History Keepers 1: The Storm Begins (33 page)

‘I’m sorry,’ he yelled back as he flew through the air. ‘Wait for me here.’

‘Jake!’ his parents shouted helplessly.

He hurtled downwards. Just before he landed, he grabbed hold of the rope to slow his progress. Below him, the basket shattered as he dropped down and set off along the long nave.

Miriam turned to Alan. She was expecting a face like thunder, but was met instead by a look of fatherly pride.

‘You can take that expression off your face right now,’ she threatened.

‘Are you forgetting how we first met? The Egyptian mission, 872?’ asked Alan. ‘You crossed two enemy lines and burrowed twenty metres under the great pyramid of Giza to reach me. History seems to be repeating itself.’

He looked down at his son as he dashed out through the main door, heading for the quayside. ‘He’s an adventurer, all right,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Nothing we can do about it.’

29 T
HE
T
ERRIBLE
T
RUTH

JAKE POWERED DOWN
the Rhine, navigating the bends and eddies of the huge river. He wove his way between the galleons, trade ships and ferries, surfing the waves of the larger vessels. His determined gaze was fixed firmly on the horizon, searching again for the red sails of Zeldt’s warship.

Every twenty minutes, ensuring that all was clear ahead, he dashed below deck and tossed wood into the furnace. The huge pile of fuel was steadily diminishing, but Jake did not consider failure.

He raced past the towns of Düsseldorf and Duisburg. Around the ports, the townspeople seemed to be moving slowly and cautiously, as if expecting some horrific consequence of the eclipse.

Then, suddenly, just past the village of Dämmrich, Jake was plunged into a dilemma: half
a
mile ahead of him, the river split into two tributaries, its traffic dividing equally between them. Jake opened up his father’s telescope, but there was still no sign of the red sails. As he advanced uncertainly towards the wave-tossed headland between the two rivers, he made a snap decision and took the right fork, which looked slightly wider.

It was the wrong choice. Just as he steered into it, he finally caught a glimpse of the
Lindwurm
steaming along the other tributary. Jake yanked the rudder round; the
Aal
swerved dangerously, and was suddenly awash with foaming water that drenched Jake and almost swept him overboard. But he clung onto the rudder with all his strength. It shook crazily as he steered around the headland. At the mercy of the choppy waters, the boat suddenly lurched round, into the path of an approaching ferry. The passengers on deck cried out angrily, there was a hollow splintering sound, and the ferry carried on. The
Aal
was damaged, but still seaworthy, and Jake finally found himself in the calm reaches of the left-hand tributary.

From here the river widened as it drew closer to the sea. Jake was now quickly gaining on the red
sails
. At last he glided into the magnificent bay at Hellevoetsluis. The North Sea opened out before him. The sun was starting to set over the horizon, colouring the sky in hues of pink and vermilion. It had become a still, hot evening.

Jake scanned the darkening horizon. There were maybe fifteen ships dotted around, each a distant silhouette. Jake identified the
Lindwurm
at the far end of the bay. She was moored just offshore, near a fishing village.

Jake studied her through his telescope. There was a rowing boat moored to her stern, and provisions were being loaded up onto her decks. With the task completed, the smaller boat turned and headed back to shore. The
Lindwurm
bustled with activity as the crew made hurried preparations for the voyage ahead.

Now the great barnacle-covered anchor was being hauled up from the sea bed, and Jake, under cover of the swift-descending darkness, drew closer. He slipped below decks and turned off his engine, and the
Aal
glided noiselessly across the water.

As he approached the
Lindwurm
, Jake could see how large and handsome she was. Her sturdy timbers still smelled of the great Rhineland forests
from
which they had been hewn. Her gigantic sails, the same rich red as the sunset, had the lustrous sheen of velvet.

The great hull was punctuated at intervals with rectangles of warm light; these were the windows of the many finely appointed cabins. It was in one such aperture at the stern – this one protected by bars – that Jake spied a familiar silhouette. He examined it with his telescope, and saw, staring forlornly out to sea … Topaz.

A stern voice shouted orders from the deck. There was a low rumble as the engine started up, and a moment later the still water behind began to bubble as the propeller rotated. The wooden behemoth started to move towards the open sea.

Jake wanted to cry out to Topaz, but there were too many guards on deck. Then he spied two ropes that had moored the rowing boat earlier; they were still hanging over the side, not far from Topaz’s window.

He drew alongside the ship and launched himself off the side of his boat, his legs pumping, and crashed against the hull, grabbing hold of one of the slimy ropes. He turned to watch the
Aal
drift on
towards
the harbour, coming to rest beside some other fishing vessels.

Jake looked down and saw that he was positioned immediately above the gigantic propeller, an in-distinct shape moving just below the surface. It had been turning slowly, but now its revolving blades whipped up the water into a frenzy. Mesmerized, Jake lost concentration: his hand slipped on the wet rope. He gasped as he plummeted towards the water, the rope tearing the skin from his hand. He caught himself just in time and felt the chilling pulse of the propeller sweep past below his foot.

He wrapped the rope around his forearm and pulled himself up again. His forehead was wet with sweat, his feet drenched by the churning sea.

Jake now lunged across and took hold of the second rope. He had to summon all his strength to hang on with his bleeding hands; he worked his way along the side of the ship until he drew level with Topaz’s window.

Holding onto the metal bars outside, his chest heaving with exhaustion, he peered in. The cabin was now empty.

It was furnished with dark antiques and forbidding portraits of Zeldt’s aristocratic and
murderous
family. Jake noticed a picture of Zeldt himself, dressed in shimmering black, his face stern, his white hand clasping a globe. The image sent a shiver down his spine, reminding him that he was an intruder in this private, forbidden world. In front of the fireplace stood two high-backed chairs, and, from behind the nearest of these, a pale hand reached out and took a book from a side table.

‘Topaz,’ Jake whispered.

The pale hand froze.

‘It’s me, Jake!’

Topaz leaped to her feet, startled. She gasped as she saw Jake clinging onto the bars outside her window, then threw down her book and ran over to him.

‘
Que fais-tu ici
? What are you doing here?’ she asked, almost angrily. Her long black cloak accentuated the paleness of her face.

Jake was taken aback by her apparent hostility. ‘You’re not hurt?’ he asked softly, hoping he had misinterpreted her tone. He had not.

‘Why are you here?’ she barked again, her eyes burning with fury.

‘I came to save you,’ he declared breathlessly. ‘The bomb in the cathedral – we stopped it, Topaz!
So
I came to get you. As soon as I could.’

At this, Topaz gave a glimmer of a smile, but her eyes swiftly became resolute again. ‘
C’est très dangereux
!’ she whispered with a terrified glance round at the door. ‘We’re still close to shore. You can swim back from here. But you must go now!’

Jake was perplexed. ‘You don’t want to be saved?’

‘I am not thinking about myself, I am thinking about you. I can handle myself, but you will be killed. There is no question. So, please, I beg you, swim back to shore.’ Then, perhaps to mask her true feelings, perhaps to show more gratitude, Topaz tried a softer approach. ‘It’s such a relief to know you are safe. And Nathan, Charlie …?’

‘They went after the books. We don’t know if they were successful. But my parents are safe.’

‘You found them? Jake, I’m so happy for you! I knew it!’ Topaz clutched his hand through the bars and dropped her head so that he would not see the tears in her eyes.

Jake continued in his deepest, firmest voice, ‘Topaz, I have come here to rescue you and I do not intend to leave empty-handed. I’m coming aboard!’

‘No! That’s an order, Jake, and I am still in command.’

‘Well, I disobey,’ he said resolutely. He hitched up the rope and clambered onto the window ledge.

‘Jake, go back – go back immediately!’ Topaz demanded. ‘You mustn’t come in here.’

But Jake wasn’t listening. With new resolve, he scaled the side of the ship and pulled himself up onto the deck, ducking into the shadows behind the boxes of provisions. Most of the crew had gone below, but a group still remained in the bows. Jake picked up two of the boxes and, concealing himself behind them, headed for a staircase that led below.

Meanwhile, outside Topaz’s cabin, a guard was waiting with a tray of food. Holding the tray in one hand, he took a key from his pocket, unlocked the door and went in.

As he set down the tray, Topaz glanced fearfully towards the unlocked door. Feigning interest in her food, she approached the guard. In a lightning manoeuvre, she winded him with a thrust of her elbow, twisted his arm and brought him to the floor. She silenced his mouth with a firm hand as she took a small dagger from his belt.

‘Not a word!’ she commanded.

The guard looked sideways at the sharp blade, held an inch from his eye.

Jake burst into the room, quickly kicked the door shut behind him and threw down the crates he was carrying.

‘Help me, quickly!’ ordered Topaz. ‘The curtain ties – there!’

Jake whipped two lengths of cord from the window.

‘Tie him up,’ instructed Topaz.

With one of the cords he bound the guard’s feet. Topaz took the velvet belt from around her waist and fastened it over the man’s mouth as Jake used the other cord to tie his hands together.

‘Here!’ Topaz motioned for Jake to help her lift the body. They carried the wriggling, kicking guard over to an oak chest and shoved him inside. He was still struggling and protesting as she shut the lid.

Topaz turned to Jake. She was panting, her eyes glittering. ‘It was very brave of you to come here, but you must leave immediately!’

‘No. You’re not making any sense. We can both escape.’

‘It’s too late. I have already drunk atomium.
It
was an extremely strong dose. I have been sick for nearly an hour. That never happens. We must be travelling far – very far; possibly BC.’ Topaz looked at the clock above the mantelpiece. ‘We will reach the horizon point in less than thirty minutes, so you must leave immediately!’

Jake’s head was swimming with confusion. ‘Atomium? Horizon point? BC? What are you talking about?’

Topaz was losing patience. ‘I am travelling with Zeldt, wherever he is going: Mesopotamia, Assyria, Egypt – who knows?’

‘But you still have time to get out,’ Jake protested, shaking his head.

Topaz clapped a hand to her forehead, then took a deep breath. ‘This is a mission. I am on a
mission
.’

‘Wh-what?’ stammered Jake.

‘Before we left Point Zero, Commander Goethe asked to speak to me, Nathan and Charlie on a private matter – you remember? It was agreed that, if I was taken prisoner, I would not resist. Our organization has no idea where the Zeldt dynasty is hiding. It could be in any century, anywhere in the world. This is our first real opportunity in years to discover where it might be.’

Now Jake understood why Nathan had insisted that they should not go and rescue Topaz. ‘Then I’m coming with you,’ he said resolutely. ‘I have the atomium you gave me in Venice.’ He fished out the little vial on the chain around his neck. ‘I will take it now!’ He started to unscrew the top.

‘That’s impossible, Jake!’ Topaz took the vial and put it back inside his jacket. ‘All the doses must be of exactly the same ratio of atomium. Even if I had the slightest idea what Zeldt’s dosage is, or where we were going – which I don’t – it would be insanely dangerous for a first-timer to travel back more than a thousand years. You’ll end up killing yourself, not to mention the rest of us.’ Her tone softened once again. ‘Besides, I have to undertake this mission alone.’

‘But you’ve lost your mind! Zeldt’s not stupid. He’ll find out what you’re doing and he’ll kill you.’

‘He won’t kill me, I can assure you.’

‘How can you be so certain?’

‘I just can!’ said Topaz, so vehemently it made Jake a little frightened.

All at once Topaz felt bad. She reached out and stroked his hair. ‘It’s complicated,’ she said softly.

‘Complicated?’ Jake repeated. That was the word
his
mother had used. What were they all talking about?

There was the sound of a key turning in the lock. Topaz’s eyes darted over to the door. With lightning reactions, she bundled Jake into a closet. ‘Not a word, no heroics!’ she commanded, and closed the door.

Mina Schlitz, as brittle-eyed as ever, stepped into the cabin.

Jake knelt down and looked through a crack. He could see Mina’s black skirt and her red-backed snake wrapped around her forearm.

‘What do you want?’ asked Topaz coolly, displaying no fear of her adversary.

For a moment they stared at each other – two polar opposites: Mina in her tightly fitting uniform, granite gaze and jet-black hair as straight and severe as a guillotine blade; Topaz with her honeyed locks and wide indigo eyes that mirrored her ever-changing emotions.

‘The prince will see you now,’ said Mina in her passionless voice.

‘Am I permitted to eat something first?’ Topaz asked, feigning civility. ‘So much atomium on an empty stomach would be nauseating even for you.’

Mina’s snake had become restless. Its upper body was writhing towards the closet.