by Mark Walker
5
THE RAIN HAD CEASED but the wind was ferocious. Even as Dinky Potter, Riggs, Bellows and Tom Melville emerged cautiously from the front door of the inn they felt the AG effects and the extra tug of the wind. It was difficult to even stand. They staggered across the rock to examine the remains of the bridge. The arches and basic structure of cables remained, but the central portion the planks were almost completely destroyed. As best they could make out with their torches and the intermittent lightning, there was but a single remaining plank on one of the outer edges of the bridge, the rest hanging splintered over the surging sea. It was not a complete loss however, and with some effort could be temporarily spanned, but it would be a difficult, dangerous work, impossible whilst the storms continued.
“It can be put right,” shouted Dinky Potter, “but at least we’ve got plenty of water and stores in the inn.”
“And plenty of fish!” reminded Tom Melville.
“Maybe the rain’s letting up,” said Bellows over the wind.
“Oh, no, Sergeant,” said Tom. “These gales come in waves, there’ll be more rain, and that’s for sure.” They made their way back across the rock and staggered into the warmth of the inn. The pirates were gone, and the others indicated they had gone upstairs, but Riggs’s intuition told him something was afoot.
Indeed, the pirates had grown restless. Using the darkness and the mayhem created by the storm, they had crept upstairs one by one, slithering and snakelike, bent on some deadly mischief. Now perhaps they could lure the confounded detectives into a trap and be quits of them for good—using a little bait, of course, take a hostage or two to coerce their cooperation. On the second floor, they managed to open the upper door, leading to the small balcony and crept out of the inn. When the full force of the wind struck them, they had to hold on tight to keep from going down. Using the abatement of the rain, they cast about for an opportunity… one that they were soon to find.
Riggs looked at Bellows, his eyes steely. “They’ve made their move,” he said. Then to the rest of those in the Great Room: “Right. Now, I want everybody,” he stared hard at the children, “to stay put!” Then, he and Fred Bellows were after the pirates through the front door. The wind tore at them, and they moved cautiously, close in against the rough wet stone of the Roundhouse. “We’ll come up on their blind side, in case they’re on the back stairs,” Riggs shouted. They pulled their hats down, their lapels up, hunched their shoulders, and crept around the building into the biting wind.
Just after Riggs and Bellows left, the children sneaked into the kitchen, and crept out through the back door. They were not prepared for the force of the wind, and had to hold onto each other, or anything, or be blown over. “Look! It’s the pirates!” called Michael over the roar of the wind. There were indeed two of them, Mr. Shark and the Captain above them on the balcony, and a rope was trailing from high up the turret top. It began to rain again. The children darted for the safety of some huge lobster traps beneath the balcony and steps. Their luck held, for the pirates did not seen them.
Directly upon discovering the children’s disappearance, Kendra Danes donned her coat and went after them. Hesitating only an instant, she chose the back door.
The pirates were raising nets high into the air from the balcony to the top of the turret. Michael leaned out from his hiding place. Now he could see, wrapped precariously around the sprit topmast pinnacle of the roof, none other than Digger Graves, working a rope, and looking like the mad master-rigger he was. Lightning flashed and cracked across the sky, highlighting his hunching, straining, bat-like shoulders. The pirates called back and forth to each other over the wind, but the children could not hear any of what they said. The rain began to slash at them.
The Lowling Howl had started up again. The wind was stronger now, angled and bone chilling, and the children huddled in anticipation as the next squall arrived. Instead, it seemed like a billowing white fog rose up, surrounding the Black Rock. All they could see was an occasional fish flying through the air, and land flapping near them!
High above, the two nets were in position, one for the balcony and one for the ground. The Captain had disappeared from the balcony and was nowhere to be seen. Digger Graves was coming down a drainpipe he had used to gain access to the roof, looking like an acrobat, as he went hand over hand with great speed and alacrity despite the rain. There was a grin on his face as he leapt onto the balcony, where they also saw the flash of Cutty Shark’s golden smile.
Little Jen ran from behind the crates to get a better view and found herself instantly snatched up in the arms of Maynard Gee. She gave out a scream that brought both Michael and Mandy from out of their hiding place, and there was no stopping them as they rushed full tilt at Mr. Gee, leaping on the pirate’s back. But he managed to shake them, knocking all three down, and turned to see Kendra Danes coming through the back door, stunned by the violence she’d just witnessed. He laughed, and was upon her in a flash, sweeping her off toward the steps. But Miss Kendra Danes, that rather demure and sophisticated violin player from the London Philharmonic had a surprise in store for Mr. Gee. She managed to wrench free from his grasp, and hurled herself into the pirate, who let out a grunt of surprise. The children had recovered but could only watch as the events unfolded before them.
Sergeant Bellows was the first to round the inn by the underside of the stairs, and seeing Kendra Danes fighting Maynard Gee, he charged forward. Riggs was just behind him, when he looked up startled, something catching his eye. Cutty Shark cast the net from the balcony, which dropped, and caught Riggs just beneath the stairs. Despite the AG forces, he staggered with the weight of the sodden netting. Digger Graves swung down the rope like a shot. He was carrying in his clenched hand a long, dark, sleek object streaming with water. He lashed out with the eel like a whip down over Riggs’s face through the net, just catching him, and sending him reeling into a pile of discarded barrels. Thunder and lightning split the sky above them. Mr. Graves dove over the pile of barrels and was on top of him in an instant as the rain poured down.
Kendra Danes had taken the inspector’s explanation of jujitsu to heart, and using her own balance to unbalance her opponent, and with the assistance of Anti-Gravity, had twice sent Mr. Gee crashing to the rock before Sergeant Bellows had reached her, and collared the ruffian in a bear hug.
But the violinist was not finished.
She tore away from her last conquest and went straight after Digger Graves. The battle was in full swing, for Riggs had managed to lose the wet netting. He and Graves had moved further into the small area between the inn and the edge of the rock, near the steps to the landing. Mr. Graves came in with heavy, brawling punches, but the inspector’s knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting proved the better and Mr. Graves was losing the fight. But then a chance slip on the rain-slick rock, and the AG forces, sent Kelly Riggs reeling and he fell, his body half hanging precariously over the sea.
Then he slipped from view over the edge.
Digger Graves was momentarily checked but dove recklessly after him and they landed in a tumble at the foot of the stairs on the tiny fishing platform, slick as glass as foam and sea spray pounded them. But Mr. Graves quickly regained his balance and immediately set upon Riggs, his tatted hands going straight for the throat. Then Kendra Danes came to the rescue. The platform was nearly engulfed in the stormy sea, almost invisible from the top of the stairs, yet she had clambered down into the abyss. Taking her cue directly from the pirates, she found one of Tom’s heavy nets on the platform and dragged it to where the combatants were tussling. She hooked the edge of the net over Mr. Graves’ head and yanked. The pirate fought to free himself, but Riggs was quickly on his feet, landing a solid right across the jaw of Mr. Graves, momentarily stunning him. That was the end of the fight. Sergeant Bellows and the children peered down at them, as Kelly Riggs thanked and christened Kendra Danes the “Fighting Nanny of Black Rock Island.” He then hauled a woozy Mr. Graves to his feet, put him in a firema
n’s carry and worked his way back up the steep stairs. Sergeant Bellows took over the care of Mr. Graves from an exhausted Riggs. The group hastened back into the inn, the rain pelting them, the wind coming up, threatening to pull them off the rock completely.
6
THEY RUSHED INSIDE past the startled Potters, followed by a blast of icy air, falling through the door exhausted, glad for the warmth of the fire. The pirates were too spent to be of any more immediate trouble, so Riggs allowed them to go upstairs and change. He, Bellows, Kendra Danes and the children were soaking after their adventure in the rain and retired to their rooms to change into dry clothing.
Recalling the fight, Michael started, “Never seen such a scrum—not since Manchester United—”
“Oh, there you go again, everything’s all about football…” interrupted Mandy, “but Miss Danes you were wonderful!” And they scampered up the spiral steps, leaving a wet trail—and the Potters, the Phipps sisters, Shayne ffellows and Tom Melville somewhat speechless.
The brief rainsquall had again abated, leaving only the cold cruel wind clawing at the inn, the groaning of the timbers a testament to the ferocity of the storm. Warmer clothing seemed a wise idea so the rest broke up, Tom going to his room, the Phipps sisters and the Potters up to theirs. Delia was trying her best to catch the attention of Shayne ffellows, whom she asked to accompany her to her room to fetch another coat. She longed to have him to herself for a just a short time. The young artist however was moodier than ever, the séance having had a strange effect upon him. At first, he was reluctant to go. And shortly after reaching the room, he mumbled, “I’ve got to get some air. I’ll be on the balcony.” And he strode from the room out to the landing of the spiral staircase, and the small passage that lead from it to the balcony outside the inn.
The children were still gushing over their “Fighting Nanny of Black Rock Island.” But Kendra was taking things in stride, other than wanting to be rid of her soaking clothes. “Can you all manage to stay out of mischief and sort yourselves out, whilst I change?” The children assured her they could, so she went shivering to her room.
The children were too thrilled to be concerned about being cold and wet, and as they changed clothes you can be sure there was never a moment’s quiet as they recounted and embellished their adventures just before and during the great fight. Michael, following Inspector Riggs’s example, now coined it the “Battle of Black Rock Island, of which he and the girls (in his version) were the principle forces of righteousness and good in defeating the pirate’s evil plans, and saving the day, ably assisted by their “Fighting Nanny” and Inspector Riggs. Oh, and Sergeant Bellows!
“I’m not sure I shall ever be warm again!” exclaimed Fred Bellows from the double-shared bath. They were drying themselves in the glowing light of oil lamps and Riggs called back, “Oh, this is nothing, Sergeant. Just ask Dinky sometime, about our little ordeal in France. And when it wasn’t raining, it was raining mortar rounds, and bullets—no less the mud. I guess the biggest difference is we didn’t have the AG activity to contend with back then. Fred—I’m anxious to get back down to the cellar and see what the damage is, and then perhaps it’s time to confront our pirate crew.”
Riggs and Bellows began to make plans.
But some of the pirate crew was already creeping about. Alone, Maynard Gee entered the deserted Great Room and looked fearfully around. The fire was going down again. He stirred at it with a poker. It popped and crackled, sparks flying up the chimney. He thought he saw a shadow cross the heavy mantle and whirled round. “Who’s it?” he cried, but he faced an empty room. He then walked unsteadily toward the bar. “There is a ghost… there is a ghost! My nerves, my nerves, I gotta ‘ave me a drink,” he murmured, going behind the bar and drawing himself an ale from the tap. His hands were shaking. He couldn’t quite get over the feeling someone was watching him. Then Mr. Gee sat down, quivering on a stool at the end of the bar, and drank what was to be his very last ale.
Delia fretted in her room, pacing back and forth, until she finally fell sobbing on her bed. About ten minutes later she had recovered herself, and went onto the landing, into the passage, and outside to the balcony. She pulled her coat tight about her against the wind. Shayne ffellows was still huddled there leaning on the balustrade, his breath forming a pale cloud, the chill wind whipping it round his head. His face was cast in shadow under his dark slouch cap. “Oh, Shayne, I’m so afraid.” He reached out and put his arms around her and held her for a moment, before raising her face to his and kissing her gently. “At least it’s stopped raining for a bit. Come on, luv, let’s go down the back way. Fresh air will do you good.”
Flora and Fauna Phipps were both in what is known as a “tizzy.” After connecting so clearly with the “other side” they had been at a fever pitch of physic ecstasy and delirium, only to have the moment spoiled so rudely by such inconsequential interruptions as floods and storms. The sisters were now positively sure, as certain as the grave, that the spirits had been let loose and were running rampant round the Roundhouse Inn! Their faces glowed in the warm light from the oil lamps, and the sisters did a strange little dance of sorts, chanting, as Flora fingered her pendant. The she stopped abruptly, eyes wide behind her huge spectacles saying, “Oh! I must say, because I must say, because I must say—I’m seeing it, sister, I’m seeing it oh so clearly.”
“Oh, show me, dear!”
“Let me take but a moment, because I must say, because I must say—I need some fresh air. I shall be right back.” Flora Phipps left the room abruptly in her eccentric way and passed onto the central landing.
When the scream came, Riggs was just pulling on his turtleneck sweater. The Potters heard it too, and instantly recognized the scream as Delia’s. Riggs and Bellows grabbed their torches, and they, the Potters and the children rushed back down the stairs seeking the source of her cry. They arrived to find Delia and Shayne ffellows standing just inside the back door of the inn near the end of the bar. Kendra Danes arrived just behind the children and took in her breath.
The scene before them lit by the flickering fire was both sickening and stunning.
Seated at the bar and lying back across it was Cutty Shark, a grimace on his face, never to smile his golden smile again, Mr. Gee’s dirk protruding from his chest, and his right hand on the throat of the said Mr. Gee, who sat next to him slumped against the bar, his bug eyes and tongue bulging horribly, his hands clenched and grasping. An overturned mug of spilled ale lay next to him on the bar.
Dinky Potter was dumbfounded. “What’s it all about?”
“Blast it all!” Riggs said vehemently.
“Two of them?” exclaimed Fred Bellows incredulously. “Great galloping golly-whoppers!”
Mandy and Jen cried out, and Kendra collected them in her skirt and held them protectively. Delia burst into tears again, as Shayne squeezed her tight. Then the Captain and Mr. Graves appeared from the cellar (where they’d undoubtedly been checking on the damage to their “secret” entrance) and were aghast at the mayhem at the bar.
“They gone and done for each other!” sputtered the Captain. “I knew it, I knew some day they’d do it… and they done it!” The shaking pirates immediately asked Dinky for drinks that he supplied in limited quantities, carefully avoiding the bodies lying on the bar. With two bodies now confronting him, Kelly Riggs had had enough of the pirates and their attempts to assault two officers of the Yard. He put the two remaining pirates under house arrest and ordered them upstairs. Dinky Potter lit two long tapers and gave them to the departing pirates, “Don’t want you getting lost or falling down the stairs,” he said. Then he threw up his hands. “Oh, what’s to become of us?”
Inspector Riggs turned back to the source of the scream.
“All right, Mr. ffellows,” whom he addressed as he seemed to be the most self-composed, “I presume you and Miss Potter found him?” The artist replied halting that they had, and described the events leading up to the discovery. “The
y must have k-killed each other,” he stammered. Kelly Riggs bent to examine Mr. Gee’s neck and said angrily, “Two CID detectives from Scotland Yard right here in the same building, and we can’t stop people killing each other! Children!” he turned to them, “time to fade!”
They had never seen him so blazing with fury and scooted right up the stairs.
But seconds later a muffled scream and calls had Kelly Riggs following close behind.
7
IT WAS FLORA PHIPPS! She lay splayed across the passage to the balcony off the second-floor landing unconscious, a bruise on her forehead, but thankfully no blood in sight. Her cheeks were flushed, and her pulse was strong. Her wide spectacles lay unbroken beside her. The children were clustered round her and as Riggs reached Flora, her sister Fauna stood clutching the door of their room, shivering in shock. Riggs checked over Flora Phipps carefully, then gathered her up in his strong arms. He took her into her room, laying her gently on the bed. Fauna had recovered enough to go to her sister and clasp her hand. “Oh!” she cried, “her crystal’s gone! Stolen! Oh,” she wailed. Doris Potter was instantly on the spot and went to fetch towels and water pitcher. The children joined her to help, whilst Delia and Kendra comforted Fauna Phipps.
As soon as they were settled, Riggs went into action, rushing up the spiral stairs to check the whereabouts of the pirates, but found the Captain in the lookout pacing up and down rather placidly, muttering to himself and unaware of Riggs; and the sound of a flush told him Mr. Graves was in the “head.” He waited patiently, and when the latter appeared, confronted the two rascals.