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The olf lay flat in a splatter of drool and ink Vale half supported, half dragged Irene out of the office and into the main hall ‘It seems you will have to come with us after all, Miss Winters,’ he said
‘Quick,’ Kai exclai or staring ‘We need to catch a cab’
‘A cab? My dear fellow, a cab would be far too slow,’ Vale said ‘We need to get to the roof’
‘The roof?’ Irene said She was possibly being a bit slow here, but she wasn’t sure that Kai turning into a dragon and flying them there would be much use, unless‘Oh Of course The airships’
‘Precisely,’ Vale said, hurrying her to the stairs ‘Of course, theresubsequently, but it’s our best option’
Kai caught up with the-her-along-like-a-giant-doll process ‘I hearWhich way, Vale?’
‘Left at the top,’ Vale instructed They dashed past two astonished tour groups and turned left, entering a wide gallery full of large glass cases Here, stuffed hyenas iant stuffed polar bear towered over so stuffed seals, and a rainbow of stuffed birds satdried flowers
‘Catch the fro rose up ahead of the Irene and the two men to one side as they staaphone,’ Irene said quietly to Kai Her legs were still craht But she had an idea and this ti to work ‘The tour guides have theuide as he rushed past, and swiftly relieved hiaphone ‘Will this do?’
The first olf calass cases Its head and hands were totally wolflike now, and its clothing was splitting down the seaaphone ‘IS THIS THING ON?’ Feedback fuzz echoed in the rooh Another one joined it They were approaching slowly Clearly they were just as interested in fear as they were in bloodshed
‘Miss Winters,’ Vale began, ‘if you have anything in y Very precisely, she directed the Language through the aphone, ‘Stuffed creatures, come to life and attack olves’
The words shook in the air and drew energy from her to h to tell a lock to open, or a door to shut These actions calad to oblige But stuffed anis
Except now, as Vale looked at her in growing co true
The polar bear burst from its case with a silent roar, mouth open to display all those carefully preserved teeth The glass panes crashed in a waterfall of shards onto the tiled floor, shattering in all directions The seals ca in spaslass cracked as a flood of creatures fought their way out A wolf pack staggered forward on stiff legs, and a carefully wired boa constrictor caers stuck into its sawdust-stuffed body, and even the birds threw the on the ends of their wires
‘Dear heavens,’ Vale said ‘Miss Winters What have you done?’
‘They’ll only attack the olves,’ Irene said, tossing the aphone to one side It crunched and tinkled as it hit the floor ‘We need to run while they’re distracted, before Silver gets here’
Vale had a good instinct for knohen to act now and ask questions later It iddily, wondering if the strychnine / curare cocktail washer delirious One of the olves tried to break away froet at the of the Species, Only Two Feet Long) choed it back into the h more stairs and corridors, and then they were on the roof The air outside was sh Two ss in a darkly o perhaps twenty feet above the roof of thetowards the ‘Now excuse ent business up here, but this is off limits’
‘There is no time for that, man!’ Vale declared ‘Barricade the doors There are olves at large in thea force from Scotland Yard to sweep the place In the meantime, I require one of your zeppelins to stop the perpetrator before he can escape’
The guard’s eyes widened He stroked his ent, sir?’
‘It’s a h will explain everything when he gets here Are you withhis heels together in his enthusiasreat detectivesairships, waving an arirl, you’ve a run to do!’