Peter and the Sword of Mercy (48 page)

“Wendy,” said Molly, “we’ve worked out a plan that might get us all out of this. It’s not ideal, but it’s our best chance. It won’t help for you to waste time arguing, so please just listen, all right?”

“Yes, Mother,” said Wendy.

“Good,” said Molly brightly. “Now here’s what we’re going to do.”

L
IKE
S
OME
S
TRANGE
C
OMET

V
ON
S
CHATTEN
, holding the Sword of Mercy, stood with the Skeleton in front of the gleaming vault, where they had been conferring quietly for several minutes. James had heard the word “prisoners” several times, had seen the Skeleton aiming his yellow eye in their direction. Each time, he felt his stomach clench in fear. He glanced toward the tunnel, considering a desperate dash for freedom. But burly guards blocked the way; there was no hope for escape.

Von Schatten and the Skeleton finished their discussion. The Skeleton stepped back. Von Schatten turned toward the gleaming vault. Holding the sword handle in his right hand, he raised the blade with his left, guiding the tip to the slot in the center of the door. Carefully, he inserted the tip. He paused for a moment; there was not a sound in the chamber.

Von Schatten took his left hand off the blade and slowly pushed the sword into the slot. It slid in smoothly, all the way to the handle.

For several seconds nothing happened. Von Schatten started to turn toward the Skeleton, as if to say something.

Then the vault door started to open. Von Schatten moved away quickly. Suddenly James felt the guards shoving him forward, along with the other three prisoners. They now stood closest to the vault, forming a human shield to protect the others from whatever was inside.

Slowly the massive door, made of metal more than a foot thick, came toward them, pivoting outward on hidden hinges. It opened smoothly, almost soundlessly, as though it had been oiled and opened that very morning, instead of having been shut tight for centuries.

The door reached a right angle, then, with just the faintest click, stopped. The inside of the vault was as smooth and pristine as the outside—its walls, ceiling, and floor all the same smooth, shining metal. Sitting precisely in the center of the floor was a wooden trunk, looking quite ordinary except for its hinges and lock, which were made of the same metal as the vault.

For a moment everyone stared at the trunk. Then von Schatten, apparently satisfied that it posed no danger to him at the moment, pushed past the prisoners for a closer look. He turned back to the Skeleton.

“It’s locked,” he said.

The Skeleton looked toward Scarlet Johns.

“I suspect,” she said, “that the sword will open that lock as well. Although of course it would be very unwise to open it without taking precautions.”

Von Schatten nodded. “All right,” he said. “Have them take it to the train.”

Once again, Peter was acting as scout. When they had spotted the guards in the chamber ahead, the others had stayed back, hidden in the darkness of the tunnel while Peter floated up and glided carefully forward, hoping that if the guards glanced back, they would be looking for people on foot, not somebody pressed up against the ceiling.

At the moment, the guards’ attention was on the activity in front of them. As Peter inched closer, he saw that past the guards were some other men, and a woman. He inhaled sharply when he caught sight of the hooded form of the Skeleton. He felt the fear building in him, fought the impulse to turn and fly back down the tunnel as fast as he could, past Wendy and the others, out of the Underground, into the safety of the open skies. Struggling for control, he forced himself to think of Tink.

She could be in that room.

He inched forward. Looking past the Skeleton, he saw four prisoners. He knew one of the ragged, bearded men was James, but at this distance he could not tell which. Beyond them he saw the vault, the chest…and von Schatten. As Peter watched, von Schatten’s head turned in his direction. Peter pressed as hard as he could against the tunnel ceiling, praying the darkness concealed him. Von Schatten’s dark eyeglass lenses appeared to be pointing directly at him. Did he sense Peter’s presence? Peter held utterly still, prepared to turn and flee.

Slowly, von Schatten turned away. He was saying something, apparently giving orders. The four prisoners reluctantly trooped into the vault. They surrounded the wooden chest, preparing to pick it up. All eyes in the chamber were on them. Peter turned and quickly flew back down the tunnel to report.

The chest was surprisingly light. This confirmed what James had suspected since he first saw it: there was starstuff inside. He understood now why the prisoners had been summoned to handle the chest. If it were to break open, its contents would kill anyone who was nearby. Von Schatten and the Skeleton were going to let James and the others assume that risk.

“Put it here,” rasped the Skeleton, gesturing with his claw hand toward the rubber-tired dolly. The prisoners carefully set the chest down on it, then looked to the Skeleton.

“You two pull; you two push,” he said, gesturing. “I want guards on all sides.” As directed, James and another prisoner positioned themselves in front of the dolly, grabbing its handle. The other two went behind it. The guards surrounded them—two in front, one on each side, two behind.

“You will move it cautiously,” said the Skeleton. “Or you will die painfully.”

“One moment,” said von Schatten. He went to the vault door and slid the sword out of the slot. “Ready,” he said.

“Go,” said the Skeleton.

The prisoners began rolling the dolly toward the tunnel. The guards moved with them, keeping a bit of distance, their wary eyes fixed on the chest. The Skeleton walked behind, followed by Scarlet, Mauch, and Coben, followed by Revile. Von Schatten, holding the sword, was last.

The dolly was almost to the tunnel mouth.

From the darkness came a bone-shaking roar.

The two guards in front had almost no time to react before Karl, coming out of the tunnel with astonishing speed, slammed into them, knocking them hard to the ground. The prisoners, terrified, ducked as Karl hurtled past them to the left, leveling the guard on that side of the dolly. An instant later Magill, coming right behind the bear, leveled the one on the other side with a hard fist to the face, as Karl took out the two rear guards.

The dolly was now liberated; it had taken perhaps three seconds.

Karl and Magill kept right on going. Karl’s target was the Skeleton; Magill’s was Mauch and Coben. Here the fight was more even. Magill was a powerful man, but Mauch and Coben were both skilled fighters, and they had numbers on their side. Seeing Magill coming, they quickly separated and began to circle the big man, keeping apart, feinting, looking for an opening.

As for Karl, he swiftly discovered that the Skeleton was no ordinary human. The bear charged, but at the last instant the Skeleton shifted sideways, at the same time thrusting a claw-hand deep into the bear’s thick hide. Karl roared as he fell forward, his entire body consumed by a searing pain that would have killed a man. He tumbled on the dirt and scrambled to his feet, furious, but also, for the first time in his life, fearful. He turned to face the Skeleton, who stood motionless, waiting. Karl began to move warily toward him.

For the moment, these two struggles provided cover for the group now coming from the tunnel into the chamber. Ted, Neville, and Patrick went straight to the dolly and rolled it into the tunnel. Wendy and Peter grabbed the stunned prisoners and pushed them, stumbling, after the dolly. Three of them went, but James, recognizing his rescuers, stopped.

“Wendy!” he said.
“Peter!”

Peter waved in acknowledgment, but was moving past his old friend

“Please, Uncle James!” said Wendy. “We have to get out of here!” James started into the tunnel after her. He glanced back toward Peter, who was heading toward the fighting.

For the moment, Karl was holding his own against the Skeleton. But Peter saw that Magill was in trouble. Coben and Mauch had worked their way around to one side, forcing Magill to face them. What the big man did not see, but Peter did, was that von Schatten was coming up behind, drawing the sword back to strike.

“Look out!” Peter shouted, at the same time launching himself into the air.

Magill turned and ducked just in time to avoid the arcing blade. Peter flew over Mauch and Coben, straight at von Schatten, spinning in midair to position himself for a kick. As he reached von Schatten, he shot his right foot out, aiming for the head. Von Schatten, with snakelike quickness, jerked his head back and shot out his hand, grabbing Peter’s foot. Instantly Peter felt a horrible sensation of cold creeping into his leg. He had felt it before, long ago; he knew he could not allow it to consume any more of him. With all his strength, he yanked his leg away, the effort sending him tumbling erratically through the air, bumping against the chamber ceiling, almost falling.

He collected himself and turned, hovering. Von Schatten was now standing next to the workbench in the center of the room. Behind him, the fierce struggles continued—Karl against the Skeleton; Magill against Mauch and Coben. Revile was crouched in a corner, apparently trying to avoid any part of the fight; Scarlet Johns stood next to him, motionless, watching without expression. Out of the corner of his right eye, Peter saw movement along the chamber wall. But his gaze was fixed on von Schatten, who, ignoring the fighting, was reaching into his pocket. Slowly he withdrew a black velvet sack, tied with a silver cord. He held it down on the bench, raised the sword, then brought it down swiftly, cutting off the top of the bag.