CHAPTER

NINETEEN

 

 

Jani chastises Anand –

Alfie learns of Sebastian’s betrayal –

His heart leaps –

“You’re a good man, Alfie Littlebody...”

 

 

IT WAS ALMOST three when they arrived at Highgate and Alfie led his friends up the steps to the flat and unlocked the door. Anand repaired to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea, and Jani flopped down on the sofa before the fire. There was a chill in the room, and Alfie stirred the embers in the grate, added pieces of kindling and coal, and soon had a fire blazing.

He sat in an armchair and smiled across at Jani. He thought, despite her unkempt hair and tired eyes, that she had never looked more beautiful. His stomach ached with unrequited passion. “You look all in,” he said.

“I feel all in, Alfie. All this chasing from pillar to post has exhausted me. I want to do nothing but go to bed and sleep for a day.”

“And so you shall, once Anand has had his say.”

She shook her head and rested her brow on her hand, staring at the fire with dead eyes.

“Jani, is everything alright?”

She drew a heartfelt sigh, gazing at Alfie as if about to tell him something – but at that second a smiling Anand marched into the living room with a tea tray.

The boy poured three china cups of Earl Grey and sat in the armchair before the fire, looking right and left at Alfie and Jani.

Alfie sipped his tea. “Well, if your idea is as good as this brew, we’ll have Mahran out of the grasp of the Russians in no time.”

“My plan is even better than this tea,” Anand said. “It is foolproof and cannot fail. It is all the better for having the element of surprise. Whatever the Russians will be expecting us to do, it will not be this.”

Jani looked up from the fire, her elegant fingers still propping up her head. “I’m very tired, Anand. Will you please outline your plan so that I can get to bed?”

Undeterred by her tone, Anand sipped his tea and smiled from Jani to Alfie. “You see, I know the plan will work because it has worked before. Recall your incarceration in the Old Delhi warehouse, Jani-ji, and how I rescued you from there?”

Jani sat up, staring at him. “But...”

“Yes! I plan to take the Mech-Man from Mr Clockwork’s Fabulous Emporium in Putney and storm the church where Mahran is imprisoned. Mr Alfie, while I am away, you will go to Lady Eddington, tell her about my plan and request that she furnish us with weapons – she was telling me just the other day that she had contacts who could supply whatever we needed, in respect of breaking Mahran from Newgate gaol.”

Jani was shaking her head. If anything, she looked even more tired. “So you intend to storm the church, all guns blazing, and rescue Mahran single-handedly?” Her tone was scathing.

Anand shook his head. “No, Jani-ji. You see, I will storm the church, yes, surprising the Russians within, and you and Mr Alfie, armed with the weapons supplied by Lady Eddington, will take advantage of the confusion, follow me in and mop up the Russians.”

Alfie opened his mouth to veto the idea, but Jani got there before him. “Ridiculous,” she said. “The idea is absurd. I’m sorry to be the one to pour cold water on your delusions, Anand, but your scheme is littered with flaws from beginning to end.”

The boy looked crest-fallen. “But Jani-ji!–” he began.

“No!” Jani snapped. “I’m not having it. Your hare-brained scheme will not only endanger yourself, but place Alfie and me in untold danger too. And to be frank, speaking personally I’ve had enough close shaves over the course of the past couple of weeks to last a lifetime.”

“But Jani-ji, I’ve thought through every aspect of the rescue mission!” Anand pleaded.

“No, Anand. In your dreams you’ve fantasized about rescuing Mahran and playing the little hero, but you haven’t really thought through the dangers. To begin with, what makes you think that a) you can break into the emporium and simply drive the Mech-Man from there without being detected, let alone seen by a thousand passers-by? And b)...”

“But I have thought of that! I will go now, before dawn, and take the Mech-Man before daylight. So you see, I will not be detected or observed.”

“And b),” Jani went on, “the Mech-Man is not an easy object to conceal without half of London being aware of his presence. How on Earth–?”

“But I have thought of that, too,” Anand said, looking very pleased with himself. “You see, the Mech-Man is watertight, and equipped with its own air supply. So what I plan is that when I have broken out of the emporium, under cover of darkness, I will take him directly to the Thames, which is only a hundred yards away, and submerge him in the river – emerging only in the early hours of tomorrow morning.”

“And then you will stride through Battersea, storm into the church, find exactly where the Russians are holding Mahran... and then, while the Russians are firing at you, you expect Alfie and myself to follow you in armed to the teeth.” She shook her head and glared at the boy. “You’ve been reading too many adventure stories, Anand. Your scheme is insane. I don’t want to see you dead, and for my part I am far from happy about risking my neck.” She looked across at Alfie and said, “Alfie? What is your opinion on the matter?”

He looked across at the expectant boy and shook his head. “Jani is speaking eminent sense, Anand. Your plan, while commendable in its aims, is strewn with too many imponderables. Before we rescue Mahran, we need to think long and hard about how we might go about it.”

Anand looked deflated and stared from Alfie to Jani with pained eyes. “And what is your plan, then, Jani-ji?”

Jani, to Alfie’s surprise, lost control of her temper. “Oh, for God’s sake! How do I know? I’m tired, Anand! Tired of everything! I didn’t ask to go on this fool mission to deliver strange devices to alien creatures. I didn’t ask to have my life placed in danger at every turn. My father died two weeks ago, and I’ve hardly had time to... to...” She shook her head. “And on top of all that...”

Alfie looked across at Jani and saw that she was weeping; pearly tears rolled down her dusky cheek, to be dashed away by the back of her hand.

Anand sat very still, staring at his fingers. “I’m sorry, Jani-ji.”

“And so you should be. Now go to bed before I really lose my temper!”

Alfie watched Anand slide from the armchair and cross the room, slip through a door and close it quietly behind him.

After a short interval, Alfie ventured, “Don’t you think you were a trifle harsh on the boy?”

Jani glared at him. “No, I don’t. Of all the stupid, brainless ideas!”

Alfie shrugged. “But he meant well.”

Jani sighed. “I know he did, but... Oh, Alfie!”

And then she gave in and wept anew, leaning forward and pressing both hands against her face and sobbing uncontrollably. Alfie dithered, wondering whether to go to her and take her hand. He supposed that the cumulative events of late had finally taken their toll, and this was the result.

He rose, took two steps across the rug, and knelt. Hesitantly he reached out and touched her elbow. “Jani.”

This had the effect of producing a fervent wail from her. “Oh, Alfie! How could he?”

Alfie shrugged. “He’s only a boy, Jani. All this is one big adventure to him–”

She removed her hands from before her face and blubbered a laugh at him through her tears. “Not Anand, silly. I mean Sebastian.”

He shook his head, non-plussed. “Sebastian?”

She found a balled handkerchief in the cuff of her cardigan and blotted her eyes. “It was Sebastian who betrayed my escape from... from Carmody Hall to the Russians. You see, he’s working for them.”

He stared at her, trying to take in her words. “Working for them?” he echoed fatuously.

“He’s a spy, Alfie, recruited at Cambridge. At the hall, I told him of my plan to contact you via Lady Eddington and rescue me... And... and – oh, Alfie! He betrayed me to the Russians! And I really, truly, thought he loved me!”

She fell forward and he embraced her as she sobbed on his shoulder. He found himself ineffectually patting her back and saying, “There, there,” over and over, as if comforting a child who had scraped her knee.

“I’m so sorry, Jani.”

She pulled away and looked at him. “Are you, Alfie?”

He wanted to reach out and stroke her wet cheek, then pull her to him and kiss her on the lips. “I desire more than anything to see you happy,” he murmured, and felt guilty for the tiny spark of joy that leapt in his heart at the thought of Sebastian’s betrayal.

Jani smiled. “You’re a good man, Alfie Littlebody. And I’m lucky indeed to have friends like you and Anand.”

He patted her shoulder, his heart skipping. “If I were you,” he said paternally, “I’d go to bed and get a good rest. I’ll cook breakfast when you wake up and we’ll have a day or so of doing absolutely nothing before we consider what to do next, hmm?”

She nodded. “That sounds like a capital idea, Alfie.”

When Jani had taken herself off to bed, Alfie sat in the armchair before the fire, nursing a glass of brandy and considering the events of the night.

He told himself that he dare not invest too much hope in his reawakened dreams. Sebastian had proved himself a cad, unfit to hold sentiments for someone as sweet and good as Jani, and now the way was clear for him, Alfie, to show Janisha Chatterjee the love she deserved.

But the damnable thing was that he was on the run from the British, in all likelihood with a murder charge hanging over his head.

If it were possible, then he was all the more determined now to work for the success of their mission, for success would achieve a double outcome: if they could locate the Morn and persuade the authorities of the danger posed by the Zhell, then his superiors might see their way to exonerating him of what he could claim was an act of self-defence in killing Smethers.

And also, if they succeeded in their mission, then he would surely win Jani’s undying affection...

He refilled his brandy and tried to set aside these thoughts and concentrate on the immediate future. For the next two or three days he would relax with Jani, and might even suggest that he show her around Highgate. His father had been incumbent at St Christopher’s, many moons ago, and Alfie had fond memories of growing up in the district. He would show Jani his old haunts, and take her to the churchyard where his father was buried.

He felt a wonderful warmth in his chest, which had nothing to do with the alcohol, as he thought of the beautiful young woman sleeping not a dozen paces from where he sat.

Later, a little tipsy and more than a little euphoric, Alfie took himself off to bed.