Dedicated to the genius of RobThier

[Please note: I see this story as taking place after 'Silence Is Golden' but before 'Silence Breaking'. I am also British, so will use British spelling and grammar not American. Thanks.]

POV = Ambrose

This was not how my meticulously planned expedition was supposed to go. As we (myself, Mr Linton & Karim) reached the midway point of the ancient rope bridge that spanned The Golden Gorge, Brazilian soldiers swarmed across the small plateau that was at the end of the rickety structure ... and our intended exit.

Karim was in front of me. He let out a low growl as he whipped his sabre from its sheath.

"Sahib, do you wish for me to advance and deal with these pigs?"

I was just about to reply when a voice - a rather feminine voice - piped up from behind me.

"Er, Sir ... I think we currently have more than one problem to deal with. Actually, more than two!" I whipped around to see what she was talking about.

"Mr Linton, what could poss ... ah."

"Indeed Sir. How are your sleeves? Full of brilliant escape plans I hope, Sir!"

On the side of the gorge where we had stepped onto the bridge, the Argentinian army was lining up with their weapons aimed squarely at the three of us.

"I guess they're not too happy with your tax avoidance Sir!"

"Mr Linton?"

"Yes Sir?"

"If you don't have anything constructive to say then kindly shut up." She looked over her right shoulder with a half smirk on her face and gave me a mocking salute.

"Yes Sir! But what about them?" She pointed northwest. 

Rushing through the jungle clearing on the same side as the Argentinians were the native savages that we encountered a few days ago. They were armed with spears and those infernal poisoned blowpipes and they too were heading towards us in search of our blood. Could this day get any worse?

"Sahib?"

"Karim, it would seem that we have a triple problem to deal with right now." 

I felt the huge Mohammedan turn behind me. I turned to look at him and his eyes nearly tripled in size. Impressive. He muttered an Indian curse under his breath and positioned himself so that he could see the threats on both sides of the gorge.

"I don't suppose we can hope that they will all kill each other and leave is unscathed on this creaky old bridge, eh Sir?"

"That indeed would be hopeful thinking Mr Linton."

I had to admit to myself that I had been quietly impressed with Miss Lillian Linton during this expedition. Despite the heat sending her a little doolally at times, she had not reacted like a typical female whilst facing the many perils that had crossed our path. She had even saved Karim and myself from a poisoned dart attack - but I would never admit that out loud to her. Even now, as we were surrounded by enemies on both sides, she maintained a calm exterior.

But there was nothing typical about the woman I made dress as a man everyday to become my secretary Mr Victor Linton. No. She was bold, fearless, cunning, mischievous, funny and strangely alluring. I actually enjoyed her company most of the time, even when she was annoying the life out of Karim. It made me smile on the inside thinking about how flustered she could get him, and how fast! But now - how on earth was I going to get her, well all of us, out of this predicament?

"OK, so we have an enemy 400 yards away in either direction," Lillian began, "... we're on the middle of a rickety old wooden rope bridge ... we cannot fly. How far down is it to the river?"

"Down?!" Karim spluttered.

"Much too far to jump voluntarily Mr Linton. We don't know if the water is deep enough to sustain us from a jump of at least 600 yards up. Plus there are rocks ... and alligators."

"Alligators?!" she exclaimed, her voice rising almost an octave.

"Yes Mr Linton. Alligators."

At that moment a deep and wicked cackle bounced across the gorge. A laugh that was familiar and sent a chill down my spine. It was followed by an even more familiar voice.

"Oh dear. Poor Rikkard. You really are in a bit of a pickle aren't you?"

Our heads snapped around to see that the mountains next to the small plateau were suddenly filling up with more soldiers. Different soldiers, led by a figure sat astride a fine white stallion.

"Dalgliesh!" both myself and Mr Linton growled at the same time.

And there he was; the devil incarnate, with at least 200 soldiers from his own private army making their way towards the Brazilians on the plateau.

"This has to be a bad joke." grumbled Lilly. "We're going to wake up in a minute and discover that it was all just a nightmare."

"If only." I replied curtly.

"You didn't seriously think I would let you get away with stealing one of the greatest treasures in the world did you Lord Ambrose?"

"Mister Ambrose!" I snapped back at Dalgliesh.

"Apologies your lordship ... " I could feel the little finger of my left hand start to twitch. "... it was jolly decent of you and your little team to lead the way and solve all those puzzles. I guess my men can take over from here."

"What is it with you English pigs that you think you can sail over here and steal our country's treasures?"

Ahh ... the Brazilian commander had discovered his voice. I don't think his brain had yet worked out that he was on the same side of the gorge as one of the most ruthless and dangerous men in the world.

"You there! We require these English dogs to answer charges of corruption from the Government of Argentina."

I must say one thing about the hard, yellowish stone of The Golden Gorge; the acoustics are impressive. It was as though all our pursuers were standing on the bridge with us.

"You're government's problems are no concern of mine." the Brazilian commander snapped. "I have a sworn duty to protect the interests of the Brazilian nation - including punishing thieves from foreign lands trying to steal our heritage."

"I feel your pain." came the reply from the Argentine general. "Maybe we could work together to show these dogs that the proud nations of South America should not be trifled with or exploited?"

"An interesting proposition ..." the Brazilian started.

"Silence! All of you!"

"Is it just me, or does the echo of the gorge make Dalgliesh sound even more like a villain from a Penny Dreadful?" Mr Linton enquired.

"Totally." I grumbled in reply.

"Who are you to order the Brazilian Army about on Brazilian soil Sir?"

"I ..." Dalgliesh began. I couldn't see clearly from this distance but I bet his eyes were narrowing. "... am the richest and most powerful man in the whole of the British Empire."

"Second!" I hissed.

"Indeed, Sir." My secretary certainly was loyal.

"We are not part of your British Empire!" came the defiant reply from the Brazilian.

"I am also one of the richest and most powerful men in the whole world."

"Pffftt!" A strange sound escaped Mr Linton's lips.

"I am sure that between us we could come to some sort of agreement that brings satisfaction to all sides ... well, nearly all sides." Dalgliesh flashed an arrogant smile in my direction.

"And why should we trust you, you English dog?" the Argentine general shouted.

"You think these men are the only ones I came with? Let me show you the kind of resources at my disposal." 

Dalgliesh indicated to one of his soldiers who promptly produced a bugle and blew a loud signal. As the sound echoed across the gorge, the visible soldiers moved forwards with rifles and pistols drawn. Behind them, hundreds more men in East India Company Army uniforms flooded down the mountains towards the plateau, all heavily armed. The Argentine general took a step back and uttered a curse in Spanish.

"So nice of you to go to so much effort on my part." I said sarcastically to Dalgliesh.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the Brazilian commander.

"I am Lord Daniel Eugene Dalgliesh, Head of the Honourable East India Company and defacto ruler of the Indian sub-continent. However, my business empire stretches across the globe."

"Defacto ruler?! The bloody cheek!" was the incredulous response from Mr Linton.

"I am a powerful man believe me, and I always get what I want ... and I want what he has." Dalgliesh proclaimed, pointing a finger in my direction.

"But you are on Brazilian soil and these people will be in our custody."

"And you are in South America where Argentina holds more power than some English Lord."

At this point, the leader of the savages shouted across the gorge to the Brazilians. It was a native form of Portugese which both I and the Commander couldn't fully understand. The Brazilian started shouting back at them.

"Enough!" bellowed Dalgliesh. "You seem to have annoyed a lot of people on your journey Ambrose. Maybe I should let them fight over who gets to execute you."

"I had no idea you could be so generous." I spat out sarcastically.

"I see you have your secretary with you. I must say, Mr Linton looks a lot more feminine than usual ... or should I call you Lillian, Miss?"

"Oh shit." came the simple, whispered reply from behind me. I did not react. I just continued to stare icy daggers in Dalgliesh's direction.

"Gentlemen," Dalgliesh addressed the leaders of the Brazilian and Argentine forces. "... I may be willing to let you dispense justice between yourselves, but on the proviso that the girl is handed over to me. I'm sure I can find many uses for her." He smiled more slyly and smugly than I'd ever seen before.

I felt Lillian tense behind me. There was no way on this earth that I was going to let him get his hands on my Lilly! He had taunted me many years ago about what he would do if he ever discovered that I had become ... attached to a female. That's why I tried to keep so much distance between Lilly and I for so long. There was no way I could subject any woman, especially this one, to such a fate.

"Keep calm Mr Linton. You're going nowhere." I whispered to my secretary before addressing Dalgliesh. "You are so close to the treasure your Lordship ..." Behind my back I grabbed hold of Lillian's hand. "... what would you want with a mere woman when you can have riches beyond your wildest dreams?"

I squeezed her hand as I spoke, hoping to reassure her and prevent a verbal explosion at the words 'mere woman'. It worked as I felt her squeeze back.

"Oh Rikkard, you and I both know that she is more than a mere woman to you. From the moment we were all in the same room together for the first time at Lady Metcalfe's Ball, I knew. Did you not think that I would notice how similar she looks to your secretary Mr Victor Linton? The only problem is, Miss Linton has five sisters and no brothers! Oh, and Mr Linton works a lot of overtime at Empire House. Now, a devious mind might add two and two together ..."

"I think your devious mind is perhaps running away with itself Dalgliesh!" I interrupted.

"Sahib ... look ..."

I looked at Karim as his eyes darted back and forth between the ends of the bridge. Below Dalgliesh I could see the Brazilians edging towards their side of the bridge. From the expression on Karim's face, I assumed that the Argentinians were doing the same on their side, but I refused to turn away from my arch enemy.

"You down there! Halt your progress!" Dalgliesh commanded and surprisingly they did. "You cannot deny it any more Ambrose. Do you not think that my spies have watched almost all of your journey? You seem very close to your 'secretary', especially at night ... and when there is water around. I myself had a fascinating night's viewing last week at the lake in the valley ... the one with the waterfall ..."

"Oh my god!" gasped Lillian. I squeezed her hand again but I could feel her trembling - probably through embarrassment rather than fear.

"Admit it," Dalgliesh continued, "... you have feelings for the girl. Hell, I think you even love her you sentimental fool."

"Well if you believed that I had employed a female secretary, why did you not expose this information? I'm sure you would take great delight in any scandal surrounding me."

"You are correct in your thinking, but I was waiting for the optimum time to cause you the maximum damage. However, I became more intrigued as to the nature of your relationship, so I thought I'd let it run for a while. After all, the deeper you fell the greater the impact when I take it all away you."

"You bastard! Bloody beardsplitter!" yelled Lillian.

"My, my. She is a feisty one, eh Ambrose? I bet I could have far more fun with her than a cold fish like you ever could!" I could feel a fire of rage burning deep within me and it was rising fast like a volcano about to blow its top. "Send the girl across the bridge to my men. When she is here with me, we will let you both off and these gentlemen can bid for your custody. Take a moment to discuss it old friend."

Him calling me 'old friend' made me tense up even more and my little finger started twitching even faster. I cannot believe that I was once friends with this animal. I'd do anything to have my hands round his scrawny throat right now.

Lillian started speaking first; "Sir ... I hate to say this ... er, I don't see a way out of this. Let me go. I'll make him keep his promise to let you both off the bridge."

"No Mr Linton!"

"Sahib, you know I hate to agree with the Ifrit but she does have a point ..."

"No! I'm not letting her walk into his trap."

"But Sir," she squeezed my hand and those chocolate brown eyes looked sadly into mine. "... he said he'd let you both off the bridge. Once you're on solid ground you'll have a better chance of coming up with a plan. I'll go with Dalgliesh ... distract him and give you time to escape. I'll even let you rescue me ..."

"Lillian, no. You have no idea what he wants to do ..."

"But we can't do anything whilst we're stuck on this bridge above a raging river and a load of alligators! Let me go Sir. Let me do this."

What is it with this woman? She'd trade her freedom, even her life, to give Karim and myself a chance of survival. She'd hand herself over to my mortal enemy to try and save my life. What did I do to deserve such loyalty? I've kept people at a distance for so many years, yet she has systematically knocked down my defences bit by bit and taken up residence in my world ... my head ... my heart. If I didn't realise it before then I do now. She's truly unique. I am in awe of her. Hell, Dalgliesh is right; I think I love her. Dalgliesh! Dammit, he knows - and that is a truly terrifying thing.

"Sir ... what's going through your head? Talk to me. Let me go to Dalgliesh." I pulled Lillian into my arms. Karim looked embarrassed and averted his eyes.

"I cannot let you go to him. I cannot lose you. You have no idea what he will do to you - I do."

"What do you mean? Tell me."

"I cannot. I just ... cannot speak the words."

"Sir, this is life or death stuff here. If it will give you time to plan an escape then let me go!"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "No! You don't understand. He once told me that if he ever discovered that I had romantic feelings towards a woman, that he ..."

"Do you? Sir ... do you have ... romantic feelings towards me?"

"Mr Linton ..." she glared at me. "... Lillian, is it not obvious after the time we have spent together on this expedition? You are far more than just a secretary to me."

She blushed. Given her tanned skin it must have been quite a blush! To be honest, I was probably blushing too.

"I ... I ... j-just wanted to hear you say it." she stated, quite shyly for my little ifrit. "But what did Dalgliesh threaten?"

"Please don't make me explain ..."

"Sir?!" She was emphatic. She wanted to know.

"If I live, he will not kill you. He wants to cause me the maximum amount of pain. He will most probably force you into marriage now that he knows of your suffragist beliefs. He will hurt you both physically and mentally to break your spirit and he'll ... erm ..."

"Yes, go on."

"He will take you forcibly - in more ways than one. He will ... abuse you ..." I took a deep breath, "... intimately. He will cause you the maximum amount of pain to break us both."

"Animal!" spat Karim, followed by a string of Indian curses.

"Take me forcibly? You mean ..."

"Yes." The blush was gone and Lillian's face now looked pale. I looked her straight in the eyes; "You're going nowhere. We survive together or we die together. He's not laying a finger on you."

I turned back to face Dalgliesh, still holding Lillian in my arms. Karim looked at me, nodded in agreement and also turned to face the enemy.

"You have made a decision?" Dalgliesh enquired.

"Indeed. Miss Linton stays with me."

"I never thought I'd see the day! For the last time Ambrose, give the girl to me and I'll let you off the bridge in one piece."

"No deal. She stays."

"Such a pity. I had great plans for her ... oh, but I'm sure you remember what some of those were old chap. Though, I've had some more interesting ideas since that conversation took place."

"Let me go to him and I'll disembowel the arrogant prick!" hissed Lilly.

Inside I smiled. Despite everything, that fire was still burning in her belly. Given half a chance, I'm sure she would have his entrails on public display in no time, but I wasn't letting her go. I tightened my grip on her.

"One day, I promise" I whispered in her ear.

"Adequate." she replied.

I'm not sure what happened next but all hell seemed to break loose. The native savages were obviously bored with the stalemate and poisoned blow darts started flying in all directions - and a surprisingly long way.

"Karim! Duck!" Lilly yelled. Startled, my faithful Mohammedan bowed forward just in time to miss a dart sail past where his head had just been.

"Thank you Ifrit." he muttered with a degree of embarrassment.

"You're welcome." she chirped back.

The Brazilians started fighting with Dalgliesh's soldiers. The Argentinians were battling the savages and trying to fire at enemies on both sides of the gorge. Dalgliesh looked furious at this turn of events and ordered his army to advance.

Two Argentine soldiers stepped onto the bridge, one with a rifle and one with a sword. On the opposite bank, one of Dalgliesh's men stepped onto the other end of the bridge. He started to advance towards us.

"Sahib?" I knew what he was asking. 

"Yes Karim. It's time."

The sun glinted off his sabre as he held it above his head with one hand, his pistol armed and ready in the other. The Argentinians also started to advance as Karim prepared to take on Dalgliesh's man.

"Have you still got your gun?" I asked Lillian as I unwrapped my arms from around her.

"Yes Sir. Loaded and ready to fire Sir!"

"Adequate. Fire at anything that isn't Karim or myself and watch out for those poison darts."

"Yes Sir! Oh Sir ..." she pulled my face to look at her; "... stay safe."

"You too Miss Linton." I replied before planting a swift kiss on those luscious lips and then readying myself to take on the Argentinians.

A battle raged all around. The first Argentine in front of me was suddenly hit by a poison dart in the neck and promptly fell from the bridge. Hmm ... adequate, I thought to myself. Whilst the second soldier was momentarily distracted by his comrade's plight, I shot him in the head. He too was alligator food. I also saw two East India soldiers falling into the gorge below so Karim was obviously enjoying himself.

As the Argentines were busy fighting the savages and avoiding poison darts, I turned to check on Lillian. Just as well as a dart flew past my head. Lilly must have just fired her last loaded bullet as she seemed annoyed that nothing happened when she pulled the trigger. Meanwhile, Karim was taking on four East India soldiers at once. Dalgliesh saw me turn around and bellowed above the noise of the battle;

"Ambrose! I will break you one way or another. You are vastly outnumbered!" Then he turned to one of his generals and gave him a signal. 

In my peripheral vision I saw a dart heading toward the centre of the bridge.

"Lilly - dart! Watch out!" I yelled. In an instant she dropped to her knees and the dart sailed over her head. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Sir!" She saluted me before grabbing a backpack to start reloading her gun.

I checked behind me - two Argentinian soldiers were trying to make their way onto the bridge. I quickly looked back the other way. Lillian was sat with her back to the south side of the bridge, desperately trying to reload her gun as the floor below her bounced in all directions - mainly due to Karim's battle with the East India soldiers.

It was then that I noticed that Dalgliesh's general was stood at the entry to the bridge. He was signalling to the Argentine general on the other side. He too took up a position at the opposite entry to the bridge. Suddenly I had a really dark feeling in the pit of my stomach. When both men produced machetes, I knew we were in trouble.

"Karim! Lilly! Grab hold of the ropes - quickly!"

The East India soldiers were momentarily distracted by my command, giving Karim the opportunity to dispose of the two closest to him. He too noticed the general with the machete and then looked at me. Then we felt the first blow of the machetes on the rope of the bridge. The two remaining East India soldiers panicked and started running towards their general.

Both Karim and I noticed that Lilly was still sat on the bridge floor, muttering whilst trying to load her gun. We both started running towards her, yelling.

"Lilly! Lilly! Grab hold of the ropes quickly!"

"Ifrit! What are you doing?!"

I was just a few yards away when she finally looked up.

"Now Tompkins, NOW!" I heard Dalgliesh's voice cut through the air.

At that moment, the general I now know to be called Tompkins brought his machete down hard on the rope supporting the southern side of the bridge, shearing it completely. And then time itself seemed to sloooow down.

Lillian looked at me and her eyes opened very wide as the bridge started to wobble violently. I remember screaming at her to grab one of the rope tendrils and wrap it around her hand. She started to move. Then I saw Karim's eyes widen and I knew. I knew the Argentine general was bringing his machete down on the south side ropes too. I grabbed the rope on the northern side and Karim did the same.

Suddenly, the south side of the bridge snapped free. Our bags and Lilly's gun went flying down into the gorge.

Lilly made a desperate grab for the rope.

She missed.

I screamed her name as I saw her start to tip backwards. 

Karim had a good grip on the rope and tried to reach across and grab her. In slow motion I saw her face come up as she started to fall backwards off the broken bridge.

No, no, NO! This could not be happening. I could not lose her after everything we've been through. 

I saw the look of terror on her face as she realised that she was falling into the gorge. She screamed out my name. I screamed out her name as I let go of the rope and dived towards her.

12 inches. I missed her by a measly 12 inches as a huge arm grabbed my belt to stop me from falling too.

"Sahib - grab the rope now!"

I was frozen, arm outstretched, looking into her pleading eyes as she tumbled further away from me.

"Sahib! Please! Grab the rope - it's what she would want!"

As she fell further away and her voice faded, Karim hauled me back towards the ropes and I finally grabbed hold. 

Then the sound of Dalgliesh's laugh filled the gorge. It seemed to get louder as she fell further and further away.

"I'm so sorry Sahib." a defeated Karim muttered.

The sound of Dalgliesh's victorious cackle was ringing in my ears, threatening to drive me to insanity as I whispered "My Lillian ..."

Then something inside of me died as I saw her body smash off the rocks below and fall into the river. 

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Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of my Storm & Silence fanfic. It was a long one, but I didn't want to split it up and spoil the flow of the action - and as I always see complaints on poor Sir Rob's chapters when they are short ones, I didn't think you'd mind!

I've been thinking about, researching and writing this story for a while now, but have only recently plucked up enough courage to actually start uploading it to Wattpad. I hope you like it as I have quite an adventure in store for you all.

I know I have committed a mortal sin by killing off our favourite fiery Ifrit in the first chapter, but please don't get too mad with me yet! The reasons for this will become clear very soon - I promise.

I will endeavour to update my story on a regular basis (if I get any readers!), but please be aware that I suffer from Fibromyalgia and M.E. so I am at the mercy of my brain and body as to whether I am well enough to do it. I know how frustrating it can be when you're waiting for a new chapter to come out, and I'll try my best not to disappoint.

When I have a few more chapters of Lost Treasure uploaded, I'm going to start work on a book of Storm & Silence short stories & one shots. My ideas notebook is rapidly filling up with ideas and situations that I'd love to explore with Lilly & Ambrose! I'll let you know when that is up and running.

Thanks again for reading and here's to the creative genius of Rob Thier who has turned once boring Wednesdays into the best day of the week!

All the best!

JP x