jumpy. The police surgeon has examined the corpse closely and can find no evidence that it’s not human. The internal organs appear to be the same as ours and in the same places. Unfortunately, any external signs such as “ears” were destroyed by the fire. And we can find no trace of the other attacker. He must have floated downstream and got lodged under a jetty or something, if he wasn’t swept out to sea. So, I’m afraid, we only have the word of you and your friends that they were Elves.’
‘Isn’t that good enough?’
‘The question being asked is why would they attack you? What have you done to upset them?’
‘I wish I knew. Somebody once warned me that I should never trust one but as I’ve never met one until the other night, it’s never cropped up as an issue before.’
‘The trouble is that the Elves have a lot of diplomatic clout behind them. They’ve settled in Cumbria now, so the powers that be don’t want any hint of scandal to tarnish their relationship with them. Sir Arthur took your concerns, our concerns, up as far as the PM but he was told in no uncertain terms that unless there’s hard evidence that Elves are involved the Met is to treat it as a street robbery gone wrong. By humans.’
‘What?’
‘I know, I know, but that’s the orders we’ve been given from the Home Office. Sir Arthur however isn’t any more pleased about it than you are, so he’s ordered me to keep the investigation open in case the other body is found or any other fresh evidence comes to light. That’s the best we can do I’m afraid.’
‘Well, I admit it does sound a bit far-fetched but we both know I’m telling the truth.’
‘As does Sir Arthur,’ George pointed out in an attempt to placate his friend. ‘Don’t worry, if anything turns up, we’ll act on it.’
‘Very well then, I guess that will have to do. Thanks for your time, George.’
They shook hands and Cobb left the office.
***
Cobb’s next visit was to his ex-father-in-law, Thornton Wells at his bookshop. He told Thornton all about his intervie
w at the Yard.
‘Well, I can understand why they’re being cagey,’ replied Thornton. ‘My sources tell me that the government stand to benefit greatly by letting the Elves settle here in Albion, so they won’t want any nasty rumours clouding the issue.
‘Having said that however, it is highly suspicious that they are targeting you specifically. You say they called you by name?’
‘That’s right.’
‘So, there’s obviously something going on, it wasn’t a random attack. I’ll speak to my contacts. I know that the head of the Secret Service, Sir Robert Emmersley, has been looking into them and that he’ll be interested to hear about this.’
‘Thanks, that would be much appreciated. I don’t like the thought of just letting it go and not getting an answer to the puzzle.’
‘I’ll alert my friends but in the meantime you watch your back. It appears that they have a grudge against you for some reason so watch out for you and Adele. How is she taking all this by the way?’
‘She’s a bit shaken up by this business of course. She’s never killed anyone before, but she’s holding up.’
‘Well, see that you take good care of her. You wouldn’t want to lose her over this, she’s a keeper.’
‘Yes, I know. In fact … erm … I was thinking about fixing things so she’ll stay around permanently.’
‘And by that you mean … a ring?’
Cobb nodded, unsure of how Thornton would take the news. After all it was his daughter that Cobb had previously been married to.
‘That’s splendid news,’ Thornton replied, shaking him by the hand and clapping him on the back. ‘Do you actually have a ring?’
‘No, not yet. I’ve only just come to my decision.’
Thornton went to a drawer and took out a business card. ‘Go to this man. He’s honest and reliable. Tell him I sent you and he’ll give you a good price.’
Cobb took the card gratefully. ‘I’ll be on my way now. Thanks for taking up my case with your friends. It’ll be good to know that someone in authority is taking an interest.’
‘Leave it to me,’ Thornton assured him.
***
Jim sat in The Golden Gryphon, the East End pub that he owned. Although he had the money and the contacts to live his life in the West End, the affluent part of Londum, he enjoyed spending some of his time back in the streets where he’d been born. To that end he had secretly bought the pub from the owner, Lenny Poole, who now ran it as his manager, although it was Lenny’s name on the liquor licence as Jim preferred to remain a “silent partner”.
He had just finished his lunch and was flicking through the newspaper to see what the world had been up to today. The papers had been full of nothing for weeks but the arrival of the Elves and them settling in the village that had been purpose built for them on the shores of Lake Windermere. Thinking back to his encounter with them on that bridge one foggy night, he couldn’t help thinking that it wasn’t going to end well.
He looked up as he saw an old lady enter the pub, carrying “Lucky Heather”. He reckoned she’d also be here to tell fortunes, so he hid behind his paper. He wasn’t really a fan of all that occult stuff, reading the future, he kind of liked to be surprised by what came along. He knew some people believed that “forewarned was forearmed” but to him it was like reading the last page of a book, first.
She worked her way around the pub, reading fortunes here and there. Despite his best efforts to appear distant and unapproachable, the old hag eventually ended up at his table. ‘Lucky heather, sir? Tell your fortune?’
‘I’m good thanks.’
‘You don’t want to know what the Universe has in store for you?’
‘No, I like surprises.’
Just then, Sally, the barmaid, who had been leaning on the bar, watching the exchange called over, ‘Go on Mr. Darby, have a go. She’s good. She told my sister she was going to have a baby and she did!’
‘Yes but I seem to remember she was pregnant at the time.’
‘Go on, give it a try,’ urged Sally.
‘Very well then,’ Jim conceded defeat. ‘Tell me all about my future.’
The old lady sat down and took a cloth bag out of her basket, emptying it on the table. Jim saw it contained all her fortune telling paraphernalia, Tarot cards, runes, pieces of bone and suchlike.
‘Cross my palm with a shilling and I shall reveal all,’ she told him.
‘Here’s tuppence, just take your coat off,’ he joked.
The hag and Sally looked at each other, puzzled.
‘Never mind,’ said Jim. ‘Here’s your shilling.’
The fortune teller took it gratefully and pocketed it. She handed the pack of Tarot cards to Jim and asked him to shuffle them, which he dutifully did and handed them back.
She began laying the cards out in a semi-circle in front of her, not really paying much attention to them until she put the rest of the pack aside and began to study the ones she had dealt.
She placed her finger on each of the cards in turn and her lips moved silently as she interpreted the cards. She worked her way along the semi-circle until the end and then sat there for a moment or two with a puzzled look on her face. ‘I’m sorry, there seems to have been some mistake,’ she said, gathering the cards up. ‘Would you shuffle them again please?’
Jim did as requested and handed them back to her. Once more she went through the motions of dealing them out then studying them individually.
Finally she gave up and said, ‘I’m sorry, something seems to be wrong today, the cards keep giving me a nonsensical answer. Let us try the runes instead.’ She gathered up the cards and picked up the runes. ‘Here,’ she said, ‘Take these and shake them around in your hands so they can absorb your vibrations. Then hand them back to me.’
Jim took the carved, wooden runes in his cupped hands and shook them vigorously. Then he poured them into her open hands and she threw them on the table. She gasped as she saw them. She quickly picked up the runes and put them back in her bag. ‘I’m sorry; it seems that the sight has deserted me today. Excuse me, I must be going, here’s your shilling back.’
Jim and Sally looked at each other. ‘And yet you managed to read other people’s fortune, here today. What’s wrong with my future? What did the cards say?’ Jim asked her.
‘No, please, I have to go.’
Jim leaned over and gently took her wrist. ‘What did they say?’
‘Nothing. They just said you’d have a long and happy life. Please, I don’t want any trouble.’
He let go of her arm. ‘You’ve got me intrigued now. Sally, please tell her that I won’t harm her but I’d like to know what she saw.’
‘It’s all right Mother, Mr. Darby’s a good ‘un, he won’t hurt you.’
The fortune teller sat there clutching her basket to her chest, looking fearfully between Jim and Sally.
Jim took out a banknote and slid it across the table. ‘You’ll get this if you tell me the truth.’
The old lady looked at Sally who nodded back. Putting her basket back on the floor she looked at Jim. ‘The girl?’ she asked nodding in Sally’s direction. ‘Should she leave?’
‘That’s okay, I don’t mind her hearing.’
‘Very well then. When I looked into your future I saw death. Yours.’
‘Mine? Hmmm. Any idea how or when?’
‘No, nothing specific about how, but it’s not far away. I’m sorry. But if it’s any consolation you will give your life in a noble cause, saving a friend. And because of your sacrifice many other lives will be saved also. That’s all I saw, I swear.’
‘So, I die in a noble cause and save many lives because of it.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I can accept that. There are many pointless ways to die, I’ve found. A death that has a purpose is all that one can hope for, I suppose.’
Jim held out the bank note and she took it. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she repeated.
He shook his head, ‘Not your fault. The cards say what
they say.’
Collecting her things, the old woman left the pub. Sally looked at Jim and asked, ‘Did you believe any of that?’
‘Not really, I’m sure it was just flannel.’ He picked up his paper and noticed that his hands shook slightly. ‘However, I think I’d like a large brandy please.’
***
A couple of weeks went by and the army waiting over the hill from the settlement began to relax, congratulating themselves on such an easy detachment.
Spotters were ranged on the hills, keeping an eye on the Elves as they continued to bring supplies and belongings through. Each day more and more carts came through, piled high and covered with tarpaulins. Some of the more intelligent soldiers in the observation posts noticed the number of children in the village seemed to be dwindling and also that nearly everyone that came through the portal carried one of those wooden staffs. And yet anyone returning to the Elf world did not carry one. This intelligence was passed up the line but as the Elves only seemed to be equipped with swords and wooden staffs, whereas the army had rifles and cannon, it wasn’t deemed to be anything to be concerned about.
The number of Elves coming through from their dimension reached the expected amount of three thousand (ish) and continued to grow. ‘Oh, that’s just those coming in from the outlying settlements,’ the Elves explained. So no one gave it much thought at first until the intelligence officer of the 5th Cumbrian Rifles reported one morning, rather urgently, to his CO that the numbers of Elves had surpassed the expected amount and was still growing. What’s more, the last bunch through the portal were ALL carrying staffs and swords.
‘Right, that’s enough. Signal Londum, tell the War Office what is going on. Tell the artillery men to get their pieces to the top of the hill and then range our troops on the other side of the slope, below the cannon,’ the CO instructed.
Hurriedly the regiment did as they were ordered and soon the artillery was stationed on the hilltop facing the Elf village, with the Cumbrian Rifles spread out on the hillside below them, less than a quarter of a mile from their opponents.
The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12) Page 36