by Jim Eldridge
‘Actually, it did sound a bit different,’ he said.
Using the metal bar, Jake scraped away the dirt around the four edges of the flagstone, and he pushed it in, trying to get leverage. After a bit of pushing and manipulating, the end of the bar was in the crack. Jake pressed down on the end of the bar but the flagstone didn’t budge.
‘Let me help,’ said Dan.
Dan and Jake put all their strength into forcing the bar downwards and slowly that edge of the flagstone began to lift.
‘Right,’ said Jake. ‘See if you can lift it up while I hold the bar in place.’
Dan and Lauren joined Jake, putting their fingers under the edges of the flagstone, and hauling back. It began to lift . . . then Dan and Lauren slid it to one side. There was a hole in the ground beneath where the stone had been, and inside the hole was an object wrapped in oiled black leather.
With trembling fingers, Jake lifted the object out. It felt like a book. Was it The Index? There was only one way to find out. He began to untie the oiled twine that held the package together.
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ asked Lauren nervously. ‘Some of the books can be booby-trapped. Remember the toxic bacteria inside the first book that was found!’
‘If it was hidden here at the chapel, I don’t think it would be one of the Malichea science books,’ said Jake. ‘I’m pretty sure this is one of the books that the abbot gave to the de Courcey family, the Journal of the Order of Malichea or The Index.’
‘And if you’re wrong?’ asked Lauren.
Jake didn’t reply, but silently he hoped that he was right.
He undid the last piece of twine and peeled back the protective leather covering. Inside was a book, with the familiar symbol of the Order of Malichea inscribed on the cover. He opened it up and saw the ornate Latin writing on the first page, and then continuing on the other pages, each section in a different handwriting, and dated.
‘It’s the Journal,’ said Jake, and this excitement at having finally found it was mixed with bitter disappointment that it wasn’t the book he’d been hoping to find. ‘So where is The Index?’ he groaned.
‘My question exactly,’ said a voice behind them.
Chapter 20
They swung round, and were shocked to see Guy standing with two young teenage boys, one of whom they’d seen holding a gun on Guy in the car park at de Courcey Hall. Now, the gun was in Guy’s hand.
‘Don’t try anything, any of you,’ warned Guy. ‘This is a Hechler and Koch MP5K. Very powerful, and with a 30-round clip. Right now it’s on automatic, so it’ll cut you all in half before you’ve got within an inch of me.’ He smiled. ‘I know a lot about guns. They’re a sort of hobby of mine.’ His smile broadened. ‘Dan! Well, well! My old boyhood pal!’
Jake shot a look at Dan, and saw from the grim and sickly look on his face that whatever Guy and Dan had been during their childhood at de Courcey Hall, they hadn’t been mates. Dan looked frightened.
Jake turned back to Guy.
‘I thought you were in trouble,’ Jake said accusingly. ‘Being held prisoner.’
‘Yes, that’s what you were supposed to think,’ said Guy. He looked up at the sky. ‘It really is starting to get dark. I think we ought to continue this inside.’ He jerked the gun. ‘Follow Spider. I’ll be bringing up the rear. And, like I said, any funny business . . . You’re dead.’
Spider led the way towards the ruin of Platt Castle. Jake, Lauren and Dan followed anxiously, aware of Guy and the second boy behind them.
‘Make sure you don’t drop that book, Jake,’ said Guy.
Jake could see that there were glimmers of light coming from the ruined castle. One corner of the interior had survived; it looked as if it had been repaired in a rough sort of fashion. The dim light was showing through a narrow gap where a wooden shutter had been put into place over a small window.
Spider reached a door, opened it, and disappeared inside. Jake, Lauren and Dan followed him, uncomfortably aware of the gun in Guy’s hand behind them.
The room was lit by oil lamps and had been kitted out with tatty-looking tables and chairs. Four young people were sprawled on the floor, sitting and lying on sleeping bags. They stood up as Spider led everyone in, their eyes watchful when they saw Jake, Lauren and Dan.
These four also seemed little more than kids. They looked like clones of each other with their sharp-eyes and rat-like faces. Feral. Dangerous.
‘Take their mobiles off them, Spider,’ Guy said. ‘And, you, put your hands above your heads and remember what I said. Try anything and I’ll shoot you.’
‘What’s this about, Guy?’ demanded Jake, as Spider began to rummage through their pockets.
‘What it’s always been about, Jake. Finding The Index,’ said Guy. ‘Looks like you’ve got the closest so far. Brownie points to Jake. Or was it your girlfriend who worked it out? You did say she knew more about this business than you did.’
‘I got their mobiles, Guy,’ said Spider, holding them up. ‘You want me to trash them?’
‘Yes, but take out the SIM cards and break them first.’ Guy looked at Jake and Lauren. ‘Just making sure we can’t be tracked here. No signals any more; I want to make sure we’re safe from interruptions. First, allow me to introduce my friends. Or, my crew, as we like to call ourselves.’ He pointed at the boy who’d taken their phones and was busy destroying them. They now saw that he had a tattoo of a spider on his neck. ‘Spider, you’ve met.’
He pointed at the other boy who’d been with him and Spider outside. ‘That’s Patch. Say hello to Patch, Jake.’
Jake looked at the boy. He looked about fifteen. Like Spider, Patch had a shaved head and a cold, hard stare. He also had what appeared to be a birthmark under his left eye.
‘Seems like Jake doesn’t want to talk to you at the moment, Patch,’ said Guy. ‘Don’t worry, he will.’
At the threat in Guy’s words, Jake felt a sickness in his stomach. We are in big, big trouble.
Guy’s arm swung round, pointing at two girls. They looked about thirteen, although — with their shapeless clothes and their almost shaven heads — it was difficult to tell.
‘Gadge and Midge,’ said Guy. ‘They are so clever, both of them. They can do things with a computer that will amaze you. Manipulation. Getting through encryptions.’ He looked at them admiringly. ‘I don’t know where they could have learnt such skills, but they have been absolutely invaluable to me!’
The two girls beamed broadly at this flattery, smiling at one another, and then looking at Guy with unconcealed admiration.
He’s charmed them, realised Jake. He’s charmed them all. That’s what Guy does.
‘Next to Gadge and Midge, that tall guy is Des, my muscleman.’
Jake noticed that Des, who was perhaps a year older than the other kids, wore heavy, metal rings on the fingers of his right hand, which made his fist a formidable weapon.
‘Next to Des, that’s Patch’s brother, Duke.’
Duke, skinheaded like his brother and wearing a street sports outfit, looked to be not much older than fourteen. He had picked up a wicked-looking machete which he flexed as he gave Jake and the others a cruel smile.
At the sight of the weapon, Jake thought of Jasper Brigstocke, his fingers cut off and lying on the floor beside his dead body.
‘So that’s my crew.’ Guy smiled. ‘Crew, meet Jake Wells and his girlfriend, Lauren. They’re the ones who are going to make us all very rich. The other one with them is Dan, an old boyhood friend of mine.’ And Guy laughed at that, a nasty laugh.
Another realisation hit Jake, making him feel very sick. The fact he’s told us the names of his crew, and let us see their faces, means we’re not going to get out of here alive.
‘The book, Jake,’ said Guy, holding out his hand.
Jake held out the Journal, and Guy walked over and took it. He smiled.
‘A pity it’s not The Index, but it shows you’re on the right track, which is good.
’ He chuckled. ‘Just think, all this time it was right here, and I never realised. Do you think The Index is buried out there as well, Jake?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Jake.
‘Well, we’ll find out tomorrow,’ said Guy. ‘It’s too dark to start looking now. So, for the moment, we’re going to have to put you into storage for the night.’
‘Storage?’ queried Jake.
Guy gestured at the floor.
‘The dungeons. The one part of this that’s still intact. What do you think of the place, by the way? It’s really quite cosy. The old man had it patched up a few years ago. I think he was thinking of opening it as a visitor attraction, to try and bring in some money.’ He looked around at the stone walls, eerie in the flickering light from the oil lamps. ‘Of course the builders were a bunch of cowboys. But then, my old man was never much of a judge of character. He always seemed to employ useless people.’ He gave Dan a nasty smile. ‘Like your mother. She got kicked out in the end, though.’
Jake saw Dan tense, and his fists clench at this insult, but he kept mute.
He knows how dangerous Guy is, Jake realised. He knows that Guy is goading him, hoping to provoke an outburst, to give him an excuse to have his crew attack Dan.
Guy said, ‘I used to spend time here when I was a kid. It was my hidey-hole. My secret camp. I brought Dan here a couple of times. Do you remember that, Dan?’
Dan didn’t reply. Bad memories, realised Jake. Very bad memories.
When Dan didn’t say anything, Guy obviously lost interest in the game he was playing with him. He turned to his crew and said, ‘OK, Des and Duke, take them down to the dungeons.’
As the two boys moved towards them, Guy added, ‘I wouldn’t try anything. They will hurt you very badly if you do.’
Des went first, then Jake, Lauren and Dan, with Duke and his machete bringing up the rear. As they walked down some uneven stone steps, the light from Duke’s torch lit up the blackness of the ancient dungeons below. The sweet decaying smell of damp earth hit Jake’s nostrils. In the torchlight he saw a door made of iron bars. It looked to be hundreds of years old, but the padlock and chain on it were new. Des unlocked it, and opened the door. Jake, Lauren and Dan walked in hesitantly. Des pulled the iron-barred door closed, and snapped the padlock on it shut.
‘Call out and Duke here will come down and cut you,’ threatened Des.
Then the two headed back up the stairs, the vanishing light of their torch plunging the dungeon into darkness.
Jake’s eyes became accustomed to the gloom. Moonlight came in from a tiny hole high up in the wall, over which wire mesh had been fixed, giving him enough light to be able to make out more of the cell.
There was a rustling sound from the deep shadows in the far corner of the room. What was it? Rats? No, it was something much larger, a shape moving in the darkness.
‘Hello!’ called out Jake nervously.
The rustling stopped, and a voice said, ‘Jake? Lauren? Is that you?’
Even though the voice was weak and thin, Jake recognised it.
‘Gareth!’
He hurried over to the figure lying on the ground, and recoiled at the sight. Gareth’s face was a mess. Even in this gloom, Jake could see dried blood was streaked across it.
‘My God, Gareth!’ he burst out. ‘What have they done to you?’
‘It’s not as bad as it looks,’ said Gareth. ‘They just roughed me up a bit. Nothing broken. No serious damage.’
‘I phoned your home,’ said Lauren. ‘Your wife didn’t know where you were.’
‘No one does, or I’d have been out of here by now,’ said Gareth bitterly.
‘How is that possible?’ asked Jake, astonished. ‘MI5 are supposed to know everything! How come they haven’t traced you?’
‘Because our info mainly covers terrorists, known criminal organisations and the like. What you might term “the usual suspects”. MI5 would have been concentrating their efforts to find me on all of them. Unfortunately, a rogue individual like Guy de Courcey is generally well under the radar.
‘So what happened?’ asked Jake. ‘How did you get here?’
‘Guy de Courcey contacted me and told me he had some of the Malichea books for sale,’ said Gareth. ‘He said he’d been told by Pierce Randall they were worth a lot of money, so he was offering them to the highest bidder. He wanted to meet me to see what I’d bid. He said because of his “precarious position” with Pierce Randall, he couldn’t afford to meet with me openly, so he asked me to meet him at a secret rendezvous, and to come alone.’ He gave a harsh and bitter laugh. ‘For possibly the first time in my life, I believed it would be that simple. Or, at least, I felt sure that I was capable of dealing with the situation.
‘He started to ask me where The Index was. I use the word “ask” but he was pretty violent. I told him I didn’t know, but, of course, he didn’t believe me. Then, after days of him getting no leads, he dumped me down here.’ In the gathering darkness they saw him shake his head. ‘I think he’s insane.’
‘Yes,’ said Dan unhappily. ‘That about sums up Guy.’
‘This is Dan Hayward,’ introduced Jake. ‘He and his mother and sister used to live on the de Courcey estate before it was given to the National Trust. Dan knew about the old castle, and the site of the old chapel. Dan, this is my boss from work, Gareth Findlay-Weston.’
‘So you knew Guy de Courcey when he was a child?’ said Gareth.
‘Unfortunately,’ said Dan bitterly. ‘I did my best to keep out of his way. He was three years older than me, used to take pleasure in bullying me. He’s cruel. Vicious. He liked hurting people for fun.’
‘And he looks like he’s found a gang of like-minded bullies,’ said Lauren.
‘The street crew.’ Gareth nodded. ‘Yes, he’s very proud of them. He took pleasure in telling me how he’d found them.’
‘Found them?’ queried Jake.
‘They were all living together in a squat at the back of King’s Cross. Runaways, orphans.’ He shook his head. ‘OK, they seem dangerous, and a couple of them certainly are, but I don’t think they had a chance. If there ever was a safety net for kids like these, they fell well and truly through it.
‘Guy stepped in and offered them a way out. And not just a way out, he offered them affection.’
‘Affection?’ said Dan sarcastically. ‘He’s a vicious bully!’
‘He also knows how to manipulate people,’ said Gareth. ‘I’ve seen him at work with these kids. He handles them with a mixture of fear and warmth. And the bottom line is he’s offered them a permanent home here, and lots of riches.’ He sighed. ‘Affection. Money. Security. It’s a winning combination.’
‘I don’t understand it,’ said Jake, bewildered. ‘When I first met Guy he’d only just arrived in England from Mexico. He wouldn’t have had time to set all this up!’
‘I’m afraid to disillusion you, Jake, but your friend Guy is a liar.’
‘Always was,’ put in Dan miserably.
‘Just because he told you something it doesn’t mean it’s true,’ continued Gareth. ‘As far as I can gather, Guy was back in England some time before he killed Alex Munro, putting together his plan.’
‘Guy killed Munro?’ echoed Jake, stunned.
Gareth nodded.
‘I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it,’ he said. ‘Guy likes to boast about how clever he is. But how did you get here?’
‘Like we said, Dan knew about the site of the old chapel,’ said Jake.
‘Jake worked out that if The Index and the Journal had been hidden anywhere, then the old chapel was the most likely place,’ added Lauren.
‘Impressive!’ said Gareth. ‘And did you find anything?’
‘We found the Journal in a hiding place under one of the flagstones,’ said Jake. ‘We didn’t have time to look any more, because Guy turned up at that point, with a gun.’
‘Yes, our friend Guy has a fondness for guns,’ murmured Gareth. ‘And I gather
he is quite a good shot. He must be, to have killed Munro the way he did.’
‘Why did he kill Munro?’ asked Lauren.
‘I’m still not sure. He said something about it being part of his plan. I feel that Guy has delusions of grandeur about being some master criminal. And he has no compassion, which makes him a very dangerous person.’
‘He’s always been a dangerous person,’ muttered Dan. ‘I think the old earl was glad when he left the country. In fact, I think he was actually frightened of him. I know everyone else was.’
‘If he was so dangerous, why didn’t anyone spot it before and do something about it?’ asked Lauren. ‘Like, at school.’
‘He’s clever,’ said Dan. ‘And he can be very convincing.’
‘That’s true,’ sighed Jake ruefully. ‘He had me convinced.’ He fell silent, then said, ‘I wonder what he plans to do with us next?’
Chapter 21
For the next few hours nothing happened. They sat on the damp earth floor in the cell and listened to sounds happening upstairs, but they couldn’t hear any voices, just the odd banging noise, or footsteps.
‘We’ll be OK,’ said Dan. ‘Remember, I texted Gemma to tell her where we’d gone. If she goes home and finds I’m not there, she’ll come looking for me here, and when she sees my motorbike parked, she’ll know I’m here.’
‘And she’ll walk straight into Guy and his gang,’ pointed out Jake unhappily.
At that thought, Dan looked even more miserable.
‘Don’t worry,’ Lauren tried to reassure him. ‘You said she told you she was staying in London, so she won’t be coming here.’
‘But say she changes her mind?’ asked Dan, very worried.
No one answered him. Jake didn’t like to think what would happen to her if she did show up.
About midnight they heard footsteps. It was one of the girls, Gadge. She pushed something through the bars of the cell door.
‘Here,’ she said.
Then she went back upstairs.
Jake picked up two bottles of water.
‘At least we won’t die of thirst,’ said Lauren.
‘When do we get fed?’ Jake asked Gareth.