Magic and Mayhem

by R K Dreaming

  “I saw how desperate you were to get away,” she spat. “You were practically squirming.”

  The tracker penny had bounced off a wall and landed at Percy’s feet. She picked it up. It looked exactly like a bit of Humble money. On one side was the queen’s head. But then Percy looked closely and saw it wasn’t really the queen’s head. It was some other woman who had been arranged to look very like the queen.

  Octavia was saying, “If you don’t tell me what you are up to right now, Felix Fiori, then I am going to call Councilor Strickt, and I’m going to request for him to search through your phone history, and then we’ll find out anyway!”

  “You wouldn’t,” he said stiffly, glaring at her.

  “Try me,” she shot back. “I am the senior one in our partnership, or had you forgotten that?”

  “I’m unlikely to forget it,” said Felix, “as you never let me hear the end of it.”

  “Your career with the Sentinel Alliance will be over because of this, Felix,” she said in shaking tones. “Is that what you really want?”

  Felix stared. “You wouldn’t,” he said in a quiet and urgent voice. He looked devastated.

  “I should. How can I even trust you when you’ve been consorting with these sorts?” She flung her hand contemptuously towards Percy and Shara.

  These sorts? Percy wanted to make Octavia eat those words. But Felix was in huge trouble, and they all knew it.

  “Tell her,” said Percy suddenly.

  Felix stared at her.

  Percy nodded.

  It wasn’t their secret to tell. It was Juliet’s. And yet Felix had no option. What was the point of him losing a job that was clearly so important to him, when Octavia was going to find out anyway?

  He might as well make this official. He and Octavia could start their own official enquiry. Felix knew about the mole in the conclave. If Felix was involved, Percy knew he’d do his best to make sure Juliet wouldn’t to come into any danger. He could be their inside man.

  And it was better to tell Octavia now, rather than to have it all come out in front of Councilor Strickt. That would be so much worse. And Percy had no time to lose. She didn’t have time to be taken to Councilor Strickt and be questioned. Her mind was already racing. She needed to think. There had to be a way to get the Sheedys back. There had to be a way to find them.

  “I’ll tell her,” she said, since Felix looked reluctant to betray Juliet’s confidences.

  Percy turned to Octavia. “You’ve heard that Fred and George Sheedy are both in London looking for Juliet Jolie, right?”

  Octavia nodded. Realization came onto her face and she gave a snort of disbelieving laughter.

  “You idiots,” she said scathingly. “You three can’t have been thinking you were going to catch Fred and George Sheedy, can you? They’re two of the most wanted fugitives in the magical world right now. Professional watch witches and wizards are hunting for them, and you three think that you are going to catch them?”

  She threw back her head and laughed.

  “Actually,” said Shara coldly. “We very nearly did catch them.”

  She handed her phone over to Octavia. A video was playing on it. Octavia looked at it, and then she zoomed in on the screen and bowed her head to look closer. Her face seemed to go slack with shock.

  “That’s the Sheedys!” she said.

  Shara nodded. “They were right outside of this house about to break in and fall into the trap that we set for them, but then you came charging up to the front door and scared them off and ruined everything!”

  If Octavia had not been a half vampire, she probably would have turned pale. But she was already pale. Now she looked mildly sick. She looked like she couldn’t believe that she was the reason that two of the most wanted fugitives in the witching world had got away. Murderers of a Hollywood actor, no less! Murderers who were trying to get to one of the world’s most famous actresses!

  “Oh no!” Octavia said faintly as the gravity of what she’d done settled on her like a heavy weight.

  And then she immediately snapped back into her normal self. She rounded on Felix angrily.

  “And you knew about this? You knew that they would be coming to this house, and instead of telling me and handling this with the support of the Eldritch Council, you decided to go it on your own with these amateurs?”

  She waved her arms with wild exaggeration towards Percy and Shara.

  “These two amateurs are part of the team that led the Sheedys here in the first place,” said Percy. “And you, the so-called professional, are the one who scared them away! How are you going to like explaining that to Councilor Strickt?”

  Octavia looked like she had eaten a lemon. She swallowed hard.

  “This little charade at playing detectives is over,” she said to Percy. “You are going to give me the keys to this house, and never come back here again.”

  “Suits me,” said Percy. “Why do I need to come here again? It’s not like the Sheedys ever will!”

  “And you’re also going to give up this quest to find the Sheedys on your own,” said Octavia stiffly. “They’re wanted murderers. They’re wizards, and you’re nothing but a Meek! Do you ever stop to think? They’ve already killed a full grown incubus. Bradley Jolie was no easy target. I tell you, he put up a hell of a fight and he ended up dead anyway. I’ve seen the reports on what happened to him!”

  “You’ve seen the reports?” said Felix.

  “Haven’t you?” Octavia snapped. “Everyone is interested in this case. Of course I took a look at them!”

  “No I haven’t,” said Felix. “As I don’t have access to them.”

  Octavia looked smug. “See?” she said. “That would be because I’m more senior to you. And Councilor Strickt has given me special perks!”

  “Liar,” said Percy. “I bet it was Councilor Strickt who requested to look at those files, and he probably left them on his desk and you took a sneak peek at them!”

  Octavia glared at her and Percy knew that she was right.

  “Perks?” Percy snorted. “The only perk you’ve got it that he trusts you enough to leave you in his office alone!”

  “I don’t need to hear your thoughts any more, thank you very much,” Octavia said. “Why are you still standing here? Hand over those keys and get out!”

  Percy fished her keys out of her pocket, and Shara did the same. She barely refrained from flinging them at Octavia.

  Percy glanced up the stairs towards where Nan should have been hiding, but saw no sign of her.

  “Are you going to tell Councilor Strickt about this, or not?” Percy demanded. She needed to know how much trouble they were in.

  Octavia crossed her arms smugly over her chest. “We’ll see. You are going to leave this alone. Felix and I will investigate from now on, and if I deem that there’s anything suitable to take to Councilor Strickt, then we will go to him. Count your lucky stars that I’m being generous, and I won’t be telling on you. Not unless it is absolutely necessary.”

  “You won’t be telling on us,” said Percy sourly, “because you’ll be landing in the same trouble as we will.”

  But now at least she had some assurance they weren’t in a heap of trouble, and Nan could come out of hiding. Mrs Gooding wouldn’t ground her forever and forbid her to see Percy ever again. Not today, at least.

  Percy looked up the stairs, but there was still no sign of Nan. She wondered if Nan had gone into one of the bedrooms.

  “Nan?” she called.

  Nan did not respond.

  Percy was about to go up the stairs and investigate, when Octavia said scathingly, “I should have known that she would be here with you as well. She’s probably got scared and ran off down the servants’ stairs round the back, hoping not to get into trouble. Some friend you’ve got!”

  Percy went up to check the bedrooms on the second floor, and make sure Nan was not in them. But Nan was nowhere to be seen.

  Percy’s heart started beatin
g faster. What if Nan really had to run down the servants’ stairs to the back of the house? What if she was chasing the Sheedys? It was the only reason why Nan would have fled like that.

  But it was impossible. Nan didn’t have her car, and she couldn’t possibly have gone after the Sheedys on her own.

  Even so, Percy felt a tiny niggle of hope. Maybe Nan had spotted a clue.

  Returning to the others, she shrugged as if Octavia was right. “Yeah, she probably did go down the servants’ stairs. We should go looking for her.”

  She gave Felix a significant look.

  Octavia saw it. “Not Felix,” she said. “He’s staying with me. We can begin working on this case tonight, and he’s going to tell me everything that he knows. He’s going to make up for the fact that he’s been irresponsibly gallivanting around messing things up with the three of you idiots!”

  “Fine,” Felix said grudgingly.

  Percy snorted at Octavia. “Bet you just love the idea of catching the Sheedys yourself and getting all the glory. Just remember it was us who lured them here in the first place!”

  “They were already in London anyway,” snapped Octavia. “Or don’t you read the news? When I find them and that wildmagic hoard and close a decade old case, it’ll be because of my hard work. Nothing to do with you!”

  “Good luck finding them among nine million people,” said Percy.

  Octavia turned to lead the way down the stairs, stomping angrily.

  Felix turned to give Percy a querying look.

  “Just go,” she said.

  He muttered quietly, “I’ll keep you updated on what I can.”

  He gave a slightly defeated shrug and followed Octavia.

  The four of them let themselves out of the house and onto the street. Octavia and Felix went one way, and Shara and Percy turned the other.

  Percy walked slowly, dragging her feet, and taking peeks back to make sure that Octavia and Felix were out of earshot before she finally said to Shara, “Nan must have gone after the Sheedys. There is no way she would have abandoned us like that!”

  “But she can’t have,” said Shara. “I saw the Sheedys drive off. Nan was nowhere in sight!”

  Percy groaned. “I was so certain that that must be what happened! If she never went after them, where is she? She can’t still be inside the house.”

  They both jogged back up to the house, and knocked loudly on the brass knocker, just in case Nan was in there. They waited, hoping that Nan would come out. Nan did not.

  Now Percy was beginning to feel anxious. “Let’s wait here for a few minutes and see if she comes back?” she said to Shara.

  She took out her phone and tried calling Nan. The message went straight to voicemail.

  “No luck,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean anything. Her phone could have just died on her.”

  She began pacing back and forth in front of the house.

  “It is no use hanging around here,” said Shara. “We should head back to your house. Nan would go there, right? Especially if her phone had stopped working? And anyway, I already texted Juliet to let her know that the Sheedys were outside the house. She’ll be worried. I’d better call her now to let her know that we’re okay but everything went wrong.”

  “Okay. Find out if Nan has called her, will you?”

  Shara dialed the number and put the phone to her ear, but then hung up a few moments later, saying, “It’s gone straight to voicemail. She’s not picking up. I’ll send her a text —“

  She stopped speaking at Percy’s sudden gasp.

  A text message had just popped up on Percy’s phone.

  “It’s from Nan!” she said excitedly. Opening it up, she read it. “Hell’s bells! She etherhopped into the trunk of the Sheedys car!”

  “No!” gasped Shara. “Is she okay?”

  Percy nodded. “I can’t believe it. A moving car! Go Nan! Trust her to nail it! She says she’s fine. Luckily the trunk was empty. Hold on. She is typing another message.”

  A few seconds later, the message popped up.

  “She says the car has stopped at an apartment building,” said Percy. “She says to meet her there. It’s where the Sheedys are staying!”

  12. The Dastardly Duo

  Percy and Shara took the tube to East London and walked to where Nan had instructed them to meet her. They found her pacing impatiently in a little side road not too far from the apartment block that she had told them the Sheedys were in.

  She hurried over when she saw them, and said, “Oh thank goodness you’re here! I didn’t know what to do.”

  Percy clapped Nan on the shoulder, grinning broadly. “Nan Gooding, you are a superstar. I can’t believe you etherhopped into the trunk of a car. I didn’t even know you’d learned how to etherhop yet!”

  Nan looked queasy at the mention of it. “I can’t believe I did it either. I don’t know what came over me, but when I saw them getting away I just had to. I only started taking lessons with mum a few weeks ago. She’ll be—”

  “So mad if she finds out you did it,” said Percy and Shara together.

  “You’re darn right she would be mad. And after all that talk of ether-flaying as well. I feel sick. I won’t be doing it again any time soon I can tell you!"

  “So where are the Sheedys then?” said Percy.

  “Gone!” said Nan.

  “What?” Percy’s heart sank.

  “I had to wait in the trunk until they left the car and it was safe to let myself out,” said Nan. “I couldn’t etherhop out, because I didn’t know where I was. When I did get out, I couldn’t see them anymore, but I realized that they might have gone into that apartment building.” She pointed.

  From their spot in the alleyway, they could see across the adjoining main road. It was a quiet neighborhood, with only the occasional car driving past. And at this time of evening only the occasional passersby were out on the street, usually walking to or from the tube station on the far end. They did not even spare the three girls a glance.

  The building than Nan was pointing to was across the road. It was a large apartment block several stories high, and was separated from the street by tall railings and a strip of grass. Of the rows of windows, many were lit up and sometimes occupants could be seen moving inside the rooms within.

  “See that third window on the ground floor?” said Nan. “The one that’s open a bit? It’s dark now, but a few minutes after the Sheedys disappeared the light came on inside, and then one of the Sheedys looked out that window, checking the street.”

  “What a stroke of luck!” said Shara.

  “Amazing!” said Percy, still feeling high on excitement. “Do you think they’re inside there right now?”

  “No,” said Nan. “I was keeping watch while waiting for you. They came out of the building again about ten minutes ago, and got back into their car and drove away! I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t follow them. It is too quiet here. They would have heard me landing in the trunk if I tried to etherhop into it again. And anyway, I felt too queasy to do it.”

  “Oh no.” Shara looked crestfallen. “So we’ve lost them then?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Nan. “I think they must be staying in that apartment. We should wait here for them to come back just to make sure, and then we can call Octavia and Felix. The Eldritch Council or the conclave can send people to come and pick them up. I don’t care who. Thank goodness it’s over!”

  “We can’t,” said Percy. “Felix is in big trouble for trying to help us. We should get into there and see if we can find the password for that walnut. I’m not handing this case over to Octavia when we’re so close. You should have heard her boasting about how she was going to take all of the credit. We can give the password to Felix and he can take the credit, and then he won’t lose his job.”

  “We can’t do that,” Nan protested. “They could come back at any minute!”

  “Then we had better get started,” said Percy, already marching in the directi
on of the apartment building.

  Nan grabbed Percy’s elbow to pull her to a stop. “This isn’t another adventure at school,” she said. “We’re talking about murderers! They murdered Brad Jolie! We can’t go marching into there without protection.”

  “It’s true,” said Shara hesitantly. “This is their territory, not ours. We haven’t got a plan. Anything could happen.”

  “It’s not like I’m saying we should wait inside their apartment and ambush them,” said Percy. “Although that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she added. “Then we could hand the Sheedys themselves over to Felix. That’ll definitely get him out of trouble.”

  “Ambush them?” demanded Nan in an outraged voice.

  “Anyway, we do have protection,” said Percy, pointing at Nan’s wand. “Come on! Even if they do come back, they don’t know what we look like. We could just be a bunch of random kids hanging around the apartment building. We’ll just walk away. And anyway, it’s dinnertime. I bet they’ve gone to get some food. So it will be a while until they get back.”

  Nan looked undecided, but now Shara was nodding in agreement. “Let’s be quick. We won’t go in if it looks dangerous. I think we should do it if it is going to help Felix. Can you believe Octavia followed him like that? And planted a tracker on him?”

  “Exactly,” said Percy. “Imagine how horrid it’s going to be for him working with her every day from now on with her holding this over him. And it’s all my fault. I dragged him into it.”

  Shara looked glum. “She doesn’t trust him one bit. Poor Felix.”

  Nan groaned, but said, “Fine, but we have to be quick about it.”

  The three girls walked casually up to the building as if they lived there. When they reached the gate in the fence, Nan flicked her wand at the lock and said, “Rapioperta.”

  The lock clicked open.

  Percy pumped her fist. “One down,” she muttered, with a grin.

  As they walked towards the main entryway door that led into the apartment building, they passed the window that Nan had seen one of the Sheedys in. The room beyond the window was dark, and even though the curtains were half open, they could not see much inside.