The Minority Council (52 page)

“She was quiet for a while.

“I guess it wasn’t fair to kinda just throw that at her, but I hadn’t told no one and she had told me and it felt right. The right thing. Not often you get to be sure.

“Finally she said, ‘Thank you,’ and I didn’t really get what for, but I smiled, and she smiled back, and got on with pinning down her hair. And we had lunch at this Persian restaurant and I asked if Nabeela spoke any Persian and she said, my family’s from Lebanon, so it’d be Arabic, idiot, and no she didn’t, she was from Finchley, what did I expect, and we had humous and pitta bread and those little plates of stuff you get with like dates and vine leaves, and everything comes all at once so you look at the table and think ‘Shit, I’m such a pig’ and then somehow you eat it all and find yourself ordering more and… do the Aldermen do expenses? Only I’ve got the receipt somewhere,
and it was a big lunch, you know what I’m saying? Anyway.

“I guess what I’m saying is, we got pretty relaxed.

“I mean, I’d spotted the Aldermen following us.

“Of course I’d spotted them.

“But fuck me, Matthew, they’re supposed to be on your side. I mean, I get it, I get the Minority Council shit, I get how that’s bad news, but, like, you’re the Midnight Mayor. No! You’re more than the Midnight fucking Mayor, you’re the blue electric angels, you’re the guy who said no to the Neon Court and pissed off the Tribe, the apprentice of Robert fucking Bakker, destroyer of Blackout, banisher of the death of cities, I mean, you may not look like much, but on paper you’re really cool until people meet you! So what the fuck? How the hell were we supposed to know? And you taught me to be a sorceress. You taught me how to bind and compel, enchant and exorcise. Not what to do when some fuckers in a big blue van pull up beside you on St Martin’s Lane and suddenly the two guys in front who you thought were just a pair of tourists have guns and the two guys behind who you figured were theatregoers in fancy coats are grabbing you by the arms and there’s some guy in the fucking van pulling a bag over your head!

“You taught me that life was magic, that in all things that live there is not just power, but wonder and possibility, shadows and time, that magic is a reflection of layer upon layer upon layer of life plastered across this world like air; you taught me that and then went off to do the Midnight Mayor thing and these guys they just came out of nowhere, they came out of nowhere and they…

“They took us.

“And I’m no fucking damsel in distress, I wasn’t going to scream, I was going to ensorcel their ass, but they had drugs. I felt them stick something into my skin and it burnt. And I felt sick and all my muscles went slack and then…

“… they drugged me.

“That’s all I remember about then.

“They took us some place.

“It was dark when I woke up, really dark and quiet, like dead-night in dead-place black. They must have kept on drugging us, keeping us out for hours and hours. Maybe they’d wanted to keep us asleep until they killed us. Maybe they’d just run out of needles.

“The place smelt.

“It was a shed of some kind, a concrete shed, but you could feel it hadn’t been lived in for a long time, all dark and damp and cold as the outside air.

“There wasn’t any light.

“Someone had killed the power.

“Everything felt… a long way off. Slow. I guessed we were in the countryside; I couldn’t hear traffic or planes or feel the city close or anything like that. They’d tied us up. They’d been real paranoid about it. They’d put handcuffs on, and cable ties around my feet and knees, like I was about to get up and cha-cha my way outta there, you know? They’d given me something and it made me sick. I puked. There wasn’t anywhere good to do it, so I just did it there. I heard footsteps move outside and tried to wriggle away against the wall. They sounded like they were walking on more concrete. There wasn’t a window, but there was a door at one end; I could see the outline of the
grey. I tried to summon light but it was so hard, everything was so hard, so far away, and I couldn’t see and my mouth burnt, tasted of acid. Then something else moved and I swear to God, that’s the closest I ever came to screaming. There was something else and I thought at first it was a rat, but then it moved a little more and it was too heavy for a rat, and grunted as it moved; a woman.

“ ‘Nabeela?’ I asked, voice all sticky in my throat.

“ ‘Penny? What’s happening?’

“ ‘Are you okay?’

“ ‘I’m… there’s tape, I can feel tape I can’t move my hands I can’t open my eyes I can’t…’

“ ‘Are you hurt?’

“ ‘I feel a bit sick.’

“ ‘Me too. Hey, it’s going to be okay, okay? You’re gonna be fine and I’m gonna be fine and we’re gonna bust our way out of this like the kick-ass bitches we are, and even if we don’t, which we will, Matthew’s gonna come on down here like the kick-ass bastard he is and do the saving thing, and he’ll be insufferable for a while, but basically cool, okay?’

“ ‘Okay,’ she trembled.

“ ‘Hey, girl, we’ll be okay, okay? It’ll all be… okay.’

“I think I heard her nod. I tried to crawl towards her. It was hard, wriggling on the floor or something, like, head and shoulders banging against it and kicking with my knees. But I was glad she was there. Is that wrong? I was fucking glad she was there, because she was a medusa and I was a sorceress and between us we’d be okay, and because she wanted me to say it was going to be okay and I was going to do it. I was going to make it okay.

“I bumped into her head first and heard her gasp for
breath. I said, ‘It’s me, it’s me, we’ll be fine. Hey, can you move?’

“ ‘No,’ she replied. ‘There’s… they used gaffer tape, they… they stuck it over my face, over my… my head. There’s like, tape on my head or something; it hurts, I feel really weird.’

“I got to my knees and whispered, ‘Okay, okay, like, move your head towards me or something, I’ll see if I can feel anything.’

“I was close enough to feel the heat off her body; I leant down and I brushed my cheek against the top of her head. The fuckers had wrapped her like some sort of Egyptian mummy, they’d fucking wrapped her; they’d got this really cheap tape and they’d run it round and round her skull and under her chin and taped her hair down so it couldn’t move, but even under the tape I could feel it moving, trying to press its way free. I said, ‘I’ll find an end. There’s gotta be an end to the tape or something; maybe I can pull it free.’

“I tried to stand up properly, so I could feel the tape around her head with my fingers, but every time I tried I kept on falling back down until Nabeela said, ‘Hey, try this.’ And she lay down. I turned my back on her and she put her head in my hands and I felt around the tape on her head, trying to find a place where it was thin, something I could pull at. Every time I thought I’d found an end, it was just another long length of the strip, and the stuff was taped down too hard, too thick to just tear it, and I couldn’t move my fingers. I tried to summon magic, tried to put it into my hands, make them stronger, harder, but it wouldn’t come and I was scared of just scratching at it with my nails; I didn’t want to hurt her or scratch her eyes or any
thing like that. But she was calmer now. She said, ‘It’s okay. I trust you,’ so I kept looking, systematic like, starting just above her eyebrows where the first bit of tape was and moving my hands side to side across her head, trying to find a place where it was weak.

“And I found it.

“It was round by her neck, a place where the tape was weak. So I whispered, ‘Hold on, I think I’ve got something…’

“But there was a sound outside. Nabeela gasped and sat up straightaway, which was smart because otherwise they would have caught us, and she pressed her back into the wall but I tried to stand up again and just fell straight back down.

“The door opened and there was this light outside, thin, grey light like really old moonlight, but it came from this flood above the door and there were two guys in the light and they wore black. One of them I didn’t know; a woman, I think. The other was a man, and even with his back to the light, I thought I recognised him.

“Then he said, ‘Good evening ladies. Actually, forgive me, it’s more like good morning at the moment. My name is Richard Templeman. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience I’ve put you to. I hope your stay will be safe and temporary.’

“ ‘Wow, that’s so sweet,’ I said. ‘Tell you what, you let me go and I’ll show you my sweet fluffy fucking gratitude with bells on.’

“ ‘I understand your anger, Ms Ngwenya,’ he explained, and his voice was all cold and telephone-like, I mean like a sound with no face. I wished he’d shouted, or dribbled or raved like a proper madman, but he just stood there so
still and just talked like a sad headmaster or something. ‘I can only assure you again that, if you are cooperative with this process, your stay with us should be as peaceful and easy as possible. Please do not attempt to do anything unwise, as you will be forcefully restrained should you do so and it will only make this process harder. Matthew is presently aware of your situation and is doing everything he can to ensure your safety. You may be confident of freedom soon, once he has cooperated.’

“I went cold at that, it was like it took all my words. But he waited, and I hated him even more for waiting for me like he was wise and I was just a child, and when he was done waiting it was because I shouted, ‘What the fuck do you mean: “Matthew is presently aware”? What the hell do you think you’re doing? He’s going to fucking kill you, I mean gut you, rip you to little pieces, when he finds out what the fuck you’ve done to us!’

“ ‘I have no doubt that Matthew will seek retribution against me for my actions,’ said Templeman, like it was a really boring thing. ‘But at this present moment, his cooperation is all I seek and the removal of you both from the current scenario was the most suitable way to expedite affairs. Should he survive, I have no doubt he will seek my blood, in which case the preservation of you two as healthy, happy hostages would be to the benefit of us all.’

“He was talking balls so I started screaming, ‘What the fuck are you talking about, you’re talking like this isn’t fucking real, what the…?’

“But then Nabeela cut in, like, right in, and said so quiet, but so clear all at once, ‘What are the conditions of Matthew’s behaviour that will allow for our freedom?’

“I thought Templeman brightened at that, at hearing a
voice that talked like his own. I guess everyone talks like that in local councils.

“ ‘To put it simply, I require the destruction of the dusthouses. This is an ambition, Ms Ngwenya, Ms Hirj, which benefits us all. Leaving aside its current practical necessity, it could be argued that there is indeed an ethical benefit to such an eventuality. While I have no doubt that Matthew would have, eventually, taken it on himself to act against the fairy godmother, the pressures of the situation required rather more… drastic action… to expedite events. The godmother would have exposed certain pieces of information that would have compromised me, and our Midnight Mayor himself perhaps… overreacted… to a situation rather beyond his control. A speedy solution to our problems was called for. Simply put, you will be released once Matthew has killed the fairy godmother. Oscar Kramb’s death will benefit many, including you, and Matthew, and me.’

“ ‘What happens if he doesn’t do it?’ I asked. ‘What happens if, like, he doesn’t kill the guy?’

“ ‘Alas, it is to be regretted by us all that Matthew does not sometimes engage in more radical solutions,’ Templeman replied. He still hadn’t moved, standing in the door. But now I thought I could see his eyes, and something else. There was something yellow in them, something that I could see though there wasn’t enough light to see by, something sick and yellow, and a smell about him that wasn’t just bad deodorant.

“ ‘I am aware of Matthew’s fondness for you, ladies, that’s why you’re both here. He is currently under the belief that the fairy godmother has you. I am hoping that this will inspire him to do what has to be done. Should he
not… well then, as I said, there is advantage for us all if you are helpful.’

“ ‘Not for us there’s fucking not!’

“ ‘Yes, for you,’ he replied, and his eyes were too bright in that darkness. ‘For see it like this, Ms Ngwenya. You could be dead. At this time, in this place, you could be dead, and you are not. It is within your power to remain alive, if not free.’

“He seemed happy with himself, a clever guy making a clever point to stupid people. He turned to go but then Nabeela said, ‘May we know why?’

“He paused in the door. I think she’d surprised him.

“ ‘Why?’ he asked, not looking round.

“ ‘You know, so that we can, like, get where you’re coming from, understand your point of view, be better, nicer, more cooperative hostages. Do we get to know why?’

“I thought he wasn’t going to answer.

“Then I thought it was something worse. I thought he was angry. There was something in his shoulders, this tiny thing, but like he was all stiff inside. But then he breathed it out and turned and looked at us and I knew what it was that was wrong with him, that smell. He stank of magic, but wrong magic, sick magic, the smell of rotting bodies and sand, things left out in the desert for vultures to pick. He was on something, he was fired up on it, and even in this place, where everything was too far to reach, I could taste it on the air.

“Then he said, ‘We must evolve. Society evolves all the time, every day in new ways. That which was forbidden is now permitted, that which was magic is now science, that which was fiction is now fact, that which was unspoken is now sung from the wires. The world is changing,
mankind
is changing. We magicians take pride in the evolution of the spells we cast, our adaptability to this changing world. But we contribute nothing. We are… irrelevant. We must change. I will make us change. Do you understand?’