When we left our story,
...Having fled the fiery scene of her lover's latest act of revenge, Jancy now finds herself ready for the next chapter in her life
* * * *
Secret conspiracy, rabble to conspire.
The discovery in the device to move
Against the great one,
Then slaughtered and put without power.
- Nostradamus April 1564
With no further evidence forthcoming in the murder of either Major Raithburn or Sir Richard, the War Department conveniently attributed their deaths and the destruction of their property to a rash of disruptive efforts being committed by Confederate sympathizers.
With the war on, and with death being commonplace, the press was also disinclined to pursue the deaths of a little-known officer and a private citizen, knowing full well that newspaper readers were more interested in news from the battlefield than the home front.
With the death of his two former colleagues, Commodore Whitehead seemed to drift deeper into the shadows, leading surviving members of the original Seven to wonder who would be next to encounter the rage of the half-breed, but a strange set of circumstances would provide the answer.
It all began when Professor Jordan received a totally unexpected letter from Commodore Whitehead requesting his travel to Philadelphia where he would find a huge sea liner on the Delaware River readying for a round-trip voyage, sailing to London and returning through Havana to Philadelphia.
The Professor, however, was able to read between the lines, knowing that the Commodore was readying a getaway route for any Confederates who might need to escape, should they lose the war.
The delay in departure was to await approval from the British of the planned escape route and sanctuary. One thing the Professor could not explain was a reference to a 'Lady Green,' who had been asked to join them.
- - - - -
It was a bitter January day as the Professor hailed a horse cab and called out the address down by the river. With him, Jancy, Tonio, and Chester rattled their way eastward to the Delaware.
South Street was sided with cheap wooden houses with a communal fountain, which allowed drivers and horses to share a drink. Once they passed through the dark smoke rising from the cooking pots in the market spaces, they could see a new house rearing its potential elegance in what was planned to be the biggest mansion in South Philadelphia. Nothing else south of City Hall would have as many floors, drawing rooms or secret passages as would the intended new home of the financially successful builder, Mister Tommy O'Halloran.
Tonio removed the picture of his seven enemies from his pocket. The 'x' placed over the face of Major Raithburn was joined with an 'x' over the face of Sir Richard. Next in line of the remaining five of the Seven was Tommy O'Halloran, a thickset, redheaded man with a ruddy, smoothly shaved face that bore an Irish smile.
O'Halloran's house would be the last to the river, with the entire site surrounded by spike-topped walls. Its only entrance was the front gate, but a rear gate led to a secret passageway, which, in turn, led down to the water.
Across the river lay New Jersey, and along the edges of that bank, the rocky paths were tufted with thin bushes. The sunlight that glittered peacefully on the waters clashed with the complex orchestration of noise that came from the packed thoroughfare of Front and South Streets.
As Jancy exited the horse cab, the corner wind sucked her back until Tonio used himself as a shield for her rail-thin body.
For Chester, the action brought back a childhood flash, the time at the circus when a clown threatened to throw a bucket of water on Jancy. Chester remembered how he stepped in to shield her, only to find himself doused with confetti and laughter.
Now here she was, all grown up, as bright as a penny with her hair copper brown and her coat and knee-high shoes colored to match, and with a boyfriend who looked like a million dollars.
The harsh wind added its sound to the mansion's back gates as they ground open to accept an iron vault from a covered wagon. This was a sight that brought a warm smile to Tonio's face. It was one thing to wait for O'Halloran's mansion to be constructed so he could burn it down; it was another to wait for O'Halloran's wealth to be transported to that vault so that he could empty it out.
The Professor steadied his hat as he caught sight in the distance of a tall, slender lady dressed in green. He thought it a good sign for the future that Lady Green had shown professional promptness.
As the group circled the frozen grounds along the construction site, a shadow of perplexity fell across Jancy's face. Her shortsighted eyes at first had given her the blurred impression that the lady they were approaching was totally green. Viewed in closer focus, however, it was the green ensemble of matching coat, dress, hat, and shoes that formed the image of a Lady-in-Green.
Observing with no optical impediment, the Professor viewed the green apparition as costumed in a French tradition of scrupulously preserved appearance. In her sacramental green silk, a wisp of lace turned over her collar and her face smoothed into harmony with her apparel, she appeared as a vision to be either worshipped or possessed-or possibly both.
Leaving the others, the Professor led the lady to the gangplank of the ship for their meeting with the Commodore. Lady Green completed the buttoning of her gloves to present herself with complete perfection. But the Professor thought he detected a certain confusion within Lady Green, in the way she dawdled over the last few buttons, the way her eyes drooped as if subdued by the length of their lashes, the way her first words seemed to suggest an uneasiness.
"If you are wondering why the Commodore has asked me to help you, let me say this. I was once Tommy O'Halloran's lover, but it is no longer the quality of my looks, the fall of my dress, or the turn of my figure that interests him. I am now kept around solely for conversational purposes, as a social instrument in running his household machinery."
Having released her first salvo, Lady Green continued with a white-lipped intensity. "I shall assist you by providing a gradual sweep through his private files to expose his dishonest business transactions, an opportunity made easy for me, considering my new position in his life."
The Professor lent a hand as they stepped off the gangplank onto the deck of the crowded ship. "Then the Commodore has paid you to assist in socially destroying Mr. Tommy O'Halloran?"
The woman's face stiffened. "He has paid me a handsome sum, enough to replenish my wardrobe and enough, perhaps, to restore some of my dignity."
Lady Green struggled to conceal her excitement by trying to keep her voice at its habitual level. "But I am here also for another reason. The Commodore has a special request. He wishes me to aid him in fulfilling a secret desire."
En route to accommodating that secret wish, Lady Green found herself dancing with Commodore Whitehead to the sound of a seven-piece orchestra. The private ballroom was made possible by removing the common walls of the cabins at the middle of the ship; the place where the huge machinery of paddles had given way to the slimness of newly introduced screw propellers.
The dance the two were sharing was a habanera, a slow peasant dance in which the partners lock their long steps together to the sensual cadence of Cuban music. The guitars strummed, and a flute joined in as a button accordion carried the melody.
The Commodore dipped his partner low and whispered. "I have wanted to do this since I first laid eyes on you."
Lady Green kept her silence as the bowing of the violins sent the couple across the floor once again. As two tried to surrender to the passions of the habanera, the Professor located the Commodore's cabin by following a presser returning garments.
Slipping into the darkened stateroom, the Professor found the windows of the stateroom covered. The black walnut cabin was as dark and stuffy as a grave. A fat fly buzzed its way around the dim room as perspiration began rolling off the Professor's forehead. As he moved about the cabin, his eyes were drawn to the bedstead. Its strangeness drew him closer.
An overhead crown of tapa cloth folded down in kingly array, exposing the floor board which was carved into two swaying palm trees whittled down and rooted as a pair of devil's hooves.
In all, the bedstead gave an Hawaiian appearance until the tapa cloth was pulled back to reveal a typical British influence, a headboard large enough to be inscribed with figures to connote one's wealth and position. This one was etched with what looked like a line of complex hieroglyphics which, when one came closer, turned out to be figures portraying hundreds of people marching into the fiery pits of Hell.
The Professor wondered at the message the Commodore seemed to be imbedding in his dreams. And then, as he drew back, the figures of the people returned to being simple hieroglyphics again, and it was time to return to the ballroom.
With their dance being completed, the Commodore faced the Professor and explained the deal he would make. "I have deposited seven thousand dollars in each of your bank accounts. When I return, I expect that whatever good name Tommy O'Halloran has had will have been destroyed. Attack him with his own papers. Smear him with his past. Then see that his mansion burns."
The Commodore struck the match, lit his cigar, and removed it from his narrowed lips. "As for the half-breed Tonio, he should be good at the part about burning. It will give him something to do until I return and have him killed."
Then, catching himself in a yawn, the Commodore waved his hand to dismiss Lady Green and the Professor.
- - - - -
The Commodore sailed off and now there would be a wait for Tommy O'Halloran. He was not expected to arrive in Philadelphia until Saint Patrick's Day, when he would serve as the Grand Marshall of the annual parade.
Awaiting his return, the Professor and Chester stayed out of sight by working out of the Philadelphia War Office while Jancy and Tonio took secret lodgings in an apartment over Lady Green's social club, which was nothing more than a converted warehouse with shamrocks painted on the bar walls and Irishmen plastered on the bar stools.
Upstairs, above the clouds of cigar smoke and the tinkling of glasses, Tonio paced the floors awaiting the arrival of the Professor and news of how they would go about their plan of destruction.
The Magician's good looks did not escape Lady Green, who offered some advice to Jancy. "One must be careful, my dear. Women are always being deceived. Men move on. Women stay behind."
Lady Green raised a half-smile, knowing that the coldness of her remark had probably caused the young girl's heart to jump a beat.
Jancy moved closer to the fireplace for warmth, a fact that didn't faze Tonio. Despite the rooms being badly heated, he was walking around bare-chested, a fact that Chester commented on when he entered.
"Is he planning to do some sunbathing?"
Lady Green turned to Chester with her heavy-lidded look. She took his hand and ran her finger over the creases in his palm. Chester became curious. "What does my life sign say?"
"It says that you were born a pest and you shall die a pest."
The arrival of the Professor put Tonio's impatience into words. "We blow up mansion now, yes?"