Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [125]
“I was evidently wrong,” Ghastly conceded.
Vex suddenly smiled. “Remember how Larrikin used to wind him up? We’d be sitting around, waiting in a ditch or something for the order to strike, all of us tense and humourless, the enemy a mere stone’s throw away… and then Larrikin would whisper something to Shudder. Remember that?”
A grin formed on Ghastly’s face. “I remember Shudder’s birthday.”
Vex laughed and Valkyrie had to join in, it was so infectious.
“We were huddled down in a field in France,” Ghastly told her, while Vex snorted at the memory. “This was, I don’t know, 1850 or so. We were all there, all seven Dead Men – Skulduggery, Larrikin, Dexter, Hopeless, Saracen, Shudder and me. We hadn’t moved from that spot in three days. Apart from Skulduggery, we were all cold, wet and starving. Anyway, Larrikin decided on the third day that it was Shudder’s birthday, and there was nothing Shudder could do to convince him that it wasn’t.”
“The problem,” Vex said, picking up the story, “was that it was getting close to Go Time. There was a squad of Mevolent’s men we’d been tracking for days, and we had to take them out without raising the alarm. But now, suddenly, Larrikin was insisting on a birthday cake and a sing-song. The rest of us were focusing on not cracking up, but Shudder was taking it seriously, and couldn’t understand why Larrikin would want to do something so dangerous.”
“We were sitting in a hole we’d dug,” Ghastly said, “with the wind howling and the rain falling, and Larrikin squirmed up beside Shudder and kept trying to hug him.”
“And Shudder’s not a hugger,” Vex said.
“It developed into an extraordinarily quiet wrestling match,” said Ghastly, grinning. “They rolled over and over in the mud, Larrikin with this enormous smile on his face and Shudder silently furious.”
“Shudder got him in a choke hold,” Vex said. “Larrikin started digging around inside his clothes for something. He was going purple by this stage, though still smiling. And then he brought out a bun.”
Valkyrie laughed. “A bun?”
“A very crushed bun,” Ghastly said. “Crumbs now, mostly. Barely held together. He’d kept it hidden for days. And with his other hand he stuck a candle in it.”
“Only time I’ve ever seen Anton Shudder smile while on a Dead Men mission,” Vex said, eyes sparkling with approval. “That was a good day.”
“That’s why we won,” Ghastly said, a little quieter.
Valkyrie looked at him. “That mission?”
“Hmm? No, no. The mission was just a mission, the latest in a long line. No, the reason we won was friendships like that. They called us the Dead Men because they said we weren’t afraid of dying. Mevolent’s lot? They wanted to bring the Faceless Ones back, but the main thing was that they wanted to be there when it happened. After all, what’s the point of going to all that trouble if they weren’t around to enjoy the results? So there were no sacrifices to save their friends, none of that. And that’s one of the main reasons they lost. It got to the point where they couldn’t trust each other, because it was all about personal survival. Whereas with us… we were fighting, and dying, for each other.”
“Larrikin saved my life,” Vex said. “We were in Wales, and Serpine had sneaked right up behind me, about to use that red right hand of his. Larrikin pushed me away, shielded me. He died screaming.” Vex shook his head sadly. “Never forget those screams. You were there when Skulduggery killed Serpine, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Valkyrie answered.
“I would have liked to have seen that.”
“Larrikin was a good man,” Skulduggery said, and they turned as he led China off the dance floor towards them. “As was Hopeless. They died for what they believed in.”
“Hopeless tried to kill me once,” China said, almost wistfully. “This was back when I was fighting for the other side, of course. We had some good, good times.”
“Hopeless and Larrikin,” Ghastly said, raising his glass.
“Hopeless and Larrikin,” they echoed.
Chapter 48
Going Underground
own deep in the caves below Gordon Edgley’s house, the zombie horde moved in