The Devil in Amber (25 page)

‘What about me?’

Reynolds’s face turned sour. ‘You? Didn’t I tell you a long time ago that it was time for you to retire?’

He cocked the automatic. I held my breath. And in the blink of an eye, stepped forward and dropped through the open hatch.

My belly lurched horribly as I met empty air but I struck out at once, grabbing hold of the undercarriage of the cable-car and swinging myself back into my previous position. Reynolds’s pistol appeared through the open hatch like a rat out of a drainpipe, his hand twisting uncomfortably round as he loosed off a random shot.

The bullet sparked off the metal right by me and I ducked as it whistled past my cheek. I caught sight of Reynolds’s eye as he pressed one flabby cheek to the floor and then poked out his hand once again, determined to get a clear shot at me.

The fat man’s exposed eye swivelled in my direction and the corner of it creased into a smile as he spotted me, skulking amongst the metalwork. ‘I’ve got you, Box, you interfering bastard!’ he screamed, blasting off another bullet.

I dodged out of the way but the shot was true, searing a neat hole through the flapping tail of my leather coat. I wasted no time, swaying from metal strut to metal strut so that I was on the other side of the hatch–behind Reynolds–and out of his firing line.

His plump hand scrabbled about the rim of the open hatch as he tried to reorientate himself but I moved like lightning, grasping his thick wrist and trying desperately to wrestle the gun from his grip. But he was a tenacious bugger, and try as I might I couldn’t get him to relinquish it. Twisting round his wrist, I yelled as the pistol spoke again and a bullet smashed through the floor of the car above my head.

Without warning, the whole vehicle lurched and there was a curious, tortured whipping sound from somewhere above. I looked down and saw, to my intense relief, that the station was now only a hundred or so feet below us. If I could only hang on and avoid getting shot, I’d be able to drop off into the snowdrift. The strange
lashing sound came again and the car suddenly dropped fully two feet. I fell forward from my place of safety and found myself hanging onto Reynolds’ wrist for grim death. The fat man tried desperately to shake me off and he dropped the automatic. It fell like a stone and I grabbed at Reynold’s arm, trying to haul myself up.

‘Let go!’ he gasped.

‘No thanks!’ I cried.

The car rocked again and I realized with horror that Reynolds’s last shot, the one that had penetrated the car, must’ve struck the steel wheels that attached the car to the cable above! If they sheared away now, the gondola would be literally hanging by a thread! My own grip on my boss’s sweaty arm was fast loosening and I scrabbled frantically at his sleeve, trying to get a purchase on the thick black fabric. Reynolds howled in pain and fought back with the tenacity of a tiger, wriggling his arm back through the hatch and evidently attempting to slip out of his costume to free his put-upon limb.

Then, with the cable station only twenty feet below us, the car gave a great lurch and Reynolds himself fell halfway through the hatch. I clutched at his collar to stop myself from falling and he cried out in frustration and terror. The mechanism above us was disintegrating fast and the air was alive with a metallic splintering sound.

I locked my arms around Reynold’s great thick neck, and blow me if he didn’t try to bite me! I glanced below again and suddenly knew I was safe. The car dropped one last time. Above us, the steel wheels fell apart and suddenly the car was falling free. With a delighted laugh, I kissed Reynolds on the forehead and let go, falling only ten feet or so and rolling expertly into the snowdrifts.

I looked up as the cable car plummeted towards earth, Reynolds jutting from the hatchway like a cork in a bottle. Shrieking, he tried to force out his massive body from its confinement but it was too late. Like a yo-yo snapped from its string, the cable car went smashing into its station, shearing the corpulent chief of the Royal Academy neatly in two.

‘I fell forward and found myself hanging onto Reynolds’ wrist for grim death’

As the car came to rest amidst the tangled machinery it burst into flame and I averted my face, taking solace in the freezing snow in which I lay half buried.

I walked slowly back towards Lit-de-Diable, the cable-car terminus blossoming into flame far behind me, but the roar of the explosion was almost blotted out by the sweet pattering of snowflakes. Down here, snow blanketed every wooden gable, every glowing gas lamp.

As I neared the inn, the door flew open and Delilah, Flarge and Agnes emerged.

‘Good to see you, sah!’ cried Delilah. ‘Hi trust everything’s been sorted out to your satisfaction?’

‘Rather,’ I cried as Aggie slammed into me and threw her arms about my neck. ‘Have you got us all beds for the night, Percy?’

Flarge grinned hugely. ‘Naturally. No flies on me, old thing. Could I buy you that dinner now, do you think?’

I thought of warm food and wine and a downy bed and sweet Agnes Daye and suddenly I was the happiest of men. I kissed the girl full on the mouth and then whistled at the rather fetching Swiss peasant costume of gingham dress and tight blouse that she seemed to have acquired.

‘Glad you’ve changed, my dear. You’d’ve frightened the yodellers!’

She gave a glum look and plucked at the pretty frock. ‘That was shaming. I must have looked indecent.’

‘Nun’s training kicking in again, eh?’ I shrugged. ‘Well, it was nothing I hadn’t seen before.’

She batted me playfully on the arm. ‘Brute. You are a beast and I cannot think why I like you.’

‘Well,’ I said, putting my arm around her shivering shoulders and leading her towards the warmth of the inn, ‘better the devil you know, eh?’