CHAPTER 7: THE LADY IN CHARGE
A couple days on the ocean had passed ever since the gang had left the country and they had now reached the docks of London as they climbed off the ship and proceeded to make their way to the Barroness's whereabouts. The horrible memories of his last trip to Europe were slowly creeping back into Ed's mind yet he still tried to ignore them and go along with the whole thing. They also didn't have a lot of time to do any sight seeing as they had to quickly make their way to the train station to catch a ride to the countryside,where they would then take a taxi to the Barroness's estate. Lastly it was a little funny to Lily how Herman, Petrie and Big Tuk were all wearing trench coats as disguises and none of the public seemed to notice them at all.
Once the gang had at last reached the Baroness's estate,Ed was amazed to see that it was a huge mansion as he whispered to Petrie who was sitting on his shoulder "Place is huge,think the architect was compensating for something?" which resulted in the two of them snickering while Sykes walked up to the closed gate.
"Mrs Roberts,we have returned with your….guest. And yes those are animals with him." Sykes calmly spoke into the speaker on the gate before stepping back and allowing the pearly gates to slowly open,to which they headed into the courtyard and made their way to the front door.
After Sykes rang the doorbell,a pasty old butler promptly answered the door and politely greeted the gang "A pleasure to welcome you back Master Sykes and Master Lily. And here's also a warm welcome to our American guest." to which Ed politely tipped his hat to the man before the butler continued "May I please show you to the Baroness's office." before finally stepping aside allowed the gang to enter inside.
Big Tuk was the last one to enter but not before he licked the butlers face and left slobber all over it only for the man to brush it aside and nonchalantly say as he closed the door "Right this way please." before proceeding to lead the gang to the Baroness. Ed and the animals were all mesmerized by the decor of the mansion,such as all the various gargoyle statues that lined up the hallways and the lack of lights that were instead replaced by candles and torches.
"This place be kinda creepy." whimpered Petrie as he perched onto Ed's shoulder to which the teen couldn't help but agree "I think I preferred the Chateau Of Harmony,at least I knew what to expect there." before Sykes cleared his throat and firmly explained "All right kid we're almost there. You will not speak unless asked to,you will look her in the face at all times,address her as ma'am,and you will absolutely NOT piss her off. You seem to have a natural talent with that."
The gang then reached a set of double doors in the middle of an empty hallway as the butler opened them to reveal a large mixture of a library and an office,rows and rows of books lined up the walls and a massive fireplace had a roaring fire bathe the darkened room in an orange glow,all while a shadowy figure sat behind a desk in front of the fireplace.
"Mrs Roberts,may I present to you our guests?" asked the butler in a polite and respectful tone as the figure calmly answered "Well done Mr Sykes for bringing me the boy,and well done for also keeping my niece safe on your travels." to which Sykes gracefully bowed and replied "The pleasure was all mine madam,even if our guest was a little hard to deal with." resulting in Ed rolling his eye.
"Now would you politely excuse us? I would like to talk to the boy alone." calmly requested the woman to which the butler respectfully obliged "As you wish Mrs Roberts." before taking the rest of the gang out of the office and shutting the door behind them,leaving Ed completely alone with the Baroness as she immediately requested "Sit down boy." and with seemingly no other choice,Ed did just that before the woman turned around to reveal that she was most likely in her late 60's/early 70's,she had blonde hair and wore a black robe.
"Tea my dear?" offered the Baroness in a strangely welcoming voice only for Ed to shake his head before the woman asked "Do you know why you are here boy?" to which Ed promptly answered "I was hoping you could tell me. The only thing I know is that it's something about pirate treasure and me needing to be a navigator."
"Hmph,you are mostly correct my boy." chuckled the Baroness before devilishly continuing while she pulled out what appeared to be a case file "I do indeed need you to be a navigator for us,but that's not to say you're the only one we needed for this expedition of ours,but there's no need to rush through things so quickly now is there? For now let's get into you Mr Fitzherbert,of course there's no need for you to lie as I already know a lot about you. Sent to Sparkyville's home for the orphaned shortly after your birth,parents died in house fire not too long after that,and you eventually ran away from the orphanage in search of a better life for yourself. Isn't that right?"
Ed was mystified to think that this lady knew so much about him,he had been doing his best to make sure no one other than his closest friends could know about his secrets yet this one woman seemed to know everything.
"How do you know so much about me?" asked an uncomfortable Ed in response to her wildly detailed knowledge of him to which the woman coldly explained "When you have the resources I do,you can learn just about anything. Did you really think you're this unknown speck in the world? You really have some growing up to do." which resulted in a now angry Ed gritting his teeth and yelling "You know what enough of this shit! Just tell me what you want and I'll take the job."
"Assertive huh? I like that." snickered the Baroness with a devilish grin before turning on a projector with a remote to reveal the image of a pirate over the fireplace while the woman continued "This is Captain James Cornelius,don't feel ashamed if you don't recognize him,many don't compared to more of his pirate brethren. He was however a master thief for his time and quickly made it his career,if anything existed,he could find a way to steal it and leave the scene without a trace. Eventually he started to grow a name for himself and started to be hunted by the British. However the interesting part is that on the night that the British stormed the island that Cornelius had supposedly stowed his treasure,none of them returned with a word,and reports from nearby ports said that the Earth had shaken,and a tower of black and red scorched the heavens like Hell itself had opened up in the sea."
"Woah." muttered Ed in awe with a widened eye before the Baroness continued with a nod of her head "That's truly the only way to describe it,and the best part is that he left behind a map. On that night he tore it in half and sent each of those halves away to be found by one of his brethren,and I happen to have found the half with the most information." to which Ed's face lit up in amazement before giddily asking "Wow,c-can I see it?"
"Absolutely not." sharply refused the Baroness much to Ed's chagrin as he angrily replied "W-why not? We just gotta read it,go to the island and batta-boom we're rich!" only for the woman to shake her head and retort "It's not that simple boy. I cannot risk it's safety under any circumstances,because of this." before switching the projector to footage of what appeared to be armored men at work.
"The other half of the map was found by an army for hire called Coastline,they've been after the treasure as well and have been hunting for the rest of the map relentlessly. But that's not the worst part,the worst part is the person in charge."
The Baroness once again switched the projector to more footage of what appeared to be a person in a purple mask and a black coat relentlessly taking out a large group of soldiers with remarkable speed and finesse,all without using a gun at all.
"This is the person in charge of Coastline and is someone you never want to get into an encounter with,their speed and combat skills outmatch anyone we have ever seen and they're more determined than ever to find the treasure. They've also been nicknamed The Walking Death because no one who's ever fought them has come out alive. If they get their hands on the entire map the treasure is as good as gone."
Ed was certainly left intimated by the figure to say the least as he nervously gulped while the Baroness turned off the projector before continuing "Thankfully because of modern technology,our satellites have found that the island is somewhere in the Caribbean ocean,the map is only gonna be important once we're on the island and you're gonna be useful for getting around the wildlife." to which Ed sighed and reluctantly decided to go along with the plan "With how confident you sound I guess I have no choice huh? I guess I'll go along with it,I've dealt with worse people that's for sure."
"That's very good to hear Mr Fitzherbert,we'll make sure you get a good share of the treasure as well." smiled the Baroness as she and Ed happily shook hands before continuing while he got up and headed to the door "My butler will show you and your pets to the guest room,tomorrow we will be setting sail." to which the teen chuckled in response "That's good to know,I'm ready to get this done already."
Once Ed had left the room and left the Baroness alone in her office,she looked around a few times before opening a drawer and taking out her torn half of the map,she gently set it on her desk and stared at it for a few moments before whispering "Soon Cornelius,soon your burden will be lifted from your shoulders."
NEXT CHAPTER: STARRY NIGHT