‘You mean we’re going to travel on that thing?’ said James.
‘Yeah,’ said Kelly Kelly and she grinned, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
‘You up to this, Jimmy-boy?’ asked Red, sniffing and scratching his tangle of copper hair.
‘I think so,’ said James.
‘I don’t know how you do it, mate,’ said Red. ‘If I’d drunk what you drunk last night I don’t think I’d even be able to speak, let alone stand up. And look at you, walking around right as rain. I reckon you must be made of iron, or something.’
‘I don’t feel right as rain,’ said James. ‘I feel like something dead that’s just crawled out of a specimen jar.’
‘Well, you were certainly pickled.’ Red laughed, then turned serious for a moment. ‘Be careful,’ he said, ‘and look after me little sister.’
He winked at James, pressed a green button on the wall and spoke into a microphone.
‘This is Cairo speaking,’ he said. ‘Cairo speaking… Anyone there…?’ He paused, listening again. ‘Osiris,’ he said after a while.
‘That’s the password,’ Kelly whispered.
Red was speaking again. ‘Yes. I have a parcel for shipment to Alexandria… It’s ready now… All right. I’ll wait for your signal.’
Red took off the headphones and walked over to the siding.
‘Give us a hand,’ he said and James and Kelly helped him push the carriage on to the main track until its nose was in the tunnel mouth. It fitted snugly with no gap around it.
‘How does it work?’ said James.
‘It’s pneumatic,’ said Red. ‘There’s a bloody great pump at the beginning and end of each section. They blow from one end and suck from the other. You shoot along like a pea in a peashooter. When you stop you’ll be at the Royal Docks. Kel knows the way out. She’ll go with you. ’
‘Aren’t you coming?’
‘Can’t,’ said Red. ‘I need to stay here and work it. Now, hop in quick, the signal’ll be coming through any minute. I’ll follow when I can.’
There was the hum of big motors starting up. James could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet and vibrations running through the brickwork. There was a howling noise, like wind coming through the gap in a window. The air around them became suddenly chilly.
James climbed into the carriage, lying on his side with his legs slightly bent. Kelly climbed in next to him. It was very cramped and they lay crushed together face to face. Red shunted the carriage further forward so that it slid fully into the tunnel and they were plunged into darkness.
‘This is cosy,’ said Kelly and she laughed. James could feel her breath on his face, tickling his nose, but he couldn’t move his hand to scratch it. He was aware of her knees pressing into him and he could smell her hair.
‘This morning I tried to kill you, and now look at us,’ she said. ‘Snug as two bedbugs.’
‘At least it’s warmer like this,’ said James.
‘Don’t you go getting no ideas,’ said Kelly.
James didn’t say anything. The only idea he had was going to sleep.
‘I’ve heard Red tell stories about you so many times,’ said Kelly quietly, her voice sounding very close in the pitch dark. ‘But I never imagined I’d end up like this with you…’
Before James could speak he felt a tremendous pressure as the air seemed to press in all around him. His ears hurt like mad and he wrenched a hand loose and pinched his nostrils shut. He blew into his nose until his eardrums popped and the next moment there was a rushing sound and the carriage shot forward along the track, taking his breath away.
23
Into the Lion’s Jaws
It was impossible to tell how fast they were travelling, but it felt as if they were hurtling along, wildly out of control. There were no springs or suspension to cushion the tiny carriage and it rattled and banged and bounced about on the track, throwing James and Kelly against each other and shaking the teeth in their skulls. In the confined space the noise was deafening.
Luckily the journey didn’t last long and was over almost as soon as it had started. Soon they felt the speed dropping and as they hit a pocket of air they slowed almost to a halt, then trundled gently forward. The next moment they were blinking as the carriage rolled slowly out of the tunnel into the light.
They sat up, stretching their backs and rubbing bruised hips and elbows.
They were in a room very much like the one they had just left, though slightly larger. There were no signs of life apart from an amber light that was blinking on one wall. Kelly ran over to it, straightening her skirt, then looked over the various buttons and dials before pressing one.
The roaring noise of the fans died away and the room became very still and silent.
‘I’ve given them the all clear,’ said Kelly. ‘To let them know we arrived in one piece.’
‘Only just,’ said James. ‘That train wasn’t really designed to carry passengers, was it?’
‘Oh, fussy, aren’t you?’ said Kelly. ‘I suppose you’re only used to travelling first class. I’m sorry I couldn’t lay on any champagne and caviar for you. Honestly, I get him here in record quick time and all he does is moan.’
‘Are we going to stand round here chatting for hours or are we going to get on?’ said James.
‘Follow me,’ said Kelly. ‘And no looking up me skirt.’
There was a sealed-off tunnel sloping upwards that led to the mail depot, but Kelly took James up a ventilation shaft. It had rough brick sides and ran at a shallow angle, so that climbing was fairly easy-going and in no time at all they were at the top, which was closed off by a metal grille. Kelly quickly loosened a bolt and pushed the grille open.
‘Be quick,’ she said and wriggled out, fast a snake. James followed and she swung the grille back into place. They were outside, in a narrow passageway between two tall buildings. One end was blocked off by a wall, and the other led out into a large yard.
‘Stick close to me,’ said Kelly. ‘There’s two night watchmen with dogs. They usually stay over by the main gate, but they do patrol every now and then.’
So saying, she hauled herself up on to a low window ledge, forced the casement up and disappeared inside the building. James was quick to follow and he found himself in a vast transit shed, stretching into darkness in every direction, crammed with mountainous piles of boxes, barrels, crates and containers. James had never seen a room this large before. He felt tiny, dwarfed by the Alp-like stacks that towered over him. The only light was from the moon that shone through a long line of dirty windows in the roof.
‘I know all the secret routes round here,’ said Kelly, as she threaded her way between the boxes. ‘The gangs use them to smuggle stuff out of the docks. For every ten crates that come through here, there’ll be one opened by the boys and the stuff inside shared out.’
It was like a vast maze inside the warehouse, but Kelly knew exactly where she was going and after a few minutes they reached the other side, where she climbed up a tower of crates on to a gantry. James scaled the crates easily and followed her along the gantry, trying not to make any sound. Half a minute later Kelly stopped by one of the windows and slid it open.
‘After you,’ she said.
‘Ladies first,’ said James.
‘I ain’t no lady,’ said Kelly.
‘Don’t I know it,’ said James and he pushed past her through the window. He was outside again now and on the side of the warehouse roof. It was another chilly evening and he wished he had a coat of some sort. In fact, he wished he was back at Eton in front of his cosy little fire, eating sausages and playing cards with nothing more important to worry about than his Latin construe.
From up here he could see out over a second row of warehouses southward to the city of ships known as the Royal Docks. Directly in front was the Royal Albert Dock and beyond it the George the Fifth Dock; to the west was the Royal Victoria Dock.
The Albert Dock was a massive, oblong stretch of enclo
sed water, nearly a mile long, connected to the Thames by wide canals and lined with warehouses and industrial buildings. There were cranes standing everywhere waiting to service the flotilla of ships that choked the water. A floating grain elevator sat idle on the water. In the morning the place would be teeming with men, loading and unloading cargo, but for now it was almost deserted. The only signs of life were some lightermen unloading a barge and a lorry driving slowly along the far side of the dock. Over to the west, near where the Albert joined the Victoria Dock, there were some bright lights, and the sound of working machinery drifted on the still night air.
‘There’s so many ships,’ said James. ‘I had no idea. Which one’s the Amoras, do you suppose?’
‘Don’t ask me,’ said Kelly. ‘I got you here, didn’t I? You’re supposed to be the golden boy. Don’t you think it’s time you did something for yourself?’
‘Don’t be so hard on me, Kelly,’ said James, wearily. ‘I’ve been through a lot these last two days.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ said Kelly, a hint of kindness in her voice. ‘I was only teasing you. What’s the matter?’ she said, moving off towards the edge of the roof. ‘You got no sense of humour.’
‘I did have one once,’ said James, shuffling after her. ‘But it hurts too much when I laugh.’
‘I won’t tell no more jokes, then,’ said Kelly. ‘If the little man can’t take it.’
‘That’s all right,’ said James. ‘Your jokes aren’t that funny.’
Kelly stopped and turned round. ‘Watch it, James Bond, or I’ll throw you off this roof.’
‘I’d like to see you try.’
‘Don’t tempt me. I could be back home right now, instead of risking me neck up here with a swell who reckons he’s the bee’s bleeding knees.’
‘I didn’t ask for a hero’s welcome,’ said James. ‘I was just trying to find Red.’
‘Yeah, and it looks like you found more than you was looking for.’ Kelly gave a dirty laugh and carried on.
When they reached the edge of the roof, Kelly lowered herself down on to the top of a covered over-roof conveyor that stretched across to another building like a bridge.
‘Not scared of heights I hope,’ she said, and dropped into a low crouch.
James joined her and they scurried along the conveyor, passing over yards, streets and lower buildings. When they got to the other side, Kelly slid down the sloping roof to a ladder that led down on to a high wall. The wall was topped with glass, but it had been broken off and smoothed flat to make a clear channel down the middle that wouldn’t be visible from the ground. The two of them ran along the wall then swung out on to a lamp post and slithered down to the pavement.
Kelly set off at a run towards the dock, James, like a faithful dog, at her heels.
‘Keep up,’ she said after a while, as they hurried between two high warehouses. ‘Red told me you was a champion runner, or something –’
‘I am keeping up,’ James interrupted. ‘I just wish you could go a bit faster.’
‘Oh, hark at him. Maybe you should enter the next Olympics if you really want to show off.’
‘Well, if they had an event for talking,’ said James, ‘you’d certainly win gold.’
Soon they arrived at the water. From up on the roof the ships had looked big, from down here they were huge, reaching thirty or forty feet up into the sky.
‘Left or right?’ said Kelly.
‘Not sure.’
‘You want to do eeny-meeny-miney-mo?’
‘That doesn’t seem a very scientific approach.’
‘What do you expect? I’m just an empty-headed girl who talks too much.’
‘We’ll go this way,’ said James, heading to the right.
‘Why?’
‘Because I say so.’
‘That doesn’t seem like a very scientific approach, either.’
‘All right. I saw some working lights from up on the roof. If they’re getting the Amoras ready to sail, there’ll be men around and activity. It’s worth checking out. Come on.’
‘Yes, your majesty.’
James shook his head and walked off, glad to be leading for a change instead of following. He just hoped his hunch was right. He could imagine how scathing Kelly would be if he was wrong.
The lights were much further away than they had looked and it was a long walk before they got near enough to be able to see what was going on.
A medium-sized cargo ship was being loaded. She looked to be about seven thousand tons and had twin funnels.
A dockside crane that ran on rails was lowering a cargo net full of crates towards the deck where a group of men were waiting. This part of the docks had been cordoned off with heavy chains and three men in dark overcoats stood guard.
James recognised one of them instantly. He pulled Kelly into the shadows beside the locomotive of a dockside railway.
‘That’s Charnage’s butler,’ he said. ‘Deighton.’
‘Is this it, then?’ whispered Kelly. ‘Can you see the name of the ship?’
‘She’s the Amoras, all right,’ said James, picking out the freshly painted writing on the ship’s hull.
‘So what do we do now?’ said Kelly. ‘Stroll past the guards and up the gangplank? Rescue your Mister Fairburn and stroll off again?’
‘Something like that,’ said James.
‘You don’t have a clue what to do, do you?’ said Kelly.
‘If you’d shut up for one moment I might be able to think,’ said James and he looked back the way they had come. ‘We passed some rowing boats a little while ago,’ he said. ‘Maybe we could take one and get round to the other side of the Amoras.’
‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ said Kelly, her eyes wide. ‘You’re going to try and get on the bloody ship.’
‘Of course I am,’ said James. ‘I haven’t come all this way just to wave goodbye to her as she sails off into the sunset.’
‘And just what the bloody hell do you think you’re going to do once you’re on there?’
‘I don’t know,’ said James, ‘but if you’ve a better idea I’d love to hear it.’
Kelly thought for a while. ‘Where’s this boat of yours, then?’
They retraced their footsteps until they came to where a row of barges and rowing boats sat in the water.
James jumped down and clambered from one boat to another until he found one suitable, with two oars stowed in the bottom. Then he looked in all the barges until he found a length of coiled rope.
He returned to the rowing boat and readied it.
Kelly sat down awkwardly facing him. ‘Go careful, won’t you?’ she said, glancing nervously at the filthy water.
‘Not so tough now, are we?’ said James.
‘I don’t like the water.’
‘You can’t swim, can you?’
‘No, of course I can’t swim,’ snapped Kelly. ‘What would I need to be able to swim for?’
James untied the rope and cast off, using an oar to push himself clear of the barges. Then he pulled out on to the open water and rowed along parallel to the dockside.
Their progress was hidden from Charnage’s workmen by the other ships moored along here, but there was a nasty gap between the last ship and the Amoras in which they could be spotted. James slowed down and steered the rowing boat alongside the hulking cliff face of the last ship, a rusty steamer called the Newhaven, and edged forward until his prow was almost at the end.
He stowed the oars and moved into the prow, where he crouched down and pulled the boat along the hull of the Newhaven using his hands. When he could see round the bow he stopped and took a good look.
The stevedores on the wharf were busy with the crane, their attention focused upward. With the floodlights in their eyes there was a good chance they wouldn’t notice a tiny rowing boat out on the dark water.
James reversed a few feet and readied the oars.
‘Lie flat in the bottom,’ he said and Kelly obeyed quickly wi
thout talking back to him.
‘I’m going to scoot the boat out and hope we can glide across without being seen,’ James went on. ‘Hold your breath, keep quiet and don’t move.’
Kelly nodded.
James filled his lungs then gave a hefty tug on the oars before yanking them out of the water and laying them down in the bottom of the boat next to Kelly. In a moment, he too was lying down as they slipped silently across the still water.
James looked up. He could see the bulk of the Newhaven falling away, a patch of unbroken, starlit sky, and then the grey shape of the Amoras slid into view. There was a bump as they hit her hull and James sat up quickly.
He let out a long sigh of relief. They were round the back and hidden from the dockside. He doubted whether anybody had heard anything. What with the crane and shouts of the men, there was a lot of noise coming from the busy working party.
There was almost complete darkness in the shadow of the Amoras. James looked up to a row of portholes about fifteen feet above the waterline.
‘Perfect,’ he whispered.
‘What’s perfect?’ said Kelly.
‘There,’ said James, pointing. ‘An open porthole.’
‘And us without a ladder,’ said Kelly.
‘We don’t need a ladder.’ James uncoiled the rope, tied one end to the seat, and then tied a loose loop in the other end. The porthole window was half-open. If he was lucky he could snag the rope on it and climb up.
‘What you going to do, lasso it?’ said Kelly. ‘Who do you think you are? Billy the Kid?’
‘Stop moaning and help,’ said James. ‘Sit in the middle of the boat and try to steady her while I throw this up.’ He glanced at Kelly. Her face looked strained. She was frightened, but trying to hide it behind her cheek. He didn’t blame her. He was frightened too. He’d twice only narrowly escaped death at the hands of Charnage’s men. He was sticking his head back inside the lion’s jaws now. He could smell its hot breath.
But what choice did he have?
As long as he kept moving he could stop the fear from taking hold.
He just had to hope that the lion’s jaws didn’t close around his neck.