The House of Storms

By: Geron Kees
(© 2017 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

GKees@tickiestories.us

Chapter 12

There was more order outside the hotel than any of them expected. The crowds moved slowly, now that the red alert had been downgraded.

Ben Dane released Joseph and Sophie. It was then that he revealed that the caretaker and his wife both were almost totally deaf, yet managed to largely conceal the fact because they could both read lips. Apparently, Mr. Crandon, the hotel manager, had passed on this fact to the detective, who had decided to keep it to himself until he was certain that the caretaker and his wife were not in some way involved.

After releasing Joseph and Sophie and making their way back down through the bluff, the Danes and their party crossed the beach rapidly to the hotel building. The state police had arrived, and were adding their efforts to those of the local sheriff's department to help keep order.

Aphrodite, continuing ahead under her previous impetus, had quietly run herself onto the beach and stopped. Her crew had already boarded her with a work party, and were even then cutting into her machine spaces in order to regain control of the ship.

Captain John Lewis of the state police had set up headquarters in the hotel lobby. More troopers had arrived by car, and Land's End bustled with activity as visitors were interviewed and then allowed to leave. Mr. Crandon, the hotel manager, had met with the town elders, and everyone was cooperating in the investigation.

The boys had been given seats in the lobby and asked to wait, while Mr. Dane went into the manager's office for a meeting with Captain Lewis and Sheriff Kingsley. The boys were brought a meal by the same young man that had manned the sandwich counter the other night, who gazed about with obvious interest at everything that was going on.

"Place is really hopping, huh, fellows?" he asked, distributing hot sandwiches and coffee to the boys. None of the boys normally drank the bitter mix; but all of them felt the need for a boost, and downed the warm drink gladly.

Frank nodded. "Yeah, it is. I hope it won't kill off business completely."

"Nah!" The counter lad grinned. "Are you kidding? Once it gets out to the papers what happened here, people will be swarming the place to look things over. Nothing's more exciting than something awful that almost happened!"

Frank grinned at the sagacity of the idea. "Pretty smart, aren't you?"

"Nope. Just kind of obvious, don't you think? Like a train wreck where no one got hurt? People want to see the damage."

Joe laughed. "Is there any damage?"

"No. People don't know that, though. They'll put a few pictures in the papers of the lightship sitting on the beach, and people will come for that, if nothing else."

Frank tipped the counterboy for bringing them the food, and watched with a wan smile as the lad headed back to the kitchen.

Chip nudged him then, causing Frank to start. "I know what you're thinking," the other boy said.

Frank looked over at Chip, and smiled. "I'm thinking I wouldn't trade what I am lucky enough to have for anything else."

Chip beamed, and leaned a little closer. "Well, you cover really well, I'll admit that."

They laughed together, and resumed eating. They were hungry from their efforts, and soon had finished eating and had sat back to watch the people milling about them.

A familiar figure strode into the room then, and crossed to the hotel manager's office. He rapped upon the door, which opened, but the man was not admitted.

Jack Dark.

Frank gave Joe a small nudge, and they both turned to watch the man as he paced back and forth outside the door, obviously fretting over something.

There was something so familiar about the way the magician moved that it bothered Frank right down to his core. That, and the annoying sensation that he had seen the man since their initial meeting after being invited to the mansion.

And then, just out of the blue, he had it. Jack Dark seemed so familiar because he looked like someone else that the Danes had had cause to interact with lately.

He looked enough like Gunter Sturm that the two could be brothers.

"Joe," he began, giving his brother a small nudge. "Do you see...?"

"Yeah," Joe said, interrupting. He looked at Frank. "Do you think...?"

Frank nodded. "Yes, I do. Take away the mustache, and they'd really look alike."

Tony leaned into Joe. "He looks like that guy Sturm."

Chip gripped Frank's arm. "The other brother?"

Joe nodded. "We're thinking the same thing. "Joe suddenly tensed. "Shh! No one say anything, okay?"

The magician had seen them sitting there, and was striding over. He smiled, looking just as friendly as he had the day they had visited him in his mansion.

"Well, hello, boys! So nice to see you again!"

Frank nodded, and forced a smile he hoped looked ingenuous.  "Mr. Dark. Glad to see you are okay. Close call, huh?"

The magician scanned the boy's faces, nodding. "I still don't know exactly what is going on. I just know that I tried to go to my house, and was directed back here. The place is swarming with police!"

Joe nodded. "Someone tried to ram a ship ashore by the pavilion and blow it up."

Jack Dark paled. "Who would do such a thing?"

"A man named Gunter Sturm," Frank said casually. "The son of Otto Sturm."

A look of genuine amazement crossed the magician's face. "No! Not...why, the son of the man who once owned the mansion? Just like we were talking about! I don't believe it."

"It's true," Frank returned.

Jack shook his head. "He was captured?"

"No," Frank said, watching the man closely. "Unfortunately, he was killed."

The briefest of emotions crossed the magician's face, but he immediately regrouped. "Astonishing. Unbelievable."

"Were you trying to see my dad?" Frank asked.

"Yes," Jack said. "Or someone in charge. I need to get into my house."

"Going somewhere?" Joe asked, interestedly.

Jack squinted at Joe a moment. "Well, I've been told that the carnival will be closed for a time. I still need to eat. I can get one of my old New York City gigs back until the pavilion reopens."

"I could go and see if I could get my dad for you," Frank said helpfully. He rose, smiling.

The magician watched him a moment, and then stuck a hand into the jacket pocket of his coat. "Sit down," he said, quietly.

"But I thought you wanted my dad?" Frank said, taking a step forward.

Jack Dark sighed, and shook his head. "There are an awful lot of people about. I could probably shoot five or six of them before someone got me."

Frank licked his lips and sat down again. "What?"

The magician surveyed all four boys, and nodded. "You heard me." He watched them a moment longer. "I've spent my life practicing misdirection, boys. So I certainly know it when I see it."

Frank stared at the man. "How did you plan to get away? You were going to be right there onstage, even as Aphrodite came ashore."

"Not exactly," Jack said, smiling. "The very same illusion I previously used to show the ship approaching was going to display a likeness of me instead. This time, the approach of the ship would be real. The house lights were to be just a little lower tonight to ensure that the deception was not discovered before the, um, shattering denouement of my performance."

"You were safely away," Joe said flatly. "To leave all of those people to be killed."

"Yes. Sad, isn't it?"

Frank shook his head. "You're a monster."

The magician looked mildly offended. "Not at all. I am a man who has been wronged, and who seeks justice." He leaned forward, a hint of anger behind his eyes now.  "I was very small when my family was forced to flee. All I remember of that night was the coldest fear I have ever known in my life. That fear has never totally left me. It pursues me  in my sleep at night, and it haunts my every day. I was a child victimized by a crime, one perpetrated by the government of this nation." He nodded. "I will have a reckoning."

"You've been stopped," Frank said bluntly.

Jack Dark chuckled. "Magic never sleeps, young fellow. It never goes away. It returns, always, just as I will return."

Frank stared, suddenly feeling that he was talking to someone who was not quite sane.

His expression must have registered with the magician. Jack Dark smiled. "Scared?"

"Should we be?" Joe asked.

"Oh, yes. You should be. I won't make the comparison to a cornered animal, for obvious reasons. But the danger level here is comparable."

"Cornered rat, you mean," Joe couldn't help saying.

Jack Dark canted his head at them. "Everything in life is a matter of perspective, boys. What you see as an evil deed, I see as justice."

"Your family was wronged," Frank agreed. "But this doesn't make things even. Killing innocent people is never an answer."

"Again, it's a matter of perspective. It most often takes something supremely dramatic to bring injustice to light, boys. I and thousands of others are owed something by this country. I intend to collect my share."

"It's over," Frank said. "The ship was stopped, the transmitter that would set off the explosives has been destroyed." He nodded. "And your brother was killed. Isn't that enough for you?"

For the first time, the magician showed some real emotion. His face clouded in anger, and a genuinely dangerous look appeared in his eyes. "You Danes have ruined everything. All my plans destroyed, by one private eye and a bunch of snooping kids. Incredible." He leaned forward, and something within the pocket of his jacket pressed insistently against the cloth. "Get up, you four. We're going."

Frank nodded, and he and the other boys stood up.

"One wrong move, and it's over, understand?" The magician's voice sounded hard.

For a moment, the whole world seemed to slow, to become unreal to Frank. He looked at the magician's face, saw the anger and determination there. The hate. And then something shifted, and Frank's eyes moved over to the door to the hotel manager's office just as it opened. Ben Dane and Sheriff Kingsley emerged, followed by the uniformed form of John Lewis.

The detective looked over at his sons then, and spied the magician just as he turned his head to see what the boys were staring at.

For a frozen moment nothing happened. And then Ben Dane's hand was flying to the inside of his jacket.

Jack Dark's arm moved, and the ugly shape of an automatic pistol started to emerge from his pocket. Frank came out of his freeze then and moved, using both hands to grab at the magician's pocket, momentarily trapping the pistol in the folds of fabric.

There was a roar, and something hot seemed to flash by in front of Frank's eyes. Jack Dark spun away from him, and crashed to the carpet. Frank blinked; and then he and Joe were piling on top of the magician, holding his arm down as he struggled to get his gun free.

The man was amazingly strong, and it took both boys to hold onto him. There was a tearing sound, and the pocket of the magician's coat tore, releasing its grip on the pistol. The man's arm swung out, and Frank jumped on it with all of his weight and pinned the weapon to the floor.

And then Chip and Tony were there beside them, and the battle was over. The four boys held the magician down even as the law closed in.

Mr. Dane rushed up and stepped on Jack Dark's hand, and reached down and took the pistol from it. "Johann Sturm, I place you under arrest!"

Sheriff Kingsley and John Lewis arrived, and several other uniformed troopers. Jack Dark was hauled to his feet, his arms yanked behind him, and cuffs unceremoniously snapped upon his wrists.

"Don't leave him alone for a second," Mr. Dane advised, as the magician was hauled off. "This guy can probably get out of handcuffs quicker than you put him in them."

John Lewis nodded, and followed his men as they marched the magician away.

Mr. Dane turned to his sons and their friends. "Are you boys okay?"

Everyone nodded, and the detective grinned. "I'm proud of all of you."

"Dad!" Joe said then. "You knew that Jack Dark was the other Sturm brother?"

The man laughed. "I was struck by how similar they looked the moment I met Gunter Sturm. It was not hard at all after that."

"It was nagging at me, too" Frank admitted then. "I think the mustache and the slick hair threw me a little."

"Yeah," Joe said. "Plus, I liked Mr. Dark," he added sadly. "He sure was a heck of magician."

Mr. Dane's smile slipped, and he nodded. "He was a wonderful showman, despite his sinister dealings. There won't be another like him anytime soon, that's for sure."

Frank brightened. "At least he didn't meet his end, like his brother. What's next, dad?"

Mr. Dane shook his head. "I'm going to be busy for a bit. I want the four of you to go up to your rooms, get cleaned up, and relax a little. You've certainly earned it!"

The boys agreed, and parted company with the detective, who promised to look in on them later.

They took the elevator to their floor, and Joe and Tony went to their room, while Frank and Chip went to theirs.

Frank closed and locked the door, and then took his boyfriend into his arms. "How was that for an exciting vacation?"

Chip smiled, and nuzzled Frank gently. "You sure know how to sweep a guy off his feet, Frank Dane!"

Frank laughed, pulling the other boy close and kissing him. "Well, now you know what it's like to go on a case. What did you think?"

Chip smiled, and leaned his forehead against Frank's. "I think I can't wait for the next one."

Frank laughed, and kissed his boyfriend again. And that was only the first reward to come his way that night.

* * * * * * *

Ayaan Prasad stood behind the curtain and listened as his daughter, Kani, gave yet another fortune. This one was a mix, inspired by observation as much as by the flighty presence of Manta. The spirit had not been very dependable since leaving the great carnival at Land's End, and Ayaan and his daughter had been struggling to make ends meet at the small carnival outside of Altoona, Pennsylvania. The locals were a rustic lot, not particularly gullible, not particularly friendly. Not that they needed to be so, when most of the fortunes that Kani gave were genuine looks into the beyond.

But...westerners were a thick lot. They tended to discount anything that did not unfold directly beneath their eyes. Sometimes, Ayaan wished that he and Kani had never left Bihar.

The girl finished, and the two unbelieving customers left the tent.

"That will probably be the last this evening," the man said, stepping out from the rear flap.

Kani nodded. "It is almost time for the carnival to close. I am hungry, father. Can we go to eat?"

"Yes. Let me bring in the sign, and we will go."

Ayaan went out the front flap of the tent and took the big sign that advertised Kani's gift, and folded it to bring inside the tent. At that moment he spied a man coming towards him, and recognized him to be Garth Holder, Mr. Denton's - the carnival owner's - assistant. The man was cynical and humorless, but he did take care of those that worked for the carnival, treating even the newest performers as old family.

"Hi, Ayaan," the man said, drawing to a stop. "Got a piece of mail for you."

Ayaan stared in shock. Mail? How could this be? No one knew his whereabouts. He and Kani were alone in this land.

"Here ya go," Garth said, handing over the letter. "Feels like somethin's in it."

Ayaan took the letter and gave his thanks. Garth nodded, looked back at the rest of the mail he was carrying, and grinned. "Ouch. Another one for Komar the Great. Those bill collector's never give up, ya know?" And with that, he hurried off.

The big man stood still, staring at the letter in his hand. It was indeed addressed to him. There was no return address, either. And when he shook the envelope, he could feel a small weight shift inside.

Turning, he went back inside the tent. Kani looked at him, and asked what he had in his hand.

"A letter," the man said, still not quite able to believe it.

His daughter came closer, looking. "Well, father, are you not going to open it?"

Ayaan nodded. He upended the envelope, and carefully tore the end off of it. He could feel the small weight at the bottom end of the envelope, and so carefully turned the envelope the other way and poured the small weight into his hand.

A gleaming piece of metal arrived in his palm, and Ayaan's eyes opened in amazement.

"It is your medal!" Kani said, delight filling her voice. "The one you lost at Land's End!"

Ayaan nodded. It was so. In his hand was the small acknowledgement of his brief bond with the British in the great fight against the sons of Nippon. The medal was one of the few keepsakes that Ayaan had ever owned, and realizing it was lost had nearly brought tears to his eyes after their flight from Land's End. He had never expected to see the small treasure again - and yet, here it was.

"Who could have done this?" he wondered aloud, his eyes still fastened to the gleaming thing in his palm.

"Is there a letter?" Kani asked.

Ayaan blew into the end of the envelope, and spied a folded piece of paper within. He pulled it out, shook it open.

In a smooth flowing hand, was a single line of writing:

Not all westerners are unbelievers. Best of luck.

That was all.

Ayaan closed his eyes, for a moment remembering the four young men who had visited them at the tent, and whose talk of the police had inspired Ayaan and his daughter to leave Land's End. What had he said to them?

"You in the west think you know everything of the world. You do not."

Yes, it felt right. It had to have been them.

"Is there a name there, father?" Kani asked.

The man smiled. "No. No, but there does not need to be." He reached out and laid his fingers against his daughter's cheek. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

"Then, let us be off."

The End

Posted: 04/05/19