Chapter 5
“That’s it, you saw the same carriage going to the cemetery, but never saw it return – what’s so suspicious about that?” Gunn asked Cordelia
“But loads of times, at least six or seven times - because each time it stopped, only one person got out, always at the top of the hill, and they all walked off in the same direction. It could be something and nothing, I don’t know, it just struck me as odd”
“Well we’ll get it checked out, thankyou Cordelia, now Gunn, what do you have for us?”
“Evil looking guy, massive, got a cut-throat scar across his neck, and one going right down his forehead to his chin, it took his eye, must have as the flesh is all puckered where the eye should be”
Buffy Willow and Cordelia pulled an ‘ew’ face.
“What about him?”
“He was in the pub, the Sailor’s Arms down by the docks - only letting a selected few into a back room, one of which I KNOW to be a vampire I saw him feed the other night”
“And you let him live?” Buffy asked
“Buffy, slaying vampires isn’t the issue here, besides which, we can’t do anything to alter the course of history” Giles reminded her
“That sounds interesting – okay here’s what we do, Buffy you’re going to dress as a boy, you’ll be able to move around quickly and without much hassle, I’ll come with you, and Wesley and Gunn, you take the cemetery, see if there’s any untoward activity there”
“What can we do?” Willow asked, indicating towards William and Xander.
“You can see if there are any ‘significant’ dates are due – big evil-fests, demon days, what have you – might give us a lead on who might be interested in the book.
Right, I think that’s it? – Okay, then I suggest Willow, Xander and William get to the books, Buffy, you can change in my room, I’ll wait down here with Wesley and Gunn until your ready – so everybody know what they’re supposed to be doing?
Everybody nodded and stood, Buffy taking the key off Giles to his room.
“Everything is laid out on the bed for you, make sure your hair is securely tied up under the cap, okay?”
Buffy nodded and went upstairs, William followed her.
“I know what you’re capable of – but DO be careful, won’t you my love?”
Buffy smiled and gave William a light kiss and said,
“Of course – don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”
William looked beyond her shoulder to some books on the floor
“Are those the books we have to study?”
Buffy nodded as she slipped into the narrow-legged breeches of a young man.
“Yes – you got to do the boring stuff!”
“I don’t mind, it’ll help me keep my mind off you – if that’s possible”
Buffy smiled and thought it sweet how he was worried
When she was dressed, expertly, she twirled her hair up into a tight chignon and secured it with a few Kirby-grips.
She went over to William and gave his a soft, sensual kiss
“When I get back, you can take me home and I’ll show you just how much I love you”
William pulled her close, kissing her with passion – he wasn’t so different from Spike in some ways………
Pulling the cap down low over her eyes she buttoned up the waistcoat to flatten her chest and pulled on the jacket.
“There, how do I look”
“Alarmingly like a boy!” Buffy grinned, and they heard voices outside the room. There was a soft knock at the door,
“Are you ready Buffy?”
She opened the door and Willow and Xander came in.
“See you later” Buffy left and trotted downstairs
Giles and Wesley waited in the foyer and when Buffy came downstairs the doorman’s eyebrow rose up at the sight of a street urchin
“If anything is missin’ outta any of the rooms, I’ll have yer hide, boy!”
Giles looked at the doorman with distain and said with as much disgust as he could muster,
“The boy is with us!”
“Oh right sir, sorry sir, thought the boy was up to no good sir!”
They walked out into the night, Wesley and Gunn taking a carriage to Sloane Street, Giles and Buffy going the opposite way towards the docks.
Giles stood on the corner, while Buffy crossed to the pub, the Sailor’s Arms.
She went to go in, but found her way barred by a whiskery old man
“Not have the likes of yon I ‘ere to pick pockets – show us yer money first”
Without saying a word, Buffy produced a three-penny bit out of her pocket
“What do yer want…gin – porter?”
“Gin”
The old man eyed her and let her pass. Buffy quickly put the money back in her pocket.
She noticed the place was full of drunken sailors and prostitutes, it was a real ‘bawdy house’ somebody playing an out of tune piano, girls being grabbed by drunks and pulled onto laps, shrieks and squeals of laughter abound.
Buffy looked around but didn’t see the cutthroat that Gunn had mentioned. She noticed the door and looking around to see if anybody was looking, she opened it and went inside
There was a dying fire in the grate, just giving out enough light for Buffy to make out the shape of a table and a chair. She looked around, saw nothing of any significance and was just about to leave when a big hand clapped her on the shoulder.
“What do you want, yer thievin’ little-“
“The um, the WC – I want the lav!” Buffy squealed trying her best to sound like a young boy.
“The – ha-ha! Little Lord Fauntleroy indeed! And what sort of la-di-dah place do ya think this is, huh? We go out back, down a big ‘ole…now get, before I throw yer down it!” Buffy pulled her cap down and scooted out of the room, but not before she heard,
“Who is it, Bull?”
“Nobody, Mr Trick…just some little toff wanting the lav –“ Buffy left the pub swiftly and looked around for Giles, he stepped out of a doorway and called her softly.
“I think tomorrow, I’m going to have to roughen myself up and go in with you – did you manage to see anything?”
“Well I went through the door – and that man Gunn was on about, the cutthroat, he caught me – but somebody called him, and I swear I heard him say the name ‘Mr Trick’”
“Trick…where have I heard-“
“Mayor Wilkins – when the school went up – Snyder was principal, Trick wa a vampire working for him”
“Sounds like were onto something…I wonder how Wesley and Gunn got on?”
“Giles, look”
“What, where?”
“Coming out of the pub…it’s him, it is! It’s Trick…”
“And he’s summoned a carriage, let’s do the same”
Giles waved his arm, and the next carriage came round to stop in front of them
“Follow that carriage in front please driver, but do so at a suitable distance – if they don’t realise we’re following them, I’ll double the fare cost to you”
The driver smiled and nodded, Buffy and Giles got in
When the carriage turned into Sloane Street, and the carriage containing Trick turned to go up the path to the cemetery, Giles pulled down the window and said
“Thankyou driver…we will alight here”
The driver stopped and Giles asked how much the fare should have been
“One and sixpence, by right sir”
“There you go then, my good man, a half crown and a sixpence, three shillings as promised”
“Thankyou sir, goodnight then sir” The driver beamed and headed off back the way he’d just come.
“Looks like Cordelia could be right too, trouble is, it’s a bit open up there, although it’s getting foggy, we could easily be seen”
“It’s like one of those old Hammer Horror films!” Buffy said as they made their way through the graveyard carefully
They got to the brow of the hill, and could see nothing and nobody, the mist swirled around them and Giles said,
“Come on”
They made their way through the higgledy-piggledy arrangement of tumbled-down headstones. Towards the middle of the yard, there were the bigger statues, carved angels, small steeples and crypts.
“There – did you see…hold on, DOWN!” Giles and Buffy ducked down behind some headstones
Giles craned his neck and peered into the foggy night, then he cupped his hands and made the sound of an owl.
This started Buffy giggling, until Giles glared at her from under his top-hat.
Suitably chastened they listened with straining ears, then they heard an owl hoot back.
Giles turned and beamed at Buffy
“It’s Wes!”
“Unless there’s an owl around here who thinks he’s just struck lucky!” Buffy quipped
Giles gave her another look and Buffy rolled her eyes
He made the noise again, and then pointed and Buffy saw Wesley and Giles running towards them
Waving towards a crypt, Giles and Buffy went there and waited for the other two to catch up.
They were panting, their hot breath appearing in thin white wisps in the cold misty night air
“How did you know to come here?” Wesley asked smiling
“We followed somebody in a carriage”
“WHAT?!”
“Don’t worry, we got out by the hat shop and walked up, they didn’t know they were being followed”
“Oh good, anyway – there’s this crypt – it’s been used as a meeting place, there is an air-vent and we can hear, we’ve also managed to plant a microphone - anyway, seems we are in luck, they’re waiting for some tricks, apparently, and they should be here tonight!”
“No, not SOME tricks…Trick – he’s a vampire,”
“A vampire? – You know him?”
Buffy nodded
“Yup, he worked for the mayor of Sunnydale once” Buffy said
“You’re kidding!”
“I’m not, am I –“
“Shush everybody, get down!”
As one, the four flattened themselves to the ground
Then they all turned their heads to the source of the noise, and they heard talking,
“I promise you Mr Rack, Bull took care of all the time-wasters yesterday, all the demons who are interested in purchasing the book will be here on Friday”
“Good…only I must have had at least half a dozen through here today, offering insults rather than decent amounts of money! Oh, and it’s just Rack by the way, no Mr”
“Right, and I’m Trick”
“Right then Trick, I think we’ve – hold on………can you smell that?”
Giles made a motion for them all to move back and they all crawled around the other side of the crypt wall
“What, smell what?”
“I thought I could smell…humans”
Trick turned game-face, sniffed, and looked around. But luckily for the gang, the mist swirled and the wind changed direction. He morphed back into his human guise and said,
“I smell nothing – it might be off me, my cloak – I came in a carriage, and I had just eaten in the pub…might have a drop of blood on me somewhere”
Satisfied, he and Rack walked on
“So, how’s the crypt suiting you?”
“It’s NOT…but with a little (Rack wiggled his fingers) I make the best of it…it’s only until I can off-load this book and then I’m out of here”
“So why didn’t you stay in a hotel – you have no problems with daylight”
“Too vulnerable in a hotel, besides, they’re not going to stand the type of beings that want to check out the goods before they buy, coming and going and I’m not traipsing across London with such a valuable commodity”
Trick nodded his head and concurred that Rack was being sensible
“So…going to tell me how you came about it?”
“The book? – Oh, you’d never believe it if I told you”
Wesley had been relaying to the others what was being said. He then pulled the earpiece from his ear and said,
“They must have gone out of range now – but we’ve heard enough – lets go back to the others and tell them what we know, then we can make plans” and the others agreed.
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