The Skeleton Clock Read online

  ‘Just some guy,’ Geoff murmured. ‘Come on, time we were going.’

  Jake was about to agree when a second man stepped on to the gallery. He wasn’t as tall as the cloaked figure, but he wore a dark uniform and carried a metal box, tarnished with age.

  ‘Revenue!’ Geoff hissed. ‘If the Revenue’s coming I’m definitely off.’ He tugged at Jake’s sleeve.

  ‘No, wait,’ Jake whispered. The Revenue man was looking round furtively. It didn’t look like he was here on official business – and what Revenue man would bother with a couple of skinflint waterlarks?

  ‘There you are.’ The Revenue man even sounded nervous. He walked cautiously round the gallery towards where the cloaked figure was standing.

  ‘You have them?’ the man in the cloak asked. His voice barely carried to where Jake and Geoff were crouching.

  The Revenue man lifted the metal box and balanced it on top of the railing, keeping a tight hold. ‘Safe and sound. If you’re interested.’

  ‘Oh, I am most certainly interested. Show me.’

  The Revenue man hesitated for a moment, then undid the clasp on the box with his free hand. He lifted the lid, and Jake peered closer through the railings. But the box was facing away from him, so the men could look inside. All Jake and Geoff could see was the back of the open lid.

  ‘Exquisite,’ the cloaked man was saying.

  The Revenue man pulled the box away from the other man. ‘No touching. You’ve seen what I got. Now we agree a price.’

  The space under the hood was completely dark. The voice without expression. ‘We have already agreed a price.’

  The Revenue man’s voice was stretched out with nerves as he shut the lid of the box. ‘Yeah. But you were so keen, I reckon this is worth a bit more than we agreed.’

  There was no mistaking the edge in the other man’s voice now. ‘How much more?’

  ‘Double.’

  ‘Double,’ the cloaked man echoed. He turned away. ‘And that buys secrecy too?’

  ‘What is it he’s selling?’ Geoff whispered.

  Jake waved him to silence. All his attention was on the cloaked man – on the way the figure had straightened up slightly, turning away from the Revenue man. On the candlelight reflecting off the blade of the knife he took slowly out of his sleeve.

  ‘I’ve told no one anything about these,’ the Revenue man was saying. ‘Told no one about you.’

  ‘Told no one you were coming here?’

  ‘Course not. If I don’t hand these in, I’m in breach of regulations. Think I’m stupid?’

  The man in the cloak turned quickly back towards the uniformed figure. ‘Very stupid,’ he answered. The knife caught the light, flashing towards the Revenue man.

  Jake was on his feet. But he was too late, and his warning shout was lost in the scream of surprise and pain from across the gallery. Geoff clamped a hand over Jake’s mouth and dragged him back down into the shadows.

  ‘You want to get stuck too?’ Geoff warned.

  The Revenue man was sagging. But he still held the box, pulling it along the top of the railing towards himself as he staggered backwards.

  The knife flashed again. The Revenue man fell. The metal box fell with him. The man in the cloak grabbed for it, pulling it away.

  Jake could hear the stabbed man choking and coughing. But still he struggled to hold on to the box.

  The knife stabbed down once more. With a final cry, the Revenue man let go.

  Now the cloaked figure staggered back, clutching the box in triumph. Crashing into the metal railing. The knife clattered to the floor, and the metal box caught on the top of the railing. The impact tore the box from the man’s grasp, and it fell. Twisting and spinning, the box dropped towards the water several yards below.

  There was silence for a second. Then the splash. Followed by a yell of anger from the cloaked figure. He learned over the railing – leaned so far, Jake thought for a moment he was about to jump in after whatever he had lost. But instead it looked as though he pulled something from his pocket and sprinkled it like dust into the water. Tiny particles that caught the shimmering candlelight as they twisted and fell…

  The Revenue man groaned. He had fallen on to the stone bench, facing the wall. ‘Help me!’ his tortured voice whispered right in Jake’s ear. The only reply was a rhythmic tick like the sound of a clock as the other man clicked his tongue and turned away.

  A cloaked figure strode past the dying man, and disappeared into the dark doorway.

  *

  Feet ringing on the stone floor, Geoff ran to the wounded man while Jake yelled for help. But there was no answer to his echoing shouts down the stairway or over the gallery rail.

  ‘Will he be all right?’ Jake asked Geoff.

  Geoff looked up at him, candlelight playing over his pale face. ‘He’s dead.’

  ‘Dead?!’

  Geoff stood up. ‘I was hoping he’d tell us what was in the case.’

  ‘He’s dead,’ Jake said again, unable to believe it. ‘He’s dead and you want to know what was in the case?’

  ‘Why not?’ Despite everything, Geoff grinned. ‘Got to be valuable. Worth killing for.’

  ‘But not worth dying for,’ Jake told him. He stared at the slumped body of the man on the bench, and at the dark stain spreading beneath him. ‘Whatever it was, it’s gone now.’

  ‘You want to stay a waterlark for ever?’ Geoff said, slapping Jake on the shoulder.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Whatever it was, it just fell in the water. That’s what we do, isn’t it? We get stuff out of the water. The more valuable the better.’

  Jake looked from the dead man to the rippling water below the dome. ‘I don’t know…’

  ‘It’s no use to him, is it?’ Geoff pointed out. ‘Come on. You can hold your breath longer than any of us – and dive deeper too.’ He shrugged out of his threadbare jacket and pulled his grimy shirt over his head. ‘Let’s get rich!’

  Jake sighed. Geoff was right. The man was dead, and his killer had fled. No one else knew there was anything in the water. He took off his jacket and kicked off his boots, stuffing them out of sight beneath the stone bench.

  Geoff clambered over the metal rail. Jake climbed after him, and together they jumped. It was only as he fell into the murky cold water that Jake thought to wonder how they’d get out again.

  He swam back up to the surface, treading water for a moment while he looked round. Geoff was so impulsive, but Jake liked to know what he was getting into. The wooden walkways the Brotherhood used to get between the rooms and chambers on the lower level were just higher than the water. At high tide they floated, but now they were hanging just over the water. Jake could pull himself out and on to one of those.

  Satisfied he wasn’t going to be trapped inside the ancient building, Jake flipped his legs up and dived down into the water.

  He was well used to seeing underwater. But the light from the hundreds of candles positioned round the cathedral was pale and weak, barely reaching below the surface.

  Jake’s outstretched hands met an ornate carved structure. Wood, by the feel of it – slimy and fragile from the years under water. He pushed on, coming up against a rusting metal gate. He pulled himself along the side of the gate, its metalwork a hint of black in the dark grey world. An opening now, and still Jake was heading downwards. Whatever had fallen into the water would be right on the bottom.

  His every instinct was to breath, but he ignored it, concentrating on the pressure building in his head, working out how much longer he could stay down.

  He pushed past the broken end of a rotting choir stall, and at last felt the floor. It was strewn with sand and silt. Not as bad as the river bed or some of the old streets. But it was still several inches thick. Jake hoped he’d stayed close to where he dived – close to where the box had entered the water.

  Beside him Jake could sense Geoff. He could just see the faint shape of his friend. Geoff rose in front o
f Jake, one hand giving him a thumbs up. In the other he was holding – something. Then he was kicking past.

  Jake couldn’t last much longer. He didn’t want to dive again. The Brothers would be back soon and there was a dead body on the gallery. He scraped his hands along the floor, scooping close to where Geoff had been. His hand met an irregular shape – stone. A fragment from the pillar or another part of the building. Jake forced himself on…

  Something pulled at Jake’s leg. He spun round, bubbles of alarm escaping from his mouth and rising past his face.

  It was Geoff. He was pointing past Jake. Shaking his head urgently.

  Jake nodded and turned away. Geoff must be telling him where to look. He shook his leg free, and brushed his hands through more mud and silt – until they met the hard edge of the metal box. It was jammed upright between a pillar and a pile of heavy stones that had fallen from one of the walls. Jake tugged, but he couldn’t shift it – and he knew Geoff would have tried already.

  The lid of the box was slightly open, and he could just wriggle his hand inside. There was something, he could feel it. A weird, complicated shape. Several of them – but he couldn’t bring his hand out if he was holding anything as his fist was too big and the lid wouldn’t open any further. He let the objects go, and instead he managed to tease one of them up to the edge and out. As soon as it was clear of the case, Jake grasped it so tight that it seemed to squirm and move in his hand.

  Relieved and excited, his lungs about to burst, Jake knew there was no time to get anything else from the box. He needed air. Jake brought his legs down and kicked up from the floor.

  And found himself right in front of what Geoff had tried to warn him about.

  A writhing mass of tentacles curled out of the darkness. Jake caught a confused glimpse of suckers and spines. He felt a cold, slippery tendril wrap round his arm. He kicked desperately with his legs. More tentacles were closing in, wrapping round him, dragging him down.

  A hand grabbed Jake’s and pulled him upwards. Geoff. Jake was kicking frantically now. The water was full of tiny air bubbles. His mouth clamped firmly shut. Lungs compressing with the effort not to breath in water.

  More tentacles, reaching, grabbing, thrashing. A huge bulbous body moving towards Jake through the water. The release of pressure as Geoff had to let go and swim up for air.

  A single enormous bloodshot eye stared at Jake from inches away as another huge tentacle curled towards him out of the murky depths.

  Chapter 2

  Without thinking, Jake lashed out. The water deadened his movement. A huge bubble of precious air escaped from his mouth with the effort. But Jake’s fist smacked into the viscous, sticky eyeball.

  The water was in turmoil. Silt and sand swirled round Jake. He felt the tentacles loosen, just slightly. It was enough. With a tremendous kick, he broke free and pushed himself desperately towards the surface.

  Jake’s face broke out of the water and he retched and gasped. Geoff was clinging to a nearby railing, about to drop back into the water. He gave a cry of relief as he saw Jake.

  Relief that became horror as a vast shape erupted from the water behind Jake. Tentacles curled out. A high-pitched shriek of anger split the air, echoing round the dome high above. Jake launched himself towards the railings. Geoff was clambering back over them – away from the thrashing tentacles.

  Jake’s hand closed on the rusty metalwork. At the same moment, he felt something grab his leg. Then Geoff was there, taking Jake’s other hand and dragging him up and over the railing. His leg broke free and a shower of water splashed over him as Jake fell.

  The two of them tumbled to the stone-floored gallery on the other side of the railing. A tentacle hurtled after them. More tentacles threaded over and through the railings, reaching and probing…

  There was only one doorway out of the small gallery area, and the creature’s tentacles were between the boys and that doorway. They pushed themselves back. Jake felt himself knock into something hard. An upright pole.

  The light shimmered and flickered, shadows dancing. Jake realised he had knocked into one of the oil lights.

  There were several – upright poles, with a heavy base and a metal bowl of oil at the top. A burning wick floated in the oil, giving off a pale, smoky light. As the first of the tentacles reached them, Jake leaped to his feet, dragging Geoff up with him.

  ‘Help me!’ he yelled, above the sounds of the churning water and the screeches and shrieks of the monstrous beast.

  Standing up, Jake could see more of the creature. A huge mass of squirming tentacles with a single bloodied eye in the middle. It glared at Jake and Geoff malevolently. Tentacles drew back, ready to lash out again, suckers expanding and contracting. A blow from one of the larger tentacles would knock Jake flying. If they grabbed him, he’d be dragged under the water and there would be no escape.

  Geoff had realised what Jake was up to. It took the two of them to lift the heavy metal pole. They struggled to tip it until the burning liquid was lipping over the edge of the bowl…

  Tentacles struck out, suckers livid red as they pulsed with anticipation.

  ‘Now!’ Jake yelled.

  They heaved over the lamp stand. The oil spilled out of the bowl, igniting as it splashed across the tentacles beneath.

  In a moment the tentacles were burning. Jake ran, Geoff close behind. A tentacle smashed towards him, and Jake leaped over it. Geoff followed, catching his foot, stumbling but staying on his feet.

  The tentacle smacked into the base of another lamp, sending more burning oil flying. Jake yelped as scalding droplets whipped at his face.

  Then he was out and into a short corridor. Together they stamped up a narrow stairway, leaving a wet trail.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Geoff demanded.

  ‘Hell might be where it came from,’ Jake gasped.

  The stairs emerged into a passageway they recognised. As they followed it, they slowed to a brisk walk, both breathless. Laughing nervously. When they finally reached the gallery Jake was light-headed with relief. Until he saw the slumped body of the Revenue man. The blood was a sticky mess across the bench and a viscous pool on the gallery floor.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ Geoff said quietly. ‘The Brothers will be back soon. Someone must have heard that thing.’

  Jake turned away from the body. He leaned heavily on the railing, staring down at the water below. It was churning, white. But there was no sign of the monstrous creature that had attacked them. Perhaps something moved, just below the surface. But it was impossible to be sure. Half expecting a tentacle to whip up from the water and lash out at him, Jake shivered.

  He almost cried out when something tapped his shoulder. But it was Geoff, holding out Jake’s jacket. Only when he had his jacket and boots on did Jake think to see what he had found on the floor of the cathedral. He’d stuffed it into his pocket as soon he could, when the monster was coming at them. Now he carefully pulled it out, and held it close to one of the flickering lights.

  Geoff was beside him. ‘You got something? Me too.’ He opened his hand and the two of them stared at their prizes.

  ‘There were more down there, Jake said. ‘I felt them. Picked up a few, but couldn’t hold on to them.’

  ‘Not surprised, with that thing…’

  ‘What was it?’ Jake said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. Not ever.’

  ‘Nor me,’ Geoff admitted. He shivered. ‘Hope I never do again. Murderers and monsters in one day.’

  ‘But why kill a man for these?’ Jake wondered. ‘I mean, they’re really good. Really well made. But…’

  ‘But they’re just toys,’ Geoff agreed. ‘Toy soldiers.’

  Geoff was holding an infantryman. Old, carved and stained with age. But even without cleaning it up, the boys could see it was exquisite. The figure fitted neatly into Geoff’s palm. It was wearing armour and holding a sword.

  The figure Jake held was even more impressive. Again, it needed the
mud and silt washing off, and the pale ivory or whatever it was carved from was stained with age. Geoff had a foot soldier, but Jake’s was on horseback. The horse was intricately detailed, wearing armour like the soldier on its back. A delicate lance extended past the horse’s nose and Jake realised he was lucky it hadn’t broken.

  ‘Worth a bit,’ Geoff said. ‘Worth getting wet for.’

  ‘Not worth getting killed for, though,’ Jake said. He was thinking of the creature that had attacked them. But as he spoke he could see the Revenue man lying still and lifeless on the bench behind them. ‘Let’s get out of here. Before someone comes.’

  ‘Too late for that,’ Geoff said quietly.

  A shadow fell across the doorway behind them. There was no time to hide or run. A figure stepped on to the gallery.

  ‘I thought I’d find you two here.’

  Jake and Geoff both sighed with relief.

  ‘Hi, Sarah,’ Geoff said. He always sounded slightly breathless and nervous when he spoke to her, which amused Jake. Geoff would rub his chin nervously too, like he was pulling at a beard he didn’t have.

  ‘We have to go,’ Jake said.

  ‘I only just got here,’ Sarah protested. ‘You said you’d take me to Nelson’s Mooring and then to look at the Floating Restaurants,’ she told Geoff.

  Sarah was as tall as Geoff and Jake, and slightly older. She had long fair hair that framed a pretty face. Her nose turned up at the end, and her eyes were a deep green. Jake didn’t know her as well as Geoff did, but it seemed to him that the girl was always smiling.

  But her smile faded as Jake stepped aside and she saw the body of the Revenue Man.

  ‘What’s going on? Who’s that? What have you done?’

  ‘Not us,’ Geoff said. ‘You can’t think that we –’

  ‘There was a man,’ Jake explained. ‘He had a knife.’

  ‘He’s dead?’ Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off the body, the dark stain spreading across the gallery.

  ‘There was a quarrel. Look,’ Jake went on quickly, ‘the Brothers will be back soon. We have to go before they find us.’