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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] mangled and chained before it leaves this room, pointing sternly at the old man. And mark my words gentlemen, added Mr. Trundle rather angrily, looking around at all of us, sooner or later that thing will need to be killed; and many more, stepping away in disgust, shaking his head, pretending to look about the room, not wanting to discuss it any further. Corporal Higgins lowered his sword and sheathed it, relieved he no longer needed to deal with Mr. Trundle on the issue of killing the old man; and I, too, felt relieved, as did Ebenezer, Bixer and Wygate who had wondered, as I did, about Mr. Trundle s stance against Corporal Higgins and his sword. Now what, Corporal? I asked, taking a deep breath. WILLIAM M. CULLEN 237 He looked around the room, assessing the situation. I guess we can leave him for now, indicating the old man, since he is already strapped down, and I don t see any other way out of here, for my first priority is to see that this girl, indicating the one on the table, and the others are taken to an infirmary right away, for some care. John? I asked, wanting to gauge his sentiment, just in case he had something else to say. He turned and looked at us solemnly, nodding his head in agreement. He then walked over to the table, to the little girl, slipping his arms under her, picking her up ever so gingerly and sliding her into his chest; and as they made their way to the door she opened her eyes and smiled at him; and as we walked out and into the tunnel John talked to her softly, telling her she was going to be fine and that she was going to go home. He then asked her for her name. She said it was Charlotte Adams, and that she was eleven years old. Upon reaching the cell we noticed that all was gone, including Jennifer, having left after the incident with the bats; therefore, we headed onward, towards the rotunda. Once there we saw Vyola and Samuel, standing with Mr. Crook, who was talking with Jones, who had arrived with several other guards. Corporal Higgins immediately ordered three men, along with Ebenezer to show them the way, to go back down to the room from where we had just come and to secure it, advising that no one was to touch the old man inside until told to do so. Upon my asking, Jones informed us that he had dispatched some men to take the girls Scarlett, Alice and little Lizzy to the nearest hospital. Corporal Higgins then ordered, of Jones, to see to that Miss Charlotte to be taken to the hospital as well. Jones first saw to it that Miss Charlotte was wrapped in a blanket, given some water and a slice of an apple to eat before dispatching her with two guards to the same hospital as the other three; and then they were to come back once she was secure; and as they were going out more guards were coming in. With his reinforcements arriving, Corporal Higgins began relieving our men, including Mr. Crook, Samuel, Bixer and Ebenezer (who had returned to us) once he got their names for his report; and as our men began to leave I reminded them that were to write down everything they could remember for the Corporal s report; plus, it was a way to remind them that Mr. Watt will want their notes as well, and they knew it. From there Corporal Higgins started having his men take up positions formally held by our mates. Next, he ordered two of his men to dismantle the door from that cell, wanting the hinge-pins removed. They took to 238 THE PRINTER S VAMPYR it right away. Corporal Higgins then ordered Jones to put together a detail to begin searching this entire subterranean complex, wanting every bit of it searched out. He wanted to know how many tunnels there were, and how many gates; and more importantly, who they belonged to. And so they began. From there he began trying to figure out what to do with the old man. The Corporal wanted to get him over to St. Barts, thinking the old man might be a madman; or, at the very least, have him imprisoned at Newgate. Now, since we did not know where every tunnel led to, Corporal Higgins had no choice but to bring the old man down through the Regent Street tunnel and bring him up and through St. James. It was later said by the guards who brought him out that they had a time preparing him for transport because he kept lashing out at them; therefore, they had to bind his mouth for he, apparently, was trying to bite them; however, once they had him ready, it took six men to carry him, which wasn t all that difficult until they got him up and into St. James. It was here, they said, that he became his most violent, screaming and cursing in Latin, apparently not liking the idea of being in a house of his worst enemy. Thus, he was committed to St. Barts instead of Newgate. With the old man out of the tunnel we, including Corporal Higgins, still wanted to know where our man had gotten off to, and we knew he had left a blood trail. Therefore, we decided to start right were we had left off, by the now dismantled cell. We knew he had come running up to there, at least, based on the blood traces we had already found. From there, we deduced that he did one of two things. Either he took to tunnel least likely to indicate his running, quite possibly going on to Marylebone Road, or he took to one of these other tunnels because he knew he would be able to find sanctuary for his wound, which he needed direly based on what Wygate had told us. We decided to go with sanctuary first for we had deduced that he had left his carriage, came to St. James and into these tunnels because he knew of someone who could or, at the very least, would harbor him. However, before leaving the rotunda for the cell, Corporal Higgins informed his men, who were still standing guard that if anyone, besides [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |