Ironheart (24 page)

‘Well that’s just super,’ said Clench under his breath. ‘Not only are we buried alive but now we’ve got a psychopath for company. How much worse can this
get?’

‘There’s no point moaning,’ said Verity wearily. ‘It looks like we’re stuck with him for now. Come on, let’s get moving.’

They set off through the cavern with Sid trailing in their wake like a dark comet. In the wavering light of the torch, giant stalagmites cast twisted shadows across the walls.

‘Calc,’ whispered India as they walked along. ‘I’ve been thinking about what Nentu said to us when we met her. She said there was an Elder Spirit living under this
mountain. She said it wouldn’t be pleased to see us but that we had to speak to it before two days were up or something terrible would happen.’

‘And did you believe her?’ said Calculus.

‘It sounded real when she said it. Clench was there, he’ll tell you. It was as if she could really see and hear things that nobody else could. And, now that we’re here, I can
really
feel
something too.’ She struggled to put a name to what she was feeling. It was like a low oscillation that vibrated within her bones. But there was something else too,
something old beyond measure, something
intelligent.

‘I feel it too,’ said Calculus. ‘The caverns are filled with an infrasonic field, out of range of human hearing. You must be sensitive to it.’

‘But something here is
alive
, Calc. I know it is. What if there really is something down here with us?’

By way of an answer, a gust of air passed through the cavern, raising goose bumps on India’s skin. Then she heard the familiar hissing voices gathering in the darkness. Valleymen.

‘Everyone, get together,’ said Verity urgently.

Several indistinct shapes glided back and forth, just beyond the reach of the wavering torch beam.

‘
You were warned to s-s-stay away from here, short-lives-s
,’ they whispered in ghastly unison.

‘Sid,’ whispered Verity from the corner of her mouth. ‘How many bullets have you got in that gun?’

‘Why?’ he drawled. ‘You want me to shoot you now?’

Like a flash from a nightmare, two of the shadowy forms rushed from the darkness and India caught a glimpse of hard black claws and teeth. A brief image of the white reindeer, terrified and
bleating, flashed before her eyes, then Sid’s gun blasted once. The creatures shrank back to hover at the edge of the light. As they started to close in for a second time, a burning firebrand
dropped to the ground in front of them, followed by another.

‘Hey, you fools, get up here quickly,’ called a voice behind them. ‘Those devils won’t hold off much longer.’

They turned to see an open doorway high up in the rock wall behind them. A lean man, silhouetted against a bright light, was reaching out his hand. Clench’s instincts for self-preservation
kicked in and he was the first to grasp the man’s hand and haul himself out of danger. The others followed quickly and Calculus pulled himself up last.

‘Good grief, you were lucky,’ said the man as he slammed the door shut. ‘Those devils can turn a man into a soulless shell in moments.’

They stared at him. He had wild hair and a thick, knotted beard, and his clothes were in shreds. Sid reached for his revolver but Verity pushed his hand down. ‘Damn it, Sid, put that
away,’ she said. ‘You start shooting like other people start sneezing.’ She turned warily to the man. ‘Who are you exactly?’

But India knew who he was. From the moment she had heard his voice, she had known it. She pushed forward and looked up into his strong, blue eyes.

‘Dad?’ she said tentatively. ‘Dad, it’s me, India.’

He looked at her for several long seconds, his blue eyes gradually filling with tears of disbelief. ‘India?’ he said. ‘India, is that really you?’ He
threw his arms around her, lifting her clean off the floor and squeezing her until she gasped for breath. ‘It really
is
you!’ He laughed. ‘How is this possible? I thought
you were in London.’

‘I thought you were dead,’ she said, her voice catching in her throat.

He held her at arm’s length. ‘I know, and I’m so sorry, India. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about you and Bella.’

‘Then why didn’t you come home to us?’ she snapped.

‘I understand how you must feel, India. Staying here was the hardest decision I ever made in my life but I had good reasons, believe me. I think when you hear my story you’ll
understand why.’ He hugged her again and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

The others watched awkwardly, not knowing quite where to look. But at that moment, for India, there was only John Bentley.

‘Is Bella all right?’ he said, suddenly concerned. ‘Is that why you’re here?’

‘She’s fine, Dad,’ said India. ‘We’ve been looking out for each other since you . . . well, for a while now.’

‘That’s my girl,’ he said proudly. ‘I should have known if anyone was going to come after me it would have been you. You take after your mother. But damn it,
how
have you got here?’

‘Well, that’s a long story,’ she said, looking at the others. ‘A
really
long story.’

Bentley turned to survey the group. There was a flicker of recognition when he saw Clench and his eyes narrowed. Clench shuffled his way to the back of the group.

‘I am John Bentley,’ he said. ‘I apologize if I took you by surprise back there but the Valleymen are evil creatures that can send a man to the afterlife without the company of
his soul. I had to wait until you were close enough to one of the service tunnels before I could risk opening a door to let you in.’

‘I hate to break up a family reunion,’ said Sid sarcastically, ‘but we ain’t no closer to finding a way out of this hole.’

‘I’m afraid he’s right, Mr Bentley,’ said Verity. ‘We could really use your help again.’

She drew him a hasty sketch of how they had arrived at  Ironheart,  talking him through the stages of their adventure. His eyes opened wide when he heard about their encounter with
Lucifer Stone in the missile room.

‘Stone’s here?’ he said in a hushed voice. ‘Then it’s as bad as I feared. Once he has those weapons, no one will be safe.’

‘We tried to stop him,’ said India. ‘We were going to blow up the geothermal plant before Stone got here. Perhaps we still can still do that?’

‘I doubt we can do anything from down here,’ said Calculus.

‘Calc’s right,’ said Verity. ‘The best we can hope for is to keep out of Stone’s way until he leaves.’

‘I know these tunnels like the back of my hand,’ said John Bentley. ‘I can lead you to an exit, but we’ll need to lie low for a while. We’re safe enough in here but
the caverns are thick with Valleymen during the hours of darkness. In the meantime, perhaps I could offer you something to eat?’

He led them to a wide, dry cave that had been partially converted into a living space. There was a camp bed, some personal effects and a small wooden desk spilling over with papers and
notebooks. India noticed a cracked and grubby photograph of her and Bella on the desk. Along one wall, a set of shelves groaned beneath a stack of canned goods bearing Russian labels. Bentley
lifted down tins of beans, sardines and pears in syrup which he opened while Verity lit a small fire using a stack of Bulldog’s banknotes, striking a flame expertly using the edge of her
hunting knife against a piece of flint. As the bedraggled group peeled off their wet layers and held out cold hands to the fire, the smell of oil and salted fish began to fill the air. India
realized she was salivating.

‘You’ve got enough food in here to feed an army,’ said Bulldog as Verity draped a blanket over his shoulders.

‘Yes,’ said Bentley. ‘The rats have been at the dried goods but the tins are mostly fine and I can get fresh fruit and vegetables from the gardens when I need it.’

Bentley asked a stream of questions over the meal. India talked about home in between mouthfuls but she decided not to tell him about Roshanne’s scheme to marry her off
to Clench just yet.

‘What about your friend over there?’ said Bentley. ‘Isn’t he going to eat?’ Sid had positioned himself as far away as possible at the other end of the cave and was
sulkily cleaning his pistol.

‘He’s no friend of ours,’ said Clench.

On an impulse, India put some beans on a metal plate and took them over to Sid.

‘What do you want?’ he said suspiciously.

‘I thought you might want some food.’ She set the plate down carefully and backed away.

‘I didn’t ask you for nothing.’

‘Well don’t eat it then!’ she snapped. ‘See if I give a damn!’ She turned to walk away but he called after her.

‘Hey – how’s your metal man? Is he going to live?’ India was surprised to see that Sid looked almost concerned. ‘I thought my pa’d be pleased if I shot him.
But he’s never pleased about nothing I do, so I’m sorry I done it now.’ India wasn’t sure if that was an apology or not. ‘You can tell your friends I ain’t about
to kill none of them neither. Not unless they come trying to kill me first. There’s only one man I want to kill when I get out of here and that’s my pa.’ He went back to cleaning
his pistol. ‘And thanks,’ he said as she walked away. ‘For the beans, I mean!’

Back at the fire she sat down next to her father and he patted her hand.

‘OK, Dad, tell us what’s been going on here – and don’t leave anything out!’

He poked the fire thoughtfully, sending a shower of paper sparks into the air. ‘I first found this place about three years ago,’ he began. ‘Angel Town had always been rife with
rumours about a treasure trove in the mountains and the Company were offering huge rewards for information about its location. Every rigger had their own theories about where it might be and I had
my own ideas too. I spent six months trying to talk to the local tribesmen but they just used to mutter something about mountain spirits and then refuse to speak to me. Eventually I met a crazy old
woman who lived on her own in the forest – she was as blind as a stone.’

India’s eyes widened. ‘You mean Nentu. We met her too,’ she said. ‘She gave us a map showing us how to get here.’

Bentley looked surprised. ‘Well she didn’t do that for me,’ he said. ‘At first she sent me away without telling me a thing. But that night I had the most vivid dream I
ever had in my life. I dreamed I was an eagle, flying over the landscape. I could feel the wind under my wings and sense the small creatures hiding from me in the forest. I saw the whole land; the
mountain, the lake, the trees. And then I saw Ironheart, right here on the mountainside as clear as daylight. When I woke up I knew exactly where to find it.’ He stared absently into the
fire. ‘Damnedest thing . . . When I finally got here I found the underground gardens and realized what a treasure trove this place really was.’

‘We saw them,’ said India excitedly. ‘They’re beautiful.’

‘There are seeds for every major food crop in the world in there. They have the potential to feed millions.’ He shook his head in wonder. ‘I thought if I could bring the seeds
back to London then people wouldn’t need to fight over every last scrap of food. It would be a new start for everyone. I wanted to catalogue the seeds properly and bring samples home before
Stone or anyone else got here. But it was late in the season and I had to get back to London before the winter set in. I did my best to hide the location of Ironheart. Before I came back to London
I burned all my records, then I programmed two small computer chips, one to hold all my notes and the other with the codes to operate the doors.’ He glanced at the pendant around
India’s neck. ‘I never thought anyone would use them to follow me here, let alone my own daughter.’

India grinned.

‘When I returned in the spring Ironheart had changed. The mountains were being rocked by earth tremors and even the sky looked strange. When I got inside I had my first encounter with
those foul creatures, the Valleymen. Nentu had warned me about them but even so I was absolutely terrified of them. But I was determined to save the seed vaults.’ He patted the bulky shoulder
bag that lay beside him. ‘These are the best samples I could gather: wheat, barley, oats, fruit trees and vegetables, all carefully catalogued and packaged. The contents of this bag will
ensure that the Hunger Wars are over for good. But the longer I stayed here, the more I was haunted by the feeling I was not alone. I became convinced that something was watching me, something
ancient.’

‘I felt that too,’ said India with a start.

‘Whatever it was didn’t much like me being here,’ said Bentley. ‘The Valleymen were always out looking for me and I began to realize it was controlling them
somehow.’

India shivered. ‘So why did you stay?’ she said. ‘Why didn’t you just leave once you had the seeds and come home? We needed you, Dad –
I
needed
you.’

‘I meant to, India,’ he said. ‘But then I discovered something incredible.’ He took a deep breath. ‘There is something buried under these mountains, beneath
Ironheart itself. Something ancient, an
artefact
, if you like, and its presence here changes everything.’