Dark Harbour: The Tale of the Soul Searcher (7 page)

A grin of self-satisfaction began to form on Floyd’s face. ‘You want to know the real reason you didn’t get in touch with Henry?’

‘What?’

‘Because he’s on the downward spiral. Everyone knows it. It’s not going to take much to push the bastard over the edge for good.’

‘So, what? You want him whacked?’

‘Too simple. Too pointless. You know, it’s taken me a while to learn what I was taught, but these days I think I’m finally getting it. Cat has a mouse, he likes to play with it.’

‘You sound so refined.’

‘And it doesn’t take a genius to know a bullet’s too crude an option.’

‘So, what do you want me to do?’ Devlan pressed.

Floyd twitched his head to beckon Devlan over towards the promenade. ‘You know about Henry and the Akasa Stone, right?’

Devlan nodded. He already knew where this was going but he wasn’t going to let on. ‘I’ve heard things. I know he’s been looking for it.’

‘Yes, for a long time.’

‘Who hasn’t? No one is ever going to find that goddamn thing. I don’t care who the hell claims they’ve seen it.’

‘There’s one place nobody has looked.’

They stopped walking as they reached the seafront. Floyd began gazing out across the grey waves.

‘And now you want to find it?’ Devlan asked, although it was more of a statement.

Floyd smiled an impish, slimy grin as though he was so pleased to finally tell someone about the great plan in his brain. ‘Henry has invested so much hope in finding it. And if I were to find it before him… Oh sweet baby Jesus!’

‘I can imagine.’

‘It will finish him off, Devlan. Destroy him. And hopefully his stupid organisation will go down with him,’ Floyd said with a chillingly serious tone in his voice all of a sudden.

‘You know we have no hope of finding it.’

‘I know where to find it. Do you, Devlan? Come on, I know you know this town far better than I do. Tell me what you know.’

Devlan could start to feel Floyd’s resentment and determination bubbling away under his surface, as though he’d been keeping it dormant until the time was right for it to erupt once more. It was as though he’d been plotting for years on how he could possibly bring down Henry Maristow, but then it had to be expected after what had gone on between those two. On one hand, Devlan found it reassuring that Floyd still had a bit of go in him, but he wasn’t going to be swept into it all that easily just yet. Not until he’d properly assessed the nature of this bronco of an idea.

‘I have no idea where that stone is. Nobody does.’

‘Interesting,’ Floyd said smirking.

Under his shades, Devlan rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, what do you think you know?’

‘It sank with the
Tatterdemalion
.’

Devlan certainly didn’t need any further explanation about that matter. Every Harbourian knew the tale of the pirates who’d sailed that doomed vessel.

‘Your daddy told you this at bedtime, did he?’

Floyd laughed. ‘I missed out on the bedtime stories.’

‘Join the club.’

‘This one’s before your time, huh? You believe in the Akasa Stone but not the
Tatterdemalion
.’

Devlan felt Floyd’s small eyes trying to read him. ‘If anything, the other way round,’ he replied.

‘Seeing is believing?’

‘The
Tatterdemalion
sank two and a half centuries ago.’

‘I know…’

‘Do I really look that old?’ Devlan said dryly.

Floyd grinned back at him. Devlan always was so cagey.

‘Anyway, I just want you to find that ship for now. Are you in?’

Devlan pondered for a moment, stroking the coarse bristles on his chin. It all seemed straightforward: a couple of months at sea, perhaps he could even do some fishing again while he was out there. What could possibly go wrong? Apart from the fact that he’d be working for Floyd again, the same man whose schemes came with self-destruct mechanisms that blew up in their faces every time. The same guy that would see an iceberg straight ahead and put the throttle at full.

‘Yeah. I’m in.’

‘I know you know the right people, Devlan. Your old buddy Harp. But whoever you bring in, I’m asking you because you’re the only one
I
can trust with it.’

‘This is going to cost a lot,’ Devlan said, already his guts sinking with what he’d just agreed to.

‘Yes, yes, I know,’ Floyd said as he reached into his trench coat pocket and brought out a bundle of notes. ‘Here’s something to start on. Looks like you could do with a proper feed. And some new clothes too. I’m sure you were wearing those same clothes last time I saw you.’

A sweetener, Devlan thought. Because it all gets sour from now on. ‘I guess rat soup won’t be on the menu tonight,’ Devlan muttered so quietly that Floyd didn’t hear a word of it. It might be a crackpot idea but he had no choice. He couldn’t have just stayed in his hole all the time. He had to take whatever opportunity the universe sent his way.

‘This stone can do a lot for us, Devlan.’

‘Yeah. It could.’

A loud silence passed between them. Floyd’s eyes were jittering with excitement, but Devlan couldn’t pick up on anything else in them.

‘If the miracle happens and we find the thing,’ Devlan added, and then felt the hairs on his neck stand up as he remembered Floyd’s other strange quirks of fortune.

‘Okay, I’ve got to go now,’ Floyd said as he stuffed his bony hands into his coat pockets. ‘Got some calls to make. Make sure you charge your phone up. I’ll be in touch.’

Floyd walked back to his office while Devlan gazed towards the murky sea that had swallowed this infamous pirate ship.

‘Do a lot for us?’ he said to himself. ‘You don’t know what I know.’

Chapter 1.5

Once Michael had coaxed the reclusive Eddie out of his room, the four of them made their way down to
The Waggon and Horses
. It was the closest pub to the flat and the first place they would go to on any pub-crawl. Often they would stay there all night, especially if they were having another pool contest.

‘I shouldn’t be out tonight,’ Michael was twittering on as he walked next to Danny, ‘I still have that essay to conclude. Been difficult, hasn’t it?’

‘Has it?’ Danny replied blankly.

‘Did you finish yours yet?’

‘Finish what?’

‘Someone’s clearly with it tonight. What’s up?’

Danny made a little mental rewind. ‘The essay? Yeah, I finished it.’

Whilst Michael’s main subject at college was Journalism, one of his modules was shared by Danny’s course. Their passion for classic literature was one of many things the two friends had in common.

One thing they did differ on was their clothing. Danny would often be wrapped up in scruffy, swarthy shirts, while Michael was usually to be found wearing his white blazer that made him look a bit like James Bond. He was always dressed smartly, as Catholics often seemed to be.

‘Wow. There is someone home after all,’ Michael said.

‘I was miles away.’

‘I can tell. So, that’s not like you. You usually leave them to the last minute.’

‘I wanted to get it done,’ Danny replied, but he knew there was a lot more to it than just that. He’d been a reasonable student in the first year but since September Danny had excelled. He’d found himself so full of inspiration, answers coming to his mind quickly and sharply. Danny saw the purpose in every little thing he did, and he knew the cause of it all.

The young student wanted to stand out, to be the best that he could become. He wanted to become much better than average. All so that
she
might notice him. So that she might look at him and find him desirable. Perhaps Danny could become an even better person than her boyfriend Samuel Allington.

Within Danny’s endless dreaming, amongst those waking fantasies where he was sharing a life with Stella, waking up next to her, sitting in front of the television deciding what channel to watch, he nurtured a hope that one day Stella would split up with Samuel. They’d been going out for years. Could it be that it was time for their romance to come to an end?

Up ahead from them, Larry turned round and noticed that they were lagging behind. ‘Come on, guys! Hurry up! By the time we get there the pool tables won’t be dead anymore!’

‘We’re coming!’ Michael shouted. He turned back to Danny. ‘What do you think? Diamond giving Eddie a team talk already?’

‘I think Larry knows we’re going to beat them this time.’

They arrived at the pool tables before the influx of other students came to drink away their loans. Larry put some fifties down to stake their claim on the table for the evening.

‘Best of five?’ Larry asked as he began to rack up the first set of balls.

‘Why don’t we make it interesting? How about best of seven?’ Michael replied.

‘Yeah, because all of us
so
want to be here,’ Eddie added, before being promptly ignored.

‘We’ll need some warm up frames first,’ Michael said.

‘I’ll get some more fifties at the bar,’ Danny said. ‘What are you all drinking?’ Being the one who worked, he was used to getting the first round in. Before any of them could reply, Larry caught sight of someone.

‘Hey there! How are you doing, man?’

They all turned round. Danny’s heart sank. It was Samuel Allington. Of all the people.

‘Good evening, Larry,’ Samuel replied cheerfully. ‘Where were you last week?’ He walked over to him and shook his hand warmly, as though Larry was suddenly the most important person in the world.

Danny so disliked him. Samuel Allington was just too damn nice and sincere to everyone that it had to be fake. Or maybe Danny disliked him because there was nothing to dislike him about.

‘Yeah, sorry about that. I had a bit of a sore head,’ Larry replied, actually proud of it.

‘Ah, I see! You students! We could have done with you, man. We lost 7-2.’

‘Damn. Well, I’m getting in some practice with these amateurs. Usually do on a Friday evening. Hey, do you want to play?’ Larry asked as he lifted the triangle from the pool balls.

What a sycophant. Danny wasn’t starstruck by the high flyer at all. Samuel Allington may drive around in a real BMW Z4 Roadster while Danny only drove them on his Playstation games, but that was no way to judge a person.

‘Take my place if you want,’ Eddie said as he offered Samuel a cue.

‘No, no I can’t tonight. Meeting some friends in a bit.’

‘That’s all right. I’ll kick their arses on my own,’ Larry said.

Eddie rolled his eyes.

‘Yeah, right,’ Michael chipped in.

‘Be careful,’ Samuel said. ‘Larry’s our star player in the league, you know.’

‘Ah, we taught him all he knows,’ Michael replied. As Larry wasn’t going to introduce them, Michael took it upon himself to do so. ‘My name’s Michael by the way. This is Danny here, and that’s Eddie.’

Samuel turned to Danny and Eddie and nodded a salutation to them each, a bright smile on his face as he did so. ‘Nice meeting you guys. You not drinking anything?’ he asked them.

‘Yeah, Danny was just about to get them in,’ Larry replied.

‘I’ll get them. What do you want?’

‘Nah, you don’t have to, man,’ said Larry.

‘Sure, no problem. You’re all students yeah? What do you guys want?’ Samuel persisted.

He wouldn’t be doing this to
try
to be nice, not with a bunch of guys he’d only just met. Danny figured it was easy to be giving when you had money to burn like he did, and when you had a girl like Stella to make you happy.

‘Cheers, Samuel. I’ll have a Bass,’ Eddie replied.

‘A Fosters would be great,’ Michael added.

Samuel then turned to Danny. There was something of an irony in asking for his usual drink, so Danny opted for another.

‘Yeah, Fosters too,’ he said.

‘Coming right up.’

As soon as he was out of earshot, Eddie shook his head. ‘Man, that guy’s a dick,’ he muttered, and was promptly ignored again. Danny, however, had to suppress a grin.

If he was honest with himself, he could feel Samuel’s infectious spirit, how he was able to uplift everyone he came into contact with. As he began chalking up his pool cue, Danny gazed on him as he walked gracefully across the room. He seemed so vivid, so ‘there’, like a magnificent eagle soaring above a field of turkeys. Danny realised he was a million miles away from being anything like Samuel. He felt like just another face in the crowd, learning all too well about the disappointments involved in reaching for heavenly bodies.

Would anyone want to leave a person like Samuel Allington? Was he, perhaps, as perfect as Stella was, the yang equivalent? Man, the two of them were like Brangelina.

After Samuel the Saint bought them all a drink, they got on with their pool match. It turned out to be quite an epic contest. Despite his indifferent demeanour, Eddie actually played very well and they had Michael and Danny at three-all as they went into the final frame.