The Jack Hansard Series: Season Two

Episode 6.5

We slipped into the throng. The knot of people in the bandstand untangled, revealing a creature among them.

It did not look at all like a unicorn.

For starters, it was about the size of a donkey – and a bedraggled one, at that. A beardy tuft under its chin added an element of goat to its profile. The only unicorn thing about it was the long, thin horn protruding from its forehead, which had a spiral groove running up its length. It did not look magical. It looked quite deadly, and somewhat ugly.

Nevertheless, a ripple of appreciation spread through the crowd. Silently, one figure held up a jar full of quivering moths. The shadows in the bandstand nodded. From across the audience someone else held up a strangely shaped animal skull.

'Is this the bidding?' I asked Cora.

'Yes. We need to pick our moment.'

I watched another jar of moths go up followed by what was possibly a pitcher full of bats, until the bearer of small winged creatures was outbid by the collection of weird animal skeletons. A new bidder in the middle threw up an ancient looking leather-bound book, only to be outdone by the owner of a jade statue that shimmered in and out of existence under the moonlight.

Cora threw up one of her three vials. 'Luck,' she called over the heads of the crowd. She received a nod from the bandstand and a number of unfriendly eyes turned our way. Goosebumps prickled over my skin. It suddenly occurred to me that the winners of the auction might not be the most popular people after this was all over.

'Lambton Worm essence,' someone countered.

I breathed a small sigh of relief. But Cora was staring at all three vials Seven had entrusted her with, and chewing her lip.

'Maybe we should quit while we're ahead?' I said.

'We're not ahead, Jack. I don't think this is going to be enough.' She twitched open another pocket and the glow of sunlight spilled from its seams. 'If I add some of my own . . .'

I gently pushed her hand away from it. 'Is that necessary? So what if you don't win this thing for Seven?'

'I have to try.' She wouldn't quite meet my questioning gaze. 'I owe him. Just generally, you know? I want to get this right.'

Her hand shot up again. 'Three luck.'

The man with the fancy worm stuff bowed out. There was a moment of eerie stillness as the assembly waited for a new counteroffer.

'I tender a slice of immortality,' came a lazy drawl from under a wide-brimmed red hat. 'A literal slice, of Promethean liver.'

This drew gasps from all around us.

'Sorry,' I said, louder than I intended, 'does he mean from the Prometheus? Stole fire from the gods, Prometheus? Eternally chained to a rock to have his liver eaten by an eagle, Prometheus?'

Cora yanked me to the back of the crowd, where my voice wouldn't carry so much. 'Stop drawing attention to us!'

'But–'

'Be impressed later, okay?'

'But it's a myth,' I muttered to myself, while again navigating that lopsided feeling of the world coming undone. Maybe I should have paid more attention in my classes on Greek mythology. It had all seemed so dull on paper.

Cora was readying her pocket of sunlight. She locked eyes with me, and I nodded.

Before she could pull out the bottle, a hairy hand clamped over her arm.