Chapter #19The Copy-Part 2 by: Seuzz   Another circuit through the kitchen, now blessedly empty, but the butler follows you with his eyes as you pass down the hallway to the library. "I ran into Roger on his way to the music room," you say to the assembled company. "He said someone wanted to see me?"
"Out on the porch," Reilly murmurs. From the way he's got his hand to his forehead, you can tell he's nursing a migraine.
"It's that man from the Wildlife Bureau," Mrs. Kenealy says in the same cross tone she's been using for an hour now. "It's nearly eleven. Why is he lurking in the dark looking for-- What was that endangered species he said they'd found nesting in my ha-ha?"
Three voices at once: "Spotted dasyure." "Speckled dumbledore." "Wild Apollonian pony." The first voice is yours; the second is Reilly's; you jump at the third, which comes from Mary. Or is it Samantha? One must have gone out and the other come in, for though her clothes are the same--jeans and a buckskin vest--she's now staring at you with shining eyes, instead of the murderous glare she'd shot you ten minutes ago as she'd come limping in from the second parlor.
"A pony?" That's Mrs. Kenealy.
"I've always wanted a golden pony," the Reese-Greebling girl sighs, her eyes locked on your face.
"I'll ask him, ma'am," you say, and hop over to the French doors.
A strong arm jerks you through them. It's Frank, and there are dark streaks on his face. "The fuck did you run away for when I waved at you?" he hisses. "I need to talk to you!"
"I'm trying to make it look like there's two of me!" you hiss back. "Bad enough when there's no such people as Roger and Thomas Tischebourne in the first place, but when one of them disappears--"
"Well, we've only got an hour, Roger--"
"Thomas."
"--which means I've only got fifty-nine minutes to stop that leopard. And you know what happens to Roger--"
"Thomas."
"--and Thomas Tischebourne if it gets here before the Tischebourne twins get their bloody thumbprints pressed onto George Carleton's will."
"Roger."
He grabs you by the throat. "What?"
"I said I get you. And you don't have to worry about me, Frank. Worry about those two girls--"
"Who are they?"
"You got me. I mean, we got into it only because Reilly stumbled on it. Maybe they're the twins that are supposed to get that cursed reliquary Carleton left behind?"
"You mean haven't found out anything about them? The fuck have you been doing in there?"
"Trying to keep her from killing me!"
"Which one?"
"Thomas. And Roger."
"I mean which girl is trying to kill you?"
"I don't know, because one of 'em's got a split personality, and I'm having a hard enough time keeping myself straight without keeping track of Mary and Samantha and Sybil."
"I thought her first name was Elizabeth."
"Who?"
"Mrs. Kenealy."
"Never mind. But that leopard--"
"Right. That's another complication," Frank says. "I almost had it cornered a little while ago, but someone shot at me and it got away."
"We didn't hear any gunfire."
"Who said anything about a gun, and who gives a shit if you heard it or not? I'm worried someone else is mixed up in this. You say you haven't figured out anything about those girls, but you keep an eye on them." He vanishes into the shadows.
You've just stepped back inside when you stop cold. Someone shot at Frank, but it wasn't a gun. Maybe it was an arrow? You turn around. "Where are you stalking off to now?" Mrs. Kenealy demands. "Worse than Banquo's ghost," she mutters in an aside to Reilly.
"I, uh, wanted to ask, uh, about the, uh, and whether it's catching," you mumble in a rush. "I'll just trot over to the ha-ha, see if he's there. If anyone sees Thomas, tell him I want to see him too."
"We thought you were in the music room, Roger," Reilly says. His eyes are twin pools of despair.
"Oh. Yes. I was. But I saw the wildlife man go trotting by the window, and I thought, Hello, it's nearly eleven, why's he lurking around here in the dark looking for the--"
You trail off. No one can tell you what the endangered thing is.
"So I think I'll go find him at the ha-ha."
"Your brother was just talking to him," Mrs. Kenealy says.
"Well then I'll tell him myself I'm looking for him."
"You're going to try finding the ha-ha in the dark?" she asks incredulously.
"I know where it is," the Reese-Greebling girl exclaims, and leaps to her feet. You grimace, but at least it's a way of keeping one of them under observation.
* * * * *
"Are you sure we're not going in circles, Mary?"
"What makes you think we are?" Her arm tightens in yours, and she rests her head on your shoulder.
"Because we've passed this birdbath three times."
"Oh, Roger. It's such a beautiful night for a walk."
* * * * *
"You're not normally this fumble-footed, Will." Frank glowers at you, and the impression of bloody-minded fury is only amplified by the angry red gashes down the side of his face. To your relief, he'd told you they were only from falling into a rose bush while tracking the leopard.
Not that you're in a good temper either. "It was that girl," you say crossly. "I heard a noise, and when I turned around she bumped into me and knocked me into the ha-ha. By the time I got out she was gone."
"There's something funny about them," he says. "And I mean 'funny peculiar,' not 'funny ha ha'."
"Nothing funny about that ha-ha," you grumble. Your knee still hurts.
"Well, our backs are against it now," he says, and stalks over to the dresser where Joe had put his things. "I don't want you yelling," he continues as he pulls open a drawer. "Joe packed these as an emergency measure, and with fifteen minutes to spare we need them. We're just going to have to claim the reliquary so those girls don't get it, and trust that I can kill its gwarcheidwad if it comes through the door for us."
"You don't look anything like a Tischebourne, Frank."
"I will with these." He drops a mask and a pair of gloves onto the bed.
You briefly entertain the thought of throttling him.
"I need Joe's imago in that mask," he continues. "And with Joe not here, it's the only way to get it in."
"Why didn't you put it in before?" you yell, despite his warning.
"Because you wouldn't have liked that either, and at the time we were ninety-nine percent sure we could avoid any kind of back up plan. We'll get rid of the mask when this is over--"
"But I can't get rid of that sigil once I've unlocked it!"
An unearthly yowl echoes outside the window.
"Fuck," you mutter, and pick up the gloves.
* * * * *
"So, which one am I going to be?" your newly born twin asks.
"Well, which tie do you want? Blue looks better on Thomas."
He just stares, and it takes you a moment to realize that he's listening. He raises a finger, and creeps to the door to the bathroom you share with the bedroom next door. He jerks the handle.
The girl bent at the keyhole falls into the room, and as she straightens up she flushes at the sight of the Tischebourne twins. "Oh, fuck," she spits. "There really are two of you."
Frank grabs at her, but-- Crack!
"Fucking cunt!" he howls, and hops up and down, nursing his knee where she'd kicked him hard.
She darts to the door before you can snatch at her, but turns at it. "Just try laying hold of that reliquary," she hisses. "Just try!" And then she's gone.
At least people can tell Roger and Thomas apart now. One Tischebourne twin has to favor his left leg as he limps down to the library; the other has to favor his right.
* * * * *
The library air crackles with electricity as the clock in the corner chimes midnight. Frank stands rigidly, as you do you; Reilly looks nervously around; Mrs. Kenealy shifts uneasily in her chair; the Reese-Greebling girl clenches her fists and glares at you.
As the final stroke fades, Reilly steps forward with a small razor blade. "As only one set of twins is here to claim the inheritance, I will ask you boys, as per the late Mr. Carleton's instructions, to place your seal upon the will. I'll try not to hurt you."
You raise your thumb, as does Frank.
But before Reilly can wield the blade there's a terrible cry from the porch. All turn as one as the French doors fly open.
It's the other Reese-Greebling girl, dressed identically to the first. She is crouched, walking backward, and dragging something on a rope. The doorway darkens, and then you see it: a leopard, its eyes blazing with fire and its jaws gaping to reveal rows of enormous teeth. It's as big as an elephant.
The girl turns when the leopard's head is through the door. "Look what I found in the ha-ha!" she exclaims. "And hasn't it got the sweetest face you've ever seen?"
Mrs. Kenealy screams and faints dead away. Reilly leaps onto the desk. "Will!" Frank cries. "Cover the others!" He thrusts out a hand--
But the other Reese-Greebling girl is already in motion. With one great leap she flies at the monster in the doorway; there's a flash; a great bolt of lightning cleaves the air; and the monster's head rolls to the side. Smoke pours from its neck, and it vanishes. A terrible smell briefly washes through the room, then dissipates. You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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