The Four-Fingered Man

by Cerberus Jones

  ‘She only brought one. And it was like a big handbag, it wasn’t a proper suitcase or anything.’

  ‘Well, I bet you anything,’ Charlie said, ‘that whatever is in that bag is worth a fortune and Tom is trying to steal it.’

  It wasn’t completely clear to Amelia how Charlie had talked her into it, but two minutes later, there she was – creeping around behind the front desk of the hotel, searching for the spare key to Miss Ardman’s room. She scanned the wall behind the desk. It was covered in dozens of wooden pigeonholes, each with a brass room number above the opening. Back in the hotel’s heyday these tiny niches were used to hold guests’ mail or phone messages. Right now, they just housed the keys.

  Getting the key was easy. Mum had locked the partition that closed off access to the reception desk, but after six years of gymnastics, that was hardly a barrier to Amelia. She sprang lightly over it, grabbed the cold length of the key, and jumped back over without a sound. She ran back to Charlie and threw the key in his lap.

  ‘Gee, it’s a heavy old thing, isn’t it?’ said Charlie, examining it. ‘You were great, Amelia! You could be a professional cat-burglar.’

  Amelia was horrified. ‘Don’t say that!’ She paused. ‘Charlie, I don’t know if I can go through with this. If we go sneaking around in Miss Ardman’s room, how are we any better than Tom?’

  ‘So, what then?’

  Amelia bit her lip. ‘Maybe we should put it back.’

  ‘OK,’ Charlie said simply.

  ‘What?’

  ‘OK, let’s put the key back.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Sure. No problem. We put back the key, and we forget about getting evidence, and you can just trust that Tom is honest and trustworthy and safe to have around your family and your stuff. You can just trust that he’s a good guy, while you sleep alone in this big hotel, far from town …’

  Amelia snatched the key out of Charlie’s hands. ‘Fine. Give me that.’ She stalked up the stairs.

  Charlie scurried after her. ‘We’re only going to look, anyway,’ he whispered. ‘We’re not going to touch anything, and no-one will ever know, so there’s no harm, and –’

  ‘Shut up, Charlie,’ Amelia hissed.

  They trod quietly past Lady Naomi’s room, though Amelia had no idea whether she was in there or not. Maybe Lady Naomi didn’t even exist. She could just be a story Tom had invented to cover up some pirate secret. Amelia considered it a very bad sign that Charlie’s stupid pirate theory was starting to feel at home in her brain.

  Charlie nudged her. ‘We could get the key to that room next.’

  Amelia didn’t even bother to say ‘shut up’ this time.

  They walked past several more doors until they came to the room Miss Ardman was using. Amelia knocked quietly. There was no response.

  ‘Housekeeping!’ squealed Charlie in a piercing falsetto voice, pounding on the door with his fist.

  ‘Be quiet!’ whispered Amelia, her voice shrill with fear. But when no-one answered, she had to admit, she was glad Charlie had checked properly.

  ‘She must be still outside,’ said Charlie. ‘It’s safe to go in.’

  Amelia gripped the key. She told herself they had to do this, that Mum and Dad were so convinced Tom was trustworthy, the only way they were going to convince them otherwise was if they had some hard evidence he was up to … well, whatever he was up to.

  She took a deep breath, and unlocked the door.

  Inside, the room was empty. It was better than a lot of the other rooms in this wing, but still shabby, dusty and musty.

  Amelia wondered again why anyone would come to stay in this dump.

  ‘Look at that,’ Charlie whispered, stepping past Amelia and into the room.

  On the dressing table, where hairbrushes and vases of flowers would usually be, was a small glass tank. Like a fish tank, but not for fish. This tank was filled with enormous, glistening centipedes. The room was so quiet, Amelia could hear the sound of their hundreds of legs as they crawled over one another.

  She turned away, trying not to gag. ‘Just find the bag. Is it still here?’

  Charlie didn’t answer. He was pacing towards the enormous canopy bed at the far end of the room, a funny look on his face.

  ‘Do you feel that?’ he murmured.

  ‘Feel what?’ said Amelia, moving to join him. Then she paused, a strange sensation washing over her as she approached the bed, like a gust of warm spring air. She glanced over at the window, but it was shut tight.

  ‘It’s coming from here,’ said Charlie, crouching at the foot of the bed. He dragged out Miss Ardman’s little case. ‘Wow – it’s warm. Touch it!’

  Amelia knelt beside him and put a hand on the case. It was definitely warm. Whatever was inside it was hot – or being heated. They hauled the case onto the bed and Amelia felt her head spinning slightly, that strange warmth drifting over her again. Quickly, she unzipped the case and threw back the top of it. A cloud of sweet, perfumed air rose to the ceiling as they stared at what was inside.

  ‘Jewels!’ said Charlie breathlessly.

  There were twenty or perhaps thirty shining globes, about the size of mandarins, but perfectly round and golden. At first Amelia thought they were reflecting the light that fell on them, but as she leant closer she realised that the jewels themselves were shimmering – light was glowing from them.

  She was too mesmerised to check Charlie’s face, but she heard him sigh. ‘Wow.’

  Amelia leant even closer, so close the jewels warmed her cheeks.

  She smiled with happiness just to see them. As she breathed in their delicious fragrance, she was filled with a wonderful knowledge: that if she could touch one of those jewels, just hold it in her hand for one moment, she would never feel sad, or lonely, or worried, or angry again.

  As she gently reached out her hand, the jewels seemed to reach back to her. They wanted to be with her. They wanted her to have them!

  Amelia heard Charlie laugh with joy beside her. And then, as her fingers tingled with anticipation, she suddenly felt a massive, vice-like hand seize her by the shoulder and jerk her back from the jewels. It was so fast and rough that Amelia lost her balance and fell to the ground in shock, blinking. Charlie stumbled and fell beside her.

  A voice, raw with anger and danger, roared over them, ‘How dare you?’

  Once, Amelia had done a handstand in her grandparents’ living room and lost her balance. As her feet came down, so did a very beautiful glass vase her granny had been given for her sixteenth birthday. When Granny saw the smashed pieces all over the floor, her face had gone white with shock and Amelia had felt so bad she wanted to die.

  But that moment – with all the terrible sadness, guilt and shame that Amelia had felt – was nothing compared to how bad this moment was. In fact, ‘moment’ didn’t cover it. This nightmare seemed to go on forever.

  First there was the utter shock of being sprung by Miss Ardman. Then that had turned to a steady, throbbing terror as Miss Ardman started shrieking and wailing so hysterically that Amelia was sure she’d gone mad.

  But then, when Mum and Mary burst in to see what was happening, Miss Ardman had collapsed into a sobbing mess on the floor, and Mary had taken over the shouting instead. Mostly at Charlie, but Amelia knew she was included. Mary dragged Amelia and Charlie out by the collars of their shirts, berating them all the way to Amelia’s room.

  Amelia felt so remorseful, so humiliated and so, so angry – angry at Charlie for talking her into it, and even angrier at herself for letting him.

  Mary left them there, and went back to help Mum calm down Miss Ardman. It had taken ages before the awful crying stopped. At last, Amelia’s door opened again and
three severe and disappointed parents came into the room.

  ‘Amelia,’ said Dad. ‘Mum and I are so shocked. What were you thinking?’

  Amelia just shook her head. All the reasons that had made sense when she and Charlie were talking seemed like nonsense now.

  ‘What you did,’ Mum said, ‘going into a guest’s room – our first guest! – well, I only hope you understand how wrong it was. And why it was wrong.’

  ‘I do,’ Amelia whispered miserably.

  ‘I don’t,’ Charlie said.

  Amelia stared at him.

  ‘I don’t,’ he repeated. ‘I mean, I know it wasn’t right, but was it really that big a deal?’

  Mary gaped at him. ‘You stole a key from the front desk, broke into a guest’s room and went through her personal belongings. That’s a big deal!’

  ‘We only borrowed the key,’ said Charlie. ‘And we were just looking.’

  ‘For what?’ Mary asked. ‘And what gave you the idea you had any right to look in someone else’s room, Charlie? That’s trespass!’

  Charlie’s eyes widened. He obviously hadn’t thought of that. Amelia felt her own shame deepen another notch – she’d committed a real crime. Not even James had done something that bad.

  ‘Well,’ Dad twitched slightly, ‘I’m not sure we need to get the police involved just yet. But you do get it, don’t you, Charlie?’ Dad squatted down so he was eye level with him. ‘We have to work together as a team if this hotel is going to run properly.’

  Charlie fidgeted under Dad’s gaze.

  ‘Charlie?’ Mary snapped when he didn’t answer straight away. ‘Do you get it? Do you know what Mr Walker is saying?’

  Charlie looked at Amelia’s dad. ‘I think so.’

  ‘You’d better know so,’ said Mary. ‘He’s saying that if you can’t behave yourself, we will be off the team, Charlie. I will lose my job. Do you understand that?’

  Dad pulled back a little. ‘Well, uh, I wasn’t exactly … I’m not threatening …’

  But Mary was staring hard at her son. If Dad wasn’t threatening, Mary surely was. ‘I’m not joking, Charlie,’ she said quietly. ‘I need this job.’

  Charlie dropped his head and nodded.

  Dad clapped him on the shoulder, and stood up. ‘It’s all good, Mary. I’m sure both kids have got it straight now. We’ll be smooth sailing from now on.’

  Amelia glanced at Charlie’s hunched shape, and some of her anger at him shifted. Before she knew what she was doing, she heard herself say, ‘Well, what about Tom?’

  ‘What about him?’ said Mum.

  ‘Is he part of the team, too? Does he have to change his behaviour – because there’s something up with him!’

  Dad and Mum swapped awkward glances, and Amelia could swear they had both tensed up.

  ‘What are you talking about, Amelia?’ Mum asked.

  ‘Tom’s up to something. We saw him breaking into Miss Ardman’s room!’

  ‘Which you so strongly disapprove of,’ said Dad, ‘that you decided to break in yourselves.’

  Amelia blushed, but kept her chin up.

  ‘We were looking for proof of what Tom was up to. We think he’s a thief! We were trying to prove it to you to protect the hotel.’

  ‘But you can’t stop a bad thing by doing that thing yourself,’ groaned Mum. ‘I thought you understood that. Dad and I trust Tom, and yes – he’s part of our team. You might not like him, and who knows? Maybe he doesn’t like you, but we have to work together.’ She took a deep breath, and said, ‘Right, we’ve made our point, I think. Now, when Miss Ardman’s had a chance to recover, I’m going to take you to her, and you can apologise for what you’ve done.’ She let out a sigh, and some of the hardness slipped from her expression. ‘With any luck, we can smooth this whole thing over.’

  The three parents left the room, closing the bedroom door behind them. Amelia and Charlie stared glumly at each other, neither of them speaking.

  Then suddenly, Charlie stood up straighter.

  ‘What?’ said Amelia.

  ‘Shh!’ hissed Charlie, jumping up from the bed. ‘Listen!’

  He crept across the room and pressed his ear to the door. Amelia followed, and heard Mum speaking in a hushed voice.

  ‘I told you it wouldn’t work,’ she said.

  ‘It will,’ said Dad. ‘There’s nothing to panic about.’

  Amelia’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘The kids messed up,’ Dad went on. ‘In a kid way for kid reasons. Nothing’s changed.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Mary. ‘They’re worried about Tom; he’s the only issue here. It’s Tom we need to sort out for them.’

  Their voices were fading away now. Amelia heard footsteps creaking down the stairs, and strained to hear as Dad said, ‘I’ll talk to him. Ask him to be more careful. I really don’t want the kids finding out any …’

  But his voice faded away, and Amelia couldn’t make out the rest. She turned to Charlie, a chill snaking up her back. ‘Did you hear that?’

  Charlie nodded mutely, and Amelia felt the cold sink deeper into her bones. Mum and Dad knew what Tom was doing – and they were keeping it from her.

  Whatever was going on, they were all in on it together.

  ‘I still think Miss Ardman was overreacting,’ Charlie said, as they walked home from school the next day. ‘Get cross about kids in your room – fine. Yell a bit – whatever. But crying for half an hour?’

  ‘Charlie …’ Amelia said warningly.

  ‘I’m just saying. It’s weird.’

  Amelia knew it was weird – weird, and also awful, because she couldn’t forget that the crying had been their fault. But she didn’t want to talk about Miss Ardman. Who cared about Miss Ardman when she’d just found out she couldn’t trust her own parents?

  You’re being stupid, she told herself. Mum and Dad are good people. If they’re keeping a secret from us, that doesn’t mean they’re bad …

  Unless Tom was blackmailing them into doing something.

  But it sounded more like they were in on it with Tom. And Mary too.

  What could they all be –?

  ‘And I still can’t believe they made us go through with that whole apology thing!’ Charlie broke in on her thoughts, oblivious. ‘How awkward was that! And anyway, we were only trying to help Miss Ardman!’

  ‘Oh Charlie, just shut it, will you?’ Amelia snapped, surprising even herself.

  ‘Fine,’ said Charlie holding up his hands in mock surrender. ‘Sorry.’

  Amelia hadn’t spoken to Charlie at all at school. She didn’t avoid him exactly; it was just easier to let the Sophies and Shani carry her along with their chatter, and pretend she couldn’t see Charlie trying to catch her eye. Once he came right over to where they were sitting, but when Amelia ignored him and Sophie T said in her coldest voice, ‘Excuse me, Charlie, can we help you?’ he went away and didn’t try again.

  Amelia didn’t feel good about it.

  On the other hand, school was the one place she could just sit and think through what was going on at the hotel without worrying that something else was about to start happening. And even though she knew Charlie wanted to discuss the same thing, even though he was the only person in the world who could possibly understand what was going on in her head, Amelia wanted some space to figure it out by herself. After all, if she couldn’t rely on her parents any more, she might as well get used to being on her own.

  By the time the bell rang for home time, Amelia had gone over the facts about five hundred times, but they still didn’t make any more sense to her. She had a whole lot of homework that didn’t make sense to her either (she might not have been listening very much in class), and Sophie T was a bit distant with her when they said goodbye to
each other at the gate. Amelia got the impression she might have zoned out a few too many times.

  So when she saw Charlie waiting for her by the big tree outside school, she was ready to talk to him again. She even smiled when the first words out of his mouth were, ‘We really need to figure out the deal with Tom.’

  They dawdled along the footpath past the beach, paused for a moment at the Forgotten Bay Newsagency (which also sold homewares and collected dry-cleaning) while Charlie bought some liquorice laces, and then headed up the steep hill to the Gateway Hotel headland. Neither of them could come up with a better theory to explain Tom sneaking around than Charlie’s original pirate idea.

  As they got to the hotel steps, Amelia saw that James was already home. He was sitting leaning against a pillar, a dazed expression on his face.

  ‘You’re home early,’ said Amelia.

  ‘Hm?’ said James. ‘What? Oh, I had a free for last period, so I caught the early bus.’

  Amelia studied him. ‘Are you OK, James? You seem a little …’

  ‘Huh? Oh, I’m fine.’ He smiled to himself. ‘I’m super.’

  He stared dreamily into space, his long arms propped on the points of his knees, and a strange pink blush passed over his face.

  Amelia suddenly recognised the look. ‘James, who’s here?’

  The pink blush on James’s face deepened to red. ‘She just walked right past me. Right there.’ He stroked the step beside him. ‘She said hello.’

  ‘Who?’ said Charlie, baffled.

  James sighed. ‘Lady Naomi.’

  Amelia rolled her eyes. ‘Let me guess: not a hundred years old?’

  ‘No …’ James closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

  ‘Ugh, come on, Charlie.’ Amelia walked into the hotel. James was ridiculous. All the same, she couldn’t help looking up towards Lady Naomi’s room. She was pretty curious herself.

  But Lady Naomi must have already disappeared into her room, because the only person around was Miss Ardman. Amelia flinched with embarrassment, but when she saw Miss Ardman holding her bag at the top of the stairs, Amelia found herself smiling. Simply remembering the jewels inside gave her a warm feeling.