Devil's Rock - Chris Speyer [70]
Seizing one of the sheep’s horns from the floor, I scooped up a lethal dose of poison from the pot, intending to thrust it into Maunder’s hand – then froze. If he drank it and died, my fate would also be sealed. Crab and his companions were waiting like hungry wolves just outside the cave. A mad, desperate scheme presented itself. I put the brimming horn to my lips, threw back my head and swallowed the bitter contents in one gulp. As the first agonising spasms gripped my stomach I concentrated on filling the cave with as many beating wings, writhing bodies, snarling mouths and flashing eyes as I could hold in my head at one time. I needed Maunder to be utterly terrified. But I needed to work fast. The poison was already in my blood. My heart would cease to beat in less than a minute.
I let my spirit slip from my body into Maunder’s. What I found there was a mind half crazed with fear and a spirit that was crushed and cowering. I must drive his spirit out. I went to work in his mind, raising up the image of the Demon of Blood, Riri Yakka. I knew that if Maunder’s spirit left his body it would go straight to the nearest living thing – and that living thing was my poisoned body. As the demon’s image filled his deranged mind I felt the flood of fear cascading through every cell of his being – then he was gone. I had become Maunder and he me – he was trapped in my dying body like a doomed mariner in a sinking ship. I watched as my own body writhed in its death throwes on the sand, a hand gripping at its heart, black mucus oozing from its nose and mouth. Seconds crept by – and then it lay still.
Maunder’s spirit did not return to Maunder’s body. I had it to myself. But oh, the abomination of that loathsome mind! All his past crimes, debauchery, desires and cravings were there. A mind corrupted by greed and addicted to cruelty. To live in that body was to live in a cesspit of depravity. Surely it would have been better to choose a clean and honest death? But I had to think of Una. My spirit had to lock the door on Maunder’s thoughts and memories and tune his mind to my purposes.
I lifted the body that had been mine and laid it on a low stone shelf by the cave wall. I must have the bracelet. I attempted to slip it off the lifeless arm. But it would not move! It was as though it were welded to the flesh. I tugged and twisted but I could not free it. Should I cut it loose and mutilate what had so recently been me? No, my spirit recoiled; I could not bear to do it.
I had betrayed the power of the bracelet and now it would not be mine. I had killed, even if the body I had killed was my own. Had the bracelet the power to resurrect as well as cure? Might my body return to life and Maunder’s spirit with it? I must seal the cave. With what? How? Even with the strength of Maunder’s powerful body, I could not do it alone. But I was Maunder! His gang would obey me! I need only give the order.
I blundered through the blinding smoke to the cave-mouth. As I emerged, the faces of the waiting men, half lit by their lanterns, turned expectantly. My instinct was to flee but I reminded myself that who they saw was Maunder. ‘I have killed the witch!’ The shock of hearing Maunder’s voice speak my words momentarily confused me.
‘Do we bury ’er, Cap’n?’ asked Crab.
‘No! We must seal the cave.’
‘What of our booty?’ asked another.
‘Aye!’ the others chorused.’
‘You wouldn’t be tryin’ to double-cross us, would ’e, Cap’n?’ wheedled Crab. ‘Yer wouldn’t be thinkin’ of keepin’ our share to yourself? The girl is dead?’
‘You have my word she’s dead,’ I said firmly. But I saw my mistake. They would never close up the cave with the treasure inside. ‘We will empty the cave and divide everything between us.’ No sooner were the words out of my mouth than there was a stampede for the cave. ‘Don’t touch the girl, or anything she’s wearing!’ I shouted.
Fighting broke out almost immediately, but I drew Maunder’s pistol and forced them to make a pile of the chests and casks on the sand. When the cave was empty, I ordered the rest of the torches lit and