“Why were you that close to them?”
The massage was fading away.
“Well, I went to speak to them about what happened. With Simon. To see if they knew anything.”
“And what happened?”
Luke pondered a moment. While the absolute truth was slightly damaging to his ego, it was also just possible that it would get him out of trouble.
“They called me ‘baldy’ and told me to polish my own head.”
Gabby rose up indignantly.
Brilliant.
“They said what?! What did you say to them?”
“I just asked if they’d noticed anything odd about the guy they’d just seen.”
“And that’s how they responded?”
“Well, I think they assumed it was a pick up line.”
“Oh they did, did they?”
Excellent, the witches were now firmly the enemy.
“Right, we’ll see about that.” Gabby stood up and started getting dressed.
“Wait,” Luke put his hand on her arm. “I don’t think we want to annoy these women. I think they’re kind of in charge when Priest’s not here. And I think they’re powerful.”
“Ah,” she said. “Right.”
She sat back down.
“So do we need to get Simon in trouble with them?”
Luke perked up again. That’s exactly what they needed.
“Yes, yes, that’s perfect. They’ll have to put them in jail until Priest comes back. With any luck, by then Debovar and his aunt will have changed back to normal and they’ll be thrown out!”
“OK. So how do we get them in trouble?”
“Well, from listening to them, they seem to pretty much only care about themselves, their looks and gin. The only time I heard any of them talk positively about another person was when one of them was talking about her daughter –that Amelia girl.”
“Amelia? Is that the pretty girl? The young one in the floaty dresses?”
“I think so,” Luke answered, keen not to confirm the ‘pretty’ description too enthusiastically.
“So, if I had happened to see her kissing the big guy, Bob, in the garden this afternoon, then that would be interesting, would it?”
“Seriously? Like a friendly kiss or…?”
“If you kissed a friend like that we’d have a problem.”
“Right. That is interesting.”
While a light bulb did not actually appear over Luke’s head and burst into life, it was patently obvious to Gabby that he’d had an idea –and it was a doozy. He smiled broadly at her.
“What? What?” she asked, barely able to wait as long as it took Luke to draw breath.
“Well, how old would you say Bob is?”
“I don’t know. Mid thirties? Maybe a bit younger.”
“And Amelia?”
“Early twenties, I’d say.”
“And witches –they tend to live a very long time don’t they?”
“Yes.”
“So if these witches are like most witches, they probably live about 200 years, yeah?”
“Yes.” Gabby did not see where this was going.
“Which means that they have a different perspective on time. Under witch law, a girl does not become a woman until…”
“Thirty!” Gabby shouted, finishing the thought for him. “She’s underage!”
“Exactly,” Luke answered, pleased with himself. “We’ve got him for indecent assault of an underage witch.”
“Oooh, wait though. That’s pretty serious. What if they execute him or something?”
“This is Priest’s island. They’ll have to wait for him to come back to try him, I’m sure. And unless he abides by witch law, then Bob’s done nothing wrong, so he’ll get off free. And as a guest of the island, he’ll be protected from the witches doing anything themselves.”
“And what if Priest abides by witch law?”
“As far as I know, he abides by doing whatever he likes –especially here.”
“OK, so that takes care of Bob –what about the other two?”
“Well, I was thinking –what if they thought that Bob was in danger of being executed? And what if someone suggested to them a plan to break him out of the dungeons? And what if that same someone happened to tip off a guard about it so that they got caught –and ended up in jail too?”
Gabby nodded in appreciation. “Oh, that is good. Well done.”
“Thank you.”
“One thing though,” Gabby added. “What if you’re wrong? What if the witches take this on themselves and we end up getting all three of them killed?”
“Then Faunt’s going to shish kebab us.”
“Exactly.”
“It’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Luke said confidently.
As was often the case, he wasn’t.
----
Two men who looked a bit like guards and a bit like the mice from Cinderella - when they’d been turned into coachmen - stood behind Bob.
Bob looked stunned.
The whole rooftop had just heard how he had allegedly indecently assaulted Amelia in the garden. The girl stood helplessly weeping beside her mother.
Simon sat in equally stunned silence. He’d been sure he was about to be exposed and humiliated but, instead, it was Bob who’d been exposed and Amelia humiliated. His brief feeling of relief was now replaced with another: indignation. This was unfair! Bob had no idea Amelia was not of legal age in her culture! He’d done nothing wrong. It was an outrage. Simon stood up and began to open his mouth to complain, but as he did so, he got another stiff kick under the table, which made him yelp. He looked round, expecting to see Harriet glowering at him, but instead she was staring at him with what almost looked like respect. In fact, it was Sean who was looking at him with wide eyes, which were clearly screaming, “Sit down and shut up!”
Screaming eyes rarely being an encouragement to carry on, Simon duly obliged, noticing as he did that Sean also had a very firm grip of Harriet’s arm. He shut up.
Bob stood up and allowed the two coachmen/guards to walk him away, mouthing a sheepish “sorry” to Harriet and Simon as he left.
Amelia ran for another door. She was crying and obviously distressed. Once they were out of sight, Amelia’s mother continued.
“Thank you all for your time and understanding. We will now serve more coffee.”
She sat down as if she had just given a short speech on fire safety. The music resumed and the rooftop was suddenly alive with chatter.
Harriet turned to Sean as all three leaned in together.
“What the fucking fuck was that all about?” Harriet asked. “How can the girl be underage? She’s the same age as me for Christ’s sake!”
“Listen, seriously,” Sean replied, “now is not the time. We need to sit tight for the moment. While Priest’s away, these women are in charge and they do not take well to people questioning them. We need to have our coffees and go back to your room. We can talk then.”
“But what…” Harriet was interrupted as a waiter arrived and placed coffee and chocolates on their table. He studiously avoided Bob and Amelia’s places, as if there had never been anyone sitting there. Simon felt an unreasonable hatred for the man. He scowled after him as he moved on to the next table.
“What exactly were you going to do?” Harriet asked him.
Simon realised he had no idea.
“I don’t know. I don’t suppose I could have done much. I mean, look at me.”
Sean looked confused.
“Exactly,” Harriet replied. “Look at you.” she lifted a silver tray holding chocolates and dumped them all into her lap before holding it up to show Simon his reflection.
It did not reflect the Simon Debovar that he held in his head. He had muscles and a firmness of frame to which he was totally unaccustomed. This was the first time it had even occurred to him that, had he wanted to physically intervene, he probably could have. The thought sunk in and he smiled. Harriet smiled back at hi
m.
“That’s my boy,” she said, popping a chocolate in her mouth.
----
Across the roof, Gabby had turned pale.
“I feel terrible now. Maybe this wasn’t a great plan. Did you see how upset she was?”
“Of course I did,” Luke snapped.
Gabby looked hurt, but Luke carried on.
“We’re trying to save the world.”
His tone was harsh, but his face pleaded with her to be on his side, to forgive him and not to have second thoughts. He badly needed her to put on the same brave face. She did her best.
It wasn’t very good.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The man climbed out of the taxi and stretched. His limbs were still stiff. It would take time. He had time.
The bitter winter air was fresh in his lungs and sharp on his tongue. His feet crunched in the snow, the black leather shoes quickly showing distress at the wet. They had begun to let in water at the airport. He didn’t mind. It was pleasant to feel the sting of the cold again.
The door of the chalet opened a few moments after he knocked. A strikingly beautiful young black woman with deep, ice-blue eyes looked up at him. As they recognised him, the ice turned to steel.
“What do you want?”
“Hello Maya,” he leered. “I’ve come to collect on your debt.”
----
Cherry had been indulging herself. Faunt had given her the day off. It was nice.
To take her mind of the bad feeling she’d woken with, she’d spent the morning on a beach in Thailand. After a shower in an Amazon waterfall, she popped over to Venice for a lunch of wood fire-baked pizza and a few glasses of Barolo. In the afternoon, she had walked some of the Inca trail, and then visited her mother for dinner (lunch, for her mother). She’d ended the night watching Green Day play Wembley from backstage and was now back at home, making herself a hot chocolate before bed. She’d automatically made one for Faunt too.
She jumped as she turned to leave the kitchen, finding Faunt standing in the doorway. He could move impossibly quietly when he chose to.
Her smile as she recovered her composure faded as she saw her boss’s grey complexion and the thunderous look in his eyes.
“We have a problem,” he said, darkly.
Cherry couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him look so serious - or so worried. It was nearly midnight and time for him to change, so he was usually in his room now, preparing.
“What’s up?” she asked. “Have I done something wrong?”
“Oh, no,” Faunt softened, realising he’d given her the wrong impression. “It’s not you. But I’m going to have to ask something of you, something which I’d really rather not. However, I’ve thought about it every way I can, and I simply don’t see another solution.”
Cherry felt her stomach flip. Faunt did not spook easily, and she had never, ever seen him stumped. This could be bad.
In the fifteen minutes before midnight, Faunt explained the situation to her over hot chocolate.
She was right.
It was bad.
----
“So, you thought this was a good idea?”
Sean sat in the chair by the window of Simon’s room. He had sat quietly and listened as Simon and Harriet had argued about what they should tell him, how much they should tell him and, eventually, how they should tell him. By the time they had come to a decision, he already had a pretty good idea of what they were going to tell him.
The extent of the explanation was limited to the fact that they needed to rescue someone from the island, including the information that her husband had sent them and that Simon’s life depended on their success.
Sean looked quizzically amazed.
“Seriously, you hardly fucking know me! I could be anyone. What if I grass you up? Then what?” he asked.
Simon looked slightly piteously at Harriet. It was a reasonable point.
“Look, boy toy, we need your help to get Bob out. We might be able to get whatserface off the island without him, but if we have to leave him behind, then we leave the possibility of Priest being able to track us down, and that’s not something I fancy. Now I may not have known you long, but I have known you biblically and frankly, sunshine, no man who’s made the noises you’ve made underneath me is going to grass me up to anyone, are you?”
Sean grinned.
“Yeah, OK. But still, you two have got a lot to learn about secret missions. Secrets, for a start.”
“Yeah, well, your poker face sucks,” said Harriet, cocking an eyebrow at him.
The look between them was lasting a little longer than Simon was comfortable with.
“So, em, how do we get Bob out?” he asked, hoping to get the conversation going again.
“Right, well, firstly, Amelia’s mum is basically in charge, but unless there are exceptional circumstances, she can’t do anything until Priest gets back.”
“So what, we just leave him in jail the rest of the time we’re here?” Harriet asked. “Seems a bit…”
“Harsh,” Simon finished for her. “It’s totally unfair. We can’t leave him in there. He hasn’t done anything wrong. These women are…”
“Bitches,” Harriet finished for him. “I agree with the moral compass. Bob’s OK and that little prick tease has got him in trouble. We have to get him out.”
Sean frowned. “Firstly, Amelia’s a good girl. This isn’t her fault, either. In fact, she’s had a few holiday flings, that I know of, and this hasn’t happened before. When we add that to what you’ve told me, I wonder if something else isn’t going on here.”
“Like what?” Simon felt his insides going mushy again. He disliked the idea that there were any other goings on that he didn’t understand beyond the goings on that he was directly involved in not understanding.
“I dunno, mate,” Sean answered. “But it’s a bit odd, isn’t it?”
The barman stood and looked out the window. “How important is all this? Seriously.”
Harriet and Simon looked at each other.
“What do you mean?” the ex-hermit asked.
“Well, if it gets bad, there is one thing I could try. But it’s costly.”
“Oh, we’ve got money!” Simon interrupted, excited that he had remembered the fact all by himself this time. “Lots of it.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t mean money,” Sean said, smiling slightly. “But that’s good to know. Anyway, hopefully it won’t come to that. As long as Ingrid doesn’t do anything stupid, maybe we can get Bobby sorted out without any major hassles.”
“Ingrid –that’s Amelia’s mum?” Simon confirmed.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Bloody Scandinavians,” Harriet interjected. “Never met one who didn’t have a superiority complex. Bunch of Nazis and sex addicts.”
Simon wondered if Harriet was even vaguely aware of the irony.
“Actually, I think her family background is German,” said Sean.
Harriet rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake. That’s worse.”
Simon had a horrible feeling it couldn’t get worse. Then again, he had learned not to trust any of his assumptions in the last week.
As long as Amelia’s mother didn’t do anything rash, they might be OK.
----
“How dare you?!” Ingrid bellowed at her daughter, who stood staring at her defiantly while tears streamed down her florid cheeks.
“How dare I?” the girl retorted. “How dare I? What have I done? You just publicly humiliated me in front of…” her sobbing became too intense for words. She collapsed dramatically into a nearby chair.
“I embarrassed you?” Ingrid seemed to grow several inches with indignation. “I am in charge of this island in the absence of our Patron. Do you remember that?”
“So what?” Amelia spat through her tears.
“So what? So how do you think it looks when the daughter of the island’s Host Prime is whoring it around with some overgrown lack
ey who couldn’t even pay his own way onto the resort?”
“What?” Amelia was often confused by her mother, so this was nothing new.
“Exactly as I said. I spoke to Carlos after hearing about your little tryst. The giant idiot was paid for by a ‘friend’ and when there was a problem with that, the moron with him had to pay the bill. I’m pretty sure he’s a servant. How do you think that reflects upon me?”
Amelia was stunned into silence. Not because she gave a damn either way about Bob’s social standing, but because she’d managed to forget just how obsessed her mother was with appearances. This was an untimely and unwelcome reminder.
“Mother,” she said, making sure to add some humility and pleading into her tone, “I don’t know what he does, or how much money he does or doesn’t have, but I do know that he is a lovely, kind man. He has the most gentle eyes, and he lights up like a child at the smallest things. You should have seen him in the garden. It was beautiful. I’ve never seen another person take as much pleasure from it as I do.”
Despite her intense focus on self-aggrandisement, Ingrid’s minimal maternal instincts roused themselves at her daughter’s heartfelt plea. She relaxed slightly.
“Tell me about him.”
Amelia grabbed a tissue from her bedside table and blew her nose, composing herself and trying very hard to remember who she was speaking to.
“Well, I was down in the garden and I had stopped for a while as I was picking some fruit for a cheesecake.”
“You had stopped?” Ingrid raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, and Bob –his name is Bob –bumped into me. He was kind of transfixed, apparently. It was sweet. I’d met him the night before in the bar, and…”
“Wait,” her mother interrupted, “‘apparently’? What do you mean, ‘apparently’?”
“Well, Sean told me. I didn’t…”
“O’Halloran? The pirate? Are you telling me that you had stopped and you didn’t see this happen?”
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