The Grotesques
Page 34
What felt like a long way down could, in reality, have been only seconds. The water became thick and heavy, making each kick harder. Her head bobbed out of the water. A moment later Adam appeared. She blinked. His face beneath his mask had to look as bewildered as she felt.
They dived again, propelling themselves with strong strokes. A minute later, they were back in the air pocket. Ella removed her mouthpiece and twisted around.
“What?”
The dolphin surfaced between them, opened its blowhole and whuffed air. Even in the face of everything that had happened, Ella had to think how special that was.
“What happened down—” Ella broke off. The dolphin was nudging her. “I think it wants us to follow.”
She took hold of the notched dorsal fin. Adam swam over and gripped her around the waist. The three of them dived. Her guess was the clicking dolphin managed to avoid whatever was confounding them by echolocation. It would make a stellar research topic for Adam, way more appealing than bats.
The dolphin wriggled free of her grip, leaving her to float beside the great bell. It had come to rest upright on the river bed, inside a walled-off well, meticulously constructed to safeguard Genord’s treasure. As the dolphin circled with comforting clicks, they scraped at the river bed until a small depression gave access to the hollow interior. Even in the water, the bell was too massive for them to flip. Adam fitted an underwater explosive to the rim.
The water lightened. Looking up, Ella saw a shadow lift. They swam to the surface and saw a large hook dangling from a chain in what had once been the crypt. Metres above, Doer was bending over the hole he had cleared.
“No sign of the beastie,” he called. He looked about to collapse under some intolerable burden. Ella bit her lip and hoped Ace wouldn’t do anything too stupid as a decoy.
Doer lowered the hook. Adam took hold of it. As soon as Ella held the dolphin’s fin, it whistled and dived, guiding them to the hole used to suspend the bell from the belfry. Working the hook in was easy. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when the dolphin nosed her. Below the surface, a current was stirring. Her heart fluttering, Ella righted herself. The chain ground into motion, tugging the bell from the bed with a slurp of mud. She swam up, but it was moving as fast as she was. She kicked faster, grabbed at the chain, missed, kicked, found Adam’s hand and latched on. His legs locked around the chain, he shoved her up until she could grab hold. She dropped her torch as she threw a hand to him. He took it and righted himself.
Ella directed her headlamp down the passage. Sapphire scales gleamed in the light. The dolphin darted down the tunnel. It had to know what lurked there. The poor brave creature; it would never survive. She adjusted her grip for a better look as the bell clanged against the side of the well and rocked. Her hand slipped from the chain and she toppled onto its side. She slid off the smooth surface, clawing in vain to regain a hold lest she fall under it and be trapped. Adam caught her wrist and pulled. Her fingers brushed the hole. She kicked and caught the chain above the hook. The dolphin’s clicks stopped. The bell lurched, tossing her body out. She drew her legs in as the rim hit the side of the well. It swung back, hit again, but this time the impact was softer. She shivered, looked down, saw the elongated body of La Gargouille snake around the bell. The dragon angled toward her. As its jaws loomed, the dolphin careered into it. The dragon flicked its tail, sending the dolphin spinning downward. They broke the surface of the water but ground level was yet some metres distant. Adam began to scale the chain, and Ella followed suit.
“Get us out of here,” Adam yelled. She barely heard over the din of the winch, no way would Doer have. She had a bad feeling that he might consider their lives an acceptable loss to be rid of the dragon.
The dragon lunged out of the water, snapped with gleaming fangs. In fright, Ella let go of the chain, falling backward onto the bell. The dragon snared the end of her flipper, but her foot slid free. She splashed head first into the water. Adam plunged in beside her. He got an arm around her waist and herded her around the bell as the dolphin rammed the dragon in the side of the head. Adam signalled down as he slapped his right arm behind his thigh to catch his regulator and mouth it. They darted out of the well and into the tunnel. The thought of the beast swimming up behind them turned her colder than the water, but without room to manoeuvre, it was their only, futile chance. She had a sinking feeling that their chances of making it to the riverbank were nil.
She had not counted on the dolphin pushing its nose against her foot, driving her forward at incredible speed. She twisted around to spot Adam, and caught sight of him holding the dolphin’s dorsal fin. She could see the wide opening ahead, planned on shooting straight for the surface but the force of a blast pummelled them into the middle of the river. She somersaulted, lost her regulator, couldn’t find it though she had just seen Adam use the technique. She swallowed water, flailed, somehow saw light, and pushed up, her lungs burning, one hand still searching for her air hose. She was so weak, her tank heavy, she didn’t think she would make it.
Air hissed. She panicked until she saw Adam handing her the mouthpiece. His hand came to her inflator button and let in more air. She floated up, trying to slow her ragged breathing. They struck out for the bank, crawled ashore, and shrugged out of the vests and tanks. Adam was standing. She knew they had to move but her legs had turned to jelly. To their right, across the Port Canal, Doer was waving frantically. Water sloshed behind them. She scrambled up as a dragon head emerged from the water, fin raised on the top of its head, prominent eye ridges lowered into an evil glare. They stumbled back. A pair of tail flukes slapped the water. She let out something that was half a sob, half a laugh and watched the whistling dolphin paddle the mummified head into the deep.
Adam waded back in.
“Wait.”
He paused. “We have to get it. I don’t know how we’re going to destroy it, but if that dolphin takes it to sea, we don’t stand a chance of defeating the dragon.”
“How? Two bombs didn’t destroy it.”
“I don’t know.” He swam out.
Without thinking, she splashed after him, patting the water. The dolphin doubled back. Adam reached to secure the head. The dolphin butted it down and dived. It resurfaced behind Ella. She called, but it dribbled the head away, teasing. They looked at each other, frustrated.
“A-dam!” Sapphire humps were arcing through the water behind him.
“Get the head,” Adam said, swimming into the dragon’s path.
“Don’t do it, oh don’t,” Ella said.
He had already made up his mind. She turned to locate the dolphin, saw it angling for Adam, nosing the mummified head like a toy. She swam for it, yelling for someone to get some fish. The dolphin cut between the dragon and Adam, wriggled free of the head and stood on its tail. Its desperate clicking drew the attention of the dragon as it reared its vicious head. Adam thrashed out of the path of the dragon, which darted in for the chomp.
With a hefty tail stroke, the dolphin catapulted itself out of harm’s way. In its place, the dragon head bobbed out of the water. The dragon’s jaws clamped onto the head with a sickening crunch. A boom churned the water as the beast exploded into thousands of shimmering fragments. They faded into translucence and disappeared. Not a single solid remnant remained.
Ella stared at the empty space in front of them. The dragon head was nowhere to be seen. On dry land, Doer was yipping and dancing. She was panting, she realised, and not able to tread water much longer.
“Come on.”
The dolphin kept circling as they swam to shore.
“Thank you,” she said as it tail walked and squeaked its farewell.
“I thought you were goners when you fell,” Doer said, hugging them both and not even noticing how saturated he was becoming. “Thought the only way to give you a chance was to explode the bomb. It didn’t work but you’re here, you’re here.”
They finally convinced him they needed to get changed. As they u
nsuited and donned dry clothes, Ace swayed toward them, one foot dragging uselessly behind his sagging body. Doer ran to him and engulfed him in a bear hug.
“It left,” the boy said into Doer’s chest. “Couldn’t distract it.”
“You did great, son,” Doer said, a tear rolling down his cheek. He squeezed harder. The teenager, with no sign of self-consciousness, latched onto Doer like his life depended on it. “It’s gone,” Doer said. He lifted his head to the sky. “Did you hear that, Genord,” he called. “It’s gone. Destroyed. We won.”
His exultant shouts brought four figures out from among the flower beds in the park. Rob, Cecily, and Caroline pulled a dazed Bekka over the debris.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Rob said, giving her a hug. “Both of you.” He pulled away to eye a piece of wood washing up on the rocks at the end of the canal. “What’s that?”
Ella clambered down the bank to retrieve Romain’s simple wooden cross.
“I imagine if anyone believes us, that is going to be a very important relic. Perhaps we should rebuild the church and dedicate it to Saint Romain,” Adam said.
A mobile phone rang, its mundane sound an obscenity in the aftermath of destruction. Rob fished it out of one of the cabs.
“I think this is yours,” he said, passing the phone to Ella as Adam embraced his cousin.
“Good grief!” she exclaimed as she stared at the text message. Awaiting feature article. Herald. She thumbed onto a second message, from Phil. Your butt in office now. Partnership for exclusive. Reputable redirection after dragon story. That actually made her laugh. And might, she thought, just be the better offer in present circumstances.
“We have news to spread,” she said with eyes only for Adam.
“I’m sure the police can handle it,” he replied, drawing close for a lingering kiss.
Out in the river, a dolphin with a notched dorsal fin leapt out of the water and somersaulted.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the numerous people who provided information on everything from police procedure to forensics to plants. Also, much thanks to Margaret Curelas at Tyche Books, for believing in this novel from the start.
About the Author
Tia Reed loves nothing better than burying her nose in a story of her own making and cuddling her bossy cat. She takes every opportunity to do both when she is not teaching English as a second language. Her other hobbies often take a back seat but include trying to tame her beast of a garden, hiking and travel. The latter has thrown her many interesting, sometimes hair-raising, experiences which she loves twisting into stories. Born in Malta, she now lives in Adelaide, Australia.
To learn about new books first, sign up for our New Release mailing list.
If you enjoyed reading this story, please consider leaving a review online or recommending it to your friends.
Other Tyche Titles You Might Enjoy
Helix: Blight of Exiles
The cure is worse than the disease.
One’s Aspect to the Sun
Greedy corporations, nanotechnology, and family: a space opera with heart.
Find out more at TycheBooks.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Prologue Rouen 599 A.D.
Chapter One Adelaide. Present Day. 22nd October. Night.
Chapter Two 23rd October. Morning.
Chapter Three 23rd October. Afternoon.
Chapter Four 23rd October. Night.
Chapter Five 24th October. Morning.
Chapter Six 24th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Seven 24th October. Afternoon.
Chapter Eight 24th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Nine 24th October. Evening.
Chapter Ten 24th October. Night.
Chapter Eleven 26th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Twelve 27th October. Early Evening.
Chapter Thirteen 28th October. Morning.
Chapter Fourteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Fifteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Sixteen Rouen. 612 A.D.
Chapter Seventeen Adelaide. Present Day. 28th October. Night.
Chapter Eighteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Nineteen 28th October. Midnight.
Chapter Twenty 29th October. Very Early Morning.
Chapter Twenty-one 29th October. Dawn.
Chapter Twenty-two 29th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Twenty-three 29th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Twenty-four 29th October. Midday.
Chapter Twenty-five 29th October. Early Afternoon.
Chapter Twenty-six 29th October. Evening.
Chapter Twenty-seven 29th October. Night.
Chapter Twenty-eight Rouen. 625 A.D.
Chapter Twenty-nine 30th October. Early Morning.
Chapter Thirty 30th October. Mid-morning.
Chapter Thirty-one 30th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Thirty-two 31st October. 2am.
Chapter Thirty-three 31st October. Morning.
Chapter Thirty-four 31st October. Midday.
Acknowledgements
About the Author