The Bonehill Curse (23 page)

Ness froze.

Her mother shook her head and gave her a warning glare. Ness made to cry out but it was too late. Eliza Bonehill wrapped her free arm around her husband’s legs and pushed herself off the side.

It all happened so silently and slowly, it seemed. Ness watched as her mother and father, locked in a deadly embrace, struck the side of the lantern tower, rolled down the dome and took one final bounce before landing on the roof below.

Ness began to drift towards them, solidifying, moving faster as she took in what she had seen. Her heart pounded as she settled beside her mother, who lay on top of the shattered body of Anthony Bonehill.

‘I always loved you, Ness,’ she whispered. ‘You know that, don’t you?’

Ness nodded, mute and shaking, as she stared at her mother. Even bruised and grazed by the fall, she looked beautiful to Ness.

‘I never meant to . . .’ Eliza screwed her eyes shut, fighting the pain of her injuries. ‘All I ever wanted was to protect you.’

‘I know, Mama.’ Ness gave a gentle smile and lowered her face to her mother’s.

‘I need . . . three wishes,’ Eliza whispered. ‘Wish number one,’ she gasped. ‘That Carlos Grossford had wished the djinn dead as he was meant to.’

Ness nodded and felt the magic welling up in her very core.

‘Wish number two,’ Eliza whispered. ‘That Anthony Bonehill and Carlos Grossford had killed each other.’

‘Mama, that’s an evil wish. You can’t –’

‘Can’t I?’ Eliza gave a hard smile and coughed. Blood coated her lips. ‘That is my wish. Trust me, Necessity.’

‘And your third?’ Ness sobbed.

‘That once my other two wishes are completed, you are a djinn no longer but a normal, human young lady,’ Eliza gasped, every breath rattling in her chest.

Ness hugged her mother close. ‘Whatever you want, Mama.’ She tried to smile through the tears. ‘On one condition – we never forget who we were.’

Eliza nodded and the air seemed to shimmer. Ness’s heart lurched as her mother, her father’s broken corpse, the cathedral, the whole of London broke into numberless tiny fragments. All reality shattered and swirled around her as Ness felt the magic drain from her body and change everything, according to her mother’s wishes.

Don't call a man fortunate until he
’
s safely buried.

T
raditional proverb

Chapter Thirty-one

C
hanging

Ness was a cloud of smoke again, drifting over a different London. She drifted past Scrabsnitch’s ramshackle shop, peeling its paintwork like a snake shedding skin, the dusty glass windows scarred with cracks; not the shining emporium she knew. Not yet.

She floated on over chimneys and slate rooftops then down into a tenement. Down into a cellar lined with green algae and cracked bones. Seven adults squeezed themselves into the putrid cell. Ness knew them all. Her mother and Scrabsnitch stood behind Widow Quilfy and Reverend Cullwirthy; Henry Lumm’s wide frame hemmed the four of them against the wall. Next to him stood her father, his sneering face showing the world exactly what he thought of Grossford, who cowered on the floor.

There in the centre, surrounded by scattered bones and slime, sat Zaakiel.

Ness bit her lip. He looked strong, powerful.

‘Remember what we agreed, Grossford,’ Bonehill muttered. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.’

‘What’s this, Carlos?’ the creature said, tilting his head. He had no nose to speak of, just two slits that expanded and contracted every now and then. His pointed chin ended in a wispy beard of wiry, black hair. Sores and boils wept from his parchment-like skin. ‘A conspiracy?’

‘Do it,’ Bonehill snapped. ‘Now.’

‘I wish . . .’ Grossford’s voice became a hoarse whine. ‘I . . . I . . . wish . . .’

‘For God’s sake, man, pull yourself together,’ Bonehill cried.

‘I wish that you were dead,’ Grossford sobbed, running his words together. ‘Now. This instant. Without doing another thing.’

The djinn’s thin eyebrows rose, wrinkling his brow. He heaved a long, heavy sigh.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered, falling forward. ‘After three thousand years of selfish, twisted, sickening wishes, this is the one wish I would have made for myself.’

Zaakiel gave a gasp and clutched his throat. Slowly, a sliver of blue light grew between his eyelids, widening and growing until the dazzling flare of his eyes expanded, consuming his head, neck and shoulders. Only Ness could watch; the others in the cellar cowered and covered their eyes against the blinding light. Zaakiel made no scream or howl of pain.

With a final brilliant flash, he vanished, leaving a smouldering black shadow on the ground and silence, apart from the sobbing of Widow Quilfy.

The Seven barely moved, still dazzled, recovering their vision in the dim cellar.

Then Ness was floating again, drifting, being pulled towards her mother’s second wish. The rooftops of London spread out before her again and time seemed to rush forward. Fogs rolled up from the Thames with incredible speed; its waters rose and fell like some creature breathing; snow tumbled and melted quickly as the years passed with speed.

New memories grew inside Ness: Christmases with her mother, a governess at home, dancing, laughter. She smiled as the new reality began to form.

But then it stopped, as if someone had snagged a leash and pulled Ness back from the new-found happiness. Ness stood in the shadows by the banks of the Thames. The moon shone through the latticework of scaffolding and rigging that formed this building site, reflected in the puddles of rank river water that lay in the rutted mud.

Two figures faced each other at the edge of the half-finished Thames embankment. Ness could see her father gripping Uncle Carlos’s lapels. Carlos grinned drunkenly, his skin grey under the stubbly chin.

‘Damn you, Grossford. Haven’t you had enough already?’ Bonehill hissed.

‘Enough?’ Grossford slurred. ‘I’ve only just begun. You said you’d take care of me. I made the last wish. Remember what you promised!’

‘But every time we pay you off, you come back for more,’ Bonehill snarled. ‘I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had to buy you out of jail or grease the palm of some ne’er-do-well who beat you at cards. You can’t afford to carry on like this and neither can we.’

‘I can do what I please.’ Grossford grabbed hold of Bonehill’s arms. Ness noticed the shabbiness of his jacket, the stains and frayed cuffs. ‘You owe me.’

‘No,’ Bonehill said quite calmly. ‘Enough is enough. Tonight is your last payment from us. If you come sniffing around Bonehill House again, I’ll have you thrown into the street.’

Grossford gave a throaty chuckle. ‘You don’t scare me, Anthony. I remember you when you were nothing. A worthless army officer with debts as big as mine. Not any more. You parade around town with your carriages and airs and graces. Quite the family man too. Tell me, how is little Necessity?’

Ness gave a gasp. It sounded so strange to hear them talk about her as if she weren’t there.

‘Leave her out of this, Grossford,’ Bonehill snapped, shaking him by his lapels.

‘She is well, I trust?’ Grossford grinned.

‘I’m warning you.’ Bonehill’s voice was low now.

‘I only ask because it would be a shame if any harm befell her,’ Grossford said, smiling innocently. Sweat trickled down his forehead.

‘No one threatens my family,’ Bonehill said, his eyes wide with rage. He shook himself free of Grossford and gave him a sharp push.

With a yell, Grossford fell back. For a second, he seemed poised, leaning ridiculously far back over the edge, his arms spinning as he tried to regain his balance.

Ness stared in horror as, in that moment, he flicked his hands forward and gripped Bonehill’s collar. Together they disappeared over the side of the embankment. Ness squeezed her eyes shut at the distant splash from the black Thames water below.

‘Father!’ Ness yelled, trying to run to him.

But the edge seemed further and further away. She felt so weak that the slightest breeze from the river blew her back. Tears coursed down her cheeks and time rolled further on.

More scenes played out before Ness. Policemen huddled around a shadowy form on the riverside. Her mother standing tall and gaunt at the funeral. Ness saw Lumm alive and well, staring pompously at her mother as they shook hands over the grave.

The Reverend Cullwirthy slipped between the headstones towards her. Ness could feel her neck prickle as the man drew nearer in his vestments and black cloth.
Hypocrite
, she thought.
He’s
lucky to be alive!
She shivered at the memory of his hideous transformation.

‘Mrs Bonehill,’ he said, giving Eliza’s hand a gentle shake. ‘My condolences in this time of sadness. If there’s anything more I can do . . .’

‘Yes,’ Eliza said. ‘There is.’

‘Madam, just say the word,’ Cullwirthy replied, licking his lips and smoothing his lank brown hair back.

‘You can scurry back down whatever hole you were in when my husband found you and never darken my door again. Do I make myself clear? I allowed you to conduct this service to keep up appearances. You were a friend of my husband’s inasmuch as he had any friends at all, but now he has gone you will never be welcome at my house.’

Cullwirthy gave a curt nod and stamped off across the graveyard to the church. Ness grinned. She wanted to hug her mother but still time rolled on.

As she drifted higher up across the ever-changing London skyline, she watched buildings come down, other buildings rise and the embankment grow.

The pain of her father’s death faded. Newer memories began to form in her mind again. Uncles and aunts she’d never met before, driven away by Anthony Bonehill’s arrogance, now lavished love and gifts upon her. She saw herself singing at a piano, riding a pony with cousins she’d never known she had. Her mother’s laughter rang freely around Bonehill House and Rowson the butler went smiling about his duties. A rather strict but fair governess lurked in the corners of the house and Ness realised that she never had to return to Rookery Heights. In fact, she’d never attended the Academy. She knew Sarah, Mollie and Hannah were all fit and well somewhere.
So is Miss Pinchett
, Ness thought,
but you can’t have everything
.

Ness smiled and closed her eyes, revelling in this new happiness. A warm drowsiness crept over her and she melted into a delicious dreamless sleep.

The creaking of her bedroom door and the smell of toast tickling her nose woke Ness. She found herself lying in a bed. Her bed. In her room. Two sets of memories jostled in her head but somehow the djinn and the Pestilents seemed more like a vivid unpleasant dream. Ness smiled and looked up at her mother, who carried breakfast in on a tray.

‘You slept late, Necessity.’ Eliza smiled, setting the tray on to Ness’s lap once she had sat up in bed. ‘I thought I’d bring this up myself. Rowson pulled quite a face.’

Ness smiled. ‘He’s such an old woman sometimes!’

‘You’d better hurry up though,’ Eliza said, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘Evenyule is visiting this morning. Apparently he’s bringing some of your father’s belongings that were cluttering up his shop. Sergeant Major Morris is just getting the carriage ready.’

‘Sergeant Major Morris?’ Ness grinned. An image of Morris in smart footman’s livery popped into her memory. ‘Of course!’

Eliza stared deep into Ness’s eyes and, for a moment, they shared the secret knowledge of the other reality that never was. Ness frowned.

‘What troubles you, Ness?’ Eliza said, smiling gently.

‘Your wishes,’ Ness murmured. ‘Why didn’t you wish for the djinn never to have been found?’

‘Because if the djinn had never been found, I would never have had you, my love,’ Eliza said, settling on the end of the bed.

Ness returned her mother’s smile but she noticed a glint of sadness in her eye. With her mother’s choice of wishes, Father’s wish remained and Ness’s grandparents had still died in the freak carriage accident.

‘But why did Father and Uncle Carlos have to die?’ Ness said in a small voice.

‘They knew about you and would never have left you alone,’ Eliza sighed. ‘You would have had no peace while either of those men lived. Anthony would have killed you in his lust for power, especially after my third wish. I had to wish them dead.’

‘But you wished I was human and not a djinn,’ Ness said. ‘Father would have had no reason to harm me.’

‘Believe me, Necessity, your father would have stopped at nothing to achieve his dream of controlling a djinn,’ Eliza said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘I can’t bear to think what he would have put you through in some insane attempt to reverse the wish. Now, will you answer one of my questions?’

‘All right.’ Ness looked nervously at her mother.

‘Your one condition. Why did you still want to remember everything that happened?’ Eliza said, tilting her head. ‘We could have lived in blissful ignorance.’

Ness felt her cheeks flush. ‘Because I’ve changed,’ she muttered, looking down. ‘I didn’t want to be who I was before.’