The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh

by Pip Ballantine

  Whomever it was walking away from where they landed did not appear in too much of a hurry. It couldn’t be a teacher as all the other teachers would have remained with the students, wouldn’t they?

  “Hello?” Verity called out. “Excuse me, my friend is hurt.”

  The figure stopped, and slowly turned. Miss Delancy smiled, and hefted the Sconce of Ra in her right hand.

  “Stop!” Verity screamed, despite her own bumps and bruises. The imposter also ran at a brisk pace, far brisker than would be normal for a woman the age the headmistress claimed to be. She darted around an edge of trees, the path leading to the manor on the other side. What was this impostor planning to do? Run to St Austell?

  The business end of a gun brought Verity skidding to a halt. Professor Vidmar pulled back the hammer as he opened the door to a fine mechanical carriage. It would seem her suspicions of Vidmar and the headmistress were correct, just less lascivious and more nefarious.

  “Professor,” she said, raising her hands slightly, “you don’t want to do this. That device is—”

  “What we have been looking for this whole time,” the imposter headmistress broke in, her accent no longer a refined British lilt, but a more exotic one from Florence or Rome, “so thank you for fetching it for us. Now, we must be away before your associates arrive.” She patted Vidmar on the shoulder. “Say your goodbyes, fratello, but do not take long.”

  Fratello? What does that mean? Verity started forward, but he waved the gun at her, his eyes hard.

  “My family does not kill children,” he said, and she suddenly realised his voice was tinged with the same exotic texture as the headmistress. “But do not test our vows to His Holiness, Verity.”

  The fake headmistress let out a throaty laugh, and stepped into the carriage. As she did so, she slipped off the short blonde wig, and shook out dark lustrous waves.

  Verity tried to get a better look at the imposter, perhaps to give Agent Thorne a description, but she had already tucked herself into the shadowy recesses of the carriage to allow Vidmar entry. Once he settled in, a third passenger leaned in to secure the door.

  It was just a glimpse, a profile more than anything, of the other in the carriage. A broad-shouldered man with an eagle-nosed profile she knew as well as she would have known her father’s. And seeing it was almost as shocking.

  “Uncle Octavius?” Verity whispered.

  The door sealed shut, and as the autocarriage began its journey into the night, his eyes fell on her. Perhaps he recognized her, perhaps not. Maybe he would have welcomed her, maybe he would have killed her. The gaze they held was only for a moment.

  As the academy burned behind her, Verity stood dry-eyed and heart pounding as the carriage disappeared. She had not felt so empty and hollowed out in a very long time. Not since another night, another manor house burning behind her.

  This time, she didn’t run.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Final Lesson

  “You might find this hard to believe, Little Verity, but I would call this operation a rousing success.”

  Harrison Thorne held out his hand, and she took it. It felt very grown up to be shaking hands like this, but it did not take away the frustration. Not that she could tell him why she wanted to kick herself.

  Before them the local brigade in conjunction with fire control teams from the Ministry successfully gained control over the blaze. Dark, sooty smoke poured from the windows where laboratories had once been, but the East Wing remained for the most part unscathed. Verity felt a profound twinge at the loss of such a fine teaching facility, yet she was grateful to hear all of the students, amidst minor burns and injuries, had made it out alive. Even the cats, with their fine sense of self-preservation, escaped into the moors to be the bane of mice and rabbits there.

  Just behind Agent Thorne’s shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Henry being attended by two medics who were wrapping his arm in a sling. While he believed other parts of him to be broken, the arm was indeed the only injury he had sustained. When he glanced up, she quickly looked away though.

  Thorne shot her a grin. “He’ll be alright I am sure. We’ll get him the very best care, and he’s got all that wonderful youth on his side. He should be right as rain before too long, and you can pick up whatever argument you have left unresolved.”

  Pressing her lips together, Verity nodded. “I trust you on that.” She looked up to where the ruins of the manor house still smouldered. “You know, despite everything, it was a very good school.”

  “Yes, shame about Delancy though. If we can say one nice thing about him, he seemed to have quite a lot of personal ambition.”

  “Speaking of ambition, who was it that attacked us…you know with the airship?”

  “Oh yes, the Illuminati,” Thorne said, motioning to the wagon where the remainder of the Seven were settled. Verity could just make out, thanks to the temporary arc lights set up in the front yard of the Delancy Academy, a stark white bandage covering Liam’s arm and shoulder. “The boys managed to discover that they were looking for the Silver Pharaoh as well. They even went so far as to have a contact on the inside.”

  Verity swallowed. “Another teacher.”

  “No, actually, the Illuminati were using this raid as a means for extraction. They were going to pose as hostiles laying siege to the Academy but they grossly underestimated the Academy’s defensive protocols.” He chuckled as he pulled out his pipe and began stuffing it with tobacco. “When the Ministry arrived, the Illuminati’s Field Commander surrendered without hesitation. The fires had gotten out of control by then.”

  “Who was the Field Commander?”

  “Sir Mallory Masters, quite influential in the British ship—”

  “His daughter is dead.” Thorne paused in the act of lighting his pipe. He flicked the lighter off as Verity took in a deep breath, and stated, “Stella Masters. She was the inside contact for the Illuminati.”

  “Really?” Harry shook his head sadly before lighting his pipe. “Any accomplices?”

  “You there!” A shrill voice snapped from behind them. “I wish to lodge a formal complaint.”

  “Just one,” Verity shot back, even though she actually felt sorry for Suzanne.

  Agent Thorne took a drag from his pipe. “And who might that be?”

  “Suzanne Celestene,” Verity replied. “Before you begin, you have my condolences.”

  Both turned to face the soot-decorated, blonde bint Verity could not believe had so quickly reverted to her boorish, bombastic ways. “I am to understand this has been some sort of clandestine government operation.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Agent Thorne replied. “We were searching for the whereabouts of Doctor Xavi—”

  Suzanne lifted her chin slightly as she boldly interrupted Thorne. “Your department again?”

  “The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, ma’am,” Agent Thorne said, slipping a card from his inside pocket and presenting it to the little tart. “Field Agent Harrison Thorne, at your service.”

  “Oh you most certainly will be at my service, sir,” Suzanne snapped, pointing at Thorne with his own card. “Destruction of one of England’s finest learning institutions. Endangering the lives of children. Recruitment of common trash such as Charity Verity here!”

  Thorne looked at Verity for a moment, then turned back to Suzanne. “That…doesn’t quite…rhyme, you know that, yes?”

  “Jest now, sir,” Suzanne warned. “Public servants should remember they answer to the public. So my fath—”

  The girl spun on her heels and turned right into a punch which knocked her off her feet. Thorne winced on hearing her thud dully against the ground.

  “Worth it,” Julia sighed as she shook her hand. Reaching down, she took Thorne’s card, glanced at it, and then added, “Definitely worth it, Agent Harrison Thorne.”

  “Agent Thorne,” and Verity motioned to the Scot, “my roommate, Julia McTighe.”

  “Miss McTighe, a pleasure,” he said
. “I’ll just drop Miss Celestene with the medics,” then with a tip of his hat, he scooped her up, and he went to where doctors were finishing up with Henry.

  Guilt washed over Verity now she found herself alone with her roommate, her confidante for these many days and night at Delancy’s. “Julia, I’m sor—”

  The girl’s arms enveloped her in a tight hug. “I was so worried about you, luv,” she said, a slight tremble in her voice.

  “I’m sorry, Julia,” Verity said. “I should have told you about the ornithopter.”

  Julia nodded, then added. “I guess there were a lot of things you didn’t tell me.”

  She didn’t usually make apologies for her way of life, but Verity found she did feel bad about lying to Julia all this time. She scuffed her toe in the earth. “I couldn’t. It wasn’t my secret to tell.” She glanced up. “But Delancy is not the only academy worthy of you. You’re quite talented…but I guess you knew that already.”

  Julia shrugged. “Well I dunnae know. I might just stick to learning from my uncle. Aye, there’s a high chance of injury, but at least he’s never burnt down the castle.” She held out a slip of paper to Verity. “In case I dunnae see you tomorrow.”

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s our address, if you want to write…or I don’t know, come visit.” Julia’s voice trailed off as if afraid she had gone too far. “Not many people are brave enough to risk a friendship with me.”

  Verity smiled warmly. “A great engineer I once know said to me this: Worth it. Definitely worth it.”

  “Ach! That’s inspirational, tha’ is! Who said it?”

  I am going to miss you, Julia. Staring down at the paper in her hand, Verity felt the guilt return. I have so much to tell you. “I would love to write. Not sure I will be able to tell you much but…”

  Julia pressed her fingers closed around the address. “No need to worry about tha’, I’ll just keep you informed what my uncle is up to. He’s been known to be quite entertaining.” With that she gave a cheery wave, and disappeared back into the crowd of students being taken care of by the local authorities.

  Verity felt a pit of loneliness twist inside her, but it wasn’t her first brush with such a feeling. These secrets had to be solved if she was ever to be a stranger to it.

  A kind hand pressed down on her shoulder. “This is always the hard part of this job, Little Verity,” Agent Thorne said, “Attachments.”

  “She was kind and a good friend.”

  “Perhaps,” he said, nodding, “but you have gotten a taste of what we do here, a much grander taste than I was ever intending to offer to you lot.”

  “We knew the risk, Agent Thorne.”

  “When you develop attachments, you bring those people—kind people, good people—into this world and its dangers.” He took a long drag from the pipe, and sent a pair of smoke rings into the air before him. “It is just an aspect of what we do which can sometimes be difficult to accept.”

  “You know what else is difficult to accept, Thorne?” came a short, squat figure from the shadows. “How some agents describe an assignment to other field agents.”

  Thorne held his hands up in a mock surrender. “Did I not say this would play to your strengths?”

  “Chemistry?” Mrs Seddon said with a snort, and when she stepping into the light, Verity gasped. Her face was smeared with dust and soot, but it was also sagging, as if her face were melting. “What made you think I was gifted in the Chemical Sciences?”

  “Now, go on. I heard tell of a few lessons you gave to your students that made quite an impression.”

  Verity was trying not to stare, but she was certain of it. Mrs Seddon was melting. “I actually quite enjoyed myself on this one, Harry. Bless.”

  And her accent. Where was that from?

  Agent Thorne gave a slightly apologetic shrug. “I couldn’t leave you in there all by yourselves.”

  Mrs Seddon worked her fingers underneath her neck and then pulled. Verity watched in strange fascination at this grotesque moulting happening before her. Wrinkles, fat, and loose skin stretched and ripped free. Along with her face, her hair and glasses also slipped free to reveal a much younger woman with red-brown hair and brilliant blue eyes. Verity felt herself overcome with shock and incredible frustration. Was anyone at this school who they claimed to be?

  “Verity Fitzroy, may I introduce Eliza D Braun, Field Agent, your not-so-fabulous chemistry teacher, and my new partner.” Thorne said, his smile suggesting just a bit of amusement at her stunned silence.

  Agent Braun sketched a bow. “Kia ora. Sorry for the deception Verity. I was only there to ensure your safety.”

  “Our safety?” Verity asked. Much as she did in Chemistry, she couldn’t stop herself. “Not a very well done job then.”

  The two adults shot each other a look at Verity’s sharp reply. “Well,” Thorne said, motioning to the smoking husk of the Delancy Academy, “these things do tend to happen around Agent Braun.”

  “And you did save Doctor Williams,” Agent Braun said, pointing over to where the Egyptologist pulled a blanket closer to him as he continued to chat with a woman dressed in a fine blouse offset by an evening jacket, leather trousers, and high boots. From the look on Williams’ face, she was quite the distraction. Definitely a Ministry agent.

  “Yes, we were busy doing your work while you were getting familiar with Lobelia Delancy, who had been dead for quite some time from the looks of it.”

  Eliza straightened up to her full height, which it turned out was still shorter than Verity. “Is that so, Miss Fitzroy?”

  “Ladies, it’s been a somewhat eventful night,” Agent Thorne said, stepping between them. “Perhaps we can review some of the particulars of this case during the debrief?”

  “I look forward to it,” Eliza said coolly before turning back to a transport Verity recognised as Ministry issue.

  “I don’t like her,” stated Verity.

  “You have known Agent Braun for nigh on ten minutes, and you know nothing of her story or her skills.”

  “She’ll be the death of you, Harry Thorne.”

  His eyes turned a touch colder as he drew from his pipe. He blew no smoke rings or made any pleasant quips. He merely stared at her. “I will see you at the truck, Verity. We will debrief in full back at the safe house.”

  Verity watched Harrison Thorne walk towards the transport, his hands in his pockets, to join this new partner of his. Just because she worked for the Ministry, just because she was Harry’s new partner, just because she was a woman, didn’t mean she had to like her. Not at all. No, this Eliza D Braun was off. She wasn’t sure how or why, but she didn’t like her one jot. Also her chemistry was rubbish.

  Her silent stewing was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of her family, the Ministry Seven. Henry was patched up, walking up to her with his arm around Emma. The boys from the farmhouse all had wind-blown hair, and wide grins on their faces. It wasn’t everyday they got to see such an incredible ballyhoo such as this.

  Grabbing hold of Christopher, she gave him a hard squeeze. “You saved the day, Christopher. What a bloody hero, getting Thorne to come to the rescue.”

  He wriggled free of her embrace, and turned bright red. “Nah, I just made the call once I got free of those blokes with the airship. I ain’t no hero.”

  Verity chuckled. “Come along, Christoph—”

  “I said I ain’t,” he insisted. His eyes looked over to Liam.

  “S’alright, mate,” Liam said. “I’ll be just fine. Got some nice scars to show off to tha’ lads. An’ I’m above ground. Ready for the next job.”

  Verity smiled at Liam’s resilience, and happened to look to Jeremy who gave a quick nod. She looked around and leaned in. “Jonathan?”

  Jeremy whispered to Colin. Colin said, “He’s already in the truck, hiding under the tarps with some of those R&D gadgets.”

  “Tell him to be careful,” Verity said to Jeremy with a wink.

  “Mi
nistry Seven, your chariot awaits!” Agent Braun called, motioning them towards the hulk of a machine puffing away at the edge of the garden. “Next stop: St Austell’s, and then to London by airship!”

  “This was jolly good fun,” Christopher said, earning a mutterings of agreement from the Seven.

  They all trouped in that direction, but Verity stopped on feeling Henry touch her arm. “When Julia told us where you had scampered off to, I made my way back to your room. Thought you would really want this. We need to know as much as we can about this Sound gift of yours, right?”

  Verity gasped at the copy of The Mind and Delights of the Clankerton. Perhaps Professor Vidmar had been an imposter, but this rare advanced copy was indeed a blessing.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Come on, Verity. Let’s go home.”

  The Seven were all competing with one another, telling tales of just how much danger they had been in, or how much boredom they suffered from. Verity was about to climb into the back of the transport until she spotted Julia standing apart from the students. She gave an enthusiastic wave to her, to which Verity returned with equal delight.

  “It’s our address, if you want to write…or I don’t know, come visit. Not many people are brave enough to risk a friendship with me.”

  For just a moment Verity contemplated it. The McTighe’s were known for being equally mad and talented clankertons. She knew for certain she could learn a lot from them, but the spectre of her Uncle Octavius hung over her. He was building something, and now he had a part, just like Verity did. She wasn’t foolish enough to think this ended with the burning of Miss Delancy’s school and the destruction of the Silver Pharaoh. Julia had suffered quite enough already. She was a creature of the upper classes, and these events had stretched her further than she would ever admit to.