Read Online The Unknown Spy by Eoin McNamee - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Eoin McNamee
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red feathers was buried in her arm.
“Vandra!” Danny called out. The small physick ran to his side. Gabriel had recovered from the shock and was rising cautiously into the air, his eyes alert. Vandra examined the dart, then knelt and smelled Daisy’s breath.
“Smells of marzipan,” she said grimly.
“Is that bad?” Danny said.
“Means the dart is tipped with cyanide,” Vandra said. Her face, ordinarily pale, turned deathly white, and her hand shook a little.
“Vandra,” Danny said, “if it’s too dangerous, you don’t have to …”
“I do,” Vandra said. “I am a physick.” Danny knew what she meant. A physick was a healer who healed by drawing the patient’s illness or poison upon themselves. Vandra would have to draw the cyanide on herself. Her body was strong—physicks had physical gifts that enabled them to deal with disease and toxins. But there were no guarantees, and there was no protection against pain.
Vandra bent her head, her incisors protruding. She drew the dart from Daisy’s arm and plunged her teeth into Daisy’s shoulder, just above the wound. She stiffened, spasms running through her body. Danny looked on helplessly. Behind him he heard a shout. A figure dressed in black was running across the rooftop, beside one of the huge crumbling chimneys.
“Gabriel,” Danny said, “can you get me up there?”
“Put your arms around my neck!” Gabriel said.Danny embraced the Messenger’s frail neck, wondering if the body beneath him would bear his weight. Danny had once flown on the back of Conal, the Seraphim, who had borne him easily, but Seraphim were strong. Aside from being elderly, Gabriel was weakened and his muscles atrophied from disuse.
Gabriel’s back seemed to bend as Danny climbed on. There was a strong odor of mothballs from his jacket, but his wings were surprisingly powerful and bore them upward with great beats. When they got to the level of the roof, Danny could feel Gabriel tiring. As they cleared the parapet a snowy gust drove them across the rooftops, Gabriel desperately fighting against it. The swirling wind carried them out over the edge. Gabriel faltered and Danny lost his grip. For one sickening moment he clung by one hand to the collar of Gabriel’s coat, his legs dangling over a drop of a hundred feet.
With an enormous effort Gabriel was able to get Danny onto his back again, but the wind forced them across the roof, blowing snow from the slates in great whirling clouds around them.
“Can you land?” Danny shouted over the howl of the wind.
Gabriel’s answer came in gasps. “Too much … turbulence … can’t see landing spot.” Neither did he see the great redbrick chimney rearing up in front of them. With an impact that drove the breath from their lungs, they struck and started to fall. Danny braced himself, but they landed in a drift of snow that had piled up against the chimney breast.
Gabriel groaned and tried to shake snow from his feathers. Danny leapt to his feet.
“Are you all right?” he said. Gabriel nodded. “Stay here, then.” Danny looked around to get his bearings. The rooftops of Wilsons were vast, great peaks and troughs rising and falling. There were chimneys and buttresses with windows in them, doors that looked as if they had been locked and sealed forever. Clusters of aerials and dishes hinted at mysterious purposes. The chimney they had hit was the very chimney where Danny had seen the attacker. He cast around on the roof for footprints and found small neat tracks leading away. He began to follow them.
The attacker had been able to run lightly over the snow, but Danny found himself blundering, slipping into gullies and catching his shins on objects hidden under the snow. He tripped over a roof peak and slithered down the other side on his belly, landing chin-first on a patch of ice. He rolled over to find himself looking down the barrel of an ancient blunderbuss. The gun was held by a small red-bearded man
“Vandra!” Danny called out. The small physick ran to his side. Gabriel had recovered from the shock and was rising cautiously into the air, his eyes alert. Vandra examined the dart, then knelt and smelled Daisy’s breath.
“Smells of marzipan,” she said grimly.
“Is that bad?” Danny said.
“Means the dart is tipped with cyanide,” Vandra said. Her face, ordinarily pale, turned deathly white, and her hand shook a little.
“Vandra,” Danny said, “if it’s too dangerous, you don’t have to …”
“I do,” Vandra said. “I am a physick.” Danny knew what she meant. A physick was a healer who healed by drawing the patient’s illness or poison upon themselves. Vandra would have to draw the cyanide on herself. Her body was strong—physicks had physical gifts that enabled them to deal with disease and toxins. But there were no guarantees, and there was no protection against pain.
Vandra bent her head, her incisors protruding. She drew the dart from Daisy’s arm and plunged her teeth into Daisy’s shoulder, just above the wound. She stiffened, spasms running through her body. Danny looked on helplessly. Behind him he heard a shout. A figure dressed in black was running across the rooftop, beside one of the huge crumbling chimneys.
“Gabriel,” Danny said, “can you get me up there?”
“Put your arms around my neck!” Gabriel said.Danny embraced the Messenger’s frail neck, wondering if the body beneath him would bear his weight. Danny had once flown on the back of Conal, the Seraphim, who had borne him easily, but Seraphim were strong. Aside from being elderly, Gabriel was weakened and his muscles atrophied from disuse.
Gabriel’s back seemed to bend as Danny climbed on. There was a strong odor of mothballs from his jacket, but his wings were surprisingly powerful and bore them upward with great beats. When they got to the level of the roof, Danny could feel Gabriel tiring. As they cleared the parapet a snowy gust drove them across the rooftops, Gabriel desperately fighting against it. The swirling wind carried them out over the edge. Gabriel faltered and Danny lost his grip. For one sickening moment he clung by one hand to the collar of Gabriel’s coat, his legs dangling over a drop of a hundred feet.
With an enormous effort Gabriel was able to get Danny onto his back again, but the wind forced them across the roof, blowing snow from the slates in great whirling clouds around them.
“Can you land?” Danny shouted over the howl of the wind.
Gabriel’s answer came in gasps. “Too much … turbulence … can’t see landing spot.” Neither did he see the great redbrick chimney rearing up in front of them. With an impact that drove the breath from their lungs, they struck and started to fall. Danny braced himself, but they landed in a drift of snow that had piled up against the chimney breast.
Gabriel groaned and tried to shake snow from his feathers. Danny leapt to his feet.
“Are you all right?” he said. Gabriel nodded. “Stay here, then.” Danny looked around to get his bearings. The rooftops of Wilsons were vast, great peaks and troughs rising and falling. There were chimneys and buttresses with windows in them, doors that looked as if they had been locked and sealed forever. Clusters of aerials and dishes hinted at mysterious purposes. The chimney they had hit was the very chimney where Danny had seen the attacker. He cast around on the roof for footprints and found small neat tracks leading away. He began to follow them.
The attacker had been able to run lightly over the snow, but Danny found himself blundering, slipping into gullies and catching his shins on objects hidden under the snow. He tripped over a roof peak and slithered down the other side on his belly, landing chin-first on a patch of ice. He rolled over to find himself looking down the barrel of an ancient blunderbuss. The gun was held by a small red-bearded man
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