Chapter 10: time bomb
They walked down the hallway.
"Loosen up, Sebastian, he didn't try to hurt me" Lily whispered into his ear. Sebastian was still angry.
"He might, though. I can't stand the thought of anyone besides myself putting their hands on you."
"He's behind us now, so just relax. I won't hesitate to turn him into a pile of ashes if he tries anything." Lily said. Sebastian nodded and he seemed to look more at ease. He had a hard time remembering that Lily could defend herself very well now.
"I must say, there are quite a few suspicious characters on that train." He said to Ciel.
"Yes… a priest with a tattoo, a sham archaeologist, a surly Japanese man, a man obsessed with timetables… they're all too blatantly suspicious."
"It's like they're trying to be that way." Lily remarked.
"And if there's an assassin on board…" A man holding his hat down walked past.
"Excuse me" He said, keeping his hat over his eyes. Ciel recognized him and grabbed his elbow.
"You're that porter from the station. What are you doing on this train dressed like a traveller?" Ciel asked. The man pulled his arm away.
"Damn…"
"He's the kidnapper!" Lily yelled. The three of them ran after him. The man was trying to unhitch the last cart.
"Damn it, I can't get the bloody thing to…" He pulled again and the cart came free.
"Stop!" Ciel yelled, but the man was riding away.
"Sebastian, Lily, Don't let him get away!" Ciel yelled.
"Yes, my lord" Sebastian and Lily jumped on, Sebastian keeping a firm hold on Lily's waist so she wouldn't fall. They opened the door.
"Now, hand that over" The man said, walking towards lord Ackroyd. "If you don't make it quick, the boy's life is over." He said. Sebastian and Lily drew two guns and pointed them at the back of his head.
"I'd be more concerned about your life, frankly." Sebastian said. The man turned around.
"W-who are you people?"
"We'll make this plain and simple-" Lily said.
"-Where is the young hostage?" Sebastian asked.
"On board that train. But you can't save him now. What a shame!" He said.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, her gun still inches from the man's forehead.
"I rigged a bomb to explode as soon as the train stops. I thought I'd put on a nice big fireworks display after I got the ransom money."
"You disgusting man." Lily said. "You would stoop so low for measly notes?" Sebastian clicked open his pocket watch.
"We have ten minutes before the next stop." Sebastian said.
"Serves you right!" The man said, laughing. Sebastian kicked him out the window and he landed in the bush.
"Nice one" Lily said, giggling. "He looks like a partridge covered in thistles."
"There's not much time."
"We can make it." Lily said. Together they jumped onto the tracks. "I'll try to find the bomb. You get the hostage." She said and zoomed off faster than the eye could see her move. She started searching on top of the train. "Shit, shit, shit… where could it be?" She gritted her teeth. A new figure appeared on the car.
"You… you're…" Claude walked onto the top of the car towards her.
"Do you need some help?" He asked.
"I'm doing just fine." She said.
"You don't look like you are. The train will stop soon, over a used bridge that won't be able to hold our weight. We'll need to get rid of the bomb first."
"I guess you're right." She said. "Help me look."
They searched the ship, with Lily oddly conscious of the fact that she was with the very man that Sebastian had told her to stay away from. It did seem rather rude to decline help; however, because she was sure she wouldn't manage it. Fire wouldn't solve anything in this case. If she burnt the bomb, it would explode anyway.
"Over here." Lily said. She felt kind of like a dog as she managed to sniff out the metal difference to find the bomb. She slid the panel of the bomb open to expose the wires. One wrong cut and it would blow up. "Which wire do I cut?"
"The black one behind the panel." Claude said. She ripped open the panel, grabbed the wire and snapped it with her sharp canine teeth easier than a knife would cut through butter, managing not to electrocute herself. She then proceeded to dismantle the bomb and to throw it into the nearby hedge.
As she was working the train lurched and Lily almost fell, but Claude caught her with one hand, the other holding onto his hat. He looked into her eyes, narrow golden eyes staring into large green ones. She once again got that strange tinge of familiarity. Where had she seen that butler before?
"Thank you…" She said quietly.
"You're welcome." Claude disappeared into an open window, but not before he left something for her, a pretty red bracelet with a flame. How tacky. She thought and scooped the heavy bracelet into her pocket. She would throw it away once she got home. She slid through the door to the cabin where she could hear Sebastian's voice. The assassin had walked through the door and held a knife to Ciel's throat.
"A hostage again, young master?" Sebastian asked. Lily walked to stand beside Sebastian. Claude was nowhere to be seen. "I do believe you enjoy being captured." He said smiling. Lily smirked.
"What are you on about?" Ciel asked.
"This is what, the third time you've been captured? You either try on purpose to get captured or you have a lot of bad luck, Ciel." Lily said.
"So it was you… bloodbath Johnny…" The priest stood up and said.
"Well if it isn't jackknife Heyward!"
"You ought to know what will happen to the kid if you don't stop the train." Bloodbath Johnny said.
"I'd love to stop it myself, but I'm afraid there's a bomb on board that will explode if we stop." Sebastian said.
"N-not to mention we have a cholera outbreak in this carriage" The detective said.
"You're saying a train with a bomb on board is headed for a rundown bridge and there's cholera?"
"it's certainly a full course menu of crises" Sebastian said, not sounding the least bit worried.
"Enough of this, Sebastian, hurry up and do something about this."
"Allow me" Lily said.
"Forget about it! I'm out of here!" The man yelled and backed out with Ciel. Lily ran after him. Sebastian soon followed as the assassin was on the top of the bridge.
"You persistent brat!"
"Pass the young master over to me" Sebastian said. There was a bridge coming up ahead.
"Sure, sure, I'll be right… I win!" He yelled and ducked. Sebastian's head was stronger than the bricks and made a huge gouge straight in the top of the bridge. The dust cleared and he was perfectly fine.
"Come this way, young master" Sebastian said. Ciel walked towards him.
"Y-you're a monster…" he said. Lily grabbed his hand and held him in a headlock, his own knife right next to his own throat. Sebastian walked towards him.
"No, I'm just merely-"
"One hell of a butler" Lily finished, smiling.
"Now, Mr. Assassin…"
"Have a pleasant trip!" Lily threw him into the air and kicked him into a bush the way one would expertly kick a soccer ball.
"Next, the bomb…" Sebastian said.
"Sebastian, I already disabled it!" She said as Sebastian lifted the cover to find the remains of the bomb Lily had disassembled with Claude's help. "Get to the bridge!" Lily yelled as the train ran towards the bridge. Sebastian jumped off and ran in front of the train, stopping it with one hand just as it was about to lean over the edge.
"That was a close shave, but you managed." Ciel said. He jumped into Sebastian's arms and he put him down on the ground. Lily jumped down on her own and instead, hugged him.
"That was amazing" She said happily. They walked over where everyone was getting loaded onto a different train. Sebastian and Lily were waiting in line when Claude walked up to Sebastian. Lily was passing her stuff aboard the train and didn't hear them.
"Here" Claude said, passing a cloth to Sebastian. "My tea spilled in all the commotion. A true butler should have been able to sort that out without the slightest rocking of the train."
"Yes, I can see you took some damage as well." Sebastian said without even looking at Claude. He whipped out an invitation. "What's that?"
"If you wish to investigate my master, march into the Trancy mansion right through the front gate. You want to help young master Ciel take his revenge, don't you?"
