A Scandal in Battersea (Elemental Masters #12)(27)
They broke the contact and their eyes met. Nan nodded. “I believe something changed between the first vision and the second,” Memsa’b said. “It is as if the second one was stronger, perhaps.”
“Or nearer to the real world?” The words came out of Nan’s mouth before she actually thought of them, but they seemed right to her.
“That’s a nasty thought,” Sahib murmured. “I am beginning to get some vague notions . . . but as they are based on hints in certain fiction, rather than fact, I believe I will keep them to myself until after I can speak with Alderscroft.”
“Do any of you recognize the glimpses of creature we described?” Nan asked, looking at her four friends from four very different parts of the Indian subcontinent. Agansing was a Gurkha, and had taught her the use of the wicked knives his people were famous for. Selim was a Muslim from the center of the country. Karamjit was a Sikh from the North, and Gupta a Hindu from the South. All of them were as expert in the mythology and magic of their respective regions as Memsa’b and Sahib were of the mythology of Britain and the powers of psychics. All of them shook their heads.
“The closest I can come is that . . . whatever it was that nearly killed us as children,” Nan said thoughtfully. “But that was confined to a single house. This thing, in the vision at least, seems to have taken over all of London.”
“That’s possible, if an entity is fed enough power,” said Sahib. “Which is not at all comforting, considering what is almost upon us.”
They all contemplated that, glumly.
“We have two days,” Selim pointed out. “You can send a message to the great Lord Alderscroft, who can in turn gather as many of his White Lodge as possible to interfere with dark powers on Christmas Eve. The four of us can perform certain rites, separately, I am sure.”
“I can get hold of Beatrice Leek, and she can organize her circle, or circles,” Nan offered. “I’ll do that directly as we are back in London.”
“I think that’s all we can do, until and unless we can find out more—” Sahib was clearly not happy about saying that.
“Or if we discover this is some sort of psychic attack on Amelia,” Memsa’b said, as if that had suddenly occurred to her. “I don’t know why someone would do that to a mere child, but that’s one possibility we almost overlooked.” She clasped Sahib’s hand. “I can look into that.”
“I would be overjoyed to discover it was that, and not some damned magical apocalypse that is bearing down on us,” he said. “Because right at this moment, we are woefully undermanned for a magical apocalypse.”
“You have our swords, Sahib,” Selim said, bringing his head up proudly. “We are not inconsiderable.”
“No, you are not, and there are not four people in the world I would rather stand against the darkness beside,” Sahib replied emphatically. He looked around the group. “I think we have done everything that we might for now. Try to get sleep. In the morning, we will all get to work.”
Nan had thought she wouldn’t sleep a bit, but instead, it was as if being back in the old room she shared with Sarah worked some sort of spell, because she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. And in the morning, right after an early breakfast, they gathered up birds, Suki, and their belongings, and mounted the carriage for the ride back to London.
And Nan decided that this was nothing to be kept from Suki; there might be danger that would include her, and she deserved to be forewarned.
“Suki,” she said, in the “very serious” tone that always got the little girl’s attention. “There may be some frightening times coming.”
Suki immediately took her focus off of what was happening outside the carriage window, and sat with her hands folded inside her little muff and all her attention on Nan while her guardian explained carefully what was going on.
She considered that for several moments when Nan had finished. “I ain’t gonna be able t’do much,” she stated.
“That’s true,” Sarah agreed.
“Quork,” Neville said from his muff.
“So . . . best would be fer me t’practice hidin’,” she stated.
“That would be a great deal of help,” Nan told her. “If we know you can keep yourself safe, we can concentrate on what we need to do.”
Although in a way it broke her heart, it also was a great relief to know that Suki, unlike most children her age, was very well aware that adults could not, and often would not, protect children, and in some cases the best way for a child to stay safe was to make sure she knew how to protect herself.
“If we know danger is coming in advance, we will send you to Memsa’b,” Sarah promised. “And you’ll be going back there after Boxing Day at any rate. If there is any place in all this world that will be safe, it will be with Memsa’b.”
Suki’s troubled brow cleared a little. “Ol roight then,” she said. “An’ ye’ll hev Neville an’ Grey to pertect you, so I won’t need t’worry none neither.”
Well, we have gone up against terrible things together, Nan thought. And we have bested those things. We can do this again.
When they arrived at their lodgings, only Sarah, Suki and the birds alighted. Nan directed the driver to leave her at Pandora’s Tea Room in Chelsea, perfectly determined to stay there for the rest of the day if that was what it took to contact Beatrice Leek.