by Alesha Dixon
“You know about the papal tiaras?” I asked hopefully, putting my phone down. “Do you have any idea which one Mr Mercury would be after?”
“Oh yes. Now, all of them are quite desirable of course, but if I was Mr Mercury I would want to steal the Napoleon Tiara,” she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “It’s beautiful, darling. Adorned with rubies, emeralds and sapphires, it was QUITE the crown.”
“Was?”
She let out a long sigh. “Of course, Pope Benedict XV had to go and ruin things by removing the jewels from it and replacing them with replicas made of coloured glass. He sold the jewels to raise money for the victims of the First World War.”
“That’s not ruining things, that’s amazing,” I corrected her. “But that can’t be the one Mr Mercury wants to steal. He’d be going for one with real precious stones, not coloured glass replicas.”
I couldn’t say it out loud, but I also knew that if popes were the guardians of the Heart of Love, like the British monarchy have been the guardians of the Jewel of Truth and Nobility, there isn’t a chance that Pope Benedict XV would have had it removed to sell it.
“Ah, but you’re forgetting the emerald.”
“What emerald?”
Aunt Lucinda got a dreamy expression on her face as she steered us through the air.
“The great emerald is the stone that used to be in the oldest surviving papal tiara and was then set into the Napoleon Tiara. It is spectacular.”
“And it’s still there? It’s not replaced by coloured glass?”
“It’s still there,” she assured me.
“That’s probably what Mr Mercury is after,” I said, thinking it must be the Heart of Love if it was the only one not to be replaced. “Thanks, Aunt Lucinda, I can’t believe how much you know about the papal tiaras.”
“There’s no need to look so surprised,” she chuckled. “Wait till you see this emerald. It’s beautiful and incredibly precious.”
You have no idea, I thought, staring out the window at the clouds.
As we flew over Italy, getting closer to the Vatican City, Aunt Lucinda leaned forward so she was hunched over the steering wheel, peering straight ahead, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“What is it?” I asked, following her gaze.
But she didn’t need to answer. Ahead of us, the sky was growing steadily darker directly over where the map was telling us to land. It looked like it was spreading, too, as the blue skies around us started becoming overcast.
“I don’t understand,” Aunt Lucinda said, looking at the map on the screen. “I checked, and the weather was supposed to be nice today in the Vatican.”
“We need to get there as fast as possible.” I gulped, as Aunt Lucinda switched on the headlights full beam. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
As soon as we came in to land in the Vatican City, I could tell that something was wrong. From above, we could see a large crowd growing in the square at the front of a grand church and what looked like either security staff or Italian police putting up barriers, so they couldn’t come any closer. A small part of me hoped that perhaps it was just a coincidence and maybe there was a celebrity or something in the church that the crowd was waiting for. A much larger part of me noted the skies above Vatican City growing darker and darker by the second.
My phone beeped with a message from Nanny Beam.
Can’t get through to the Pope. Will keep trying. My best agents are on the way but you may get there before them. Keep me advised.
“Where do we go now?” Aunt Lucinda said, after we’d landed safely and our seat restraints automatically lifted.
We had attracted a lot of attention and tourists had stopped to stare as the car hovered just above the ground before neatly landing. Ignoring the camera phones pointing in my direction, I climbed out of the car and turned to Aunt Lucinda as she locked it.
“Where is that Napoleon Tiara kept?” I asked.
“Saint Peter’s Basilica,” she answered, pointing to the beautiful, grand church across the square where everyone was gathering. “It’s on display there, I think.”
“Come on,” I said, running as fast as possible across the square, with Aunt Lucinda and Alfred hot on my heels.
I forced my way to the front of the crowd and leaned over the barrier to see what was going on. They had cordoned off the church and no one was being allowed in or out.
“This isn’t a good sign,” Aunt Lucinda said, before waving at one of the policemen to get their attention.
“Do you speak English?” she asked breathlessly as he approached.
He raised his eyebrows at Alfred, who had also barged his way to the front, much to the annoyance of everyone else. He was still wearing his napkin and he began pecking at a tourist’s backpack in interest, before pulling out a sandwich and swallowing it whole, looking very pleased with himself. The backpack’s owner did NOT look pleased.
“Yes, I speak English,” the policeman said with a strong Italian accent. “Is this your ostrich? He just stole that man’s sandwich. And he is currently trying to steal that woman’s watch.”
“Never mind that, it’s not important,” Aunt Lucinda said, waving his accusations off. “Look, what’s happened? Why aren’t we allowed into the church? And also … are you single?”
“Aunt Lucinda!” I hissed as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Can we focus, please?”
“There’s been a theft. No one is allowed in.” He blushed. “And yes, I am single. Ciao.”
“Ciao,” Aunt Lucinda replied with a smile.
Seriously? AS IF THIS WAS A TIME FOR ROMANCE!
“What’s been stolen?” I asked loudly, forcing him to break his dreamy gaze at my aunt and look down at me.
His eyes widened. “Aren’t you Ragazza Fulmine? Lightning Girl?”
There was a ripple of whispers from those around us and people started craning their necks to get a look at me.
“Yes, I am. And it’s really important that you tell me exactly what was taken.”
He nodded. “Of course, Lightning Girl. I am happy to tell you. The Napoleon Tiara was stolen about half an hour ago. We have no idea who the culprit is. All the lights went down in the church and everything just…”
“Blacked out? The work of the Blackout Burglar.” I closed my eyes and shook my head, before looking up into the worried eyes of Aunt Lucinda. “We’re too late. Mr Mercury has already been here. We need to go and see—”
My phone’s ring tone interrupted and I answered straight away when I saw it was Nanny Beam.
“Aurora,” she spoke down the phone hurriedly, “my agents have just got to the Pope’s private residence at the Apostolic Palace and it’s been ransacked—”
“He found it,” I said, cutting her off. “He may have looked for it there first, but we just got to St Paul’s Basilica and he’s taken the Napoleon Tiara with the precious stone in it.”
“He wasn’t searching the Pope’s residence for the Heart of Love.”
“What do you mean? What else did he want? That’s the only thing that’s been taken.”
“No, it’s not. He’s taken the guardian too,” she said, sounding panicked. “Aurora, the Pope is missing.”
10
“Aurora, what on earth is going on?”
Aunt Lucinda came running up behind me as I marched back to the car. Nanny Beam had told me she’d ring back in a minute after she’d made her reports to the Queen on the situation. Nanny Beam was adamant that we couldn’t tell anyone about the Pope yet. She had to keep it under wraps for as long as possible, knowing the panic that would erupt from the public the moment they found out.
“We have to go.”
“Go where?”
“I’m not sure. Nanny Beam is going to call back and we need to leave as soon as she tells us where to go, so we should wait in the car.”
“What is this all about?” Aunt Lucinda threw her hands up in exasperation. “Something else is going
on that you’re not telling me. I know it’s important to find Mr Mercury and stop him stealing more jewellery, but there’s a lot more fuss around this whole operation than normal. And I would know. So tell me what’s so important about that tiara he’s taken.”
“Where’s Alfred?” I asked, standing at the car and looking round the square.
“Don’t try to change the subject, Aurora, I won’t be—” She hesitated, glancing around her. “Although, where has that ostrich got to? I hope he hasn’t flounced off in one of his moods. Last time that happened, it took me two days to track him down and I eventually found him meditating in a Norwegian forest.”
I opened the car door and got into the front seat, gripping my phone in my hands, terrified of missing Nanny Beam’s call. Aunt Lucinda slid into the driver’s seat and, giving up on getting more information from me, began to reapply her lipstick as we waited. I went online and saw that there were pictures of me getting out of the just-landed flying car and then more of me talking to the policeman outside the church. I sighed, leaning my head back on the seat rest. I hadn’t exactly done a good job of keeping a low profile; now everyone would be asking what I was doing there and why the crime of the stolen papal tiara was so important to Lightning Girl that I raced to the Vatican in a flying car.
Nanny Beam was going to have a job on her hands keeping the Pope’s situation out of the press. I felt sick with worry. Where would Mr Mercury have taken him? And how did he do it without anyone noticing?
“He had help,” I said, answering my own question out loud.
“Who had help?” Aunt Lucinda asked, putting her make-up away.
“Mr Mercury. He didn’t do this alone. He’s being helped by someone.”
“He can’t be. Darek Vermore is in prison.”
I stared straight ahead of me. “Maybe Darek is helping him still from inside jail.”
“That’s unlikely,” Aunt Lucinda commented. “Have you been to that prison? How could they possibly communicate? Darek is under constant watch.”
We both jumped at the sound of the rear car door being opened and then slammed shut as Alfred returned.
“There you are, darling! Where have you been?”
Alfred opened his feathered wings and revealed a canvas that he propped up on to the seat next to him proudly.
Aunt Lucinda gasped. “Is that … is that the Madonna of Foligno?”
“The what?” I asked, staring at the beautiful painting as Alfred wiggled his bottom feathers excitedly.
“The Madonna of Foligno,” Aunt Lucinda whispered, her eyes twinkling. “A very, very famous painting by Raphael. It’s centuries old and completely … priceless.”
“Alfred, tell me that’s a copy that you just bought in the gift shop and you did not just STEAL a PRICELESS painting from the Vatican,” I said slowly.
He stretched his neck forward to glare at me out of the side of his head with his big beady eye. Oh no. I buried my head in my hands.
“Oh darling, you are clever!” Aunt Lucinda told him in a soothing voice, unable to take her eyes off the painting. “But we’ll have to return it, otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it from Kiyana once Aurora tells her.”
Suddenly the car started ringing and Nanny Beam’s face popped up on to the screen at the front.
“Nanny Beam!” I exclaimed, swivelling forward. “Where do we need to go? You must tell me where the other one is.”
“The other what?” Aunt Lucinda asked, reluctantly tearing her eyes from the canvas. “Really, what is going on?”
“You need to get to—” Nanny Beam hesitated, peering into the camera. “Is that the Madonna of Foligno on the back seat of the car next to Alfred?”
“Just a copy from the gift shop, Mummy!” Aunt Lucinda said shrilly, winking at me.
“Lucinda, this is a video call. I can see you winking at Aurora. And you make sure Alfred returns that at once. The French President is still smarting over the Mona Lisa incident.” She turned her attention to me. “You need to get to India as fast as you can. To the Tsuglagkhang Temple in McLeod Ganj. I’m afraid I don’t know where in the temple, but it’s in there somewhere.”
“We’re on our way,” I replied determinedly, clicking in my seatbelt.
“Wait a second, we’re going to India now?” Aunt Lucinda looked baffled. “But I haven’t packed for India! I packed for Italy. I need a complete wardrobe overhaul if we’re going to India!”
“Get there as fast as you can. In the meantime, I’ll send some back-up to help you. I’ll tell them to meet you at the temple,” Nanny Beam continued, ignoring Aunt Lucinda. “And I’ll be sure to put some extra security on him.”
“On who?” Aunt Lucinda and I chorused.
Nanny Beam took a deep breath and stared at me from the screen.
“The Dalai Lama.”
Aunt Lucinda tried to encourage me to sleep in the car on the flight to India, but my brain was too busy. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Mr Mercury cackling, his eyes glinting with pleasure at having the precious stones in his grasp. And Alfred was snoring so loudly from the back seat, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get any sleep anyway.
“We’re here!” Aunt Lucinda announced as the wheels touched the ground after a few hours, causing Alfred to sit bolt upright and bang his head on the roof of the car.
“Oh dear,” Aunt Lucinda sighed, looking at him sympathetically in the rear-view mirror, “he’ll be in a terrible mood all day now.”
“You mean, all night?” I said, undoing my seatbelt, desperate to get out of the car and stretch my legs. “It’s dark out.”
Aunt Lucinda pointed to the local time that was flashing up on the dashboard screen.
“Well, it shouldn’t be. It’s the middle of the day.”
I opened the car door and got out, looking up at the grey, shadowed sky. This wasn’t a good sign.
“Aurora?”
I swivelled round at my name to see someone running towards me from outside the temple. Someone with dark hair dyed bright neon-blue at the ends and headphones around her neck as always.
“CHERRY!”
She pulled me in for a hug and then stepped back to grin at me.
“It’s so good to see you!”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, already feeling better about everything just at the sight of her.
“Nanny Beam called and arranged for me to fly here from Malaysia. She said something big was going on and that you could probably use some support. Not that I was surprised to receive her call.”
“You heard about what happened in Rome?”
She shook her head. “No, but I had a premonition a few hours before Nanny Beam got in touch. I’ve never had one like that before. It was so bad, it made my vision blurry and I went into a bit of a daze. I thought I could even make out shapes of people at one point.”
“Cherry, how lovely to see you,” Aunt Lucinda said, swanning over. “Do you have any idea what’s going on or is it only me who is in the dark?”
“I don’t have a clue, I’m just here for support,” Cherry explained. “Speaking of being in the dark, do you know what’s going on with the sky?”
“We need to go into the temple. Come on,” I said, leading the way towards the beautiful Tsuglagkhang Temple. “There’s something there that Mr Mercury is after.”
“Wow,” Cherry whispered when we got to the doorway, her eyes widening as she took in all the bright colours, the murals and paintings, and the prayer flags of the temple. It truly was breathtaking.
At the far end was a large golden Buddha statue behind a throne, where the Dalai Lama sat when giving his teachings. Glancing round the temple from the doorway, my eyes kept being drawn back to the throne as though it was exuding a powerful energy.
“So, when we go in, what exactly are we looking for?” Cherry asked, turning to me.
“Anything that you think Mr Mercury might want to steal,” I whispered back, taking off my shoes. “Or if it looks like so
mething is missing.”
While Aunt Lucinda and Cherry went off in one direction, I walked straight down the middle of the serenely silent temple towards the throne. I stopped in front of it and admired the amazingly detailed depictions carved all around the edge until my eyes stopped at the bottom right-hand corner. Something didn’t quite match the rest. There was a jagged indent, about the size of a large pebble and as I peered closer at it, I saw scratch marks around the hole, as though a knife had been used to gouge something out of the throne.
My stomach dropped and I quickly turned on my heel, gesturing for Aunt Lucinda and Cherry to follow me outside. I knew exactly what had been cut out of that throne: the Gem of Wisdom and Peace.
“What is it?” Cherry asked, her brow furrowed in concern. “Did you see something?”
“We need to find the Dalai Lama straight away,” I replied, causing Cherry and Aunt Lucinda to share a worried look. “He’s in danger. Cherry, if you could put on your headphones and maybe use your supersonic hearing to find out where he is in the complex, we can find him and—”
My sentence was cut off by a roaring sound coming from overhead and what felt like a strong wind blustering around us. We all looked up into the sky to see a helicopter taking off. A feeling of dread ran through me as it hovered above us threateningly and then flew away, far into the distance.
Just moments later, my phone rang and Nanny Beam’s name popped up on the screen.
“Aurora, you need to leave immediately,” she instructed, before I’d even managed to say hello. “The Dalai Lama has been kidnapped. My agents have just confirmed it.”
