Lucy's Blade

by John Lambshead

  "It's one of the first Church of England buildings put up after King Harry split from Rome. A truly English church, it is not forty years old. The tower is handsome, is it not?" Walsingham traced the outline with his hand. The stepped tower was Norman-square with buttresses on the lower corners. It was firm and solid and proclaimed to the world that, like the Norman aristocracy, the Anglican religion was here to stay.

  Dee's property ran all the way back beside the church. Outhouses and barns clustered around a rectangle to make a small courtyard behind Dee's cottage. Walsingham unclipped the gate and his party entered the courtyard. Chickens and pigs rooted around in the yard. Alerted by a servant, Dee greeted them at the back door of the cottage. "Welcome, Sir Francis, welcome, and Lady Dennys. I believe that this is the first time that you have visited Mortlake. Her Majesty was kind enough to visit me earlier this year when I was unwell, although she remained in her carriage of course. So two lovely ladies have visited my humble dwelling this year."

  Dee was doing his best to be gallant, reflected Simon. But, from the expression of Lucy's face, he had a great deal of ground to make up. Lucy failed to give him the "English kiss" on entering.

  "I regret my mother cannot greet you," said Dee. "Her health has failed this year and she is bedridden." The party entered the cramped dwelling. It was at least a hundred years old and the frame had started to warp, giving the place a lopsided look. A baby cried somewhere in the back of the house. "My son Arthur has a lusty voice. My wife is attending him."

  "Indeed," said Walsingham.

  "My household and I live simply in a few rooms, most of the other space is devoted to my collection of books and artefacts. I keep the most valuable items here in the cottage with me." Dee walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a tome, which he handled reverently. "This is Johannes de Burgo's Treatise on Magic, which I acquired when in Louvain. It is written in Spanish using the Hebrew alphabet. I thought originally it was in code and spent some little time trying to codebreak it before realising my error."

  Dee shook his head and smiled at his own stupidity. Simon noticed that Dee changed character completely when discussing his beloved collection. Dee replaced the book and moved along the shelf.

  "Now this is the Secretum Secrotorum that I bought in Padua. It is anonymous but I believe it to have been written by Aristotle."

  "The Secretum Secrotorum," Simon was impressed. "It concerns the magic of immortality, does it not, Doctor?"

  "Indeed, Master Tunstall. It contains the first mention of the Fountain of Youth. We will talk more on this later." Dee paused for effect. The philosopher had a tendency to talk as if delivering a lecture. "Actually, I found many useful works in Italy including volumes on Plutarch, Euclid, and Apollonius. Oh, and this work on the Cabala mysteries."

  "Now this is interesting." Dee pointed to a slim book. "This is the famous Liber Experiementorum by the Spanish mystic Ramon Lull."

  "Do you not have a copy of Copernicus' De Revolutionibus, Doctor?" Walsingham said.

  "Two actually," said Dee with false modesty. "I also have copies of Boethius' Consolations of Philosophy, Norton's Ordinal of Alchemy, and Ptolemy's Tetrabiblios."

  "This collection must have cost a fortune," William said in awe, speaking for the first time.

  "Indeed, it did," said Walsingham, dryly. "The secret service paid for most of it."

  "I believe the Service has had value for money," said Dee, stiffly.

  "And I trust that situation will continue," said Walsingham, pointedly.

  "Where do you keep the rest of the collection?" asked Simon. "There is not room here for four thousand items."

  Dee moved to the window and opened it. "Behold my Externa Bibliotheca," he said, gesturing to the barns and outhouses arranged around the yard. "That old cow shed contains my volumes on alchemy, the Armenian Church, Africa, botany, barques, calvados, and chastity. The barn, there, holds works on demonology, dreams, dragons, earthquakes, entomology, Etruria, Exeter, and my navigation artefacts. The whitewashed stone house has falconry, fabrics, gambling, games, gymnastics, horticulture, houseflies, Islam, jesters, Jews, and logic. In the shed, the one with the shuttered windows, are volumes on marriage, mythology, the European nobility, oils, ointments, and pharmacy. The labourer's cottage has my collection concerning rhetoric, saints, surveying, ticks, tides, toffee, veterinary studies, weather, women, and zoology."

  "You hold books about women?" asked Lucy.

  "One of the more intractable areas of investigation in my experience," said Dee, apparently with a straight face.

  Lucy sniffed, eloquently.

  "I suggest we move to the barn where I can explain my interpretation of the more mysterious of the works that you brought back from Essex. If you will follow me?" Dee showed the party out into the yard. He strode to the barn vigorously and promptly forgot where he had put his key. Walsingham tapped his foot while Dee searched. Eventually, he discovered the offending item and unlocked the barn door. Simon noticed that the lock was modern and secure. Inside, long rows of stacks filled with books formed long isles. One small area was clear, containing a reading table and chairs. Dee's collection of navigational artefacts was positioned behind.

  William was fascinated by a set of globes of the world. "You like them, Captain?" asked Dee.

  "I confess that I have never seen finer," said William, admiringly.

  Dee flushed with pleasure. "They were a gift from an old friend, Geraldus Mercator."

  "I see you also have a compass and a cross-staff. I had heard that you were an accomplished navigator."

  "This will interest you, Captain Hawkins," said Dee. He ushered William to a corner containing a complex engine of shining metal. A pendulum swung beneath it.

  "This is a clock, is it not, Doctor Dee?" asked William.

  "Indeed, and it is accurate to the nearest second."

  "Draw your sword, Captain, and stand just so." Dee manoeuvred William in front of a mirror. "Now make a mock lunge."

  William was a little bemused but he did as he was told and made a halfhearted lunge at the mirror. It seemed to flicker into life and something came out of it and lunged back. William leapt back with an oath and the apparition vanished. He repeated the mock attack. This time, he anticipated the result and held his ground. He was able to observe the image flickering in front of him.

  "God's blood. It's me. The mirror creates an homunculi of me. Do you try it, Master Tunstall?"

  Simon took his place with the same result. "It's like the image of Lilith that you called forth, Doctor Dee."

  Everyone looked at Lucy. "Well, I don't remember. You had me mesmerised, remember," the girl said, sulkily. "Lilith says that it's a hologram, if that helps. She also says that it is theoretically impossible for us to create holograms given our primitive understanding of light. Lilith can be a bit patronising sometimes."

  "Where did you acquire this mirror, Doctor?" asked Walsingham.

  "From Sir William Pickering. You recall, Sir Francis, that he and I studied under Sir John Cheke at Cambridge. I stayed at Sir William's residence when he was ambassador to Brussels. He had this mirror there and gave it me to assist my studies in the optical sciences."

  "Indeed, Pickering was one of the Queen's suitors at one time, I recall."

  "Her Majesty was much taken with this mirror when I showed it her."

  "Talking of mirrors, Dee. What have you found out about the one that Lucy took from the Lady Isabella?"

  "Ah yes." Dee went over to a bag and retrieved the mirror. Dee had cleaned it. The mirror was just as William remembered it. Twelve inches high, beautifully worked with gold, sculpted into mythological creatures and monsters, and set with aquamarine diamonds.

  "It is most disappointing, Sir Francis. I had high hopes from your description but it is just a mirror. There is no power in it at all."

  Lucy sat bolt upright. "That can't be. Lilith was held captive in that mirror and Isabella used it to travel between the planes. It has great power
."

  "Mayhap it had once, milady, but it is empty of all magics now," said Dee.

  Lucy looked at the mirror intently and touched it. "Lilith agrees with you, Doctor. It is just a mirror now, but it was powerful once. Isabella used it to conjure a portal to the Other World. As she entered the portal, I attacked her with my dagger. There was a huge flash." Lucy cocked her head on one side and said, "Oh, I see."

  "What do you see, Lucy?" asked Walsingham.

  "I was talking to Lilith. She thinks the blade shorted out the mirror, draining it of energy. Sorry, Doctor Dee, I think I may have ruined it for you."

  "Mayhap it is for the best," said Walsingham. "It was an artefact too dangerous to be allowed to exist. We would always have had to destroy it eventually but I had hoped to use its power one last time." He looked at Lucy but she was still distracted by Lilith and so did not pick up on his meaning.

  Walsingham rose to his feet. "So the matter is concluded. The plot is smashed and the main conspirator killed. You may take possession of the diamond mirror as legitimate compensation for—whatever the Hawkins family has against the Spanish on their letter of reprisal. You may return to Devon, Captain. Rest assured, John Hawkins will be told how well you carried out your duties."

  "The coroner has not yet pronounced a verdict on Oxford's cause of death," William reminded Walsingham.

  "The verdict has already been decided. At the appropriate time, the coroner's court will sit and confirm it officially," Walsingham said, confidentally. "Oxford died accidentally while practicing swordplay. It's a common enough verdict. People will suspect that we are covering up a duel of honour."

  "I suppose we will never know what became of Isabella after the portal collapsed," said Lucy.

  "I can tell you that she survived. One of Pooley's watchers saw her board a fishing boat by the Spanish Embassy. My agents report that she crossed the sea to the Low Countries. We must take our leave of you, Doctor."

  "Stay a little longer, Sir Francis. I have decoded the documents you took from Oxford's house." Dee gave a smug smile.

  "Indeed, Doctor." Walsingham sat down.

  "There was a great deal of information about the plot, including names of sympathisers who might be expected to assist the new government." Dee attempted to hand the papers to Walsingham but the spymaster gestured that Simon would take them. "I expect you will be arresting such people."

  "I will arrest the dangerous ones but not the others," said Walsingham. "They would only deny the charge and claim that the plotters had added their names out of ignorance or spite. No, I will arrange for them to find out that they are named in Oxford's records without revealing how deeply they are implicated. Then I will let them stew, while they wonder how much I know. Her Majesty will have no more loyal subjects than these people in the future. Fear will see to that."

  "Then there is this," said Dee holding a small journal. "Have you heard of the fountain of youth?"

  "The fountain of youth?" asked Walsingham. "Do you mean that awful painting by Lucas Cranach?"

  "Lucas Cranach?" asked William.

  "German painter, not the current one but his father. He was one of Martin Luther's friends and a keen Protestant. For some reason, he also specialised in painting nudes. He painted this perfectly odious picture of all these nude geriatrics jumping in an ornamental pool and emerging young and nubile at the other end."

  "I do not mean the painter." Dee sounded exasperated. "I mean the legend about the West Indian island."

  "Perhaps you might recap for us," said Walsingham. "The short version, if you please, Doctor."

  "The Indians of the Caribbean Sea had a legend of a mysterious island of power somewhere north of Cuba in the Bahamas Chain. Have you ever been to the Bahamas, Captain?"

  "No, they are a bit away from our usual routes," said William.

  "Pity," said Dee. "This island is usually called Bimini. The Indian legends say that only the pure of heart could find the islands. It seems that some could find it while other could not even though they sailed the same waters. Most Europeans did not believe Bimini existed but one Juan Ponce de Leon did take the legends seriously. He became convinced that the island was the site of the fabled fountain of youth. Why that in particular, I cannot fathom, as the legends speak of many wonders, eternal youth being but one."

  Dee refreshed his voice, from a mug.

  "De Leon was given permission by Charles V of Spain to mount a search in—" Dee consulted his notes. "—March, 1513. He sailed the waters with Indian guides and found precisely nothing. He did, however, bump into Florida and plant a colony there. St. Augustine, I think it was called. De Leon tried again in 1521, with exactly the same result except that this time he ran foul of the Floridan Indians who drove him off. As far as I know, no European has ever found Bimini and the Indians who knew its location are long gone. There the story ends."

  "So why your interest, Doctor?" asked Walsingham. He had waited patiently through Dee's lecture. The doctor could be irritating but he was the foremost scholar of the secret and hidden sciences in England.

  "Isabella's journal, Sir Francis. She claims to have visited Bimini. Her writings are difficult to comprehend. They were written in code, of course," Dee said.

  "No doubt that gave you few difficulties, Doctor," said Walsingham.

  "It presented a pretty problem, Sir Francis. "But, as you know, any code can be cracked, given enough time. The problem with the journal is not the code but the guarded and mysterious references within. It can only be understood by one steeped in the secret sciences. The average sort of turnip eater would have no hope of comprehending her writings."

  "So what are your conclusions then, Dee? And why am I listening to this?"

  "I anticipate that you have not seen the end of Isabella, Sir Francis. She was the real power behind the coup. Oxford would have been king only in name and I suspect that the Spanish do not control her either. She has vaulting ambition and a desire for power. Most witches are sad old women who gull simple villagers out of parsnips. I believe the Lady Isabella to be the real thing. From the references in her journal, she has developed a deep antipathy to you and your niece. I doubt that events in Essex have altered that opinion and I do not think that she is the sort of person who turns the other cheek."

  "Well, no doubt we will deal with her should she ever return to these shores," said Walsingham, rising. "Thank you for your warning."

  "Sit, please, Sir Francis. There is more." Dee made a seating movement with his hand. "Isabella's power comes from Bimini. I suspect she is far older than she looks, if I have determined certain astrological charts in her journal correctly."

  "You think she has found the fountain of youth, Doctor?" asked Simon.

  "Oh, I think she has found more than that, Master Tunstall. I think she has found a source of great power. This little trinket," Dee pointed to the sea diamond mirror, "is but a pale reflection of what lies in Bimini. Tell me, Sir Francis. Do you know where Isabella went when she left London?"

  "At the Low Countries, she joined a Spanish vessel carrying a unit of Italian mercenaries bound for the Americas," said Walsingham.

  "I was afraid of that. The Secret Service must stop her, Sir Francis, before she replenishes her power at Bimini."

  "You present me with a pretty problem, Doctor. My arm is long but . . . the Americas!"

  Dee gestured at William. "You have a race-built galleon and crew. Why not overtake her?"

  "Hold, Doctor. It's a big ocean out there. One ship cannot intercept another at sea," said William.

  "Can it not, Captain? Well, mayhap one can't normally but it all depends what you use to search." Dee looked at Lucy, meaningfully.

  "Send Lucy? To the Americas? Think you that I am demented?" Walsingham was outraged.

  "I agree with Sir Francis. It would be madness to risk her on such a venture," said William.

  Lucy opened her mouth to protest but Dee forestalled her.

  "Isabella must be taken and he
r source of power at Bimini destroyed. Without Lady Dennys, you will find neither." Dee walked to a shelf and pulled down the Secretum Secrotorum. "Aristotle places the fountain of youth on an island found beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The philosopher claims that most who seek the island will fail to find it unless they can see into Hades, for the island spends but little time in our world."

  "It's a portal," said Lucy, excitedly. "The whole island is a portal and it moves in and out of the Other World. That's why de Leon couldn't find it."

  "That is my conclusion," said Dee. "Methinks Bimini must have a massive source of power to move a whole island. Enough, perhaps, to speed Lilith home."

  "I see," said Walsingham. "We stop Isabella and Lilith destroys her source of power at Bimini by leaving Lucy. I like this solution. It deals with so many issues."

  "Will Lilith agree, Lucy?" asked Walsingham.

  "Lilith is my friend. She will do what I ask," said Lucy, neutrally.

  Dee pulled over Mercator's globe. "If Bimini is between the Bahamas and Florida then it must be about here, Captain."

  William studied the globe and traced a route south to the latitude line and then west across the ocean. "How much start does Isabella have?"

  "A little over two weeks, Captain," said Walsingham.

  "Two weeks! And it will take us half a week to prepare the ship for a transoceanic voyage and then warp her out of the Thames. The Swallow is faster than any Spanish ship, Sir Francis, but be reasonable man. She will have nearly three weeks lead on us. It's not possible to overtake her."

  "Not if you sailed by the normal route, Captain," said Dee. "But suppose you took a direct route." Dee traced a diagonal sweep across the Atlantic Ocean from Cornwall to Florida.