The Ring of Five (22 page)

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"Well?" Danny asked, trying to quell the desperation in his voice.

"I think it suits me," she said, "what do you think?"

"It's really you," he said. "Honestly, really sets off your ... your eyes."

"You think so? You're not just saying that?"

"You're a new woman--siren, I mean." Vicky laughed coquettishly and did a twirl.

"Is it a deal?" Danny said. The cries of the bloodhounds were even louder.

"Okay," she said. "There's an old path leads down the back here to the main road. Walk backward for the first hundred yards and then it's easy."

Danny opened the door. The baying of the bloodhounds came from the trees on his left. He could hear voices as well.

"That way." Vicky pointed toward a barely visible path running through a reed bank. Danny took off at a run, just remembering to turn and run backward, as best he could, as he reached the start of the path. Panting and stumbling, he forced his way through the reeds, which had started to overgrow the gravel. Before the summerhouse disappeared from view, he saw Vicky skip onto the roof and run lightly along a branch of an overhanging tree.

When he judged he had gone one hundred yards backward, he turned again, running full tilt through the reeds. Behind him the baying of the bloodhounds reached a crescendo. They had discovered the fresh scent. Danny ran faster, gasping for breath. He realized that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since the previous day, and weakness

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was seeping into his limbs. The howling dogs were gaining on him. He ran across a small bridge, and was faced with an iron gate in a stone wall. Shaking with the effort, he clambered over the gate and dropped down on the other side. With a start he recognized the road outside the Wilsons grounds. He looked left and looked right. The road was empty in either direction. A high stone wall overhung by trees on the other side meant that there was no escape that way. And behind him he could hear the dogs panting as they strained against their leads. He was trapped.

He felt in his pockets for the Knife of Implacable Intention. Brunholm would be with the dogs. Danny could at least get some revenge for his parents. Then he heard something. A buzzing noise in the distance, rising to a low, thrilling hum. He looked up. In the distance he could see a dot in the road, with a trail of dust rising behind it. The hum rose to a growl. It was a car, traveling fast. As it neared, Danny saw an immensely long red hood with chrome exhausts and a low-slung body, the paintwork gleaming in the weak morning sun.

The car slowed and came to a halt beside him, the throb of the powerful engine almost drowning out the slavering bloodhounds. The passenger window slid down, and Danny found himself looking at the woman he had glimpsed from the bus on the way to Tarnstone. Her black hair was piled on top of her head, held with a diamond clip. She wore a fur coat. Her lipstick was the deepest red he had ever seen. In one hand she held an unlit cigarette in a long holder.

"Do get in," she said, in a husky voice. "Really. When

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one is being pursued, one shouldn't stand gawping. It looks so very loutish."

Above the engine noise and the bloodhounds Danny could hear Brunholm calling out.

"Cadet Caulfield! Caulfield!"

That decided it. Danny grabbed the door handle. In seconds he was ensconced in a luxuriant leather seat. He slammed the door and was thrown back against the seat as the car accelerated away.

"That's much better," the woman said. "I don't know who was after you, but it's so tiresome when one is being chased. My name is Nurse Flanagan. Cigarette?"

Danny looked down at the gold cigarette case that had suddenly appeared under his nose.

"No ... no thank you," he stammered. He felt light-headed from the smell of leather mixed with musky perfume filling the interior of the car. Nurse Flanagan looked him up and down.

"Obviously spent the night sleeping rough. Always a bit of a tricky one."

Danny couldn't imagine the beautifully dressed Nurse Flanagan ever sleeping rough, and he found himself wishing she would look at the road instead of at him, considering the fact that they were traveling extremely quickly indeed.

"Food!" Nurse Flanagan cried. "Of course! That's what the boy needs. Open the glove compartment there."

Danny did as he was told. He took out a large tortoiseshell box and opened it. Inside he found, perfectly wrapped in crisp foil, a large portion of salmon sandwiches

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and a monogrammed flask, which turned out to contain hot sweet tea. He didn't have to be told twice to tuck in, glad that Nurse Flanagan had now switched her attention back to the road.

"Bad manners to ask someone why they're running. Mum's the word. But if you're trying to get away from someone, and you have some money, then my recommendation would be to try the Painted Wall. Although," she said, wrinkling her nose, "if I were you, I'd stay away from the Scrawnings. Foul stuff."

Danny nearly choked on his sandwich. A plan had been starting to form in his head, the starting point of which was the Painted Wall--and now here was Nurse Flanagan suggesting it to him!

"That--that would be great," he spluttered through a mouthful of sandwich, spraying the dashboard with crumbs, which drew a severe look from her. "Sorry," he muttered. She took a little silver atomizer from her pocket and sprayed perfume into the air, adding to the already heady atmosphere.

"That's the problem when one sleeps in one's clothes," she murmured. "They become a little ... ripe."

Danny looked out the window. To his surprise they were on the outskirts of Tarnstone already. The car negotiated the traffic with ease, Nurse Flanagan handling the wheel expertly. They tore through the little square surrounded by restaurants, and found themselves on much narrower streets, although Nurse Flanagan didn't slow down all that much.

"None of my business, dear," she said, "but you are

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trying to get away from someone?" Danny nodded. "There's something more, isn't there?" Danny turned away. His parents. He was trying not to think about them, but they were there all the time. He could see his father pottering about in his study, making models. He saw his mother in the garden wearing a shapeless hat. Tears started to his eyes as he looked out the window.

"Oh, my dear!" Nurse Flanagan exclaimed, and a tiny lace handkerchief drenched in French perfume fluttered into his lap.

"I'm okay," Danny said, gingerly handing the handkerchief back. She examined him curiously as the car screeched around a corner, narrowly missing a group of evil-looking sailors.

"Do you know, I hadn't noticed--I'm as blind as a bat," she said, "but you do look rather like a Cherb."

"I'm
not
a Cherb!" Danny said hotly.

"Oh good gracious, I know that now. I mean, whoever heard of a Cherb weeping?"

"Er, Nurse Flanagan?" Danny said as the car hurtled toward a blank wall. But with an expert spin of the wheel, Nurse Flanagan took a sharp left into an alley. With only inches to spare, the car careered at top speed down the narrow passage. Danny remembered what she had said about her eyesight and shut his own eyes.

Abruptly the car screeched to a halt, and the engine was switched off. Cautiously Danny opened one eye and then the other. They were right outside the Painted Wall.

"I am," Nurse Flanagan pronounced, "most dreadfully thirsty. I think I shall join you, if you have no objection?"

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Danny couldn't imagine how anyone could object to anything Nurse Flanagan might want to do, so he merely nodded dumbly, and scrambled after her as she got out of the car and made her way toward the hidden entrance. When she got to the painted cloth door, she stood to one side. Danny hurried to hold the cloth back for her.

"Thank you," she said graciously, and swept past him. Danny hesitated. Nurse Flanagan wasn't in his plan. Then he looked at the deserted street, and he thought about Brunholm and the baying bloodhounds. The Painted Wall was his only chance. He took a deep breath and plunged after her.

By the time he caught up, Nurse Flanagan had reached the bar. There were only a few people at the bar itself, although Danny knew there might be more in various alcoves. The barman obviously knew her. He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be tiresome, Raymond," she said, "you know the vintage."

With an apologetic bow, the barman swept a bottle of champagne onto the counter.

Obviously not everyone in the bar knew her. An oily-looking sailor in suspenders and a filthy blue tunic edged up to her.

"How about a taste of that there champagne, miss? Maybe me and you could--"

No one got to hear what the sailor might propose. Nurse Flanagan lifted a knife used for slicing lemons. The knife flashed in the direction of the sailor's belly. The sailor looked down in horror, thinking he had been

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stabbed, then, with comic panic, seized his trousers. She had sliced his suspenders, and the trousers were in danger of ending up around his ankles.

"By that uniform you're off the ship
Arcane
," she said. "Tell Captain Jonas I was asking for him."

The sailor sprang to attention.

"You--you know Captain Jonas?" he spluttered, and tried to salute with the hand that was holding up the trousers, which slid down, revealing a pair of grubby boxers, to the great amusement of the rest of the bar.

"Creates quite a distraction, doesn't she?" Danny jumped as someone spoke beside him. He spun around. It was the gray-eyed man he had met when he was disguised as the ugly little dwarf. The eyes narrowed as they met Danny's gaze.

"Do I know you? I have a feeling we've met."

"I've never been here before," Danny said, hurriedly. Starling took him by the elbow and steered him toward a dim corner. At the bar Nurse Flanagan laughed gaily as the cork popped from the champagne bottle.

"I'm curious," Starling said.

"Curious about what?"

"First of all, Brunholm's agents in town are instructed to find a boy who looks like a Cherb. And then that boy walks into the Painted Wall, along with the notorious Nurse Flanagan, who proceeds to make a scene at the bar to distract attention from her companion."

Danny stared at Nurse Flanagan. Was that what she was doing? And were Brunholm's agents scouring the town for him already? He looked around the bar nervously.

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"What kind of nurse is she, anyway?"

"You don't want to know," Starling said. "She was struck off years ago. So tell me. Why did you come to the Painted Wall?"

"I need to get out of Tarnstone."

"Do you indeed? You know that by treaty there is no access to the Upper World. If you want to get out, the only place you can go is the Lower World."

"I know."

"And it costs money."

"I've got money."

"And," Starling went on, "if you are captured by the Cherbs, they'll bring you to the Ring of Five. Do you know that?"

"I do." Danny took a deep breath. "I know that. That's where I want to go."

"Indeed?" Starling's eyes betrayed no expression. Danny waited. He felt as if time had stopped.

"Well," he burst out, "can you help me? You said ... I mean, I heard you were an importer and exporter. Can you get me to the Lower World?"

"I can try. The question is, do I want to? I could end up involved in something I don't want to be involved in. Brunholm is not a good man to have as an enemy. Not to mention the Ring."

Danny took the wallet Devoy had given him from his pocket, opened it and showed the contents to Starling. Starling rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then reached in and removed a sheaf of notes, which promptly disappeared into a pocket.

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"All right," he said, "come on. There's not a moment to lose. Brunholm's men will be watching the ports, but they might not all be in place yet. Let's go."

"What about Nurse Flanagan? I should say something to her."

"Don't be a fool. If you go up to her at the bar, every eye in the place will be on you. Wilsons agents will be all over this place. Forget Nurse Flanagan."

Danny followed Starling, but glanced back from the exit. Nurse Flanagan was sitting at the bar, glass of champagne in one hand, cigarette holder in the other. Her great liquid eyes swept over him, but did not stop. He remembered what she had said about her eyesight, and wondered if she hadn't been able to see him across the room.

"Hurry," Starling hissed, "do you want to get caught?" Danny hurried after Starling.

Behind him Nurse Flanagan replaced her glass on the counter thoughtfully. She motioned to the bartender.

"Phone," she said. The bartender placed it on the counter. She lifted the receiver and began to dial with one finely manicured finger. She waited, then spoke.

"Thank you for the tip, Marcus. All has gone smoothly. Yes, yes, of course I will bear your ... cooperation in mind."

Nurse Flanagan replaced the receiver. She smiled thinly and just for a moment looked much older, her face gaunt, her eyes a nest of wrinkles.