Victoria is sitting in Great-aunt Hethalyn's parlour, stirring a cup of tea. "It's rather curious, you know," Aunt Hethalyn says. Victoria looks up. Hethalyn is sitting by the fire, knitting.
"What's rather curious?" Victoria asks.
"When you used to read fairy tales, you fancied that kind of thing never happened," Hethalyn explains. "Now, here you are, in the middle of one."
"Is that what this is?" Victoria asks. "I rather thought it was a nightmare."
"A fairy tale is just a nightmare with a moral," Hethalyn answers. "And a nightmare is simply truth."
"I'm trying to find the truth," Victoria says.
"I know, dear," Hethalyn answers. "The funny thing about truth is, that when you find it, you realize you haven't learned anything you didn't already know."
"I'm not sure I'm up to riddles," Victoria replies.
"Tsk. A witch can do anything she sets her mind to," Hethalyn replies, taking a sip of her tea.
"I don't like to think of myself that way," Victoria answered.
"Witch. Sorceress. Wise woman," Hethalyn ticks off on her fingers. "They're all the same thing." She glanced toward the window. "Ah! I wondered if they would be along."
Victoria walks to the window. Outside she can see a great expanse of lawn. Off to the right is a large tree with a dining table set under it. Several people were sitting at the table, talking and taking tea. In the centre of the lawn Sir Philip Bond is balancing an eel on his nose. The bald man with round spectacles who kept talking about cheese in the previous night's dream is following him around, holding a silver tray with a large brie on it, as if he is going to catch the eel when it falls.
On the left side of the lawn Lady Miranda and Baran Blackhall are digging a pit, and seem to be arguing about something. "I have to stop them," Victoria says. "They mean to kill my friends and bring Moriarty back from the dead."
"You've got it half right," Hethalyn corrects. "They mean to kill your friends. But only she means to bring Moriarty back."
Victoria turns from the window. "And the Baron doesn't?"
Hethalyn shakes her head. "Has any peacock ever been willingly to share a brood of hens?"
"Not really, no," Victoria answers. "Everything's going so wrong. How do I put it right?"
"You can't make things right with magic," Hethalyn answers. "You can only stop what's making things wrong."
"That's what I meant," Victoria answers. "How do I stop them?"
"The other day when the fellow leaped at you with his knives," Hethalyn says, "What did you think?"
"Big. Pointy. Thing. Coming. At. Me," Victoria answers.
"And you stopped him from hurting you," Hethalyn continues.
"I parried the blow, yes."
"See," Hethalyn says. "You already know how."
Victoria sighs. "This isn't very helpful," she says.
“You're doing it again," Hethalyn scolds. "You're not saying what you mean. What you mean is, 'I wish you'd stop talking in riddles and give me a straight answer!' But I am, dear. You have a gift. You have practised using the gift. Yes, you have more to learn, but you already know far more than you give yourself credit for. Stop fretting about what may go wrong, and take care of the problem in front of you." Hethalyn nods towards the window. "They want to kill your friends. Stop them."
Victoria frowns. "You said a witch can do anything she sets her mind to." She glances towards the window. "They've set their mind to killing my friends."
"I daresay they have," Hethalyn agrees.
"Then they'll do it!"
"Very likely," Hethalyn says, with a rather annoying smile. "Unless someone stops them. You have to go into the situation determined to win. You can't win if you're worrying about losing. Or worrying that they might win."
"You're starting to sound like Salmalin," Victoria says grudgingly.
"He knows a thing or two," Hethalyn agrees. "And he knows more today than he did yesterday because he listens to those around him."
Victoria turns back to the window. Lady Miranda and Baron Blackhall are still digging. Sir Philip is standing on his head. She can see among the people at the tea party Ruth and Edward. Out in the roadway beyond the yard, she can see Nigel drawing some sort of mystical ward on the ground. Namaste is standing nearby, holding the hand of a child, about Edward's age, but he isn't Edward. He has dark hair and skin almost the same colour as Namaste's. "I don't know when Lady Miranda is going to make her move."
"Yes you do," Hethalyn says. "As soon as she can."
"That's not very specific."
"Life never is."
"How can I stop them if I don't know when they're going to do it?"
"If you wait for them to make the first move, you've given them control of the game," Hethalyn says.
"They've already made several moves!"
"I know, dear. I was just trying to be diplomatic," Hethalyn says with a sigh. "The question is, are you going to let them continue to do what they want, or are you ready to win?"
Victoria turns from the window again and walks over to a small table where Hethalyn's spell book rests. "I'll find the answer in here, I take it?" she asks.
"No, you won't," Hethalyn answers. "You'll find tools in there. None of them are answers. They're just tools." She holds up one knitting needle. "Like this needle. I can make a shawl with it. Or I can use it to wedge a cabinet door shut. I can use it as a spit to roast a squab over a fire. In a pinch I can stab a murderer with it. It's just a thing. That's all spells are, dear. The answers are inside you."
Victoria frowns. She can hear voices in the back room. She looks that way, and she can see Wilhelmina practising some sort of dance or fighting moves, as if taking lessons from Salmalin. "This is all very confusing," Victoria says with a sigh.
"I'm afraid it is going to get worse," Hethalyn says. "Someone has broken a door."
"What door?"
"One of the doors between the living world and the next," Hethalyn answers.
"Lady Miranda and Baron Blackhall?"
Hethalyn shakes her head. "I don't know who has done this. But power is flowing from one of the dark worlds into the land of the living. It's an angry, vengeful power. You should consult the seers Perhaps they can sort it out."
Victoria turns toward Great Aunt Hethalyn. In the mirror over the hearth, she sees a European man making a deal with a demon. The demon is dressed in the costume of a Spanish flamenco dancer. The image changes to show a group of red indians, most of them elderly men with long, white hair, lying dead at the mouth of a cave. The image changes again, and she sees a petite, dark-haired girl fighting a whole group of vampires. The girl is as athletic as Salmalin, jumping and dodging and kicking. The image changes again, and she sees a man in a Prussian military uniform talking to a shapeless void hovering over a pentagram. The image changes again, and she sees an aristocratic young man walking in a garden with an elderly man in a Bavarian military uniform. Behind them, in the shadows, an assassin lurks with a knife. Then the image dissolves into simply a reflection of Victoria, with her hand resting on the book.
"Moriarty seems to be trying to help us," Victoria says. "I'm not sure if he's really seeking redemption, or if he's trying to trick us."
"I don't know his heart," Hethalyn says. "But I do know this, something is trying to prevent him from speaking to you."
"The cheese man?" Victoria asks.
"That's how it manifested in your dream," Hethalyn answers.
"You told me there were worse things that demons and gods," Victoria says.
Hethalyn nods. "Yes. It's something that is older than either demons or gods. It's older than good or evil."
"So it isn't either good or evil?" Victoria asks.
"Supposedly," Hethalyn says. "But it is definitely malicious. And I've never been able to see much difference between maliciousness and evil."
"I think I will keep praying for Moriarty, then," Victoria says.
Hethalyn takes another sip of her tea without saying anything. The door bursts open and a large white rabbit, wearing a vest and waistcoat and holding a pair of kid gloves, comes bustling in. "Where did I leave my fan? Where did I leave my croquet mallet? If I am late, she will behead me for certain!"
And Victoria wakens to the sound of the front door being opened and closed.
5 June 1870, Sunday
I awoke this morning after a strange and vexing dream. At least I was in my own bed at Sir Cosmo’s house. It being Sunday, I dressed for church before descending the stairs for breakfast. I took advantage of some time with both Young Mr Graham and Dr Wilson and confirmed that the arrangement of a position for Mr Graham as corresponding secretary to “Kid Rocket” would be satisfactory to both parties. Apparently the mail has been stacking up. I over heard Graves mentioning ‘bags in the carriage house’ as Nigel explained his new duties.
Lieutenant Pellew was with us at breakfast as well. He approached me as I was preparing to leave for services and explained that he had accidentally let Edward try on Jerrold Moriarty’s ring (which had been in safe keeping with the Kali knife that he retrieved last night). Once in contact with Edward, the ring had shrunk to fit him and now would not come off. I examined it as best I could before leaving. It had the aura of Kali and seemed to be a fairly powerful artifact, but it did not seem to be imbued with any evil force that I could detect. I know if no way to remove the ring and am hoping that some solution will be forthcoming.
Miss Sinclair mentioned at breakfast that she had an odd dream, she seemed quite put out by it but we did not have time to discuss either dream before I had to leave.
Mrs Cuthbert and I attended services. Stuart, one of the new footmen, accompanied us.
This afternoon we plan to take counsel with each other and make a plan to rescue Mrs Brody from her confinement in the Malloy household and remove her from the reach of Baron Blackhall and Lady Miranda.
~Later~
Well that was much simpler than I expected. Mrs Brody is now in a secure location where she can be looked after until we have put a stop to Baron Blackhall and Lady Derwent’s plans. Our task was greatly simplified by the arrival of an unexpected ally.
I came home from church to find that Dr Wilson had brought home a bodyguard. Miss Chigwidgeon recognized the tower of a man from her penny dreadfuls. His name is Mr Seamus ‘Atlas’ O’Flaherty and he has been hired by the B.F. & C. Stein and Company to protect Dr. Wilson, or more accurately, their investment in Dr Wilson. Apparently word of our adventures has gotten back to Mr Stein, and since Dr Wilson has a decided tendency to be standing in the middle of whatever conflagration our latest enemies have come up with, Mr Stein decided a bodyguard would be the best solution.
Mr O’Flaherty is from Boston, in the United States, and is known to Inspector MacGregor. Apparently he, Mr O’Flaherty, is also quite well known as a pugilist, circus performer, and strongman. He is taller than even Mr Chigwidgeon and very broad of shoulder.
We had quite a nice lunch. The staff does very well at accommodating our unexpected comings and goings and our unexpected guests.
After lunch, we were joined by Mr Fraiser. He and Ruth sat to one side as he began the task of teaching her German so she may read the books he purchased for her during his last adventure for Our Employer. Ruth’s mood improved substantially. By the end of their lesson, all of our comrades had assembled to plan the rescue of Mrs Brody. Mr Ramsey was unexpectedly absent from this meeting. We had sent messages round to his lodgings and his office (which, while closed on Sunday, would not prevent Mr Ramsay from indulging in a spot of research).
(NB: I call Edward’s mother by an honorary title in order to differentiate her from our Miss Brody in this record.)
(Further note: I wonder if Miss Wilhelmina will change her last name now that her father has come forward to claim her, or at least claim Edward, it is hard to know what such an unpredictable child will do under normal circumstances, and these are decidedly Not Normal Circumstances.)
After some discussion, it was decided that Mrs Cuthbert, myself, Mr Cuthbert, and Mr Salmalin would go in the Cuthbert’s carriage and examine the Malloy household for signs of supernatural protection. Our errand was quickly accomplished, and almost disappointing in its simplicity. Either the Baron did not know Mrs Brody’s location or he did not believe that we would be able to find her. There was not the slightest sign of even a simple ward.
We returned home.
While we were in the midst of yet another lengthy discussion as to the best way to remove Mrs Brody from her place at the Malloy household, I was called away by Graves.
Mr Weasley, from the office of the Lord High Warlock had asked to see me. I had completely forgotten his letter and my response inviting him to call!
I asked Sir Cosmo to accompany me as I was not certain what I had let myself in for.
Mr Weasley was quite a pleasant man. He told me that his office was interested in prosecuting the Baron for many crimes, but that the incident involving the death of the balloon operator had given them a clear opening to lay charges. He also told me that the Lord High Warlock had convicted Madame Zepheryne of magical crimes some time ago. I had wondered what had happened to her. I read in the papers a while back that her son was hanged for his crimes.
I told Mr Weasley all that I knew about the Baron’s activities and informed him of our current conundrum of how to keep Mrs Brody safe should we be successful in retrieving her. He offered space in the Tower. Apparently it has been used to house magical prisoners and protect witnesses for some time now. All this, while at the same time being used as a museum!
It was only after I had told most of what I knew that I realized that I had not checked to see that this man was who he represented himself to be. Sir Cosmo and I quickly consulted with each other and sent notes off to Our Employer and Mrs Godwin. I invited Mr Weasley to stay while we procured Mrs Brody. I had faith in Graves ability to watch over him while we awaited replies to our messages.
Sir Cosmo and I came out of our meeting in time to have Mr Salmalin direct us to carriages in the drive. Apparently he had once again been put in charge of sorting us into the most appropriate travelling groups. Miss Sinclair was unable to come, her dreams had disturbed her sleep to the point that she was now feeling unwell. It turned out we could have used some of her sensible approach to problems.
We travelled through the city in three carriages. Once at the Malloy house, Inspector MacGregor and Mr Fraiser made their way in. The inspector had made prior arrangements with his contact in the Malloy family so that all the menfolk were away from the house at the time we arrived. Mrs Malloy and her Aunt were quite happy to see them, even though MacGregor is an inspector, so tired were they of having ‘that woman’ in the house.
Next thing we knew their was quite a commotion coming from the house, Miss Chigwidgeon and Miss Wilhelmina ran inside, bumping into Mr O’Flaherty as they did so.
Mrs Cuthbert and I were already working on a spell to make Mrs Brody more accommodating to the idea of coming with us so we were unable to assist.
There was a large crash from inside the house and Mrs Brody came storming out. Our spell took effect, rather more dramatically than we expected, and we were able to load the stunned Mrs Brody into the carriage. A pile of her things was thrown out of the house and the Mrs’s Malloys hustled our party out of the house while planning their cover story for the menfolk. I later heard that Mrs Brody had pushed Miss Chigwidgeon, who had fallen into Mr O’Flaherty, who had fallen into the bannister. Both of them fell down the stairs, taking most of the bannister with them. Thankfully, neither of them were seriously hurt.
We arrived home to notes confirming Mr Weasley’s identity. Which was just as well, as we did not know what to do with Mrs Brody now that we had her. Most of our party followed him to the Tower of London to see Mrs Brody installed in one of the suites there. With Miss Chigwidgeon’s permission, I loaned two gowns to Mrs Brody, as she did not have much to wear with her. She was still under our spell when we left and I warned Mr Weasley that she might be rather excitable once the spell was undone.
Next on our agenda is recovery of the second Knife of Kali. Mrs Cuthbert and I will go out again with Mr Salmalin, Mr Cuthbert, and George to see if we can find the address to which George delivered the package that we suspect is the other knife. Once we have scouted the location we will meet up with the others at a park and plan how best to recover the item.
~Later~
Today has been a whirlwind and it is not over yet. We just arrived home. We have the knife. Mr Weasley just arrived saying that he knows where the Baron and Lady Miranda are and he has invited us along for the arrest. We are all rushing about the house preparing for battle. I must fly.
6 June 1870, Monday
We were out until all hours last night. This morning we learned that Xanthus had eluded the police sent to arrest him. Sources indicate that he has fled the country.
Looking over my previous entry I note that I did not document our little excitement on the trip home from retrieving the knife. At Mrs Goyle’s shop, Edward, Lieutenant Pellew, and I had a nice cup of tea with Mrs Goyle before she gave the knife to Edward and the Lieutenant. I went out to the carriage to get my lead box to carry it home in and Henri followed me back into the store. When Edward and the Lieutenant and I left, Henri was still haggling with Mrs Goyle over some of her gaudier merchandise.
As Henri began to bargain with Mrs Goyle she asked him if his mother approved of his accent. (I don’t think I have had cause to mention before that Henri, a third generation frenchman, speaks with a very strong, very affected French accent). He immdieatly answered in quite a different voice, one with a strong Welsh sound to it, that she would rather the French than the Gaelic.
On the return home, Edward, who was driving, came over all funny. Mrs Cuthbert stopped the carriage and got him out of the drivers seat. Mrs Cuthbert could see Jerrold Moriarty’s spirit clinging for dear life (if that is the correct term) to Edward. I could see the silver band of a spell stretching from Moriarty, though Edward and away from us (I later learned that it was coming from the warehouse the Baron and Lady Miranda were using as a base).
Mrs Cuthbert suggested that if we cast a Great Ward around one of the carriages (and Edward) the spell might not be able to reach us. She helped Moriarty hang on while I secured the carriage against magikal incursion. I could see the spell snap and fly away from us. Mrs Cuthbert took the opportunity to question Moriarty. He was not able to tell us much more than we had already deduced from his cryptic dream warnings and our own investigation. He said that he did not want to be summoned back into this life, and I believed him.
Once home, as noted yesterday, we were almost immediately asked by Mr Weasley to help take the Baron and his followers into custody.
The League, along with Mr Weasley and Mr O’Flaherty, loaded up into carriages and made haste to an old warehouse in the Southwerk neighborhood. We had passed by it earlier in the day so Edward, George, and Mr Salmalin were able to drive us directly there. I don’t remember if I mentioned in earlier pages of this journal that Mr Weasley had told us that they suspected that the Baron and Lady Miranda were using this location.
Once there we met up with Mr Weasley’s superior, Mr Poppins. He informed us that our opponents were preparing to go ahead with a magik ritual. Dr Wilson, Mr Cuthbert, and Edward scouted around the building an reported back. Miss Chigwidgeon’s half-brother Fong was tied to a chair hostage!
The warehouse had many doors and windows scattered about. We decided our best course of action would be to burst in on them from as many directions as possible. Mrs Cuthbert and I originally planned to run in and protect Mr Chigwidgeon, however once we were inside we could see that the Baron, Lady Miranda, and eight other adepts were already in the midst of a spell and Fong was in the center of the spell-ring. Fong Chigwidgeon was wearing his work clothes so we wondered, even then, if they had mistaken him for Miss Chigwidgeon.
Mr Weasley joined Mrs Cuthbert and me as we took up a defensible position and began gathering energy to bewilder the spell circle. Inspector MacGregor pulled out his pistol and shot at any thugees that tried to get close to us. It was a great comfort and aid to our concentration. So much so, that I did not notice that Edward was doing anything strange until I felt a surge of magikal power. Edward was moving in the strange, graceful motions that I had seen earlier in the day, when Lieutenant Pellew asked me to examine the ring that had attached itself to Edward’s finger. He was possessed by Jerrold Moriarty! Moriarty’s spell stopped the Baron in his tracks. It was very timely, as the Baron had just cast a spell on Dr Wilson, knocking him unconscious– but not before Dr Wilson was able to get off several successful shots with his pistol and one with his rocket gun. Mr O’Flaherty was engulfed in Thugees but seemed to be holding his own. Salmalin had engaged a swarm of thugees that came up through the trapdoor (the same door that Dr Wilson closed with his rocket gun) at the same moment that our group breached the walls of the warehouse.
I could spare no more attention from our spell as Moriarty reached out and pulled the power that the spell circle had gathered and shot it our direction. We caught it, used it to augment our own spell, casting it at Lady Miranda. I looked up as we cast the spell and saw that Mr Chigwidgeon had loosed himself from his rope bindings (with help from our uncanny sharpshooter, Mr Cuthbert) grabbed a torch stand and hit Lady Miranda in the head.
She dropped like a stone.
To my surprise, so did the remaining adepts in the circle. Mr Weasley later explained that when people are working in concert to cast the same spell a spell cast on the leader can, if sufficiently powered, cascade to the other members of the group.
At almost the same moment the fight around us came to an end. Mr Salmalin was the last person fighting, but he had asked to take on Master Tandu and his followers alone. I had promised that he could do so as long as he was not in danger of dying. After watching the last few moments of his battle, I could only stand in awe of his skills. He managed to disarm all twenty thugees with out assistance. Finally the last one standing was Master Tandu. They fought on. Master Tandu threatening Salmalin with death and Salmalin claiming that Master Tandu did not understand, even in death Salmalin would serve the correct purpose and remain undefeated. My translation of the Hindi is a little rough but it was a little difficult to make out their words as they were battling hard even as they spoke.
Finally Master Tandu broke from Salmalin’s grasp and leapt down the trapdoor, which was now on fire. To my horror, Salmalin followed. I think that was the first any of us noticed that Dr Wilson’s rocket had ignited the coal gas that is pumped though-out this neighborhood. I began chanting my fire control spell while everyone who was able began evacuating the disabled and unconscious.
I was surprised when Edward came over and put Moriarty’s ring in my hand. It is a ring of true power and enabled me to cast the first stage of the spell right away. Mrs Cuthbert then joined me. It took four tries and by the final attempt we had been joined by Mr Weasley, Mr Poppins, Mr Snape, and Mr Black. The fire had spread over a large area but was still mostly underground by the time we put it out. The fire brigade was summoned to insure that the fire would not re-ignite.
Mrs Cuthbert then saw to Mr O’Flaherty and Mr Cuthbert both of whom had been wounded in the fight. Dr Wilson was already shaking off the effects of the Baron’s spell by the time the evacuation started. Mr Salmalin said that he had not been seriously hurt.
The thugees were loaded up into police wagons while the Baron, Lady Miranda, and their followers were taken into custody by Mr Poppins. Mr Weasley said that I would be called on to testify at their trials. Though I fear that Lady Miranda will never have one. Apparently the spell that I cast was too powerful. She may never return to her right mind. I know that she had terrible plans for my friends and would have gladly sacrificed them to increase her own power but I cannot help but feel that I have crossed a rubicon. A spell I cast has damaged a living person. I have, in effect, removed from Lady Miranda the opportunity to choose. Robbed of her right mind she may never be able to repent her choices and make peace with God.
Once Mr Poppins’s crew and the constables had headed off with their charges, the League returned to Sir Cosmo’s house with Mr Chigwidgeon in tow. I’m not quite sure why we insisted that he stay with us, but he’d had a nasty brush with some very rough people. Regardless, Miss Chigwidgeon came over to my rooms before retiring and reported the most astonishing conversation between Mr Graham and Mr Chigwidgeon. I don’t quite know what to make of it, however it seems that the Baron and Lady Miranda are not the only ones who have recently mistaken Mr Chigwidgeon for Miss Chigwidgeon.
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