"There's a name on the window Hoist!" exclaims Havelock.
As all four men stand in the Church of England in Bairnsdale, starring at the stain glassed window,
"Hang on a second" says Sheathe, "that name, Edward George Gregory Sandford, could it be!"
"WHO!" exclaims Hoist,
"The old man that handed you that flute that night," continues Sheathe, "when we were sent to work on the roads, he carried a strange looking knife, small double edged, had the initials carved into it, E.G.G.S, I thought it was the forger of the knife leaving his mark, but, we all called him Eddy."
"Well I know his last name was Sandford, he signed for some letters at the postmasters one time, and I saw his signature!" Exclaims Lead
"I don't know about you lot, but goorking at that lamb the good lords holding is making me hungry, who's up for some gut grub?" Asks Havelock.
"Shut it!" Replies Sheathe, "we're so close now a little longer won't kill ya"
Everyone glances at Havelock's stomach as it continues to growl away.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about Eddy?" asks Hoist, as he takes a second glance at the stomach rumbling Havelock, whilst he begins to unroll the second blank piece of paper from Ed Sandfords flute.
"He had strange tattoos, I'll tell ya that, I saw them one day when he was bathing down in a creek, fair few scars to match I might add, I just thought from a whipping is where he'd got them" says Lead.
"Hmm, interesting" remarks Hoist,
"What's so interesting about that?" asks Sheathe,
Hoist takes a seat on one of the many long hand cut timber church pews, and begins to tell his story.
"When I was a boy, back home in England, my mother was the caretaker at the royal palace, her job was to dust down the many books in the royals library, to keep me entertained, she would give me some books to look at, and thus, is basically how I learnt to read.
One book in particular caught my attention from the symbol on the front, it looked like a 'e' with a cross in it, I must of read that book a dozen times, in it showed pictures of weapons, fighting techniques, poisons, and much more that I cannot recollect.
One thing I do remember is the first two or three pages, it talked about King Henry, when in 1534, pushed out the Roman Church, I remember reading about the dissolution of Monasteries in the late 1530's, so far being one of the most revolutionary times in British history.
So, in order to keep religious beliefs falling back to Roman persuasion,
King Henry, created a secret organisation, orphans, from a young age were trained in military techniques, assassination skills, hand to hand combat, all sorts of weapon handling, and also torture techniques."
"TORTURE!" cries out Havelock,
"Put a ruddy sock in it Havelock" replies Sheathe, "carry on Hoist" says Sheathe, as he shakes his head slowly looking at Havelock.
Hoist continues,
"The book went onto describe how these men were raised and trained to serve the crown, and only the crown, that death in battle was seen as a failure, to survive and continue to serve the crown where ever it may take them, was of greater honour.............."
Hoist pauses for a moment............. And then continues
"It was also written that these men boor a mark, the mark of the cross inside the 'e', but I always thought this was just a fairy tale, I knew about the separation of Britain from Rome but the rest I thought was mere stories and myths."
"Well" says Havelock, "there's only one way to find out, it's another sweaty rag for you lad, and I know just the way to get it!"
"Oh not Chinese food again!" Exclaims Lead.
Meanwhile.................
As the night turns dark a meeting is taking place in one of the secret tunnels under Fortuna house.
"You'll be glad to know that Prince Alfred survived the assassination attempt, surgeons from HMS Challenger were able to save the Prince, before it was too late, care to explain"
"Ma'am" replies the Britt, "there was a second shooter, Pinkerton's Ma'am"
"PINKERTONS!" Exclaims Edith Lansell, "What in the devil are those mercenaries doing here, dear god, well the prince survived so that's one thing"
"Yes ma'am" reply The Britt and the Turk,
"Right" Edith Lansell begins to explain to the two men their next set of order's,
"There is a missing document that's needs to be recovered, it is of the upmost importance, if this document is not recovered we very well may see the fall of the British empire here in Australia, and most likely the best part of South Asia, one of your own kind was last reported to have it, a, one, Edward George Sandford, you know of him?"
"Yes ma'am" replies both men,
"Eddy was sent here long before us on a mission of great importance, one that he could not share with either of us, he was a good friend and a mentor Ma'am" replies The Britt.
"The document?" Asks The Turk
Mrs Lansell looks over her shoulder, ensuring that they are alone,
"The document is a treaty signed by King George the Third and the Chinese Emperor Quinlong in 1750, it basically outlines the divisional lines of South and North Asia, the problem being that the document was written on one page, and signed and wax sealed on another"
"Two pages ma'am?" Asks the Britt
"Yes, two pages, it apparently was such a drawn out treaty between the King and Emperor, that the scribe had to use a second document for the signatures and wax seals, if a forger was to fabricate new documents of the first page, and attach the second page with the King and Emperor's signatures, then they very well may turn the tide on the ownership of this nation, and considering the wealth of gold here, it's become a race to see who gets the documents first, let's just hope that your man is still in possession of them!"
"So this is how the Fusiliers and Pinkertons come into play Ma'am, conspirators Ma 'am?" asks the Turk
"Yes indeed" continues Mrs Lansell,
"The conspirators, that we know of number in eight, gold has been going missing on its way back to England and has been for quite some time, in order to finance an overthrow of British rule, we believe that the conspirators, are planning destabilisation of the southern states, and the best way to destabilise, is to create havoc and mayhem where the greatest economic advantage lays"
"Gold Ma'am?" Asks the Britt
"More so the Miners to have at a guess, destabilise the Miners, swoop in, act like the hero, and with the backing of a foreign nation as powerful as China, and the rest gentlemen would be for the history books"
The Britt and The Turk grit their teeth hard, almost snarling at the thought of the British Empire loosing another of its colonies.
"Your to proceed at the earliest possible moment to catch Edward Sandford, but before you do, the King has sent over his best forger and goods, your to meet up with him to craft your weapons and armour, he is waiting for you at my husbands Black Smith forge, unbeknownst to him of course
His name is Henry Chapman, craft your weapons, and gods speed in locating the documents"
The Britt and The Turk make their way to see the Kings forger Henry Chapman.
Edith Lansell sneaks back inside Fortuna house, just in time to meet her husband George Lansell's guests.
"Edith, come dear"
Edith Lansell rushes to her husbands side.
"Edith darling, I would like to introduce you to, His Excellency in Command Mr William C Haines, Commissioner Robert Rede, Commissioner Johnstone, Governor Hotham, Senior Magistrate John D Ewes, Sergeant Coster, and finally Major Darbyshire of the Fusiliers."
Edith Lansell curtsies to the men entering Fortuna House.
Edith finds herself the lamb amount the lions, as she has just became aware of all the head conspirators.
To be continued......
