by K W Frost
Child handed him the intricately carved box, which Smaille then opened almost reverently. He studied the small jade dagger before replacing it carefully in the box.
‘Do you know what this represents, Simon?’
‘No not really,’ Child shrugged. ‘I can see it’s a finely crafted piece though. I thought I might put in on my wall… why?’
‘This is a dagger with a presidential seal on it. If you went to China with this, you would be treated like a king. Nothing would be too good for you.’
‘Sounds good,’ Child said casually.
‘Perhaps you don’t truly understand,’ Smaille insisted. ‘I’ve only ever heard of two other presidential daggers being presented to people outside of China in all of its great history. This dagger is irreplaceable.’
Child looked down at the small closed box.
‘Perhaps I’ll should keep a close eye on it then,’ Child said.
‘Keep it hidden and don’t tell anyone, that dagger is priceless,’ Smaille explained in hushed monotone. ‘If that fell into the wrong hands, it could used as a powerful weapon to help bring down governments.’
Child checked to see if Smaille was being serious before nodding in agreement.
‘Okay, Smaille,’ he said, before placing the wooden box into a plain brown paper bag and tucking it under one arm.
‘What are you planning now?’ asked Smaille.
Child looked around at his group of friends.
‘I plan on kidnapping a foreign agent,’ he stated.
‘One of ours, I presume,’ smiled Smaille.
‘Yes,’ Child said with a grin.
‘You are due some time off, aren’t you Sam?’
Samantha looked over at Child and smiled broadly.
‘I certainly hope so.’
