Disappearing Act

by Jacqueline Harvey

  Max flinched. ‘Was he?’ All their lives the children had thought their father was a paramedic, but of course that could have been his cover once he and their mother left the organisation.

  ‘Your father was – is – a very clever man. He met your mother at university, where they were both studying medicine, but then your grandmother needed him and he put his medical ambitions on hold and ended up working at the paper with her.’

  ‘So, Mum took after her parents except it said they were medical scientists,’ Max said. ‘What sort of research were they involved in?’

  Mim put her hand on Kensy’s shoulder. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know anything more.’

  Kensy looked at the woman, a wave of emotion rolling over her. No matter how hard she tried to stop them, tears filled her eyes.

  ‘Oh, sweetheart.’ The woman opened her arms and Kensy tumbled into them.

  ‘I just want Mum and Dad to come home,’ the girl sobbed. ‘I miss them so much.’

  Max’s eyes began to prickle. Mim looked at the boy and beckoned for him to join them. She wrapped an arm around him too. ‘My darlings, have faith in that son of mine,’ she said, hugging them tight. ‘He’ll do everything he can to find them. I know it.’

  ‘So, ugly sweaters for Christmas are a big thing in England, are they?’ Kensy re-read the instructions attached to the beautifully printed card sitting on her bedside table.

  Autumn nodded and struck a pose. Her red jumper featured a reindeer face with three-dimensional antlers and a bulbous nose. ‘Do you actually think I’d wear this special little number if I didn’t have to?’

  Kensy laughed. ‘Okay, that’s truly hideous, and I’m pretty sure it’s exactly the same as the one hanging in my wardrobe in London. I wish I’d known. I could have brought it with me.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry. There’s one for you here somewhere.’ Autumn hurried into the walk-in wardrobe and appeared a few seconds later, holding up another red monstrosity. This jumper had a Christmas tree adorned with three-dimensional baubles and lights.

  Kensy laughed. ‘It’s worse than yours. I didn’t think that was even possible five minutes ago.’

  ‘And I suspect it’s going to get more interesting the longer you wear it,’ Autumn added, wiggling her eyebrows.

  ‘Those lights don’t actually work, do they?’ Kensy grimaced. She was feeling much better since having a rest and something to eat. Cordelia had come to see how she and Max were feeling and said that everyone had been briefed on the accident and told not to bring it up. Their grandmother and had stressed the fact that they shouldn’t worry about it. Anyway, the twins had decided to try to enjoy the first Christmas of their strange new lives regardless.

  Autumn had arrived at Kensy’s room after catching up with her parents. They had just flown in from Hong Kong, where they headed up the South-East Asian bureau of Pharos – the reason Autumn lived with an aunt in London. Apart from giving Kensy an unexpected hug, Autumn hadn’t mentioned a thing about what had happened at the racetrack. Clearly, she was incredibly relieved to find her friend in one piece. Carlos had been similarly accommodating with Max next door. The boy hadn’t even cracked a joke about it.

  Kensy changed into jeans, boots and a long-sleeved T-shirt and pulled her sweater over the top. Autumn went into the bathroom to check her hair as a knock sounded on the door.

  ‘Come in if you’re good-looking!’ Kensy yelled.

  Max stepped into the room.

  ‘What are you doing here? I said come in if you’re good-looking.’ Kensy pulled a face and giggled. She didn’t see Autumn steal a glance at the boy from the bathroom doorway and suppress the smile that was tickling her lips.

  ‘What? You don’t think I look . . .’ Max spun around like a model on a catwalk, planting his left hand on his hip. ‘Chic?’

  Kensy and Autumn burst out laughing. Max’s jumper was even worse than theirs.

  ‘Is that Wellie and Mac on there?’ Kensy asked. The dogs’ faces embroidered onto it bore a remarkable resemblance to their grandmother’s West Highland terriers.

  ‘Sure is.’ Max patted the tops of their heads. ‘It’s always good to have a Westie on your chesty.’

  Kensy cringed and shook her head. ‘That is wrong on every level.’

  ‘As if you can talk,’ Max retorted, pointing to the baubles on her jumper, which had begun to glow. ‘Also, aren’t you forgetting something?’

  Kensy looked down. ‘What do you mean? I’ve got pants on.’

  ‘Would it hurt you to run a brush through that shrubbery you call hair every once in a while?’ He looked to Autumn for support, but the girl just blushed.

  Kensy rolled her eyes. ‘All right, Mum,’ she said, and a pang of guilt hit her in the chest like a thump with a wet sock.

  ‘I could braid it,’ Autumn offered. ‘I’m really fast.’

  Kensy shot past her and into the bathroom to grab a brush and a hairband. She wasn’t going to think about her mum and dad and Fitz. They were fine. They had to be; there was no other option.

  Max smiled at Autumn. ‘Kensy’s lucky to have you as a friend.’

  Autumn’s lashes flickered as she lowered her eyes. She could feel the heat rising up her neck to her cheeks. An awkward silence hung in the air between them.

  ‘I’d better check on Carlos,’ the lad said, as his sister bounded back into the room and tossed the brush to Autumn.

  The girl reached out and caught it like a seasoned first-slip fielder on the cricket pitch.

  ‘We’ll wait for you at the top of the stairs,’ Max said.

  ‘See you soon,’ Autumn replied, her eyes lingering on the boy as he departed.

  Kensy sat at the dressing table and Autumn set to work. True to her word, she had the girl’s wild blonde locks tamed and woven into a fishbone braid in less than two minutes.

  ‘Wow, that looks amazing,’ Kensy said, admiring her reflection in the mirror. ‘Maybe you should teach me – although, really, I can’t imagine I’d have the patience.’

  Autumn grinned at her friend in the mirror. ‘It’s dead easy once you get the hang of it.’

  ‘Come on,’ Kensy said, jumping to her feet, ‘or we’ll be late and I don’t even know where the ballroom is.’

  ‘Prepare to be amazed, Kensington Grey!’ Autumn declared, and the pair of them raced off to join in the fun.

  As Kensy and Max soon discovered, there was a whole other wing to the house they hadn’t yet explored and a huge part of it was taken up by the ballroom. The children were greeted at the double doors by Dame Spencer, who was wearing a navy skirt paired with a red jumper that played host to three cheeky squirrels emblazoned across the front.

  ‘Hello darlings,’ she said with a smile. ‘Don’t you all look splendid!’

  Max glanced inside the room. To his great relief and amusement, everyone was wearing something equally awful, adding to the feeling of fun in the air. That, and the upbeat Christmas song that was playing.

  ‘There’s plenty to eat and drink,’ Cordelia added, pointing to the buffet table, which was being guarded on either end by life-sized nutcrackers. ‘It’s help yourselves tonight as all of the staff are officially off-duty. Enjoy every minute and make sure to reserve a spot on your dance cards for me.’

  Kensy grinned as she caught sight of Song in a sweater that featured Santa wearing a cowboy hat on the front. Sidney’s jumper, meanwhile, was resplendent with a picture of Elvis dressed as an elf.

  As ornate as it was large, the ballroom was decorated with white panelling on the lower half of the walls and flocked crimson wallpaper above. The ceiling’s intricate plasterwork resembled the icing on a wedding cake, adorned with a central crystal chandelier, while a crackling fire danced in the hearth of the vast marble fireplace at the end of the room. Fairy lights added to the festive atmosphere and there were life-sized tin soldiers in addition to the nutcrackers standing sentry along the walls. A majestic fir tree stood in the middle of the room. Curiously, not a single
bauble or string of tinsel hung from its branches.

  ‘The tree’s a bit bare compared to the rest of it,’ Max commented.

  ‘Wait and see,’ Carlos said. ‘It’s all part of the fun.’

  Autumn nodded. ‘It’s my favourite part of Christmas at Alexandria.’

  Kensy and Max were intrigued. For the next hour or so, the children mingled with their friends and in turn met lots of the parents too, although some of them they already knew. Sachin’s mother and father ran a curry house on Brick Lane in East London, where Song and Fitz had taken the twins for dinner a couple of times, and Kensy had been for a sleepover at Harper’s home in Chelsea. Max had gone with Song to pick her up and met the family as well.

  They both found it slightly off-putting that many of the adults seemed quite teary in their presence, concerned for the children’s welfare in the wake of their parents’ disappearance. Everyone asked how they were feeling and if they were okay. It wasn’t making the situation any easier, although Kensy and Max did their best to smile through it. Mrs Trimm’s husband, Hayward, had hugged Max so tightly the boy thought he might suffocate. Elva had to nudge the man three times before he released the lad.

  ‘It’s absolutely wonderful to meet you both,’ Hayward effused. He was a long streak of a fellow with a bald patch on the back of his head in a perfect circle. Despite being follicly challenged up top, he had a splendid beard and moustache that he obviously took great pride in.

  Kensy spotted Mrs Varma glimmering like a Christmas ornament among the crowd and hurried over to say hello. The woman was bejewelled from head to toe in a glittering green sari, which she had teamed with a cardigan covered in sequinned snowflakes.

  ‘What fun!’ she exclaimed, hugging Kensy and then Autumn. ‘I love Christmas – it’s just so . . . twinkly.’

  Beside them, Max and Carlos had caught up with Sachin and his father and were now engaged in a fiery debate about the Ashes cricket tour of Australia. Mr Varma was determined the English would win despite a first-test loss. Max felt a little torn in his allegiances, given his grandmother was Australian and it was the most recent country he had lived in before coming to the UK. In many ways, he felt far more Australian than English.

  Mrs Varma excused herself to go and speak with the Ahmeds, who had arrived a moment ago. Kensy spied Misha Thornhill standing in the far corner of the room and guided Autumn over to say hello.

  ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Kensy asked.

  ‘Golly, I must look like a complete Nigel no friends over here on my own.’ Misha smiled tightly. ‘I was just running something through my head.’

  Autumn’s brow crinkled with concern. ‘Are you close to a breakthrough with the Lemmlers?’

  ‘I think so,’ Misha said. ‘I can’t help feeling sorry for Lola. Even though she’s ghastly, I’m afraid life is going to be tricky for her when things unravel. She thinks her father is a saint, although I suppose most kids do, don’t they? You know, his name’s not even Lemmler. It’s Leonardi. I can’t say much more, but I’ll let you know when things are about to heat up. I suspect it might be soon.’

  When the twins had first started at Central London Free School, Kensy had immediately come up against the resident bully, Lola Lemmler. Her best friend, Misha Thornhill, seemed to be her closest ally and it was oft said that Misha didn’t have an original thought unless Lola told her so. However, when the existence of the spy school was revealed, Kensy and Max also learned that Misha had merely been playing a part in an undercover operation. She was tasked with befriending Lola to get close to the girl’s father, who was suspected to be a big player in organised crime. Kensy and Max had been stunned to see Misha down in Pharos headquarters, located beneath their school, the day they learned what was really going on.

  It had taken Kensy a while to come to grips with the fact that Misha was actually quite lovely away from Lola – but they all had to continue playing their roles at school. It was fortunate Misha was an extremely good actress. Kensy told her she should think about a career on stage when she finished school, but apparently the girl was keen on molecular biology and thought she’d be of more use to the organisation planted in a science laboratory somewhere.

  ‘I like your sweater,’ Autumn said. Misha’s pink crocheted jumper boasted a pretty pattern of dainty candy canes. It even gave off a faint peppermint scent. ‘You smell quite delicious.’

  Misha grinned. ‘It’s not the ugliest I’ve ever worn,’ she conceded, ‘but it means I won’t stand a chance in the competition. You know how Mr MacGregor loves the truly awful ones. Besides, my “bestie” wouldn’t allow me to be seen dead in anything as gross as yours.’

  Kensy glanced around the room and realised there were a lot of people she didn’t know. Then again, Pharos couldn’t have solely consisted of the teachers and students. The unfamiliar faces must have belonged to field agents or people who worked behind the scenes. Kensy felt a twinge of excitement thinking about the future that lay ahead for her and Max, which was somewhat tempered when she noticed Shugs and O’Leary talking to Miss Witherbee on the other side of the room. Finally, this was her chance. She excused herself and marched towards the trio.

  All three had entered into the spirit of the occasion clad in equally unattractive sweaters. Mr O’Leary’s sported a leprechaun dressed as Santa Claus, while Shugs’s was similar to Kensy’s. Miss Witherbee had a snowman with a lifelike carrot nose. The woman beamed at the girl over the top of her champagne flute.

  ‘Hello Kensy. Did you have a good day?’ she asked before taking a sip.

  ‘I’m sure you’ve heard all about my day,’ Kensy replied with an exaggerated wink. ‘After all, you helped plan it, didn’t you?’

  Willow Witherbee choked on her champagne while the two men looked completely bewildered. ‘Whatever do you mean?’ she sputtered.

  ‘I thought you organised for Mr Shugs to do something first thing?’ Kensy said.

  ‘How on earth did you know that?’ The woman pouted. ‘Your uncle will be so sad that the surprise has been spoiled. He was terribly excited about giving you and Max your own race cars.’

  Kensy looked at her blankly. Well, she’d got that wrong, hadn’t she? She was glad Max wasn’t around to say ‘I told you so’.

  Willow downed the rest of her drink and wiggled her empty glass. ‘Think I’ll get a top-up,’ she said sweetly, and strode away.

  Kensy turned towards Shugs and O’Leary. ‘Hello,’ she said as brightly as she could manage.

  ‘’Appy Christmas, Miss Kensington,’ Mr O’Leary replied in an Irish lilt. His words were sung more than spoken.

  ‘’Appy Christmas, miss,’ Shugs echoed in his gravelly voice.

  ‘I’m surprised I haven’t met you both properly before now,’ Kensy said. ‘I remember you were moving the straw mannequins the first time Max and I came to Alexandria. I thought you were talking about real bodies and then you were staring at me in the greenhouse. You scared me half to death.’

  The pair grinned and nodded sheepishly. ‘We didn’t mean to frighten you, pet,’ Mr O’Leary apologised. ‘I suppose we’ve been given to staring because we never thought we’d see the day you and your brother were ’ere. It’s made Dame Spencer the ’appiest we’ve seen ’er in years. She put on a good show and all that, but you can see it in ’er eyes. She’s positively glowin’.’

  ‘We both knew your dad when ’e was a younger lad. Your bruvver is the spittin’ image of ’im,’ Shugs added.

  The more the man spoke the more Kensy couldn’t get the thought out of her mind that it was him who had tried to kidnap them in London in the back of the taxi. Problem was, he didn’t look anything like that fellow. And how she was ever going to prove it was anyone’s guess. ‘Do you have any brothers, Mr Shugs?’ she asked.

  The man shook his head. ‘No, just me,’ he replied, visibly puzzled by the question.

  Mr O’Leary chuckled. ‘Miss Kensington, you surely ’aven’t seen another fella as ugly as this bloke ’ere.’<
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  Shugs scoffed. ‘You’re not exactly a pin-up yourself, old man.’

  ‘I’d better go and find my brother,’ Kensy said. She flashed them a smile before hurrying away. Just being close to Shugs gave her the heebie-jeebies.

  Despite the smiles, Paddy O’Leary couldn’t help feeling there was more to the girl’s question. He hoped Shugs wasn’t up to no good. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the first time.

  The Christmas music that had been playing in the background faded to the sound of Dame Spencer tapping a teaspoon against a cut-crystal tumbler. The crowd hushed and formed a semicircle around the woman.

  ‘Good evening, friends and family,’ she began. ‘I’d like to formally welcome you all to our annual Christmas celebrations at Alexandria – a time when we can come together and pay our respects to the traditions of all our members. Tonight will mean many different things for everyone, but, for me, most of all it means family.’ She smiled at Kensy and Max, her eyes sparkling. ‘I never thought I’d see the day when . . .’

  A loud ruckus at the double doors caused everyone to turn. The crowd parted to make way for a rather flushed and dishevelled Rupert Spencer. He wore a white turtleneck imprinted with a photograph of his mother’s face. A tiara embellished with diamantes sat atop her head and the words ‘ice queen’ were stitched below the portrait.

  Max and Kensy looked at one another.

  ‘Hello Mummy,’ Rupert drawled, raising a glass of champagne into the air. ‘Sorry I’m late. Got caught up at The Lamp and Lantern – intense game of pool with some out-of-towners. Did I miss anything important?’

  Mim sighed loudly and shook her head at Cordelia, whose cheeks seemed to drain of their colour. ‘Rupert,’ she said quietly, ‘please let your mother speak. I’m sure that you can have the stage in a little while.’

  ‘Is he . . . drunk?’ Kensy whispered.

  ‘I hope so, or else it means he’s just plain rude,’ Max whispered back.

  ‘Good evening, darling.’ Dame Spencer ignored her son’s antics and continued her speech. ‘As I was about to say, I never thought I’d see the day when my grandchildren were able to be part of our celebrations. I only wish Edward and Anna were here with us too. And Fitz, of course. But I’m confident they will all be back soon.’