Scotland Hard (Book 2 in the Tom & Laura Series)

by John Booth

  “No sir, they know exactly how to help the soldiers as they have brought detailed maps of Glen Russell as well as personnel records on who is here. I would only hinder them if I tried to direct them.”

  Trelawney considered the situation before replying.

  “Very well, if that is how you feel, you may accompany me. However, I should warn you that there is only one person in command of this particular team and I expect my orders followed instantly and to the letter.”

  Cam looked up at the clock on the wall and noted that the time was now five past two. That meant that the bomb was going to go off at four in the morning, give or take a few minutes either way. Her earlier question to the team had resulted in a deafening silence. Nobody was sure what to do, so it was up to her to make a plan.

  “We have to evacuate the whole of Glen Russell,” she said confidently. “All we have to do is get the population clear of here by four in the morning. How difficult can it be?”

  Dougal turned away from his father, who still struggled to escape from the floor.

  “There are nearly four hundred people in Glen Russell. How can we possibly evacuate all of them in less than two hours?”

  “By not being defeatist about it,” Daisy said cheerfully. Her Precog visions had practically guaranteed it would happen. Of course, not everything a Precog dreamed actually came true.

  “Not bein’ what about what?” a voice asked from the door. The group turned to see Tricky and Ebb standing smirking. “We ‘as brought you some ‘elp.”

  Giles, Kemp, Glyn and the girls walked into the room behind the two boys. Glyn saw Lord McBride trapped in the concrete and ran over to give assistance. The other men approached Cam and Arnold almost belligerently.

  “You are not really an engineer?” Kemp asked Arnold angrily

  “If making tea is the main skill involved, as it appears to be, then I can suffice,” Arnold replied, “However, my profession is working for MM3.”

  “What has happened to the bomb?” Giles asked. He noted Hans Clerkes prisoner status and the fact that Lord McBride was embedded in the floor. He wondered if he was about to be arrested.

  “A slight miscalculation has rendered it beyond our reach,” Cam said as she nodded towards Lord McBride. “It is now at an unknown way below ground over there.”

  “Good riddance to it,” Giles said vehemently. “At least if it is there, it cannot be set off.”

  “That was the miscalculation that was involved,” Cam admitted, “Lord McBride triggered the bomb as it fell through the floor and Mister Clerkes over there assures us that it will explode in two hours time. Well, more in the region of one hour and fifty minutes now, if truth be told.”

  “We can use the train in the factory to get away,” Ebb said suddenly. Daisy looked dumbfounded and slightly upset. She glared at Ebb who grinned back at her. “It was Daisy’s idea, but I wanted to say it first,” he admitted.

  “You cannot get four hundred people into four coaches,” Dougal told them. “Perhaps two hundred and fifty at most, if the people are squeezed in tight.”

  “It is a start,” Tom said, “And we will never find out until we try.”

  “Right,” Cam said as she took command. “We need to get everyone in the castle and the village up from their beds and onto the train. We should break into teams to get the word out.” Cam looked around her.

  “You, the man with Lord McBride,” Glyn stood up and turned towards her.

  “We must help the Laird to get out of this concrete,” Glyn said impatiently.

  “We have one hour and forty seven minutes to evacuate everyone from Glen Russell and to get clear of this bomb,” Cam explained. “We can tie you up here and, if we find the time later, we will collect you. One the other hand you can help us evacuate the village. It is entirely your choice.”

  Glyn saw the determination in Cam’s face and noted the way that everyone was obeying her.

  “Very well, I will help you,” Glyn said quietly.

  “Go with Daisy and the children and wake everybody up in the village. Tell them that they must get to the railway station right away as Lord McBride engines have triggered a volcano beneath the castle.”

  “That is scientific nonsense,” Kemp protested.

  “It will be easier for them to believe than a dantium bomb,” Daisy replied “Use any means needed to get them to the station as quickly as possible.”

  “You two men,” Cam said, looking at Giles and Kemp. “You go and wake everyone up in the castle and tell them the same thing. They will believe you, as they know you. Tell them whatever you want, but get them out of their beds and over to the railway station. We have almost no time left.”

  “Dougal, can you drive one of these dantium steam engines?”

  “Yes, but I must first rescue my father,” Dougal said with determination.

  Cam shook her head.

  “You must save the people on your estate. That is your primary responsibility. If you do not do that, you will be just as bad as your father. There are many maids up in the castle that will die in a more horrible way than Rhona. You have a Laird’s duty to protect them.”

  Dougal stiffened as he looked down at Rhona’s body. Then he nodded his head.

  “Take Tom and Laura with you to the train and move it to the platform in the station,” Cam ordered.

  “But I want to help you,” Laura said, almost, but not quite stamping her foot on the floor in frustration.

  “I have to get you away safely, whatever happens here,” Cam said softly. “Tom, look after her. She is more important to Britain than the rest of us put together.”

  “I will protect her with my life,” Tom said fervently.

  “Arnold and I will take Mister Clerkes for a walk around the factory to tell anyone working to go to the station.”

  “I would rather wait on the train,” Clerkes said nervously. “We should leave at once. We have to get at least ten miles away from the blast to be safe, possibly further.”

  “You know the factory and we need to clear it. The quicker you help us to do that, the faster we can get to the station,” Cam explained coldly. “Or, alternatively, we can leave you tied up here.”

  “Come on people. Time is passing!” Cam shouted when nobody moved.

  The motley assortment of people began to move out. Dougal went over to speak to his father, who spat at his boots as soon as he was close enough.

  “You would put the nobodies in the village above your Laird and Father?”

  “They have a right to live, Father,” Dougal said with tears forming in his eyes.

  Lord McBride grew red in the face and when he spoke; his words were spat like daggers.

  “I disown you. You will not inherit this castle, the lands, or my title. I disown you now and forever. Get out of my sight, traitor.”

  Dougal walked from his father as if he had been stung. Laura took his hand and she and Tom led him from the room. Lord McBride continued to struggle in the floor, still far from defeated.

  “This door appears to be locked,” Trelawney told Sergeant Taggart as they reached the building at the rear end of the railway station. The sergeant shouted orders at his men who promptly battered the door down.

  Trelawney nodded his approval and walked carefully over the remnants of the door.

  “My men should go out in front, sir,” Sergeant Taggart suggested.

  “I will tell you when I need them,” Trelawney replied imperturbably. “We shall be fine.”

  Trelawney was following the Precog vision he experienced while he slept. He felt absolutely safe and had not the slightest worry of being killed. That possibility lay an hour or so in the future, though he still did not know what the threat might be. He did know that he had to hurry though.

  He led the soldiers at a brisk pace down the passageway leading to the factory. It was much colder than it had been when Cam had been there, but Trelawney did not seem to be affected by the cold. Michael Jenkins however, was shiverin
g as he wore only a light coat.

  “You organize a trip to Scotland in winter and bring that,” Belinda chided from behind him. “I brought this,” she said referring to her thick fur coat, “And must admit to feeling rather snug in it.”

  When Trelawney entered the factory where the train was, he could barely see the engine for the clouds of steam billowing around it.

  “Sorry!” a voice he recognized shouted from somewhere within the cloud of steam. “I thought you said pull the second lever.”

  Sergeant Taggart quickly lined up his men. They dropped to their knees and took up firing positions, every rifle pointing into the cloud.

  “Tell your men to stand down at once,” Trelawney ordered in a voice that brooked no argument. Sergeant Taggart waved his arm and his men relaxed, but kept their positions and their rifles raised.

  “Trelawney, is that you? I mean, Ernest…, I mean, Sir,” Tom blathered in a state of shock, his voice floating out of the immense cloud of steam. “I am afraid I have no one to stand down, sir, except for Laura and Dougal.”

  A few seconds later Tom and Laura walked out of the cloud of steam and promptly put their hands into the air when they saw the soldiers.

  Belinda ran over to Laura and hugged her in delight.

  “We thought we had lost you,” she whispered as Laura returned the hug.

  “I have not even managed to lose my virginity, worse luck,” Laura whispered back.

  “How are you, Tom?” Trelawney asked in a formal way, sticking out his hand to him. The two men shook hands stiffly.

  “We have to get this train started and into the station. Dougal claimed he knew how to drive it, but he has been having problems,” Tom explained.

  “Dougal?”

  “Dougal McBride. He is helping us to escape.”

  “And what of his father?”

  “Buried up to his waist in concrete, sir. There is a bomb buried a few hundred feet below him, which is going to explode in less than two hours. Cam is organizing an evacuation, sir, which is why we need to get this train moving.”

  “I really did not have to arrange a rescue mission for you, did I?” Trelawney said in a surprised voice.

  Tom could not let that go without argument.

  “You sent Cam and her team after us, sir. London would have been destroyed tomorrow if you had not. I’m sorry, sir, that must make no sense at all to you.” Tom knew he was babbling on without explaining anything.

  “You would be surprised how much of that makes sense to me, Thomas. We have another train in the station and her majesty’s troops running all over the place.”

  “We could do with the train, sir. We need more carriages to get everyone out. But you have to get all your men back onto it. There is going to be a really big explosion here very soon.”

  Trelawney nodded as he took in the situation.

  “Sergeant Taggart.”

  “Sir!” Sergeant Taggart stepped forward smartly and saluted.

  “Send your men to the village, station and castle. Get them to give the troops new orders. They must return to the station as quickly as possible. Tell them to bring as many of the civilians with them as they can find.”

  Sergeant Taggart turned to give the order and then stopped as a worrying thought occurred to him.

  “That will leave you here defenseless, sir.”

  “Leave me one of your soldiers then and you can stay as well. That should be more than sufficient to protect us.”

  As the sergeant explained to his men where they should go, the clouds of steam finally dissipated from around the engine as Dougal finally found the right lever. He opened the door of the cab and shouted down at Tom.

  “The next time I tell you to pull a lever, for God’s sake ignore me!”

  53. Evacuation

  Giles Summers and Gordon Kemp started walking faster as the approached the castle. Both were getting nervous over the impending explosion and wanted to turn and run to the railway station, abandoning their task. But they were gentlemen first and foremost and a gentleman did not do such things.

  “I will go and rouse up, Brennan,” Kemp suggested. “He is much better at organizing things in the castle than we are. You go to the lodge room and see if anybody is still in there. You might also try getting the Black Widow up while you are at it.”

  Splitting up made sense to Giles, so while Kemp went upstairs towards the staff sleeping quarters at the top of the castle, Giles heading along the first floor towards the lodge room.

  “Madam Hulot wake up!” Giles shouted as he pounded on her door. “You must get up and go to the railway station at once. Your very life depends on it.”

  Madam Hulot woke with a start and for a second she thought her husband was calling to her. He would often shout drunkenly at her door, demanding despicable things of her. As if being married to a man gave him any rights over her body.

  As she woke up, she recognized the voice as that of Giles Summers. He was a Spellbinder and she despised all the magically talented to some extent. He was babbling on about something and wanted her to get up and go to the railway station. She turned up the wick on her bedside lamp and saw from the clock it was twenty past two in the morning. The man must be crazy as well as drunk.

  “Go away. I will go in the morning.”

  “You do not understand. You will die if you stay here. I have to warn the other people in the house. Promise me you will go to the station.”

  Madam Hulot considered her options and reached a decision. She put on her most frightened voice.

  “Oh Mon Dieu, I am being a foolish woman. Of course, I will hurry to the station. You must warn the other people while I dress. Go quickly and God speed.”

  “Do not spend too long in dressing, Madam Hulot,” Giles pleaded. Then he ran off down the corridor heading towards the lodge room.

  Madam Hulot smiled at her own cleverness and sank back gratefully into her bed. It was well known that the British were crazy people. She wondered whatever had possessed her to come to such a heathen place as she fell asleep again.

  Gordon Kemp knocked loudly on Brennan Campbell’s door until the man finally answered it. He came to the door wearing a long white nightgown and looked most displeased at being woken up in the middle of the night.

  “What is it? Is the castle on fire?” Brennan asked grumpily.

  “Listen carefully, Brennan. A device made by Hans Clerks is going to explode in less than two hours and it will destroy all of Glen Russell. The Laird is trapped in the factory and cannot be rescued. His son is preparing his father’s new train to evacuate as many people as we can and everybody must go at once to the railway station.”

  Brennan nodded his understanding without showing any surprise. He was told little, but heard a great deal, and he was first and foremost an intelligent man.

  “The Laird’s madness has finally over taken him. Where is Blane Grant? He is the man to run such an evacuation.”

  “He has been shot and killed by Hans Clerkes. It seems that the Laird attracted the attention of MM3 and they have agents operating in Glen Russell. It is their orders I am following.”

  “Aye, I dare say there are MM3 agents here,” Brennan agreed, “Though I doubt the three they sent to see the Laird this afternoon are still among the living.”

  “Will you get the staff up and to the station? Don’t try and save anything in the castle, there will not be time.”

  “Aye, Mister Kemp, I will see to the staff. Will you get the guests from the guest room?”

  Kemp knew Brennan meant Tom and Laura and nodded as it was not necessary.

  “Dr Thomas and Mr. Summers already know what is going on,” Kemp said quickly and started to run down the corridor. Then he realized there was something else he had to say. He stopped and faced Brennan. “The maid Rhona, I never knew her surname.”

  “Freer.”

  “The Laird strangled her tonight. I am sorry.”

  “Aye, her parents will be sorry too, as am I.
She was a fine lass and will be sorely missed. I will tell her parents when I have to.”

  “Thank you, Brennan. And hurry.” Kemp resumed his run to take him out of the castle.

  Giles reached the lodge room and burst in on Alan MacTavish and his men, who were in the process of consuming a large keg of ale.

  “You must leave the castle and go to the railway station. A bomb is going to destroy Glen Russell.”

  Most of the men burst out laughing, but Alan MacTavish sobered up almost instantly.

  “And where is the Laird?”

  “He is trapped in the room where Hans Clerkes makes his devices. The girl cast a bind and dropped the bomb through the floor as the Laird triggered it. It will explode at four o’clock.”

  “Thank you for telling us, Mister Summers. We will be sure to be along soon,” MacTavish said politely. “Away with you now and off to the station.”

  Giles smiled with relief and feeling his duty was now complete, ran through the castle to the main gate.

  As soon as Giles had left the room, MacTavish turned to his men.

  “You know what we have to do?” he asked.

  “Aye, that we do. We must go and rescue the Laird,” Jimmy said with a grin.

  “Break out the pistols and rifles, Jimmy. We may have to do a wee bit of fighting before this night is over.”

  “My lady we have to leave the castle at once,” Brennan told Lady Fenella McBride for the eighth time.

  “I told you witchcraft would be the end of us all. This is that little witch’s doing. That fair haired bitch has doomed us all.”

  “If we leave now then we will be safe, my lady,” Brennan pointed out once again.

  “I am not leaving my own castle in the middle of the night. Tell them Elspeth.”

  This was a cruel thing to ask, as Elspeth McPherson suffered from terrible stuttering when made to talk in a crisis. Elspeth tried to speak as she had been ordered.

  “I ddddddddo nnnnot th, th think he, her l,l,ladyship wwwww…”