by Alesha Dixon
Georgie put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “The fact that you went to visit him at all is amazing. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to go into prison and face him again.”
“Aurora, there’s another thing that I think is important,” Kizzy continued, turning the page and pointing at the top paragraph. “Did you read this bit?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I was always focusing on the page that’s now missing as that had the passage about how to transfer the powers.”
“Well, I think you should read this.” Kizzy smiled. “You had a feeling that the safest place for the Light of the World would be under the Aurora Borealis, didn’t you?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I just believe it belongs where it was found.”
“You’re right, at least according to this legend you are. It’s only a small mention but it sounds similar to what you’re thinking.” Kizzy brushed her finger along the sentences, reading aloud. “One myth that has been mostly forgotten or ignored surrounds the most precious stone of all. Resting under the Northern Lights, the stone protects the natural balance of light and dark in the world, and all those who live within this balance.”
“How did I miss this?” I whispered, reading the passage again.
“It doesn’t specify that it’s talking about the Light of the World, so it may not have stood out to you,” Kizzy reasoned.
“Hey!” Fred called, gesturing for us to join him as he looked out at the view. While we had been chatting for the past few minutes, he’d been pretending to be an archer at the watch of the castle turret. “You need to come and see this!”
“I told you, Fred,” Suzie said, rolling her eyes, “it is definitely a horse.”
“No, not that. Something else.”
I slung my backpack over my shoulder, heavy now with the added weight of the book, and followed the other three to crowd round him and look out to where he was pointing.
“Whoa,” Suzie said, her eyes widening. “That looks … creepy.”
Far in the distance, the sky had turned black, even though it was the middle of the day, casting a dark shadow over the land beneath it. All the lights in the shops and offices beneath it flickered and then turned off completely.
“Is that a storm?” Georgie asked nervously. “I hope it’s not coming our way. Maybe we should go inside the castle just in case.”
“It’s miles away,” Fred said, peering at it with interest.
“Yeah, but Georgie’s right, we should head in,” Kizzy said. “Storms can move fast.”
As they all moved away from the edge of the wall and headed back down the spiral stone steps, I stood looking out at the patch of black sky for a few moments longer. A shiver ran down my spine and my fingers began to tingle with my powers.
Georgie was wrong. That was not a normal storm. It was the sky over yet another part of the world growing darker.
7
When we drew up to an abandoned building, I turned to the MI5 agent sitting next to me.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Yes.”
I peered out of the car window. We were in East London and had driven along busy, buzzing roads to end up down an empty, narrow street. At the top stood an old, rundown house that looked like no one had been inside for decades. The windows were boarded up and covered in cool graffiti, and there was a thick chain looped through the door handles, secured with a big padlock.
“Are you doubly sure?” I asked the secret service agent.
She turned her head slowly to look at me through her sunglasses. “Yes.”
“Have you ever been wrong about stuff like this?”
The agent smiled. “No. That’s why your grandmother hired me.”
“Right.” I nodded, biting my lip. “Because you guys are her best and most trusted agents. So, there’s no way you’d take me to a haunted house that might be a trap.”
“Exactly.”
“And this is where Nanny Beam told you to bring me.”
“This is the place.” The agent leaned across me to open the car door. “After you.”
As she and another agent led me towards the building, I wondered why the Queen and Nanny Beam couldn’t just hold their meetings at Buckingham Palace. What was with all these odd places? A crow squawked loudly from the roof of the building as we walked up to it, making me jump.
I gulped as it flew off. I think I preferred being on the pedalo on the Serpentine.
“Over here,” the female agent said, noticing I was lagging behind and gesturing for me to follow her down the side of the building where there was a big metal door with “KEEP OUT” written across it in blood-red paint. The paint had dripped down from the letters before drying, so it looked as though it was straight out of a horror movie.
“Just to confirm, this definitely isn’t a haunted house, is it?” I squeaked. “Because I know this meeting is important, but I’m really not a fan of ghosts or anything that’s going to eat me alive.”
The corners of the agent’s mouth twitched as she tried to suppress a smile and for a moment she reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think who. She came to stand over me and spoke in a low voice so that the other agents couldn’t hear.
“I promise, Lightning Girl, that like many things in life, this isn’t what it looks like.” She smiled gently. “It’s not haunted. And even if it was haunted, you’ve got me to protect you.”
I nodded. “Right. You’re right. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” She straightened up and went to wrench open the door. “This way.”
I timidly stepped through the door and followed her down the stairs and along a corridor, dimly lit by a couple of bare light bulbs dangling from the ceiling. I thought about using my powers to brighten the space up a bit, but I’d already embarrassed myself in front of the agents with the whole ghost comment and I didn’t want them to think I was scared of the dark, too. I hoped this wasn’t some weird superhero bravery test that Nanny Beam had decided to put me through, because if it was then I was going to fail.
“Here we are,” the agent said as we reached the door at the end of the corridor. “Enjoy.”
She pushed open the door. My eyes lit up at the incredible sight before me. It was a massive, sparkling new, underground bowling alley.
“What is this place?” I asked, gazing round me in awe.
“Aurora! You’re here.”
The Queen was sitting with Nanny Beam in a booth at the milkshake bar on one side of the room. She stood up and came over to greet me.
“Hello, Your Majesty,” I said, curtseying.
As my eyes fell to the floor, I couldn’t help but notice that the Queen was wearing personalized bowling shoes, which had corgis and crowns all over them.
“What do you think?” the Queen said as Nanny Beam gave me a hug.
“It’s amazing! Is this your personal bowling alley?”
“Sadly, no.” She chuckled. “It is about to open to the public, once they spruce up the outside of the building a little. The owner happens to know my secret love of the sport and kindly invited me to try out the lanes before the grand opening.”
“Get your shoes on and let’s get to it,” Nanny Beam said.
She nodded to one of the bowling alley staff who came scurrying over holding out some shoes in my size. He looked like he was about to pass out on the spot and couldn’t stop staring at the Queen as though he didn’t quite believe she was standing right there.
“Thank you, Jon.” Nanny Beam smiled at him as he bowed his head awkwardly and shuffled back to stand in front of all the pigeon holes stuffed with bowling shoes, and stare at the Queen some more.
“Check this out, Aurora.” The Queen grinned, holding up a purple bowling ball with gold swirly lettering across it which read:
Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Bowling Ball
HANDS OFF!
“That is so cool!”
“Isn’t it?” she said, admiring it. “I
t was a birthday present from my grandchildren. Right then, Lightning Girl, let’s see what you’re made of.”
As she headed to the first lane that had been set up for us, I sidled up to Nanny Beam and whispered in her ear.
“I thought we were having a meeting.”
“We are,” Nanny Beam assured me, ushering me towards the bowling lane. “It’s nice to make it a little more fun.”
As Nanny Beam and I waited our turn, the Queen took her run up and launched her royal bowling ball straight down the middle of the lane at great speed, smashing into the pins and sending them flying.
“Strike!” she cried, turning to the secret service agent who’d been so nice to me and giving her a high-five.
“Well done, Your Majesty!” Nanny Beam grinned, giving her a round of applause. “Although I’m determined not to let you win … again.”
“Am I awake?” I asked Jon, the staff member who had brought me a milkshake on a silver tray. “Is this actually happening?”
He looked at the Queen, who was now doing a celebratory moonwalk in her corgi bowling shoes. He turned back to me.
“I’m really not sure myself,” he whispered.
“Aurora, you’re up!” the Queen announced, pointing at my name flashing on the screen above her head.
After a few goes, during which we established that I was useless at bowling, Nanny Beam was pretty good at bowling, and the Queen was at a professional level of bowling, it was decided that we should take a break to discuss the matters at hand.
“Have you seen the new reports about parts of the world getting darker?” the Queen asked, as I nodded in response. “It’s worrying. We’re not sure what’s causing it and it seems to be spreading, particularly over London. Any updates, Patricia?”
“I’ve got my best people working on it,” Nanny Beam said determinedly.
“We need to get to the bottom of it. I don’t want people to be afraid to leave their homes,” the Queen said, her eyebrows knitted together in concern. “The more I think about it, the more I worry it’s to do with the precious stones.”
“I’m not sure if this is linked, but we noticed something in the book you lent me,” I said, getting it out of my bag. “Well, Kizzy noticed it. Here” – I turned to the bookmarked page and held it open on my lap for them to see – “look at the page numbers. There’s a page missing. It’s an important one, too. The page all about the legends of the stones and their guardians, along with the beliefs of the ability to transfer their powers.”
“My goodness,” Nanny Beam said, peering at the book. “I can’t believe we missed this. It’s not possible.”
“It’s easy to miss,” I pointed out. “They’ve done it so neatly.”
“No. No, this can’t…” Nanny Beam stared down at it with a troubled expression. “It can’t have been torn out recently; this book has been in my possession at MI5 since the moment we arrested Darek.”
“Do you think Mr Mercury has the missing page?” the Queen asked as Nanny Beam continued to look perplexed.
“Yes,” I replied. “I don’t know how he got it from Darek before he was arrested, but I think the other two precious stones could be in danger. Mr Mercury may not be able to get the Light of the World, but I have a strong feeling he’ll be going after the other two now that he has the Jewel of Truth and Nobility.” I took a deep breath before putting forward my next request. “I’ve been thinking about it and I’d like to visit the other precious-stone guardians and check that they’re safe. Mr Mercury may be an idiot, but he’s a master of disguise. All three of us here have been victim of that. The other guardians need to be warned and we should double their security.”
“Aurora,” Nanny Beam said gently, “it’s an important point and kind of you to offer, but the other guardians are safe, as are the stones in their charge. There was nothing in that book about who the guardians could be, so even if Mr Mercury is now aware of their existence, he won’t know where to start. Only the Queen and I know that information.”
“Darek found out about the Jewel of Truth and Nobility, and you didn’t think he knew anything about it,” I pointed out.
“That was different. His father knew and passed on that information to him.”
“My point is, it is possible to find out,” I emphasized. “I think it’s important to remember that Darek devoted his entire life to finding the precious stones. He recognized the Light of the World before any of us knew what it was. Even the Beams. He knew I was the guardian before I did.”
Nanny Beam and the Queen shared a look.
“What if he found out about the other precious stones?” I continued. “What if he had others helping him track them down? Mr Mercury could have bugged the palace. Darek could have bugged the offices of MI5 when he was working with you, Nanny Beam. What if he overheard a conversation between you two about the stones and where they are? All I’m saying is I think we should take every precaution and I don’t think we should underestimate Darek’s knowledge or Mr Mercury’s determination. For all we know, they may still be working together. I think it’s important to personally check in with the guardians, whoever and wherever they are.”
The Queen nodded slowly. “Let me think about it, Aurora.”
An agent came forward and whispered something in her ear. She rolled her eyes and stood up.
“Excuse me for a moment, I’m needed on the phone.”
As she followed the agent to take the call, Nanny Beam excused herself to use the bathroom. I slumped back against the chair and sipped my milkshake, hoping that they had taken what I’d said seriously. When you’re twelve years old, it’s sometimes difficult to get adults to listen to you, whether you have superpowers or not.
While they were gone, I checked my phone and saw two missed calls from Alexis as well as a text message from him saying: PICK UP LOSER, IT’S URGENT.
I didn’t hesitate to call him back, remembering last year in Paris when I ignored his calls and then it turned out he was ringing me because he’d found out that Darek was a bad guy.
“Hey,” he said, answering on the first ring. “Where have you been?”
I glanced round the bowling alley. “It’s a long story. Everything OK?”
“Yeah, you’re on speakerphone and Clara’s here, too.”
“Hi, Aurora,” Clara said. “We think we’ve got something.”
“Our little sister is absolutely brilliant,” Alexis said, and I could hear that he was grinning. “I know you already knew that, but she is ESPECIALLY brilliant today.”
“Go on.”
“I have just been going through some police files Alexis hacked into; old records and burglaries of Mr Mercury’s—”
“Wait, Alexis, you hacked into police files?” I asked, keeping my voice down and checking over my shoulders that no agents were listening.
“Yeah, I thought it might come in handy,” he explained. “Turns out I was right. Clara, tell her.”
“As we all know, Mr Mercury’s calling card of his early burglaries was to plunge buildings into darkness and then he’d steal everything, hence how he got the nickname the Blackout Burglar.”
“Right.”
“But the thing is, Mr Mercury doesn’t exist before these burglaries, or before he got a position at the school. Just like Joe the Butler didn’t exist before he got the position at Buckingham Palace, or David Donnelly at the Superhero Conference. Mr Mercury made up these characters and gave them backgrounds.”
“Okaaaay?”
“So, who was Mr Mercury before all this?” Clara asked excitedly. “What’s his real name? I thought, if I could find out who he really was, it might throw up more places that he could be.”
“Aurora,” Alexis jumped in, “she did it! She found out his real name!”
“WHAT?” I pressed the phone to my ear. “Are you serious?”
“I did some research and there was a school in Surrey that had a series of blackouts during the time when Mr Mercury would have been the ri
ght age to be a pupil,” Clara explained. “The headmaster at the time reported it to the police but they couldn’t find the culprit. Loads of stuff kept going missing during these blackouts, and, not only that, but on rare occasions any witnesses saw the thief, they all gave completely different descriptions. What are the chances of different thieves using the exact same technique in a school?”
“He was perfecting his technique,” Alexis added. “Blackouts AND disguise.”
“So, you definitely think it’s him?” I asked.
“It’s him all right,” Alexis said. “Clara found an old school photograph. I’m sending it through to you now. Check out the School Leavers of 1990. Right at the end of the second row, to the left.”
I checked my phone screen and tapped on his message. The image flashed up on my screen. I scanned my eyes along the second row to the end and I did a double take. My jaw fell to the floor. The likeness was uncanny.
“Have you seen it?” I heard Alexis say.
I quickly put the phone to my ear again.
“Oh my goodness,” I croaked, my mouth suddenly very dry. “It’s him. It’s Mr Mercury.”
“Yep, his real name is Desmond Silicon,” Clara stated. “And do you want to know the best news of all?”
“What?”
“He’s still registered as living at his mum’s house in Surrey. We have his address.”
8
“This is it,” I said, gesturing to the house in front of us.
Georgie, Suzie, Kizzy and Fred, who was holding Kimmy on her lead, all came to stand next to me in a line to stare up at the house. I hadn’t planned on bringing Kimmy all the way to Surrey with us to track down this Mrs Silicon, but when she saw me put on my Lightning Girl trainers and pick up my bag she went berserk and barred my way to the front door. The only way I could get her to move was to pick up her lead, assuring her that wherever I was off to, she was coming, too.
“But, it looks … normal,” Fred commented.
“Yeah,” Georgie agreed. “Perfectly normal. Are you sure this is the right address?”