Dennis Wheatley: To The Devil A Daughter

At half past five John ordered a round of drinks. In the next hour he knocked back five double Martinis. As he ordered a sixth Molly laid a hand on his arm and said

`Johnny, haven't you had enough anyhow for the time being?'

He turned and gave her a weak semblance of his old familiar grin. `Don't worry, Mumsie. People can't get drunk when they feel as wretched as I do.'

It was a quarter to seven when a page came to their table and said that Count Jules de Grasse would like to see them upstairs. Molly went out to the car; the two men hurried over to the lift. As soon as Jules had let them into the suite he said

`I think I have the information you want; but there is one proviso that I must make before I go any further. I require you both to give me your word of honour that you will not inform the police, either directly, or indirectly through your friends who brought them to the Ile de Port Cros, if I enable you to make use of the tip off I have secured.'

`Why?' asked John.

`Because you will need guides to take you to the place where the ceremony is to be performed; and the only guides with which I can provide you at such short notice are two smugglers who are wanted by the police. They are key men in our organization for exchanging goods across the Italian frontier. What is more, they trust me; so I cannot allow their safety to be jeopardized by the police being brought to the scene by other guides at round about the same time as they arrive there with you.'

`The Canon will probably have a number of people with him,' Beddows pointed out uneasily. `Last night I ... I was subjected to a shock that seems to have aged me greatly; so I'm afraid I wouldn't prove the man I was, in a fight. With only my help John Fountain might not be able to overcome them. In fact, instead of rescuing Ellen the two of us may be knocked on the head.'

Jules shrugged. `You must take your chance of that. In affair of this kind the participants are certain to be nervy. If you use your wits you should be able to succeed breaking the meeting up. Once my friends have taken you to the place and left you, I naturally have no objection your getting help from wherever you like; but I will not have you telephone to the police in advance any information likely to lead them to the place to which you will taken. Now, what do you say?'

Glancing at one another, Beddows and John nodded; the latter said, `All right; we both promise.'

`Good! I accept your promises; but even so it is unnecessary that you should know your final destination for the next hour or two. It is enough for me to tell you that to job is to be done up in the hills behind Nice. Drive back towards the city, but do not enter it. Across the Var and about two kilometres past the airport you will come to a turning that leads inland up to the little town of St. Pancrace. Outside the church there you will find two men waiting for you. The taller of the two has a red beard. they are your guides, and will take you to the spot where the Canon and his friends are meeting. But I should warn you that you have none too much time. The meeting is due to start at nine o'clock.'

`It would be,' Beddows muttered. `Christina's birth hour is nine forty five, and they would want to perform the ... the actual sacrifice as near that time as possible.' `And it is nearly seven already!' exclaimed John. `Come on! We must not waste a second!

Beddows threw the second thousand pounds worth of bank notes on the table; and with brief good byes to Jules they ran from the room. As they came hurrying out the hotel Molly saw them and started up the car. John took the wheel, and within three minutes of leaving Jules' suite they were on their way back to Nice.

It was still light, but there was a sharp chill in the air and the end of the sunny day was fast approaching. There as quite a lot of traffic on the road auto buses taking work people home and bringing less well off holidaymakers’ back from day excursions, many motor cycles, and the cars of the wealthy carrying couples and foursomes to neighboring towns to dinner but John snaked his way through it at high speed without taking too many risks that might have brought them to grief.

Before they had gone far he said, `It would save a little time if we could stick to N 7. and cut across inland from Frejus to Cannes, instead of going round by the coast road; but now we have to tackle the Canon's crowd on our own I think it's more important that we should call at the villa to collect some weapons.'

`No,' replied Molly promptly. `I thought this afternoon that we might need the armaments before we were through; so you can go by N.7. While you were dropping your bags at the villa on our way out I picked up some things. C. B. has still got my big gun, but I have the small one in my bag, and I've two heavy truncheons, knuckle dusters and knives in the back of the car for you. I put in a couple of extra torches and a bottle of brandy as well.'

`Good old Mumsie ! You've thought of everything. I wish you'd let me have your gun, though.'

`No, darling. I'm hanging on to that. This is a chance in a life time to see how it works.' the streets of St. Maxime and Frejus hardly caused John a check, but he had to slow down to go through Cannes, and by then the sun was setting. When they passed Antibes the sky behind them was a rich glow of orange and salmon pink which by the time they crossed the River Var had faded to a few streaks. It was half past eight and the light had gone as they wound their way up the hill into St. Pancrace.

The sweep of their headlights picked out a man who was standing on the steps of the church. As John pulled up he came forward. He was tall and bearded. Leaning down to the car window he asked in a low voice

`Has Monsieur come from St. Tropez?'

`Yes,.' replied John. `We are the friends of Monsieur le Comte.'

`Good!' nodded the man, and went on, `Monsieur will excuse me if I do not introduce myself. It will serve if you call me Number One and my companion, who you will meet later, Number Two. Do you know the road to Falicon?' John shook his head.

`It is through Gairaut and no great distance; but perhaps it would be best if Madame would allow me to occupy the front seat next to Monsieur.'

The rearrangement was soon made by Molly getting out and joining Beddows in the back. As they set off along the twisting road up hill again, John asked

`May we know where we are going?'

`Monsieur has given his word to M. le Comte not to communicate with the police until I and my friend have left him?'

`Yes; we won't let you down about that.'

`Then I am about to take you to the Cave of the Bats.'

Into John's mind there flashed a memory of the first time he had been in the crypt at The Priory, and had seen the bat nailed upside down to the broken crucifix on the altar. He suppressed a shudder as Beddows asked, in French that had an appalling accent but was just comprehensible:

`What sort of place is it?'

`A very unusual cave, Monsieur. Most caves are natural fissures in the rock and run more or less level for some distance into the mountainside; but this is not at all like that. It is entered by dropping through a hole high up on the side of a hill and, was made by man, or at' least has been much adapted by him, as it has several passages of uniform size and one quite large vaulted chamber. Even the archaeologists who visit it at times cannot say what race of men first used it. There is a legend that the Phoenicians offered up human sacrifices to their god, Pdaloch, there; but many think that long before that pre historic man had hewed the little temple nearly a hundred metres below the surface of the hillside as a place to perform his secret rites with doves and virgins.'

John felt the palms of his hands go damp upon the wheel. He had expected that he might have to break into some little wayside chapel which was being desecrated, or stumble his way through the ruins of a long since abandoned monastery; but this underground warren which had been the scene of countless ritual murders through the centuries sounded infinitely more terrifying. He began to pray that they would catch up with the Satanists before the latter reached their horrible rendezvous.