History Keepers 1: The Storm Begins (19 page)

‘I’ve been very busy,’ Jake informed them, finally releasing his friend. ‘You’ll be impressed. I’ve found out all sorts of information.’

‘First tell us,’ interrupted Topaz. ‘Have you seen Prince Zeldt? Was he in Venice? Have you heard any mention of him?’

‘I haven’t
seen
Zeldt,’ Jake continued as if he had been a spy all his life, ‘but Captain Von Bliecke is
taking
Nathan and Paolo to him now. He is at a place called Castle Schwarzheim.’

‘Castle Schwarzheim! I knew it!’ said Charlie, banging the wall. ‘Didn’t I say so?’ He turned to Jake. ‘You never know where he may be hiding. He has strongholds in every corner of history. They say Castle Schwarzheim, “the black home” – that’s the name
he
gave it, of course – is the most diabolical of them all.’

‘What else did you find out?’ asked Topaz.

Jake took a deep breath and looked at the other two gravely. ‘Mina Schlitz said it was “four days until apocalypse”.’

For a moment there was silence. Mr Drake screwed up his eye, and looked from one to the other.

‘What apocalypse?’ Topaz wanted to know.

Jake shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’

‘And she said that yesterday?’ she asked.

Jake nodded.

‘So now there are only three days …’

Topaz exchanged a serious look with Charlie, then turned to Jake. ‘You’d better tell us everything you know.’

17 T
HE
D
IABOLICAL
T
RIBE

JAKE RECOUNTED EVERY
detail of his adventure – from the guards storming the
Campana
, to the discovery of the secret door in the confessional in St Mark’s Cathedral, to finding the architects’ drawings and the arrival of Mina Schlitz. He told them about the escape from Venice through the subterranean tunnel, the journey to Bassano, the rendezvous with the unnerving Talisman Kant and the discovery of the glass bottles. Finally he showed them the parchment he had taken from Mina’s desk – the list of names that was headed:
Guests at the Superia Conference, Castle Schwarzheim
.

After Jake had finished, Charlie and Topaz pondered everything for a while before speaking.

‘So, these building plans in Venice …’ Charlie finally asked. ‘What did they look like?’

‘Scary, like medieval science fiction,’ said Jake.

‘Those poor architects.’ Topaz shook her head. ‘We’ll have to get them out of there.’

‘And each of the drawings had the heading
Superia
?’ Charlie continued probing.

Jake nodded.

‘And did a mountain feature in any of the drawings? The summit of
Superia
?’

‘Not that I could see.’

‘And what about Talisman Kant?’ Topaz joined in the cross-examination. ‘You say Mina gave him a whole casket of gold for the contents of two glass bottles.’

‘Some honeycomb and some talcum powder,’ added Charlie dryly.

‘That’s what they looked like,’ Jake insisted.

‘
Very
expensive honeycomb and talcum powder,’ Charlie sighed.

‘So you know Talisman Kant, do you?’ asked Jake.

‘Never been formally introduced,’ Topaz replied, ‘but his reputation goes before him. Excessively nasty piece of work – not a moral bone in his body. He calls himself a “scientist” and conducts experiments on his own family, which explains that son of
his
. Still, his wife was even worse off: she ended up having her legs dissolved in acid.’

‘So does he work for Prince Zeldt?’

‘Long ago,’ Charlie said, ‘he was a member of the History Keepers. After it was discovered that he had been corresponding with Ivan the Terrible, suggesting methods of mass torture, it became clear that he didn’t have the interests of the world at heart and he was unceremoniously dismissed. Now he’ll work for anyone, anywhere in history, providing the price is right. Let me see that list of names again.’

Jake passed him the piece of parchment he had stolen from Mina’s tent.

‘
Guests at the Superia Conference
…’ Charlie mused. ‘This is an impressive line-up.’

‘Who are they?’ asked Jake.

‘I recognize some of them. Sixteenth-century billionaires, merchants, traders, mining tycoons … The notes by their names give us clues as to where they made their money. What on earth is Zeldt up to? The whole business is as clear as mud.’

‘Wait a minute – let me have a look,’ said Topaz, taking the list. A thought had suddenly occurred to her. ‘
Mon Dieu
! We’ve been so stupid,’ she announced. ‘The answer’s right here.
Guests at the
Superia
Conference
…
Find the Summit of Superia
. The summit is not a mountain, it’s the conference itself!’

Charlie took the list and cast his eyes over it again. ‘Miss St Honoré, you surpass yourself.’

‘Now we have double the reason to reach Castle Schwarzheim – and quickly,’ Topaz said decisively, gathering up her belongings.

‘Where is it?’ Jake wondered.

‘
En Allemagne
– Germany. It’s a two-day journey over the Alps. There’s not a moment to lose. Charlie, have you fixed the axel on that cart?’

‘I may not have solved the riddle of the Superia Summit’ – Charlie shrugged – ‘but I am still an engineering genius.’

‘You wouldn’t need to be an engineering genius if you hadn’t been conned by that dealer in Padua.’ Topaz turned to Jake. ‘He spent all our money on a glorified wreck.’

‘
And
two of the finest horses I have ever set eyes upon,’ Charlie defended himself.

‘I have money,’ said Jake helpfully, trying to ease the tension.

Topaz checked through a spy-hole that the coast was clear, slid the door back and led the way out of
the
barn to the offending cart. Jake actually thought it looked quite good. Two sturdy-looking bay horses were drinking from a water trough – along with Topaz’s white mare.

She ran her hand fondly through the horse’s mane, then led her away and clapped her firmly on the rump. ‘Go on! Home you go,’ she instructed, pointing towards a house on the hill in the distance. ‘I “borrowed” her for the night from a somnolent ostler,’ she explained to Jake. ‘I needed a very particular animal for your rescue.’

The mare did not move, just blinked her big eyes at Topaz. ‘Go now!’ she shouted, and this time the horse took off, still tacked up, across the field. Charlie and Topaz busied themselves harnessing the remaining horses to the cart.

Jake’s mind was whirling with a torrent of thoughts, but one question nagged him incessantly – not least because of the connection with his brother Philip.

‘Everyone has been talking about Prince Zeldt,’ he said, ‘but I still have no idea who he is. What exactly has he done?’

Jake’s enquiry was met by silence. Topaz continued to fasten the straps of the harness.

A good minute passed before Charlie finally answered, ‘We probably shouldn’t discuss it on an empty stomach.’

A few moments later the three of them climbed aboard. Topaz took the reins, and the cart set off up the road towards the distant mountains.

It was a bumpy, noisy ride, but Jake was surprised how quickly they sped along. Within half an hour they’d found a Roman road that cut straight across the countryside. Its tightly packed stones had been flattened from centuries of use, and their pace picked up still more. Topaz’s golden hair flew about in the breeze and Mr Drake’s feathers were ruffled as he gazed serenely at the passing landscape from Charlie’s shoulder.

‘How did you escape in Venice?’ Jake shouted over the noise of the wind, the wheels and the galloping hooves.

‘Mr Drake saved the day,’ Charlie announced proudly, feeding the bird a peanut. ‘We were being led away, when my feathered friend created the most spectacular diversion. A great flock of pigeons were sleeping on a rooftop – Venetian pigeons are famously fat and ill-tempered – when Mr Drake dived in and forced them to take flight. You’ve never
seen
so many angry feathers. We took advantage of the moment and leaped into the nearest canal. After some very unpleasant underwater navigation, we found our way onto a Chinese trade ship.’

‘That’s where the fireworks came from!’ Topaz shouted from the front as she flicked the reins.

Jake looked at the rolling hills, now bathed in morning sunshine, and wondered what lay ahead; what dangers they would encounter when they reached their destination. Charlie had described the stronghold of Castle Schwarzheim as ‘the most diabolical of them all’. Jake thought about the castle’s fierce inhabitants, most particularly the infamous Prince Zeldt – ‘a thousand times more evil’ than the worst killer he could imagine. More than anything, Jake wondered if the castle would reveal the whereabouts of his parents.

All day they swept along the Roman roads, stopping briefly at roadside inns to change horses, then carrying on. The sun travelled across the sky; the passengers in the back played cards or chatted – Charlie, to Mr Drake’s embarrassment, even sang some songs. Late in the afternoon Jake was entrusted with the reins. To begin with, he had some teething problems, and Topaz and Charlie had
to
give him a lesson. In a short while, however, he was handling the horses with confidence.

As evening approached, they started to climb the slopes up to the Brenner Pass. The horses panted with exertion, but soon the road began to even out. They stopped at a tavern in a mountain village to change horses again, and ate delicious local sausage and sauerkraut.

After dinner they returned to the cart. It was Charlie’s turn to drive. He lit the lanterns. ‘Why don’t you join me at the front?’ he asked Jake, who jumped up next to him, while Topaz climbed into the back. Charlie shook the reins and they set off again, the lanterns flickering as they trundled out of town.

In the half-light, Topaz once again examined the guest list for the Superia Summit. She couldn’t stop yawning.

‘I know you’re officially in charge,’ Charlie told her, ‘but I really must insist you have a rest. You haven’t slept in two days.’

‘No need, I’m wide awake,’ Topaz insisted, but her heavy eyelids told a different story. ‘
D’accord
– ten minutes,’ she agreed. She put the list to one side and gathered up some hay for a bed. ‘I’ll just doze,’
she
said as she lay down, falling instantly into a deep slumber. Mr Drake, who was also exhausted, fluttered off Charlie, perched next to Topaz, fluffed up his plummage, dropped his bill onto his chest and closed his eyes.

It was a calm night. After travelling in silence for a while, Charlie cleared his throat and whispered, ‘We don’t usually talk about the Zeldt family in front of Topaz. We all have reasons to hate them, but Topaz more than most. It’s to do with her parents.’

‘Did they kill her parents?’ Jake asked bluntly.

‘Sssh …’ Charlie turned to check that Topaz was still asleep.

‘Sorry,’ whispered Jake.

Charlie thought about how best to answer his question. ‘They didn’t actually kill them, but it was something along those lines.’

Jake nodded seriously.

‘The Zeldt dynasty goes back to the very beginning of the History Keepers,’ Charlie continued, ‘before they were even called
keepers
. Rasmus Ambrosius Zeldt, born originally in the frozen wilds of northern Sweden, was a close contemporary of Sejanus Poppoloe, who discovered
atomium
and drew the first maps of the world’s horizon points. They were firm friends, visionary scientists and great adventurers. Their goal was to explore history, to understand it, but
never
to change it. However, Rasmus grew increasingly unstable.’

‘Unstable?’

‘Criminally unstable,’ Charlie reiterated solemnly. ‘Around that time he met his wife, Matilda, on a voyage to England during the civil war of the seventeenth century – and by the way,
she
was the reason why the Zeldt family still speak in English. Drunk with the power of time travel, Rasmus descended into madness and split from Sejanus and the other time observers who had joined the society. He proclaimed himself King. Not of Sweden or Europe or the world even, but of Time itself. Really it was more
talk
and bravado than anything else. Many generations passed. The self-declared “royal family” lurked around history like a bad smell. Then King Sigvard was born and nothing was ever the same again.’

‘Sigvard?’

‘The grandfather of all our troubles,’ Charlie said ominously.

‘What did he do?’ asked Jake.

Charlie paused for effect. ‘He declared
war
on history.’ At these words, a shiver went down Jake’s spine. ‘He vowed to
change
the world, to
ruin
the world, to steep it in evil. In order to learn his diabolical craft he took a grand tour of history’s greatest atrocities. He observed, at first hand, the Spanish Inquisition, the witch hunts of Salem, the persecution of the Jews, of the Christians, of the Huguenots, the murderous rampages of the Thugees in India, the Islamic holy wars … King Sigvard watched it all from the shadows, influencing it where he could, learning his craft and planning his domination. He started a campaign of horror. The History Keepers’ Secret Service have been fighting the Zeldts ever since.’

‘Is he still alive?’

‘He died decades ago, in ancient Mesopotamia. Would you believe – a roof tile fell on his head! He suffered internal bleeding and died soon after. After his extraordinary reign, his malevolent career, his lifetime of evil, he dies in a household accident.’

‘I suppose that’s fate having the last word,’ Jake mused.

‘Not the last word at all, I’m afraid. He left three
children
. Xander was the oldest – the Dark Prince, as he is known, the one we’re on our way to see. The second, Alric, disappeared when he was fourteen. He has never been seen since. The third was Agata, and she was the worst of the lot.’

‘Worse than her father?’

‘To give you some idea, when she was five she tried to drown Xander, her elder brother, in a freezing lake. That’s why, to this very day, he’s unable to feel warmth. Or anything else for that matter. On another occasion she discovered her lady-in-waiting trying on one of her gowns. She forced her to sit on a throne of red-hot iron, with a red-hot iron crown on her head and holding a ret-hot iron sceptre, until she was scorched to death. No, Agata Zeldt is categorically the most evil woman in history.’