Prologue |
Prologue
At best, life at Castle Duncan could be said to be a little unusual. The Cummings family inherited the place complete with weeds, mud, and a leaky roof. They also inherited responsibility and a legend-laden fief. The local pub isn’t called the Dragon and Daisy for nothing. Then there’s Percy’s Island just off the west coast. You can see it from the castle or if you stand on the cliffs. It too has a legend and, in the summer, when the sun sets west of the island it appears to dance on the water like a man on fire. It is said to be the spirit of Daisy’s father as he writhes in pain and burns eternally from the breath of a dragon.
Fire – well that brings up another point. At the old and decrepit eastern entrance to the estate is an arched gate. This alone would strike fear into the heart of any wayfarer. Two life-sized dragons with wings outstretched are perched atop the old masonry and glare with unseeing eyes at all who venture nearby.
The most modern convenience at the castle is the telephone, which only works when the mood takes it. On the gun-deck is a loaded cannon, which should only be fired in an emergency. It has been fired, and only last year. Jessica fired it, and then she almost died. Since then, life has been somewhat peaceful with no major disasters to speak of. Sergeant McBain, the local law enforcement officer, never did get to the bottom of last year’s affair and he still remains suspicious, but he is always suspicious anyway. On that occasion he arrested two malefactors both of whom seemed mentally unstable and very wet and muddy.
One has to realize Jessica is one of the secrets at Castle Duncan and she is a … well some people would call her a dragon. Now the Cummings family is well into their second year at Castle Duncan, summer is winding down, and soon it will be time for the kids to go back to school again. Jimmy being the younger at 14 years old, attends a local school while his sister, Valerie, four years his senior goes to a girl’s collegiate in Inverness. Jimmy was the one who installed the secret into Castle Duncan and it is probably the darkest secret ever. Those who know of it, never mention it and those who suspect are too afraid to even question it. Those who have experienced it, flatly deny it ever happened.
No one, but no one believes that dragons ever really existed. Yet it is a little-known fact that Draco viridis squamata ignis respiratio, the genus being Draco or Dragon, actually did exist up till the Middle Ages. They stood an average of some five and a half feet tall, that’s about 165 centimeters and are entirely green. It is said they walked on their hind legs like a Tyrannosaurus Rex but are quite capable of flight with a wingspan of over twenty feet, six or so meters in the metric scale. The old eastern gate to Castle Duncan sports two such representations in bronze. They sit above the old stone gate glaring down on the pathway.
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Chapter 1 |
Chapter 1
The Cummings family, now the McDuncans of Castle Duncan are American expatriates from Tonawanda, New York. Americans tend to be less superstitious than the local highlanders of Strath Glen, Scotland, but living in a castle that’s older than the United States of America tends to lend credence to the mystic tales of yon. The walls creak, the roof rafters groan, and the wind howls through the hollow halls. Owls hoot and almost every morning there’s a sea mist shrouding the hillside. The fog flows over the cliffs like Celtic porridge and evaporates before the sun, if there is any.
The trouble began with Ian McDonald and Robert McLaren two lowlife criminals who thought they had found the perfect crime. A perfect crime is one thing, but executing it is something else. The devils of Murphy’s Law always conspire to undermine those who fail to put in sufficient thought and human safeguards. After a total failure in the realms of criminality, Robert and Ian sat handcuffed to the police Land Rover near the eastern gate of Castle Duncan and in the pouring rain. The two green dragons glared down at them with their wings spread and sparkling in the glittering lightning flashes.
Robert had been pushed beyond his mental breaking point. Determination had been exiled by insanity. Broken and beyond recall he sat in the rain, scorched and mud soaked, his mind wandering in the nether regions where dragons and demons abound. Ian too, had been shaken to the very roots of his existence. Never a great scholar, Ian managed to absorb all that life threw at him. As he sat pondering the reality of life, what he took to be a spirit, spoke to him and gave advice as how best to handle his situation.
After the doctor had seen them both and treated their burns and other injuries, Sergeant McBain of the Inverness Constabulary took them to Inverness where they were incarcerated in the local jail. In less than a couple of days, Robert was whisked away to the Glasgow insane asylum. Ian on the other hand had to stand trial for assault, break and enter, and home invasion, though no one was charged with diamond theft. Of course all that was a year ago, now Ian languishes in his cell where he awaits his imminent release.
The jail is modern and known locally as the Blue Lamp Hotel. There are two comfortable beds in each – should we say – apartment. Ian’s incarceration partner, Malcolm Macbeth, is short, dark, going bald, and is due for release this coming weekend, a week before Ian.
“So what’ll you dee, when yah get oot,” asked Ian in his Scottish fashion.
Malcolm screwed up his ugly face, as this always helped him think. “I’ll have ta find work.”
Ian laughed. The thought of work always amused him. Only idiots and civil servants worked, at least that’s what he believed. “I would nay have to work,” he mused dreamily, “if it was-nay fer dragons.”
Malcolm swung his legs over the bed and placed them on the floor. “Dragons? What de yah mean, dragons?”
“Aaaah!” Ian breathed a long and piteous sigh. “Dragons are the bane of my existence.”
“Yah poor fool. There is nay such a beastie.”
“Oh yeah, and what do you know about it?”
Malcolm shook his head. “Dragons were exterminated shortly after the birth of Christ. Have yee never heard of St. George?”
“Aye, an’ he was a Sassenach too. Have you ever been to Castle Duncan, or Strath Glen?”
Malcolm shook his head in the negative.
“Well I have.” He stopped to think for a moment. The thought of Castle Duncan brought goose bumps to his forearms. His last visit had given him terrible nightmares for months. “I was a millionaire for a wee while,” he said with a wistful smile. “Now the laird of McDuncan owns it all. And would you believe he’s an American?”
Malcolm chuckled. He knew Ian was a simple soul, but this was the first indication the man was barking mad. “Americans canna be lairds, yah fool.”
“Well this one is. I suppose it will nay do any harm tellin’ yah the whole story.”
“Whole story? What whole story?” Malcolm lay back on his bunk again. His thoughts drifted into the realms of freedom and the lack of enforced discipline.
“Well,” Ian said wistfully, “it was millions of poonds in diamonds.”
“Aye,” Malcolm agreed, not really hearing what was said.
“It was Robert’s idea, it was. He said we could mak’ a killin’. Did you ken that the VanDugan smuggles diamonds on every run she mak’s?”
The words settled in Malcolm’s ears like the buzzing of angry bees. “Did you say the VanDugan?” he said sitting up again.
“Aye, the VanDugan it was. An’ a stinking night to boot. I borrowed a car and Robert, he’s a peterman, he boarded the ship and took the diamonds.”
Malcolm, never one to miss the opportunity to cash in on anyone else’s fortune listened eagerly. “Gan alang, then. So what happened to the ice?”
“Ah!” Ian nestled back with money signs glistening in his eyes. “Millions in beautiful cut diamonds, straight from Amsterdam, yah ken.” He shook his head sadly. “Now the bloody laird’s got the lot, and he’s an American. They should stay in their own land and leave our diamonds alone.”
“So where are the diamonds?”
“Ha, no one knows. The stinking dragon took them.”
Malcolm sighed. “You ignorant twit, there is nay such a thing as a dragon. What really happened to the ice?”
Ian sat up and faced his companion. “Well, Robert took the bag of diamonds and hid them at Castle Duncan while I tried to shake off the pol-iss. So I got stuck in the mud up on Ben Strath. Dumping the car I legged it to Inverness.”
“What about the diamonds?”
“Ha! Well you may ask.”
“I just did.”
“Robert said he’d hidden them in the head of a moose.”
Malcolm looked at his companion with quizzical eyes and disbelief in his heart. “Yah nitwit, a moose is an animal that lives way up north in Canada. There are nay mooses in Scotland.”
Ian smiled. “This one was dead, just the head you see, and they do have meece in Scotland. Robert put the money and the diamonds in the moose head.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The head disappeared. The gillie swore it was confiscated by an angry dragon.”
“Ah!” Malcolm said beginning to see the light. “This is where the dragon comes in?”
“No. Not until later. We tied the kids up and threatened them; that if they didn’t co-operate, we’d do ’em in.”
Malcolm frowned. “If yah harmed children ya’ll answer to me.”
“No, no, we didn’t harm them, just frightened them a wee bit. Somehow the boy got loose and the next thing I know there’s this huge and royally P’ed off dragon breathing fire and bellowing. I’ve never been so scared in my life. It breathed all over me. Man, I was singed from head to foot, then with a clap of thunder it threw me over the parapet.”
For a moment, Malcolm stared blankly at Ian, lost for words, and then he said slowly, “So what had yee been drinking?”
“Nothin’. I was stone cold sober.”
“Then how is it yah are not among the angels?”
“I landed in the Duncan Bog, and it was raining. When I pulled myself together, I ran as fast as I could away from that evil place. But with a terrible clap of thunder two more dragons suddenly confronted me. Their wings were spread and I could see they were going to eat me.”
“Gees, you were either drunk or yah had been smoking something. Yah half-baked fool, there is nay such a thing as a dragon, let alone three of them. Use yah head, laddie, how come yah are still alive?”
“That’s easy, Daisy’s dragon lets you go once she knows you’re defeated. Sergeant McBain grabbed me and shackled me to his Rover. He must have saved me and that’s when the spirit came and advised me.”
“And they sent the other one of yous to the nuthouse. I think it was a miscarriage of justice. You’re the one who’s barking mad.”
Malcolm lay back and mused at the silly story related by Ian. It’s very hard to know when someone’s pulling your leg. The more he thought about it the more he began to realize there could be a vestige or two of truth in the story. The bit about the VanDugan could well be true, as he knew someone who used to serve on that ship, and they surely do visit Amsterdam a lot. With a twinkle in his eyes he began to hatch a plan, one that could yield him a decent reward. If Ian and his loony friend Robert actually did steal diamonds then it’s more than likely someone will offer a reward for their return. There may even be a reward just for reporting where they are hidden.
The days dragged on, but at long and final last Saturday arrived. Why they picked Saturday to release him, Malcolm had no idea. But any day is a good day to get out of jail. The only problem was that he had to report to his probation officer in Glasgow and repeat the meeting every week.
A quick phone call to his friend Buggsy McSearl cinched it. A year ago the VanDugan had been robbed, but no one seemed to know what exactly had been taken.
“Why d’yah wanna know?” Buggsy asked.
“I learned something in the big-house,” Malcolm said. “Who would like the stuff back?”
“Hanged if I know. Why don’t you try, Benny O’Shea, he’s always in on the thick of things?”
“Right-on. Thanks, Buggsy. If’n there’s a penny in it I’ll see you right.”
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