‘THAT’S HER?’ TOPAZ asked.
‘No doubt about it.’
‘I’ll give her this,’ Nathan said. ‘Style-wise, she’s audacious. Few people could get away with that assemblage.’
In London, Madame Fang had been in Jacobean costume – black gown and white ruff; now she looked like an empress. Despite the heat, she wore a court robe, embroidered with swirling flames and dragons, that hung down to her red lotus slippers (red shoes were obviously her trademark). Around her tiny neck was a necklace of jade and rubies; her tall headdress of peacock feathers and pearl droplets gently shook as she turned her head. Her face, though old, had a brittle beauty and her black eyes were utterly magnetic.
She welcomed her guests with a bow and started talking in a slow, measured tone. Jake hadn’t yet heard her speak, and was surprised by how deep and smoky her voice was.
The girls craned their necks to hear and Yoyo started translating, in a whisper: ‘I am here to talk to you about our enemies in the western world. They have come to our lands – the British, the Portuguese, the Dutch – set up their colonies here, appeared to be our allies, our partners.’ The old woman paused for dramatic effect. ‘It is a trick – so they may take over our kingdoms.’
‘Enemies? Take over their kingdoms?’ Nathan repeated indignantly. ‘What’s she talking about?’
‘Sssh!’ Yoyo put her finger to her lips to silence him and carried on: ‘In two days’ time, the west will declare war on us. In the weeks and months that follow, they will send their fleets to invade us, to enslave us—’
‘Enslave us? This is nonsense!’ Nathan interrupted again, and this time Topaz put her hand over his mouth.
Yoyo continued paraphrasing Fang’s speech, which was becoming more and more animated. ‘We must defend ourselves! My master, the great Shen Pei-Pei, wishes to help you, to help his country.’ She clapped her hands and a stream of servants filed into the room and distributed small golden caskets to all the guests. Inside each they found a thick wodge of banknotes tied with a ribbon. There were amazed murmurs at the sight. ‘For each of you, we provide a fortune. Use it wisely. Build your ships of war. As for your ships that are already built, convert them for battle.’ Fang glanced at every face in the room in turn as she slowly raised her arms high. Her voice boomed like a drum. ‘The war is coming! Be ready for your country!’
Her speech finished, she bowed, stepped over towards the model ships and circulated imperiously amongst her guests.
‘The war is coming . . . be ready for your country?’ Topaz repeated. ‘China has never had an interest in moving against the west; now less than ever. Yet Fang said war would be declared in two days’ time. We need to find out why, and quickly.’
They went down an alley behind the building into the garden. They all saw the pagoda at once: six octagonal tiers rising up between tall Chinese pines.
‘That’s the treasure house?’ Nathan asked.
It had perhaps once been splendid – it was, after all, described as the golden pagoda – but it was now past its best. It was slightly lopsided, and the gilding had all but flaked off, leaving dark grey wood underneath. There were no lights on inside, adding to the ghostly feel. Only one window at the very top was open – wide open.
Looking carefully about them, they crossed the garden towards it, slipping in and out of the shadows.
As they drew close to the pagoda, they saw a moat around it, about ten feet across, the surface covered in lily pads. There was one tall door that evidently lowered like a drawbridge over the moat; two posts jutted out of the water to secure it when it was down. The door, covered with ivy and cobwebs, had clearly not been accessed in a while.
Jake wasn’t convinced. ‘Are we sure there isn’t another golden pagoda?’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Yoyo said. She took a few steps back and flew across the water, using one of the posts as a stepping stone to leap to the other side.
Topaz tutted in irritation. ‘Qu’est-ce qu’elle a, cette fille?’
‘That was a great jump, if you don’t mind me saying,’ Nathan called over to Yoyo.
‘Please don’t encourage her,’ his sister sighed.
Yoyo turned back to them. ‘Well, as I am here, shall I look inside?’
‘Be my guest,’ Topaz said, tight-lipped.
Yoyo went over to a porthole window, which was secured with iron bars. She pulled herself up and peered inside. ‘This must be it,’ she said. ‘There are lots of display cabinets, but I can’t see inside them. Shall I try and get in?’ She strained at the bars.
‘Don’t do anything!’ Topaz hissed back, taking a dagger from her belt and peeling back the surface of lily leaves from the moat. Eels, a little fatter than the previous ones, seethed under the water. Topaz’s heart sank, but she put on a brave face. ‘Can everyone get across all right?’
‘No problem,’ Nathan said, taking a few steps back and leaping over.
‘Jake?’
‘Of course . . .’ He shrugged, hiding his fear, then took a run-up and launched himself into the air. As he vaulted off the post, his foot skimmed the water; the eels surfaced and snapped at it – but he reached the other side unharmed, into the arms of Yoyo. He nodded back at Topaz.
She braced herself, and gave a grunt as she jumped. But her foot slipped on the post and she tumbled into the moat; the water erupted in a frenzy around her.
Terror stamped on her face, Topaz dragged herself up onto the bank. Three eels were still attached to her legs, letting out a curious whistle as they hung there, tails thrashing. Jake flew to her aid, expertly slicing his sword through all three creatures at once.
Worried that Fang and her guests would hear the commotion, the others helped him pull Topaz into the shadows. The three eel heads were still attached to her leg. As Jake picked them off, forcing their jaws open, she lay there panting, her trembling hands covering her mouth in horror. Jake had seen her look truly frightened only once before: the night on board the Lindwurm when he had tried to save her from Prince Zeldt, her own diabolical uncle, who had kidnapped her on his sister’s orders.
‘All right?’ he asked.
Topaz got her breathing under control and gave him a smile. ‘Petites créatures méchantes,’ she panted, pulling herself to her feet.
They took turns to peer through the round window. Inside, the whole ground floor was laid out like a museum. The gilt-edged cabinets, like the pagoda itself, looked dusty and shabby. A spiral staircase led up to the next level.
‘Jake, do you have Dr Chatterju’s quill and ink?’ Topaz asked.
‘Of course.’ He had been entrusted with them before leaving Point Zero, and handed them over.
She unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped in the quill and set it down next to the window bars. They took cover as it produced a cloud of smoke, making the metal burn and blister, before exploding with a flash of white.
Topaz gave one of the bars a forceful tug. It didn’t budge, and she yanked it again, twice; finally it popped out of its casing. She removed the two adjacent rods, then hauled herself up through the opening and carefully let herself down on the other side. The floorboards creaked under her weight. Checking that it was safe, she motioned for the others to follow.
They went through one by one and set about examining the displays.
Topaz wiped the dust off a cabinet containing pieces of fine Chinese porcelain. The adjacent one was the same. ‘It seems we’re in the right place,’ she said. ‘Pei-Pei’s collection. Let’s not get distracted, though. We’re after the Lazuli Serpent – and we all know what it looks like.’
‘I have to ask . . .’ Jake said. ‘If this stone is so important, would it be kept here? No one’s been in this place for ages.’
‘I agree with Jake,’ Yoyo said. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
‘And I agree with Yoyo; she’s usually right,’ Nathan added unhelpfully.
Topaz was beginning to lose patience. ‘Well, now we’re here, could we just look?’ she asked testily.
The four agents carefully checked the cabinets, examining all the displays, but they uncovered nothing but more pieces of old porcelain.
Topaz turned to Yoyo. ‘Am I right in saying that in these types of treasure houses the higher you go, the more valuable things become?’
‘It’s not a rule, but possibly,’ she conceded.
Topaz nodded, then led the way up the spiral staircase to the next floor. Here there were more dusty cabinets; these held ancient robes, garments and headpieces. The next level housed some larger works of art, mostly soapstone sculptures, as well as a collection of bronzes of oriental deities and some lacquer ornaments, as did the third floor.
There were no crystals to be found, so they crept up to the last storey but one. ‘This looks more promising,’ Topaz said: the cabinets here were finely crafted – almost like works of art in themselves. A quick inspection of their contents showed they contained real treasure.
Jake had never seen such riches before. There were carved ivory figures and jade animals; ebony phoenixes and garnet dragons. There were golden artefacts – orbs, sceptres and crowns – encrusted with sapphires, emeralds, opals and tourmalines. His eye was drawn to one object in particular: an immense blue quartz engraved with a tableau of the ocean: a man had fallen out of his boat into the sea, his arms outstretched and his mouth wide open in a silent scream as a jellyfish curled round his limbs, dragging him down to the depths.
Meanwhile Nathan and Yoyo had come across a collection of dazzling jewellery.
‘Look at that ring,’ Nathan commented, pointing to an ornate gold band with an enormous diamond mounted in it.
‘That’s quite a piece of carbon,’ Yoyo whistled, leaning closer. ‘It looks like an engagement ring, Tang dynasty. Someone certainly didn’t want to take no for an answer.’
‘If I gave you a ring like that, maybe you would marry me . . .?’ Nathan said, half in jest but sounding like he meant it. Jake peered round and Topaz shot him a glance.
‘That’s funny!’ Yoyo snorted, moving along the display.
Nathan looked hurt. ‘Funny?’
Yoyo giggled. ‘I’m a little young to throw myself away, aren’t I?’
Nathan shrugged. ‘You’re the same age as me. I don’t know why it’s so funny. I could list a hundred young ladies – from all parts of history, some of them of royal birth – who would jump at the chance of throwing themselves away on me.’
Yoyo turned and gave him a quizzical smile. ‘You don’t actually mean it, do you?’
There was a pause as they eyeballed each other. ‘All right, not marriage as such, but perhaps – perhaps it wouldn’t hurt if you paid me some attention . . . maybe laughed at my jokes . . . complimented me on my . . .?’ Nathan trailed off, his face flushing.
Topaz turned to Jake and shook her head in bewilderment as Yoyo started laughing, and Nathan’s face fell.
‘Why is it so funny?’
‘Because . . .’ Yoyo fought to get her breathing under control. ‘I don’t know. Because you’re a bit of a buffoon, aren’t you?’ Nathan’s eyes went wide and his shoulders slumped. Jake had never seen him look so crestfallen, and Yoyo sensed she had overstepped the mark. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t the right word . . .’
‘Comment oses-tu? How dare you, Yoyo!’ Topaz stepped forward, her eyes suddenly blazing. ‘How dare you talk to my brother like that? He’s worth ten of you.’
‘I’m sorry, it’s just my opinion. I’m entitled to my opinion, aren’t I? I like Nathan – he’s comical – but—’
‘Comical?’ Nathan gasped, his whole world crashing down around him.
‘But all the clothes and the cologne and the fiddling with his hair. He’s not to be taken seriously, is he?’ Yoyo evidently thought she was making things better.
Topaz squared up to her. ‘You will take that back. Tout de suite!’
‘It’s nothing to do with you,’ Yoyo purred, pushing her out of the way.
The other girl stood her ground. ‘Tu es impossible – j’en ai marre!’
‘You’ve had enough, have you?’ Yoyo sneered back, her nose almost touching her rival’s. ‘Well, I’ve had enough too – of your snooty French attitude. Not to mention your so-called leadership skills which, at best, are amateurish and uninspired.’
‘Amateurish? Uninspired?!’ Topaz turned to the others, enraged. ‘Am I hearing this right?’
‘Come on, you two – it’s the heat. It’s – it’s putting us under a lot of pressure.’ Jake hadn’t realized it until now, but it was true. He tried to get between the girls, but they paid no attention.
‘Comical?’ Nathan shook his head. ‘How can I be boiled down to just comical?’
‘What about you, Yoyo?’ Topaz huffed. ‘You’re a liability – uncontrollable, selfish and plain dangerous.’
‘Is that a fact?’
‘Bona fide. Actually you’re worse than that. You’re a troublemaker, and a narcissist.’
‘Ooh, big words, Miss St Honoré,’ Yoyo said. ‘You’re scaring me now.’
‘Arguing won’t get us anywhere,’ Jake tried again. ‘Let’s go up to the next floor.’ As before, they ignored him.
‘You want everyone to fall in love with you,’ Topaz carried on, ‘but no one ever will. Never, ever, ever. Because, despite all your so-called qualities, you add up to nothing.’
Yoyo’s expression was hard. ‘Jake, would you like to take my side here?’
Topaz laughed. ‘He’s not going to take your side.’
‘Really? Jake, would you like to tell them, or shall I?’
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. ‘Tell us what?’
Yoyo’s announcement coincided with another loud peal of thunder outside as the storm approached. ‘Jake is my boyfriend.’
Jake blushed as Topaz glared at him. ‘We were going to say something . . .’ he mumbled. ‘W-we were just waiting for the right moment.’ He stood awkwardly beside Yoyo, as if posing for their wedding photo. Then he looked sternly at Topaz. ‘And I think it’s best that you don’t talk to Yoyo in that way.’
It was Topaz’s turn to look crestfallen. ‘Mon Dieu . . .’ she said, shaking her head, then pulled herself together and forced a smile. ‘I hope you are very happy together.’
Jake was upset. ‘It would be nice, Topaz – as my friend – if you actually meant that, but you don’t.’
‘What do you want me to do?’ she muttered. ‘Dance for joy?’
‘You’re so ready to criticize,’ Jake carried on, ‘but you never stop and think how much you hurt people.’ He summoned the courage to say it. ‘How you hurt me.’
Topaz looked mortified. Even Nathan was surprised, suddenly seeing his friend in a new light.
Jake’s words came out in a jumble – everything that had been locked inside for over a year. ‘Twice I came to save you – first in Germany, then in ancient Rome – coming this close to death. All right, I didn’t do much good in the end, but I think I made it pretty clear how I felt . . . how I felt about you. That I was in . . . That I—’ He couldn’t bring himself to say the word. ‘In any case, you weren’t interested. That’s fine – I’m not a he-man like Lucius was – but I was hurt and you never even noticed. And that hurt me more.’
Topaz cast her eyes to the floor. Now Jake held Yoyo’s hand and squeezed it tight. ‘So why shouldn’t I have a girlfriend if I want?’
At that moment, they heard a soft thump above them, then the sound of something rolling across the floorboards. The History Keepers froze, and silently drew their weapons as Topaz led the way up the creaking staircase.
‘Nothing here,’ she called when she emerged into the room.
To their surprise, it was almost completely bare. There was no treasure – just a single high-backed armchair facing the open window. A number of tall candlesticks encircled it, all unlit. All were fitted with a single fat candle – except one. The candle had fallen onto the floor and rolled away. That’s what had produced the sound.
‘Look!’ Jake exclaimed, suddenly noticing a pale, wrinkled hand clinging to the armrest – and then wisps of white hair sticking above the top of the chair.
‘Pei-Pei?’ Yoyo said under her breath, advancing towards the seated figure, sword drawn. ‘Shen Pei-Pei?’ As she reached it, her face fell and her sword went clanking to the floor. She gabbled something in Chinese.
Jake, Topaz and Nathan rushed over. It was a man – a dead man; long dead. The body was completely mummified, the crinkled skin yellow and waxy and the eyes gazing out of the window as lifeless as marbles. He was fully clothed in robes that had once been fine but were now tatty, with bugs crawling over them. Jake thought it must have been one of these that had knocked the candle over.
‘I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all . . .’ Nathan said, quivering with fear.
Behind them, they heard someone coming up the stairs. Yoyo quickly retrieved her sword, while the others swung round, blades raised. They were puzzled to see that it was the odd man they had met before, the eel-keeper. He carried a broomstick and started sweeping the floor, mumbling to himself as he did so. Noticing them at last, he nodded, saying something that even Yoyo couldn’t understand, and they all looked at each other, spooked.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ Topaz whispered, skirting round and heading for the stairs.
As he crept past, Jake looked round and noticed something odd under the man’s hat: a strange growth on his cheek, with something shining in the centre of it. It looked like an eye staring back at him. His blood ran cold. Three eyes! Xi Xiang had three eyes!
Just then the man let out a cry and brought his broom down on Jake, disarming him, before jabbing the butt into his windpipe. Jake went tumbling to the floor. The man moved swiftly on to Topaz, giving her a crack on the skull, then whipping the sword from her hand and sending it spinning across the room. Nathan and Yoyo advanced together, but the man had produced a jade bottle, and sprayed them with dark green liquid. They cried out in agony, clutching their faces.
The man threw off his hat, revealing his face for the first time, and let out a high-pitched giggle. He was skinny, with an impish face and crazy, spiked black hair. His lips were smudged with red lipstick and his cheeks with rouge. Suddenly five burly guards emerged at the top of the stairs, each holding a razor-sharp curved Dao sabre, and surrounded the astonished youngsters.
Xi Xiang – for there was no doubt that it was he – clapped his hands in joy. ‘Do you think I’m a fool?’ he sniggered. His voice was raspy and high-pitched at the same time. ‘I saw you arrive! Dear me, the illustrious History Keepers’ Secret Service.’ He shook his head and pursed his lips. ‘What imbeciles they produce nowadays.’
He inspected Nathan and Yoyo’s faces. The skin where the liquid had struck looked raw; Nathan’s eyes were streaming with tears. ‘How do you like my squid venom? It has quite a bite, doesn’t it?’
He turned and skipped across the room to the cadaver in the chair. ‘And did you enjoy meeting my friend Pei-Pei? He loves the view from the window. Of course, the old man is not as chatty as he used to be’ – Xi lifted the corpse’s withered hand, waved it and let it drop again – ‘but he would insist on drinking hemlock – after kindly bequeathing me his little palace.’ Again Xi shrieked with laughter.
There were more footsteps, and Madame Fang appeared, coolly taking in the scene.
‘Nanny, there you are. Have you seen what a clever boy I’ve been?’ Xi Xiang said, gesturing to his captives. On seeing Jake, his smile dissolved and his lip quivered. ‘And this is the Djones brother?’ he asked quietly, glancing over his shoulder. Madame Fang nodded.
Xi turned up his nose in contempt. ‘Yes, I can see it now. The same proud look in his eye.’ He prodded Jake’s cheek.
Jake had never seen anyone like Xi Xiang: he was in his forties, slightly stooped, but wiry and athletic. Under the badly applied make-up his face was mottled with acne and his eyes were chilling: two were beady and sharp, the third half formed and staring off at an odd angle.
‘Where is he?’ Jake croaked, his throat still sore from the blow with the broom. ‘Where is Philip?’ he repeated, eyes boring into his nemesis.
Xi stared back. ‘Where is he?’ He gave another cackle. ‘Lost at sea! Like so many of my friends.’
Then he pushed past the guards and danced down the staircase. ‘Tie them up. Bring them to the pool,’ he ordered. ‘I need to say goodbye to our guests.’
Madame Fang nodded at the men: they took sets of manacles from their belts and, one by one, cuffed the four History Keepers, the metal biting into their wrists.