The Emerald Casket (21 page)

Then the monkeys arrived.

Twenty dusty brown monkeys poured into the chamber. Some leapt through the windows, others jumped from the mezzanine and clambered down the sides of the columns. They pounced on the bottles, snatching them up two at a time, howling and screeching with each new find. Then to Gerald's astonishment and delight, they threw them into a heap in a corner of the room. He had hoped the monkeys would cause just enough distraction to delay the pursuit of Sam and Ruby for a few moments, but this had worked a treat. The kidnapper stood rooted to the spot as the monkeys scurried about the place, little furry garbage men clearing the floor of rubbish. They were a blur of fur in motion. One leapt up to snatch the bottle from the bandit's hand. Finally the figure in black regained focus and rushed out the door.

Gerald didn't have long. He crossed to where the monkeys had jumped from the crumbling edge of the floor. He looked at the top of the nearest column, then up at the iron ring set into the ceiling. He took a breath, stepped back a few paces, and ran. Pebbles sprayed over the edge as his feet left the platform and he flew across the gap. His eyes never left the iron ring. He grabbed it with both hands and a stabbing pain shot through his right shoulder. But with a heave from his arms and a swing of the hips, he sailed onto the top of the column, landing in a squat on his feet and hands. But his momentum carried him forwards. He flipped to his front and clung desperately to the top of the column, his feet flailing in the air. Gerald allowed himself a second then started to make his way down. He reached the ground, stepped past a large monkey that was collecting the last of the bottles, and rushed to Alisha.

He pulled the bag from her head. A piece of gaffer tape covered her mouth. Her eyes bulged.

‘Don't worry,' he said. ‘We're getting out of here.'

Alisha's ankles and wrists were bound with cable ties. Gerald pulled the bandit's knife from his backpack and sliced through the binds. Alisha massaged her wrists while Gerald grabbed the ties around her feet. But before he could cut them a sudden blow to his ribs knocked him sideways, driving the air from his lungs. The knife flew from his hand as he tumbled across the ground. Gerald grappled with his attacker, thrashing out with his fists. But the bandit was fast. Gerald's punches were batted away with ease. He was thrown onto his back, his shoulders held down by the bandit's knees. He gazed up at his attacker sitting astride his chest and holding a gun to his forehead.

Gerald sucked in air, trying to pump up his flattened lungs. His assailant, face still swathed in black, stared at him with piercing dark eyes.

‘Who are you?' Gerald groaned.

His attacker may have been about to respond, but never got the chance. Alisha bludgeoned the bandit across the side of the head with a lamp. The blow sounded a hollow
clang
and sent the figure sprawling. The handgun spun free and skidded across the floor. Gerald drew in another breath and scrambled on his hands and knees, like a puppy running on linoleum, to where the bandit was slumped on the ground, hands nursing an injured head. With the last of his energy, Gerald rolled his attacker over and straddled his foe.

The bandit stirred and Gerald shoved his hands hard onto the man's chest to pin him down.

Gerald's eyes shot wide open. ‘Holy cow!' he yelped.

He recoiled as if he'd just grabbed a live wire. He stared at the bandit's chest in disbelief. He reached out and whipped the scarf away from his attacker's head.

‘You're a…
girl
!'

Gerald was sitting on a girl aged fifteen or sixteen. Her dark hair was cut short and she had a face that belonged on a Bollywood movie poster: flawless skin, a button nose, well defined jaw, brilliant white teeth. Sculpted eyebrows, perfect cheekbones.

Gerald was appalled. After everything this person had put them through—the attack at the markets, the abduction at the Taj—she was a
girl
.

The bandit pressed a hand to the side of her head. A trickle of blood seeped from a graze near her temple. Then she smiled at Gerald—a gleaming smile that illuminated her face.

Gerald was still in shock. He finally found his voice. ‘What do you want with Alisha?'

The girl's smile widened. Her eyes traced every feature on Gerald's face. Alisha stepped beside them. She held the gun in her hand.

‘A common bandit,' Alisha spat. ‘After ransom. The police will deal with her.'

The girl's eyes locked with Gerald's. Her lips parted.

‘You are in great danger, Gerald Wilkins,' she said. ‘You must not trust this Gupta.'

Chapter 16

G
erald was stunned. ‘How do you know my name?'

‘How could I not know your name?' she replied, her eyes never shifting from his.

A sound to his right forced him to break his gaze. He turned to find Alisha training the gun on him.

‘Alisha?'

‘Why would you listen to her?' Alisha said with venom. ‘She's a thief. Low born. Worthless.' Gerald couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was Alisha actually pointing the gun at him?

‘Gerald?'

It was the girl's voice. Almost musical. She tilted her head, beckoning him to lean in. Gerald gazed down at her, bewitched. He bent closer.

‘The Guptas are no friends of the fraternity,' she whispered. Then she lifted her chin and planted a soft kiss on Gerald's lips.

The kiss caught Gerald off guard and the girl pushed up from her hips, bucking him back over her head. Gerald went flying, legs cycling through the air. He landed flat on his back on the stone floor. He rolled over to find Alisha, her eyes pumped with fear, pointing the gun at the bandit.

The girl was on her feet like a panther. She flashed a smile at Gerald. ‘Remember my warning,' she purred. She then launched into a string of cartwheeling flips across the floor, spinning right over the top of Alisha and knocking the gun from her hand. Without pausing, the bandit girl dived out the window and into the night.

Gerald dragged himself upright. Alisha stood with her hands by her sides, her body shaking.

‘Are you okay?' She managed a nod but no words would come. They turned at the sound of feet splashing through the rain. Sam and Ruby burst through the doorway.

‘Come on!' Ruby cried. ‘Those gorillas are coming back.'

‘This way,' Sam said. ‘We've found somewhere to hide.'

Gerald scooped up the bandit's knife from the floor and they followed Sam back through the crumbling building, monkeys howling after them as they disappeared into the shadows.

‘The man in black is a
girl
?' Ruby was astounded.

Sam snuffled to himself. ‘Fighting with girls now are we?' he said to Gerald.

Gerald rubbed his ribs, still sore from where the bandit had tackled him.

‘She didn't feel like a girl,' Gerald grumbled. ‘Well, bits of her did. But she fought like a guy.'

They were in a basement cell in a barracks near the fortress gates. The battered lamp emitted a sorrowful glow. Alisha spoke for the first time since their escape.

‘Gerald, whatever she told you, it's not true—'

‘We'll talk about it later,' Gerald said. ‘Right now we need to get as far from those thugs as possible.' Gerald's head was still spinning from the girl's warning about the Guptas. And if he was honest, the kiss had him shaken up as well.

Sam checked his watch. ‘It's forty minutes till the train leaves,' he said.

‘Where do you think Mr Fry, Miss Turner and Constable Lethbridge are?' Ruby asked.

‘Our crack security team? Probably at the station waiting for us,' Gerald said. ‘That's our best hope. Get back to the train—there'll be heaps of people about— and it takes us out of town.'

‘Do you think the bandits are still out there?' Ruby asked.

Gerald forced a grin. ‘Only one way to find out.'

The rain had stopped when they emerged from their hiding place and the pathways were slippery. They stole along a line of stone walls in single file, keeping close to the shadows, and soon came out near the large grassed area at the top of the fortress entrance. They were halfway down the path leading to the front gate when the first shouts broke out above them.

They looked up to see two of the bandits sprinting along the top of the battlements about to round the corner and descend on them.

Gerald couldn't see the bandit girl and he wasn't about to wait for her. ‘Run!' he yelled.

They raced down the path, feet skidding across the stones, over the drawbridge and out into the forecourt. Even though it was past midnight, there were autorick-shaws parked by the roadside. Gerald's shouts jolted the drivers from their slumber. A man rolled groggily behind the handlebars of one as Gerald and Alisha dived into the back. Sam and Ruby leapt into another. Gerald was about to yell instructions when a young boy raced up to them.

‘It's me! Pranav,' he called. ‘I waited for you.' He pointed to his vehicle. His eyes were full of hurt. Gerald shook his head. ‘Sorry, it'll be too slow,' he said. ‘What about the police? Did you tell them?'

The boy pointed to a livid mark on his cheek. ‘They didn't believe me,' he said. Gerald shot a look over his shoulder back towards the fort. He dug into his pocket for more rupees and shoved them into Pranav's hand.

‘Men are coming,' he said, jabbing his thumb back at the gates. ‘Slow them down, okay?'

The boy nodded. He peeled off half the notes and gave them to the autorickshaw driver, all the time speaking in rapid-fire Hindi. The man jumped from his driver's seat and ran towards the boy's rickshaw.

‘I'll drive,' Pranav said, climbing behind the handlebars. ‘I'm good at shortcuts.'

Ruby called from the back of the other autorick-shaw. ‘Hurry! They're coming.'

The first of the bandits appeared in the forecourt. It took him only a second to gauge what was going on. Gerald shouted to Pranav, ‘Train station. Fast!'

The autorickshaw shot out into the street. It bounced hard off the gutter, horn blaring, and swerved to avoid a horse and cart. Ruby and Sam were close behind. Gerald swivelled around and strained to see out the back. The cycle rickshaw ploughed straight into the mouth of the crowd control barrier, like a cork jamming into a bottle. It blocked the bandits' exit. Gerald knew it wouldn't hold them for long—every second was vital.

He leaned forward and spoke into Pranav's ear. ‘We need to go really fast.'

The boy opened the throttle and the engine roared. The rickshaw surged forward, sending Gerald tumbling back into his seat beside Alisha. ‘Hold on tight!' Pranav called over his shoulder.

Gerald pulled himself upright. Alisha stared straight ahead, stony-faced.

The rickshaw carrying Sam and Ruby pulled alongside. Ruby leaned out and shouted, ‘They're on motorbikes. They're catching up.'

Gerald craned his neck and caught sight of the two bandits weaving their way towards them. Pranav was driving hard and blasting the horn even harder. Ruby and Sam suddenly swerved to the left as the two rickshaws parted to go around a cow lying in the middle of the road. They scooted past cyclists and handcarts, but Gerald knew it was only a matter of time before the bandits caught them.

A break in the traffic opened up behind and within seconds the two motorcycles were at their rear bumpers. Pranav leaned out and let fly with a stream of what Gerald guessed was swearing in Hindi. But before Pranav could duck his head back inside, the rickshaw hit a pile of rubbish, knocking them onto two wheels and sending Alisha tumbling into Gerald's lap. The rickshaw veered towards the footpath. Pedestrians dived for cover. The rickshaw mounted the kerb with a jolt, bouncing itself back onto three wheels. Pranav wrestled control, bashing his way through stacks of cardboard boxes and sending crates of drink bottles shattering across the ground. A bandit drew up on Alisha's side. Like a striking cobra, the man lunged in and grabbed Alisha by the arm. She screamed and Pranav jammed the steering to the right. Gerald threw himself across Alisha and hit out with his fists, landing at least one good punch to the bandit's jaw. But the man held on. He reefed his handlebars to the left and half dragged Alisha out of the rickshaw.

‘Pranav!' Gerald shouted. ‘Steer away. Steer away!'

The rickshaw bounced at speed towards a row of ragged stalls. They were entering a narrow market area of shops closed and shuttered for the night. Gerald was on top of Alisha, trying to release the bandit's grip. But the bucking of the rickshaw made it impossible.

They crashed over a bump and Gerald sprawled across the floor. His head was poking out the opposite side of the rickshaw.

His nose tingled. They were heading straight towards a row of cane baskets lined up against a brick wall. Gerald threw his hand out and thrust it under the cover of the closest basket. He scooped up a fistful of bright orange powder. He clenched his jaw, launched himself back across the rickshaw and drove his hand into the bandit's face, smearing the powder across the man's eyes and nose. The bandit howled as the spice burned. He clawed at his blinded eyes. In a blur of movement, the front wheel of the motorcycle jackknifed and the man went somersaulting over the handlebars, crashing into the metal roller door of a shop front. Pranav sped on. Gerald tumbled back to the floor by Alisha's knees.

‘Are you all right?' he panted.

Alisha slumped back into her seat. ‘What was that you rubbed in his face?'

‘No idea.' He sniffed his hand and flinched. ‘But it'll take your head off.'

Gerald pulled himself into the backseat and patted the driver on the shoulder. ‘Good driving, Pranav. Incredible.'

The boy turned and flashed a smile. ‘Told you I knew some shortcuts.' A second later Pranav was flying hands outstretched towards the pavement. The other bandit had shot up beside them and leapt from his moving motorbike to shoulder charge the boy out of the rickshaw. The bandit now sat at the speeding rickshaw's handlebars, with Gerald and Alisha in the back.