The Night of the Victorian Plot – Part 2
Welcome to America
Chapter 8
The Havana Cigar
The last thing Artie wanted to do at this point was go careering around the countryside on a galloping horse. But since he needed to find Jim he compromised and set Ariadne off at a walking pace which only made him feel a little bit nauseous. As far as he was concerned this was the first time he had used the western-style saddle and he was grateful that it made the journey more comfortable. As the day wore on he made the necessary adjustments to direction that Jim would have made earlier in the day only now the sun was no longer behind him as it would have been for his missing colleague. He pulled his hat down further over his eyes as he trudged on. Eventually he began to feel a little better and increased the mare's pace until she was doing a canter by the time he reached a small creek.
Artie climbed down from his horse and looked around him to see if there was any evidence that Jim had been there. It didn't take him long to find his gun lying in some long grass. It had the initials JW engraved on the butt. He could also see from looking closely at the muddy bank that there had been more than one man there and there were marks where boot heels had been dragged across the ground.
Artie frowned. From what Jim had told him they were still a day's journey from Nueva Atenas so he wouldn't expect Doctor Loveless to be in the vicinity but who else would want to kidnap Jim? He didn't believe that it had been the work of common cut-throats of the sort found in London because they would have just taken his horse and anything else of value and slit his throat. No, Jim had been taken for a purpose and he had to work on the assumption that Loveless was behind it. But for now he would return to the train and let Washington know the situation. He needed to talk to Nate as well. The engineer would have to side-line the Traveller until they knew whether they needed to continue to New Mexico or not. As for Artie, he would return to the creek later and try to track Jim and his kidnappers. He would also need a disguise if he were to confront the evil German. He remembered the fun he had during the Crimean War, posing as a Russian soldier, spying out their plans, totally accepted by the other men. He could speak Russian like a native and his German was pretty good too. He started to feel a thrill course through his blood at the thought of the adventure that lay ahead of him.
Jim had been taken under escort from the bedroom to the parlour. This meant climbing a staircase to an upper level, confirming his belief that he had been underground. Loveless was all charm and yet there was something of the shark about him that was never far from the surface.
"Please be seated, Mr West," he said as the shorter of his two henchmen, whom he remembered from the creek, pushed Jim into an armchair.
Jim looked around him. The furnishings were rich and he was surprised when he looked to his right to see a beautiful woman sitting serenely as a well-fed cat in an armchair identical to his own.
"Let me introduce you to my cousin, Antoinette," Loveless said. "I'm happy to say we are what the Americans call 'kissing cousins'." He smiled at the woman and she smiled back at him.
Jim smiled and nodded in her direction. "I must say this is all most civilised," he commented.
"I'm affronted that you should imagine that it would be otherwise," Loveless said with a slight frown. "I pride myself on being a man of education and principle."
"Of course," Jim replied. "Please accept my apologies. I meant no slur upon your reputation as a host."
"Well said, Mr West. I am happy to accept your apology." Loveless smiled but then his expression became one of sadness. "However I'm afraid I'm still going to have to kill you," he said.
"Are you sure?" Jim asked. "We were getting along so well."
"I'm afraid so. You see you have been the cause of my one and only failure when you destroyed my plan to assassinate Queen Victoria. Besides that I was forced to come to this country though that I do not hold entirely against you because I find more freedom and scope here to do what I want and I have met my beautiful cousin Antoinette as well. But the rest I do blame you for."
"I was only doing my job," Jim protested. "You can't blame a man for doing that."
"Your job, as I recall, was to look after the German delegation, not to meddle in my affairs."
"Yes but any Englishman would deem it to be his duty to interfere with whomever necessary when the life of his queen is in danger."
Doctor Loveless stamped his foot angrily. "You are a pest, Mr West. I will put an end to you."
"If you're so keen then why haven't you done so already?" Jim asked. "I have been at your mercy since the incident at the creek."
Loveless began pacing up and down, his hands clasped behind his back. "That is a sore point with me. My men were supposed to bring Mr Gordon back with them as well. But I'm not going to kill you until I have him too."
"Then you're out of luck because Artemus is not with me."
"Don't lie to me!" Loveless shouted. "I know he came with you from London."
"He did," Jim said. "But what you do not know is that his horse had an altercation with a rattlesnake and he's now in a coma."
"No, no, no!" the little doctor said, stamping his foot again. "I don't believe you."
"That's not my problem," Jim said.
"Oh I think it is, Mr West," Loveless said coming to a halt in front of him and looking up at him. "As Mr Gordon will not be joining us there is no reason for me not to kill you right now."
Jim kept his expression as bland as he could though inside his mind was racing. He had managed to save Artie but at the cost of his own life. He didn't mind that so much; what he was focused on now was how to get himself out of his predicament. But Loveless had more to say.
"But these things mustn't be rushed but savoured," he said. He had calmed down and was now smiling. Somehow that worried Jim more than when the little man had been angry. "Yes, I think I shall have some fun with you, Mr West. What do you say, Antoinette?"
Jim looked over at her and only now noticed that she had a needle and thread in her hand and she appeared to be sewing something.
She smiled at Loveless. "I'm looking forward to it, my dear," she said.
"But with all this talking I have forgotten my duty as a host," Loveless said. "Will you share a cigar with me, Mr West?" He walked over to a small table on which a humidor was standing. He opened the lid and extracted two cigars, handing one to Jim who looked at it suspiciously.
"It is from Havana," Loveless said, biting the end off of his cigar. One of the henchmen rushed over and struck a match to light the other end. Loveless pointed to his 'guest' and the henchman hurried to light Jim's as well.
Jim puffed warily on the cigar but soon realised it was one of the best he had ever smoked. "Thank you," he said. However, before much more of the cigar had been consumed Loveless gestured to his two henchmen and they pulled Jim out of the chair.
"I'm afraid it's time for you to return to your room," Loveless said. "You can enjoy the rest of your cigar there."
Jim was glad to be going back to the basement room as he could carry out his plan to pick the lock and escape but once he was there he began to feel so ill that he only just managed to lie on the bed before he passed out, the cigar falling to the floor. One of the henchmen came in and retrieved it, smiling at Jim as he turned to leave.
Artie directed a piercing gaze at himself in the mirror. He had to make sure that no-one would be able to penetrate his disguise – well actually Doctor Loveless was the only one who counted as no-one else had met him before. That didn't make him feel any less nervous because he wasn't about to underestimate the German.
He had already contacted Washington with the news of Jim's kidnap. It was not completely bad news as it was most likely that Loveless was behind it and that meant that Jim had been given a chance to infiltrate the enemy's territory.
Artie had also talked to Nate and they would stay in town and look after the Traveller while Artie was gone. All he needed to do now was go back to the creek and track Jim's kidnappers back to their hideout. Placing a trilby on his pomaded curls, Artie took one more glance in the mirror, winked at his reflection and went to saddle up Ariadne before setting out.
Meanwhile, Jim was waking up and thankfully this time he didn't have the symptoms of a hangover though he did feel a little nauseous. The first thing he noticed was that he had on different clothes to the ones he was wearing when he laid down on the bed. He had on a pair of black trousers and a bolero jacket of blue corduroy. His shirt was white and he was wearing a string tie. Even his leather boots were different.
He combed his fingers through his hair in puzzlement. It was only when he heard the door opening and he looked over to it that he realised that the bed he was lying on was massively bigger than it had been. But he was even more alarmed when Doctor Loveless entered the room and was a giant compared to him.
"Well, Mr West," he beamed. "How do you like being six inches tall?" Then he laughed and laughed and Jim put his hands over his ears to shut out the awful noise.
To be continued
