Beyond the Knock Knock Door (18 page)

‘By your pet monster?' Michael asked, stopping.

‘My pet?' Cavalli laughed. ‘Foolish boy. Have you not learnt who is behind this conspiracy yet?'

‘Yes – you! You ordered the monster to kidnap Nobleman Guido, afraid he'd tell me about all your enemies you've removed during the past four years. You didn't have much time for a cover story, so you lied that he'd rushed off to meet the Jewellers' Guild and forged a farewell letter. Only problem was, no ships leave this city at night. When Lady Isabelle didn't believe you and threatened to expose you, you got the monster
to snatch her, too. You sank her boat at the Island of Roses and used the mega-storm as an excuse.'

‘Child, you are delusional. Until you dishonoured me, only I and the few honest men under my command were stopping more people being kidnapped. Now the enemy prowl unchecked and help hide this city's greatest secret.'

The horses brayed louder.

‘What secret?'

‘Who suffers to let Pacifico live in peace?'

‘Huh?'

‘How can our nobles afford monuments to themselves, yet none labour? How can they live on the fat of the land, yet not plant seed? How can they wear the finest woven cloth, yet not a single dainty finger be pricked by a sewing needle? Stop listening to stories, boy, and discover whose table you've really been plundering.'

The horses bucked and kicked in their stalls. Seeing their heightened alarm, Samantha tugged Michael's cloak. ‘We have to go – now!'

‘Enough riddles!' he said, shrugging her off. ‘If you know who the monster is, then tell us!'

A blur flashed behind them. Samantha saw it and drew her sword.

‘Too late,' Cavalli said, retreating. ‘They're here!'

The stable doors banged open and the horses charged straight at them, released from their stalls. Samantha tackled Michael and threw him under the fire cart for shelter, barely avoiding being skittled. The
team swerved around them and clattered away into the empty streets, whinnying into the night.

Once the danger had passed, Michael and Samantha crawled to their feet and raised their swords. Backs together, they circled and searched the courtyard for attackers, only to hear the lonely rolling of a kicked water bucket. Glancing towards it, they realised the horrible truth. It was Cavalli's.

Now he'd been taken.

Pound! Pound! Pound!
Samantha's banging woke the entire palace. Footmen kept a safe distance from her until the head servant arrived wearing a silk gown, matching pyjamas and a none-too-pleasant frown. ‘Sir, may I inquire what you are doing?'

‘Get the Prime Minister – now!'

He pinched a smile and steered her away from the door. ‘Unfortunately, sir, you'll have to wait until morning. The Honourable –'

‘Oriana then!' Michael demanded. ‘She'll listen.'

He leapt three steps at a time, only to have a pair of pikes force him back downstairs.

‘Young man,' the servant said. ‘No one wakes Her Majesty at this hour. Not even Heroes from our beloved Hall.'

‘This is an emergency!' Samantha yelled. ‘The monster has just grabbed Cavalli – and probably Luke too!'

‘I'm sure the marine sergeant is quite capable of –'

‘There
is
one person who can help us,' Michael said, running past her. ‘Stay here. I'll be back.'

Dawn broke and a gentle hand startled him from sleep. A teenage boy with blue hair, a scarred neck and gold ear chains squatted beside him. ‘Not the most comfortable of beds, my liege,' Aurelio said.

Michael sat up and felt the gondola rock beneath him. He pushed aside the tarpaulin covering him and found the boat still moored next to a cafe, where the pied piper had hidden him. A cold, softening sky drift ed with clouds, and shimmering schools of fish still slept in doorways. He must have dozed off. ‘Any luck?'

Aurelio offered him a banana and pear for breakfast. Their meeting wasn't coincidental. The piper had been searching for him during the tricentennial celebrations, hearing word that he and his companions might be in danger.

He nodded. ‘And a brave ride she is.'

‘Then let's go get Sam.'

Michael found her asleep on a couch outside the Prime Minister's office. Within seconds, she jerked awake and pounded Pasquale's door again.

Frowning, the head servant appeared a second time, albeit dressed more formally in his white wig, royal-blue and gold coat, breeches and neck scarf. ‘Sirs, when I said return in the morning, I did not mean dawn. As you are well aware by now, the Prime Minister is rarely awake before –'

‘Either you open this door right now or it'll be the only thing left standing of this palace!'

The head servant unlocked the door as a messenger arrived and whispered in his ear. Samantha and Michael found Pasquale's office empty, and, now even more determined to find him, stormed out into the corridor.

‘Sirs!' the head servant yelled after them. ‘Please, follow me. The Prime Minister will see you in the parliament chamber.'

‘So he
is
awake!'

The head servant ushered them inside a giant room with red leather benches and oak desks then closed the door behind them. The Prime Minister stood on the other side of the chamber, staring across the harbour.

‘Where's Luke?' she demanded. ‘And what's happened to Cav –'

She choked on this last word as he turned round beaming. Except it wasn't Pasquale. It was a complete stranger in his thirties who wore the same woollen white and orange robes.

‘I'm glad you both came to see me this morning,' the stranger said in a slippery voice. He twisted a sapphire into each cheek, bringing his total to eight. ‘A footman just delivered troubling news to my hand.'

‘Where's Prime Minister Pasquale?'

The man smiled. ‘Relieved of office. As you witnessed at the celebrations last night, he is no longer fit for government.'

‘And who are you?'

‘Federico, the new Prime Minister.'

Michael snorted. ‘Pretty quick replacement.'

‘Where's Luke?' she snapped again.

‘He's not with you?' Federico asked.

‘No, he's missing. Cavalli, too. Order your marines to search the entire city – right now! We think the monster has taken them both.'

Federico calmly pulled a parchment from his robes.

‘What's that?' Michael asked.

‘A watchtower report. Agent Luke was seen chasing a shadowy figure through the old warehouse sector last night. There was an explosion –'

‘An explosion!' she repeated, snatching away the parchment.

‘– but our marines couldn't find him when they investigated.'

She tried reading the report but it was all in Latin. She screwed it up and shoved it into his chest. ‘This city is full of liars and traitors.'

Just as annoyed, Michael pushed open a window and whistled. For the first time, Prime Minister Federico dropped his smug demeanour as, outside, an enormous blue whale levelled with the parliament's balcony. Aurelio straddled its back, playing his coral pipe.

‘Where to, my liege?' the piper asked.

‘To search that warehouse,' Samantha answered for him.

Michael shook his head. ‘Luke's not there.'

‘How do you know?'

He showed her the dead man's ring. It was vibrating.

‘The monster's on the move again.'

Straight and fast, the blue whale soared across the coral cays and towards the Broken Isles. She flew above shipwrecks, beaches and rainforest before circling the Weeping Mountains. Heartened by the piper's tune, she descended through an open patch in the canopy and landed next to a rock pool of water lilies. Michael and Samantha dismounted, while Aurelio handed them a lantern, box of matches and a pink conch.

‘Blow it like a trumpet and I'll return,' he explained. ‘If I don't hear from you by evening, then I'll assume the worst.'

‘You sure you won't come with us?' Michael asked.

‘My liege, to expose this conspiracy we need friends. They exist, but only if I seek them out.'

They shook hands.

‘Look after yourself,' Michael said. ‘Sorry for putting you in danger.'

‘Do not fear. Such is the only life I've known.'

Aurelio then flew away.

They hiked through the rainforest, swirling with seeds and pollen. A howler monkey called out to her mate, while a giant flowering plant self-combusted at the first touch of sunlight.

‘I don't get it,' Michael said. ‘Why didn't this dead man's ring alert us to the monster last night when we found Cavalli?'

‘Because we're walking into a trap.'

‘A trap?'

‘Think about it. You cracked the code the night you
talked with Lady Isabelle. The monster and its master also figured that out. Now they're using it to lure us here.'

‘But why?'

‘Because they want to get rid of us too.'

An hour later, they discovered a cave. A stale set of hoof prints circled it; a pair of boots led inside. Before Michael walked in, Samantha held him back. ‘What's that?'

She pointed to electrical wiring that had been covered by mulch until tripped by a feeding deer. They followed it along the mountain slope and among the ferns to a set of large speakers.

‘And look,' Michael said, finding a small electronic sensor. He unknowingly crossed its invisible laser beam and –
boompfh!
– flinched in a blast of leaves. He knelt and cleared dirt from the buried machine that had ejected them. ‘I don't understand.'

‘So our monster likes gadgets and listening to tunes, does it?' she said, sceptically. ‘What other secrets are inside this cave?'

‘Let's find out,' he answered, drawing his sword.

Again, she pulled him back. ‘Now, remember what we agreed. Stick by me at all times. Don't – and I mean
don't
– go wandering off. And if this monster comes after us, then I want you to run, okay? Find Aurelio and return with the marines.'

‘No way. I'm not leaving you here.'

‘Michael, no arguments. I'm trained to fight with a sword –'

‘But you've been teaching me –'

‘I said no arguments.'

Tears threatened and he glanced away. For the first time, he realised the deadliness of the situation.

‘Do I have your word?' He remained quiet. ‘Do-I-have-your-word?'

He breathed, then answered thinly, ‘Yes.'

Firing up the lantern, they entered the cave with their swords raised. The shaft itched with crickets and beetles before opening into a large, dark cavern split by a river. As the light crawled deeper around the stalagmites and stalactites, thousands of eyes near the roof blinked open, bared their tiny fangs and dive-bombed.

‘Duck!'

The pair shielded themselves as hundreds of chattering creatures flapped past, scratching and thumping them in the panic. Only when the colony disappeared into the sunlight did its shape become known. They'd been scared by bats. Harmless bats.

The Bowmans continued until, high above, they heard a distant snort. Their glances met. That was no bat.

They hauled themselves up a shaft by grabbing stalagmites, catching each other as they slipped on slime and small streams. Soon, they reached the top and stood across from King Amadeo's Ghost.

‘A building in a mountain?' he whispered. ‘It just gets weirder.'

‘Your sword.' She nudged him, redrawing her own as they traced the rim of the enormous pool towards the busted iron doors. As they crept near, the lantern cast light inside.

Before them stretched a flooded great hall – five storeys high with dozens of yellow marble arches, staircases and balconies – that disappeared into the darkness behind rows of red marble columns. Shards of a collapsed roof jutted from the foul black water like an archipelago. A few bookshelves lined the lower floors, although mould had devoured their collections. It appeared the building had been a great library – although how it came to be in the mountain was a mystery. The strangest discovery hung from the walls. Dangling from unlit oil lamps like hoops, thirteen shark jawbones served as a warning to intruders.

Bravely, the pair chased the flame. Water dripped on their heads and sludge oozed into their boots. The air tasted powdery and old. Samantha explored a side room while he stood between the two main staircases, squinting at the two grey-white statues. The left one was chopped off at the knees; the right one reading a scroll.

A chain rocked above them and she hurriedly returned to the main chamber, waving for Michael to stand back. Again, the chain
clink
ed, which was followed by a waking boy's yawn.

‘
Luke?
'

‘Mikey!'

Samantha and Michael thrashed through the water towards the middle of the chamber and lifted up their lantern, trying to spot their brother. They'd almost found him when –

SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!

‘Run!' she shouted at Michael, pushing him towards the iron doors.

SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!

‘No, Sam –'

‘Run!'

SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!

The horrible noise shattered his mind as it chased him towards the doors. Legs, bodies and sinister faces flashed past his lantern as he staggered haphazardly in the flooded water. What was this monster? What were
they
?

SHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!

‘Watch out!'

Black teeth speared down from above and swallowed him whole.