Read Online Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds by G.P. Taylor - Free Book Online Page A

his feet, and from it pulsed the most beautiful white light. Its head broke the surface and looked at him. For a moment Mariah was mesmerised. In the twilight, it looked as though he was staring into the eyes of another person. He smiled and lowered his hand to the water. The fish shuddered as he stroked the tip of its nose.
    ‘Thank you,’ Mariah said in a whisper.
    The words echoed around the arcade as Grub began to bark.
    ‘I know where you are!’ Titus shouted as he ran and cracked his stick against the floor. ‘You’ll not be having my money – the dog’ll be having you!’
    In a panic, Mariah began to run. The gantry shuddered and shook with each step and vibrated the water below. He crossed one tank and then another and another as he ran the length of the glass avenue towards the exit from the Pleasure Palace. All the time he could hear Titus and his dog chasing him.
    ‘You’ll not get far, not from Titus – I know where you’re going and you’ll not get that way – ’tis locked.’ He sounded old and out of breath as he wheezed each word. ‘Get him, Grub! Rip him to bits, tear him to pieces …’
    Mariah leapt over a small gap above a tank of silver fish that skimmed the surface. Suddenly the air around him was filled with silver darts as fish leapt from the water and flew. They jumped and dived. One snapped at his ear with sharp, needlelike teeth. It bled quickly and profusely.
    Getting back to the gantry, Mariah ran on. It was as if every piscary contained an even stranger creature than the one before. As he ran on he could see the deep waters beneath him and hear Titus and Grub catching up on him.
    ‘There’s no way out. Just give yourself up and face the consequences,’ Titus shouted above the ravenous barking of his dog. ‘I’ll spare you, if you give yourself up.’
    Mariah thought he sounded insincere. There was smug laughter in his voice. From where he was he could see the long shadows of Titus and Grub dancing on the wall at the other side of the Pleasure Palace. They were getting closer.
    ‘Come out and I’ll open the gate and let you go,’ Titus said, jangling a set of keys on a thick chain. ‘Just be gone and that’ll be that – understand?’
    Mariah now knew that Titus Salt had no idea where he was hiding. Grub sniffed at the stone floor that ran the length of the arcades. The dog had lost the scent. The lad crouched down on the gantry, keeping himself as close to the long metal walkway as he could. A drop of blood dripped from the bite to his ear and splattered in the water below. It scented the water with a bloody infusion. Mariah looked down. The tank was crystal clear. He could see the rocks and crab shells that littered the bottom of the tank. He couldn’t see a single creature.
    Titus drew closer step by step, until he and the dog were underneath him. He could see their shadows in the water below. He pressed himself closer to the gantry, trying to hold his breath for fear of being heard.
    Titus Salt looked in to the tank, his eyes searching every inch. Grub whimpered, as if there was something here he did not like.
    ‘Wise old dog,’ Titus said as he stroked Grub’s neck. ‘Didn’t like getting this one – always knew it would be trouble. There was wickedness in its eye – that’s for sure.’
    Titus spoke as if he had forgotten he was chasing an intruder. He cupped the grubby, half-gloved fingers of his hand against the glass so he could see inside.
    ‘Don’t like things that hide in the dark. Look at them crabs, never stood a chance, sucks off their shells and gouges out the innards.’ He paused for the briefest of moments as in his heart he regretted buying the beast that hid away in the shadows of the fish tank. ‘Can’t be …’ Titus looked up. He could make out the outline of a man on the gantry. The water shimmered on the surface, but he was sure that he could see someone twenty feet above him.
    ‘There he is, Grub!’ Titus shouted as he banged