Carnacki: The Watcher at the Gate

by William Meikle

  “‘And I want the bally thing out of my blasted cellar and gone. But how in blazes can that be accomplished?’

  “I told him. As I said previously, he was not in the slightest bit happy at the prospect.”

  c

  “‘Let’s not bother Mrs. Fraser with the particulars,’ he said as we hooked up a garden hose to the kitchen faucet, snaked it down into the cellar and turned the tap up full.

  “We stood there listening to water gurgle in the depths for a while.

  “‘This is clearly going to take awhile—possibly all night,’ Fraser said. ‘Can I trouble you for another smoke? It never took with me when I was younger, but I could jolly well use one right about now.’

  “‘We stood out on the back porch for the best part of the night, smoking and sipping more of his dashed fine Scotch and listening to water gurgle far beneath us.

  “The end finally came just as the sun was rising. There was a lurch in the floor, a bucking and swelling as if the whole house had been caught by a tide. Black salt water came up out of the cellar in a wave that washed through the whole ground floor of the house. The surging waters took all of Mrs. Fraser’s fine rugs, furniture and best china, all of it washed away and out of the front door and windows that we had thankfully remembered to open. I heard the woman’s wailing begin even as I headed for the road to see the water surge toward the river and tumble down into it in a torrent of foaming spray.

  “Fraser was at my side as a black shadow rose up from the Thames. Great wings opened, almost touching either side of the riverbank. They beat once, then sank down into the gray river and were subsumed within seconds. The waters stopped running out of the house, Mrs. Fraser’s wails turned to soft sobbing, and when I looked up, young Catherine was standing at her window, her broad smile as happy as the rising sun in the East.”

  c

  Carnacki stopped, looked up at us, and grinned.

  “I have learned something, my friends. I have learned that not all entities from the great beyond are necessarily malignant. And I think I have just done one of them a favor.

  “Now, out you go.”

  I walked back along the Embankment. The river was at my side all the way, but I did not look at it and kept my head down. Just at the last, as I turned away to head north to my rooms, I thought I heard the beat of heavy wings, but I saw nothing; just dark waters below and stars overhead.

  The Blue Egg

  It was a most pleasant autumn evening, the leaves dropping softly around me all along the avenue as I made my way down Cheyne Walk toward Carnacki’s residence. My anticipation had been growing all week since his invitation arrived, for my good friend never failed to provide both an excellent supper and an intriguing tale to wash it down with.

  Arkwright and I arrived on the doorstep at almost the same time. He rapped on the door with the head of his cane.

  “So what will it be this time do you think?” he asked as we waited. “Great snorting spectral hogs, invisible horses … or something even more outlandish?”

  Carnacki opened the door at that exact moment, a wide grin on his face that momentarily diverted me from the fact that he was as brown as a nut, having obviously spent some time in warmer, sunnier climes.

  “Oh, I think I can promise you something special this evening, gentlemen,” he said, and after taking our coats, led us straight into his dining room where the others were already waiting.

  As ever, the meal did not disappoint, although Arkwright was rather put out of joint to find it was all what he deemed to be foreign in origin.

  “Dash it all, Carnacki. Is good English fare not good enough for you these days?”

  Carnacki did not take offense, merely smiled.

  “I have good reason to place this particular meal in front of you tonight,” he said. “It sets the proper mood for what is to follow. Come through to the parlor, and I shall tell you chaps the tale of how I have spent most of this last month in exotic seas.”

  A few minutes later we were in our usual chairs, glasses filled and smokes lit, waiting for Carnacki to begin. He did not keep us waiting.

  “You will remember my tale of Captain Gault, the most singular nautical cove who helped me cause the Thames to flood not too long ago?” he began. “I did not expect to ever see him again, knowing that he preferred a life on the ocean to the streets of the city. So I was most surprised one night almost a month ago to open my door and find him on the doorstep.

  “Over some rum—he brought a bottle with him, spicy and aromatic and quite unlike anything I’ve had before—he put a proposition to me that in all honesty I could not refuse.

  “‘It’s right up your street, Mr. Carnacki, sir,’ he said. ‘It’s at least ten thousand years old, I’m told, and reputed to be a thing of high magic and power … and I know just where to find it.’

  “I will fill you chaps in on the details as we go along,” Carnacki said. “But suffice to say, the very next morning I went down to St. Katharine Docks and boarded Gault’s steamer. We went out with the tide.

  “I was on my way to the Mediterranean.”

  c

  Carnacki paused to apply a fresh flame to his pipe. Arkwright, as was his wont, sat forward, ready to fill the silence, but a look from our host quickly put paid to that.

  “Over that first week I got to know our captain rather well,” our host continued. “He proved himself a more-than-capable adversary at both chess and backgammon, and he liked to tell tales almost as much as I did myself. My cabin was small, but clean and perfectly serviceable; the crew, of Greek extraction in the main, proved to be unfailingly polite and helpful. What with that, and Gault’s excellent table and taste in wines, smokes and liquor, I was having a most enjoyable holiday away from the city.

  “My feeling of well-being lasted only until we docked at Lisbon. The crew went ashore for a night of debauchery in the taverns, Gault opened a fresh bottle of rum, and we finally got down to discussing the business at hand. He had gotten me to come along on the promise of a mystery, and I suppose I had better start telling you chaps something of the nature of it before poor Arkwright bursts with frustration.

  “‘I was told the story in a tavern in Algiers,’ Gault began, after we had settled in the armchairs in his opulent cabin quarters. ‘And at first I dismissed it as just another tall tale—there are plenty of them, as you know. But then I heard it again, in Cairo, and again, in Corsica. The details varied, and the tales were all different in the telling, but the core was always there. The roc’s egg is real.’

  “I did not interrupt him, not then, but the mere mention of a mythical beast so early in the telling meant that I was starting to find his tale rather outlandish, even for me. I puffed on a pipe as he continued.

  “‘It’s not a real roc’s egg, of course; even I would not be so gullible as to believe in that bird. But over the course of several years I have picked up more fragments of the story, more pieces of the puzzle, and I believe I have gotten to the heart of the matter. And it is this …’

  “This time it was his turn to pause—for effect more than anything—as he puffed on his own pipe before going on.

  “‘The Knights of Malta fought a great battle for it somewhere in Persia; the exact location is lost in the mists of time. What is not lost is the memory of their bringing it to Acre. Stories are still told of a great jewel, so big a man needed two hands to carry it, a jewel that carried with it great power … and a great curse, for it was a thing from the oldest times, a thing that should have stayed lost.’

  “Gault seemed to be enjoying the melodrama, and, by Jove, I could not help my own interest growing as the tale unfolded. But Gault had brought me along for my esoteric expertise, and I felt I had to bring some of that to bear on the matter.

  “‘You do know that there is no good outcome to be had from a quest such as this?’ I said. ‘The best we can hope for is to get to the truth. But there is almost certainly no treasure to be found, no profit to be made.’

&
nbsp; “Gault laughed in my face.

  “‘You would not last long in my line of work, Mr. Carnacki. There’s only one constant: there is always profit to be had. And besides, I have proof that this is more than a wild-goose chase.’

  “He rose and went to a cabinet that he had to unlock using a heavy key he had hung on a chain inside his shirt. He brought out a small, plain wooden box.

  “‘Before I show you this, Mr. Carnacki,’ he said. ‘I must warn you that some men cannot take it. But I have seen you stand before things that would make other men quail, and I believe you have the strength—if you are willing to take a look?’

  “I could not turn away from such an invitation; but the fact of the matter was that the merest sight of that plain wooden box had me in a cold sweat, and all I wanted to do was flee as far and as fast as possible. Gault saw my hesitation. He started to back away.

  “‘I understand,’ he said, but I saw the reproach on his face.

  “‘Show me,’ I replied. ‘Quickly, before I change my mind.’

  “He leaned over and opened the box. For a second I forgot to breathe.

  “It lay on a bed of red velvet—a sliver of something that shone blue with an internal light. I was immediately captivated and bent closer. The light danced and capered as if aware of my presence. And it sang in a high tone, a happy chorus of nonsense that filled me with pure joy. When Gault closed the box with a loud snap I wanted nothing more than to snatch it from him, to lose myself in the blue light and the song.

  “The captain smiled grimly. ‘Perhaps you can see the profit to be had now?’

  “Indeed I could. It was like a drug. And I could see the cost of it being high indeed.

  “‘Where did you come by such a thing?’ I asked. ‘And what the deuce is it?’

  “He put the box back in the cabinet and locked it, returning to fill our glasses with more of his rum before replying.

  “‘I followed the trail of stories back to when the Knights tried to leave the Holy Land. The King in Jerusalem, having seen the jewel, was loath to let it go. As you have seen, it pulls at a man. Likewise, the Knights were not about to leave without their prize. So they left the blue sliver as tithe, hacked from the main jewel by force. I won’t bore you with more tales tonight; the sliver itself became the stuff of legends. But you will find that I have a stubborn streak when I put my mind to something, and finally, after years of tracking, I found it. I will also not be telling you what I had to pay for it. But I do not deem the cost excessive.’

  “I found that I had an almighty struggle just to take my gaze away from where he had stored the box in the cabinet, and an equal struggle to pay any attention to what the captain was saying. I still heard the singing in my head, still saw the dancing blue … and I wanted more of both.

  “‘It is an opiate of sorts,’ Gault continued. ‘And a most potent one at that. But spiced rum takes the edge off it, trust me.’

  “I did as he bid and took a good slug of the liquor. It worked as he said it would; the allure of the song faded and dimmed until it was no more than a memory. But I felt the poorer for its passing.

  “‘And now you know,’ Gault said. ‘Can you imagine what a rugger-ball-sized amount of it would be capable of? Can you imagine its worth?’

  “I had no idea of worth. But I was starting to get some clue as to what I was dealing with, and of the power at its disposal.”

  c

  Carnacki paused again, and started to rise from his chair. We all followed his cue and made for the cabinet to recharge our glasses.

  “No need for a full top-up, chaps,” he said. “This will be a while in telling, and I for one will need further fortification before the end of it.”

  There was a certain wistful look in Carnacki’s eyes I had never seen there before, and I might have remarked on it had Arkwright not piped up exactly at that point.

  “This Gault chappie … he’s got a bit of a reputation, or so I’ve heard. Chap I know in Whitehall, he’s got a thing for Turkish smokes. He buys them from a man who knows a man who knows Gault and …”

  Carnacki waved him into silence. “Captain Gault’s reputation, deserved or otherwise, has little bearing on the remainder of the story,” he said. “At least, as little as makes no difference. It did, however, affect the timing of our departure from Lisbon.”

  He waited until we were all back in our chairs, lit a fresh pipe, and continued.

  c

  “Only half the crew returned the next morning, but Gault did not seem in the least surprised.

  “‘It’s the thing in the cabinet,’ he told me. ‘It both draws and repels them in equal measure. Sometimes, after a few tots of rum, they gain the strength to stay ashore.’

  “‘You should throw it away,’ I said. ‘Throw it away and give up on this quest of yours. No good can come of it.’

  “‘Except profit,’ Gault said with a laugh, and left me to my own devices as he went into the city in search of fresh crew.

  “I quickly discovered that some of the shine had been taken off my so-called holiday. Where the crew had previously seemed helpful and of good cheer, I started to see sideways glances being given in my direction—looks that spoke of greed, and of envy.

  “In late morning, after a perambulation around the deck and a smoke, I returned along the corridor, heading for my cabin. To do so I had to pass the captain’s quarters and I heard a commotion from inside. Thinking that there might be trouble, I opened the door. Two crewmen were having a fight over who should be the one to steal the box from the large cabinet. The box itself lay on the floor to one side, still closed, while the men rolled and punched and gouged their way around the room.

  “I could see no way of stopping them short of entering the fray myself, and indeed was about to venture forward when a deafening clap of what sounded like thunder boomed close to my ear.

  “‘That’s enough!’ Gault shouted. He brandished a handgun that looked more like a small cannon, and indeed it had successfully blown a fist-sized chunk of wood from the ceiling of the cabin.

  “The men rolled away from each other, but neither took their eyes from the small box on the floor.

  “‘If you’d be so kind, Carnacki, could you put it away for me? I have to show these blackguards off my boat.’

  “He marched the two men out at gunpoint, leaving me alone in the room with the box.

  “I hesitated before approaching it, for even from the far side of the cabin I felt its pull, its most compelling pleas for attention. It was only a wooden box, and you chaps will think me a frightful coward, but I could not at that moment persuade my legs to take me any closer. I was still standing there when Gault returned, and I did not particularly like the admonishment I saw in his eyes when he saw the box still lying on the floor.

  “He picked it up and locked it away in the cabinet before turning back to me.

  “‘I told you, man,’ he said. ‘You need more rum.’

  He proceeded to pour two large measures, and although the sun was not yet over the yardarm, I took to it with gusto. Only as the heat hit my belly did I start to feel like my old self once more.

  “‘I’m afraid I’m not being much help so far,’ I started, but he waved me away.

  “‘Your time is yet to come. I suspect that I will need all your expertise when we get to our destination.’

  “‘And where is that, exactly?’ I asked, for the good captain had not yet been forthcoming with that piece of information.

  The rum seemed to have loosened his tongue somewhat.

  “‘We’re headed for Malta,” he said. “Or rather, Gozo, a smaller island nearby. There is an ancient harbor there. My intention is that we plunder its secret, make off with the prize, and show a healthy enough profit that I can buy a bigger boat. Maybe even two.’

  “If I thought his ambitions were rather mundane given what I suspected we might be heading into, I kept my peace and drank his rum as we left Lisbon and headed for the Mediterranean.”r />
  c

  “Over the next few days the allure of the thing in the box only got stronger, as if it was drawing power from the larger source at our ever-closer destination. Gault and I kept it at bay with copious quantities of his rum, but the crew had no such protection to fall back on. They took to squabbling among themselves, and Gault had to intervene to break up numerous scuffles and affrays, one of which even led to the coxswain taking a nasty cut to his thigh from an evil-looking knife. By the time we reached Gibraltar, Gaunt confessed to me that he feared a mutiny.

  “‘It’s yon thing in the cabinet. Its spell is growing. Is there anything you can do, Carnacki?’

  “That was something I had been considering for several days. My perusal of my traveling copy of the Sigsand MS had thrown little light on our current situation, there being no mention of anything resembling the aforesaid egg. But there was one simple thing I could do immediately.

  “I had Gault move the heavy cabinet to the center of his cabin. We cleared the floor space and I enclosed the thing inside a protective circle, sealing it with salt, garlic and one of my precious vials of cleansed water.

  “It worked immediately. I felt somehow lighter, less oppressed. Gault’s face broke into a wide grin.

  “‘We have it on the run,’ he said, and clapped me on the back.

  “I knew from my experiences that it was not so simple, but held my tongue.”

  c

  “We left Gibraltar with the full complement of crew, and for a day or so I even began to enjoy myself again, after a fashion, and the crew went about their business in a much happier frame of mind.

  “But it did not last. The further we ventured into the Mediterranean, the stronger the thing in the cabinet grew. I considered using the electric pentacle, and even went as far as moving the box containing the equipment into the captain’s cabin, but I could not for the life of me see how it would be of any use whatsoever in these circumstances. By the time we reached our final destination the mood of the crew was turning ugly again, and Gault took to carrying his big pistol around with him every time he left the cabin. In all truth, both of us spent far longer in his quarters than was good for us, but Gault feared for our safety on open deck. And besides, we had started to feel the pull of the jewel again, and its ministrations were far from unpleasant, even after being dulled by rum and my increasingly poor attempts at protection.