Lessons from Underground (Master Diplexito and Mr. Scant Book 3)
my mentor of course but found myself wondering what I’d do if he rushed off and left me here in the nothingness We were in pursuit of a gang of thieves who had broken into the Royal Pavilion in Brighton two or three hours away by motorcar They had stolen many of the fine vases and fixtures that the former queen had put on display there Mr Jackdaw our contact at Scotland Yard said his trusted sources spotted the gang going into what they called the old smugglers caves These sources apparently weren’t capable of doing anything about it though which is where Mr Scant and I became useful If we can clear up this little problem without too much kerfuffle the higher-ups will take my intelligence intelligence network more seriously Mr Jackdaw had told me on the telephone And there’s a reward from the mayor of Brighton in it for you so I’d call that worthwhile Wouldn’t you And so here we were late at night in the chilly caves At times like this Mr Scant’s gift for stealth only made things worse because I all too easily pictured pictured myself alone but for a ghostly lantern floating beside me Every time I turned my head I silently begged the darkness not to spew forth whatever 2
terrifying things it was concealing The entrance to the caves had made them seem almost civilized with graceful arches carved into the rock Now all I could think about were spiders and bats and scorpions and the vengeful ghosts of dead smugglers That was a bad frame of mind to be in when Mr Scant’s lantern caught something in the darkness a hideous face a vision of the Inferno I stifled a yell but realized a second later it was just a carving in the soft rock something some fanciful artist had hewn in years past Still I’d let out a sort of hiccup I could sense Mr Scant stop dead beside me and though there was no way to see his face I knew it was far scarier than the stone one I wondered whether to whisper an apology but before I could make up my mind I heard the scuff of Mr Scant’s feet and a small clatter from his lantern and then the little pool of light got smaller and smaller Mr Scant had taken off and left me I was stuck If I started to run I’d make so much noise we’d be given away I had practiced but I didn’t have Mr Scant’s ability to move silent as an owl That left me in the middle of the darkness surrounded surrounded by smugglers ghosts and possibly the thieves themselves I felt unsteady on my feet as though my 3
knees were about to give out under me And then the silence was broken by a gruff and angry voice This way Mr Scant called I understood at once Mr Scant didn’t care about giving away our position There was no more need for silence I set off running after him Part of me was scared of what would happen when we found the miscreants miscreants but my relief from putting the shadows and phantasms out of my head was far greater The feel ing only grew stronger as the light grew brighter Mr Scant had adjusted the lamp allowing me to see the uneven cave floor and the bare rock walls But as yet I could not tell what had spurred him into action Still in his valet’s uniform with the infamous claw ready at his side he appeared to be running directly for a wall at the end of the rocky cavern with no sign of stopping I had already called out Wha when Mr Scant barged into the wall shoulder-first It gave way with a terrible cracking sound not brick at all but some sort of flimsy wood such as we used for the backdrops of embarrassing plays at school Mr Scant must have spotted the wall for a fake Through the hole in the false wall I could see someone swing a long heavy weapon a pickaxe or 4
even a sledgehammer Then the deafening report of a pistol echoed through the cave But I could also see Mr Scant jumping this way and that so the shot must have missed Once I burst through the gap my training took over I wasn’t the scared useless boy I had once been Many hard and painful lessons with Mr Scant had taught me what I ought to be doing in this sort of situation Mr Scant was to my right low to the ground because he had just kicked the feet out from under one of the thieves A small revolver lay nearby Four men in total were holed up in the small hideout surrounded by golden clocks chandeliers adorned with dragon statues and piles of expensive-looking fabric that were most likely curtains I worked out the greatest threat to me and my ally the biggest man who had propped himself up on his elbows after getting knocked flat He looked ready to grab a spade nearby With a fierce yell that came out a bit more high-pitched than I wanted it to I kicked away the weapon and then did what Mr Scant’s associate Dr Mikolaitis had taught me to do when fighting a bigger bigger opponent I jumped on him punched him in the 5
