Ruby studied the edge of the collapsed ceiling. ‘How do we get up there?’
Gerald eyed the nearest arched window and traced a path up the wall to the window above that. ‘Follow me,’ he said. ‘And don’t look down.’
Gerald took a running jump at the window frame and vaulted up the wall. In one flowing movement he jammed his fingers into a cavity in the stonework, tucked his knees to his chest and pushed off against the wall to the second-floor window. Without pausing, he turned to the crumbling section of ceiling and launched himself into free air. He soared across the void, landing on the mezzanine in a rolling tumble. Seconds later he was lying on his belly and peeking over the edge at Sam and Ruby. He couldn’t hide the grin on his face.
Ruby shot him an admiring look. ‘I don’t think I can do that,’ she said.
Sam said nothing.
Gerald considered his options. ‘I’ll go see what’s going on. Probably better to have only one of us up here anyway.’
‘And what do we do?’ Sam asked, his voice sour as week-old milk.
‘You can stop laughing, for a start,’ Gerald said. ‘And keep out of sight.’
Gerald pushed himself to his feet and headed in the direction of the lamp. His eyes had adjusted to the dark fairly well and he could make out a path ahead. It looked like the inner section of the first floor had collapsed for the length of the building, giving him a clear view of what he hoped was Alisha and her kidnappers.
Gerald crept along as fast as he dared. He picked his way through leaf litter and crushed plastic bottles, trying not to make a sound. The further along the building he got, the slower and more cautious he became. Every breath sounded like a wind tunnel in his head. The rain pounded down outside but still he moved like a cat.
After slinking through a number of rooms he entered a large chamber at the end of the building. The floor collapse had been more extensive there, with a framework of columns below propping up nothing but air. Then Gerald saw them: three black-cloaked figures huddled close together in the room beneath him. They appeared to be in a heated discussion about something. The bandit with the gun was shorter and more wiry than the others but was obviously in charge. The leader jabbed a finger towards the door and the other two ran outside. Gerald melted into the shadows and scoured the space below for any sign of Alisha. She must be down there somewhere.
Gerald sank to his haunches. He needed to get the remaining bandit out of the building so he could get to the ground floor and find Alisha. He needed a diversion. All he could see in the shadows were piles of vegetation and rubbish.
He stood up and took a half pace backwards. A howl erupted at his feet. Gerald jumped in panic as something grabbed his ankle. Two arms clutched at his calf. Then there was the sensation of something biting his boot. Hard. Again and again, teeth piercing the tough fabric. A dusty brown creature had wrapped itself around his leg. The beast drew its head back and bared needle sharp fangs. Gerald kicked out and sent the animal sliding on its belly across the floor. It splayed out like a ragdoll, then sprang to its feet and glared death back at Gerald. A monkey. It sat on its bottom and nursed its right hand, its tail pounding the air in anger. Gerald must have stepped on it while it was sleeping. Two other monkeys emerged from the shadows amid a chorus of chattering. They crossed to their companion. One put an arm around its shoulder; the other stared at Gerald and launched a fang-bared screech. If monkeys could swear, this one was turning the air blue.
Gerald cringed at the noise, not just the way it tore at his nerves but because of the warning it must be sounding to the bandit below. The three monkeys, apparently satisfied they’d got their point across, turned and launched themselves, one after the other, off the edge of the broken floor and into the void. The first monkey latched onto an iron ring fixed into the stone ceiling and swung out to land on top of the nearest column. It then leapt out to grab another ring before swinging across to the neighbouring column. In a bounding procession, his friends followed and the three of them in turn landed with a thump on the windowsill opposite, then disappeared into the rain outside.
Gerald held his breath. If the screeching hadn’t been enough to warn the man in black, then the sight of three angry monkeys leaping across the array of columns in a game of aerial hopscotch should just about seal it. He counted to fifty, then, to be sure, counted to fifty again. In that time he spotted six other monkeys about ten paces away. One of them held a water bottle, like a small hairy man on the way to the gym. The others scuttled about, piling bottles into a heap. That explained the scores of old bottles on the mezzanine. The monkeys must collect them.
He was still no closer to figuring how he could get to Alisha.
Gerald flattened himself against the floor and wriggled as close as he dared to the edge. As more of the ground floor was revealed, he spied the bandit. Far from being alarmed at the monkey activity, the figure in black was squatting casually on the floor, apparently talking to someone. As Gerald edged further out he finally spotted Alisha. She sat with her back against a column and a dark cloth bag over her head. Her hands appeared to be bound behind her.
As he stared down at the forlorn image of Alisha, he had an idea.
Chapter 15
Gerald scurried back to where he’d left Sam and Ruby. Along the way he collected as many water bottles as he could carry. A couple of monkeys had followed him, screeching in distress at the loss of their treasures, but they kept their distance. Gerald poked his head over the edge of the collapsed ceiling and the twins emerged from the shadows.
‘I’ve found Alisha,’ he said. ‘But I need you to lure the man in black outside.’
‘How are we supposed to do that?’ Sam asked. ‘And what about the other two gorillas?’
‘Funny you should mention gorillas,’ Gerald said.
Ten minutes later Gerald was back in his hiding place overlooking the chamber. He eyed the top of the nearest column. It must have been five metres away from the edge of the collapsed ceiling and a good four metres above the stone floor below. Gerald knew the margin for error in his plan was close to zero. He glanced at his watch. Only a few more seconds to go.
There was a volley of shouts from outside the room below. Gerald peered down to see the bandit reach around and pull out a handgun. Sam and Ruby were screaming up a storm, their cries piercing the rain. Before the figure in black could take a step to investigate, a hail of water bottles rained in through the windows. Scores of bottles, weighed down with rocks, bounced into the room and skittered across the flagstones. One hit the bandit in the stomach and others smashed into columns. They pelted the room like a mortar storm. Then the barrage ended. The shouting ceased. The sound of rain again filled the chamber. The floor was covered with plastic bottles. The kidnapper picked up one of the containers.
What happened next was highly dangerous for Sam and Ruby but it was a gamble they had agreed to take. The bandit raised the pistol and took a step towards the door.
Then the monkeys arrived.
Twenty dusty brown monkeys poured into the chamber. Some leapt through the windows, others jumped from the mezzanine and clambered down the sides of the columns. They pounced on the bottles, snatching them up two at a time, howling and screeching with each new find. Then to Gerald’s astonishment and delight, they threw them into a heap in a corner of the room. He had hoped the monkeys would cause just enough distraction to delay the pursuit of Sam and Ruby for a few moments, but this had worked a treat. The kidnapper stood rooted to the spot as the monkeys scurried about the place, little furry garbage men clearing the floor of rubbish. They were a blur of fur in motion. One leapt up to snatch the bottle from the bandit’s hand. Finally the figure in black regained focus and rushed out the door.
Gerald didn’t have long. He crossed to where the monkeys had jumped from the crumbling edge of the floor. He looked at the top of the nearest column, then up at the iron ring set into the ceiling. He took a breath, stepped back a few paces, and ran. Pebbles sprayed over th
e edge as his feet left the platform and he flew across the gap. His eyes never left the iron ring. He grabbed it with both hands and a stabbing pain shot through his right shoulder. But with a heave from his arms and a swing of the hips, he sailed onto the top of the column, landing in a squat on his feet and hands. But his momentum carried him forwards. He flipped to his front and clung desperately to the top of the column, his feet flailing in the air. Gerald allowed himself a second then started to make his way down. He reached the ground, stepped past a large monkey that was collecting the last of the bottles, and rushed to Alisha.
He pulled the bag from her head. A piece of gaffer tape covered her mouth. Her eyes bulged.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘We’re getting out of here.’
Alisha’s ankles and wrists were bound with cable ties. Gerald pulled the bandit’s knife from his backpack and sliced through the binds. Alisha massaged her wrists while Gerald grabbed the ties around her feet. But before he could cut them a sudden blow to his ribs knocked him sideways, driving the air from his lungs. The knife flew from his hand as he tumbled across the ground. Gerald grappled with his attacker, thrashing out with his fists. But the bandit was fast. Gerald’s punches were batted away with ease. He was thrown onto his back, his shoulders held down by the bandit’s knees. He gazed up at his attacker sitting astride his chest and holding a gun to his forehead.
Gerald sucked in air, trying to pump up his flattened lungs. His assailant, face still swathed in black, stared at him with piercing dark eyes.
‘Who are you?’ Gerald groaned.
His attacker may have been about to respond, but never got the chance. Alisha bludgeoned the bandit across the side of the head with a lamp. The blow sounded a hollow clang and sent the figure sprawling. The handgun spun free and skidded across the floor. Gerald drew in another breath and scrambled on his hands and knees, like a puppy running on linoleum, to where the bandit was slumped on the ground, hands nursing an injured head. With the last of his energy, Gerald rolled his attacker over and straddled his foe.
The bandit stirred and Gerald shoved his hands hard onto the man’s chest to pin him down.
Gerald’s eyes shot wide open. ‘Holy cow!’ he yelped.
He recoiled as if he’d just grabbed a live wire. He stared at the bandit’s chest in disbelief. He reached out and whipped the scarf away from his attacker’s head.
‘You’re a…girl!’
Gerald was sitting on a girl aged fifteen or sixteen. Her dark hair was cut short and she had a face that belonged on a Bollywood movie poster: flawless skin, a button nose, well defined jaw, brilliant white teeth. Sculpted eyebrows, perfect cheekbones.
Gerald was appalled. After everything this person had put them through—the attack at the markets, the abduction at the Taj—she was a girl.
The bandit pressed a hand to the side of her head. A trickle of blood seeped from a graze near her temple. Then she smiled at Gerald—a gleaming smile that illuminated her face.
Gerald was still in shock. He finally found his voice. ‘What do you want with Alisha?’
The girl’s smile widened. Her eyes traced every feature on Gerald’s face. Alisha stepped beside them. She held the gun in her hand.
‘A common bandit,’ Alisha spat. ‘After ransom. The police will deal with her.’
The girl’s eyes locked with Gerald’s. Her lips parted.
‘You are in great danger, Gerald Wilkins,’ she said. ‘You must not trust this Gupta.’
Chapter 16
Gerald was stunned. ‘How do you know my name?’
‘How could I not know your name?’ she replied, her eyes never shifting from his.
A sound to his right forced him to break his gaze. He turned to find Alisha training the gun on him.
‘Alisha?’
‘Why would you listen to her?’ Alisha said with venom. ‘She’s a thief. Low born. Worthless.’ Gerald couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was Alisha actually pointing the gun at him?
‘Gerald?’
It was the girl’s voice. Almost musical. She tilted her head, beckoning him to lean in. Gerald gazed down at her, bewitched. He bent closer.
‘The Guptas are no friends of the fraternity,’ she whispered. Then she lifted her chin and planted a soft kiss on Gerald’s lips.
The kiss caught Gerald off guard and the girl pushed up from her hips, bucking him back over her head. Gerald went flying, legs cycling through the air. He landed flat on his back on the stone floor. He rolled over to find Alisha, her eyes pumped with fear, pointing the gun at the bandit.
The girl was on her feet like a panther. She flashed a smile at Gerald. ‘Remember my warning,’ she purred. She then launched into a string of cartwheeling flips across the floor, spinning right over the top of Alisha and knocking the gun from her hand. Without pausing, the bandit girl dived out the window and into the night.
Gerald dragged himself upright. Alisha stood with her hands by her sides, her body shaking.
‘Are you okay?’ She managed a nod but no words would come. They turned at the sound of feet splashing through the rain. Sam and Ruby burst through the doorway.
‘Come on!’ Ruby cried. ‘Those gorillas are coming back.’
‘This way,’ Sam said. ‘We’ve found somewhere to hide.’
Gerald scooped up the bandit’s knife from the floor and they followed Sam back through the crumbling building, monkeys howling after them as they disappeared into the shadows.
‘The man in black is a girl?’ Ruby was astounded.
Sam snuffled to himself. ‘Fighting with girls now are we?’ he said to Gerald.
Gerald rubbed his ribs, still sore from where the bandit had tackled him.
‘She didn’t feel like a girl,’ Gerald grumbled. ‘Well, bits of her did. But she fought like a guy.’
They were in a basement cell in a barracks near the fortress gates. The battered lamp emitted a sorrowful glow. Alisha spoke for the first time since their escape.
‘Gerald, whatever she told you, it’s not true—’
‘We’ll talk about it later,’ Gerald said. ‘Right now we need to get as far from those thugs as possible.’ Gerald’s head was still spinning from the girl’s warning about the Guptas. And if he was honest, the kiss had him shaken up as well.
Sam checked his watch. ‘It’s forty minutes till the train leaves,’ he said.
‘Where do you think Mr Fry, Miss Turner and Constable Lethbridge are?’ Ruby asked.
‘Our crack security team? Probably at the station waiting for us,’ Gerald said. ‘That’s our best hope. Get back to the train—there’ll be heaps of people about— and it takes us out of town.’
‘Do you think the bandits are still out there?’ Ruby asked.
Gerald forced a grin. ‘Only one way to find out.’
The rain had stopped when they emerged from their hiding place and the pathways were slippery. They stole along a line of stone walls in single file, keeping close to the shadows, and soon came out near the large grassed area at the top of the fortress entrance. They were halfway down the path leading to the front gate when the first shouts broke out above them.
They looked up to see two of the bandits sprinting along the top of the battlements about to round the corner and descend on them.
Gerald couldn’t see the bandit girl and he wasn’t about to wait for her. ‘Run!’ he yelled.
They raced down the path, feet skidding across the stones, over the drawbridge and out into the forecourt. Even though it was past midnight, there were autorick-shaws parked by the roadside. Gerald’s shouts jolted the drivers from their slumber. A man rolled groggily behind the handlebars of one as Gerald and Alisha dived into the back. Sam and Ruby leapt into another. Gerald was about to yell instructions when a young boy raced up to them.
‘It’s me! Pranav,’ he called. ‘I waited for you.’ He pointed to his vehicle. His eyes were full of hurt. Gerald shook his head. ‘Sorry, it’ll be too slow,’ he said. ‘What abo
ut the police? Did you tell them?’
The boy pointed to a livid mark on his cheek. ‘They didn’t believe me,’ he said. Gerald shot a look over his shoulder back towards the fort. He dug into his pocket for more rupees and shoved them into Pranav’s hand.
‘Men are coming,’ he said, jabbing his thumb back at the gates. ‘Slow them down, okay?’
The boy nodded. He peeled off half the notes and gave them to the autorickshaw driver, all the time speaking in rapid-fire Hindi. The man jumped from his driver’s seat and ran towards the boy’s rickshaw.
‘I’ll drive,’ Pranav said, climbing behind the handlebars. ‘I’m good at shortcuts.’
Ruby called from the back of the other autorick-shaw. ‘Hurry! They’re coming.’
The first of the bandits appeared in the forecourt. It took him only a second to gauge what was going on. Gerald shouted to Pranav, ‘Train station. Fast!’
The autorickshaw shot out into the street. It bounced hard off the gutter, horn blaring, and swerved to avoid a horse and cart. Ruby and Sam were close behind. Gerald swivelled around and strained to see out the back. The cycle rickshaw ploughed straight into the mouth of the crowd control barrier, like a cork jamming into a bottle. It blocked the bandits’ exit. Gerald knew it wouldn’t hold them for long—every second was vital.
He leaned forward and spoke into Pranav’s ear. ‘We need to go really fast.’
The boy opened the throttle and the engine roared. The rickshaw surged forward, sending Gerald tumbling back into his seat beside Alisha. ‘Hold on tight!’ Pranav called over his shoulder.
Gerald pulled himself upright. Alisha stared straight ahead, stony-faced.
The rickshaw carrying Sam and Ruby pulled alongside. Ruby leaned out and shouted, ‘They’re on motorbikes. They’re catching up.’
Gerald craned his neck and caught sight of the two bandits weaving their way towards them. Pranav was driving hard and blasting the horn even harder. Ruby and Sam suddenly swerved to the left as the two rickshaws parted to go around a cow lying in the middle of the road. They scooted past cyclists and handcarts, but Gerald knew it was only a matter of time before the bandits caught them.
The Emerald Casket Page 16