nodded his head
sadly. ‘Well, that’s because I saw in you a humanity that I think can be helpful to
the Brotherhood. The job I have in mind is by no means pleasant. You will become a different
person, Jayadeep, all vestiges of your former self buried within the folds of a new disguise.
You will no longer be Jayadeep Mir, do you understand?’
Jayadeep had nodded, and then Ethan had left.
Only this time the door remained open.
It took Jayadeep some moment of contemplation
before he too rose to his feet and left – stepping out of The Darkness at last.
‘The mission begins now,’ Ethan Frye
told him the next day at dusk. The warmth Jayadeep was used to seeing in his tutor’s eyes
was absent. Ethan’s relief at having freed Jayadeep was short-lived. Now was time to
attend to the next order of business, the next phase of the operation.
They stood alone on a harbour wall. The hulls of
boats clunked together in the gentle swell, while gulls swooped and called and preened.
‘I’m about to leave you,’ said Ethan, looking the boy up and down, noting the
pauper’s clothes he wore, just as directed. ‘You need to make your own way to
London. Find somewhere to live, somewhere befitting a man of very limited means indeed. Here
…’He handed Jayadeep a small pouch of coins. ‘This is
for your subsistence. It won’t go very far so spend it wisely. And remember that from this
moment forth you are no longer Jayadeep Mir, son of Arbaaz and Pyara Kaur of Amritsar,
accustomed to comfort and wealth and the attendant respect of others. When you arrive in London
you arrive as the scum of the earth, a brown-skinned outsider without a penny to your name,
which, incidentally, will be Bharat Singh. However, your code name – the name that I will
know you by – is The Ghost.’
Jayadeep had thought then that he hated the name
Bharat Singh. The Ghost suited him better.
‘When you have lodgings I need you to find
work,’ continued Ethan, ‘but at a very specific place, the significance of which
will become clear in some months’ time. I need you to find work at the Metropolitan
railway dig in the north-west of the city.’
Jayadeep had shaken his head in confusion.
Already there was so much to take in. A new life? A new job? All of it in a strange foreign
land, without the benefit of his family name, without his father’s tutelage and
Ethan’s guidance. It seemed impossible what was being asked of him. And now this. A
railway?
‘Don’t worry about that just at the
moment,’ said Ethan, reading his thoughts. ‘All will become clear when you’re
in London.’ He ticked things off his fingers. ‘First find lodgings of some kind.
Lodgings suited to a man on the very lowest rung of the social ladder; then become acquainted
with your surroundings, then secure employment at the Metropolitan railway dig. Is that
clear?’
The young man could only nod
his head and hope these mysteries would somehow solve themselves in due course.
‘Good. You have three months from today to
do it. In the meantime I need you to study this …’
A folder, leather-bound and tied with a thong,
was duly produced from within the older Assassin’s robes.
Jayadeep took it, turning it over, wondering what
lay within.
‘I suggest you read the papers during your
passage and then toss the lot in the ocean. Just make sure you have committed its contents to
memory. We shall meet on this day three months’ hence, in the gardens of the Foundling
Hospital off Gray’s Inn Road at midnight. Now, and this is the most important aspect of
what I’m telling you, under no circumstances are you to demonstrate that you have any
abilities beyond those expected of a dirt-poor seventeen-year-old Indian boy. Walk small, not
tall. You’re not an Assassin and you are not to behave like one. If you find yourself
under threat, then be cowed. If you appear to be a more competent and able worker than your
fellow men, then try less hard. The important thing for you
sadly. ‘Well, that’s because I saw in you a humanity that I think can be helpful to
the Brotherhood. The job I have in mind is by no means pleasant. You will become a different
person, Jayadeep, all vestiges of your former self buried within the folds of a new disguise.
You will no longer be Jayadeep Mir, do you understand?’
Jayadeep had nodded, and then Ethan had left.
Only this time the door remained open.
It took Jayadeep some moment of contemplation
before he too rose to his feet and left – stepping out of The Darkness at last.
‘The mission begins now,’ Ethan Frye
told him the next day at dusk. The warmth Jayadeep was used to seeing in his tutor’s eyes
was absent. Ethan’s relief at having freed Jayadeep was short-lived. Now was time to
attend to the next order of business, the next phase of the operation.
They stood alone on a harbour wall. The hulls of
boats clunked together in the gentle swell, while gulls swooped and called and preened.
‘I’m about to leave you,’ said Ethan, looking the boy up and down, noting the
pauper’s clothes he wore, just as directed. ‘You need to make your own way to
London. Find somewhere to live, somewhere befitting a man of very limited means indeed. Here
…’He handed Jayadeep a small pouch of coins. ‘This is
for your subsistence. It won’t go very far so spend it wisely. And remember that from this
moment forth you are no longer Jayadeep Mir, son of Arbaaz and Pyara Kaur of Amritsar,
accustomed to comfort and wealth and the attendant respect of others. When you arrive in London
you arrive as the scum of the earth, a brown-skinned outsider without a penny to your name,
which, incidentally, will be Bharat Singh. However, your code name – the name that I will
know you by – is The Ghost.’
Jayadeep had thought then that he hated the name
Bharat Singh. The Ghost suited him better.
‘When you have lodgings I need you to find
work,’ continued Ethan, ‘but at a very specific place, the significance of which
will become clear in some months’ time. I need you to find work at the Metropolitan
railway dig in the north-west of the city.’
Jayadeep had shaken his head in confusion.
Already there was so much to take in. A new life? A new job? All of it in a strange foreign
land, without the benefit of his family name, without his father’s tutelage and
Ethan’s guidance. It seemed impossible what was being asked of him. And now this. A
railway?
‘Don’t worry about that just at the
moment,’ said Ethan, reading his thoughts. ‘All will become clear when you’re
in London.’ He ticked things off his fingers. ‘First find lodgings of some kind.
Lodgings suited to a man on the very lowest rung of the social ladder; then become acquainted
with your surroundings, then secure employment at the Metropolitan railway dig. Is that
clear?’
The young man could only nod
his head and hope these mysteries would somehow solve themselves in due course.
‘Good. You have three months from today to
do it. In the meantime I need you to study this …’
A folder, leather-bound and tied with a thong,
was duly produced from within the older Assassin’s robes.
Jayadeep took it, turning it over, wondering what
lay within.
‘I suggest you read the papers during your
passage and then toss the lot in the ocean. Just make sure you have committed its contents to
memory. We shall meet on this day three months’ hence, in the gardens of the Foundling
Hospital off Gray’s Inn Road at midnight. Now, and this is the most important aspect of
what I’m telling you, under no circumstances are you to demonstrate that you have any
abilities beyond those expected of a dirt-poor seventeen-year-old Indian boy. Walk small, not
tall. You’re not an Assassin and you are not to behave like one. If you find yourself
under threat, then be cowed. If you appear to be a more competent and able worker than your
fellow men, then try less hard. The important thing for you
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