by MG Leonard
‘DOWN HERE!’ Darkus shouted. ‘LUCRETIA CUTTER IS DOWN HERE!’
Humphrey turned but Pickering sprinted, almost tripping over his own feet. He leant over the railing and stared down into the laboratory. ‘Lucretia, my sweet, come out, come out, wherever you are. We need to talk,’ he called.
‘She’s there, Pickering.’ Darkus pointed at the giant hovering form of Lucretia Cutter. ‘That’s your darling Lucretia Cutter.’
Lucretia Cutter looked up at Pickering and he started screaming, backing away from the balustrade and grabbing at Humphrey, who was stumbling up behind him, blinking and looking dopey.
‘Humpty! Humpty!’ Pickering squawked. ‘It’s a giant beetle!’
‘What are you talking about?’ Humphrey pushed his hysterical cousin aside and strode forward only to stagger backwards when his eyes landed on the giant form of Lucretia Cutter swiping at Ling Ling, who, tired from sustained combat, stumbled.
‘Help us!’ Darkus called up to Humphrey.
‘That giant beetle has eaten my one true love!’ Pickering wailed. ‘The boy said she was in there! That nasty, disgusting, dirty, giant creepy-crawly has swallowed up my future wife and now we won’t get our money!’ He made a rasping choking noise, and Darkus realized he was crying. ‘Nasty, filthy, scrabbling, rancorous, loathsome beast.’ He beat on Humphrey’s back with his fists. ‘KILL IT, HUMPTY! That insect has eaten our money!’ He grabbed at Humphrey, who was staring at Lucretia Cutter. ‘Where will we live now? We have nothing.’
Humphrey turned and strode away. Darkus’s heart sank as the cousins disappeared from view. He looked at Ling Ling, who was on her knees, trying to defend herself, still not hitting back.
Lucretia Cutter was struggling too. She dropped to the ground, her heavy exoskeleton making her stumble forward. She raised her arms and Ling Ling, tired and accepting, brought her hands together in front of her chest and bowed her head, waiting for the killer blow.
‘NO!’ Darkus shouted.
There was a roar from above. Darkus threw himself backwards covering Novak just in time as a grand piano dropped from the balcony.
The vision of the falling piano was accompanied by a tuneless cacophony of music, hammers hitting strings, strings twanging and snapping, wood tearing.
Lucretia Cutter flew back as the weight of the piano hit her, crushing and flattening her. For a moment all that could be heard was the reverberation of the piano strings.
Lucretia Cutter’s beetly body spasmed three times and then fell still.
‘Ha ha ah aha ha ahahah ha ha!’ Pickering’s crazed laughter rang out. ‘You did it, Humpty! You crushed the bug.’ He flung his arms around his cousin. ‘It’s dead! Splat!’
Gerard ran into the room, and fell to his knees beside Darkus and Novak. ‘Are you OK?’
Darkus nodded at Gerard. ‘I’ve broken my wrist, and my hip hurts, but Novak’s bleeding.’ He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed.
‘Mademoiselle, it’s all over now.’ Gerard took Novak’s hand. ‘Please, for me, open your eyes.’
Novak’s eyes flickered open and she smiled at Gerard.
‘I’m hurt,’ she whispered.
‘It’s OK. I’m here now.’ Gerard took off his jacket and rolled her on to Darkus’s lap, taking a look at the cut on her back. ‘It’s just the skin that is cut, ma cherie.’ He laid his jacket under her and rolled her back into it. ‘I will carry you.’
‘My dad,’ Darkus said. ‘He’s trapped in the pupator. I don’t know how to open the door?’
Gerard pointed. ‘The silver switch on the end.’
Darkus, pulled himself on to his knees and, with Gerard’s help, stood up. He limped over to the console and flipped the switch. The door of the pupator slid open and his father lurched out of it.
‘Darkus! Are you OK?’
His father half ran, half stumbled down the steps and through the metal door into the lab, groggy from the sleeping gas that had been piped into the pupator.
Darkus turned to him and smiled. ‘It’s over. She’s gone, Dad. She’s dead.’
He took two steps towards his dad when he heard Novak scream.
He spun around as Lucretia Cutter rose up screeching like a hawk, throwing off the piano and grabbing him around the waist. He didn’t have time to cry out as he was dragged forward. Her jaws widened and he was engulfed by the smell of rotten bananas. He was going to die.
He heard his father shout. Lucretia Cutter’s head flew backwards, away from Darkus. He fell, the sharp spikes of her legs cutting his skin. He hit the floor and cried out. He tried to roll away, but gasped in pain. He saw Gerard’s face and felt the butler grab him under his armpits and drag him backwards. Darkus saw his father standing in front of him, feet astride, holding the harpoon gun. Bartholomew Cuttle reloaded it, pointed it at Lucretia Cutter’s chest and fired a second shot that catapulted her backwards, against the wall. She thrashed about, screaming, pinned to the wall by the harpoon. Her legs and arms jerked twice, then dropped, and she fell still, her head rolling forward.
Darkus stared at her, not daring to believe she was gone, expecting her to rise yet again.
His dad dropped the harpoon gun and stumbled down to his knees, taking hold of Darkus and gently hugging him. Darkus could feel his dad’s chest rising and falling and realized he was crying.
‘It’s OK, Dad. It’s all going to be OK now,’ he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Exodus
‘Darkus? Darkus? Are you there?’ Bertolt’s voice was calling from the device, which he’d dropped to the floor. Darkus grabbed it.
‘I’m here,’ he replied. ‘It’s over.’ He looked at the giant beetle woman pinned to the wall. ‘She’s dead.’
‘Um, we’ve got a problem,’ Bertolt said. ‘The news feed is reporting rice water weevils devouring crops in China, and the defence system is telling me there’s a fleet of bombers heading this way.’
‘Dad.’ Darkus looked up. ‘Do you know how to stop Lucretia Cutter’s beetles? Can we stop the attack on the Chinese rice harvest?’
Barty shook his head. ‘I don’t know how to stop them. I’ve looked but there doesn’t seem to be any control centre, or button. I think she’s pre-programmed all of it to happen whether she’s alive or not. There’s no way to stop it.’
‘There must be a way,’ Darkus said, leaning on his dad to get to his feet.
‘I know the location of her beetle armies. She has them marked on a map, but if we tell the governments of world, they’ll send soldiers, and that’s what she wants. They’ll trigger all her traps and make things worse. Soldiers and bombs can’t stop insects.’
‘We need to get to Bertolt, quickly.’ Darkus tried to walk and stumbled. His hip burnt with pain. His father caught him.
‘Steady now, Darkus. Where is Bertolt?’
‘In the security dome. We have to get there, quickly. There are bombers in the sky and all the doors of the Biome are wide open.’
‘I’ll carry you.’ Barty picked Darkus up in his arms.
‘Anyone need a lift?’ Virginia was in the doorway, sitting on the back of a giant tiger beetle wearing a muzzle.
‘Virginia, can you get us to Bertolt?’ Darkus asked. ‘It’s urgent.’
‘Hop on,’ she nodded. ‘This bad boy is fast.’
‘Hello!’ Darkus heard Uncle Max’s voice and turned to see Spencer sat atop the thorax of a giant Hercules beetle and Uncle Max lying on its elytra.
‘Are you OK?’ Darkus asked as his father carefully lifted him on to the back of the giant tiger beetle.
‘Fine.’ Uncle Max nodded. ‘Ling Ling caught up with me and threw me in the river. Got a bit of a nasty shock from an electric eel and nibbled by a few piranha. Luckily Gerard pulled me out.’
‘He’s in there with Novak. She’s hurt.’ He looked at Spencer. ‘Can you get everyone to the helicopter? There are bombers on the way.’
Spencer was already springing down from the giant Hercules
beetle and running into the lab.
‘Let’s go,’ Virginia cried, and the giant tiger beetle raced forward at breathtaking speed. The Biome became a blur of white, and they were there outside the control-room door in minutes.
Bertolt spun around in his chair. ‘Hi,’ he said, looking terrified.
Barty slid off the tiger beetle’s wing casings and lifted Darkus into his arms, running with him to the chair beside Bertolt. ‘What do we need to do?’ he asked.
The pain of his broken wrist was making it hard for Darkus to think. ‘Bertolt, Dad needs to put a whole series of co-ordinates – all the places in the world where Lucretia Cutter has her beetles waiting to attack – into a message.’
‘But, Darkus, I told you, we can’t tell the governments . . .’
‘We’re not going to tell the governments,’ Darkus said, grimacing to stop the pain from overwhelming him. ‘We’re going to tell the entomologists. They’re all working on the ground fighting the infestations with Dr Yuki Ishikawa using pheromone traps.’
‘I can do that!’ Bertolt nodded vigorously as he scrambled over to the control console, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘Mr Burton, I mean, Hank, told us how to get hold of him. He’ll tell everyone.’ He started typing furiously on a keyboard.
Bartholomew looked at his son, astonished. ‘That is a brilliant idea. Yes! It might just work.’ He leant towards Bertolt. ‘Can you bring up a map? We’ll mark the coordinates on there, and send it to Hank.’
‘How close are the bombers?’ Darkus asked.
Newton zipped up out of Bertolt’s hair and looped around a screen with a flashing radar blip on it. Darkus could see five triangles moving towards the centre.
‘Fifteen minutes away,’ Bertolt said, glancing up.
‘We need to get out of here,’ Barty said.
‘Emma sent a distress message to the bombers,’ Bertolt said as his fingers flew across the keys. ‘She identified herself, the location of this place and said Lucretia was dead.’ He looked at Darkus. ‘It’s going out on repeat. We have to hope they get the message and believe it. We want them to land and see this place, not blow it to smithereens.’
A map appeared on the screen and Darkus’s dad started pointing at the locations where Lucretia Cutter’s plague of beetles lay in wait to do their damage.
‘Darkus,’ Virginia was back at the door, ‘everyone is in the helicopter. We need to go.’
‘Two more minutes,’ Barty said, pointing at the screen.
There was a tense silence as Virginia and Darkus watched Bertolt work.
‘That’s it. That’s all of them.’
Darkus was staggered by the number of red flags on the map. Lucretia Cutter must have been planning this for years.
‘Sent!’ Bertolt leapt up from his chair.
Barty grabbed Darkus, who took a sharp intake of breath as his father dashed across the room, putting him back on to the giant tiger beetle, who was now wearing an oxygen mask.
‘Nice ride,’ Bertolt said to Virginia.
‘His name is Barnacle,’ Virginia replied, turning the beetle around.
‘Wait!’ Darkus sat up. ‘Bertolt, you have to turn the oxygen back up.’
‘What?’
‘In the main dome. Quick. Turn it back up!’
Bertolt hobbled back to the control desk and whacked a dial all the way up and hobbled back. Barty lifted him on to the tiger beetle beside Darkus and then clambered up.
Hexagonal tiles were replaced by a sapphire blue sky. Darkus heard the chugging blades of the helicopter. The sun was hot on his face and the world smelt of earth, moisture and a thousand different plants. He felt a rush of euphoria in his chest. They’d done it.
As Barnacle the beetle raced towards the helicopter, Darkus looked up at his father.
‘Dad, when we get home, will you grow your beard back please?’ he said.
His dad smiled, and the lines around his blue eyes were like sunbeams. ‘Of course, son.’
‘Baxter,’ Darkus was cupping the beetle to his chest. ‘Can you fly?’
Baxter nodded.
‘There’s one last thing we have to do,’ Darkus said, holding out his hand. ‘You need to tell the giant beetles that the big dome is oxygenated. They can live in there.’
Baxter jumped up into the air, his elytra up and his soft wings vibrating in bursts. He was tired, and his flight path was off kilter due to having one less leg on his right side, but he reached a giant titan beetle and gave her the message.
‘Let’s get out of here.’ Barty slid off the tiger beetle.
Darkus heard the shouts of Emma Lamb and Spencer. Uncle Max was in the co-pilot’s seat of the helicopter.
‘What’s that beetle doing?’ Motty called over her shoulder.
‘Barnacle is coming with us,’ Virginia shouted above the noise of the helicopter blades.
Barnacle clambered up into the helicopter with Virginia, Darkus and Bertolt on his back. Novak was sitting on Gerard’s lap, opposite Emma Lamb.
Barty jumped in and reached out to shut the door.
‘Wait!’ Darkus cried. ‘Baxter!’ He could see the brave rhinoceros beetle, struggling through the air towards the helicopter. Darkus slid off Barnacle’s back, crying out as his foot hit the floor and jarred his hip. He leant out of the doorway, reaching his hand out and Baxter crash-landed, face first into his palm. A distant rumble made him look up to the skies, but it wasn’t thunder. It was a fleet of bombers, growing specks on the horizon.
‘Go, go, go!’ Darkus cried.
As the helicopter took off, he looked down at the Biome, cuddling Baxter to his chest. The ground was awash with beetles of all sizes, burrowing, flying and gambolling in the grass. Two familiar figures in bright green jumpsuits came running out of the trapdoor in the ground. They waved their arms at the approaching aeroplanes. It was Pickering and Humphrey, and they were covered from head to toe in beetles.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Beetle Zoo
‘Are you sure you have to go? You could live with us you know. If you wanted, that is,’ Darkus said to Novak’s back, as she packed her case. ‘I’m sure Dad wouldn’t mind. I could ask him.’
‘Oh, Darkus.’ She turned around and smiled. ‘Nothing would make me happier. It’s been lovely being a part of your family for the last couple of weeks, but there’s no room here, and I feel terrible with your Uncle Max sleeping on the front-room floor and your dad on the sofa, when there’s a whole house I can live in.’
‘You can’t mean you’re going back to Towering Heights?’
‘When Gerard came, this morning, he told me that, as Lucretia Cutter’s only living relative, I’m heir to her estate. She left no will. Everything that belonged to her, now belongs to me.’
‘Whoa! What are you going to do?’
‘Try and do some good with it.’
‘No, I mean, what are you going to do?’
‘Gerard – he, well,’ Novak’s pale cheeks flushed pink, ‘he said he’d like to look after me.’ She brought her hands together and her thumbs tussled nervously with each other. ‘He says he wants to make up for all the times he didn’t help.’
‘Is he going to be your foster dad?’
‘Kind of.’ Novak nodded excitedly. ‘And Millie, do you remember her? Our cook? She’s going to come back and help him.’ She beamed. ‘I think she’s a bit in love with Gerard. Isn’t that romantic?’ She drew her hands up under her chin and sighed.
‘Isn’t it going to be weird going back to Towering Heights? With all the memories?’
‘Towering Heights is the only home I’ve ever had. And some good things happened there. I met you, and Heppy.’ A mischievous sparkle lit up her eyes. ‘And now I’ve got loads of money, I can change the house to be how I want it to be.’
Darkus grinned. ‘What’re you going to do?’
‘I’m going to break down all the cells and turn the basement into a cinema. I’ll give Mater’s beetle collec
tions to the Natural History Museum. I’ve had enough dead beetles to last me a lifetime.’
‘But you must keep the books,’ Darkus said.
‘Oh, yes, I’m going to have a huge library,’ Novak nodded, ‘but I’m going to add lots of story books and picture books and books about fairies and myths and monsters, and it’ll be wonderful.’
‘It’s a very big house for three people,’ Darkus said.
‘But you and Virginia and Bertolt will come over,’ Novak frowned, ‘won’t you? I mean, now that I’m their friend too. That’s what friends do, isn’t it? Visit each other?’
Darkus nodded. ‘If you have a cinema, you won’t be able to get rid of us.’
‘And I’ll make a special oxygenated room for Barnacle – he’s always trying to pull that oxygen mask off his face, and his spiky legs keep ripping the walls of his oxygen tent.’
‘Oh, well, then, Virginia will probably move in. She loves that crazy beetle.’
‘And then of course, there’s Ling Ling,’ Novak said, turning back to her packing.
‘Ling Ling?’
‘She saved my life, and with Mater gone, she no longer has a job. So, I’ve asked her to stay at Towering Heights and work for me, seeing as now I’m very rich and probably need protecting because my mother tried to take over the world and kill everybody.’ Novak lifted her shoulders and screwed up her face into a ball of excitement. ‘But the best bit is, she’s going to let me train with her.’
‘Train?’
‘Yes. I’m going to see exactly what this body of mine can do.’ She stretched out an arm and examined her fingernails, which were painted a coral pink. ‘She’s going to teach me the ways of the Kunoichi.’ She dropped her hand. ‘And I’m rather hoping that once we’re friends, she’ll show me how to dance. Did you know, when she was young, she was a famous ballet dancer in America?’
Darkus shook his head.
Novak sighed and sat down on the bed. ‘I would love to be a ballet dancer.’