Young Sherlock Holmes_ Red Leech - Andrew Lane [90]
Before Sherlock could say anything, two more men had moved from the shadows at a gesture from Rubinek. The three men took Sherlock, Matty and Virginia by the shoulders, pulled them roughly from their chairs and started pushing them along the veranda.
Despair filled Sherlock. Despite everything, it looked as if they were going to die a particularly nasty and painful death. He didn’t know what Balthassar’s latest ‘acquisitions’ were, but he doubted they were going to be anything as innocent as squirrels or parrots. Whatever they were, they were likely to be big and have sharp teeth. More cougars? No, he could get those locally, and not have to hunt abroad for them.
He caught Matty’s eye as they were pushed along the veranda. Matty was looking scared, but he smiled briefly at Sherlock.
The three of them were pushed off the edge of the veranda to the hard-packed earth, and then shoved towards the area of cages, paddocks and fenced-off enclosures that Sherlock had seen from the train. They seemed to be aiming for a walled area off to one side. The wall looked freshly built. Adjoining one side was a balcony with a view down into whatever was enclosed by the walls. Steps led up to the balcony, and Sherlock found himself shivering when he saw a wooden plank that stuck out from the balcony and ended over whatever lay beneath.
Separate stairs led downward, into darkness. Sherlock wondered momentarily what was down there, but his speculations were broken when Rubinek pushed him up the stairs to the balcony. His two followers pushed Matty and Virginia after them.
Sherlock could see down into the enclosure. From that vantage point it looked more like a pit. The area inside the walls was rocky and uneven, with vegetation growing out of cracks between the rocks and a pool of brackish water taking up about a third of the space. There was no sign of anything living in there, but Sherlock didn’t find himself particularly comforted.
Rubinek manoeuvred Sherlock to the start of the plank. The other two men herded Matty and Virginia together a few feet away.
‘Go on,’ he said. ‘You know what to do.’
‘And if I don’t?’ Sherlock asked.
Rubinek raised his hand. He was holding a small pistol, barely larger than his palm, with two barrels, one above the other. ‘What’s in there don’t particularly mind whether you’re dead or alive,’ Rubinek said. ‘And neither do I.’
Sherlock looked back towards the house. He had expected Balthassar to follow them and watch from the balcony, but the tall man in the white suit was still on his veranda. He had spread a map across the table and was consulting it. He appeared to have forgotten about Sherlock and his friends already.
Reluctantly Sherlock walked out to the end of the plank. It dipped beneath his weight. The drop to the rocky floor of the enclosure was about ten feet.
‘Jump,’ Rubinek ordered. Now that Sherlock was following orders, Rubinek slipped his tiny revolver back into his jacket pocket.
‘I’ll break my legs!’ Sherlock protested. ‘That’s hard rock down there!’
‘So?’ The man patted his jacket pocket. The threat was clear.
Sherlock glanced into the enclosure, looked across at Virginia, then took two steps back before running towards the end of the plank and jumping into the enclosure.
He used the springiness of the plank to push him out as well as up, angling himself so that he arced towards the pool of water. He hit, sending a massive splash up into the air. The water had been warmed by the bright sun, and Sherlock struck out for the edge before anything that might be living in the water could get him. He scrambled out quickly on to the rocks, dripping wet, and looked around. Nothing was coming for him yet.
He