Losing the Plot (9 page)

I think Nick must have noticed that Cat wasn’t as impressed as he’d hoped, because he suddenly said, “And how is life treating my lovely Catherine?”

“Very well,” she said promptly and she totally couldn’t prevent herself smiling at Chance. “But I don’t know any lords and ladies, so I have no interesting news to tell.”

Then her face lit up. “Oh, but I’ve heard my father will soon be home from sea! I wonder if he’ll recognise me,” she added anxiously. “He’s been away so long.”

“And you, Chance?” said Nick. “How are you liking the theatrical life?”

“Very much,” said Chance eagerly. “I never know what I’ll be doing from one day to the next. One moment I’m helping actors learn their lines, the next taking care of the properties.”

“What are properties, exactly?” said Nick in a bored tone.

“Almost anything! For instance, if the heroine dies tragically of snake bite, I must make sure the snake is to hand!”

“Oh,” said Nick. “A real dogsbody.”

Cat looked annoyed. “He will be an actor one day. Only last month, he took the part of the fool, when Will Kemp had the fever.”

Nick pulled a face. “The fool!” he snorted. “Well, he’s certainly had plenty of practice.”

The entire angel contingent was squirming. It was like everything Nick said was designed to make Chance look like a total loser, compared to him.

“Chance, I must introduce you to this new friend of mine,” Nick said loftily. “He could get you work as an actor tomorrow if I asked him. You don’t need to do all this ridiculous fetching and carrying.”

Chance suddenly seemed distracted. He’d spotted a young actor from the playhouse. “I’ve just got to ask Kit something,” he mumbled. I got the feeling Kit owed him money.

Cat looked distinctly dismayed at the idea of being alone with Nick. She knew he’d try to chat her up. Didn’t take him long either.

“Ah, Cat,” he sighed, giving her his devastating smile. “When I think how you cared for me once.”

“I did, when I was a little girl,” Cat said pointedly. “But I am grown up now, so I prefer a man who is not afraid of his own heart.”

Nick looked scornful. “They say that love is blind. But how you can prefer this nobody—”

“Chance is not
nobody
!” she blazed.

“He doesn’t even know his own name!” Nick sneered. “What do you call someone with neither wealth, power or influence?”

“I’m talking about hearts, Nick! And his heart is like a twin to mine.”

“Ah, I see! You are twin souls!” His voice was mocking.

“Yes. We are!” Cat calmly held Nick’s gaze, coolly letting him know that his attempt to put Chance down had basically boomeranged.

He quickly pulled himself together. “Then you must marry,” he said in his lordly way. “Luckily I’ve put an excellent financial opportunity Chance’s way.”

“I heard.” Suddenly Cat leaned over and put her lips close to Nick’s ear. “Don’t hurt him, Nick Ducket,” she said softly. “Don’t you
dare
!”

Chance reappeared, looking dejected. The actor had obviously fobbed him off.

Nick pushed back his chair. “Come to my rooms tonight, Chance, and we’ll talk business. Sorry to rush off. I’ve arranged to meet someone.”

Reuben got ready to leave too. For some reason this made me deeply uneasy.

“Maybe you should stay with us,” I said. “I’m not sure you—”

“Melanie!” he warned. “Nick’s my human now. Agency policy, remember? I have to go.”

“He’s right,” said Lola. But she didn’t look happy about it either.

As Reuben and Nick walked away across the green, I saw Reuben stumble slightly.
He isn’t well
, I thought..

Cat and Chance were leaving as well. Cat’s aunt needed her to help in the tavern.

Lola suddenly looked really depressed. “I’ve really gone off Nick,” she burst out.

“Don’t feel bad about it,” I told her. “People change.”

“But you were right, Mel. He’s not the glitch. Or if he is, he’s only a little
part
of it. I’m so confused.”

I slipped my arm through hers. “We’re confused
now
. But when we finally see the light, we’ll go, ‘Wow! Was that ALL?’”

She giggled. “You’re such an idiot.”

We’d almost reached the Feathers when Cat said, “Chance, I do wish you’d turn Nick’s offer down. I don’t trust him.”

Chance looked shocked. “You’re wrong. When I had nothing, Nick saved my life. He’s a wonderful friend.”

“So he keeps telling you.” Cat’s voice was pure acid. She took a breath. “Nick did say one true thing. He says you don’t know your name.”

For the first time since our return, I saw Chance’s eyes grow foggy with hurt. “He’s wrong,” he said.

“But your name’s not Chance?” she said softly.

He didn’t answer. She put her arms around him. “Are you ever going to tell me?”

I was quite interested to know this myself, so I deliberately tried to pick up on Chance’s thought vibes. But they were totally confused. Even with my angel senses, I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I could just see this agonizing struggle going on inside him.

“I promise,” he said carefully, “that if I tell my name to anyone, it will be to you.”

She laughed. “You’ll have to tell me when we get married!”

As we reached the Feathers, a grubby white Labrador bounded out.

“Promise me one thing?” Cat pleaded, as she tried to stop the dog licking her face. “Be careful of Nick’s new friend.”

“That’s very dramatic,” he teased her. “Why do you say that?”

“I told you, he came to the tavern with Nick. Nettie said Snowball took one look and went streaking out of the house, with his tail between his legs. She says he’s the devil in disguise.”

Chance grinned. “Nettie thinks all men are devils in disguise!”

Like a song from a distant car radio, Reuben’s little tune floated into my head. “You’re not alone, you’re not alone…”

With a prickle of fear, I saw Lola mouthing the same words.

I grabbed my angel tags. They were burning hot as the Angel Link kicked in. “Reuben, are you OK?”

His voice was hardly audible. “Mel, we got it wrong.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“A trap… a cosmic trap!”

“You’re not making sense, Sweetpea,” said Lola urgently. “Someone trapped you?”

There was a long terrible pause.

“Not me,” he got out finally. “Chance… for Chance.

“Reuben,” I pleaded. “Are you hurt?”

But I could just hear him gasp out, “been so stupid” and “fight”.

“Omigosh!” I whispered to Lola. “He’s really hurt!”

“Reuben, try to hold on,” she told him. “We’re coming to get you.”

“… careful,” Reuben gasped. “Edward…”

“Who the sassafras is
Edward
?” Lola demanded.

There was another long rasping pause. “… Nick’s friend. He’s with the PODS.”

Chapter Nine

W
e found Reuben slumped in Nick’s rooms. He tried to raise his head, but he was too weak “Sorry,” he muttered. “Such a wuss.”

“You’re going to be OK, Sweetpea,” Lola told him. “We’ll get you home.” But I heard her voice wobble.

Reuben’s visible injuries were truly terrible, but the worst PODS damage is always deep down. It was like he’d been totally drained of all his beautiful angelic energy, like he wasn’t really our Reuben any more.

It felt as if we stayed like that for an eternity - Lola cradling Reuben’s head in her lap, me softly stroking his hand. Then a white light strobed down and two heavenly paramedics appeared.

“Len, it’s just a bunch of kids!” one exclaimed. “How’d they get here?”

His mate immediately bent over Reuben. What he saw really shocked him. “What on earth did they attack him with?” he muttered.

I don’t know why, but I suddenly remembered those jewelled knuckledusters, the way I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

I swallowed. “There was only one agent. And I think it was his rings.”

The paramedic was mystified. “This happened on a
research
trip?”

“Had to be,” his mate muttered back. “No other cosmic personnel are allowed in.”

“So who attacked the kid?”

“Beats me. Let’s just get them back home. Come on, girls.”

They were all ready to beam us all up. Lola and I exchanged panic-stricken looks.

“Thanks but we’re staying.” I tried to sound crisp and professional.

“We can’t allow that, miss. This is officially an angel no-go area.”

“Check it out with the Agency if you want,” said Lola fiercely. “All I know is Michael gave us a job to do. Take care of our friend, OK?”

***

It felt incredibly lonely after they’d gone, and we both had a bit of a cry.

I was still trying desperately to understand what was going on. Nothing seemed to make sense.

“Lollie,” I asked tearfully. “Have you ever heard of an angel-free zone?”

She shook her head. “It’s not just our lot that can’t come in. All cosmic personnel, he said.”

“So how come that PODS guy is here?”

“Good question,” she sighed.

“So are we violating some cosmic treaty, just by being here?”

“I don’t think so. Remember how Michael kept insisting it wasn’t a mission? Officially we’re kids on an educational trip. That way we don’t pose a threat to the big guys.”

“Why didn’t Michael explain?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. But he never does anything without a reason. You know that.”

“I know it in Heaven,” I admitted. “Down here you start to wonder.”

Lola gave me a searching look. “Think you’ll be OK by yourself? We really should check on Cat and Chance.”

The prospect of Lola going anywhere without me filled me with terror. I grabbed her hand. “Lollie, can we actually do this?”

She gently took her hand away and jammed her thumbs in her belt loops. “We’re the cosmic musketeers,” she said fiercely. “We don’t give in and we don’t give up. Got it?”

I swallowed hard. “Got it.”

Lola touched her angel tags. “Later.”

And she vanished.

I was just about to beam myself to Chance when I heard someone cautiously lift the latch.

I almost fainted with fright.
He’s back! The PODS came back!

Chance peered around the door. “Nick? Oh, nobody here,” he said, disappointed.

I clutched my pounding heart. “That’s right, nobody here,” I said frantically. “So let’s both get out of here while we still can!”

But Chance just ambled about, admiring Nick’s pad. After he’d had a good nose round, he poured himself some ale, hacked a crust off a loaf he’d found under a cloth, then sat riffling through Nick’s books, calmly chomping away.

“For Pete’s sake!” I wailed.

But you can only panic for so long. An hour or so later, Chance was still riffling and I was nodding off.

Then I shot awake as. I heard the metallic clunk of the latch. Nick walked in with his new best friend and I totally broke out in goose-bumps.

I could feel the PODS agent deliberately no1 looking at me.

“Ah, Chance, made yourself comfortable, I see!” said Nick in a forced tone. “I don’t think you’ve met my friend, Edward Brice.”

Chance jumped up, scattering crumbs, and went to shake hands.

Brice gave a frosty nod. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. I’ll make myself scarce,” he murmured to Nick. “You two have business to discuss.”

I had to hand it to him. Brice had really done his homework. His speech, his Elizabethan manners, were perfect. The bleached hair, however, was pure twenty-first century. That’s because he’d borrowed it from my old school crush, along with his gorgeous face and the bad-boy walk.

He waited until Nick was explaining Chance’s go-between duties to him, then he strolled over. “Hi Mel. How’s it going?” he said softly.

Sometimes there’s so much you want to say, it all gets jammed up inside, and absolutely nothing comes out.

Then I caught sight of those manicured fingers with their glittering rings, and what came out was pure rage.

“I’m
so
relieved you didn’t damage your jewellery,” I said icily.

Brice laughed. His eyes were totally dead, just like I’d remembered. “Admit it, Mel, you’re out of your depth.”

“So are you going to bash me too?” I said. “Or do you have some quaint PODS code about not hitting girls?”

“Oh, I’ve got other plans for you, Mel,” he said with a sinister smile. “Long-term plans.” Brice stretched himself out on a wooden settle. “These are great times, aren’t they?” he sighed. “I am totally in my element!”

Fortunately I didn’t have to lose any brain cells guessing what this element was, because he couldn’t wait to tell me.

“Chaos!” he explained gleefully. “You really should hang out at court some time, Mel. All those shadowy stone corridors! All those convenient tapestries for traitors to eavesdrop behind! It’s a plotters’ paradise - I love it!”

I remembered how Lola thought we’d beamed down in the middle of a wedding because everyone was so happy.

“You just see ugly things,” I said. “You make me sick.”

“I see what’s real, sweetheart. Oh, did you know Golden Boy over there sold Chance’s soul to pay his debts? Of course, Nick doesn’t know that’s what I’m after.”