A Cloud Before the Moon

Chapter 25

Adams led Snape the few blocks to the hospital, and asked at the front desk for Ronnie Farrell's room. Snape refused to take the lift, so they walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. Adams had no trouble finding the room - it was the noisiest room on the floor, barely large enough to contain all the visitors. A cluster of women stood in a huddle, offering consolation to the boy's teary-eyed mother, while their husbands sat around the edges of the bed, eyes glued to the television. Mrs. Farrell stood up and gave Adams a bear-hug, smearing waterlogged mascara on his shirtfront. He introduced her to his 'cousin Stephen', commenting that, like Ronnie, Stephen was an aspiring musician. Perhaps a discussion about his passion in life would bring the boy to his senses. She smiled at Snape hopefully, and he turned up the corners of his mouth in a grim rictus. Adams patted her hand. "Maybe you could send everyone out a moment, so's Ronnie and Stevie could have a nice chat." When she roared "Everyone out!" the room cleared immediately.

Once the crowd was gone, Snape stalked over to Adams and hissed menacingly, "If you ever ever call me 'Stevie' again, I will turn your spleen into a turnip; is that understood?" Adams responded, "Absolutely," in an oddly stilted voice, while he dug his nails into his palms. Snape removed a tiny vial of clear fluid from the pocket of the trousers he had borrowed. "Bring me a small cup of water." Adams disappeared for a moment and returned with a small paper cup, which he handed to Snape. Snape carefully decanted a single drop from the vial into the cup of water, stirring it gently. He looked at Ronnie. "You are thirsty?"

Ronnie's eyes drifted indecisively. "No. Uh-uh. Not right now."

Snape asked softly, "Are you certain?" He grimaced impatiently at the lack of response, and pulled out his wand. As Adams watched in fascination, he waved it slightly at the boy. "Aridus!"

Ronnie licked his lips and stared at the cup in Snape's hand. "May I have that, please?"

Snape handed it to him. Ronnie gulped it down and wrinkled up his face. "Yuk - it tastes peppery." He looked around with some confusion, but Snape instructed him, "Mr. Farrell, listen to me."

"Yes sir?"

"Who is the last person you saw before you came here?"

Ronnie pointed to Davy. "Officer Adams. It's him what brought me here."

"And before that?"

Ronnie looked uncertain. He looked at Adams. "There was this bloke. He come knockin' at your door, see? I must of been daft to open it."

Adams puckered his lips thoughtfully. "Was he a sort of tall, plump bloke, with curly blond hair and a ruddy face?"

"That was him!"

"Think carefully. Exactly what did he do?" Snape asked.

"Shows me a picture of this girl an' wants to know if I ever seen her. I says sure I seen her - in fact, she just left the flat."

"Then what happened?" Ronnie looked at Snape, then at Adams. I dunno."

Snape pointed to Adams. "Do you recognize him?"

"No, can't say as I do."

Snape took out the tiny vial again. He poured two drops into some more water. When Ronnie drank it, Snape asked, "What did the blond man do?"

"He points a stick at me. Not like he's going to hit me with it or nothin', just points it. I thought that was kind of queer, so I starts laughing. "What d'you thinks you're doin'?" I asks him. So now he's hacked off. He says - he says "Stupid Mudgle! My Lord would be proud of me." Then he shakes his stick at me and says "Oblo - obli - somethin' like that."

Snape did not show any reaction, but Adams noticed that his face became even paler. "Then what happened?"

"Next I remember was when you brought me here", he said, indicating Adams with his finger. He stared at them blankly, with a vaguely dejected expression. It seemed that he had nothing further to add.

After they had left the hospital, Adams asked Snape "What is a Mudgle?"

"A Muggle is a human born without magic. Someone like you."

"It's an insult, is it?"

Snape smiled at him coldly. "Not as such. No more than the term "Witch" as used by a Muggle."

Adams understood very well, and not only because of his own culpability in that regard. "Brit" wasn't exactly an insult either; was it? Of course "Brit-lover" was; the words hung in Adams' mind, smeared in red paint. He cleared away the image. "Did you find out anything useful from talking to Ronnie?"

"I know that the man we seek is a follower of the Dark Lord." It was impossible to read the expression on the wizard's face, yet it sent a shiver down Adams' back.

"Devil worship, then?"

Snape looked at him oddly. "Not precisely. Do you believe in the Devil, Mr. Adams?"

"I really don't know. People can think up enough wickedness without any outside help."

"Yes," the wizard responded softly, "but will they carry out the very worst that they can dream up? Some might have sufficient - fortitude - but most men will balk at the actual fulfillment of their darkest desires. Yet with the right persuasion, with the right leadership, it is quite remarkable what they can be motivated to - accomplish." Then he leaned forward. "No more than you, can I say if the Devil exists, but the Dark Lord is real."

"What is the difference?"

"The difference is," Snape explained, "I have seen him face-to-face." Snape crooked a finger across his lips. "Don't worry," he assured Adams coolly, "he is dead. Or gone for now, at any rate."

"Gone?" asked Adams, seeking further explanation.

Snape shrugged. "Gone but not forgotten." He reconsidered. "Gone, but not gone," he amended, cryptically.

"So", Adams suggested, "we're looking for some damn fool who's out to prove he's one tough bad-ass at night. By day, I'd reckon, he's a wussy little suck-up."

Snape understood the gist of it. "That sounds about right."

"This has to be someone she knows - someone she works with, maybe."

"That does make sense; the Ministry is full of them."

"What do you mean?"

"I am talking about internal corruption. I did warn her, after all, but she failed to heed my advice." They had by now returned to Adams' flat. "Mr. Adams, I'm afraid it's time we parted company. I can't very well take you where I am going."

"Do you think you'll find her there - where you're going?"

"I don't know. I - I rather hope not. It can only mean - something terrible."

"I thought you'd agreed to take me with you."

"No. I only meant I would take you along to see Mr. Farrell."

"That's not what I thought you meant."

"What you thought is quite beside the point. It is far too dangerous, most particularly for a Muggle. I could not justify putting you at such risk."

"I'm not defenseless - I've got my own magic wand - primitive but effective." He held up his truncheon. "If anything happens - you needn't feel responsible. You've warned me"

"No!" Snape swooped into the kitchen and Davy followed him. He began opening drawers, examining their contents. Finally, he pulled out a bent teaspoon. "You won't be needing this again, will you?" Adams shook his head. "Would you excuse me for a few moments?" It was not a question. Adams shrugged and walked out of the room.

After a short time, Snape walked back into the living room. He tossed the spoon onto the floor. "Do not touch it."

Although that seemed very odd behavior, Adams did not question the command. Snape next went into the bedroom and returned wearing his own attire. "I assure you, Mr. Adams, I am going somewhere you would not wish to find yourself. Besides, you will be far more useful right here." Then he bent down.

Just as Snape grabbed the spoon with his fingertips, almost without thinking Adams grasped his shoulder, and immediately concluded that it may not have been such a very good idea. He felt as if he were being plucked off the ground, and as the world around him became an unrecognizable blur, he was stricken with waves of nausea.

When the nausea went away, and his eyes focused, he saw before him the most bleak, desolate landscape he had ever seen, which was saying a lot for a lad from Ulster. It appeared to be a forest of death, with lifeless trees jutting out of the ground like broken spikes, and bits of animal bones and skulls scattered about the ground. It was a gloomy, shadowy place, and he had a sense that terrible things had happened there. Yet, as repugnant as he found the place, it was far worse for his companion, whose face revealed utter revulsion. Snape glowered at him darkly and hissed, "What did I tell you? What made me think you capable of comprehending the simplest instructions? This is no place for a Muggle!"

Davy responded softly, appeasingly, "this is no place for a Wizard, either, Severus. But here we are, all the same. Do what you have to do, and don't worry about me."

"I wasn't planning on it!" Snape responded icily. He drew his wand, held it out in front of him, and headed off into the jagged landscape. Adams followed close behind. He heard no sign of life - no bird-song, no cricket-chirp, not a ripple of water, nor any leaf trembling in a breeze. Not a leaf to be seen, in fact; not the faintest quiver of a breeze, in fact. They continued through this eerie terrain, peering about carefully. After some time, Snape stopped and sniffed the air, his long nostrils quivering.

It was clear that Snape was very familiar with this place. Adams wondered what had brought him here in the past - and suspected the reason was one he would not care to discuss. He led the way to a particularly dark thicket of dead trees, and as they moved forward, they were assailed with the most vile stench imaginable. Adams raised his hand to his nose. At that moment, a loud angry buzz broke the yawning silence, and he waved away the source of the sound.

"Stop!" cautioned Snape. "Ornothixies are attracted to movement."

Adams turned his head and saw a creature the size of a hummingbird hovering in the air. The thing did not look like a hummingbird, however. It had a wasp-like body, leathery grey wings and when it opened its mouth, he saw two rows of razor-sharp barbed teeth.

"Don't let it bite you!"

"Well that's a useful bit of advice," responded Adams. "Can't you get rid of it?"

"I did warn you not to come." Snape sighed. "Oh very well." He blasted the onithixus with his wand. "Don't expect my help next time."

"Right."

"And come, this way!" whispered Snape tensely, and they hurried forward as quietly as possible. They arrived at the edge of a chasm, which seemed to be the source of the putrid odor. He began to retch, and Snape waved his wand. "Fetor nullum!" he pronounced, and they could again take a breath without gagging. Snape leaned over the edge of the gorge, and froze, mouth agape. Adams stepped alongside, and looked in with trepidation. He let out a gasp. At the bottom lay a young woman pallid and lifeless, legs and arms bound, floating in several inches of filthy water.