Colm & the Lazarus Key (10 page)

‘Don’t,’ she said.

He tried to push through the heavy velvet curtains, but got caught up in them. They wrapped themselves around his head and for a moment he thought he was going to suffocate. Lauryn pulled at his shirt.

‘Get away from there,’ she whispered, not daring to speak out loud in case she was heard in the lobby.

He let her think he’d given up. She dragged him back, but when he didn’t put up any resistance her grip on him slackened. He took the chance and lunged forward at the window. His face slapped against the glass.

The large woman outside by the car must have got a fright because she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard whack of his cheekbone on the window pane. He only had a second. He mouthed a single word. Help.

He didn’t know if the woman had seen him or not. He didn’t have the time to check. Lauryn grabbed him by the waist and spun him around. Her eyes blazed with anger.

‘That was a stupid thing to do
,
’ she said in a furious whisper.

‘What? Trying to escape? Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking
,
’ Colm replied.

‘This isn’t the time for sarcasm. This is serious
.
’

He held up his hands to show her the rope that bound them.

‘You think I don’t know that
,
’ he said.

·•·

‘OK, I’d better head off. Still got a bit of travelling to do,’ said Cedric making his way to the door. ‘Thanks for your help, Mr Sm
…
’

Drake slammed the door shut in his face.

‘Ced?’

‘Not now, Kate. We’ll talk in the car. Just act like we’re a normal couple. He’s watching us through the door viewer
,
’ Cedric whispered, taking her hand.

They got into the car and Cedric started it up. He revved the engine.

‘Ced. Did you see
…
’

‘Wait until we’re out of here. Caution is our watch-word.’

They headed out the long driveway and the car turned on to the main road.

‘Cedric?’

‘A few more seconds, Kate.’

When they were about half a mile away from the hotel Cedric banged the steering wheel with his fist. He beeped the car horn joyfully. He may even have shouted ‘Yeehaw’. A huge smile spread across his pudgy features.

‘That was him all right. The man we’re looking for. I can’t believe it. We did it. You know, I was feeling sorry for the tall guy and whatever trouble he was in until I met him. Now I feel nothing. He’s a nasty piece of work. He deserves whatever’s coming to him. I feel relieved. The last few hours have been so stressful
.
’

‘There was a boy in there
,
’ Kate said.

‘What?’

‘A boy. At the window. I saw him when I was waiting for you by the car. I think he’s in trouble. He asked me to help him
.
’

‘I didn’t hear anyone shout for help. I would have heard it if I was only in the next room
,
’ Cedric said.

‘He didn’t say it out loud. He mouthed it to me
.
’

‘Well, in all fairness, Kate, you’re not a trained lip reader. Maybe he was saying something else. Like “whelp”
.
’

‘Whelp?’

‘It’s a word. Look it up in the dictionary
.
’

‘Don’t play me for a fool, Cedric Murphy
.
’

‘He was probably just playing a stupid game. You know how children are, especially these days – nasty, spiteful little gits
.
’

‘We have to go back and help that boy. We can’t just leave him there. You know that.’

Cedric sighed. ‘I wish we could, Kate. But we can’t. If we interfere with The Ghost’s work, then you know what’ll happen to us
.
’

As if on cue, Cedric’s mobile phone rang.

‘Hand me that, Kate
.
’

She slapped the phone into his hand.

‘You know it’s illegal to talk on the phone while driving
.
’

‘We’ve already done plenty of illegal things today. One more won’t make a difference
,
’ Cedric said, but he still in-dicated and pulled the car over to the side of the road before he answered the call.

‘Hello. Yes, I’m aware that my time is now up, but I have good news for you. I have found the man you were looking for
.
’

He gave the rat-faced little man instructions on how to get to the Red House Hotel.

‘Before you go, I just want to clarify one thing – my work is finished now, right? Thank you sir
.
’

He hung up.

‘Sir? You called him sir
,
’ Kate mocked.

‘If you’d met him you’d call him sir too,’ Cedric said. ‘Anyway, the money will be in my bank account in the morning and he said that we’re in the clear. As far as he’s concerned our work is done and we never have to worry about him again
.
’

‘And what about the boy? Are you worried about him?’

‘Kate, you’re beginning to annoy me
.
’

‘And you’ve been annoying me for years, but I’ve put up with it, so surely you can give me a minute of your precious time
.
’

Cedric nodded. ‘Go on
.
’

‘Couldn’t we just go back and get the boy out of there before Mr Smith arrives?’

‘Too risky. And for all we know our client may want to talk to the boy
.
’

‘OK, let’s just ring the Gardaí then. Anonymously. They could take care of it and no one would ever know that we were involved
.
’

‘He
would. Come on, Kate, do you really think he got to where he is by being stupid? If the Gardaí turned up he’d know it was us who tipped them off and then he’d come after us. I’m sorry. You know in any other circumstances I’d love to help, but I can’t do that now. That’s my final word on the matter. The boy is on his own.’

L
auryn led Colm up the stairs, Drake just behind her. It was difficult to climb the steps with his hands bound and he stumbled once or twice, but Lauryn was there to steady him.

‘It’ll be OK,’ she said.

‘It will be OK if you let us all go,’ Colm replied.

‘We can’t do that,’ Drake said. ‘It’s for your own good.’

Colm doubted that.

They arrived at number thirteen. Drake took a bunch of keys from his pocket. Colm knew the door was unlocked, but he wasn’t going to tell them that. He was being petty and he liked it.

He decided to take a chance. Call their bluff. ‘Do you really think you’ll find it?’ he asked.

Drake seemed surprised. ‘Find what?’

‘The Lazarus Key. That’s what you’re looking for, isn’t it?’

‘He must have read the book,’ Lauryn said to Drake.

‘I thought I told you to hide it
.
’ Drake sounded more weary than angry.

‘I didn’t think we needed to when the hotel was closed. Anyway, I told him it was cursed. I didn’t think he’d be brave enough to look at it if he thought bad things would happen
,
’ Lauryn said.

She’d underestimated him.

‘Maybe he’s not afraid of curses,’ Drake said, opening the door. ‘Lauryn, take off the rope.’

‘Are you sure it’s safe?’ she asked.

‘If he doesn’t go quietly into the room there’ll be con-sequences. You don’t want there to be consequences, do you?’

Colm didn’t bother to reply. That’d show him. Unless it was a rhetorical question.

The knot was tied very tightly and it took Lauryn a few minutes to loosen the rope. Drake kept making impatient noises and urging her to hurry up. Her cheeks reddened and Colm saw that she was on the verge of losing her temper. He wondered if there was a way he could use that against them, but she finished untying the knot before he’d even begun to think of a plan.

Drake shoved him into the room.

‘Don’t try to leave. Just sit there quietly and in a few hours this will all be over
,
’ he said.

Colm wasn’t sure what he meant by that. What would be over? Was he going to steal the Lazarus Key and then just let them go? He didn’t think so. Somehow he knew that things weren’t going to work out that easily.

Drake slammed the door, locking it after him. Colm heard the click as the key turned. His heart sank.

‘Oooooooohhh.’

The sound came from between the two beds. The Brute was lying on the ground, his face a sickly colour.

‘Are you OK?’ Colm asked. Stupid question. He looked like death warmed up.

The Brute slowly opened his eyes. ‘Colm?’

Not Dogpoo or Eighth Dwarf or Piggy Piggy Four Eyes. He’d called him Colm. That wasn’t a good sign.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Water. I need water
.
’ He propped himself up against the side of the bed. It took him ages, as if all the energy had drained out of him.

Colm ran to the bathroom, filled a glass and took it to his cousin.

He held the glass out but The Brute didn’t reach for it. Colm saw that he was trying to focus on it, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open and his head kept flopping from side to side.

Colm knelt down beside him, held him by the back of the neck and pressed the glass to his lips. He gulped back the water as if he hadn’t had a drink in days. Streams of it poured down the sides of his mouth and onto his shirt.

Colm refilled the glass and set it down on the floor beside The Brute. He didn’t know what to do. He must have got sick from being stuck out in the rain when he went looking for Lauryn, he thought. That girl was making him really angry. What did she have against him and his family? He didn’t care if she went looking for the Lazarus Key. The tall, thin man and her could look for a hundred keys as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t going to try to stop them. There was no reason for her to have locked them up like this. He wanted to kick something. Now he knew how The Brute felt most of the time.

He calmed himself down. Being angry wouldn’t help him. Not now. He needed to think. First, he had to make sure The Brute was OK. He’d put him on the bed. Could he lift him? He was about to find out.

He put his hands under The Brute’s armpits.

‘Michael, I’m going to lift you on the count of three
,
’ he said.

The Brute didn’t seem to register what he was saying.

‘One. Two. Three.’

He heaved with all his might, but it was no good. He weighed a ton. There was no chance of him lifting him on to the bed. But he had to.

‘OK, this time I’m going to save some energy. I’m only going to count to one
,
’ he said.

He took a few deep breaths and tried again. The first time he tried The Brute didn’t budge an inch, the second time, he did. Literally an inch. Colm dropped him back to the ground and something fell from The Brute’s hand.

‘The room key
,
’ Colm thought. Joy and hope exchanged high-fives in his mind. The man who called himself Drake had had a large bunch of keys in his hand. They must be the master keys of the hotel. But he had forgotten something – The Brute had the room key Mrs McMahon had given to him. Some professor he was.

He bent down to pick it up only to find it wasn’t the room key at all. It was a diamond, one-tenth the size of his hand. It looked like there was something inside it. How did that get in there? He lifted it up to the light to get a better look at it.

He was right. There was something in there. No bigger than his thumbnail. It was a tiny skull.

‘At least it’s not the Lazarus Key
,
’ he said, remembering the story from
The Book of Dread
.

‘No
,
’ said The Brute.

Colm didn’t hear him. Was there something in the book about a skull with a diamond inside it? There was a mention of a tattoo, wasn’t there? He stared at the diamond. How had they even managed to put a tiny skull in there? Maybe it was some technique, like the way they put a ship in a bottle. He wondered what The Brute was doing with it.

‘NO
,
’ shouted The Brute, his face a mask of terror.

He heard him this time.

‘What is it? What’s wrong, Michael?’ Colm said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. The Brute needed a doctor. He looked dreadful.

‘It’s coming for me
,
’ he said.

‘What’s coming for you?’ Colm asked.

‘The creature,’ said The Brute.

·•·

‘Are you sure you don’t remember?’ Drake asked.

‘I’d tell you if I could. Do you think I want to be part of this mess? You’re going to ruin my reputation. Closing the hotel. Kidnapping guests. Ghosts on the prowl. I’ll be destroyed
,
’ said Mrs McMahon.

‘Could you please look at the map again? Anything you can think of, no matter how small or insignificant it might be
,
’ he said.

The map of the Red House estate was spread across the stainless steel kitchen counter. Pots and pans of all shapes and sizes were stacked up neatly by the sink. Steam rose from the kettle as it came to the boil.

‘Turn that thing off
,
’ Drake said.

‘Don’t be telling me what to do in my own hotel
,
’ Mrs McMahon said, using glare number fourteen from her collection of vicious looks.

Drake lit up a cigarette as Marie and Lauryn came into the kitchen. Lauryn hopped onto the countertop, her legs dangling over the edge.

‘Don’t be sitting there like some useless article, Lauryn. Make us all a cup of tea
.
’

Drake grabbed a saucepan and flung it against the wall. It clattered to the ground.

‘There’s no time for tea
,
’ he roared.

Mrs McMahon had faced tougher men than him and she wasn’t about to back down.

‘But there’s time to smoke a cigarette, is there?’ she asked.

Drake lit another cigarette even though he hadn’t finished the first one. He tapped his watch.

‘We don’t have time for all of this. We have to find the Key and get out of here
,
’ he said, thoroughly frustrated by Mrs McMahon’s stubbornness.

‘Explain it to me again. I want to understand it fully
,
’ she said.

‘What good will that do, Mam?’ Marie asked.

‘Because if you let me know exactly what you’re looking for
,
’ said Mrs McMahon, ‘I might be able to tell you where you can find it
.
’

·•·

Colm had searched the room three times before he thought of looking in the bathroom. It was there all right, just where he’d least expected it to be. The Brute’s fleece, still soaking wet, was thrown in the bath. Colm couldn’t even imagine what had led his cousin to put it there, but he was acting so strangely – because of an illness, because of something else? – that he knew he should have thought of looking there earlier.

He put his hand in the wet, slimy pocket. Nothing other than a handkerchief – and it had been used. Great. The room key was in the other pocket.

He checked on The Brute. Colour was coming back to his cheeks. That was good. He looked even more frightened than he had earlier. That wasn’t so good.

He pocketed the diamond, not really knowing why. Maybe it would be of some use later.

‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ he said to The Brute.

‘Don’t leave me, Colm. Please. I don’t want to be alone when it comes for me
,
’ he replied.

Colm didn’t want to be there when it came for him either. But he would. No matter how much he disliked The Brute, and he disliked him a lot, he couldn’t let him face the creature alone. You don’t desert family in their hour of need, he told himself.

‘I’ll only be five minutes
,
’ he said. ‘I’m just going to go down to reception. There’s a phone there. I’ll ring the guards and I’ll come straight back up
.
’

‘Promise
,
’ The Brute said in a thin, reedy voice.

‘I promise
.
’

He hated seeing his cousin like that, all weak and scared. He hoped that The Brute was just delirious from some bug or illness he’d picked up, but as soon as he’d mentioned the creature he knew, he just knew, that
The Book of Dread
wasn’t some creepy story. It was very real.

He thought back to when The Brute had come back from his trip to the woods. He’d been happy. Far too happy for someone whose moods were limited to grumpy, very grumpy and pure rage. The man who’d written the book had said he was happy too. Just for a short while. And then he’d said the sickness followed. Colm wasn’t a doctor, but even he could see that his cousin wasn’t an advertisement for good health.

The last words the man had written were something about how the creature was coming for him. He knew it before it had arrived. Just the way The Brute knew it now. The Brute had held the Lazarus Key. He wanted to ask him about it, but there wasn’t a chance of getting him to say anything sensible when he was in this state.

Colm reviewed the situation. Here he was in a place he didn’t like. With his parents locked away somewhere. With his older cousin sick. With a creature on the loose. And it was dark. And cold. And he didn’t have a weapon. Well, he supposed, things couldn’t get much worse.

Of course, he was wrong.