Cherry Blossom? Not Wild Rose? He thought. What the hell?
He watched as the giant, Chuckles, removed the cap from the outlet, and saw that Crack had found what he was looking for. He leaned over to Carrie and Lacy.
“We’ve got to make our move,” he whispered. “Crack’s got what he wanted. He’s got no reason not to kill Danny now. Lacy, this isn’t your fight. You’re too young to be risking your life. Take the horse and hide out in the woods. If we come through this we’ll find you.”
“No,” said Lacy.
“That’s not…” said Richard.
“I’m coming with you,” Lacy cut him off. The expression on her face told him it was pointless to argue.
He studied the group below one last time. Chuckles still knelt over the gas outlet, replacing the cap. Mansur stood near him, idly kicking at the surrounding debris. Danny, Crack and Swallow were farthest away, a few yards from the main group of bikers.
Richard nodded at his companions and the three of them crawled quietly back behind the crest of the hill to the spot where they had left Serena and the Mosquito.
Chaos
“I wonder…” Crack said to Danny, idly fingering the gun in his belt. “Do I really need you to find the mutt?” His other arm left Danny’s shoulder, and scratched thoughtfully at the stubble on his chin.
“I think you’re going to be more trouble than you’re worth. We’ve got the gas. I don’t think you’ve really got much of a bargaining position, do you.”
Crack stepped back and began to draw the gun from his belt. Slowly and deliberately, he hefted it in his hand and stroked the barrel. Danny’s knees began to buckle and he felt like he was going to faint. Crack raised the lethal weapon to point at his head.
Danny opened his mouth to speak. From somewhere above came the accelerating whine of a Mosquito. Crack and the others turned to face the hill.
“What the fuck!” Crack screamed.
It was a bizarre spectacle – Richard and another woman riding full throttle down the hill on a Mosquito, followed just behind by Lacy…
Lacy? Riding a horse?
Danny couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Is this a joke?” Crack yelled. But the attackers moved so quickly they were on the group before any of them even had time to reach for their guns.
***
Richard held on tight as Carrie gunned the Mosquito at full speed toward a tight knot of men standing just to Crack’s left. At the last second, she yelled, “Now!” and they both jumped off the bike. The speeding machine smashed into two of the men, sending them both flying. As she hit the ground, Carrie drove an elbow into the head of a third, who lay on the pavement momentarily stunned and confused.
Richard landed on his feet running. He stopped himself and turned to find that Crack, already holding a gun, had overcome his shock and had him in his sights. Richard had no time to grab his own gun or even jump out of the way. Crack’s finger was tensing on the trigger when Carrie, using the momentum of her leap from the bike, slammed into him, and the shot fired harmlessly into the air.
Crack recovered quickly and clipped her across the face with the back of his hand, knocking her to the ground. He was about to use his next bullet on her when Richard leapt at him, smashing his head against the pavement and stunning him momentarily. Richard jumped up and cast desperately around, looking for Carrie.
She had staggered to her feet and was wrestling with Pig, who tried to draw his gun. She slammed Pig’s hand against her knee, knocking the gun to the ground, and struggled to draw her own weapon. Pig turned and punched her in the face with the full force of his right arm. She collapsed and didn’t get up.
No!” yelled Richard as he flew at Pig. The two wrestled on the ground, hands at each other’s throats.
***
Lacy pushed Serena at full gallop into another group. One of them managed to fire his gun, but the shot whistled over her head as Serena knocked him to the ground. The gunshot drove Serena berserk, and she charged forward, bucking violently. A deadly front hoof caught the nearest biker under the chin, lifted him right off his feet, and threw him several yards away. Lacy fought to stay on Serena’s back; the poor beast was beyond all calming, striking out blindly at anything that moved.
Lacy finally threw herself free and leapt out of the frantic horse’s path. Serena continued her rampage, standing rampant and launching herself at the biker who had fired the gun. Still lying on the ground, he fired again.
The bullet took her squarely in the chest, and she bellowed in pain and terror. Lacy screamed. Serena was slowed, but not stopped. She continued on, blood gushing from her wound, finally collapsing on top of the screaming shooter.
Now on her feet, Lacy was confronted by another gang member. As he reached for his gun, she dove at him and they wrestled for the weapon. Her opponent was soon joined by one of the two that Richard and Carrie had originally knocked down. The new man grabbed her by the wrist and threw her to the ground. The one she had been wrestling raised his weapon and trained it at her head.
“What a waste,” he said, about to pull the trigger.
An explosive roar echoed from above, and all stared up the hill. A monstrous purple machine flew over the crest headed directly for them. It careened down the gravel slope, horn blaring and engine screaming full-throttle.
“Holy Shit!” yelled Lacy’s attacker, as the car veered toward him. He took aim at it and fired. His shot blasted a hole in the left side of the windshield, but the purple behemoth kept coming. Finally he turned to run. The machine veered to catch him in mid-flight, and threw his body twenty feet across the pavement. The driver then pulled an impossible U-turn and headed for the closest knot of still-standing bikers, who by now were running in all directions.
***
Richard kneed Pig in the head, broke free from his grip and jumped to his feet. He glanced inside the Black Cherry and saw Keller, a huge smile on his face, hauling on the steering wheel of the massive machine, throwing up dust and turning to mow down the remaining bikers.
By now Crack had recovered. He picked up his gun and began firing at Keller. Richard jumped him again and knocked the gun some distance away, but not before one of the shots hit their mark. The Black Cherry skidded to one side, slid into a pile of debris, stalled, and rolled to a halt.
Suddenly all was strangely quiet. A small yelp from inside the Black Cherry broke the silence. Both Crack and Richard stared at the dust settling over the vehicle. A pair of white paws emerged through the torn rear window.
“Get that fucking dog!” screamed Crack, forgetting the fight and even his own gun. He jumped up and sprinted toward the smoking car. Zonk climbed groggily out of the back seat onto the trunk, stepped toward the rear, and hopped to the ground. He ignored Richard and the others and ran off to the south. Crack and the remaining bikers took off after him.
Richard cast around for his companions. Lacy was on the ground about ten yards away. She wasn’t moving. She straightened a leg and rolled over. He searched in a panic for Carrie. He couldn’t see her anywhere. Finally she staggered from the far side of the Black Cherry. She passed around the front of the car, threw open the door, and began to drag Keller from the driver’s seat. Richard ran over to where Lacy lay.
“Are you alright?” he asked her.
“Yeah, I think so,” she answered. She was covered with cuts and dust, but rose shakily to her feet.
He rushed over to where Carrie and Keller lay beside the car. Carrie was cradling Keller’s head on her lap.
“Are you okay, Jim?” Richard said as he reached the pair. The look on Carrie’s face told him the answer.
A ruby-red stain spread across Jim Keller’s chest as he lay in Carrie’s arms. Richard sat down next to his friend.
“Guess I shouldn’t have made that last turn,” said Keller.
“It was my fight,” said Richard, fighting to choke back his tears. “I should never have gotten you involved.”
“But it was a good fight,” said Keller, a wheezing quality entering his voice.
Richard couldn’t speak.
“It was a good fight,” Carrie answered him.
“Look,” said Keller in a near whisper, “don’t worry about an old man like me. I’ve lived my life. I got no complaints. Hell, I got to drive the Black Cherry all over Surrey – just like the old days.”
Richard stared at the ground.
“Worry about Danny,” said Keller, through laboured breath. “That’s why we came out here, isn’t it?”
With that his body went limp in Carrie’s arms. It was the first time since he’d met her that Richard had ever seen Carrie openly weeping. He felt drops of moisture on his hands, and realized that he was weeping too.
Keller’s last words snapped him out of his grief. He scanned the area, then looked at Carrie, saying, “What happened to Danny?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t see him after the fight started.”
Richard looked up at Lacy, who was standing close by.
“I was too busy with the fighting,” she said.
“Oh my God,” said Richard. “We can’t have come this far and lost this much to fail now!”
Swallow
When Richard and the others first began their attack, Danny was frozen to the spot, trying to absorb what was happening. Suddenly he was hauled backwards by his leash, and a hand was roughly clapped over his mouth.
He heard a familiar voice in his ear, “You will come with me.”
It was Swallow. The little man dragged him backwards away from the fighting. They moved quickly behind the remains of a nearby building. Once they were out of sight, Swallow spun him around so that he was leading and walking forward.
The kidnapper whispered into his ear, “You will do what I say, or I will kill you.”
Danny nodded. Swallow shoved him ahead roughly, continuing to cover his mouth. The sounds of the fighting faded as they headed south. Danny did his best to slow their progress, but Swallow drove him relentlessly forward. Danny flinched as he heard several shots fired.
Swallow continued to babble to himself. Danny couldn’t make out everything he was saying, but he caught a few fragments. At one point he heard:
“The kingdom – yes – the kingdom – I understand – I will not fail!”
In fifteen or twenty minutes they were within sight of the large open space they had encountered first after leaving the trail. They continued to the edge of the site and Swallow stopped and hauled back on Danny’s leash.
“You lied!” he said, twisting Danny’s head violently back by the hair.
“You may fool the others, but not me. God himself told me of the treasure. It is here. I know it. I knew the first moment I saw it, though you lied and tried to trick me and lead me away. The other is but a tiny bauble. Admit it – admit that it is here!” He pulled back on Danny’s hair until Danny thought it would come out by the roots.
Danny’s knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
“Tell me no more lies!” Swallow screamed. He wrapped the leash around Danny’s neck and pulled it tight. “Show me now!”
They were interrupted by a shuffling sound behind them. Swallow froze. He let go of the rope and slowly turned his head. Standing not more than five yards away stood Zonk, panting softly.
“That dog,” said Swallow. “He has appeared from nowhere to mock me!”
Spotting Danny, Zonk rushed toward them.
“Get back, devil dog!” screamed Swallow hauling back to kick at Zonk. He looked past the dog and quickly changed tactics, trying to reach for Zonk’s collar.
“I’ve captured the doggy for, you!” He yelled at the approaching Crack. His fingers brushed Zonk’s collar, but the dog leapt backward before he could get a grip. Quickly, Zonk ran around his flank to Danny.
“Zonk,” Danny said, almost forgetting the situation. “It’s so great to see you!” He was still kneeling, and Zonk licked his face excitedly and nudged against him.
Crack stormed toward them, followed by the remains of his gang. Swallow stood in his way, pleading. “See, I’ve captured the precious doggy…”
Reaching Swallow, Crack straight-armed him in the chest, knocking him roughly to the ground, and headed straight for Zonk and Danny. He instantly grabbed Zonk by the collar and held him tightly. The dog yelped in pain and tried to get loose, but Crack’s grip was too tight.
Wild Rose
Richard’s mind turned in ever-widening circles trying desperately to negate what it knew to be true. His uncle, surrogate father, and best friend, Jim Keller, who had given so much and asked nothing in return, was dead – dead pursuing a quest that was not his. But there was no time for the luxury of guilt, remorse or self-pity. He still had Danny to think about. Keller would have wanted them to finish what they started. The worst outcome he could imagine would be for Keller to have died for nothing.
He forced his mind into a state of calm.
“So neither of you saw where Danny went?” he asked Carrie and Lacy.