CHAPTER THREE

In which Emily and Co. travel through a city that is almost, but not quite, familiar. Ancient tunnels. A surprise awaits.

This wasn’t Emily’s London. She knew this, obviously, but the truth of the statement became more and more apparent as they fled through the cobbled alleys and dirty streets of the city. Everything was much smaller than she was used to, more stifling. The roads were narrower, filled to bursting with Londoners and horses and boys driving sheep and cows from one side of the town to the other.

Instead of brick, most of the buildings were made from timber and shoved right up against one another. As a result of this, the only way to make houses larger was to build upwards, each precariously built floor larger than the one beneath and jutting farther and farther out over the street until only a small section of sky was visible from the shadowy road.

But despite these differences, there was still a lot that was similar. For instance, there were the carriages of all sizes and types that jostled for position on the heaving streets, some rickety, some elaborately carved and painted. (Although, the clothing of the people inside these carriages was odd to her. Men wore frock jackets and curly, shoulder-length wigs, and women held scented kerchiefs to their noses to block out the stench.)

When Emily first saw this, she felt a sharp stab of envy, because the stench was another thing that was familiar to her. Everyone she passed stank of stale sweat or bad breath. There was nowhere she could turn to escape it. The smell of vomit wafted from dark alleys, the stink of burned food from an open door, the revolting smell of rotting meat from an abattoir.

And added to this was the stink that came from having all kinds of animals walking through the streets. The inevitable buildup left by the animals either buzzed with flies or crawled with writhing maggots. Back home, there were people whose job it was to clean up this type of mess. Obviously, this simple idea hadn’t occurred to anyone here, though Emily fervently wished it had.

She stepped over a pile of something she would rather not identify, following Katerina as she slipped into a dark alley. The buildings that formed the two sides of the narrow lane were linked by a plank of wood resting on windowsills high above them. As Emily watched, someone climbed out of one of these windows and clomped over the plank to the house opposite. The wood creaked alarmingly, a fine dust sifting down through the air. Emily blinked the dust away and lowered her eyes. Katerina stood at the entrance to the alley, checking back over their route. The other members of her gang had disappeared as soon as they had left the river. It was just the four of them and Katerina now.

“Where are we going?” Emily asked.

Katerina glanced quickly over her shoulder. “To see Rob Goodfellow,” she said. Her eyes lingered on Corrigan. “I can’t figure you lot out. Maybe he can.”

She turned her attention back to the street. Emily followed her gaze. It looked the same as all the other streets they had moved through. Except here the people going about their business looked slightly less well off, their clothes dull, and most of them had short hair. (Emily assumed this was to keep the nits away.) One or two beggars tried their luck, but anyone could see this wasn’t the best area of the city for them. There were no plump merchants. No rich people to take pity on them. Those who went about their business here were only a few steps up from begging themselves. They didn’t have anything to give.

Corrigan hopped across from William’s shoulder. “Notice anything?” he said in a low voice.

Emily took another look. No sign of Black Annis or Jenny Greenteeth. No sign of those hideous hounds. Or the knights. It all looked perfectly normal. She shook her head.

“Look,” said Corrigan. “What’s missing here?”

Emily took another look, trying to see what it was Corrigan was talking about. A moment later it struck her. She couldn’t see any of the fey. Not a one. Back in her time, there would be brownies hitching rides on the passersby; the fey would be wandering between the humans, going about their own business. But here there was none of that.

“Where are the fey?” she asked softly.

“Maybe we should ask your new friend,” replied Corrigan.

“Come on,” said Katerina, apparently satisfied that they had managed to shake off pursuit. “We’ve still got a ways to go.”

Katerina led them on for another hour or so, keeping to the stinking back alleys as much as possible. That was another thing that was similar to Emily’s London. There were a lot of warrens and courts, twisting lanes and mews that snaked around and behind the main streets, leading to hidden courtyards and forgotten houses. It seemed that London had always been like that, the passing years only adding to the confusion and mystery.

They finally stopped before a stout brick wall with thick, flowering bushes growing at its base.

“Where are we?” asked Jack.

“Bonehill cemetery,” said Katerina. She got down to her knees and stuck her head inside the bushes, wriggling forward until only her legs remained in view. A moment later, they, too, were gone.

Emily crouched down and peered through the leaves. Katerina’s face stared back at her from the other side of a large hole in the wall.

“What are you waiting for?” she whispered fiercely. “Get in here. Unless you want Black Annis to catch you.”

Emily straightened up and turned to Will. “In you go,” she said. William frowned, folding his arms across his chest.

“Why do I have to go first? Do you think I’m going to run off and get into trouble if I’m out of your sight for a couple of seconds?”

“Come on, Will,” said Jack. “Smallest first. In case I get stuck.”

Will hesitated, then nodded at Jack. He got down onto his stomach, pointedly ignoring Emily, and squirmed through the hole.

Emily frowned but didn’t say anything. What was the point? Any time she tried, Will took what she said the wrong way. It was like he wanted to fight with her.

Emily went next. Branches snagged her clothing and hair, scraping against her skin, but she managed to pull herself through to the other side without too much difficulty.

She stood up and surveyed their surroundings. Everywhere she looked she saw weathered headstones and small, stone crypts, some of them topped by statues of angels. Off to their right, nestling amidst the dry, brittle grass, stood a small church. Some distance away were long rows of freshly turned earth.

“What are those for?” she asked, nodding at the long piles of earth.

Katerina looked at Emily strangely. “The plague,” she said.

Emily nodded thoughtfully, even though she didn’t really understand Katerina’s response. Katerina must have sensed Emily was none the wiser.

“Last year? That spot of bother we had where thousands of people died? There wasn’t any more room for single graves, so they had to use those. How could you not know that?”

Emily was spared having to answer Katerina’s question when Jack pulled himself through the hole and stood up. Katerina threw a suspicious look at Emily, then set off across the grass, heading deeper into the graveyard. After a few minutes, she stopped before a tall tree and proceeded to break off some of the smaller branches.

“What are you doing?” asked Emily.

“Arming ourselves. You said we needed witchbane.” Katerina handed Emily a branch about as long as her forearm. “Or, to give it its more common name, rowan wood. We can sharpen these up and use them as weapons if the hounds come back.”

Katerina handed one each to Will and Jack, then led them along a stone path choked with weeds. It was obvious to Emily that the path wasn’t used very often, but they followed it anyway until it passed a small crypt with a hideous gargoyle perched above the closed doors. It was leaning over the roof, glaring at them, as if daring them to enter.

Here Katerina stopped. She checked their surroundings carefully, then pulled open the doors and disappeared into the dark interior.

William was the first to follow. He hurried through the opening after Katerina, moving before Emily could say anything. Emily watched him go. What was he doing? Trying to beat her? Did he think this was some kind of race? Or that he had to score points? Jack just shrugged awkwardly and followed after. That left Corrigan and Emily standing outside.

“You’re very quiet,” she said.

Corrigan looked around the graveyard. “It’s very peaceful here,” he said after a while.

Emily glanced around. A sparrow flitted past, disappearing into the foliage of a nearby tree. It was peaceful.

“And soon the Fire King is going to sweep through and burn it all.”

Emily blinked, looking around with fresh eyes. “Is there any way we can stop it?”

Corrigan shrugged. “Can you change the past? I don’t know anything about that. All I know is that the second war of the races is about to start, and a lot of fey are going to die. A lot of humans as well.” He stared earnestly into Emily’s eyes. “I don’t want to be here, Emily Snow. Things are going to get very dangerous very soon.”

Corrigan turned and entered the crypt. Emily swallowed nervously. She didn’t like it when Corrigan talked like that. He was usually so sure of himself, so cocky. If he was scared, then things were about to get very bad indeed.

As she stood there, the bells of the church rang out in the distance, signaling the new hour. In the pleasant surroundings of a warm summer’s day, the bells should have been cheerful. But to Emily they sounded desolate, the echoing peals marking the beginning of the end.

She shivered and stepped through the door, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Jack was waiting next to a statue of a fierce wolf. As Emily approached she could see a hole in the wall behind it. From the scrape marks on the floor, it was evident that the heavy base of the statue had once blocked the opening.

“Where’s Will?” she asked.

“He’s already gone through,” said Jack. “So has the piskie.”

Emily eyed the hole doubtfully. “Where does it go?”

“No idea,” said Jack. He grinned. “Shall we find out? There might be treasure.”

In spite of everything going on, Emily couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve got treasure on the brain,” she said. “If there was any treasure, why do Katerina and her gang look like they live on the streets?”

Jack thought about this. “Disguise?” he suggested. “If you think about it, it’s really cunning. I certainly wouldn’t advertise the fact that I had piles of treasure stashed away.”

“Jack, if you had any treasure, you’d be living it up at Claridge’s until you’d spent every last penny.”

“Fair point,” he said. “But that still doesn’t mean they don’t have any.” He gestured at the opening. “Shall we?”

Emily ducked, finding herself at the top of a rough-hewn tunnel that sloped away from her at a steep angle. A single, flickering torch lit the darkness, the flame giving off a putrid, greasy smoke that drifted up the tunnel, cloying the air with its rotten smell.

Emily and Jack followed the slope down. At the bottom was an old stone wall that had collapsed sometime in the past. The stones still littered the ground, shifting precariously underfoot as Emily climbed through another rough opening.

Katerina, Will, and Corrigan were waiting for them on the other side. Katerina held another of the foul-smelling torches, and by its light Emily could see that Corrigan had taken up residence on William’s shoulder and that the two of them were whispering about something. She wasn’t sure she liked that. Corrigan was a bad influence on anyone, never mind someone as young as Will. Emily moved closer to her brother while Katerina started leading the way along the low tunnel. “Why don’t you let me take Corrigan?” Emily suggested.

“Oh, now you want to give me a ride,” snapped the piskie. “Every time I’ve asked it’s been ‘I’m not your slave, Corrigan,’ or ‘you’ve got feet—use them, Corrigan.’ Why do you want to help me now?”

“Because she doesn’t want me having any fun,” said Will.

“Fun? William, you think this is fun? You saw those knights! Those hounds! They tried to kill us.”

“I’m not scared of them,” snapped William.

“You should be, squire,” said Jack, edging past them to keep Katerina in sight. “I know I was.”

“You were not!” scoffed William.

Jack turned a solemn face to Will. “I was,” he said. “It’s a fool who doesn’t know when to be scared, squire. Fear’s what keeps you alive. Trust me.”

William clearly didn’t know what to say to that. He looked slightly betrayed, as if Jack had turned on him.

“Well I know I wasn’t scared,” boasted Corrigan. “Takes a lot more than a few ugly hags and their little dogs to scare me. Why, if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to look after you lot, I would have been right on top of those knights, sticking my blade in their necks.” Corrigan demonstrated his killing thrust into the air. “Hyah! Like that.”

“Really?” said Will.

“Of course. Have I ever lied to you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Just wait, squire,” called Jack over his shoulder. “You’ve only known him for a few days. It’ll come.”

“Ignore him,” said Corrigan airily. “He’s just jealous of my lightning reflexes. Did you hear about the time I saved him and your sister from Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth?”

“No,” said William.

“Allow me to set the scene. Your sister abandoned me to the cruel London streets….”

Emily gritted her teeth and moved on ahead until she could no longer hear Corrigan.

“You’d better watch your brother,” said Jack, falling into place beside her. “That piskie will have Will eating out of his hand before the day’s out.”

“I know,” said Emily. “But what can I do? If I tell Will off, he’ll just do the opposite of what I want. All I can do is leave him be and hope he shows some common sense.”

They both turned and looked behind them. Corrigan was balancing on Will’s shoulder, thrusting his sword at imaginary foes. Will’s eyes were wide with wonder as he listened to the piskie’s stories.

“Mmm,” said Jack doubtfully. “Good luck with that.”

After walking for some time, they found themselves in a tunnel with a high, arched roof, the bricks that lined the walls all neatly placed despite their apparent age. When Emily asked Katerina about it, the girl looked around as if seeing her surroundings for the first time.

“I think it’s Roman,” she said. “Not sure what they used the tunnels for, but they’ve been a godsend to us.”

“Do you and your … friends all live down here?”

Katerina nodded. “Nowhere else to go, is there? Can’t live on the streets. Not safe. Especially not nowadays.”

“How many of you are there?” asked Jack.

“Hundreds.”

“And you all follow this … what was his name? Goodman?”

“Goodfellow. Rob Goodfellow. Yes, we follow him. He looks after us. Trains us. Keeps us alive.” She threw a warning look at Jack. “And I’ll not hear a word said against him.”

Jack raised both his hands in a gesture of surrender.

Katerina glared at him for a moment, then turned her attention back to navigating the dark passage.

After about an hour of walking, the tunnel opened up into a large, echoing room, with crumbling pillars receding into the darkness. Something crunched underfoot when Emily entered the chamber. She tried to see what it was, but Katerina had walked on ahead, taking the torch with her. She looked back, though, as if able to read Emily’s thoughts.

“It’s human bones,” said Katerina. “Rob says the Romans tried to hide here during one of the fey/human wars, but they died of starvation.”

“Charming,” muttered Jack.

The chamber opened onto a wide set of smooth stairs that led down into a second room, this one much smaller than the first. A flickering orange light came from beyond an arched doorway. Emily could see shadows moving against the portion of wall visible through the arch. Many shadows, crossing over one another, stretching and distorting as their owners moved around the room beyond.

What was odd about it was that Emily couldn’t hear any sound. Going by the amount of shadows, there were quite a few people in the room. But there was no noise whatsoever. Not even whispering.

She and Jack exchanged an uneasy look. She checked to make sure Will and Corrigan were close by. The two of them were right behind her, their faces reflecting the same uneasiness she felt.

But Katerina didn’t seem at all bothered. She marched toward the doorway, her torch held high. When she noticed their hesitation, she paused and turned toward them.

“Come on then. You can get some food inside you while Rob decides what to do.”

Without waiting for a response, she stepped through the doorway, taking the torch with her. The others hurried forward, unwilling to be left standing in the darkness.

As they approached, Emily saw that the shadows on the wall suddenly started moving faster, as if their owners were rushing forward to greet Katerina.

Emily stepped through the archway and found herself in a large room with niches set into the walls all around them. The niches contained beds and wooden chests, clothing laid across threadbare covers. This was obviously where Katerina and her gang lived.

But she saw this only in the first glance, because her attention was quickly taken by something else.

Besides Katerina, there was only one other person in the room. A boy who looked to be about eleven years old. As Emily watched, the shadows she had seen moving on the walls rushed across the brickwork from all directions, joining together into a single shadow that belonged to the boy. He grinned at them and bowed, his lone shadow mimicking his movement, although to Emily, it seemed there was a slight delay before it moved. “Greetings,” he said. “And welcome to the lair of Robin Goodfellow.”

Emily heard a noise of surprise and irritation coming from Corrigan. She turned around to find him staring at the boy with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“Puck,” said Corrigan. “Just what are you up to now?”

“You know him?” Emily asked in surprise.

“Know of him,” replied Corrigan. “He’s fey, Emily. Just like me.”