A Clockwork Heart (13 page)

With a growing sense of horror, Elle realized that her fine silver thread led straight into the middle of these creatures.

She walked up as close to the huddle of blank bodies she dared. They did not move or acknowledge her in any way. Slowly she reached up to touch what looked like the outline of a shoulder, but her fingers slipped right through the image. These creatures were nothing but incandescent mirages. They were nothing.

How strange, she thought. Did that mean that these were not creatures of Shadow? Was their presence here simply an imprint of what was happening on the other side of the barrier?

This was far beyond the reaches of her knowledge of these things, that she had no idea.

Gathering up all of her courage, Elle pulled at the filament between her fingers. The flock of undead wavered like sea grass under water. Some of the creatures turned and looked at her, but their faces were nothing more than blank spaces. It was as if the essence of whoever these people had once been was stripped from them, leaving only an empty husk behind.

She felt resistance give between her fingers and pulled again, this time with more force. The bodies moved again, and from their midst, one of the creatures stumbled. Its left arm was extended as if it had been lassoed.

Despite herself, Elle let out a small cry of despair. For there was no mistaking the height and dimensions of the body she knew so well. She had found her husband. Or at least she had found what was left of him.

The outline tilted his head to one side and reached out to her. In that moment, Elle wanted to wrap him in her arms and take him home, but she knew she could not. The infinite barrier of Shadow and Light that lay between here and home separated them. And with a growing sense of despair, Elle realized that there was nothing they could do but stare at one another from across the divide.

In the distance the magpies sounded the alarm. She saw them circle round and round as the sky overhead darkened.

Thunder rumbled overhead and in the distance, bright flashes of lightning split the sky.

“Run! Run!” the magpies squawked as they flew past.

Elle spun round. The horizon had turned gunmetal gray. Angry clouds boiled and multiplied with sinister speed. Something was coming. She felt the weight of it on her chest, threatening to push the air from her lungs.

Elle started shivering and with a growing sense of apprehension she realized that she was unarmed and vulnerable in this strange place. Whatever was coming was powerful and obviously very dangerous.

The bank of cloud was almost here.

Elle looked about. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Going back to Jack's wood for shelter was not an option either.

Wishing herself home in an instant was possible, but also a bad idea. The last thing she wanted was for the thing that was making the cloud to follow her to the portal she used regularly.

In that moment, Elle knew she would not be able to take Marsh with her. “I love you. And I will come back to find you,” she whispered. Slowly, she started unwinding the thread that held them together.

The wind whirled around her and Marsh disappeared into the waiting herd of shadows.

The storm was upon her now. The clouds were so low that Elle ducked and threw herself to the side, narrowly escaping a bright bolt of lightning as it struck the place where she was standing.

Whatever was in those clouds, it wanted her away from here. More bolts of lightning rained down around her. She smelled the crackle of spark in the air and realized that she needed to run.

In a moment of desperation, she reached into the barrier that divided Shadow and Light. This was a very dangerous thing to do, but she had no choice. She felt the energy give and space big enough to slip through opened up. This practice was strictly forbidden by the Council of Warlocks for the entry and crossing points were strictly guarded and controlled, but then she cared little about what the Council thought at the best of times—as long as she did not get caught.

Stepping inside the barrier felt like plunging into cold water. She held her breath and peered through the distortion. On the one side she could see the brightness of the Realm of Light and on the other the greenish-brown murk of the Shadow side. As carefully as she could, she swam across to the Light side. Though the shimmering ripples she could see the inside of a cavernous warehouse. She could see rough-brick and iron pillars. The glass-paned roof vault stretched high overhead and even here, in this place of nowhere, the ominous sound of ticking resonated through her. The frisson of danger was almost palpable and she shrank away from it. This place on the Light side seemed as dangerous as the one in the Shadow she had left. The ominous shapes of the undead materialized from the gloom. And while they seemed quite harmless in the Realm of Shadow, she was not so sure that the same would be true in the Realm of Light. And there was no way she was going to risk running into those creatures on her own.

There was nowhere to run and she was running out of breath.

Elle closed her eyes and plunged back to the Shadow side. She felt the barrier give and then she landed on sand, spluttering and gasping for air.

The sky above her had turned bone white again and everything was silent.

“Gone! Gone!” the magpies shouted from their tree.

Elle looked around. She was all alone in this desolate place. Marsh was gone and there was nothing she could do about it.

Looking about one more time to make sure she was safe, Elle closed her eyes and willed herself home with all her might.

She felt a wave of energy flood through her and in a single breath she was back on the mosaic floor in the little room behind the mantelpiece. Gasping and utterly exhausted, she crawled from the room and onto the bed, where she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

CHAPTER 16

Loisa was waiting for Elle at the bottom of the stairs when she came down for dinner that evening.

“My dear you look so tired,” Loisa exclaimed. “What on earth have you been up to while I was asleep?”

“We need to speak,” Elle said.

“I thought as much. Let's go to the library where the others won't hear us,” Loisa said.

Elle led her friend through to the library and there, by the comforting light of the fire, told her about what she had found in the Shadow that day.

“That was a very big risk to take.” Loisa's perfect black ringlets bounced as she shook her head in amazement. “It sounds to me as if you got away just in time.”

“I think you might be right.” Elle twisted her wedding band around her finger as she spoke. “And there is the matter of the bargain with this Jack creature.”

Loisa pursed her lips. “I would keep an eye out for that one. The Fey are notorious tricksters. Speaking of which, where is that little splash of green you keep as a pet?” Loisa looked around the room to see if the absinthe fairy was listening.

Elle sighed. “Adele disappeared around the same time as Hugh did. No one has seen her.”

“Such a pity. She would have been most helpful right now. But that's their way. Around when you don't need them; away the moment you need them most.”

Elle smiled to herself. Nightwalkers and fairies were notoriously adversarial. It was a dislike that went back more centuries than anyone could remember.

“He's definitely here on our side of the realms. I say we go and look for him,” Elle said.

Loisa tapped her black satin slipper against the rug as she considered the matter. “You said he was in a large building. Perhaps a factory or a warehouse?”

“It certainly looked that way,” Elle said.

“Perhaps we should start looking for him in these. Surely there can't be too many cavernous warehouses in London, no?”

“That is exactly what I was thinking.” Elle was not as confident as Loisa. It seemed to her that there were a great deal of warehouses in London, but she did not want to diminish Loisa's enthusiasm.

“And you are sure that the police will be of no help?”

“Very sure. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the police commissioner himself was involved. We can trust no one.”

Loisa stood and straightened her gown. “Well, then. I would suggest that you and I go for a stroll after dinner.”

Elle hugged the Nightwalker. “Oh Loisa, thank you.”

Outside the relentless drizzle sifted down across streets and gray slate rooftops. Loisa shook her black parasol to rid it of the wet. The weather did not bother her physically, in fact Nightwalkers preferred the cold, but she did object to ruining her hair. “Nothing is more lethal than London drizzle for ruining ringlets,” she said to Elle as they walked.

Elle was wearing one of Marsh's hats to accompany her usual outfit of jodhpurs and calf-length leather coat. The hat was a terribly modern fedora he had purchased on a whim. It was a little too big for her, but it kept the rain off her face, which was what mattered.

“I think that getting our curls wet is probably the least of our worries right now,” Elle said. They were trudging through the muddy streets around Limehouse. It was three o'clock in the morning and the place was completely deserted.

“None of these warehouses look even remotely familiar,” she said. “And there are so many of them along the Thames, we will never find it at this rate.”

“Oh, don't exaggerate. At the very least, we now know he is not in this place,” said Loisa trying to sound cheerful.

Elle bit down on her teeth to stop them from chattering. They had been walking for so long that the wet had seeped all the way through her coat in the way that only London drizzle could. Her boots and jodhpurs were splattered with mud and the linen shirt she wore stuck to her skin in a most miserable way. The rim of her fedora hat drooped under the weight of the drizzle. Normally her outlandish outfit kept her warm, even in the coldest or high airstreams, but here on the ground, her clothes were proving to be less than waterproof.

“You are cold,” Loisa said in a matter-of-fact tone. She was not looking all too dry and composed herself.

“A b–bit,” Elle said. “But let's keep walking and I'll warm up.” She was not about to let Loisa show her up in this endeavor.

“Although, I do think we should make a start for home. It is only a few hours until sunrise and I don't want to be caught by the sun.”

“Good idea,” Elle said. Even though she wanted to keep searching, she had to admit that the prospect of being warm and dry was very appealing. “Let's take the road that leads along the riverside.”

As they walked, Elle scanned each of the riverside warehouses to see if they were the one she had seen from the Shadow. Some were too small. Others were the wrong shape. Some were made of wood. Some were clearly so derelict that not even the undead would consider living in them. None matched the place she had seen.

They trudged along in the dark in miserable silence. The squelchy muck covered her boots and stained Loisa's sodden skirts. Their search was proving to be most miserable and unsuccessful so far.

Suddenly Loisa stopped and looked over her shoulder. She motioned for Elle to stay still. Then she turned and walked on.

“What is it?” Elle whispered.

“I'm not sure. I thought I heard footsteps. I think someone might be following us.”

Elle unclipped the Colt 1878 Frontier revolver she carried, but left it in the holster attached to the custom made corset she wore over her shirt. There was no telling who would be out at this time of night, but if Loisa was on alert, then it was wise to be prepared.

At Waterloo Bridge they stopped to rest. Spark lights sat in proud iron holders all along the length of the bridge. They glowed an eerie shade of blue in the night fog. Elle rested her elbows on the sandstone railings and peered into the darkness. Until recently, the authorities had been charging people a penny to cross, but this had proven to be so unpopular that they had stopped it. Below her, a barge trundled by. It let out black puffs of steam as it chugged along. Here, so close to the water, it was even colder. “It's no use, Loisa. We have walked for miles tonight and we have found absolutely nothing.” She hung her head in weariness.

“Nonsense. Walking is good for the constitution. And it's better than sitting at home.”

An icy wind, chilled even further by the freezing water of the Thames, rose up from below and blasted them. Elle's teeth chattered. “I th–think I n–need to get warm soon. I d–don't know how much more of this cold I can t–take,” she said.

“Shh!” Loisa held out her hand. “Listen.”

Elle tried to listen but she was so cold, she could hear nothing over the sounds of the wind and her own shivering.

“Get down. Don't move,” Loisa motioned for Elle to crouch next to one of the columns that anchored the balustrades.

Quiet as a whisper Loisa spun round and disappeared into the shadows. Elle counted her breaths as she waited for something to happen. Her knees ached from crouching, but she held still.

Elle heard the faint whisper of crêpe de chine and then a man shouted out in fright.

She rose, Colt at the ready, only to see that Loisa had grabbed their pursuer by the throat and was now holding him firmly over the edge of the bridge so that his feet dangled in the air.

“Now, sir. Please kindly explain why you are following us,” she purred.

“Please, I meant no harm!” The man flailed about, but he was powerless in Loisa's grip.

“Speak! Or I shall drain you and drop your lifeless corpse into the water below. Or would you prefer the paving next to the water?” Loisa's fangs glistened in the light of the spark lamps. “And it has been a long, cold night so I am rather hungry.”

“Please, don't kill me,” the man whispered. “I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just please put me down.”

In one graceful move, Loisa hauled the man up over the edge and deposited him on the cobbles before her.

“I suggest you start talking, sir,” Elle said, coming up from behind Loisa. She pointed the gun at him. “Why are you following us?”

“I wasn't following you. Well, not really.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“I was looking for them.”

“Them who?” Loisa hissed.

“The Tickers. I … I spotted you earlier this evening looking about the warehouses, so I assumed you were also enthusiasts. And … and you looked like a man with the hat and trousers, you seemed like you knew where you were going, so I started following you. I did not realize that you were out hunting. I meant no harm, I promise.”

“What do you mean when you say the Tickers,” Elle said, ignoring his comment about her attire. The Colt glinted in the light of the spark lamps. “My friend here might be compassionate, but if you are lying, I will shoot you where you stand.”

“No. Please don't shoot!” The man cowered. “The Tickers. You must have read about them in the papers? The strange creatures who wander the streets at night?” The man wiped his hands on his trousers and made an awkward bow. “I'm Jasper. Jasper Sidgwick, by the way. How do you do.”

Elle looked at Loisa who just shrugged.

He reached into his pocket and Elle raised her Colt. “Slowly. And don't try anything,” she said.

Mr. Sidgwick pulled out a little card and handed it to her. “It might be a little hard to read in the dark, but I am a member of the Society for Psychical and Otherworldly Research. At the moment, our society is all in a whirl about the new phenomenon. We are trying to discover where these new creatures hide, as they only seem to come out at night.”

Elle peered at the card in the light of the spark lamp. It did indeed have the man's name on it. “I've never heard of your society,” she said.

“Oh, we are more involved in séances and investigations into those who have passed on to the afterlife. We meet fortnightly, but our society is a select one. We prefer to conduct our investigations discreetly.”

“And why are you so interested in these Tickers, as you call them?” Loisa said.

“Well, they are dead in a way, but still alive. Almost like tangible ghosts and so this is of interest to us. We could learn a lot from them. And some of our members have actually seen them.” Jasper straightened his coat. “Members post their sightings in the newspaper. Look up the advertisements for Mrs. Sidgwick's clairvoyance services. It will state a date, place and time. This is a log for others to note.”

“I see,” said Elle. “And then those who know the code can track their movements. That's quite a clever system, Mr. Sidgwick.”

“I thank you for the compliment. And if you really are enthusiasts, you are welcome to join us at our next meeting if you wish,” he said shyly. He pulled out a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and put them on. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Elle realized that he was probably not much older than she was.

“Thank you. We might just take you up on the invitation,” Elle said as she uncocked her revolver and slipped it back into its place by her side.

“And do be more careful next time you follow ladies in the dark of night. They may not be as friendly as we are,” Loisa added.

Jasper gave Loisa a nervous smile as he put on his bowler hat. “Well, then, I had better be off. It was nice to meet you. And please do call. You have my details on the card. We meet on Wednesday evenings at the pub below the Savoy Hotel. From about eight o'clock onward.”

“We will be sure to bear that in mind,” Elle said.

“Goodnight, then,” Jasper turned and walked off into the mist.

Loisa and Elle looked at one another as they listened to Jasper retreat. After a few moments, his footsteps sped up considerably to a shuffling run.

“What an odd fellow,” Elle said.

“Very odd indeed.” Loisa stifled a yawn. “I vote we find a nice dry cab to take us home.”

“Motion seconded,” Elle said, suddenly deeply grateful for the miracle that was modern transport.