Through the Tiger's Eye (17 page)
The room looked even more like an underwater world since Mum had made them wash every wall. The painted floor shone. Angel struggled to be let down and stepped onto the floor, as though she were walking into a swimming pool. She tried to pick up a crab near her feet and everyone laughed at the look on her face when she realised it was a drawing.
‘Come and see our tiger rug,’ said Ricardo and charged out of the ballroom and back down the hall, T-Tongue and Toro in hot pursuit.
‘Don’t break the dragon vases,’ Lucy yelled.
Angel cried out at the golden eyes that smouldered up at her when the clothes and soccer balls had been cleared from the rug. She tried to climb up Carlos’ leg. He picked her up and she hid her face in his shoulder.
By the looks on everyone’s faces, Lucy had some explaining to do.
‘We found the rug the first day we moved in and it was really old and grungy. Then it just started to grow itself new again! And now we have to keep it covered up so Mum and Grandma don’t notice. It’s really weird. First it was just the tiger and a monkey—’
‘My monkey!’ interjected Ricardo.
‘And that’s the other weird thing: Ricardo and I have been having the same dreams, always about you guys. When we dreamt that the tiger helped Rahel and Toro escape, our tiger became
much
brighter.’
Rahel knelt to run her palms over the carpet tiger.
‘This is very much what happened,’ she breathed. ‘The man-eater came and we took our opportunity and ran into the jungle.’
Lucy shifted undies off the snake’s head.
‘Then this appeared!’
It was more impressive than ever. Muscular coils studded with shiny gold diamonds, winding from one edge of the rug to another.
‘Ponytail,’ Rahel hissed.
‘Pardon?’ said Carlos.
‘I informed you,’ she answered absently, not taking her eyes off the carpet snake, ‘the ponytail militia stopped chasing us because of a snake just like this one.’
Lucy revealed the monkey. Its golden mane was brighter than before. Angel made a strange sound and Lucy looked at her with concern. But the little girl was smiling.
‘I don’t know about this one. Maybe we’re going to meet a monkey. Would you like that, Angel?’
‘I would,’ said Toro.
‘I already have,’ said Ricardo importantly.
Rahel looked at him sharply. ‘Is this true?’ she asked.
‘Yes. I talked to him. It was the night before we found the house. I dreamt about him and then I dreamt I got turned into a monkey. It was great! I chucked mangoes at Lucy!’
Everyone burst out laughing, especially Carlos, and even Lucy had to smile.
‘But it is true. Monkeys like this do throw mangoes. I have seen them throw mangoes at the Bull Commander,’ Rahel said. ‘It was the day they took me to the jungle jail. The truck broke down in the jungle and the militiamen had to call on the radio for help. They tied me to a mango tree so I couldn’t run away. I was very hungry and thirsty and then I heard a sound and a golden monkey like this,’ she gestured at the carpet monkey, ‘picked a mango and dropped it right down next to me. It was the first food I had had in many days. Then the Bull Commander came in another truck and told the militia to put me back inside, but the monkey pelted them with ripe mangoes. One struck the Bull Commander in the head! He was filled with rage and began to shoot into the tree. But the monkey was too quick for him.’
Lucy was still gazing thoughtfully at the carpet.
‘I reckon the animals show up when we need them,’ she said firmly. ‘Think about it. Has a tiger ever hurt one of the kids at the camp?’
‘No,’ said Rahel firmly.
‘But the Bulls and the militia get attacked, don’t they? I bet that’s how the smiling soldier got his scar!’
‘This is true,’ said Pablo, quite pleased about the whole idea.
‘And that snake – how come it didn’t get us that night? We were crawling around in the jungle for ages. And then it just crawled across our feet and left us alone.’
‘What are you saying?’ demanded Carlos impatiently.
‘Something weird is happening and I don’t know what it is, but it’s got something to do with this carpet and the one that Angel was making. It is the same pattern, isn’t it? And what’s going on with the two houses? They’re almost exactly the same, only yours got turned into a jail.
‘And what’s with the Tiger-cat? How come it can beam video clips into our heads? And time’s doing all these wacky things. And that weird old atlas. If you get too close, you feel like you’re drowning. And every page has a different Telares, only they’re all over the world and they’re called different names. But when I look in Auntie Alice’s atlas, they’re not even there!
‘And then there’s the dragon chest and Nigel Scar-Skull and he really wants it, but I
know
he’s not supposed to get it. Don’t ask me how I know.’
Rahel considered the tiger rug, head on one side.
‘Yes, and why is the Bull Commander so determined to make Angel and the others finish the rug? Did the guards ever explain that, Carlos?’
‘He says that the rug is worth much money, and they will be rewarded when it is finished. But the guards say the rug has made the Commander crazy. He thinks about nothing else.’
In the silence that followed, Lucy suddenly remembered the time.
‘Cockatoo crap! We’ve got to get out of here. Help mess up the room!’
The Telarian kids looked at her blankly but Toro got into the swing of things as soon as he saw Ricardo doing what he did best. He looked delighted. They were doing such a good job that no one heard the knock at the door.
No one, that is, except T-Tongue, who charged up the hall and threw himself at the front door in a frenzy of barking. Lucy froze, thawed, then rushed to the bedroom door and closed it. The Telarian kids shrank against the walls as a loud voice boomed, ‘Shut up, you stupid mutt!’
‘Nigel Scar-Skull!’ hissed Lucy, and her desperation communicated itself instantly to the others. The boys dived under the bed and Lucy had to pull Ricardo out by the ankle.
‘You don’t have to hide, doofus, you live here!’
‘I forgot,’ said Ricardo and scrambled out. Rahel took his place under Lucy’s bed and Carlos headed for the wardrobe with Angel. Just as Lucy closed the door on them, she caught the look on Carlos’ face: ‘I knew you would let us down,’ it said.
She didn’t have time to worry about his paranoia because Nigel Scar-Skull was pounding on the door, shouting, ‘I know someone’s home, so open the door!’
Lucy stepped out of the bedroom, clicked the door shut as silently as she could and saw the Tiger-cat padding down the hall, body slung low to the floor. It crouched, ready to spring, at the bedroom door, hidden between the dragon vases.
Lucy grabbed T-Tongue’s collar and opened the door to reveal Nigel Scar-Skull holding a Super Soaker, even bigger than Ricardo’s. The clawmarks on his head were still clear.
He pointed his weapon at T-Tongue and then looked warily over his shoulder and back up the hall. He barely glanced at Lucy before he started talking: ‘Well, Louise, I was just in the area and thought I’d drop in to see if you’d found that chest yet. You asked Mum about it, like a good girl, didn’t you?’
Lucy was painfully aware she was not a good girl and that the dragon chest was in full view at the back door.
‘Uhhmm,’ was all she could manage but then Ricardo materialised beside her, armed with his Super Soaker. Would Mum understand if they soaked the agent? Probably not.
‘It’s OK, Ricardo,’ she said, ‘I don’t think we’re going to need that, it’s only Nigel Sc – I mean Mr Adams.’
Nigel Scar-Skull took in Ricardo’s triple barrels and bared his teeth in a lip-splitting smile.
‘No, young man, you won’t need that. Now just – ’ But his mobile phone rang and he answered it clumsily, juggling his Super Soaker.
‘I’ll hold it,’ said Ricardo helpfully.
He glared at him and swung away. ‘Yes. Are you sure? This’d better not be a false alarm again. She’s had turns like this before. OK, OK, I’ll be right there!’ He hung up and looked irritably at Lucy.
‘Now, Linda, have you found this chest? I don’t have much time. I have a sick relative to think about.’
Lucy shook her head.
‘Nuh,’ Ricardo said.
Nigel Scar-Skull frowned heavily. ‘Look, I don’t want to have to say —’
But his phone rang again. ‘Adams,’ he answered irritably. Then his entire expression changed.
‘Great to hear from you, mate. No, it’s going like a ripper at this end. What’s that? It means everything’s great! Look, I’m a bit tied up right now. What’s that? No, I’m not really tied up! I’m busy, mate, I’m busy. Look, I’ll call you back. OK, bye.’
Nigel Scar-Skull disconnected the call, shaking his head and his stretchy smile snapped back into a thin line.
‘Listen, I’m not wasting any more time here. You can see I’m a busy man. I’ve got people calling me from all over the world. You get your mother to ring me. It’s urgent! Your lease says you have to facilitate house inspections. If this goes on much longer, I will have to assume you are obstructing an inspection and reconsider your lease.’
He strode down the stairs but then seemed to remember something. Raising his Super Soaker, he looked nervously about, then jogged to the car and drove off in a screech of tyres.
Lucy slammed the door shut. When her heart stopped pounding, she went back and told the others they could come out. Rahel looked gratefully at Lucy and said, ‘We appreciate what you have done’.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders, embarrassed, and told them what Nigel Scar-Skull had wanted.
‘We have to get out of here. He might come back. I reckon he wants that dragon chest as much as the smiling soldier wanted the pattern for the rug. Come and look.’
She led the way to the back door and moved the bedspreads off the dragon chest. Carlos looked thunderstruck and began talking excitedly.
‘There was one just like this in the jungle jail! The Bull Commander took it for himself. He was very angry because he could not find the key. Of course he could smash it open, but the militia say it is far too valuable. These old carved chests are worth much money. He has probably sold it in Telares City.’
‘Well, we can’t open this one either but we have to get it into the tunnel before we go to the camp or Mum might hand it over to Nigel Scar-Skull,’ said Lucy. As soon as she looked at the chest she got that same dizzy feeling as she had last time. And when the dizziness passed she was left with an overwhelming sense of urgency, as though every cell in her blood was saying, ‘Hide it
now
!’
Carlos surprised Lucy by stepping forward to help. They each grabbed a brass ring, and again Lucy was struck by how light the chest was.
‘Ricardo,’ she called as they struggled awkwardly across the yard, ‘make sure nothing gets left behind’.
Halfway up the path, Lucy noticed the Tiger-cat trotting along behind them. At the top of the stairs the Tiger-cat loped forward. Carlos looked stunned when it did that Open Sesame leap and the tunnel entrance appeared behind the pile of rubble.
Lucy hauled up the rope and tied it to the brass rings. They lowered the chest carefully, and then clambered down to drag it into the tunnel.
By the time Carlos and Lucy climbed out of the pit, the other kids were almost at the stairs, laden with camping gear.
‘We got everything,’ said Ricardo.
Wrong. They’d forgotten the hardboiled eggs. Grandma would be here any minute. Lucy raced down to get them and caught up with the others on the track above the pit.
Ricardo and Toro complained about how heavy their loads were until Rahel told them to shut up, in two languages. They did. Lucy was impressed.
Finally, with Carlos carrying Angel, they stumbled through the passageway between the rocks and clambered down into the grassy clearing by the creek. No time to show them the cave. Lucy and Ricardo ran for home, flying into the yard exhausted just as the bus appeared. And the shopping had been sitting in the sun on the step for so long that the icecream had melted and Grandma was mad at them for not putting it away. Then she saw just how good a job Toro and Ricardo had done on the bedroom. Oops.
Finally they escaped, after putting the groceries away, doing the dishes and promising to get the room tidied up tonight. Grandma relented when they told her they had urgent business at their secret base.
‘Much better than watching TV,’ she said, waving them goodbye, but they only got as far as the chook pen, before she called them back.
‘You can’t go without food. Here, take this, and this, and you’ll need some fruit too, and . . .’
When their backpacks were full she asked, ‘Where are you going again?’
‘This cool place we found with Mum.’
‘Well, that’s OK. So long as your mum knows about it.’
Finally they escaped
again
, with about thirty sandwiches. Lucy remembered to grab a soccer ball and as many swimmers and boardshorts as she could find, while Ricardo grabbed a hammock he’d left sitting at the back door. Lucky Grandma hadn’t seen that!
As they neared the rocky pass, they smelt smoke. They stepped into the sunny clearing, to find Pablo tending a simmering pot under a shady tree. A large flat rock made a kitchen bench for the cups and bowls and pots hung from the tree. He looked delighted to see them.
