So Below: The Trilogy

by Matt Whyman

  With a deep breath, Yoshi makes a break for the front end. The monkeys scatter immediately, howling as they leap from his path. His free run doesn’t last, however. Midway down, the first monkey flops onto the boy’s back, followed by another round his neck. They attempt to drag him down, but Yoshi is determined. He reaches for the door, finds this one isn’t locked, and skips between the carriages with half a dozen chimps hanging from his mink coat. With every step they threaten to overwhelm him, covering his eyes with their hands and shrieking into his ears. It’s as if they know he’s heading for the driver’s cab, to pull the plug on this high time they’ve been having.

  The train, meanwhile, shows no signs of slowing. Judging by the clatter of the wheels, they’re travelling close to maximum speed. It snaps through the next station, distracting several of the chimps now, who leave the boy alone to pull faces at the passengers on the platform. Free from the extra load, Yoshi seizes the opportunity to push for the far end of the carriage as hard as he can. This door has no window, however. It’s also locked. He hammers at it with his fists, and is surprised to find it open out immediately. The monkeys on his back drop away at once, faced as they are by a figure in a driver’s peaked cap and blazer.

  “Are you in charge?” pants the boy, as if the monkey before him is likely to understand. Behind him, at the controls, another chimp is seated with his feet up, casually tearing pages from a driver’s instruction manual. Yoshi faces the primate in the peaked cap, who looks equally set for a stand off, and then glances over its shoulder at the windscreen. Immediately, the boy’s annoyance turns to horror. His mouth shrinks to a circle, and he points frantically at the line ahead. “Stop this train!” he cries. “For pity’s sake, put the brakes on, now!”

  19

  Hidden treasures

  There are many ghost stations under London. This is simply a name given to those stops on the London Underground that are no longer in use. It doesn’t mean they’re haunted. At least, it shouldn’t.

  Right now, a tube train commandeered by chimps hurtles through the tunnel towards one such disused destination. The platform looks more like a shoreline of dust, while posters on the walls advertise exhibitions at the British Museum that finished in 1933. From Assyrian palace artefacts, to Tibetan Art, Roman icons and Mesopotamian pottery, some of the world’s greatest collections have gone on show in the building above, and then been stored in her sprawling vaults. For that was the year that the museum’s very own underground station closed down. Since then, trains simply push on through to the next station.

  On this occasion, however, it would be wise for the driver to pay attention as Yoshi has suggested so urgently. If the chimp would just look up from his instruction manual, he would see that they’re speeding towards an eerie, spectral light. The source isn’t visible from the tunnel, shining as it is from the platform somewhere. Yoshi is the first to notice the light, and the fact that it reveals how the tunnel beyond has been bricked up from top to bottom.

  “Someone stop this train!” Desperately, Yoshi attempts to muscle his way into the cab. He shoves the chimp with the cap, only for those pressing behind to fall in around him. The one he’s just pushed responds angrily. It swings onto the boy’s shoulders, and wraps both arms around his head as if to twist it off. “Stop messing about!” cries Yoshi, wheeling about blindly. “Do something or we’re finished!”

  Seemingly deaf to the drama, the monkey in the driver’s seat turns another page in the manual. It’s only when the train punctures the spectral haze, bringing light into the cab, that he is moved to look up. Even a primate couldn’t fail to recognise that this train is careering to its doom, what with the brick wall blocking their path into the next tunnel. With an almighty screech, the chimp somersaults backwards from its seat, and falls upon the brake handle. The wheels underneath lock up, causing sparks to shower as the train slides alongside the platform. The sudden halt in speed throws Yoshi forward. It also serves to loosen the grip of the monkey on his back, which ends up in a heap alongside his fellow driver. Yoshi grabs the brake lever himself now, heaving up on it as has hard as he can.

  “I don’t think I can stop her in time!” he yells, as much to himself as the monkeys. “Brace yourselves!”

  There it is. A disk-shaped wall of bricks growing in his field of vision. It couldn’t have been in place for long, he thinks desperately. This is a working line, after all, with trains passing through every couple of minutes. The barrier must have gone up following his mayday call. Which can only mean one thing, he decides – that all is not as it seems.

  And so it is that amid the monkeys cowering in the cab, the boy allows the brake handle to slacken by a notch, and then faces the windshield. If the train might have stopped just an inch before this barrier, there’s no way now that it’s going to avoid a collision. Her buffers coast into the bricks, and yet the wall doesn’t break up and nor does the cab crumple like a tin can. Instead, there’s a drawn-out sound of tearing fabric as the train eases through what turns out to be a sheet, before stopping at long last.

  “Nice trick!” Yoshi slams the door control button, and is delighted to hear the sound of every carriage opening up. “It very nearly fooled me completely!” With the cab enclosed by the tunnel, Yoshi has no choice but to double back into the carriage behind. As a dazed gang of monkeys struggle to work out what has just happened, the boy is already on the platform. There, he punches the air in relief.

  “You’re a crazy fool, big boy. But now you’re a hero too!” This is Mae Lin. She’s striding towards him from the far end of the platform, undeterred by the fact that the source of the strange illumination appears to be sweeping out of the pedestrian tunnel just across from him. Jenks lopes along beside her. He may be sightless behind his sunglasses, but even he can sense another presence closing in. Monkeys begin to tumble from the carriage now, and scatter in all directions, but that doesn’t bother the wretch as much as what might be about to join them on the platform. He lingers to sniff at the air, as if gauging the quality of the light somehow, and then dashes to catch up with Mae Lin.

  “I can’t believe you stopped the train single-handedly,” she tells Yoshi. “You’re so brave!”

  Yoshi takes a moment to respond. It isn’t the fact that he’s only played a small role in this major illusion. What’s distracting him is the source of the illumination itself. He faces the pedestrian tunnel now, the one connecting the eastbound and westbound lines, and beams broadly. Livia smiles and steps out at last, her aura glowing intensely, with Mikhail, Billy No-Beard on his rollerblades, and the twins following close behind.

  “I didn’t exactly do it on my own,” he says hesitantly, and invites Mae Lin to turn around. “I had a helping hand from some fine street magicians.”

  Mae Lin gasps on finding such familiar faces behind her, and then claps her hands in delight. “Whenever you guys play tricks, I fall for them every time!” She turns her attention to the tunnel mouth, where the cab had punctured the canvas. “Oh, I understand now,” she says, nodding to herself. “That’s very clever.”

  “Correction,” replies Billy, looking less than pleased with the result. “That’s very expensive! Yoshi, do you have any idea how much it costs to get these backdrops made up? Magic props don’t come cheap, y’know? Next time you need to be saved by illusion, give us a little more notice, OK?”

  “I’m sorry,” says Yoshi, wondering at the same time whether Billy has any idea of the drama they’ve just been through.

  “Don’t listen to him,” says Mikhail, who steps forward to clap him on the back. “We’re just pleased that we could help out. Where are you heading, anyhow?”

  Yoshi glances at Jenks, and decides on the spot that it’s safe to tell them. “I’m sorry I just took off, but I didn’t want Julius to find out.”

  “Why not?” This is Blaize, whose sister wears the same quizzical expression.

  “Because I’m not sure I believe that he’s the good guy any more.”


  This time, Scarlett is the one who presses him to explain. “Julius has provided us with a place of safety. Without him, Aleister would’ve rounded us up, returned us to The Foundation, and pressed on with his plan to unlock the Faerie Ring.”

  Yoshi allows her to think about what she’s just said. “It seems to me that Julius shares exactly the same ambition. The big difference is that the old man has shown a ruthless streak that I don’t like one little bit.”

  “How so?” asks Mikhail, intrigued.

  Yoshi beckons Jenks into his arms. “Julius was prepared to sacrifice our friend here in his bid to claim the ring for himself. Aleister, on the other hand, was willing to sacrifice himself to save us all.”

  Livia listens intently. Her aura reflects her mood. It burns brightly at first, but now Yoshi has given his reasons it begins to flicker uncertainly. “OK, suppose you’re right about Julius,” she says. “How come you’re sending Jenks back to the lair? We rescued him because the top dog in that tribe of his was giving him hell.”

  “Aleister has taken care of that threat,” he explains. “Jenks has nothing to fear there now, and he wants to go home. I also want to look Aleister in the eye before I decide who I should believe.”

  Livia smiles knowingly. “You must’ve been in touch with him.”

  As someone who has so often been the subject of his remote viewings, Yoshi doesn’t need to explain how he made such a connection.

  “He isn’t in good shape, though,” he says simply. “He needs our help, in fact.”

  “So this isn’t just a delivery job,” says Billy. “It might be a rescue mission as well?”

  “You can count us in,” Blaize volunteers. “Aleister might have given us a tough time in the past, but he saved my sister from a great fall one time. I know he has a heart.”

  Mikhail sighs to himself, but it’s clear that the twins’ decision to accompany Yoshi has already persuaded him to go too. “Seeing that we’re banned from hitting the streets,” he says, “I’ve nothing better to do.”

  “I hardly think we’re safe as houses down here,” snorts Billy. “Monkeys are one thing, but how do we know that no other zoo animals have gone to ground?”

  “We won’t find out unless we look,” says Livia, whose aura brightens like Yoshi’s smile. “Are you with us Billy?”

  The Executive Deck Hand looks around at everyone. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he points out. “The lair is out of bounds. We destroyed the last means of crossing the chasm. And I for one am not prepared to ruin another fine pair of rollerblades wading through The Walbrook to prove it.”

  Throughout, Mae Lin has been beaming serenely, but doesn’t really look as if she’s listening. It’s only at Billy’s mention of London’s lost river that she blinks brightly and says, “The Walbrook?”

  Yoshi sighs at the interruption, aware that his earlier attempt to explain how to reach the chasm had been met with a blank. “It’s a lost river,” he says finally. “There are said to be twelve that flow beneath the city. One of them can take us to the point where the water tumbles into a rocky divide.”

  “I have heard of the Walbrook,” she says crossly. “I keep saying there’s more to me than good looks, big boy.”

  “I know that,” replies Yoshi patiently. “But when I described how the river could take us as far as the chasm, it didn’t seem to mean anything to you.”

  “That’s because you talked about a river with water!” Mae Lin is looking very pleased with herself all of a sudden. “The mouth of the Walbrook isn’t so far from here, but you won’t find any wet stuff there. It’s bone dry. The museum even started using it for storage when the vaults filled up.”

  A moment passes before Yoshi starts to chuckle. “I reckon you’d better show us the way to this river mouth,” he says. “I never stopped to think that we could get Jenks home through the back door.”

  “You never asked,” she grumbles, and turns to lead the way.

  Yoshi invites Livia and Jenks to follow her first, in order to light the path ahead, and then joins the other young psychics and street magicians behind them. “Just so long as it doesn’t involve taking the tube train again,” he calls up to Mae Lin, “I’m happy to follow your directions.”

  20

  Let Mae Lin be your guide

  Mae Lin was a mystery to Yoshi, in more ways than one. At first he had figured she was as familiar with underground London as Julius himself. Back in the dim sum store, she had sounded so assured when she offered to guide them to the lair. Had he known she was talking about taking the tube of all things, Yoshi might’ve concluded that the old lady’s knowledge of life below the streets could be found on a map of the London Underground.

  Despite this, here she is now leading Yoshi, Jenks and his friends into the pedestrian tunnel from the platform, through a door with STAFF ONLY stamped across it, and into the vaults under the British Museum.

  “Follow me, people. No dawdling, please. We don’t want to be caught down here by the curators!”

  The way Mae Lin knows which doors are unlocked impresses Yoshi greatly, but also leaves him baffled. Working out what made her tick was like walking towards a pigeon and trying to predict which direction it would take off in. It was impossible.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Mae Lin calls back, prompting Billy to put down a small marble statue of a Greek God, and then wince as it sheers in two at the waist. Mikhail frowns at him. He collects the two pieces and tucks them back into the packing crate where Billy had been prying. “Some of the treasures down here are priceless!” Mae Lin adds, too far ahead to notice what has happened.

  “Let’s call it our secret,” Billy says, sighing in relief as they leave the crate behind.

  It’s tough to take everything in as the party follow their Oriental guide. Precious artefacts from displays gone by are stacked high against each wall of every corridor they pass through. From Hawaiian woodcarvings to swirling Aboriginal paintings, Viking ironworks and ceramics from the four corners of the earth, they could’ve been walking through a cultural history of the world. Yoshi is careful to keep his hands to himself. Mikhail, meanwhile has given up reminding Billy to do likewise, especially when they squeeze their way past a crate of eighteenth century cannonballs.

  “Leave it alone!” hisses Yoshi, who happens to see Billy heft one into his hand. “We can’t risk any more breakages or setbacks.”

  “But Yoshi!” protests the Executive Deck Hand in a whisper. “I can’t believe what’s down here. Forget about searching for buried treasure on a pirate island - it’s all here, right under the noses of every citizen of this city!”

  Yoshi gives the boy on rollerblades a gentle shove. It sets him coasting along the slate floor, and prompts the twins to part for him. Up ahead, Jenks and Livia provide enough light for Mae Lin to push on. Just how this pint-sized purveyor of Chinatown’s finest dim sum knew her way around was deeply puzzling. Then again, as she ushers the party down a long slope in the passage, one that opens into a cavernous grotto, Yoshi decides not to question her about it. Judging from the way the rock floor here is shaped like a basin, and fed by a shallow channel that winds back into the gloom, they’ve reached the mouth of a former river.

  “Welcome to the Walbrook!” Mae Lin beams from the centre of the basin. “Mind your step, everyone, this floor has been worn smooth.”

  It’s pitch black beyond. Far darker than anything they’ve encountered so far. In a bid to throw more light on their surroundings, Yoshi fires up his halogen head torch. Billy, Mikhail and the twins follow suit. As they do so, beams of light criss-cross the space. With Livia and Jenks providing a softer, spectral glow, their surroundings reveal themselves. For a moment, everyone just looks up and around in awe. Great stalactites hang over them, but that’s not what takes their breath away. Unlike the vaults they’d come through to reach here, this space has been dedicated to storing treasures from just one culture: the ancient Egyptians.

  “Wow!” This is Mikhai
l. The young Russian simply gawps at the giant sarcophagus before him. He turns his torch beam on the towering sculpture of an eagle beside it, which dazzles in the light so brightly that it has to be carved from gold. “This stuff must be worth a fortune!”

  “How come it hasn’t been stolen?” asks Livia, who, together with her sister, has found an open chest of jewels and necklaces.

  Yoshi inspects the line of Mummy casings standing sentry in front of the basin. “Who’s to know it’s here?” he suggests. “It’s out of sight and out of mind. In many ways the curators have found the most secure place in the city.”

  “Oh, I dunno,” says Billy, and points at a gap in the sentry. It stands out like a broken tooth. On the floor before it, the casing lies cracked open. Billy climbs onto the plinth, and circles on the spot. “What’s the story with this one, do you think?”

  Before anyone can answer, Yoshi spots something shining brightly in his

  grasp.

  “Billy, how many times?”

  “What?

  “Put it back,” says Yoshi, nodding at his hand.

  Reluctantly, Billy turns his attention to the object in question. He uncurls his fingers to reveal a jewel-encrusted scarab beetle pendant, and pretends to be surprised. “Good grief! How did that get there?”

  “You’re a street magician,” Livia reminds him, “not a thief.”

  “I’m just curious,” pleads Billy, rolling off the plinth to hand it over. “When was the last time you were inside what feels like a pharaoh’s tomb, huh?”

  “Well, we’re not here to see the sights,” Yoshi reminds him. It’s then that he senses something clutching at his shirt hem. The boy turns to see Jenks, who appears very edgy indeed.