Page 59 of Across Space and Time

Adam chuckled. Jack started to take a step toward him, but Adam cocked back the hammer on the pistol and pressed it to Anthony’s temple. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Jack held up his hands. “It appears we are at an impasse, Mr. Adam.”

“It seems so,” Adam replied casually.

Hugh had no idea what he could do. He couldn’t move fast enough to get Anthony away from Adam, or to redirect the pistol elsewhere. Jack possibly could, if he could distract Adam enough. “Was Viscount Jardin a member of Eden?”

“A newer member,” Adam said. “He enjoyed the power of the Tree and was willing to pay generously for it outside of the monthly gatherings.”

“And he got apples from the Tree at Elysium, provided by John Henries, your gardener,” Hugh said.

“Oh, yes. Under my direction, of course. John was quite loyal to my family. Such a shame that I had to frame him so my father wouldn’t know that I was providing apples to clients outside of Eden.” Adam looked excessively smug.

Hugh felt his lips curl back in a disgusted snarl. “You killed the Wilcoxes and set the bakery on fire.”

“Right on both counts,” Adam said. “Reardon was wrong about you; you’re not half-bad at investigation. Though I suppose having Spring-Heeled Jack helping you gives you an advantage.”

The snarl that Jack let out next to him made Hugh’s hair stand on end. “You loathsome fiend! How dare you use such power to harm people this way!”

Adam laughed before he suddenly bent double as though his stomach had given him a sharp pain. Whatever it was caused him to let go of Anthony’s neck, and the dark-haired young man stumbled forward toward Hugh, his gait unsteady, though his eyes were slightly more focused now. Acting on instinct, Hugh stepped forward and caught Anthony in his arms as the boy stumbled into them. “He… ate… th’apple,” Anthony slurred.

Hugh didn’t know what that meant, but he didn’t have long to wait to find out. Adam’s body suddenly began to twist and elongate. His head expanded outward like a cape unfurling, his gray top hat tumbling to the ground, followed by the pistol. The visible skin on his face, hands, and neck began to bubble and morph into a pattern of overlapping scales, tinged a violet-red. His back bowed backward at a sharp angle like a strychnine victim. The flickering blue and white flames cast hideous shadows over him as his body jerked and spasmed before he dropped forward to his knees, his head down as his body finished its macabre dance. And then Adam rose to his feet to look directly at him.

What stood before them now was not a man, but a scaled creature with a diamond-shaped viper’s head and violet eyes with slitted, red pupils that seemed to radiate with fire like Jack’s did. The creature still had four limbs that were relatively in proportion to its body, though the ends of its fingertips had morphed into sharp, pointed claws. Its mouth opened, wider than any human’s should have, and fangs glistened within the creature’s mouth as it let out a snarling hiss that made every hair on Hugh’s body stand up in terror. A scaled appendage several feet long emerged from the back of Adam’s gray trousers, tapering down to a pointed serpent’s tail that lashed back and forth with a snap like a cracking whip.

Hugh stared in horror at the apparition before them, no longer human, but a strange homunculus of serpent and man. Adam had been biding his time, waiting for the apple to take effect. “Well, that’s not good,” Jack said next to him. “That’s the one I saw running away from Christopher.”

Hugh glanced desperately around for a fallen branch or anything he could use as a makeshift weapon, but he found none, and Anthony still clung to his arm, not fully under his own power yet. The pistol lay at the ground at Adam’s feet, but damned if he was going to approach the creature to try to grab it.

The serpent lunged forward, claws extended, headed straight for Hugh. With Anthony in his arms, he couldn’t move quickly enough to dodge, and his heart skipped a beat.

Arms closed around him, and Hugh found himself yanked off his feet and pressed close to Jack’s chest, Anthony crushed against him too. The wind whipped as Jack ran with them both in his arms, a little slower than he did when only carrying Hugh, but his momentum carried them into the apple trees. Hugh clutched Jack’s jacket, unable to do much else, lest he risk tripping Jack or losing his grip on Anthony.

Jack turned sharply several times until he came to a stop, setting Hugh on his feet. Anthony clung to Hugh’s arm, his dark hair ruffled from the run, looking like he might be about to vomit. Hugh held him close, turning to Jack. “We need to stop Adam and burn that Tree. We may not get another chance.”

Jack nodded. “I know,” he said, glancing anxiously over his shoulder. “But I doubt you’re going to be strong enough to fight him, especially not if you’re looking out for this young man.” He nodded his head toward Anthony.

Anthony shook his head, looking up at Jack, his eyes focusing and unfocusing on Jack’s horns. “Don’ worry about me. I’ll be al’ight.”

“We’re not going to leave you,” Hugh said firmly, and Jack nodded in agreement. “Do you think you can fight him?” he asked Jack.

“Yes,” Jack replied firmly. “I will.”

“There’s a fence around the Tree,” Hugh said, keeping his eyes moving, watching the orchard for any sign of the vile creature. In the breeze, the tree branches all swayed like restless spirits. “If you can get me inside of it, I can burn the Tree while you take care of Adam. We’ll burn the whole orchard if we have to.”

Jack suddenly whipped off his cape and draped it around Hugh’s shoulders. “Here. It’s not completely fireproof, but it should protect you enough. I’ll get you inside the fence.”

“Look out!” Anthony shouted, pointing heavily off to the side. Hugh and Jack both turned just as the serpentine form of Adam came running on all fours at them down the tree row, fangs bared, violet eyes gleaming as he snarled and hissed.

Jack put himself between Hugh and Anthony and the charging creature, and Hugh had a strange sense of déjà vu as Jack let loose a burst of blue and white flames. The chimerical monster snarled and dove backward, plunging off the row into the trees. The flames rapidly began to creep up the two trees nearest it. Jack knelt down next to Hugh. “Get on my back so I can carry him.”

Hugh didn’t argue, just wrapped his arms around Jack’s strong neck. Jack scooped up Anthony in his arms as Hugh tightened his legs against Jack’s sides. And then they were running through the orchard, must faster than a human could run, back through the trees, the blue and white flames casting their shadows over the trees in broken chiaroscuro. From not far enough away, he heard a dreadful howling, snarling noise and the thump of quadrupedal feet on the ground. Adam was chasing after them again.

The fence with its faint golden light behind it was just ahead. Jack put on a burst of speed to reach it, setting Anthony on his feet as Hugh hopped down. Jack slammed his foot onto one of the wooden slats of the fence. It cracked but did not move out of the way. Hugh moved to his side. “On three. One, two, three!” Both of their feet connected with the board, and the wood broke apart, opening a narrow gap in the fence.

Hugh gave Anthony a push. “Go!” Anthony was squeezing through the gap when Adam launched himself out of a nearby tree like a leopard leaping on a wounded gazelle. His tail lashed with the crack of a whip, and Hugh felt it snap only inches from his face. Jack had caught the creature with both hands and gave him a mighty throw. Adam went sailing into the branches of one of the nearby apple trees. Hugh snatched up a long, sharp piece of broken board, wrapping the edge of Jack’s cape around his hands. “Light me.”

Jack let loose another blast of blue and white flame from his mouth, and the wood ignited. Hugh turned back to the gap in the fence, starting to squeeze through. He heard something snap nearby, and then Jack was moving away from him. “Go!” he ordered Hugh.

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