The Secrets of Life and Death (21 page)

The dog growled and Sadie shouted. Jack stumbled downstairs. Felix was standing with his back against the wall, the dog staring at him, in the ‘guard’ position, hackles up, teeth bared, spine straight.

‘I was trying to clear up,’ Felix said, inching towards the corner of the room.

‘Ches!’ Jack snapped, and after a moment, the dog backed off. She rubbed her wet hands on her jeans. ‘He’s just spooked. Now, Sadie, tell me what happened here.’

The teenager rubbed her neck, livid with parallel scratches. There was a bruise on her forehead, and she was filthy. She sniffed her shaking hand and pulled a face.

‘I told you. It was like a storm. It started outside.’ She rubbed a sleeve over her face, then looked at Felix. ‘Who are you, again?’

‘Felix. I’m a friend of Jack’s.’ He met Jack’s eyes, as she gazed back, and lifted the corners of her mouth in a reluctant smile.

Sadie went on. ‘It was like a whirlwind, like the one in
The Wizard of Oz
. It picked Ches up, I think, and threw him around the edges of the room. I could only just reach him.’ Sadie held up the cuff, the length of chain dangling. ‘It was horrible, I thought we were both going to die. I managed to get free. Ches was terrified.’

The dog chose that moment to yawn, revealing two perfect Vs of ivory sharpness, and Sadie patted him. Felix’s smile faded.

‘Then, something called my name,’ continued Sadie. ‘I was scared – and I thought we would be safer in the dungeon. So I dragged him down the stairs. Then it was like a lorry crashed into the house, there was this huge bang and everything started hitting the floor.’

Jack looked around. The room was carpeted with a thick layer of torn pages and dismembered books. ‘Then what?’

Sadie shrugged, and touched the scratches on her neck. ‘It went quiet. Really quiet and dark, I couldn’t find the lamp at first. Then we waited for ages. Then you came.’

Jack lifted a hand, hesitated, then took one of the girl’s, pressing it for a moment.

‘I’m so sorry. Thank you for saving Ches as well.’

Sadie looked at her, surprised. ‘Of course.’ She showed Jack the raw circle of her wrist, under the shackle. ‘I had to use the poker to get free.’ She rubbed the dog’s head with the other hand, and he leaned back to sweep her fingers with a pink tongue. ‘It picked him up like a leaf and threw him against the wall. I thought it was going to kill him.’ Sadie shuddered. ‘Did you see the birds?’

‘The rookery?’ Jack shut her eyes for a moment, a stab of grief cutting through her. ‘Yes, I saw.’

Felix lifted the other sofa back onto its feet. He sat on it and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. ‘I still don’t understand. You think this was some sort of attack? It could have been a natural event. Tornadoes do happen, even in Devon.’

‘No.’ Sadie stretched forward. ‘It started when the light went out, and birds started hitting the window. That was before the wind started blowing. Then it called my name.’

‘Are you sure?’ Jack was startled.

‘Yeah, twice. Then it sort of came down the chimney. It put the fire out, and started blowing around the edge of the circle. That’s when I carried Ches to the dungeon. The door blew shut.’

‘The priest hole is a sanctuary,’ Jack explained to Felix. She turned to Sadie. ‘If you hadn’t got free …’

‘I told you not to chain me up. I’m not stupid.’

Jack nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’

The silence stretched out. Then Sadie broke it, looking from Felix to Jack. ‘So. Someone’s trying to take me?’

Jack sighed. ‘Someone’s after you, and I have no idea why. I’m sorry, I didn’t know any of this was going to happen.’

Sadie looked back at Felix. ‘Are you going to help us?’

He turned to Jack. ‘You kidnapped her, and chained her up like a dog. Now she’s in danger. What do you expect me to do?’ He sounded angry again.

Jack opened her mouth, but it was Sadie who answered. ‘You can’t call the police, I’ll die.’

‘You believe that because Jack has told you—’

‘I
know
that. You do, too, if you stop to think about it. Look at what happened to Carla.’ Sadie held out her hand to Jack. ‘You can unlock this now. You won’t need to chain me up again.’

Jack searched her pocket for her house keys. She tried to stand, the room rolling around her in a nauseating manner, and she sat down again. ‘Felix?’

‘What do you need?’ The anger had gone from his voice, and concern had replaced it.

‘The bottle, it’s in my bag. And my keys, they’re still in the door.’ She leaned back until he returned.

The handcuff key was on the set. She unlocked the manacle from Sadie’s wrist and opened the bottle.

‘Oh, not that stuff! I don’t need it.’

‘I do.’ Jack took a swig, wincing, then wiped off the top. ‘And so do you. I have an idea.’

Sadie took the bottle, screwed up her face, and took a couple of sips. ‘I hate this stuff.’ She scowled at Jack. ‘I don’t know why I need it now, I feel OK.’

‘Because with a bit of help, and half a bottle of potion, I may be able to get you upstairs to the bathroom.’ Jack started picking over the rubbish on the floor, looking for the contents of the shattered pen pot. ‘Aha.’ She picked up a marker pen, which seemed unharmed, then turned to Felix.

He was staring at Sadie, then his eyes met Jack’s. For a long moment, she waited for him to speak, but he just gazed at her.

‘Felix,’ she said. He jumped a little, as if shaken out of whatever he was thinking. ‘I couldn’t tell you the whole truth,’ she continued, ‘because you would never have believed it. And I had to look after Sadie. If we make one mistake, she could die. Are you going to help us, or not?’

She waited for a long moment, before he stepped towards her. ‘If you do anything to put that child in danger, I will call the police.’ Ignoring a protest from Sadie he continued, stepping close to Jack, until she staggered back half a step. ‘And I don’t think it’s just Sadie who is in danger. You are being attacked by witches in your car, and in the street by this Pierce. Not to mention the police are already looking into Carla’s death, and this art detective is looking for forgeries he thinks
you
sold. There’s a big picture here, and I don’t think any of us see it yet. But somehow, it’s all to do with Dee and those documents. That’s the common link.’

‘And Sadie.’ Jack looked at the girl, seeing her wide eyes. ‘She isn’t just a pawn in all this, she’s central. So, you’re in, are you, Professor?’

He looked at Sadie, then back at Jack, one corner of his mouth sliding up in a smile. ‘I suppose I am.’

Felix followed Jack upstairs and held the stepladder as she drew symbols on the bathroom tiles in permanent marker.

‘You do realise I could probably draw these better than you could?’ he said. ‘I’ve been studying them off the medals as well as the girl … the one who died.’

She paused, looking down at him. ‘Carla. That must be a horrible job. I mean, looking at dead bodies.’ She inscribed another sigil on a tile by the ceiling. The upper floor was disturbed, but less wrecked than downstairs.

‘How did she die?’ he asked.

‘She got out of the circle after four months. It was too early. I only went out to walk the dog. When I got back, the door was open, and money was gone from my purse. She must have run to the station. I tried to catch her, but was caught behind the level crossing. The train was already pulling out.’ She swallowed hard, and Felix stepped closer.

‘I’m sorry.’ She could feel the warmth from his body.

‘She was dead by the time I caught up with her at the last station. I thought, if I could just get her between the circles in the car … but it was too late.’ She looked down at him, her face tight with the effort of not crying. ‘I tried to explain it to her, but she wouldn’t listen.’ She closed her eyes, the face against the window vivid in her mind. ‘She was just dead.’

‘I know.’ His baritone was soft, as if it rumbled straight into her brain. ‘She died a very gentle death, you know. Just fell asleep. If she was dying when you found her, she had four extra months, good months, off the streets.’

She opened her eyes, looked at his face, and stepped down from the ladder, close to him. This time the emotion was unmistakeable, she could feel the attraction between them pulling him, as he glanced at her mouth.

‘I’m going to run Sadie a bath.’ She felt uncertain, unsettled. She bent to turn the hot tap on. ‘Then I’ll draw the sigils on the floor.’

‘Jack …’

She straightened up, as he put one hand on her waist, as if to steady her. He bent slowly. She stood still as his lips brushed hers. She didn’t respond, but felt every nerve ending come to life where he touched her.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t know …’ He stepped back.

A clatter from downstairs broke the spell, and Jack stepped away, hands up.

‘I can’t …’ She slid around him so she didn’t touch him, and turned off the tap. ‘Could you carry Sadie upstairs? You’ll have to be quick, although the stairs are sigilled.’

‘Of course.’ His voice was soft, and he stepped onto the landing, taking the stepladder with him.

Jack tipped in a good slug of bubble bath, before she knelt to inscribe each floor tile, enveloped in a fog of lavender. The imprint of his lips and fingers seemed to linger on her skin.

‘Within the citadel are many chambers and towers. As I explored within the main wall, I saw women and servants doing their work about the castle. They seemed strangely fearful of me, crossing and blessing themselves in mangled Latin and their own cursed tongue. I can only think they fear my master, and his reputation spills onto me.

The castle is filled with children, grave-faced, going about their business. It seems the countess prefers them as maid servants, and they drift around the castle like ghosts, as pale-faced as owls and almost as silent.’

Edward Kelley
3 December 1585
Csejte Castle

The castle was built on grey rock, with a number of stone towers surrounding a central fortress. The servants scurried past me without speaking or even looking at me, as if I was dangerous in some way. I finally found a chamber where the captain of our abduction was seated. He was in close conversation with a small, twisted man, who had a scar that ran from the corner of his eye down to his neck.

‘Master Kelley.’ The captain bowed, while grinning, his white teeth flashing against his black beard like a hunting dog. ‘I trust you are … ?’ I did not recognise the word, so he tried again. ‘Well? Without injury?’

‘Indeed. Well. But Doctor Dee is ill. He has a fever and a cough. How may I address you, sir?’

The man frowned over my Latin, then his brow cleared again. ‘I am the Lord Asztalnokmester János Báthory of Somlyó.’ He nodded to the scarred man. ‘This is Tarnokmester László Báthory of Ecsed. Understand, yes?’

Lord László looked at me from dark eyes. ‘Sickness, you say?’

‘He needs a physician.’

Blackbeard – Lord János – launched into a flood of tongue-twisting dialect, the scarred man nodding, staring at me from his brown face. Then he turned back to me.

‘We have a cure for this cough. It is common in the mountains, yes? We will get one of the …’ I didn’t catch the rest of his words, as his Latin was heavily accented and some words unfamiliar. ‘I will send for help. Medicine, yes?’

‘Thank you. Yes.’ I watched as the twisted man limped from the room.

‘The count commanded that I show you the library,’ said Lord János. ‘From these books you will be able to help the lady, the Countess Báthory, yes?’

The ‘library’ turned out to be a small room off the family quarters, lined with books. I was much impressed with the selection, many were botanicals and astrologies that would help us. The alcove opposite had a door with a carving of a cross on it, and when I was alone, I pushed the door open. Inside was a chapel, plainly appointed as appropriate for a Protestant family, but made with fine polished woods and blue velvet cushions. I returned to the volumes, selecting three that I thought might be useful. I summoned a passing servant, and with much gesturing, conveyed a message that he was to get someone who would unlock them. He disappeared, returning with a fat steward or chamberlain, much flustered, who unlocked the chains that secured the books to the shelves, and carried them back to our rooms himself.

Dee seemed much revived by the new tomes, and spent a few hours hunched in his bed turning pages and reading me passages. Towards evening, he started to doze, and I found his head very hot and his breathing laboured.

‘Jane?’ he murmured, then opened his eyes. ‘Oh, Edward. Was I asleep?’

I took the papers away, and compelled him to lie down again. ‘It is late. Rest now.’ But I was worried. I had found nothing that might help the countess, and Dee seemed more feverish. I signalled that I needed help to a servant girl, and within a few minutes, the scarred Count László arrived.

‘The healer is here,’ he told me, in a soft voice. ‘She will not treat him with a man in the room.’

‘What? I don’t want some drab from the country …’ I recalled that I was speaking in English and changed to Latin. ‘Dee needs a physician. A doctor of medicine.’

He did not respond, but took my arm. ‘Come. She will help your master.’

I would have resisted, but the strength in his fingers gripped painfully and carried me away into the corridor. The woman, dressed in a green dress and brown headscarf, was ushered into our rooms by a servant. I was swept towards the main hall.

I noticed, as I passed, the child standing behind her. I judged her to be perhaps eight or nine years old, and clad in a simple grey kirtle. She stared back at me, her face as pale as the countess’s had been. A low word from the woman, and she took one step towards the door. When she turned to me, her face was creased with fear, her eyes so wide they looked black. Her lips trembled but a hand grasped hers, and pulled her out of sight into Dee’s room. The heavy door swung shut.

‘We shall dine.’ Lord László bowed to me and held out a hand towards the keep staircase. ‘We shall entertain you with stories of the Báthorys. And you will tell us of your many battles and adventures.’