The Deeds of the Disturber - Elizabeth Peters [154]
Crash, thud. ‘It is on fire, Mama,’ said Ramses.
I had to wait till the next lull before pursuing the matter. ‘I take it, Ramses, that the miscreants have fled? For I cannot suppose they would allow you . . .’
Crash, thud, crash. ‘Now, Mama, Papa, and sir,’ said Ramses, ‘please withdraw to the farthest corner and crouch down with your backs turned. It is as I feared; we will never break through by this method. The walls are eight feet thick. Fortunately I brought along a little nitroglycerin –’
‘Oh, good Gad,’ shrieked Inspector Cuff.
I thought for a minute the whole wall was going to collapse, but after the sound of the explosion had faded, and my ears had stopped ringing, and Emerson had lifted me up out of the water, I saw that it still stood, though the gap in it was large enough to have admitted a horse and carriage, much less Emerson. With Gargery’s enthusiastic assistance we climbed out; and while Emerson anxiously inspected the Inspector, who appeared to be in a condition of mild catatonia, I had leisure to examine my surroundings.
The far end of the wing, which included the temple, was ablaze. Flames spouted from the windows and soared from the roof. There was nothing to be done there, so I turned my attention to Ramses.
He had not had time to change clothes, I suppose. He was dressed as I had seen him once before, like a ragged, filthy little street urchin. One eye was half closed. I had not observed that Percy had hit his eye.
‘Miss Minton,’ I said, keeping my priorities clearly in mind. ‘I don’t suppose you –’
‘We ’ave the young lady, madam,’ said Gargery. ‘She was in the carriage with the gentleman – well, I don’t suppose I should call him a gent, madam, since according to Master Ramses here –’
‘We,’ I repeated. ‘You and Ramses and –’
‘Henry, and Tom, and Bob – all of the footmen, madam. And the other young gentleman.’
Behind me I heard Emerson exclaim, ‘Come, come, Cuff, this is no way for a grown man to behave,’ followed by the sound of a sharp slap. It did the job; Cuff said weakly, ‘Thank you, Professor. I beg your pardon; I don’t believe I have ever had an experience quite like . . . Now then. What’s going on here, eh?’
I believe he was addressing Gargery, but of course it was Ramses who replied, and I must say he was as succinct as possible. ‘We arrived on the scene a few minutes ago, sir, just in time to intercept a carriage that was driving rather quickly towards the gate. Fearing that Mama (for at the time I was unaware Papa was also here) might be within, I ordered it stopped, which was successfully accomplished, though the gentleman inside fired a pistol, blowing a hole through Bob’s cap and slightly wounding Henry in the left thumb. The gentleman was subdued after a brief struggle and I then discovered the lady inside was not Mama, but Miss Minton, who was in a state of what appeared to be mild inebriation, though further investigation (that is, smelling her breath) suggested that opium rather than alcohol –’
‘And where are the occupants of the carriage now?’ Emerson inquired.
‘Just inside the gate, with Bob and Henry standing guard,’ Ramses replied. ‘The rest of us at once hastened to the house, for we had learned (thanks to the insistent questioning of Mr Gargery here) that you were imprisoned in the cellar and that – if you will excuse a somewhat melodramatic turn of phrase – the water was rising rapidly. I heard Papa’s voice –’
‘Yes, all right, my boy, we know what happened after that,’ Cuff said. ‘And this person is –’
‘Gargery, our butler,’ I said.
Cuff stared at Gargery, who was swinging a life preserver in one hand. ‘Butler,’ he repeated.
‘Never mind that now,’ Emerson said impatiently. ‘While we stand here chatting the house is blazing like a torch. Shouldn’t we send for the fire engines? And what about the servants? Better get them out, eh?’
‘I doubt there is imminent danger, Papa,’ Ramses replied judiciously. ‘The fire is still a good distance from the main part of the house, and I hear cries and