The Prince said: ‘I soar like an eagle, but you scrounge like a jackal, you feed on carrion! You’re a fine talker but Moscow isn’t big enough for the two of us! You’ve got to be under me, or . . .’ And he slashed a finger across his throat.
The Ghoul licked his lips, cocked his head and said slowly, almost gently: ‘Or what, my little Prince? Be under you . . . or death, is that it? And what if that Death of yours has already been under me? She’s a handsome girl. Soft to lie on, springy, like a duck-down bed . . .’
Manka laughed again, and the Prince turned crimson – he knew what the Ghoul meant. And the Ghoul got what he wanted – he’d driven his enemy wild with fury.
The Prince lowered his head, howled like a wolf and went for the man who had insulted him.
But Manka and the Ghoul obviously had everything arranged. He jumped to the left and she jumped to the right, stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.
Down below the hay rustled, a door banged and Yoshka flew from the barn, though the other two stayed put. He had a shooter in his hand – black, with a long barrel.
‘Stop right there!’ he cried. ‘Look this way. You know me, old friend, I never miss.’
The Prince froze on the spot.
‘So that’s how you operate, is it, Ghoul?’ he asked. ‘No respect for the rules?’
‘Quite correct, little my Princeling, quite correct. I’ve got brains, and the rules aren’t made for people like me. Now both of you get down on the ground. Get down, or Yoshka will shoot you.’
The Prince grinned, as if he thought that was funny. ‘You don’t have brains, Ghoul, you’re a fool. You’re no match for the Council. You’re done for now. I don’t have to do a thing, the grandfathers will do it all for me. Let’s lie down, Deadeye, and take a rest. The Ghoul’s condemned himself.’
And he lay down on his back, crossed one leg over the other and took out a papyrosa.
Deadeye looked at him, and trailed the toe of his low boot across the ground – he must have been feeling bad about his suit – and lay down too, on his side, his head propped on his hand and his cane by his side.
‘Well, now what?’ the Prince asked. Then, turning to Yoshka: ‘Fire away, my little sharpshooter. Do you know what our traditionalists do with rule-breakers like you? For a trick like this they’ll dig you out from wherever you hide, then stick you straight back in the ground again.’
The way this meet was turning out was weird. What with two men lying on the ground smiling, and three people standing there, just watching them.
Sprat whispered: ‘They don’t dare fire. They bury you alive for that, it’s the law.’
The Ghoul’s moll whistled again. Then Cudgel and Beak came dashing from the barn and pounced on the men on the ground: Cudgel dropped the entire weight of his carcass on the Prince, Beak turned Deadeye face down and neatly twisted his arms behind his back.
‘There you go, little Prince’ The Ghoul laughed. ‘Now Cudgel’s going to beat your brains out with his great big fist. And Beak’s going to smash your Jack’s ribs. And no one will ever know about the shooter. Simple as that. We’ll tell the Council we beat you up. Shame you couldn’t handle the Ghoul and his woman. Right, lads, smash ’em now!’
Suddenly there was this fierce yell – ‘A-a-a-a-gh!’ – right beside Senka’s ear.
Sprat launched himself up with his elbows, got to his knees and leapt straight down on to Yoshka’s shoulders, screeching as he went. He couldn’t hold on and went flying to the ground. Yoshka swung the handle of his gun and smashed it into Sprat’s temple – but that brief moment, when Cudgel and Beak turned towards the noise, was enough for the Prince and Deadeye. They pushed off their enemies and jumped to their feet.
‘I’ll let them have it, Ghoul!’ Yoshka shouted. ‘It didn’t work out like you planned! We can dig the bullets out afterwards! Maybe that’ll work.’
And then Senka surprised himself by screeching even louder than Sprat and jumping on to Yoshka’s back. He clung on for grim death, sinking his teeth into Yoshka’s ear. He felt a salty taste in his mouth.
Yoshka swung round, trying to shake the kid off, but he couldn’t. Senka bellowed, and