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The Underground City(41)

By:Anne Forbes


Kitor sighed. “That’s one reason I got such a shock when I found out that it was Casimir inside Lewis,” the bird admitted doubtfully. He drew a deep breath. “It’s … well, it’s not the sort of thing he ever did, is it?”

“You can say that again,” muttered Hamish. “The Casimir I know would never have lifted a finger to help anyone.”

“It’s certainly a turn up for the books!” Jaikie said, disbelief written all over him. “Let’s face it, Casimir was always as proud as Lucifer. That’s why I could never understand why he stole the Sultan’s crown. When you think about it, it was totally out of character …”

“Yes,” agreed the MacArthur, with a puzzled frown, “I’ve always thought there was something a bit strange about the whole affair.”

“The Chief Constable said that the Grants had just come back from the Middle East,” offered Kitor.

Archie’s head jerked. “That could be where Casimir managed to take Lewis over!” he said excitedly.

The MacArthur nodded in sudden understanding. “It’s possible,” he agreed.

“But we all assumed that when Casimir stole the Sultan’s Crown, the storm carriers chased him and killed him!” objected Jaikie.

“Hasn’t the Sultan mentioned Prince Casimir to you at all?” questioned Hamish dubiously.

The MacArthur shook his head. “The Sultan has never mentioned him,” he confessed, “and, quite frankly, I didn’t like to bring the subject up.”

“Then it’s possible that the storm carriers didn’t kill him when he stole the crown. The Sultan must have imprisoned him instead. Probably out in the desert somewhere …”

“If anything,” Archie mused, “you’d think Casimir would be spending his time looking for Kalman instead of indulging in this Shadow business! Kalman is his son, after all!”

Jaikie sat up. “Maybe that would explain why he was trying to get into the hill,” he said, excitedly. “If he’s discovered that Ardray is no more, he’d want to find out what happened to Kalman and I bet he’d rather come to us for information than go to Morven and the Lords of the North. You used to get on with him better than most, MacArthur, if I remember rightly!”

“The other thing you should know, MacArthur,” Kitor said, “is that Neil and Clara have been among the ghosts in the old town.”

The MacArthur frowned. “You should have told them to have nothing to do with them, Kitor,” he said, sternly. “Ghosts are something else! How did their parents allow it?”

“They didn’t tell them,” Kitor admitted. “The MacLeans know nothing about it. But it wasn’t Neil’s fault. The ghosts asked him to help them.”

Jaikie blinked. “This gets weirder and weirder!” he said, in amazement. “The ghosts asked Neil to help them? I’ve never heard the like of it!”

“The Plague People,” Kitor said. “They were afraid of them getting out.”

There was a deadly silence. “The Plague People?” the MacArthur said in surprise. “I thought they’d been sealed up pretty firmly.” Nevertheless, a shade of concern crossed his face as he spoke and he looked thoughtful.

“The ghosts are worried. There are some men working in the Underground City. They’re trying to break into the vaults of the big bank on the Mound. Neil says that the bank doesn’t keep money there any more so they won’t get anything, but the thing is that they’re very near the Plague People,” Kitor paused, “and we all know what they’re like!”

The MacArthur shuddered. “Aye, well, that’s not our business,” he said. “The ghosts will have to take care of the Plague People themselves.”

“I think they are,” Kitor nodded. “The last time we were there, they told Neil they were going to try to scare the wits out of the crooks. They’ve … they’ve asked for permission to materialize!”

Jaikie and Archie looked at one another. “That’s a bit much, isn’t it?” muttered Jaikie, raising his eyebrows. “They’ll scare Edinburgh stupid!”

Kitor nodded. “They’re pretty awful,” he said doubtfully, “but I don’t think they plan to leave the Underground City. And the Chief Constable said that he was going to wait until you got back so that you could work out what to do about Lewis.”

The MacArthur nodded approvingly. “I think we’d better all meet up,” he said, “and the sooner the better! Hamish, take a carpet and tell the Ranger what has happened so that he can pass the word on to Sir James and the Chief Constable. In the meantime, I’ll speak to the Sultan and Lord Rothlan through the crystal. They’ll both have to know that Casimir has escaped.”