Richard quickly assessed their situation, Walther would have to stay behind, the other three could carry on. He offered Susan a chance to stay behind with Walther.
“Not on your fucking life!...” She asserted, adding, “...You go on, I'll catch up in a minute, I need to sort out Walther’s arm.” Tsuba, after pressing a small handgun into Richard’s palm, was already half way up the path, heading for the back of the house as they had planned.
Richard followed him at a run, branching off to take the front of the house.
*
Inside the house, watching from an upstairs window, Franco had spotted Tsuba and prepared to meet him. The twins, investigating all the commotion, went downstairs to the large hallway; they passed Eve, dashing up the stairs looking for Cairo.
Richard approached the double-front doors at a run, he was surprised when they flew open in front of him, revealing the twins eagerly beckoning him in. He moved forward more warily, meeting them at the steps.
“Richard!” They chorused, smiling. They both took one of his arms and led him into the hallway, Richard eyes checked every corner for danger, he was afraid of a trap. Still holding his arms the twins spoke in fast cautious whispers,
“Have you come back-”
“To save us-”
“From the evil-”
“That lurks in this house?” They stared at him, waiting for an answer.
“Yes.” Was all he could say, he was going to ask where is she? But they spoke first.
“It's down there!” The girls pointed solemnly to the floor,
“In that hateful-”
“Laboratory.”
Richard automatically assumed that they meant Eve was down in the cellar,
“Show me the way!” He commanded them. Side by side they proudly led him through the kitchen and down a corridor to the top of a dim staircase.
“It's down there!” They shuddered, clung to each other and pointed down the stairs,
“We can't go down there!” He watched them tremble at the thought of it. Still wary of a trap but not knowing what else to do Richard checked his little gun and plunged down into the gloom.
*
Upstairs at the back of the house Franco had confronted Tsuba,
“Turn and leave...” Franco waved his Spanish duelling knife in the direction Tsuba had come, “...or die.”
“Wait, listen to me...” Tsuba didn't want to fight, his vague plan of preventing Richard from attacking Eve already in tatters, “...I'm not here to harm her, I came-” He had to jump backwards as Franco stepped forward with a wide sweep of his knife, “-Listen to me!” But Franco wasn't listening. Tsuba had to defend himself, flashing his Tanto blade rhythmically in front of him. They circled each other, both studying their opponent and the room they were to fight in, looking for a weakness or for a way to take the advantage. Tsuba was younger and faster, Franco was old and wily, a veteran of many such contests.
*
Susan arrived at the front of the house finding the doors wide open, she had seen movement at an upstairs window and assumed that Richard was up there. Waving the big gun in front of her she crossed the wide hallway and cautiously mounted the staircase, taking one step at a time and constantly looking to the top and bottom until she reached the top. On the first floor landing all the bedroom doors were closed except one.
Eve waited inside, seated at her dressing table at the far side of the room with a silver Derringer pistol trained at the door. She could just see through the tiny crack in the door jamb.
Susan could feel her heart beating fast, her breathing quick and shallow, she knew that if someone was in that room they would have heard her approach, taking the initiative she kicked open the door and ran in, firing off a round as she entered. Eve kept her cool, aimed and fired at the moving target, the small calibre bullet gouging a small but acutely painful chunk out of Susan's lower arm. With a squeal she flashed across the room taking refuge behind the thick wooden headboard and firing off another round in Eve's direction, shattering bottles on the dresser beside her. Involuntarily, Eve fired off her second round that buried itself harmlessly in the headboard, Susan jumped up and quickly took aim before she fired again. The heavy gun blasted a bullet that missed Eve's face by a fraction of an inch, smashing the mirror behind her. She sat motionless, an enigmatic smile on her face, while Susan stood still, watching her, the big gun trained on her. Eve let out a small sigh before uttering,
“Oh why did I choose a gun that only holds two bullets?” She shook her head and smiled, dropping the Derringer to the floor. Susan shouted,
“This is for my mother you fucking whore!” And squeezed her trigger for the fourth and final time.
*
Downstairs, Tsuba and Franco, both bloodied, fought on. Tsuba had drawn first blood with a wide sweeping slash that tore a thin line through Franco’s chest, he had replied instantly by moving inside with a lightning fast jab, the fight would have ended there and then had it not been for Tsuba’s speed and agility.
*
Richard crashed through the heavy Laboratory door into a hell more vile than even the worst of his nightmares. Nothing could have prepared him for the horror of that ghastly chamber.
The air was fetid with the terrible stench of gore.
Then he saw:
the tilted operating table,
Rita’s strapped down body slumped forward in death,
a pool of blood and hair at her feet,
the top of her head missing.
Then he saw:
Sir Clive, his white surgeons gown soaked through with blood,
a scalpel in his left hand and a long-handled spoon in his right,
the surgeon from hell was chewing something.
A frown of annoyance creasing his forehead as he saw Richard, the mouth moved and shouted indignantly,
“You man! What the devil are you doing in here? Get out! Can’t you see I'm working!” Sir Clive’s outraged manner changed abruptly when he realised that it probably wasn't a good idea if he allowed Richard to leave. Richard was backing up, pale and trembling, he had expected to confront Eve, not this horror.
Sir Clive moved towards him with unmistakable menace,
“No you don’t! Stop right there! Come here! You can’t leave now...” Sir Clive lumbered forward, scalpel in hand, a dribble of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Richard had almost backed up to the door when Sir Clive leapt at him, knocking him over backwards. Sir Clive fell on top of Richard pinning him down and stabbing at his face, “...I’m glad you dropped in after all, I have an interesting experiment in mind!”
Shock and fear had made Richards movements sluggish, it was Tsuba's training that came to his rescue. With a powerful twist he rolled Sir Clive off, punching him in the face at the same time. He rose to his feet breathing hard and staggered backwards towards the door. Sir Clive, making a last desperate attempt, leapt again at Richard embedding the scalpel high in his chest.
Recoiling in pain, Richard violently shoved the older man backwards causing him to fall on his backside. With a groan Richard stumbled through the doorway and slammed it shut. He rammed home the bolts and sagged with his back to the door.
He was trembling uncontrollably and close to fainting when the twins appeared out of the gloom, they ran to his side, helping him to stand,
“Oh Emm, look!” Philippa pointed in distress at the scalpel sticking out of Richard's chest,
“It's a good job we decided to, be brave-” They rushed to him,
“Hold him tightly!” Emm quickly but carefully extracted the blade, the red patch on Richards shirt instantly spreading much further. Richard groaned in pain and cleared his throat before demanding,
“Get me some nails, and a hammer!...” He motioned towards the heavy door, “…nobody's ever going in there again!...” The twins gaped at him, doing nothing, he waved them away impatiently, “…Go on! Hurry!” He yelled at them as a muffled thumping began on the other side of the d
oor. The girls turned as one and vaulted up the stairs.
*
Cairo appeared in her mother's bedroom doorway in time to see her drop the Derringer to the floor, she saw Susan begin to squeeze her trigger,
“No, no, No! Don't take my mother!” She screamed and ran across the room in front of Eve.
The sudden movement took Susan by surprise; she turned ever so slightly and pulled her shot. The bullet ploughed a thin furrow across Eve’s scalp grazing her skull. Cairo turned on Susan, blazing furiously she grabbed a heavy unbroken perfume bottle from the dresser and hurled it at her. It struck Susan on the temple instantly knocking her senseless and raising a large egg-shaped lump, she slumped in the corner hidden by the bed.
“Mother? Mother? Are you all right?” Cairo was dreadfully upset and stood before Eve wringing her hands, tears poised in each eye.
Eve felt her scalp, her fingertips turned red and a thin trickle of blood ran down her face,
“I think so.” She replied sounding slightly dazed. Cairo grabbed her hand,
“We must go! There are men all over the house!” Cairo urged Eve to her feet. Eve shook her hand free,
“Yes, we must leave. But I just want to finish something off first!” She picked up a broken bottle and moved towards Susan.
“No mother! We haven't the time! We must go now!” Cairo pulled Eve by the arm out of the room, she was still too stunned to resist and allowed herself to be led, still clutching the broken bottle, along the corridor to the top of the main staircase.
*
Both men had now been cut twice, Franco on his chest and upper arm, Tsuba on his side and left cheek. They were an equal match and they both knew it. It was Franco's street craft that eventually gave him the upper hand.
Feigning tiredness, he tricked Tsuba into coming too close, allowing him an easy straightforward jab into the chest. But Tsuba’s reflexes were phenomenally quick, he managed to evade the deadly strike by a hairs breadth, nevertheless the trick was complete because Franco knew which way Tsuba would turn to evade the strike, he was ready for him as he turned and floored him with a left hook. He was on top of him in a second, his dagger a fraction of an inch from Tsuba's throat when fate intervened. Franco saw movement in the corner of his eye, he paused for an instant as he saw Cairo dragging a bloody-faced Eve passed the open door.
An instant was plenty of time for Tsuba to wriggle his hand free and to twist his Tanto blade into Franco's exposed side, and then he too turned his eyes to the doorway. But it wasn't Eve's face that froze him, it was the black-haired girl beside her that took his breath. The likeness of his own mother in those deep dark eyes.
Franco had lost the fight, he knew he had only a few seconds of life left, he was still on top of Tsuba and could easily finish him off before he died, he waited, staring at Eve in the doorway.
Her face was tragic, she sensed Franco was about to die. And the man he held a knife to the throat of was- “It can't be.” She thought, “Tsuba? How-”
“Come on mother, come on!” Cairo’s voice urged as she pulled on Eve's arm. Franco pressed the edge of his blade tight on Tsuba's throat before calling hoarsely to Eve,
“Mistress! Run! Go! Please go!” For a second their eyes locked in understanding, and then she was gone.
Franco lowered his gaze to Tsuba, still held fast beneath him,
“Your life is in my hands…” He rasped out the words, blood rising into his mouth, “…shall I take it from you?...” Tsuba tried to press himself through the floor as Franco's knife pressed tighter and tighter on his throat, his voice was thick, “…In return for your life I want you to spare my mistress! Let her escape! Do you swear?...” Franco’s voice demanded, but his eyes begged. Tsuba nodded, “…do you swear it?!…” Franco coughed blood, speckling Tsuba’s face, “…swear it damn you!”
“I swear it.” Tsuba's words came out in a whisper but they were enough, Franco was satisfied that he had done enough to save his mistress, even at the moment of his own death he cared more for her than himself.
Franco heaved himself off Tsuba, rolled on to his back, and died.
Tsuba, drenched in Franco’s blood, hauled himself to his feet and looked down at Franco with profound respect. He bowed slightly as if to an honourable opponent,
“I had no need to swear...” He shook his head in gentle sadness, “... as I tried to tell you, I came not to harm her.” He delayed no longer and ran quickly out of the room. He made his way to the front of the house in time to see Eve and Cairo tearing across the gravel in the white convertible, they had escaped.
Tsuba raised a hand in salute as the car roared away, his heart relieved, his mind pleased that he would not have to confront Richard.
*
The twins returned to the cellar, one carrying a hammer, the other a bag of nails, they found Richard crouched on the floor with his back to the laboratory door. He looked pale, made worse by that sick light, and his chest was dark red with blood. They heard the muffled thumping from inside the laboratory and shuddered. Richard clambered painfully to his feet, taking the hammer from Emm,
“Pass me a nail.” His voice was hoarse and cracking. Pip handed him a four inch nail, with trembling fingers he held it in position and quickly banged it home.
“No one...” He bashed in the first nail,
“...Ever…” He banged in another,
“...Goes in there again!” And another. He kept on nailing the door shut until he was too weak to hold up the hammer, finally falling to his knees with his face pressed against the rough wood.
Tenderly, the twins helped him up and part-carried him to the bottom of the stairs.
“No, stop…” He gasped, “…Wait a minute.” Richard shook himself free and stumbled across to an old painted wooden dresser that have been abandoned down there years before.
“Help me shift this!...” He crouched down at one end trying to drag it, “…you two get that end!” Between them they managed to drag the heavy old piece in front of the laboratory door, completely obscuring it. The twins, who had been reverentially quiet up till then, finally found their voice,
“Richard, you must stop now, you're badly hurt...” They each took an arm, “...Come with us upstairs now. We must tend to your wounds. We're getting quite good at sewing.”
Richard nodded, feeling deathly tired.
*
Susan ‘came to’ only seconds after being knocked out but it was more than a minute before she could shake off the dizziness and nausea that followed. She grabbed her gun as she rose unsteadily to her feet. The house had become as quiet as the grave as she staggered onto the landing at the top of the main staircase. Uncertain about what to do next, she decided to go downstairs and look for Richard, gripping the handrail tightly she crept downstairs in silence. Reaching the hallway she saw Tsuba standing motionless in the open front doorway. She walked swiftly over to him hearing a car speed away across the gravel,
“Has she got away?” She asked him, peering outside over his shoulder. Tsuba nodded grimly, staring after the car, trance-like again. Susan pulled him around to face her,
“Have you seen Richard?” She demanded impatiently, shaking him until he was back to normal, his eyes bright and sharp.
“I have not seen him…” He replied, adding, “…but I do not believe he is on this floor.” They heard distant hammering.
“The cellar!?” They ran into the kitchen, guessing that it might lead downstairs, inside, cowering but still managing to look defiant, Anjelica and Fidelma clutched kitchen knives, their backs to the wall. It was Fidelma who spoke out for them, her Irish accent even more pronounced than usual,
“Why don't youse just go away and leave us be? We’ve done you no harm, be off with you!” Susan raised her gun, Tsuba raised his hand.
“No Susan. These people are not our enemy.” He spoke more to them than to Susan.
There was a pause while Tsuba searched the eyes of the two women, he spoke softly,
�
��We mean you no harm.” He said,
“Put down your knives and please, tell us where is the cellar?” The two women looked quickly at each other and nodded,
“It's t’rough there!” Fidelma pointed with her knife before placing it on the work surface beside her. Anjelica followed suit,
“I need a drink.” She mumbled.
Susan dashed through the door into the corridor that led to the steps down; the hammering had stopped and had been replaced by a loud scraping noise. She hesitated at the top of the gloomy steps, Tsuba beside her.
“Someone's coming up.” He whispered. Susan stepped back a pace and raised her gun.
Three figures came into view, a pale and bloodstained Richard helped on either side by two identical looking girls.
“Richard!” Susan gasped out his name, dashing forward to help him. The twins were affronted,
“It's quite all right!-” Emm said frostily.
“We've got him!” Added Pip. They held on to him, steering him on to a kitchen chair. Susan bit her tongue and watched as they peeled off his shirt to examine his wound.
“Not that bad-” Emm reported. Pip nodded in agreement,
“A little deeper than last time...” Pip noted, comparing the size of the hole to the scar left after they stitched him up before, “…but we’ll soon have you patched up and as good as new again.”
*
Cairo saw two figures emerge from the trees as the car sped down the long drive away from the house. She instantly recognised the huge shape of Mr Underhill, the lifeless body of Kelvin Bright slung over his shoulder like a cricket jersey, and a plastic shopping bag containing a heavy-looking round thing in his other hand. She waved to him, shouting,
Eve Page 20