POE MUST DIE (46 page)

Jonathan’s chanting was almost finished. “Has malim, enlighten me with the splendors of Eloi and Shechinah! Aralim, act! Ophanim, revolve and shine Hajoth a Kadosh, cry, speak, roar, bellow! Hallelu-jah Hallelu-jah. Hallelu-jah.”

Two more days. And then he would have the greatest prize man had ever dreamed of.

Suddenly the barn was filled with bright orange flames and the strong, foul smell of demons. Animals shrieked, threatened, and the cries of dead men were everywhere.

Asmodeus!

Again he had returned to demand his sacrifice.

Magician, he cried, the woman offends me.

Torment me not, thought Jonathan. I renounce her.

Give her to me, magician. Bring her here and give her to me in sacrifice.

I will. Before the ninth day ends.

The fire disappeared. Asmodeus, the fire, animals, the dead men’s cries all vanished.

Jonathan sat rigid. When his fears had eased and his hands had stopped trembling, he looked over his shoulder at Laertes who sat unseeing, showing no reaction to what had just occurred. I will save him on the final day, thought Jonathan, for then all power will be mine.

Since demanding Rachel Coltman’s death in exchange for the soul of her dead husband, Asmodeus had not ceased to torment Jonathan. The demon king, in all his hideous fury, had appeared daily; the sight and smell of him would have defeated all men, except Jonathan. But Jonathan, tiring and fighting hard against collapse would need all of his concentration for the final day. Let Asmodeus have Rachel and leave Jonathan alone.

The magician was working at full strength, exhausting himself and his powers, but the prize was worth it. The prize was within reach and Rachel Coltman’s life was a small price to pay for it.

*     *     *     *

“Mr. Figg? It is I. Poe.”

“I said no one was to come down ‘ere. No one!”

“It is Poe.”

“I know ’oo you are. I said no one, you hear me?”

Poe stood in the middle of the cellar stairs, squinting down into the darkness. “Mr. Bootham and the others are worried about you. You seemed to have cut yourself off from them and I am told you eat very little. Why are you down here alone in this oppressive, foul-smelling darkness? Would you please light another candle? I cannot see—”

“No candle!” Figg’s voice was a primeval, gutteral sound coming from the blackness. He was hostile, unfriendly and Poe was shocked.

“Is there anything wrong, Mr. Figg?”

“Jes’ leave me be, mate. Climb back up them stairs and leave me be. Tell the others I says to keep away and leave me be.”

Poe stared down at the two candles flickering on top of barrels; the candles cast a pale red glow on the brown dirt cellar floor. Something was wrong. Figg was spending all of his time alone in Titus Bootham’s cellar, eating vegetables, drinking plain water. No meat, no milk or foods made from milk. If anyone saw him it was Bootham and then only briefly. With the duel less than two days away, an anxious Bootham had begged Poe to go down into the cellar and talk with the boxer. Because of Figg’s odd behavior the Bootham household, servants and family, was afraid to approach him.

A thought nagged at Poe. Figg’s choice of diet. His living and training down here in the cellar. And those candles. Could it be—”

Poe said, “There is a crowd of Englishmen gathered in the street at the front of Bootham’s home, Mr. Figg. All are enthused over the forthcoming combat. Word of the duel has spread and you are the man of the hour.”

“They want blood. I know what they want.”

“It is true, Mr. Figg, that this duel has assumed the proportions of a holiday and a circus in the eyes of many and for that, I am deeply sorry. Mr. Barnum has twice been to this house and twice Mr. Bootham has turned him away—”

“On my orders.” Figg was still invisible in the darkness.

“I understand and my sympathies are with you, dear friend. Mr. Barnum has offered any assistance you may need and he wishes you to know that he is among your most fervent backers. I understand that Mr. Barnum has offered the use of one of his warehouses for the duel.”

“Talk to Bootham about that. Will you leave me in peace?”

Poe took one more step down into the cellar. “Mr. Figg, I know what you are doing. And I understand, sir.”

“Understand what?”

“The ritual.
Your
preparation.”

There was a noise in the darkness directly in front of Poe; he cocked an ear.

“What is it that you know, Mr. Poe?”

“Jonathan fears you. Let me say with good reason, for he sees in you those forces which are deeper and darker within himself, those forces you continually deny. All of us see in others only those things which are in ourselves and Jonathan knows and can recognize the occult. You are fasting, dear friend. Not an ordinary fast but
the black fast.”

Poe could
feel
the silence in the dark cellar. Meaning he
was
right in what he’d just said.

“The black fast, Mr. Figg. To aid the concentration, to strengthen the powers of thought. Abstain from meat, avoid all milk and milk foods. If I recall correctly, an Englishwoman was executed in the sixteenth century after having been accused of using this particular fast in a witchcraft plot to kill King Henry the Eighth.”

Figg’s voice was softer. Nearer. “I ‘ear tell that witchcraft is called ‘the old religion,’ the one the English useta ‘ave long before Christianity come to our island.”

“That is true. It is also known as ‘the cult of the wise’ and history shows how important it was to the ancient tribes of Britain, the Angles, Saxons, the Celts. Your ancestors, Mr. Figg.”

“I do not fast in order to kill anyone, Mr. Poe. It’s stayin’ alive, I am after. The fast you speak of is also used to bring misfortune to an enemy, not that I am admittin’ to what yer sayin’.”

“I understand, Mr. Figg.” Poe sat down on the stairs. “Forgive me, but I am tired and not too well. Much time has been spent in tracing the land transactions of Hugh Larney, no easy matter in these days of speculation and questionable business dealings. Everyone is anxious to become a millionaire, a new word coined by the envious to describe the avaricious.”

“What is so interestin’ concernin’ Mr. Larney’s dealing’s in land?”

“Note, Mr. Figg, that Miles Standish and Volney Gunning are both dead. Which eliminates either man being of much use to Jonathan. Note that the recently assassinated physician who attended Rachel, was contacted by a servant of Hugh Larney, one Jacob Cribb, who as I have mentioned, beats his horse too severely in public and shouts aloud the urgency for needing a physician. Now if as I surmise, and I believe myself to be correct, the physician died because he had come directly from Rachel and myself to treat the wounded woman used by Jonathan to deceive me, this means that Hugh Larney has the woman. But where?

“We know, Mr. Figg, that Hugh Larney is in hiding, most likely on property he owns. He needs space enough to properly prepare his man for the duel. Larney is wealthy, far wealthier than most people know. By long and arduous effort in reading tax ledgers and records of land sales, I have learned that Hugh Larney owns three well-appointed homes here in Manhattan. He also is in possession of numerous tracts of undeveloped land, which he expects to be worth a fortune to him as Manhattan expands northward. To be exact, he owns nine parcels of land, parcels of various sizes. And he has not made his holdings public. Most are abandoned, which is to say they show no record of development and only carry the minimum of tax liabilities. Larney, his man Thor and the wounded woman are on one of these tracts of land. It has taken me until today to learn this. To investigate all of this land, which lies in most rugged areas, would take days if not weeks.”

Figg said, “We don’t ‘ave days and weeks.”

“I am aware of this, dear friend. I suggest that on the day of the duel, we somehow force Larney to tell us—not where he has hidden the woman. I suggest we force him to tell us where on his land Jonathan is performing the dark ritual.”

Figg’s voice was nearer, but still he remained hidden in darkness.

“You tellin’ me for certain that Hugh Larney is hidin’ Jonathan?”

“It cannot be otherwise. The dead physician, the wounded woman both indicate a contact made between Larney and Jonathan. At this most important time, who else could Jonathan turn to for a place that would allow him privacy? Volney Gunning owned real estate but most of it is here in Manhattan, acres and acres of abominable housing given over to immigrants. He had some land outside of New York but it is settled on; it is only a modest amount of productive farm land. Miles Standish had stock investments, no real estate at all. That leaves Larney.”

Figg said, “Perhaps Jonathan had land of his own.”

“I doubt it. He was in Europe until recently, was he not? He roamed the world, and he was always in need of funds, funds which he secured from such as Larney and Gunning, from others he humbugged as Dr. Paracelsus. I have been to Jonathan’s home.”

“’Ave you now.”

“A Mrs. Sontag, pointed out as a patroness of Dr. Paracelsus, escorted me. She fancies herself a poet and was flattered at being asked by me if she would consent to show me some of her poetry. In exchange she took me to the site of her spiritualist experiences, costly ones I might add. The house no longer stands. It was burned to the ground a week ago.”

“When ‘e left to begin his dark deed.”

“Exactly. He is elsewhere, Mr. Figg, and that elsewhere is known to Larney. I stake my life on it.”

“All of us, we are stakin’ our lives on this business.”

Poe pointed his stick. “Red candles. Red is the color of life. The Celtic ancient tribes believed that to dance around flame was a method of raising power. That is also why certain rituals were performed naked, to allow the power to flow unobstructed.”

Figg cleared his throat. “I does what makes me comfortable. I ain’t been in a prize ring in seven years and I will be facin’ a younger man, a stronger man, a killer. I does what is comfortable, Mr. Poe.”

Poe smiled. “I have been told that when one speaks of black magic, one is speaking of what others are involved in.”

Figg snapped, “Ain’t no black magic bein’ done ’ere.”

“Forgive me, dear friend. I—”

“Jes doin’ what’s comfortable, is all.”

Poe looked around in the darkness. Blankets over the windows, a stale, musty odor inside. Darkness lit only by two red candles. Figg was returning to the strength of his ancestors. No matter how much he denied it, ‘the cult of the wise’ was within him.

The boxer must be a desperate, frightened man. Suddenly Poe started coughing and couldn’t stop. His head spun and he blacked out, pitching forward and down the stairs.

When he opened his eyes, a worried, sweating and naked Figg was hovering over him.

“You been workin’ too hard, squire.” The hostility was gone from Figg’s voice.

“I
am
a man of honor, Mr. Figg, and I have a debt. I owe you for agreeing to fight in my stead, and so I am doing all I can to locate Larney and Jonathan. I feel certain,” he coughed, “certain that Larney knows Jonathan’s hiding place and that hiding place is on property owned by Larney.”

He coughed again. Figg bent down, lifting him into a sitting position.

“Bet you ain’t been eatin’ much.”

“I take my cue from you, sir.”

“I does what must be done.”

“I know.”

Figg sighed. “I feel the need of this, Mr. Poe. Them crowds outside, they look at me like I am an animal, something penned up in ‘ere for their amusement. It’s a game to them, somethin’ to cheer on. For me, it could be me last fight. The blackamoor is strong and I do not mind tellin’ you in the quiet of this room that I am a man with more than small fears within ‘im. I have been in this country almost two weeks and it could well be that I die ’ere. I feel tired, Mr. Poe, tired and alone. Huntin’ Jonathan has taken much out of me. I am not a young man anymore and me skills are not what they used to be. I feel the need to prepare in this fashion and I would be thankin’ you muchly if you were not to tell anyone what you have seen down ’ere or what you have deducted with yer thinkin’!”

Poe nodded. “You have my word, Mr. Figg. Nothing that has transpired in this room will pass my lips. And I shall insist that Bootham stop your exuberant fellow Englishmen from rapping at your window.”

“Blankets can keep their bleedin’ faces from me sight, but not their knuckles from tappin’ on the glass. They are enjoyin’ themselves makin’ wagers and cursin’ the Americans. I figger to be their bleedin’ savior, it appears.”

He and Poe smiled. Poe said, “A residue of the two wars between our countries, dear friend. It is harmless, this patriotic excess. Barnum is growing impatient to see you. He is your champion.”

“’E sees me on the day of the fight. Make it known that anyone what comes down them stairs is riskin’.”

“Done. I shall calm Mr. Bootham, and myself, allow me to return here on the day appointed to escort you to the site. The police have wind of the duel and will do their best to prevent it. Prizefighting and all forms of personal combat are prohibited, which does not in any way stop them from occurring. They merely occur in secret.”