by Perrin Briar
“More real by telling a lie.”
Jera turned and looked at their ragtag crew.
“At least they’re trustworthy,” she said.
“Are they?” Elian said. “I don’t trust them.”
Jera blinked in surprise.
“But you brought them here,” she said.
“So? Whoever trusted a thief?”
“So, let me get this straight… We’re putting the fate of the universe in the hands of a bunch of criminals that even you don’t trust?”
“That’s about the long and short of it. Although you’ll notice I didn’t mention the fate of the universe being in their hands. Anything left in their hands is liable to go missing.”
Chapter Nine
Richard left the greater part of his entourage outside the walls of the Capital. He took three handpicked men with him. They each wore heavy hoods over their heads and passed through the city streets on foot.
They crossed the road and headed toward The Dragon and Knight Inn, located in the heart of Old Town. At the door Richard took one of his men aside, a pimple-faced lad by the name of Drew.
“Go to the Central Library and bring back everything they have on rootmen and Tangents,” Richard said.
Drew made to salute, but refrained. They were under orders not to draw attention to themselves, nor to him. Richard watched Drew’s back merge into the great writhing mass of the Capital.
Despite all the time his men had spent digging at the base of the Tangent Tree they had not found the tunnel Stump and Jera had disappeared down. It was like they had vanished. The only way to find them was to learn everything he could about the Tangents. There would be something in the ancient texts he could use, he was sure of it.
Richard and the remaining two men entered the inn. Men sat at tables playing cards and dice. Great roars went up when luck was with them, angry outbursts when it wasn’t. It was the kind of pub people go not to be alone when they drink, and then end up fighting with anyone they do befriend.
Richard approached a large-breasted woman behind the bar. When she laughed, her whole body shook, which got the attention of every roving male eye in the establishment.
“Excuse me,” Richard said, raising his voice. “I would like two rooms.”
The landlady shook her head of short curls.
“I’m afraid we’re full,” she said.
“Then I’ll take your room,” Richard said.
The landlady put her giant hand on her hip.
“Huh,” she said. “That’s a new one.”
Richard reached into his pocket and extracted five gold coins. The landlady’s eyes widened and shone with the glint of gold. She leaned in close. Richard could smell the alcohol on her breath.
“And would you be requiring me to be in bed with you?” she said.
“No, ma’am.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Suit yourself,” she said. “Though come to think of it, we do have a couple of rooms spare. But one of your men might have to sleep on the floor.”
“That’s fine,” Richard said.
The landlady gave a silver coin to a large man sat at the bar.
“Sorry, Bedford,” she said, “but your rooms have just been repossessed.”
The large man got to his feet and made fists with his spade-like hands. The constables behind Richard tensed.
“What?” the large man said. “You can’t give my rooms away!”
“You didn’t let me finish,” the landlady said, eyes shining. “You’ll be sharing my bed.”
A big “Wahey!” went up around the room, and the dice resumed rolling. The big man smirked and returned to his seat, admiring the landlady’s voluptuous body. She turned to Richard.
“Follow me, if you please,” she said.
The landlady carried a naked candle in her hand, letting the wax run over her meaty fingers. They came to the end of the corridor. The shadows were deep and dark.
“Your rooms are these two on the end,” the landlady said. “Candles are on the windowsills inside.”
“Thank you,” Richard said.
The landlady headed back down the corridor. She cast a look over her shoulder. A look of confusion? Bafflement? Perhaps a sliver of fear. Richard couldn’t quite put his finger on it. She was swallowed by the darkness before he could decide.
“Stand guard,” Richard said.
The men formed up on either side of the door. Richard pushed the door open, his free hand on the hilt of a knife he kept at his waist. The room was dark, and nothing lurched out at him.
He went into the room. The inn backed up against another building and little light filtered through the window, but he could make out the slim edge of the candles on the sill. He lit the candle, producing a small orb of light. He turned, and started, almost dropping the candle. He wasn’t alone in the room.
The man was tall and slender, wearing a purple pinstripe suit, greased back hair, and an expressionless face. His eyes were half-closed, as if he were almost asleep. He held himself with the knowledge of someone who carried a great burden on his shoulders, and relished the fact that everyone knew. He walked with his head up, back straight.
“Terence,” Richard said. “How did you know I would be here?”
“How couldn’t I know? I trained you,” Terence said in his dulcet tones. “For a person in your situation the Dragon and Knight inn is the most logical choice.”
“‘My situation’?”
Terence peered around the small room looking for somewhere to sit, but between the bed with springs hanging out the sides, and a wooden chair with a leg missing, it left him only with the option to stand.
“You shouldn’t have come into the city without alerting your father to your presence,” Terence said. “He might think you’re up to something.”
“I am up to something.”
“Something a little more,” he chose the word carefully, “mischievous than perhaps you are. Why did you send your man to the library?”
Richard tried not to let his surprise show. He was always startled by how much Terence knew.
“I need to find someone,” he said.
“A librarian, perhaps? You’re meant to be in Time preparing for your marriage.”
His eyes caught the low glow of the candle light and shone.
“I’ve heard alarming news that you’ve misplaced certain persons,” he said, tutting. “I dread to think what the future holds when you can’t even keep your own fiancée in check. I know your father would be most disappointed if you didn’t manage to find her in time. All those plans. Wasted.”
Richard’s heart raced in his chest, but he took comfort in the fact his father didn’t know. Yet.
“Everything is in hand,” Richard said.
“I hope so, for your sake.”
Terence headed for the door with his slow gait. He turned.
“Your father will wish to see you,” he said. “You know how sentimental he gets.”
“I’m afraid I’m only in town for a little while. I’ll see him in a couple of days at the wedding.”
“Your father will insist. He’s such a family man. You know how much he misses you.”
Terence left. Richard cursed.
Chapter Ten
“Spit, if the key doesn’t work, how do we get the display cabinet open?” Elian said.
“Same as before – with concentrated acid.”
“Do you have any?”
“Not on me.”
“Can you get some?”
“I have some at home.”
“Get it. And bring the Mooney torch.”
Spit turned and headed for the door. There was a palpable sense of excitement and urgency in the air, mostly driven by Elian’s leadership.
“Lewis,” Elian said. “We’ll need horses.”
“How many?”
“As many as you can find.”
“I’ll do my best. The Force keeps a close eye on their animals these days.
”
“We’ll need two fresh ones with Felix outside town, and one for each of us here.”
“All right,” Lewis said, before turning and heading toward the door.
“Oh, and Lewis,” Elian said.
“Yeah?”
“We need costumes.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Lewis left.
“What can I do?” Jera said to Elian.
“We need someone to distract the guard. It’s either you or…”
Grandfather Time sat to one side, picking his nose like he was mining for gold.
“How should I do it?” Jera said.
“By using your feminine charms.”
“I haven’t got any feminine charms.”
“Of course you do,” Elian said. “They just might be a bit rusty. You have to be sexy and seductive. Can you do that?”
Jera lowered her chin, widened her eyes, and looked Elian in the eye.
“Who?” she said in a cooing voice. “Me?”
She giggled behind her hand. Then she spoke in a deep sultry voice.
“I saw you earlier,” she said. “I need a hand with my bags. You look so big and strong…”
She folded her arms and had a smirk on her face.
“Where did you learn that?” Elian said.
“You don’t think I could spend all my time around my sister and not learn how to flirt, do you? Do you think it’ll work?”
Elian cleared his throat.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think it might. Excuse me.”
Elian approached Blake, who’d just entered.
“You like him, don’t you?” Mac said, sidling up to Jera.
“Who?”
Mac gave her a flat stare.
“Elian?” Jera said. “Pfft. Don’t be ridiculous.”
But her eyes drifted over to Elian again as he nodded his head at whatever Blake was saying.
“Is it that obvious?” she said.
“To anyone with eyes,” Mac said.
“Do you think he knows?”
“Consciously? I don’t know. But I’m sure he does on some level.”
There was a pause.
“Do you know?” Mac said.
“Know what?”
Mac smiled.
“Apparently you don’t know either,” he said, and moved toward Elian and Blake.
“No, I’m going to need two teams,” Blake said. “One on an opposite building to us, another farther away so we can get advanced warning if the Force comes at us.”
“We don’t have enough people for two teams,” Elian said. “We’ll have to make do with a skeleton crew.”
Blake looked at Grandfather Time, who bumped into a table, spilling a jug of water onto the floor.
“Him?” Blake said. “I have to use him? We can’t use him as a look out! He can hardly see!”
“I wouldn’t say that, sonny,” Grandfather Time said. “My eyesight’s so good, I can see into next week.”
He lifted his eye patch and his robotic eye whirred and protruded several inches. Blake screamed.
“What the hell is that?” he said.
“It’s an artificial eye,” Grandfather Time said. “Sees better than your eyes, I’ll bet.”
“Are you a sorcerer?”
“Of course not. I’m a scientist. The only sorcery I like is with an attractive young woman. Sauc-ery. Saucy. Get it?”
Grandfather Time tittered to himself. Blake pressed his lips together.
“He’ll do,” he said.
Ten minutes later, Spit returned carrying a large heavy bag. He extracted several small vials of green liquid that he handled very carefully. He handed one to each of them.
“In case we get picked up by the police, here’s a vial for each of you,” he said. “Tip it onto your handcuffs and they’re gone.”
“What if we spill it on our hands?” Jera said.
“Then, goodbye hands.”
Spit extracted a square block with a glass front. Elian took it and pressed a button on the top. A light flickered from the glass end, and then stopped. Elian pressed the button a few more times to no avail. He slapped the side with his palm.
“It’s not working,” Elian said.
Spit took it from him, unscrewed the back, and tipped it upside down. Something small hit the table in a puff of black dust. As Jera looked closer, she noticed it had tiny claws and big floppy ears. Jera squealed.
“It’s a bat!” she said.
“A dead bat,” Elian said.
“Looks like the batties have run out,” Spit said.
“We’ll need fresh ones,” Elian said.
“If I had time I could get some.”
Elian checked his watch.
“We’ve got twenty minutes,” he said. “We can’t get more batties in that time. Damn! We need to come up with a way to stop the Mooneys. And fast.”
“Mooney?” Jera said. “What’s a Mooney?”
“Mooneys are a type of flower that are often used for security purposes,” Mac said. “Their petals open with moonlight, not sunlight. Hence, Mooney. And when they bloom, they have all kinds of natural traps: snares, poisonous darts, pressure pads. You name it. They’re one of the nastiest things out there. A nightmare to us honest thieves.”
“Well, it rules out working at night,” Spit said. “Daylight’s the only option now.”
“But there are people around during the daytime,” Elian said.
“Why don’t we cover the roof?” Jera said. “No moonlight, no Mooneys.”
“Won’t work,” Spit said. “If it did, anyone could break in any time there was a cloud in the sky. The Mooneys’ defences might be dimmed, but it won’t stop them. They can sense it’s night time.”
“That’s great,” Blake said. “We can’t do it during the daytime, and we can’t do it at night time. But yet we have to do it after the museum’s shut!”
Elian blinked and cocked his head to one side.
“We’re doomed before we’ve even begun!”
“We’ll do it during closing time,” Elian said, a smile spreading across his face. “There will be fewer, or no, people, and the Mooneys won’t be working yet. It’s our best chance.”
“You mean our only chance,” Blake said.
“According to my calculations you will have approximately seven minutes to break into the glass container, get the item, and then escape,” Spit said. “After that, the Mooneys will be activated, and there’ll be no way out.”
Elian looked out the window at the dying sun.
“And unless we leave right now we won’t even have that,” he said.
Chapter Eleven
Elian would have preferred to have walked to the museum to avoid attention, but sat now on a horse, looking down at the people zigzagging along the pavement to avoid bumping into one another, and failing half the time, he realised they’d made the right decision.
Elian wore a pale blue shirt with white insignia and smart black trousers. How Lewis had managed to get his hands on a museum employee’s uniform – and in his size – he had no idea. Jera wore a wig of long red hair that fell past her shoulders and a black riding dress with divided skirts. She hadn’t looked so good since they had first escaped Time. They pulled up in front of the museum.
“Well,” Jera said. “It’s showtime.”
Elian felt a spike of concern in his chest.
“Wait,” he said. “Jera, you don’t have to do this.”
“Flirt with a big butch guy? You make it sound like work.”
“It’s going to be dangerous.”
“Elian Stump, are you in danger of becoming a gentleman?” Jera said.
“Not if I can help it.”
“If we want the last piece, do I have any choice?”
Jera smiled and climbed off her horse. She headed up the stairs toward the museum entrance clutching her bag close. A flood of people were leaving. Only Jera was entering.
“She’s a speci
al lady,” Blake said. “I’m not surprised you kidnapped her.”
“I didn’t kidnap her,” Elian said. “But maybe I should have.”
The road was crammed with a busy throng of people pushing and shoving to a million different places at once. Elian felt awkward in Blake’s company.
“Are Mac and Felix in place?” Elian said.
“Oh yes, you don’t need to worry about them. They’ll never let you down.”
Elian sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “For letting you down.”
Blake looked off in the distance, not really seeing anything.
“We’d known each other since we were kids,” he said. “How could you do something like that to me?”
“I’m sorry. I went back for the cog, I did, but by the time I got there it was too late.”
“You should have got the cog first.”
“I know. But I saw the opportunity to make a lot more money.”
“Are you sure you can stick to the plan this time?” Blake said.
“Of course I can. What’s the problem? Don’t you trust me?”
Blake glared at Elian, who had a cheeky smile on his face. Blake’s scowl broke and he smiled half-heartedly.
“Get out of here,” he said.
“Wish me luck,” Elian said as he climbed off his horse.
Blake took Elian and Jera’s horses by the reins and led them down the road. Elian climbed the stairs and approached the museum ticket booth. A tired, bored-looking woman sat behind the desk.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the ticket vendor said. “But the museum closes in five minutes.”
“That’s okay,” Elian said. “There’s only one display I want to see anyway.”
“Okay,” she said. “But you’ll have to hurry.”
She issued him a ticket.
“I will,” he said. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twelve
Jera checked the map drawn on the palm of her hand and turned left. The drawings were smudged with sweat. She walked down a long corridor and turned right. She entered the ‘Hats From Around The World’ room. She checked over her shoulder and began stuffing the hats into her bag.
Once she had placed the last hat in, she closed the bag and dragged it toward the door. It was heavier than she expected. She pulled it into the corridor and began the journey back to the ‘Rare Artefacts’ room.