Marion thumbed through the large codex he had relieved from the elderly man who to his knowledge was still rambling on about Sir Issac Newton and his links to Alchemy. The street lamps gave little light as Reginald moved at a quick pace, knowing that they were not in the best area to be caught in the open. Marion nad Reginald muttered to themselves regarding the tunnels they had taken from the funeral home to the bookshop, Bart walked a short distance behind to keep an eye on anyone who may be paying attention to Reginald and Marion with sinister eyes.
Reginald pushed for the three of them to again enter the tunnels before the chimes of two o’clock in the morning chimed.
Moving with purpose, the three moved quickly through the main gate left unlocked when Seamus made his exit from the funeral parlor. Singh was confused as he had watched them enter the tunnels, the re-enter from the gate some hours later the same way thy had entered the property in the first place. Reginald expressed his need to ascend the first ladder Marion had climbed that seemed to have no end, moving through the preparation area and back through the locked doors into the tunnels.
Reginald climbed the ladder with great vigor for the first 15 feet, yet the slipperiness of the metal against the damp made it difficult to climb. Marion was a short distance behind Reginald, advising on the changes of wall color and consistency, changing from stone to brick, brick to wood and wood to brick again.
As Reginald reached the wooden walls he leaned closely against the panel, hearing the faint sounds of laughing and moaning, looking up he was yet to see the top of the ladder he was climbing.
Continuing the ascent, Reginald finally reached a trap door above his head, glancing down, he was clearly 35 to 40 feet from where he had first began his climb. Bart was close behind Marion who came to a stop at his heels on the ladder, tugging on his ankle and asking where they were as it was a bad part of town and a long way to fall.
Reginald pushed on the trapdoor with his sweat drenched hand, Bart whispering for him to stop as he believed that they were currently located somewhere near the old rookery, a part of town where the occupants would not hesitate in slitting their throats.
Reginald pushed gently on the door, feeling it give, he continued to push as he could see the room around him was dark. Pushing the door as he continued to climb, he emerged from the trapdoor into darkness, being careful to silently place the door down in the open position for Bart and Marion to emerge.
The three men stood inside a small room, a spacious closet with wooden doors flooring, the three of them able to stand up yet movement was restricted with them shoulder to shoulder, Marion peering through the wooden door of the room, a faint light flickering through the cracks. Faint voices flowed like whispers from the outside room, Reginald felt a chill in his spine, placing a hand on Marion’s shoulder and giving him a shake of the head. Reginald pressed his ear gently to the door, the muffled voices were that of a man speaking in hushed tones to another who was yet to speak, the only word he recognised immediately was the that of ‘Dulcarnon’, the second voice responding in a husky tone. More recognisable words whispered
through, ‘The Seven Stars’, the tavern they had spent the night in when investigating Robin Hoods Bauer, words that seemed to follow the locations and investigation they had been conducting.
Reginald moved back from the door, shaking his head and signaling they withdraw silently. Bart seemed relieved at the news, quietly descending the ladder followed by Marion and Reginald who pulled the trap door closed behind him.
At the base of the latter, the three wiped the seat from their foreheads as Reginald explained what he had heard regarding the Dulcarnon and the words he recognised regarding the locations they had visited.
Bart moved back towards the Funeral Home entrance, not paying much attention to Reginald, more concerned with getting the stench of stale sewer water and intense sweat from his clothes. Marion walked with Reginald, listening yet questioning why he chose to retreat rather than confront whoever was inside the room. Reginald was unable to explain his thinking clearly, only able to express that a feeling of dread had filled him with when listening and that he was not ready to assault the room.
*
Reginald did his best to converse with Marion as he stood in front of the mirror in his room at the office, washing the sweat from his body as his shirt lay damp on the floor, Marion standing in his room calling back random answers as he did the same.
Dressed in clean clothing, Marion sat in his chair, picking up the book he had taken from the elderly man, able to read the cover in the soft gas light that filled the room, “Mysteries of the Veil by Agrippa, translated by E. Cartwright from Latin to English.” Marion was frustrated by the title, E. Cartwright being the name of the deceased man they had found covered in flies in his bed some days before.
Blocking the doors as best they could, both Reginald and Marion retired for the night, agreeing that Reginald was to contact some tradesmen who specialized in locks and security to install better doors and defenses for the office as they seemed to be constantly being invaded by whoever was interested by their activities.
*
Reginald was discussing in detail the requirements of the office, solid oak doors, window bars and shutters all necessary. Marion sat quietly at his desk with a cup of tea as he continued to read the translation of the Mysteries of the Veil.
As Reginald was finishing his discussion with the tradesmen, the office telephone rang loudly briefly before Singh answered, calling for Reginald as Jane was on the phone. Reginald could barely place the earpiece against his face as the booming voice of his wife was almost audible to Marion who was some distance away. Reginald’s voice was stuttered and hoarse in replying, hanging up the phone and informing Marion that he needed to return to his
home as his wife and children were distraught as they had just been visited by a funeral carriage who had arrived to collect the body of his daughter.
Marion’s first reaction was that something terrible had happened before bursting into laughter as the lie they had told Mr Rouse the day before to gain access to the Funeral Home had come back on them. Reginald was furious at Marion’s reaction yet Marion refused to stop laughing, apologizing through each chuckle at what Reginald was most likely going home to suffer. Reginald moved to their front door and paused as he opened the door, his tone changed from anger to caution, calling Marion to him, across the street, some distance away, a lonely blind man stood, his gaze fixed on Reginald and Marion.
Reginald immediately moved towards the blind man, crossing the street with some haste, Marion followed, calling for caution and struggling to keep up the pace as the horses and carts on the street blocked their path. Reginald reached the spot he had seen the blind man, looking around he was unable to spot the figure, seemingly vanishing into the crowd. Reginald returned to where Marion was puffing as he tried to catch up, Reginald explaining that their quarry had vanished.
Catching their breath, Reginald signaled a Hansom Cab to take him home, Marion crossing back across the road to the office where Singh stood guard at the door.
*
Jane was sitting impatiently in the sitting room of Reginald’s residence, her foot slightly tapping as she heard Reginald walk through the front door.
Reginald approached her cautiously, for a man with little to no idea regarding female intuition, he knew the look she had on her face, she was very unhappy.
Before Reginald was able to sit, he was assaulted by Jane’s loud tones regarding the Funeral Hearse that had arrived at their door, the neighbors watching.
Sitting with her and pouring himself a drink, he listened intently as she began to fume with the way she had felt treated over the weekend where she expected a family holiday. She was most unimpressed that he had abandoned her and the family to indulge what she labeled, Glory Hunting. An hour passed before Reginald spoke, apologizing at length yet choosing to communicate the only thought that he could muster. He was sending her and the children to the family country home where they summered outside the city.
Jane was not impressed with the news, fire and brimstone in her words as she huffed in anger, Reginald grew stern in his resolve, he would not hear of any other notions. Having enough of Jane’s anger, he stood and spoke in a low but stealthy serious tone, silencing her with his words of death and mystery. Reginald informed Jane of what he had seen, explaining that the words he had written in his manuscript were all true, little to no false facts, he was battling demons and monsters, any less explanation would not do justice to the situations he had found himself in.
Jane took her leave of Reginald, retiring to pack and make sure the children would be ready the following day. Her mood was that of a woman who was angry, yet she felt something strange, as though Reginald’s words of other worldly beings had cut through her.
*
Walter entered the office, Marion standing by the window, watching for any suspicious characters on the street.
Walter took a seat and was joined by Marion, opening a large book, Walter went on to tell of his discoveries into the druids and legends that engulfed the references given to him to follow over the phone. The Tablets of Aelda, Merlyn’s Hill, both of which were mentioned in the scripts.
Marion and Walter discussed at length the possible locations of the ancient locations, little being recorded as many of the contributors to the text were from past or second hand accounts as the text had been written after its original authors were cast from their land by Roman invaders. Walter’s best advice was to do with stonehenge and similar rock formations. Sending Walter to look further into the subject, Marion passed him the book he had taken from the elderly man in the book shop. Walter taking his leave and heading back to his home.
*
Reginald nearly took their office door off the hinges as he entered, Marion rising from his dozy state in his chair, Reginald booming at him regarding the hearse. Marion did not know what to do, instead bursting out with laughter, the ridiculous nature of the escapade striking a humorous nerve. Marion apologized to Reginald and did his best to assure him that he would do his best to make immense.
Moving on in their investigation, Marion suggested they move on the home of John Dee, where Bart had recorded the comings and goings of the patrons while they were at the Regatta. Reginald retorted with his desires to further their investigation into the location of the book store and tunnel system that had traversed previously.
Agreeing that they needed to do both, Reginald asked Marion to arrange Seamus to keep an eye on the funeral parlor, as the suspicious removal of whatever was taken from John Dee’s home was clearly of some importance. Marion agreed to the course of action, both then deciding to move on to John Dee’s residence.
*
Bart was quietly waiting for Reginald and Marion to approach from the southern end of Church Street where they said they would meet him.
Reginald and Marion both carried canes as they quietly exited the Hansom Cab and made contact with Bart in one of the side streets. Bart discussed with them at great length his investigation surrounding the building, a section in the rear proving the easiest way to gain access, the decrepit remains of the ruined section of the building allowing good cover from prying eyes.
Marion was first to move, making sure to avoid any foot traffic in the main road, as he approached the massive home, he could see that the roof of the building in the rear had
collapsed, the remains of what appeared to be scorch marks on the exterior walls proving a tell tale sign. Reginald watched Marion disappear into the rear yard of the structure, he began his crossing, nodding at passers by to avert their gaze before following on the same path as Marion until he too disappeared from view.
Both men stood in awe at the sheer size of the structure, moving inside Reginald and Marion were shocked at the interior architecture of the home. Every wall seemed to be angled a different way, every wall covered in strange wallpaper of different design to the corresponding space. A cool draft passed through the home, each room, no matter how enclosed, seemed to allow the breeze to whistle through. Marion and Reginald both had the same thought, the home was a maze, a series of structures within structures on top of structures beneath more structures.
Both men separated slightly, splitting their search of the premises to opposite sides of the hallways that went in bizarre shapes.
Hours had fallen from the day before Marion found himself standing in the center of what looked like a ballroom at first glance, paying closer attention to the walls, Marion was excited to see that he was in fact standing in the middle of a three storey hall, lined with books and ladders, a library as impressive to him as the library in any university. Every volume o n the wall was leatherbound and appeared to have no titles on the spines, each book bathed in dust and weathered. Reginald came to Marion’s side also looking shocked at the discovery, their hours of searching showing no sign of any room larger than a dining room.
Marion immediately began scrolling through the books, looking up and down, an estimation of 15,000 books from time periods spanning back centuries.
Marion was looking specifically for missing volumes, it was evident that this home had been used recently, notation left around the floor and scattered on shelves. Unable to see anything obvious in his search, Marion turned to the notation left around the space, each note appearing to be covered in symbols, possibly a cypher to decrypt the books on the shelves. Reginald began flipping through pages of several books that took his fancy as he walked around the ground floor.
More hours fell away as Marion read pages from numerous volumes, realizing he was reading books from possibly the largest library of occult, spiritual, mystical and historic texts in existence.
*
As the sky began to darken, both men came to the realization that they were running out of time, this was not a place they wanted to get lost in at night. Deciding to search the rest of the home, Reginald and Marion opened a door to an upstairs bedroom, a made bed and relatively clean space, recently used, fresh clothes in the drawers and minimal dust on the shelves. Searching the room, a row of diaries sat on a high shelf. Marion pulled the most recent diary from the shelf and began to read, the book revealing that it was the diary of Horatio Cartwright, reading the diary, Marion described the contents to Reginald, the diary of a self serving man who business himself with womanizing, gambling and spending much time with his former school chums.
The revelation of his father’s death angered Horatio as his father had not organized financial matters.
The day of the funeral of his father, Haratio returned to his fathers house to discover a package containing the letter Reginald and Marion had found on his body when on the train, addressed to Mr Oldacre.
The instruction of the letter, ordering Horatio to go directly to the main library, directing him to a large, black leather bound book, concealing it somewhere safe with the exception of Mr Oldacre, the only man it is to be given to. Then to go directly to Truro, booking into the Black Lion Hotel for the evening, using a fake name, in the morning, open the package enclosed, light the enclosed candle and whisper the verse written on the paper provided, then immediately leave and do not extinguish the candle. Return to London and deliver the envelope to Mr Oldacre in Henley.
The utmost care is to be taken when carrying out these orders.
Place the house on the market as staying would surely bring personal harm.
Marion and Reginald looked at eachother puzzled, both thinking what Truro had to do with anything, a hotel on the south coast, followed by a visit to henley, a candle in the early hours of the morning, it was all so much to process for the two who were already unsure of how to proceed.
They had found a larger wealth of knowledge in the home than anywhere else, yet they both felt the pull of Truro and what they both guessed was unfinished business as the events that had transpired were ongoing.
Heading back to the library, Marion and Reginald followed the instructions they had read, a large empty space where the book in question that Horatio was to collect was located. Flipping through the pages of Horatio’s diary, Marion read the last entries carefully, two days before the funeral, Horatio had taken several books including the large book in question and visited an occult bookseller in need of money, located in Seven Dials.
Marion repeated the passage to Reginald who recognised the description of the book seller as the man they had questioned after climbing the tower from the sewers. The man was very interested in the book, so much that it caused Horatio concern, instead retaining the book.
Reginald muttered to himself that the suspicious old book seller must have sent men to collect the book as it was of peculiar interest and that a second visit to the man was in order. Marion was concerned regarding the notion to revisit the book seller, even though their faces were not known to the elderly man, it was a risk he was hesitant to take.
Reginald decided that Truro was a necessary journey, however a trip to the book seller prior to their trip was in order, any and all information regarding what Horatio was doing in Truro would only better equip them against whatever awaited them.
*
Marion and Reginald listened as the city bells rang at 11pm, their dark clothes allowing them the slightest disguise against the shadows that moved along the walls of the streets of Seven Dials.
Both men carried their pistols in their waistbands, having left everything non essential back at the office. Passing by the obvious night entertainment on the street, both men disappeared down the familiar side street where they had exited from the premises previously. Arriving at the kitchen door, Reginald forced the door open harshly, heading directly through the kitchen, Marion immediately moving to the study where he found the rug in place over the trap door. The dark rooms caused both men little concern as they moved through the layout of the home on their way to the staircase.
A tapping caught their attention from upstairs, Marion and Reginald freezing in place, both men looking at the ceiling above them, drawing their pistols as they recognised the sound of footsteps.
Leaving the study, both men could see the silhouette of a figure at the top of the stairs. The tapping continued, the figure tapping his foot on the wooden floorboards as if waiting for someone.
The door of the kitchen swung open to reveal two men of very rough appearance standing between them and their exit. The door to the shop at the front of the residence where it meets the shop also opened, two more large men appeared, standing guard at the door. A voice from the top of the stairs began to speak in a growl, advising that the two were surrounded and had no friends close by to assist them.
Reginald retorted, arguing with the man regarding the whereabouts of the shop owner, the man at the top of the stairs unmoved by the authoritative tone in Reginald’s voice. The man gave a single offer for Reginald and Marion to leave, Marion tapped Reginald on the shoulder in recognition of being outnumbered, even with pistols in hand.
Reginald moved slowly towards the kitchen, Marion following close behind, as the two moved towards the exit, the man from the top of the stairs began to descend, his heavily scarred face revealing sunken eyes beneath a weathered exterior.
As Reginald and Marion exited, the four men from inside stood at the kitchen, the man from the stairs behind them, two more men stood in the alley, leaning against the wall of the bookshop, sharpening their blades and giving Reginald and Marion a nod, their missing teeth showing through sinister and crooked smiles.
Making their way from the alley to the main street, Reginald hailed the first Hansom Cab he could see, giving instruction to return the two of them to their office immediately.
