by Jacob Grey
Johnny Fivetails grinned. “Yeah, or I could do it the quick way.” He pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket.
Caw noticed Pip blush.
“Even if we don’t find the Spinning Man, we can hit back at the convicts,” said Mrs Strickham.
Everyone started to stand up.
“Wait a minute,” said Caw. “What about Selina? If the Spinning Man has her, we’ve got to be careful she doesn’t get hurt.”
“This is the Mother of Flies’ daughter, right?” said Johnny.
“Well, yes,” said Caw, “but she’s not like her mother.”
“She tricked us before,” said Racklen. “Led us into a trap at the zoo.”
“That wasn’t her fault,” said Caw. “She’s a good person. She just got duped by her mum.”
“If you say so,” said Racklen coldly.
Johnny patted Caw on the back. “Of course she is, Caw. Right, everyone. Number one priority is to take out the Spinning Man. And if we see the girl, we snatch her. Got it?”
Most of the room nodded and murmured in agreement.
As the ferals began to disperse, Crumb came up to Caw. “You shouldn’t have gone to the asylum alone,” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I didn’t think it would be that dangerous,” said Caw, looking away. But the real reason was that he knew Crumb didn’t care about Selina. He wouldn’t have let Caw go.
“He didn’t go alone,” said Mrs Strickham. She was standing right behind Caw. “He took my daughter and nearly got her killed as well.”
“How were we supposed to know what would happen?” said Lydia. “Anyway, you and Dad were arguing, as usual. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
A pained expression washed over Mrs Strickham’s face. “We were arguing because he thinks ferals are putting you in danger,” she said quietly. “And if you had been hurt, it would have proved his point. I want you to go home now, Lydia. You’ve done more than enough for one night.”
“No,” she said quickly. “You think I’ll be safer at home? They know where we live, Mum.”
“She has a point,” said Crumb.
Mrs Strickham turned on him angrily. “Thank you for your parenting advice, Crumb.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” said Racklen. “Once we get to the factory, Titus won’t leave her side.”
A lone wolf padded towards them. His head was almost as high as Lydia’s shoulder.
Mrs Strickham sighed. “But at the first sign of trouble …”
The wolf gave a rumbling growl.
Johnny Fivetails stood by the door. “We’ve got Chen’s car and Velma’s. Who else has a vehicle?”
Ali raised his hand.
“Me too,” said a man with an iguana on his shoulder.
“I’ll fly,” said Caw. “My crows can take Lydia too.”
Johnny Fivetails nodded, his face grave. “OK,” said the coyote feral. “We wait for the birds to confirm it’s the sewing factory. Then we hit it at dawn.”
never thought we’d come back here,” said Lydia, as she and Caw flew side by side in the pre-dawn light. “It gives me the creeps.”
Crumb had told Caw once that the industrial quarter of Blackstone used to be called “the engine of the city”, with shift workers streaming in twenty-four hours a day, long before the financial district was built. But Blackstone didn’t make anything any more. The old brick buildings had slowly fallen into disrepair. Most had broken windows and leaking roofs with crumbling chimneys. The cobbled streets that snaked between them were never cleaned, and were traversed by a lot more rats than humans.
Caw directed the crows towards the second floor of a half-built multistorey car park a few blocks from the sewing factory – the rendezvous. They flew in, landing on an empty stretch of concrete inside. Caw waved a hand and the crows took off again – all but Shimmer, Screech and Glum.
“Do you think we’ll find him?” said Lydia, hugging herself against the cold. Her voice echoed loudly in the abandoned building. “The Spinning Man?”
Caw had been wondering the same thing as the crows carried them across the city. “Crumb’s pigeons saw convicts inside the factory.”
“I know,” said Lydia. “But what about him?”
The screech of wheels made the crows flap their wings, but it was only Racklen’s battered jeep driving up from the level below, leading a convoy of other vehicles. As soon as the jeep stopped, several pigeons landed on the bonnet.
“You sure the sewing factory is the place?” growled the wolf feral, jumping out.
“It’s not empty, I can tell you that,” said Crumb, getting down from the other side.
You want a second opinion? asked Screech. Pigeons aren’t all that reliable.
“No, stay put,” said Caw. It was a small reassurance, having his three crow companions with him.
Johnny started giving instructions as soon as he stepped out of Mrs Strickham’s car. He wanted two groups: one to enter at ground level, led by Mrs Strickham and Racklen; and one to approach the upper-floor windows from the air.
“I’ll lead the second group,” he said.
“I should lead,” said Crumb. “Your coyotes will be on the ground.”
“Thanks, Crumb,” said Johnny. “But my animals won’t be far away, trust me.”
“But—” Crumb began.
“Leave it, Crumb,” said Racklen. “Johnny knows what he’s talking about.”
Crumb flushed, but didn’t say anything else.
“What about me?” said Caw.
Johnny nodded. “You’re my right-hand man. Plus, I don’t know what this Selina girl looks like. You’ll have to point her out to me.”
“If she’s even in there,” said Crumb.
And if she’s still— Glum began.
Shush! interrupted Shimmer. Don’t listen to him, Caw.
“I never do,” said Caw, trying to smile. But he knew there was a chance Glum’s fears might prove well founded. When Selina had served her purpose, whatever that was, the Spinning Man wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.
The sky was lightening to the east above the financial district.
Johnny checked his watch. “OK, everyone ready?”
As the assembled ferals nodded, a motorbike pulled up. Its leather-clad rider swung out of the seat and reached up to remove the helmet. Caw grinned when he saw Madeleine shake her raven hair free of the helmet then open a compartment at the back of the bike. Half a dozen squirrels bounded out across the asphalt.
Madeleine limped a little as she walked towards them, and opened her arms wide as she approached, smiling from ear to ear. Caw noticed Crumb beaming at her, before she walked straight past him and hugged Johnny Fivetails, kissing him on both cheeks.
“Maddie! I didn’t think you’d come,” he said.
“You know me,” she said. “I never did like a boring date.”
Crumb cleared his throat. “Hi, Madeleine,” he said, with a shy wave.
She seemed to notice him for the first time, and her face was suddenly serious. She took both his hands in hers. “I’m sorry it’s been so long, Samuel,” she said.
He smiled, and looked into her face. “I’m sorry too. I wanted to get in touch, but I didn’t know if … Well, after the accident …” He looked her up and down. “I’m so glad you’re getting better.”
“Lots of physio still,” she said. “But, hey – they said I’d never walk again.” She paused. “I missed you, Samuel.”
“All right, we’ll have time to catch up later,” said Johnny. “Maddie, you’re with Velma and the ground forces. Remember what we’re here for: to find the spider feral.”
“Then what?” asked Ali.
“Then kill him,” said Fivetails, his eyes cold.
Everyone nodded gravely, and Caw found himself doing the same. But Lydia was frowning. Maybe she was remembering the spider figure from the psychiatric hospital – how Caw had thrust his sword into its chest. Even if the Spinning Man was here, killing him migh
t not be as straightforward as Johnny seemed to think. Would he even have a body to kill?
Caw was about to say something, but the group was already breaking up. Mrs Strickham led her team off down to ground level, followed by a dozen foxes, along with Madeleine’s squirrels, a host of dogs and raccoons, and several slithering lizards.
“Good luck,” said Lydia, before following her mother with Racklen’s wolf.
“Be careful, Pip,” said Crumb, as the mouse feral jogged to keep up with the others.
“Let’s do this,” said Johnny. He climbed on to the railing at the edge of the car park, and leapt across to the roof of the next building with easy athleticism.
Caw followed on foot, sensing the rest of his crows swooping in from above, while Crumb used his pigeons to carry both him and Ali across the gap.
Zeah, the feral with the parakeets, landed awkwardly as the birds struggled to set her down softly. “It’s been a while,” she said, stumbling.
Caw hadn’t been a part of the Dark Summer, but he wondered if this is what it had felt like. An army of ferals creeping towards their enemies.
Staying in a crouch, they moved swiftly across the rooftop. They paused at the far side of the roof, and Caw saw three coyotes slinking below. A buzzing overhead came from a swathe of bees cutting through the air. Johnny held up a hand and silently pointed out the sewing factory. Caw’s heart thumped in his chest.
The building looked even more ramshackle than last time. It was a double-storey warehouse with a cellar below, spanning the whole structure. There was barely a window intact on the upper floor – some panes were just cracked but others were missing entirely. Getting in wouldn’t be a problem.
Johnny pointed to one of the windows and mimicked flying. Caw, Zeah and Crumb summoned all the birds they could, and in a matter of seconds the rooftop ferals were being deposited safely inside.
Caw took a deep breath. They were in an old office, with sagging shelves and a desk littered with paperwork. A door led out into a corridor. Caw’s heart skipped a beat as he spotted a figure outside it watching them. But it was only a mannequin, covered in pinned scraps of cloth.
He remembered the vast hall on the floor below with hundreds of sewing machines neatly spaced on desks, but up here the rooms were partitioned as offices. There were several more mannequins, and books of fabrics, and pinboards of clothing designs. The air smelt slightly rotten, like animal droppings. There were leather sofas with blankets strewn across them. Caw saw a dark oil painting of a bearded gentleman hanging lopsided on the wall. He wondered if the man had owned this place, and what he’d think of it now. It looked like a hurricane had blown through.
Caw stepped gingerly towards the door, and the floor creaked.
Ali held up a copy of the Blackstone Gazette. “Yesterday’s,” he whispered.
As Caw passed through the doorway, he noticed claw marks on the frame. His crows lined the hallway.
Johnny clicked his fingers and pointed in different directions, indicating for them to fan out and investigate the top floor. The ferals split up and dispersed.
Caw crept along the corridor, senses tingling. In a back room, he found a map of Blackstone pinned to a board, scribbled on with marker pen. He peered closer, and saw that his house was circled. So were the psychiatric hospital and Lydia’s place. There were other marks too – maybe some of the places the convicts had robbed, or the houses and workplaces of ferals. Caw shuddered. This was a criminal gang, well organised and ruthless.
“This is definitely the place,” he muttered, as Johnny appeared at his side.
Johnny’s jaw clenched. “Hey, check out what I found.”
Caw followed him out to the end of a corridor. There was an old elevator, with an articulated steel gate.
“This will take us right down to the basement,” said Johnny. “I bet they won’t be expecting an attack from below.”
“Won’t they hear us coming?” said Caw.
“Not if we climb down the shaft,” said Johnny. “You up for it?”
Caw looked through the gaps in the steel and saw a narrow shaft descending with thick cables in the centre and pipework round the sides. A rusted service ladder was bolted to the wall.
“OK,” he said, with a tingle of excitement.
Johnny tugged back the gate. Zeah, Crumb and Ali were at the other end of the corridor. “You guys take the main stairs,” said Johnny.
Crumb frowned. “Are you sure about—”
A bloodcurdling yowl somewhere below set off a chorus of barking.
Johnny clambered on to the ladder in the shaft. “Just go!” he said. “Good luck!”
Crumb, Ali, Zeah and their animals set off at speed. Johnny was already clambering down the shaft as Caw lowered his feet on to the first rung of the ladder. Below he heard the sound of a gunshot and a ricocheting bullet, then more animal cries. His crows flooded the shaft, hopping from pipe to pipe.
Caw and Johnny climbed fast. As they reached ground level, Caw saw chaos through the elevator gate. Ferals and their animals were locked in fierce battle with each other.
A swarm of moths flashed past and landed on Madeleine’s face, blocking her vision. She scratched at them as her squirrels leapt around in panic. Mr Silk was standing on a table, arms raised in orchestration, but he screamed as a squirrel scurried up his back and sank its teeth into his neck.
A pack of foxes gripped on to the flanks of a panther as it tried to throw them off. Lydia and Pip were sheltering behind one of Racklen’s wolves, while Racklen himself was fist-fighting with Lugmann. He managed to catch the convict’s arm and hurled him across a bank of tables, smashing sewing machines on to the floor. Lugmann picked one up with a grunt and hurled it at the wolf feral, who ducked and then charged again.
Monkeys clawed at biting squirrels, and an eagle swooped low over the room with a raccoon squealing in its talons.
“We’ve got to help them!” said Caw.
“No,” said Johnny, quickly scanning the battle then beginning to climb further down the shaft. “The Spinning Man isn’t there. We should keep heading down.”
Ali had just burst through a side door and angry bees swarmed into the room. Parakeets shot through the air in a riot of colour.
Caw spotted Mrs Strickham stagger across the room. Her arm was bleeding as a vicious dog leapt at her. She dodged and caught it by the throat, falling to the ground. Then Caw saw a skinny convict with a metal bar approaching her. He had to do something. With a thrust of his hand, he sent a flock of crows squeezing through the elevator gate. As the man lifted the bar over Lydia’s mother, crows raked at his face with beaks and talons, and he stumbled back, dropping his weapon.
“Caw, come on!” said Johnny from below.
Caw took a final glance, seeing Lydia break from cover and scurry between the tables. Titus, Racklen’s wolf, was busy swatting aside more dogs. Pip had vanished, but now pigeons had entered the fray as well. They’d already grabbed one of the convicts by the legs and were hoisting him up as he gripped the edge of a table with both hands.
“Screech, Shimmer, watch Lydia,” said Caw.
The two crows flew out on to the ground floor as Caw followed Johnny, keeping only a handful of his birds with him.
At last, they reached the bottom of the lift shaft and stepped out into a gloomy basement corridor. Caw paused, straining his ears to pick out any sound.
Johnny looked both ways. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “My coyotes will be with us soon.”
He reached under his leather jacket and withdrew a gun.
“What’s that for?” asked Caw.
“What do you think?” said Johnny. “I’m not taking any chances against the spider feral.”
Caw hadn’t explored much of this area the last time he was here, but he remembered the vast warehouse room where Lydia had crossed over to the Land of the Dead. Was that where the Spinning Man had returned somehow?
It was silent, but Caw had the uneasy feeling he was be
ing watched. Then, as they rounded a corner, he saw the cobwebs: hundreds of them strung across the hallway in thick swathes. A shudder ran down his spine.
“He’s close,” said Johnny Fivetails. Padding silently behind him came a pack of four coyotes.
Caw felt a glimmer of relief at the sight of them.
“How did they get down here?” he asked.
Johnny grinned. “Coyotes are wily creatures,” he said. “Let’s check some of these rooms – call if you find anything.” He darted off, before Caw could respond.
Should we really be splitting up? Caw wondered, but it was too late to argue.
Despite the mesh of webs, Caw couldn’t see a single spider anywhere. He pushed his hand into the silky strands and tried to brush them aside. Webbing wrapped round his forearm, clinging tight to his skin. He drew the Crow’s Beak and slashed at the strands, cutting a way through. His crows had to hop across the floor to stop themselves being smothered.
I don’t like this, said Glum, sticking close to Caw. What if it’s a trap?
“Then we’ll find out soon enough,” whispered Caw. But with every step he took, his heart told him to turn and run.
A flapping sound behind them told him Screech and Shimmer had arrived from upstairs.
“I told you to stay with Lydia,” said Caw.
She’s got a wolf, said Screech. You need us more.
We’re winning that battle anyway, said Shimmer. No sign of the Spinning Man though.
Caw’s ears picked up a faint voice from his right. He moved closer, and saw a door in the shadows.
“Help!” said someone from inside. “Who’s out there? Please!”
The voice was muffled, but Caw knew at once who it was, and his heart leapt. Selina!
“Be ready,” he commanded his crows, as he grasped the door handle. He tried to turn it, but the door was locked.
Give it a shove, said Screech.
“Please! Get me out of here!” cried Selina.
Caw slammed his boot into the lock and the door burst open. The room beyond was the same one he’d once been locked up with Crumb in – a repair workshop. There were broken sewing machines strewn across tables, lamps on workbenches, and racks of tools.
Beyond that, he could see a figure crouching in a dark corner, face turned away. It was Selina, dressed in what looked like rags, her hair coated in something white. Caw thought it might be flour or sawdust. She seemed afraid even to turn round.