Unless I could stop it.
"Here," I said, taking a Blood of Isis amulet from my satchel and handing it to Snuffles. "You'll need to wear this."
He recoiled. "I ain't wearin' no girl's frippery!"
"It's not frippery, you little dolt! It's an amulet, to protect against curses like the one that just attacked the Grim Nipper."
"Oh." He eyed it with great suspicion. "You sure about that?"
"Never mind. If you don't care if your fingers rot off, it's no worry of mine." I went to put the amulet back into the satchel, but Snuffles reached out and stopped me.
"No, miss. I'll wear it. I'm right fond of me fingers."
"Very well," I said, then slipped it over his head before he changed his mind. "You can wear it under your collar if you like, so it doesn't show."
Behind us there was a loud, hollow clattering as a horse and carriage drew up onto the wooden docks. My breath caught in my throat as I watched the footman hop down and open the door. Admiral Sopcoate alighted, followed by seven others. Except for Sopcoate, they all wore long flowing robes and brightly colored sashes. They had dark skin and full beards and wore turbans on their heads. The poor Abyssinians! They had no idea what they'd just wandered into.
The group laughed, and I heard raised voices speaking a strange language. Still using the cover of the cargo crates, I inched closer.
The tallest man had a strange forked beard. And blue eyes. Odd for such a dark complexion. The man next to him sneezed, knocking his whiskers askew.
One of the Abyssinians gave him a nudge and motioned to the man's face. The fellow who'd sneezed quickly reached up and adjusted his whiskers.
Except he didn't use a hand to fix his whiskers, but a hook.
A horrid realization struck me.
I searched the rest of the faces. It was difficult to tell because they weren't all facing me, but it appeared as if the thick eyebrows on one man shadowed a heavily scarred left eye, although his skin was much darker than when I had last seen it.
With a sinking feeling, the brilliance of their plan hit me. Chaos was posing as the Abyssinian ambassadors! In mere moments, Admiral Sopcoate would be escorting them onto his pride and joy! I had to stop them, but how?
At the sound of quick, efficient steps on the dock behind me, I pulled back into my hiding place. A uniformed sailor was heading my way. I turned to Snuffles. "Whatever happens, stay here! Do you understand me? Stay here so you can show the police where I went. Oh, and may I borrow one of those guineas you lifted from the Grim Nipper?"
Snuffles tried to look shocked. "Wot guineas, miss?"
"Don't worry. I'd much rather you have them than they end up at the bottom of the river. I just need one."
At his continued reluctance, I sighed. "I promise I'll pay you back."
"Well, all right, then..."
I pocketed the coin, and then, without allowing myself to think about it too much, I stepped out from behind a crate directly into the path of the sailor.
He stopped, surprise marking his face. "Out of my way, there, miss."
"Good morning, sir." I did my best to look a little lost and worried. (It wasn't hard, believe me.) "I am in a bit of a bind and was wondering if you could help me? I need to speak to Admiral Sopcoate before he goes onboard, but I don't want his visitors to see that it's only me who's called him away. Being foreign dignitaries, they might not understand."
The sailor scowled. "What's a slip of a girl like you want to bother the admiral for?"
I wanted to scream with frustration. "It is of the utmost importance that I speak to the admiral at once," I said, using my best Grandmother Throckmorton voice.
"Now, look here. We've all got more important things to do than play nursemaid to a hoity-toity young miss."
By this time, the sailor had raised his voice and was beginning to create a bit of a scene. I saw the admiral look over at us, his eyes widening as he saw me. He murmured something to the man next to him, then detached himself from the small group.
I stepped behind the sailor, not wanting any of the Serpents of Chaos to recognize me.
"What's going on, sailor?" he asked.
The sailor whirled around, his face flaming at being caught arguing with me. "This girl wanted me to disturb you, sir. I didn't think—"
"You did exactly right, but I happen to know this child. I'll take it from here."
The sailor gave a relieved salute, then hightailed it out of there.
Admiral Sopcoate gave me his full attention. "What on earth are you doing here?" He stepped closer, his face full of concern. "Is your grandmother all right?"
"Oh, yes. She's fine. But ... it's about that group you're with. What I'm about to tell you might seem hard to believe, but you must try." I took a deep breath. "They aren't Abyssinians at all! They're evil men who work for a secret organization called the Serpents of Chaos. And they're planning to kidnap the Dreadnought right out from under your nose!"
The relief at being able to put this enormous problem smack into the hands of a competent adult was nearly overwhelming.
Sopcoate rocked back on his heels, a frown crumpling his brow. "You're quite right, my dear. This is a serious problem. But don't worry. I'll fix everything."
The admiral's face suddenly changed, going from his friendly, pleasant manner to a chilling, unreadable mask. He reached out and grabbed my arm with an iron grip. "You, my dear, have meddled for the last time." Then, with my mouth hanging open in shock, he began to drag me toward the Abyssinian delegation.
CHAPTER THIRTY
High Friends in Low Places
"YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR FEET under you and pretend you're walking," Sopcoate said under his breath. "Otherwise I'll have to carry you aboard and that won't be pleasant."
Scrambling, I managed to get my feet working. "But..."
"You know, I doubted the others when they told me how much trouble you'd been. That's why I befriended your grandmother, in fact—so I could keep an eye on you and see if one eleven-year-old girl could really cause such a fuss." He tightened his grip on my arm and shook me. "They were right. But I think we've underestimated you for the last time."
We? He'd said "we"! My mind reeled under the implications. "You mean you're with them?" My voice squeaked.
"If you mean the Serpents of Chaos, yes. I'm with them."
Admiral Sopcoate was one of the Serpents of Chaos?
"I tried to play nice, Theo. I arranged for three governesses in order to distract you and keep you out of our way. But no, you were too clever for them. Too clever by half."
So that was how Grandmother had been able to find so many governesses so quickly. "And you're the one who told Bollingsworth where to look for the staff! Because I told you I'd been working down in the basement," I gasped.
"Exactly ... Look what I found skulking around, gents."
Sopcoate thrust me forward so that I faced Bollingsworth, von Braggenschnott, and five other agents of Chaos I'd never seen before, all disguised as Abyssinians.
Von Braggenschnott raised his hook and took a menacing step toward me.
"Stop!" Sopcoate commanded. "We'll not risk our plans for a moment of petty vengeance."
"We should see how petty it feels when it is your hand she loses," von Braggenschnott muttered.
Bollingsworth studied me with cold, angry eyes and a disturbing smile. "Decisions, decisions—to kill her now or to kill her later."
"I'm not sure she should be killed, seeing as how she managed to outsmart all of you." Sopcoate's voice was scathing. When he had everyone's attention, he continued. "Our first move will be against the officers. If we cut off the head of the snake, the rest of the body will be easier to overcome. Who's got my mask?"