Fogbound- Empire in Flames by Gareth Clegg

Author:Gareth Clegg [Clegg, Gareth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-07T22:00:00+00:00

The constant chatter of the two women catching up grated. After what seemed hours, Molly stood. “Right gentlemen, shall we?”

Simmons leapt to his feet, and Molly led them into a back room, laughter and faint music reverberated through the wall ahead of them. Instead of continuing that way, she took them to the left and a trapdoor in the floor. After opening the metal lock, she struggled to free the thick wood and iron panel.

Bazalgette stepped forward. “May I be of assistance?”

“Aren’t you a darling?” she said, stepping back. Bazalgette wasn’t a big man, but he knew how to lift things. Must be all that practice with sewer grates, Simmons thought.

Steps led down and out of sight into the blackness below. Bazalgette lit the arc-lamp with a now familiar crackle and hum followed by the intense cone of light.

“Well, would you look at that,” Molly said. “That puts my poor oil lamp to shame it does.”

The light flooded the stairs illuminating the first ten steps as Bazalgette led the way.

“Straight down to the bottom, then you should see a cover ahead,” Molly said following after Bazalgette. “Close the trap behind you, Mr Simmons. One of those worthless immigrants will lock it later.”

The thick trapdoor was heavier than he’d thought, and it dropped with a resounding thud. Dust leapt into the air around his head, causing him to cough.

“Mind the last few inches. I once nearly brained myself dropping that.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Simmons replied, coughing as he turned and followed the others into a cold cellar.

Wooden barrels lined the walls, and true to her word, a grilled opening appeared in the floor a few feet beyond the final step. An odour wafted up, reminding Simmons of his last trip through the sewers.

Molly was fishing inside her coat for something and pulled out a large key-chain. She thumbed past a few smaller keys before settling on one.

“Here we go,” she said, kneeling to unlock the heavy padlock. In a few minutes, they were descending a wood and rope ladder. It looked frayed at points, but though it stretched a little, it soon felt sturdy and supported their combined weight. Bazalgette took the lead with the arc-lamp lighting the way as they descended twenty feet.

Simmons headed down second at Molly’s instruction. She had stopped to lock the padlock, and with a clang of metal on stone, it closed behind them.

Halfway down, the wall changed from rough rock to broken brickwork, and stepping down the final few rungs, he recognised the familiar arched walls of the sewers.

Light from the arc-lamp played across the tunnel roof as Bazalgette surveyed the area. “It looks like they dug down to intersect with this part of the sewer,” he said, still looking at the entry point as Molly descended into the beam.

“Do you mind not staring right up my skirt?” she asked.

The light pulled away to illuminate a section of tunnel to their left, but even as darkness fell around Bazalgette, Simmons saw the glowing crimson on his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.