Nine of Wands

by Mark Hayden

  ‘I wish I could. Then again, if I could project power into that Artefact, I wouldn’t be me, would I? You need to keep it broadcasting until they turn up.’

  It was quiet in here, or it was until my phone burst out a Bollywood song. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘A young woman radiating magick has just ridden past on a bicycle. She’s heading your way slowly. You have about ninety seconds.’

  ‘Shit. Thanks.’ I ended the call. ‘They’re coming. One of them is. On a bicycle. Turn down the power and take cover. Quickly.’

  The plan was bonkers, but it was the best we had: see if anyone turned up to verify that Morris Chandler was dead. Saffron had taken up position in the mortuary at nine o’clock, when Chandler’s name had been released to the media. Mina had turned up shortly after with Scout and the picnic. Myfanwy does look after us.

  I ran to the entrance and cracked the door. No sign of the cyclist. I legged it across the service road as fast as I could and into the blood transfusion centre. My job was to stay out of sight and observe. According to Saffron, if I put my magickal weapons in the car and she put a shield on them, I should be pretty much undetectable.

  Several staff were either moving to intercept me or call security. I held up my badge, shouted, ‘Major incident team!’ and kept going until I was half way through the hospital. When the cyclist arrived at the mortuary, she’d extend her Sight well beyond its normal range. I needed to be outside that extended range, and Saffron needed to hide herself magickally.

  It was a risk, yes. You have to take some risks, and my team live or die according to my judgement of those risks. If more than one Mage had turned up, then Saffron would have run: I’d made sure that the mortuary had a back door and that her car was waiting outside it.

  I found a quiet corner and gripped my phone, waiting for messages. Two minutes later:

  Saffron: She’s leaving.

  Mina: She’s gone past.

  Me: Meet at the helipad. Picnic time.

  Saffron: I am so not doing that again in a hurry.

  ‘It was crude,’ said Saffron as she munched a sausage roll. ‘The target just swept the area. All she would have seen is the Artefacts, a few living people and a lot of dead ones. That wasn’t Eilidh Haigh.’

  ‘What did she look like, Mina?’

  ‘A woman on a bicycle. Attractive, I suppose, if you like sweaty women in Lycra. Some men do. She had long hair. She was white. There was a maple leaf on her top. With the helmet and the mirror shades, I couldn’t see her face.’

  ‘Maple leaf?’ said Saffron. ‘Rings a bell. Can’t remember where, though.’

  ‘Good work, everyone,’ I said. I broke my sausage roll in half. ‘Even you, boy.’

  Mina rubbed his ears. ‘Especially you.’

  Saffron looked puzzled. ‘How come?’

  ‘How did you think I was going to spot incoming Mages?’ I said.

  ‘Look for anomalies. Something like that. After all, you’ve met them before.’

  ‘And I’d have to get way too close. They’d see me long before I saw them. That’s why I got Scout – and Mina – down here. With permission from Hannah. It was your idea. I’ve been training Scout to alert us when he spots magick, and his job was to sound the first alert. Then Mina goes to fetch him, and if her arm tingles, we fire the warning gun.’

  ‘Sneaky.’

  ‘It worked.’

  ‘What now?’ said Mina.

  ‘Saffron and I are waiting for the Boss to decide. For you, it’s back to the Gnomish ledgers or shopping in Oxford.’

  ‘Much as I’d love to go shopping, Erin will want her car back. The Peculier Auditor should have her own vehicle, Conrad, and not be reduced to begging from the Arden Foresters.’

  ‘Couldn’t agree more. We’ll have to … hang on. What’s that?’

  An ambulance came round the service road at speed and turned into the helipad access. A team of ground crew emerged from a nearby building, donning their visibility clothing. When the ambulance killed its engine, I could hear the distant roar of a helicopter.

  ‘Incoming air ambulance. We’d better shift,’ I said.

  ‘You can take Scout, and I’ve left some clean clothes and your shaving gear in the Volvo,’ said Mina. She grabbed the last Jaffa cake and gave me a kiss. With a wave to Saffron, she jogged off the mound towards the car park.

  Saffron and I bundled everything away and cleared the area before the security guards arrived. We were loading up my Volvo when Hannah called. We dived into the front and I put the call on speaker.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ said Hannah.

  ‘Yes, ma’am. I spoke to the police five minutes ago, and Chandler is still in surgery. He’s alive, but there were complications during the operation. No suspicious activity anywhere else.’

  ‘Good. I want you two to watch the hospital in shifts.’

  Saffron and I looked at each other. She was thinking the same as me. ‘What about Haigh’s gang, ma’am?’

  ‘Dom has identified the property they’re using. With Vicky and Xavier to assist, he can manage. They’re going to take a break, then start observations.’

  Saffron’s face went blank. Except for her bottom lip, which she chewed. She was still thinking the same as me.

  ‘Ma’am, is that the best use of resources?’

  ‘I know you too well, Conrad. You’re not the only Watch Captain in England. In fact, there will be two of them on this job: Dom and Vicky. Don’t worry, I’ve told him to be careful. Are you okay to take the first shift? Saffron can go home for a couple of hours if she wants to.’

  Eating the picnic, and getting up before dawn, had made me think it was much later than it was. The dashboard clock was saying 12:00.

  ‘We’ll keep you posted, ma’am.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Conrad, I’ll do the same. Well done, both of you. That was a good plan you came up with.’

  ‘Don’t forget Scout and Mina. It wouldn’t have worked without them.’

  She laughed. ‘Are you going to put dog food on your expenses now?’

  ‘I already have.’

  ‘Go away and look after Morris Chandler. Goodbye.’

  I pulled my lip and stared at the main building of the John Radcliffe. Ugly thing.

  ‘You’ve got serious reservations, haven’t you?’ said Saffron.

  ‘Have you?’

  ‘Not my place to say, chief.’

  ‘I am not your chief. You are not a Gnome.’

  ‘What do I call you then? Sir is for emergencies, and you won’t let me call you Boss or chief. Vicky has a monopoly on Uncle Conrad, so what does that leave?’

  ‘I know you think I’m too old to use my first name, but give it a try, okay? And if you have genuine reservations, you should speak them. And the reasons.’

  ‘Always show your working out?’

  ‘Always. That way we can avoid prejudice.’

  ‘Your report into the Niði’s dock ambush. It said there was only one Mage: Eilidh. The bike girl must be that Jane Jones, and what if that South African Mage – presumably Willem van der Westhuesen – is there? That’s three Mages and three bodyguards.’ She opened her window. It was rather hot in the Volvo. ‘In your report on the Dragon affair, you summoned every Watch Captain you could for reinforcements. You only attacked when Vicky was kidnapped.’

  ‘You have an excellent memory, Saff.’

  ‘You called me that in the mortuary. I was too cold to object. Do it again, and I will call you Connie.’

  ‘That’s what Helen of Troy called me. You are not in her league. Try Conrad. It won’t hurt, I promise.’

  ‘Fine. Stop avoiding the question. You wouldn’t go in against three Mages and three bodyguards, would you?’

  ‘That’s not the real issue. The real issue is that I wouldn’t send those three in, but Hannah just did. Then again, she knows Dom Richmond as a Mage, and I don’t. We’ll leave it there. Do you want to go home and crash out for a couple of hours?’
r />   ‘Yes please. I’ll look after Scout, too. You can’t take him up to surgery.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She wound up her window and opened the door. ‘See you later, Conrad.’

  ‘I hope you’re on overtime,’ I said to a very sleepy looking detective constable, the same one who’d been in the command van.

  She yawned. ‘Yes, sir. They’ve changed the personal protection officer, though. There’s a strict limit on how long you can be on duty with a gun.’

  She was sitting on one of those corridor chairs, looking like a concerned relative. The armed officer was on the other side of the sterile area, near the recovery room. There was no way through to Chandler without passing one or other of them. I plonked myself down next to her.

  ‘Any news?’ I said.

  She looked at her notebook. ‘During the operation to repair his leg, his system started to shut down. They had to rush him to the MRI room. Something in his abdomen had ruptured. They had to pull a specialist surgeon out of another theatre. It was quite dramatic. I ended up holding his drip because the nurse had to run off for more blood. If he survives this, he’s going to be in a bad way.’

  ‘Poor sod.’

  ‘Didn’t he try to kill someone? Several someones?’

  ‘Yes. Doesn’t stop me being sympathetic. I once delayed an evacuation to pick up some wounded Taliban.’

  We fell silent for a moment. ‘Do you like gardening?’ she said.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’re not going to talk about your job, are you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Neither am I, so it’s gardening or something else.’

  ‘Not gardening. How about cricket?’

  She gave me a strange look. ‘Do I look like a cricketer?’

  ‘My girlfriend plays. So do most of her friends.’

  ‘Holidays. What’s your dream holiday?’

  ‘Have you done a lot of observation duties?’

  ‘It shows, doesn’t it? Go on. Where would you take this girlfriend of yours? And don’t say to the next cricket world cup.’

  Three hours later, I knew all about her divorce, her lack of children, her opinions on the Great British Bake-Off and pretty much everything about her except her name. There was a moment of excitement when Chandler came out of surgery and into recovery, and that was it.

  Saffron wafted in to give me a break wearing the yellow version of her new dress and looking radiant.

  ‘I hate you,’ said the detective. ‘That dress is gorgeous. Where did you get it?’

  Saffron deftly changed the subject to avoid saying that she had a dressmaker on speed-dial and handed me an envelope.

  ‘GG has a basement she lets out to students, and it’s empty at the moment. You can crash there. All the details are in the envelope.’

  ‘Where’s Scout?’

  ‘In the car park. I told him to hide and wait for daddy.’

  I shook hands with the detective. ‘Nice to meet you. I hope you’ve gone when I get back.’

  ‘If I’m still here when you get back, it’s because they’ve admitted me as a patient. Good luck.’

  Hannah rang at six thirty, dragging me out of a deep sleep half an hour before the alarm was due to go off.

  ‘We’ve found them,’ she said. ‘Chandler was telling the truth. They’re at a property rental in Stockcross, near Newbury. You can be there in an hour.’

  ‘Just me?’

  ‘I rang Saffron first so that she could get going. She’s joining the others. You can provide support.’

  I pulled my lip. If I said something, I’d regret it. If I said nothing, I’d probably regret it even more. ‘Ma’am, is this the best use of resources?’

  I heard her sigh down the phone. ‘I knew you’d say that. I thought you’d be a lot ruder, so you must have mellowed. This has to be Dom Richmond’s show. He’s got Vicky, Xavi and Saffron to help him and you in support.’

  I still wasn’t happy, but she’s the Constable. It’s her job to make difficult decisions. ‘Not just me, Hannah. He’s got me and Scout.’

  ‘I can’t wait to meet that dog. Rendezvous with them at the Hare & Hounds in Speen. I’ll text you the details.’

  20 — Support

  All the way down the A34, I had visions of Dom Richmond laying on a banquet at the inn before strolling up to Eilidh Haigh and saying, ‘You’re under arrest. Come quietly.’ It wasn’t quite that bad.

  Dom and Saffron were already in the village; Vicky and Xavi were drinking mineral water and waiting in the bar. The first thing Vicky did was send Xavi to get me a large coffee. ‘I got you this,’ said Vicky, pointing to a carrier bag. ‘I knew you’d be hungry.’ She looked at Scout. ‘By Nimue’s well, he’s grown. Is he hungry, too?’

  ‘Always. Dog food keeps better than human food, so I’ve got a bag in the car. He gets better fed than I do. Ravenous mutt. Thanks, Vic. What’s going on, and why was I the last to hear of it?’

  She glanced at Xavi, who was still waiting to be served. He’d gone to the other end of the bar without being asked. ‘You weren’t going to be involved at all until Hannah insisted. She wanted another Mage on the op, and he would only take Saffron, not you. I think the Boss wanted you to run your eye over his plan first, but Dom’s definition of support is different to Hannah’s.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Not for me to say. Here comes your coffee.’

  Xavi walked carefully over with a large bowl of pick-me-up and put it in front of me. He bent down to say hello to Scout, offering his hand to be licked, then rubbing under Scout’s chin. He frowned, as if he had something to say, then shook his head. Xavi is a Necromancer: maybe he could sense something of the Spirit that had become Scout. He sat up straight and looked at me. ‘Has Vicky told you it was her who found them?’ he said.

  ‘Ruth found them, not me.’

  ‘But it was your idea to use the police to contact all the property rental agencies.’

  ‘Aye, well, it doesn’t matter who found them. They’re at Lilac Cottage. Here.’

  She opened her laptop and showed me an aerial image of Stockcross village. She pointed to a lane on the edge of the village. ‘Lilac Cottage is the only property on that side of the road. As you can see, there’s a field behind it, then the churchyard.’

  I studied the screen. ‘What’s the plan?’

  ‘Dom and Saffron are in position at the church. They’re going to cross the field when we approach from the front. Xavi’s been practising his Occulting, and he can throw a total shield over us until we’re on the driveway. That way, we can block their escape route. We go for the Mage or Mages and tell the mundane occupants to run for their lives.’

  ‘And what’s my part in this?’

  ‘Stay this side of the A34 until we call you for prisoner transport. Dom says that Eilidh will be using extra magick to look out for any Mage coming into the village who hasn’t got special protection. You don’t have that.’

  Xavi had been checking his phone constantly. He looked up. ‘They’re ready. I’ll tell them we’re leaving now.’

  I took a Bluetooth earpiece out of my pocket, along with the spare phone I’ve been carrying. ‘Call me and put this on the dashboard when you get to the village.’

  She nodded and stuffed the phone in her pocket. ‘See you soon, yeah?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  There wasn’t time to eat or do anything other than finish my coffee outside while I sent a text, and then get the Volvo ready for action. All that I could really do for that was turn it around to face the exit and have the engine running. I tried to work out the kinks in my back and settled down to wait.

  Vicky didn’t bother with pleasantries. I answered the phone and heard a clatter as she put it somewhere in her car.

  ‘We’re in position,’ said Xavi.

  I eased the Volvo out of the car park and on to the road, moving slowly so as not to get too close to the A34 junction. I couldn’t jeopardise their missi
on by encroaching the target area, but there was no way that I was going to sit in the pub and wait to be summoned. As soon as they breached the boundaries, I was heading into Stockcross.

  Xavi spoke again. ‘Saffron says there’s been some Occulting at the property. Can’t make out who’s in there. It’ll make it much harder for them to see out.’

  I took that as encouragement and increased my speed.

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Xavi.

  Vicky has an Audi TT convertible. I heard the engine roar into life.

  ‘Entering Glebe Road. Go.’

  That was Saffron and Richmond’s cue, and I took it as mine, too. I put my foot down and tore across the roundabout on to the Stockcross road.

  In my ear, I heard the clunk of car doors opening. I tried to picture what was happening as they approached the large cottage. Some owner had taken the name literally, and painted the render a delicate pinky-purple. Vicky and Xavi would be lining up to blast open the front door. You can put blast-protectors on inanimate objects, but that’s serious magick, and you’d need one for each door and window.

  I was on a straight road now, and I really put my foot down. So long as no one came out of the Vineyard Hotel…

  Richmond and Saffron had to cross a 60m field to access the rear of the property. They’d be arriving about now.

  I heard the muffled thump of a serious blast of magick let off under a Silence. Vicky must have shoved the phone in her pocket. The Silence was lifted, and I heard Xavi shouting King’s Watch. More thumping. Then a whoosh.

  ‘Vic, it’s tear gas. Get …’

  The sound of coughing filled my ear. Shit. Double shit.

  I got to the built up part of the village and had to slow down. It was late evening, but still early enough for children to be out playing. At this speed, I’d stand no chance of avoiding them. I slalomed left into Church Road and put my foot down again.

  ‘Howay Xavi! Come ’ere!’ shouted Vicky. I could hear the shredding in her voice as the gas took hold. They’d be retreating now.

  I had a choice: left into Glebe Road, or carry on to the church. Vicky and Xavi’s car would be blocking the main entrance, so I carried on, praying for a gate into the field. There. I moved right, then swung left and smashed straight through the gate. The bars of the gate were stronger than the hinges and it flopped down. The car bounced over the wood, smashing it further, and I could see Lilac Cottage diagonally opposite me.