July (8 page)
Authors: Gabrielle Lord
I began by backtracking a bit and telling him in more detail about the carjacking I stupidly got involved in, courtesy of Griff Kirby, and everything that went on after the jewel heist with Repro. Then I explained what happened with the Southport Police—my crazy cop car and jet ski escape—getting caught by a fishing boat, and then ending up locked in the freezer at Mike’s Seafood by Three-O.
‘You’re mixing with some seriously dangerous characters,’ said Boges.
‘They seem to mix with
me
. My job is to keep out of trouble—and to stay alive.’
‘What happened with that ex-detective guy who contacted you on your blog?’
‘Nelson Sharkey? Nothing, yet,’ I replied, amazed at Boges’s ability to remember so much when everything in my mind was completely chaotic.
I picked up the picture of Dad standing in front of a stony ruin. ‘But once I talk to Eric—I’ll be on guard, don’t worry—I think he’ll be able to fill in a lot of the gaps about what happened in Ireland when he was there with Dad. Plus I’m sure I’ll find something in Redcliffe.’
‘I think it’s a good idea to get out of the city again. And now you have a clean mobile, so they can’t get at you electronically either. You can access the internet on it too, so you don’t need to risk going into any more internet cafés, OK?’
‘Cool!’ I said, pulling the phone out and looking at it more closely. ‘How are you paying for all this?’
‘It’s taken care of. Don’t worry about it. Here,’ said Boges, passing me a hundred dollars. ‘I should give you this before I change my mind!’
I looked at him in disbelief.
‘I’m making heaps of money at the moment on eBay,’ he explained, ‘plus I have cash coming in from tutoring and the cleaning work with Uncle Sammy. I got that new mobile for you at a great price too—the seller thought it was too damaged to repair, but not too damaged for me!
So now you have money, a clean phone, and a mission. And we’re way ahead of the crims—we’re the only people in the world who know about the meanings in these images,’ he said, glancing at the display we’d made, ‘and, of course, the double-key code.’
I was silent, knowing that wasn’t true. Boges stared hard at me.
‘We are the only people in the world, aren’t we?’
‘Winter knows about Black Tom and how the Riddle and the Jewel go together to make the double-key code.’
‘What?’
‘Calm down, it’s OK,’ I said. ‘Winter Frey is cool. You don’t know her like I do.’
‘Clearly!’ Boges jumped up off the floor and kicked a piece of scrap timber that had been used to stir paint. It hit the wall and bounced back, raising dust. ‘I knew we should never have trusted that cheating, lying, double-crossing chick! You forget the name of the solicitor we need, but you don’t forget to tell that sneaky chick everything we know! She gets around
looking
all fancy, wearing shiny stuff in her hair like she thinks she’s some little angel, and pretends to help us while all the time she’s playing us for fools! She’s trying to work up a fake friendship with you, and then behind your back she runs to
Sligo with every scrap of information. Have you got some kind of death wish?’
‘Hold up,
she’s
the one who told
us
about the double-key code! You’re way out of line, Boges,’ I said, angry at my friend’s outburst. ‘You don’t know Winter like I do.’
He turned his attention back to his laptop.
‘Incredible,’ he said after a minute or two, his eyes wide in surprise at something he’d just seen on the screen. ‘Don’t even think of calling her!’ he shouted as I peered over his shoulder.
If only Boges knew about the photo in the safe. That was the only reason I hadn’t called Winter. I turned the laptop back to him
without
commenting, even though inside I felt like I wanted to call
Little Bir
d more than ever.
After another minute, he directed the screen to me once more.
I read the last sentence again and swore. It was going to be hard getting to Millicent.
‘I’d better go,’ I said, gathering everything up. I hesitated for a moment before handing it all over to Boges. ‘I don’t want to carry this with me on the road to Redcliffe—could you look after it for me?’
Boges nodded, silently shut down his laptop and then loaded up his backpack. I trusted him more than anyone else, but handing it all over felt like I was losing a part of myself.
I ended up taking back the drawings. They were all I had left that connected me to my dad.
We walked to the door and both pulled it up. I was half-expecting sunlight to stream through, but it was well and truly dark now.
Boges patted his backpack, protectively, acknowledging the importance of what was concealed inside. He put out his hand to shake mine.
‘Good luck, buddy.’
As soon as I heard her voice on the other end of the line, my gut churned with strange, mixed-up feelings of excitement and suspicion. I needed to know what she had to say about the photo of her wearing the Jewel.
‘It’s Cal,’ I said.
‘About time!’ said Winter. ‘I’ve been
stinging
to talk to you—I heard something important about the Jewel.’
‘Go on.’
‘It has something written inside,’ she said. ‘I heard Sligo talking about it on the phone to someone—about an inscription. He said it was “a crucial guide”.’
‘Guide to what?’
‘He didn’t say.’ She paused at the end of the line. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I saw a photo of you in Sligo’s safe.’
‘What in the world are you talking about, Callum Ormond?’
‘You were wearing a silver dress … and around your neck you were
wearing
the Ormond Jewel.’
‘What?’
Her surprise sounded genuine.
‘You heard me. I want to know why you
pretended
you had never seen the Ormond Jewel. I want to know why you lied to me.’
‘Cal, I didn’t lie to you! I’ve never even seen the Jewel! Do you think I wouldn’t tell you if I had? Why would I help you get inside Sligo’s—put myself in serious danger—’ she inhaled loudly before speaking again. ‘This is ridiculous!’
‘But you were wearing—’
‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about! It never happened. Got it?
Never
happened.’
‘I saw it with my own eyes.’
There was a pause. ‘Cal, I think I know what’s happened.’ Winter spoke slowly, as if thinking out loud. ‘Sligo had my photo taken last year in my favourite silver dress. It was a
portrait
—by a professional photographer, but I definitely wasn’t wearing
anything
around my neck. Not even Mum and Dad’s locket.’
‘So how do you explain the photo I saw?’
‘Wake up, Cal! People can do anything with digital photo editing! This is so typical of Sligo and his pathetic dream of becoming respectable! You know he wants to host the New Year’s Eve Council Ball. He wants to sit up there with the city councillors, parading me on one side and the Mayor on the other. He’s always going on about visualising your dreams to make them
happen
—he probably made the picture up as part of that belief! Don’t you see?’
I thought back to the picture and recalled that it had looked grainy. Was she telling the truth? I was sick of the trust in our friendship see-sawing, and I really wanted to believe her.
I had a strong sense that she was telling the truth.
‘Just when I thought we were getting close, something else throws you into a spin … I
so
want to see the Ormond Jewel,’ she continued. ‘And I want to see you. I’ve been working on the Riddle and I’ve had some thoughts on solving it. We need to meet up. To talk about everything.’
‘What ideas have you had?’
‘Look, I don’t want to discuss them on the phone. But I really think I’m on to something, Cal. There’s a portrait of the Queen inside the Jewel right?’
‘Yes.’
‘I also have some ideas about that.’
I really wanted to see her, but I couldn’t quite shake all my suspicions. Boges’s doubts had rubbed off on me.
‘I’m going to be—’ I hesitated, unsure as to how much I should reveal about my trip to
Redcliffe
, ‘
occupied
for a while,’ I said. ‘Let’s meet up when I’m free, down the track. We can put our heads together and see what we can come up with.’
‘I’d like that,’ she said. I could almost feel her smile coming down the line. ‘You have my
number
. Don’t forget to use it.’
It was time for me to leave the mansion and make my way to Redcliffe. I kissed the rug, the five bathrooms and the home theatre goodbye, and headed towards Central Station with my backpack, full of supplies, and sleeping-bag in tow. I wasn’t feeling very confident about getting through security, but had to give it a go.
I was hoping I could somehow sneak into
Central
Station and jump on a train that would take me at least part of the way to Redcliffe. But as soon as I reached the huge entrance hall of the station, I saw a stack of new security cameras, and cops on patrol. Hurriedly, I backed away.
A black van cruised up alongside me. I looked hard through the windscreen and nearly died when I saw who was driving it—Sligo’s
bodyguard
, Zombrovski! He swerved the car towards me, forcing me to dive aside to dodge it!
I got up and took a flying leap over the stone
wall that separated the road and the station ramp from the basketball courts. It was a drop of about two metres, but I had to get away from the road! I hit the ground hard, tumbling and rolling before getting back up and running through the gate in the wire that enclosed the courts.
The only other exit in the wire was diagonal from where I’d entered. I bolted towards it,
hoping
to escape down the street it opened onto. I dashed recklessly past a group of kids, sending their basketballs bouncing in all directions. I ignored their shouts as I focused on the gate, but I couldn’t ignore the black van that had driven into view! I skidded to a halt—it looked like Zombie was talking on a phone. Calling for reinforcements? I was going to have to go back towards the gate I’d just come through!
As soon as I started running back to the first gate, I saw the van U-turn and speed back up the road, preparing to catch me at the other end again.
I skidded, changing direction once more, but this time I was faced with another, even more serious problem—Sligo’s black Subaru was now covering the second exit! I was trapped!
The tall wire mesh that enclosed the
basketball
courts had become a cage! It was hopeless!
I stood there panting, not knowing what
move to make next, when a pigeon fluttered up past my line of sight. I followed its path with my eyes, which led me to a large hole in a corner of the wire, way up high. I had no alternative and couldn’t waste any time, so I threw myself at the wire and climbed like a mad monkey until I’d reached the opening. I squeezed through and flung my body out the other side, half climbing, half falling to the ground.
I landed a few metres from a bus stop where a bunch of kids, who looked like a team of
basketballers
, were noisily boarding a bus. To my right, I saw the van turn the corner, coming my way. It was getting dark, so I hoped they hadn’t spotted me behind the group.
‘Hurry up, boys,’ said a nearby voice. ‘Come along. Just get on board. We should have left fifteen minutes ago. Are you part of this
excursion
group?’
I swung round to see that the teacher, a young guy with a scarf and a clipboard in his hand was talking to me!
‘Yes sir,’ I said, making a split-second
decision
to try the bus as cover. I didn’t think I had a hope on foot with the Subaru and the van in pursuit.
I joined the kids as they boarded, my eyes scanning to see where my hunters were.
‘Hurry up!’ the man with the clipboard repeated.
I didn’t need to be told again. I squeezed in, noticing that the kids must have been from different schools—they all had different school crests on their backpacks. There were a couple of kids keeping to themselves, too, so I guessed not everyone knew each other. Perfect.
Squashed and sweaty in one of the seats, I saw the black van cruise right past the bus.
I let out a huge sigh of relief. For the moment I was safe.
From the talk around me, I gathered I was with a group of basketballers who were
heading
north for a sports camp. The guy beside me had earphones in, listening to music so loud that even I could hear it. I was glad he wasn’t
interested
in talking; it gave me some time to let my heart rate settle and concentrate on blocking out the memory that had resurfaced, of seeing my double at the courts, months ago.
After a couple of hours, everyone had quietened down a bit. I started getting edgy again, worried someone would start taking more of an interest in me. I couldn’t afford having anyone look too closely at me.
Just as we were about to pull into a roadside restaurant for dinner, I noticed a group of three guys whispering. They were trying hard not to look at me, but I knew I was the topic under discussion.
I didn’t want to make too obvious an exit, so I waited for the bus to stop, then slipped out behind some of the taller guys who were pushing and shoving their way off. As soon as I could, I ducked around the back of the bus and ran into the night.
After walking through the dark for a while, I saw red and blue lights flashing down from the highway. I crept behind some thick, prickly bushes and peered out.
A police roadblock had slowed a line of cars down to a crawl. Every car was being stopped and searched.
I put my hand into my pocket and touched the small angel pin Repro had given me. It had given me plenty of good luck so far; I hoped it would continue on my way to reach Millicent.
The night was cold and dark, with a waning moon sinking in the sky. I tried not to think of this time last year, when Dad was dying, but I kept being haunted by those memories. I
wished I’d been able to say to him: ‘I get it, Dad. I understand what you’re trying to tell me. I will continue the search to uncover the truth about the Ormond Singularity, and I promise to
protect
what’s left of our family.’ Maybe that would have given him some comfort as he died.
I looked up at the immense sky, filled with brilliant stars in the blackness of deep space. I shifted my backpack on my shoulders, preparing to walk long into the night. I didn’t know exactly where I was—but I still had a long way to go before I made it to Redcliffe.
