The Serpent of Mumbai, Part 5

Posted by Verity Starchaser

It was Sabrina who spoke first. "For crying aloud, Al. Never mind why we are here, why the hell are you here?"
My brother, Al Starchaser, cleared the breach of the sawn-off shotgun he was carrying. "It's delightful to see you too, Drake," he drawled as he reloaded, rattling each shell next to his ear as he did so.
"Al, do you know who these guys are? They've got Lee," I asked. It had been a great shock to see Al, and a part of me was mortified to have been saved by my little brother, but there was no need to keep a poker face now. The most crucial thing was finding where they had taken Lee.
"I heard. Poor chap."
"So where do we start looking?"
"Start looking? Probably the bottom of the Mithi. I don't know if you noticed but these people really do not mess around."
"Speaking of which, shouldn't we be getting out of here?" put in Sabrina.
"What an excellent idea," said Al drily, putting the gun into his jacket and making for the door.
I fell into step next to my brother. "I take it you are after the Serpent of Mumbai as well," I said. "What do you know?"
"Ha. I know it isn't real, Verity. I've been doing this for ten years now, and I've heard every fish story there is."
"Albert, I am a journalist, not a treasure hunter. Please, will you start at the beginning. What is the Serpent of Mumbai?"
Al sighed. "Okay. But let's go to my hotel room. Loose lips sink ships."
"Are we just going to leave these bodies here?" asked Sabrina.
"The Clan will be along to clean up shortly. They certainly won't be reporting this to the police. Your Noel Coward lookalike friend will see to that."
"The Clan?"
"Quiet till we're home," said Al urgently.
Al was staying in a typically medium-rate hotel, but one where the decor suggested a much richer level of clientelle. Hearing Al ingratiatingly ask the porter, using her first name, if anyone had been asking for him made me clench my fists. He was acting out his fantasy - a rich, globetrotting playboy, the regular in an expensive hotel.
The room was beautifully decorated but small, and smelled of cheap furniture polish. Al put the one chair next to the window so that he could glance out. I sat on the end of the bed. Sabrina leant against the wall and glared a Al.
"So, Verity," said Al. "I think we should swap our back stories. What brings you to India?"
I told him, as briefly as possible, about Professor Rhegin. Al frowned at parts of the story. "Ok, Al, your turn," I finished.
"I'm here on a contract for a friend. She wanted someone to investigate a secret society for her. How does a chap like me turn down a job like that?"
"What do you know?"
"I know what you know. They are a weird cult and they are obsessed with finding the Serpent of Mumbai. Apparently they believe they are the descendants of Judas Iscariot."
"And the Serpent?"
"It's a totem. Supposedly solid gold, about four feet high, of a coiled viper. Emeralds for eyes. Silver filigree in the scales. Worth fortune beyond the dreams of avarice. And of course, it is cursed. Legend has it that when Joshua drove the Canaanites out of Jericho, the sons of Achan took the idol from the ruins of the city along with the other treasure they stole. But when they went to sleep that night, a golden snake appeared to the youngest of the sons in a dream, and commanded him to take the idol and bury it in the desert. And the boy woke and did what the serpent said. And when the sin of Achan was discovered and family sentenced to death, the youngest son took three of his sisters and escaped, and they left Israel and went East, plotting their revenge. And everywhere they went, they took the Serpent; and before long they began to worship it, and invoke the malign Canaanite god that it represented. Gradually, people from other nomadic tribes were drawn in, until they numbered over a thousand. Everyone has their own version of the gory details of their religion - some talk of child sacrifice, for example. Eventually, they settled in India and constructed a temple to worship the Serpent - but as soon as the Brahmins learned of their depraved rituals and their perverted practices, they denounced them, and the temple was torn down, and the sons of Achan were put to the sword. But when the Brahmins came to destroy the idol, it is said to have become a real serpent, and caused them to flee. That was the last that was seen of the Serpent until the British arrived in India. It was supposed to have been discovered in a cave with a cache of treasure, but the two men who found it died of dysentery before it could be presented at auction, and neither it nor the rest of the treasure was ever found. And ever since then, treasure hunters have told stories about it around camp fires to give each other the willies."
"And where does Judas and this Clan come in?" asked Sabrina.
"No idea," said Al.
"I think a better question is this," I said. "Who employed you to look into the Clan, and why?"
"As luck would have it I have asked her to join us. She should be here in a moment. I saw her come in the front door a minute ago."
Almost as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "That'll be her," said Al with a smug smile.
I opened the door, revealing a pretty young woman I had last seen wearing a scarlet sari in a photograph with Thomas Rhegin.
"You must be Verity Starchaser," she said, shaking my hand. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Juanita Junipo."