فصل 74

CHAPTER 74

THE PROMISE

IT TOOK SOME TIME TO GET THE TRAIN BACK down.

Peter caught it quickly enough as it ascended gracefully over the vast city, now invisible beneath the cloud bank below. The brilliant light radiating from the open starstuff chest in the center car forced Peter to close his eyes as he drew near, although he could still tell where it was from the unearthly, yet somehow pleasantly musical, humming sound that filled the air.

With Tink’s help, he was able to find the chest and shut the lid. Instantly the humming stopped and the car went dark, save for the dim moonlight coming through the windows. Peter, blinking as his eyes adjusted, looked warily around for any sign of Ombra or the Skeleton. But he was alone in the car.

“Hello?” called Peter.

“Hello?” answered a wary voice from the forward car. “Is that you, Peter?”

It was Ted, poking his head through the passageway. He was followed by Patrick and Neville, then Magill and Karl, all looking quite relieved to see him. Peter took a quick look into the rear car. Von Schatten’s four guards were cowering back there, showing no interest in causing any problems for Peter, or getting anywhere near Karl.

“Is Wendy all right?” asked Ted.

“She’s fine,” said Peter. “When she opened the chest, she jumped out of the train, but I caught her …”

Thanks to me, chimed Tink.

“…thanks to Tink,” said Peter, “and we managed to land safely.”

“I hope we can do the same,” said Neville, casting an anxious glance out the door at the clouds below.

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Peter. He stepped out the door and flew over the train. Inverting himself, he put his hands on the roof and began to push downward. Slowly, the train responded, descending at a gentle angle. In a few minutes they reached the clouds; the wind picked up a bit. Then they poked through the other side, and below them, only a few hundred feet, were the lights of London.

“Does anybody know where we are?” shouted Peter.

Magill, apparently unconcerned about the height, stood in the doorway, peering down.

“Ealing,” he said.

“Is there anybody right below us?” shouted Peter.

“No,” said Magill. “You’re all right.”

The following morning a man walking his dog discovered a three-car London Underground train sitting on the grass in Walpole Park, Ealing. The man reported this to the police, who assumed he was drunk and were quite surprised to discover he wasn’t. Over the coming weeks and months, many different explanations would be offered for the miraculous appearance of the train, including that it was some kind of prank by university students. But nobody really believed that even university students were capable of such a feat. And so it remained a mystery.

By the time the police arrived, the train’s occupants had been gone for hours. Von Schatten’s men simply fled into the night. Patrick, Neville, and Ted took possession of the sword, the tip, and the chest and managed, after a lot of walking, to get a cab, which took them back to the Scotland Landing Hotel. Magill and Karl made it back on foot.

Peter took off to look for Wendy, whom he found quickly with the unenthusiastic but effective help of Tink. He got her down from the roof of the butcher shop, and they walked to her parents’ home. Peter offered to fly her, but she said she had been in the air quite enough for one night.

The next day everyone except Karl gathered at the Darlings’. George and Molly were looking and feeling much better after eating, bathing, and sleeping. When Mrs. Bumbrake arrived with John and Michael, there was a joyful family reunion, with much hugging and some crying. There was more crying when they paused a moment in memory of Leonard Aster. And then it was down to business as George, who had spent much of the morning telephoning various influential associates, summarized what he had learned.

“There’s been quite a stir of activity at Buckingham Palace,” he began. “The details are being kept secret, but apparently von Schatten has gone missing”—George arched his eyebrows at Wendy and Peter, who smiled—“and stands accused of engaging in a plot against the crown. The king, who seems suddenly to be a different person”—again, George arched his eyebrows—“has ordered a full investigation, starting with a thorough interrogation of von Schatten’s assistant Simon Revile. Revile has been very cooperative, in hopes of saving his own skin. A Miss Scarlet Johns is also apparently cooperating willingly. The investigation has already produced some surprising results: Chief Superintendent Blake of Scotland Yard, who apparently was involved in a conspiracy with von Schatten, has been relieved of command and placed under arrest, along with several of his top subordinates. Meanwhile the men who went missing in the Underground have all turned up, telling strange tales of being held captive in a tunnel near the Westminster Bridge station. The tunnel has been located, as well as a mysterious vault under Westminster Abbey, but as of yet, nobody has a clue what any of it means.”

“And the coronation?” said Patrick.

“It will proceed on schedule,” said George. He looked around, beaming. “It seems things have gone rather well,” he said.

“What about the Cache?” said Molly.

“What about it?” said George.

“What do we do with it?” said Molly. “What if they come after it again?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said George. “I suppose we need to hide it somewhere.”

“I can hide it,” growled Magill. All eyes turned to him. “In Wiltshire,” he said. “There are caves there nobody knows of but me, Karl, and the wolves. I can hide it there, until you decide what to do with it.”

George looked around the room. “All right, then,” he said.

“I’ll leave tonight,” said Magill.

“What about the sword?” said Patrick.

“What about it?” said George.

“We’ve got the Sword of Mercy,” said Patrick. “It was in the Underground car, with the chest. The tip was nearby; apparently von Schatten managed to weld it to the sword, but it must have broken off again when Peter used it to smash the lock on the chest.”

Peter remembered the sound of the tip clattering on the floor.

“I heard nothing about any of the Crown Jewels being missing,” said George.

“Perhaps they don’t yet know it’s missing,” said Patrick.

“In any event,” said Molly, “we’ve got to get it back.”

“How?” said George. “We can’t just walk into the Tower of London with a sword and …”

“I’ll return it,” said Peter. “I’ll drop it off on my way back to the island.”

“What?” said Wendy.

“Peter,” said Molly, “you don’t need to go back so soon. Surely you can stay a few days.”

Peter shook his head. “Von Schatten told me they were going after the island, too,” he said. “To get the starstuff there.”

Molly frowned, remembering her brief encounter with von Schatten in the tunnel the night before. “He said the same thing to me,” she said softly.

“So I have to go back there.”

“We’ll go with you!” said Wendy. “You helped us, now it’s our turn to help you!”

How? chimed Tink, who’d been listening from her perch in Peter’s hair. You fly like a stone.

“I appreciate it, Wendy,” said Peter. “But Tink is right. You’d have to go by ship. There isn’t time.”

“But…” began Wendy.

“I’m sorry,” said Peter. “I have to go. Patrick, if you’ll get me that sword …” He rose, followed by the others, except for Wendy, who sat with her face buried in her hands.

“Good-bye, everyone,” said Peter, his eyes on Wendy.

“Peter,” George began formally, “I don’t know how we can begin to …”

“Hush, George,” said Molly.

George hushed.

Molly put her a hand on Peter’s arm. “Peter,” she said, “we can never thank you enough. Just know that we love you, and will do anything for you.”

“I know,” said Peter, looking down, his face red.

“And promise us you’ll come back to visit.”

Peter’s eyes met hers, and they both remembered a moment long ago on the island, when Molly—then a girl Wendy’s age—had asked him to make that same promise.

He nodded. “I promise,” he said.

Wendy sobbed. Peter started toward her, then turned and went to the door.