Chapter 16

Lizzie couldn’t have felt more of a fool. No wonder Ma Sullivan had thought she’d recognized the lady at the Maharaja’s party. She had. Billy was the stage magician who’d once called himself Mister Marvel, and Lady Susannah was his assistant … his accomplice.

‘I got it all wrong,’ Lizzie gasped to Hari. ‘Lady Susannah isn’t the victim here – she’s the culprit!’

‘Looks like the penny’s finally dropped,’ mocked Lady Susannah. Or Scheherazade, or whatever her real name was. ‘To be honest, I thought you’d rumble me a lot sooner.’

‘She did too,’ laughed Billy. ‘See, darlin’? I told you the girl was nothing to worry about.’

‘Set the sail, Billy. We’re leaving.’ The woman shoved with the oar, pushing the rowboat away and out of reach. ‘Cheerio!’ she said, giving a mocking little wave.

‘No you don’t!’ Hari grabbed the fishing net from the bottom of their boat. He flung it hard and it opened in flight, falling around Billy.

As the man struggled to free himself, Hari caught the net’s trawling rope and pulled it, tightening the net around the magician as if he was a shoal of fish.

Billy laughed, seemingly unconcerned. ‘Smart move, mate. Did I mention I’m an escape artist?’

‘My Mister Marvel can get out of a straitjacket in less than a minute,’ Lady Susannah mocked. ‘A fishing net won’t pose too much of a problem.’

Lizzie glanced back at the shore. Fitzy and the Maharaja would hopefully have reached the harbour by now. With any luck, they’d see her lantern’s light out at sea and give chase. You could see a lantern all the way from the castle, she remembered, from when she’d been thrown out of Lady Susannah’s bedchamber…

Suddenly another piece of the puzzle fitted into place. She looked inland until she could just make out the castle tower, and a light glowing in Lady Susannah’s window.

‘No wonder you didn’t want me to put the ruddy light out!’ she yelled. ‘It was a signal, wasn’t it? And he was signalling back to you from the boat!’

Billy smirked from inside the net. ‘Clever little scheme, weren’t it?’ he said. ‘What with that dopey Maharaja watching her day and night, I couldn’t meet up with my Susie for a chat, could I?’

‘I did miss you, my honey bear,’ cooed Susannah in a soppy voice that made Lizzie want to throw up. She leaned her blonde head against his chest. ‘Of course, I did slip away once in a while…’

‘I saw you on the beach together!’ Lizzie fumed. ‘Canoodling like a pair of lovebirds!’

Billy chuckled. ‘And that daft Indian duffer thought my beautiful Susie was in love with him. With him! How naïve can you get?’ He began to wrestle with the net, while Hari struggled to hold him fast.

Lizzie glanced back at the beach again. Lights were approaching on the coast road – the search party! But Billy could sail away at any moment, once he was out of his net. There was only one thing for it. Billy loves to talk. That’s his trademark. If I can just keep him boasting for a while longer…

‘There’s one thing I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘What really happened to your jet necklace?’

Billy tapped his forehead. ‘You’re not very bright, are you? Susie nicked it herself, and I flogged it!’ He wriggled his shoulders, and the net continued to slide off him like a snake shedding its skin.

‘So what happens now? You’re just going to disappear, are you?’ Lizzie yelled.

Billy clapped slowly, mocking her. Lizzie, with a start, realized that he’d got his hands out of the net.

‘When the ghost ship steals a person away, they’re never seen again,’ laughed Susannah. ‘Pretty convenient, don’t you think?’

Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzie noticed that the search party had boarded a boat and were heading towards them. I just need a little more time, she thought. Play to his vanity, keep him talking.

‘How’d you pick the Maharaja as a target, though?’ she asked.

Susannah rolled her eyes. ‘Flamin’ heck. She don’t ever shut up, does she?’

‘He came to our music-hall show,’ Billy boasted. ‘He’s a wide-eyed child, that one. When we saw him bouncing about in his seat, we figured he was soft in the head. Ripe for the picking, like. So me and my sweet Susie decided to take him for all he was worth.’

‘Your sweet Susie,’ Lizzie said, practically spitting the words out. ‘You would have let her marry another man?’

‘Oh, they wouldn’t have been married long,’ Billy mocked. ‘Just long enough for Susie to siphon off every penny of his cash.’

‘And then, when he was no longer useful?’ snarled Hari.

Billy let out an ugly laugh. ‘He might have vanished without a trace one night. Spirited away by the ghost ship! Never seen again, unless he was washed up on the shore.’

‘But the famous Lizzie Brown told me we’d never be married,’ Susannah spat. ‘I could tell your reading was true. So we went to Plan B.’

‘What’s Plan B?’ yelled Lizzie.

With an angry flourish, Billy flung the net away from himself like a cloak. ‘Getting our hands on this beauty.’ He dug in his pocket and held up a glittering red object almost as big as his fist. ‘This ruby’s going to make us both rich.’

‘The Heart of Durga,’ Hari gasped. ‘That’s not yours to sell!’

All the struggling with the net had pulled the boats closer together until they were almost bumping. Hari jumped, catching hold of the edge of Billy’s boat and heaving himself on board.

‘Get out of it!’ screeched Susannah. She aimed a vicious kick at Hari’s face, but he nimbly dodged out of the way and crouched, glaring at her. She moved between him and Billy, blocking his path to the ruby.

‘Give that back,’ Hari hissed.

‘Don’t you lay a finger on me,’ she warned. ‘I’ll show you how dirty a woman can fight.’

Hari tried to dash round her, but she grabbed him, ripping his shirt. He shoved her away. As they grappled, Lizzie had a flash of déjà vu – I’ve seen this before in my vision!

In the vision, Lizzie had thought Susannah was fighting for her life. She was on a small boat, trying to fight off someone Lizzie couldn’t see clearly.

It was Hari. Lizzie had thought Susannah was being murdered. Her vision was coming true, but it wasn’t what she’d thought it was at all.

With a yell, Hari gave Susannah a mighty push and sent her sprawling across the deck. Billy staggered backwards, still holding up the ruby, but now fumbling in his pockets for a knife.

‘You ought to be afraid of me, boy!’ he shouted.

‘Some of his best friends are lions!’ shouted Lizzie. ‘You think he’d be scared of you?’

Hari dived at Billy and caught him round the waist in a flying tackle. Billy toppled backwards, his arms windmilling wildly. To Lizzie’s horror, the ruby flew out of his hand, landed on the deck and went tumbling across it.

‘No!’ Hari yelled.

Susannah scrambled after the jewel like a cat chasing a woollen thread. She was too late. The precious ruby rattled and bounced across the boards like a great glass doorknob, then flew over the side of the boat.

Lizzie didn’t pause to think. She moved by sheer instinct alone. She swung her arms and jumped from the boat. Her hands reached out for the jewel.

She snatched it out of the air. It felt so strange in her grasp, heavy and cool as an apple, covered with smooth facets. Next second, she hit the water.

She was in over her head, swallowed up by freezing darkness that bit her to the bone. The shock of it almost paralysed her. Out here, there was no sandy sea bed to put her feet down on. The water was deep enough to swallow a tall-masted ship.

But this time Lizzie didn’t panic. Despite the intense cold, she knew what she was doing. She dog-paddled hard, clutching the ruby in a fierce grip, until her head broke the water. Puffing and gasping, she swam back towards the boat.

‘That’s it, Lizzie! Keep going!’ It was Hari’s voice. She saw him leap from the ‘ghost ship’ back into Elsie’s little fishing boat. He held out his hand, and the sight filled her with fresh confidence. I can do it. Hari knows I can.

Susannah leaned over the edge of their boat, holding the oar menacingly. ‘I’m going to smack her one, Bill.’

‘Wait till she’s in the boat, you daft cow!’ Billy raged. ‘If you put her lights out, she’ll drop the ruby!’

‘What did you call me?’ Susannah shrieked.

‘You heard!’

‘After all I’ve been through for you?’

‘You mucked it all up! If you hadn’t had a ruddy palm-reading off her—’

‘PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!’

The voice booming out across the mist was coming from a large rowing boat. Lizzie could see Fitzy and the Maharaja, and a tall, stern-looking man in a black coat. He was holding a pistol. She took Hari’s outstretched hand and gratefully let him haul her onto the boat. Meanwhile, Billy and Susannah slowly lifted their own hands as the police boat approached.

‘You two are under arrest,’ the policeman told them. He turned to Fitzy. ‘I’m in your debt, gentlemen. We’ve been after these two for a long time.’

‘What’s the charge?’ Billy bellowed.

‘Fraud, conspiracy and robbery for a start,’ the policeman yelled back.

Fitzy looked satisfied, but the Maharaja just looked heartbroken.

As the boat drew closer, Lizzie was sure she heard the policeman mutter, ‘And you made me miss the circus, you ass. I had front row seats an’ all.’