Alice Parker & the Curse of Fate (20 page)

‘
We’ll
see about that.’

Chapter 17

Magician
Impossible

Alice was glad that
when they arrived home her parents were at work. The last thing she
needed was her mother fussing round her, asking about the trip. She
just wanted to be alone to think.

Jack was overjoyed
to see her, tearing around the house barking with excitement,
sniffing around the suitcases for evidence of a souvenir just for
him. Mr Flavel was less enthusiastic, but then he was lazy during
the day after patrolling the neighbourhood at night. He simply
rubbed himself around Alice’s legs and swished his tail in
contentment – more like a cat than a fox.

‘
We’ll
leave you to it, then,’ said Grandad after he and Grandma had
greeted the family pets. He hugged Alice tightly. ‘We’re
all right, aren’t we? You and me?’

‘
I suppose
so,’ replied Alice grouchily.

‘
I’m
glad. It’ll all turn out for the best, you’ll see.
You’ve got a great future ahead of you, my love, I can feel
it.’

‘
Hmmph. I’ll
let you know when it happens.’ Alice hugged Grandma and
thanked her for the trip, then turned up the central heating and
stomped upstairs to her room.

‘
Things are
back to normal already,’ complained Thomas, pulling a face. ‘I
get suspicious when she’s in a
good
mood.’

In low spirits,
Alice locked her door, lay on her bed and stared at a poster of three
unicorns on her wall. They reminded her of Guinevere, Kallisto and
Faunus. Not so long ago, meeting the unicorns in Finwip village had
filled her with hope, excitement and a touch of magic. That’s
what being a Finwip should feel like, she had thought. But she was
wrong. Lately for her it seemed to be about worry, fear and now
dread. At the age of fifteen she didn’t even want to be
thinking about married life, but here she was cringing at the thought
of her future husband. The springs in her mattress creaked as Jack
jumped on the bed to lie beside her. He knew she was upset even
though she was fighting the tears.

‘
Isn’t
it a horrible thought, old boy?’

Jack whined and
rested his nose on her shoulder. He sat up when a knock at the door
startled them both.

‘
Alice!’
called Thomas. ‘Turn the T.V. on, there’s something on
the news you should see! At least we can’t get the blame for
it!’

Alice dashed over to
her television. Convinced that the story was going to be about
Hermann, and the suspicious circumstances of his fall, her hand
trembled as she gripped the remote. But a different German landmark
flashed up on the screen; the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Just a few minutes
earlier the Quadriga had disappeared from the top of this
world-famous monument. The life-size bronze statue of a chariot
drawn by four horses, driven by the Roman goddess, Victoria, had
simply vanished. The statue, positioned high above the city, was a
symbol of peace. The people of Berlin were furious. But they were
also baffled. The Brandenburg Gate was constantly monitored by CCTV
and footage provided no answers. One moment the Quadriga was there;
the next it had gone.

‘
Wow,’
breathed Alice. ‘That’s weird.’

It was indeed. Some
people who were interviewed believed it was a hoax – a trick
organised by a famous magician as a publicity stunt.

A thought suddenly
flashed in to Alice’s mind. Hugh! He had been working on
translocation for a while and he did seem excited about something.
Would he really have moved something as big as the Quadriga in full
view of everyone?

‘
If he did,
he’s insane!’ she muttered, shaking her head.

‘
Quite
possibly,’ replied a voice over her shoulder. Jack growled
ferociously, apparently staring at nothing. Alice jumped up from her
bed in alarm.

‘
Who’s
there?’ she called out, trying to hide her fear.

‘
Very funny,’
said the familiar male voice.

‘
Hugh? Where
are you? Stop it! I don’t like this, I can’t see where
you are.’

‘
What?
Really?’

Jack followed a
scent over to the full-length mirror on Alice’s wardrobe.

‘
Oh, blast!’
Hugh’s voice blurted out. ‘I really thought I’d
perfected this! I’ve finally managed to translocate myself
instead of an object, but I’m not visible! Back to the drawing
board. Mind you, this could be useful.’

Alice felt his hand
touch her head and recoiled.

‘
Ugh! How
dare you turn up in my room like this! Don’t ever do it again!
You could drop in any time and I wouldn’t know. That’s
just creepy.’

‘
He
would,’ said Hugh, as Jack continued to hover around his feet,
growling. ‘But I promise not to do this again. I thought I’d
surprise you.’

‘
You did that
all right! In case you haven’t worked it out, I don’t
like surprises like that.’

‘
Noted.’

‘
So what do
you really want?’ Alice sat down on her bed. ‘I suppose
you’re responsible for this?’ She nodded at the
television, which was still showing news coverage of the Brandenburg
Gate.

Hugh chuckled.
‘Yes. But don’t worry, the Quadriga is quite safe. It
must have been found by now, so you’ll hear about it shortly.’

Alice groaned. ‘If
you had to practise, why on earth did you choose something so
important? And so visible!’

‘
I was trying
to move something significant. I just wanted ... I wanted to show
you what I can do,’ said Hugh, sounding slightly pathetic. ‘I
wanted to impress you, I suppose.’

‘
Most people
buy flowers or chocolates,’ remarked Alice.

‘
You wouldn’t
be impressed with either of those.’

He had a point.
Alice tried not to smile and turned her face away from where she
suspected Hugh was standing.

‘
I assume
you’ve consulted your books already. Your miserable face gave
it away when I arrived. I wish I’d never told you, but you
would have looked it up anyway. I don’t want to make you sad.
Quite the opposite.’

‘
Well, leave
me alone, then!’

‘
All right.
If that’s what you want.’ He paused for a moment.
‘Can’t you see I’m a different person now?’

‘
I can’t
see anything, you idiot.’

Hugh laughed out
loud. ‘Sorry! I didn’t think. I’d better go.
Have a good Christmas, Alice. Try and enjoy yourself.’

‘
Pfff! Easy
for you to say! What have I got to celebrate? A future with you?
The fact that I give off some sort of radiation? Or the prospect of
Lionel and Isabella plotting their next move?’

‘
Well you
needn’t worry about them,’ replied Hugh. ‘Lionel
has gone away.’

‘
Where?’

‘
Well, he was
being exhibited in an exclusive art gallery in Berlin – but not
any more.’

‘
Really? Oh,
what have you done? Tell me!’

Jack headed over to
the window. From the creaking floorboards Alice knew that Hugh had
wandered over there first.

‘
Lionel has
gone home, Alice. He won’t bother us again,’ said Hugh
calmly.

‘
WHAT!?
You’ve sent him back to Arcanum Cove? You stupid ... I’ll
have to warn people!’

‘
No, you
won’t. He’ll never be found. I deposited him eighty
feet beneath the sea bed, not far from the lighthouse.’

‘
You
translocated Lionel? Wow. That’s ... quite clever, actually.’

‘
You’re
welcome.’

‘
Why don’t
you translocate Isabella, then?’ said Alice promptly. ‘That
might impress me. I think Antarctica would be a suitable
destination.’

‘
I’ve
certainly considered sending her away. But then I thought about her
poor parents. They’d be devastated if she disappeared without
trace, as troublesome as she can be.’

‘
Blimey! You
really have gone soft.’

Hugh exhaled loudly.
‘Anyway, I don’t know where she is. She’s not at
her parents’ house and she’s not at her apartment.’

‘
She’s
definitely in London. Ralph told me. Somewhere in the City, you
know, where all the banks are.’ Alice noticed an indent at the
end of her bed as Hugh hurried over and sat down.

‘
That can’t
be good,’ he said solemnly. ‘Fabian’s laboratories
are located there.’

‘
Er, I think
he’s dead. Isabella said ...’

‘
He isn’t.
He went to work at the Gherkin as usual this morning.’

‘
How do you
know that? Oh, never mind. If Isabella’s in trouble it’s
her own fault for making contact with him again,’ said Alice
coldly. ‘She deserves what she gets. I hope he does the same
to her as he did to Benedict. Or worse. I’d like to see her
peck at seeds with a beak.’

‘
She’s a
silly girl,’ said Hugh with sadness in his voice.

‘
You’re
not going to stick your nose in, are you? You’d better not!’

‘
I wouldn’t
dare. I’m more afraid of you than Fabian! No, I won’t
interfere this time. When Sinwips try to outsmart each other it
always ends badly. They never stop until they’ve had their
revenge. I’m glad I’m done with all that now.’

‘
So am I. One
nutter less for me to worry about! For the next fifteen years,
anyway. Mind you, you’re still insane.’

‘
You certainly
have a way with words.’

‘
Well, I can’t
believe you’ve pinched the Quadriga from Berlin!’

‘
I’ve
not
pinched
it. I simply translocated it to Hyde Park for a change of scenery.
Don’t worry, I’ll send it back tonight.’

Jack stopped
growling. Hugh had left the room.

Chapter 18

Another
World, Another Lifetime

On Christmas Eve the
people of Berlin awoke to find that the Quadriga had been returned to
its rightful place on top of the Brandenburg Gate. Worldwide media
had been flooded with images of the symbolic sculpture sitting in the
middle of Hyde Park, but no one could explain its miraculous day
trip. Apart from Alice.

She confided in
Thomas but no one else. Rather than being impressed he fell
strangely quiet afterwards. Perhaps he was slightly jealous of
Hugh’s new skill. Or the fact that he’d pulled off such
a high-publicity prank. Either way, he hardly spoke to Alice until
lunch time on Christmas Eve, when they were both drawn to the smell
of Dad’s mince pies baking in the oven.

‘
So, has that
smug git sent you a Christmas card by translocation?’

‘
If you mean
Hugh – no.’

‘
Oh dear! Not
making much of an effort, is he?’

‘
Leave her
alone, Thomas,’ said Dad as he rolled out another batch of
pastry. ‘Let’s not talk about Hugh, eh? It might never
happen. You know how I feel about those wretched books.’

Thomas shrugged and
grabbed three pies from the cooling rack before he left the kitchen.

‘
I hope you’re
right, Dad,’ sighed Alice. She passed Benedict a piece of
pastry. He had been waiting patiently to sample the goods, having
tapped at the kitchen window as soon as Dad put on his apron. In the
colder months he spent very little time outdoors, preferring to keep
warm in Finwip village or at the Parkers’ house.

‘
Can you get
me a whole one when your Dad isn’t looking?’ he asked.

Alice nodded and
carefully concealed a mince pie behind the fruit bowl on the table,
so that Benedict could eat it out of sight. He attacked it greedily.

‘
Seriously,’
continued Dad, ‘stop worrying about this Hugh business.
Somehow, sooner or later most of us end up with the right person.
You need someone clever, interesting, reliable and ... dare I say it
– a bit unusual like yourself!’