puffing to keep pace with the carriage and peering in through the glass. He caught sight of India and
opened his mouth to shout out but failed to notice the signal post that stood at the end of the platform and ran headlong into it with a resounding smack.
Bulldog winced as he pulled down the blind and their carriage passed the end of the platform. He blew out a long breath and slumped heavily into one of the worn plush seats. ‘Well,’
he said with a sigh, ‘we might as well get comfortable. We’re here for the ride now.’
CHAPTER 10
A BOX OF FROGS
With her head pounding, Verity Brown awoke on a bed of fresh linen in a comfortable room furnished with antiques and expensive fixtures. She reached instinctively for her gun
but her holster was empty. When she tried to sit up she found her other wrist was handcuffed to the bed.
The earlier part of the evening came back hazily. Stone had been on his best behaviour over drinks, but then what had happened? She remembered feeling dizzy and getting up to leave and then,
blackness. Drugged, she guessed, but why?
She turned her attention to the handcuffs. They were slightly loose. She worked her wrist around in the steel bracelet, trying to twist it over the malleable bones of her hand. This would not be
a painless escape, she thought. She was still twisting her hand when the door rattled and swung open. An armed guard loomed briefly in the doorway and then Stone rolled into the room like a great
troll.
‘I trust you’re feeling refreshed after your sleep, Mrs Brown,’ he said. He sat down on a delicate antique chair that looked like it would burst under his weight and leaned
forward on his heavy walking stick.
‘I feel like hell,’ said Verity. ‘What did you do to me?’
‘I’m sorry about that. I know it’s bad manners to drug a dinner guest but I was never much good at manners.’ He paused to pick his nose. ‘Besides,’ he said,
examining the end of his finger, ‘I couldn’t take the chance you would really go to the Chinese.’
Verity struggled to work her hand free behind her back.
‘Are you all right, Mrs Brown? You look like you’re in pain.’
‘Just the company I have to keep,’ she said sweetly.
Stone laughed. ‘You remind me of my fourth wife, Mrs Brown. She never knew when to keep her mouth shut either!’
‘So would that have been Sid’s mother?’
He raised his eyebrow in surprise. ‘Ah! Very good. She was my true love, Mrs Brown. It damn near broke my heart when I had to kill her. The least I could do under the circumstances was
bring up the boy.’ He gave her a nasty smile. ‘You, however, I couldn’t care less about, so you can only imagine what I will to do to you if you don’t give me what I
want.’
‘I would have sold you the information about Ironheart. There was no need to kidnap me.’
‘Unfortunately, Mrs Brown, I couldn’t wait any longer for this particular nugget of information. If my rigs don’t leave for Ironheart immediately then the hard winter snows
will block the eastern valleys and we will not reach it before next spring. My rigs are fully fuelled and ready to leave at first light. I need that information, Mrs Brown and I need it
now!’
‘What’s at Ironheart that you want so desperately?’ Her wrist was almost free now. ‘It can’t be the money; you already have more of that than you could ever
spend.’
‘Power, Mrs Brown,’ he said. ‘Enough power to make the Trans-Siberian Company the dominant force over half the globe! When I first heard the legend of Ironheart I dismissed it
as a fairy tale. But then my spies discovered something that made me change my mind. The original government records of Ironheart from before the rains, documenting everything that had been stored
there. It made
fascinating
reading.’ His eyes glittered. ‘Ironheart is everything you think it is, Mrs Brown. There is enough treasure to satisfy the greediest pirate, but
there is much more. The men
opened his mouth to shout out but failed to notice the signal post that stood at the end of the platform and ran headlong into it with a resounding smack.
Bulldog winced as he pulled down the blind and their carriage passed the end of the platform. He blew out a long breath and slumped heavily into one of the worn plush seats. ‘Well,’
he said with a sigh, ‘we might as well get comfortable. We’re here for the ride now.’
CHAPTER 10
A BOX OF FROGS
With her head pounding, Verity Brown awoke on a bed of fresh linen in a comfortable room furnished with antiques and expensive fixtures. She reached instinctively for her gun
but her holster was empty. When she tried to sit up she found her other wrist was handcuffed to the bed.
The earlier part of the evening came back hazily. Stone had been on his best behaviour over drinks, but then what had happened? She remembered feeling dizzy and getting up to leave and then,
blackness. Drugged, she guessed, but why?
She turned her attention to the handcuffs. They were slightly loose. She worked her wrist around in the steel bracelet, trying to twist it over the malleable bones of her hand. This would not be
a painless escape, she thought. She was still twisting her hand when the door rattled and swung open. An armed guard loomed briefly in the doorway and then Stone rolled into the room like a great
troll.
‘I trust you’re feeling refreshed after your sleep, Mrs Brown,’ he said. He sat down on a delicate antique chair that looked like it would burst under his weight and leaned
forward on his heavy walking stick.
‘I feel like hell,’ said Verity. ‘What did you do to me?’
‘I’m sorry about that. I know it’s bad manners to drug a dinner guest but I was never much good at manners.’ He paused to pick his nose. ‘Besides,’ he said,
examining the end of his finger, ‘I couldn’t take the chance you would really go to the Chinese.’
Verity struggled to work her hand free behind her back.
‘Are you all right, Mrs Brown? You look like you’re in pain.’
‘Just the company I have to keep,’ she said sweetly.
Stone laughed. ‘You remind me of my fourth wife, Mrs Brown. She never knew when to keep her mouth shut either!’
‘So would that have been Sid’s mother?’
He raised his eyebrow in surprise. ‘Ah! Very good. She was my true love, Mrs Brown. It damn near broke my heart when I had to kill her. The least I could do under the circumstances was
bring up the boy.’ He gave her a nasty smile. ‘You, however, I couldn’t care less about, so you can only imagine what I will to do to you if you don’t give me what I
want.’
‘I would have sold you the information about Ironheart. There was no need to kidnap me.’
‘Unfortunately, Mrs Brown, I couldn’t wait any longer for this particular nugget of information. If my rigs don’t leave for Ironheart immediately then the hard winter snows
will block the eastern valleys and we will not reach it before next spring. My rigs are fully fuelled and ready to leave at first light. I need that information, Mrs Brown and I need it
now!’
‘What’s at Ironheart that you want so desperately?’ Her wrist was almost free now. ‘It can’t be the money; you already have more of that than you could ever
spend.’
‘Power, Mrs Brown,’ he said. ‘Enough power to make the Trans-Siberian Company the dominant force over half the globe! When I first heard the legend of Ironheart I dismissed it
as a fairy tale. But then my spies discovered something that made me change my mind. The original government records of Ironheart from before the rains, documenting everything that had been stored
there. It made
fascinating
reading.’ His eyes glittered. ‘Ironheart is everything you think it is, Mrs Brown. There is enough treasure to satisfy the greediest pirate, but
there is much more. The men
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