Dicing with Death

by Beth Chambers

  ‘Was that a black widow?’ said Max’s dad, his voice rising an octave. He shook his head, as if to somehow convince himself that any second everything would start making sense, and turned his attention back to Max. ‘Where have you come from? You’re still living in Wales, aren’t you? Did you get on a plane all by yourself? Or rather, with your, er… girlfriend? How did you get my address?’

  Max jumped in with some answers, concerned his father was going to go into meltdown. ‘I live in Scotland now, with Mum. You know she got re-married, right, and had a baby? Not that she’s a baby any more.’ He hurried on, afraid that if he dwelt on the subject of Amy he’d follow his father into meltdown territory. ‘Liah’s just a… um… friend. She’s looking for a job out here.’

  ‘Holiday job,’ Liah said when Max’s father’s frown deepened. ‘Waitressing. I’ve done a lot of that sort of thing before, er, sir.’

  ‘Call me Greg.’ Max’s dad returned his attention to Max and asked the question he was dreading.

  ‘Does your mother know you’re here?’

  * * *

  Max perched on the edge of the sofa. He’d promised to call his mother immediately and while part of him was longing to hear her voice, the other part was dreading the tongue lashing he was no doubt about to receive. With a sigh he finally picked up the receiver.

  As soon as Max’s mother heard his voice she burst into tears. ‘Where are you? We’ve been worried sick! Where have you been? Are you alright?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he said quickly. ‘I’m really sorry, Mum. I didn’t want you to worry.’

  ‘What do you mean you didn’t want me to worry?’ Her voice rose. ‘What did you think I’d do when you disappeared for two whole days?’

  So that was how much time had passed in the Overworld since he’d been away. Max swallowed. ‘I didn’t think. I’ve been really selfish and I’m really sorry.’

  ‘Where are you?’ she asked again.

  ‘I’m at… Dad’s.’ He tensed, waiting for an explosion on the other end of the line.

  Instead his announcement was met with a long silence; so long, in fact, that Max began to wonder if his mother had hung up. ‘Where?’ she finally whispered.

  ‘Crete.’

  ‘Crete?’ She seemed unable to speak in words longer than one syllable.

  Before Max could say anything else the phone was taken out of his hand. Greg winked reassuringly at him before speaking into the handset. He listened while his father offered to have him over Christmas before handing back the phone.

  ‘I can’t pretend to understand why you’re doing this,’ his mother said bitterly. ‘As if we haven’t had enough worry over Amy.’

  ‘Is she okay?’

  ‘She’s fine now. She’s asking for you. She’s convinced that a bogeyman’s taken you away.’ She took a shuddering breath. ‘We’d looked forward to a family Christmas together, and it feels as if you’ve torn that up into little bits and thrown it back in our faces.’

  ‘Mum…’ Max didn’t know what to say.

  ‘I can’t talk to you any more right now,’ she sniffed. ‘I’m just too upset. Call me again tomorrow, OK?’

  ‘OK.’

  After he hung up Max lay back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling until his eyes ached. How was he ever going to make this up to his mother?

  * * *

  That evening Max laid the table while his dad fried fish, serving it up with golden chips.

  ‘Come on,’ Max called over to Liah who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa staring in awe at Greg’s laptop screen.

  ‘You’ve got to see this!’ she cried. ‘If I click the rat, music plays!’

  Max crossed the room. ‘I’ve already told you, it’s called a mouse,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, it’s time to eat.’

  Greg forked up flakes of soft white fish. ‘You’re welcome to stay here with us if you’ve not got anywhere else to go,’ he told Liah.

  Liah shot Max a surprised look. ‘How long is Max staying, Greg?’ she asked pointedly.

  Max suddenly developed an intense interest in making sure all of the bones had been removed from his fish.

  ‘Oh, you know, a week, maybe two,’ replied Greg happily.

  ‘Right.’ Liah had the ability to make single syllables ooze significance.

  Max finally looked back up to meet her accusing stare.

  ‘Thanks very much for the kind offer,’ she told Greg without breaking eye contact with Max. ‘But I won’t be staying longer than a night, two at the most.’

  Greg shrugged, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere. Over dessert he chatted briefly about his job. ‘I’m a location scout. I travel around the world finding the best places for films to be shot in.’

  Max felt a rush of pride. His dad was so cool.

  ‘What’s a film?’ asked Liah, sweetly.

  Max spent the evening playing chess with Greg while Liah returned with rapt attention to the laptop.

  ‘Why did you leave?’ The question had left Max’s lips before he’d even consciously thought of asking it.

  Greg sighed. ‘It was complicated. I always meant to come back, you know. But by the time I was ready, your mother had moved on.’

  I knew it! thought Max. His dad had always meant to return. If his mother hadn’t married David, his dad would have come back and they would have been a family once again.

  ‘I always suspected you’d come and find me, that you’d strike out and do what you wanted.’ He reached out to ruffle Max’s hair. ‘You’re a chip off the old block.’

  * * *

  Later that night, Liah walked into Max’s bedroom. She perched on the end of the bed and glared at him. ‘We can’t stay with your dad for Christmas. We’ve got a job to do, and we’ve got to do it, now.’

  ‘No, I’ve got a job to do,’ Max pointed out. ‘And it’s up to me how I do it.’

  ‘You know that all you’re supposed to be doing is looking for the elixir,’ Liah hissed. ‘This isn’t the time to be playing happy families.’

  Max sat up. ‘Talking of knowing things. You knew this was my dad’s house before we even came to the Overworld, didn’t you?’

  Liah became engrossed in examining her fingernails. ‘I might have heard something,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ Max said. ‘You knew and you didn’t warn me!’

  In the following silence a picture fell off the wall, landing with a clatter on the floor.

  ‘That’s the second time today,’ Liah frowned. ‘Earlier a magazine fell off the coffee table even though I wasn’t anywhere near it.’

  Max shrugged. He had enough on his mind without worrying about possible poltergeist activity. ‘Trust me, I know what I’m doing. Although I don’t think for one minute that my dad’s got anything to do with the elixir.’ After spending some time with his father, Max was convinced that there had to be someone else involved.

  Liah folded her arms. ‘Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. And fast.’

  Chapter Twelve

  The following night Max suddenly awoke. He wondered what had disturbed him as he yawned and went to stretch, and then realised he couldn’t move his legs. He struggled against the dead weight crushing them, before thrashing out in an attempt to switch on the bedside light.

  Two pinpricks of amber glowed in the dark. ‘No need for the light,’ growled a familiar voice. An equally familiar stink wafted across the room.

  Max’s fingers plucked nervously against the sheets. He hadn’t had a chance to look for the elixir, because his dad had taken them out for the day sightseeing.

  Not that it matters, he thought. Dad doesn’t have it. There’s no way he’d be involved with this kind of supernatural weirdness. He went on the defensive. ‘I haven’t found the elixir, and if you ask me I don’t think it’s here.’

  ‘Interesting.’ Mopsus adjusted his position so that he weighed even more heavily on Max’s legs. Max bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. ‘I’m curious
to know on what you are basing your opinion. How hard have you actually tried to find it?’

  Silence stretched between them, before the weight finally lifted from Max’s legs and light flooded the room. Max shouted out as Mopsus’s warty face suddenly appeared nose to nose with his.

  Mopsus clamped a gnarled hand over Max’s mouth and said, ‘So, can I inform Death that you intend to look for the elixir right away? You do remember what’s at stake if you fail to deliver?’

  Max felt as if he’d had a bucket of cold water sloshed over him. Amy. As soon as the stinking creature withdrew his hand, Max said, ‘I’ll search the house tonight.’

  ‘Fantastic.’ Mopsus broke into a grin, and a few maggots made a desperate bid for freedom from between his rotten teeth. ‘Don’t forget to wear your robes. Oh, and tell Liah I’m covering for her in the kitchen.’ Mopsus rubbed his stomach. ‘The food’s never been so good.’

  Before Max could reply Mopsus vanished.

  ‘Tonight,’ Max spoke aloud. A shiver ran down his spine as he flicked a maggot off his bed.

  He wasn’t ready.

  * * *

  Max waited for the house to be silent before creeping from his room, feeling like an idiot clad in his orange robes. Moonlight illuminated the living room, which he carefully searched. He rifled through the shelves and drawers without finding anything even remotely suspect.

  Quietly he padded along to his dad’s study. Unlike the rest of the house, it was full of furniture and every surface was littered with papers. Shelves lining the walls overflowed with books and files. Max hesitated. Where do I begin? He’d be here all night hunting for something he was sure wouldn’t be found. He knelt down and began to search through a pile of cardboard boxes stacked beside the desk.

  As he rifled through paperwork he heard a soft click. He whipped around to look at the door, rapidly trying to think up a reason for being in his dad’s study so late at night.

  No one was there.

  Max crept over to the door, opened it and looked up and down the hallway. No one was there either.

  He slipped back into the study and double-checked that the door was properly shut. Once he had finished searching through the boxes, he moved on to his dad’s desk. Carefully he slid out the middle drawer, and yelled.

  Someone had grabbed his leg.

  He staggered back and fell, hitting the floor with a spine-jarring bump.

  A pair of piercing green eyes met his angry gaze. Liah was crouched in the small alcove under the desk. ‘What are you doing here?’ Max snapped.

  ‘What you should have been doing since we got here,’ she snapped. ‘Looking for the elixir.’

  ‘Have you found it?’

  ‘I’d only just started looking when you came in. I didn’t know it was you so I hid under here…’ She broke off at the sound of voices just outside the door.

  Max felt a fresh wave of panic. ‘Move up,’ he hissed.

  ‘There’s no room. Find somewhere else!’

  Max shoved her and tried to force his way under the desk.

  ‘You’ll get us both caught.’ She pinched his arm.

  Max saw the door handle turning. Frantically he looked for somewhere else to hide. Hanging over the glass doors that led on to the veranda were long curtains. As the door swung open, Max shot behind them. He froze, trying not to breathe. His heart hammered against his chest.

  He heard his father speak. ‘The drop off’s at midnight – that only leaves us twenty minutes to get there.’

  ‘You haven’t left us with a lot of time,’ another male voice replied.

  ‘I’ve got unexpected houseguests,’ came Greg’s terse response. ‘I had to wait until they were asleep.’

  The hairs on the back of Max’s neck prickled. What were they going to drop off that was so secret? Could his dad really have the elixir? Liah would be unbearable if she was proven right.

  A loud crash made him jump.

  ‘What was that?’ Greg’s companion exclaimed.

  ‘Relax, it was just some books falling down,’ said Greg.

  ‘Books don’t just jump off shelves of their own accord.’

  ‘You can see there’s no one there, Ralf.’ Greg sounded impatient.

  ‘Have you checked the doors are locked?’

  Max peered around the curtain and saw a well-built, blond-haired man stride towards him. Max’s mouth turned dry. He thought longingly of his invisibility cap. How was he going to explain what he was doing here?

  Ralf’s hand grasped the edge of the curtain just as a loud, fake-sounding sneeze broke the silence.

  ‘Who’s there?’ Greg demanded.

  Without pulling back the curtain, Ralf strode away.

  Max peered into the room again in time to see his father reach down and pull Liah out from under the desk. ‘Liah! What are you doing here?’

  Liah stared at the two men defiantly. She pressed her lips together and refused to say anything.

  ‘We haven’t time for this,’ Ralf said. ‘What are we going to do with her?’

  Greg thrust Liah at him before taking a key out of his pocket. He used it to unlock a slim drawer in the centre of his desk. Carefully he withdrew a small silver casket. ‘Bring her with us,’ he said grimly. ‘We’re not letting her go until she tells us what exactly she’s doing here.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  This was bad, seriously bad. Max listened to the distant sound of tyres squealing. What was he going to do? Where had they gone? He had to find them. Liah had done what she could to save him, now it was his turn to return the favour.

  He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the silver whistle, which he’d hoped not to have to use. He blew through it desperately, praying that its soundless note would summon Buttercup as quickly in the Overworld.

  At once, a clatter of hooves sounded outside. Max pulled back the door and found the huge pegasus waiting. He snorted and pawed the ground when Max drew close.

  ‘Stop with the big man routine,’ Max said irritably. ‘It doesn’t fool anyone. Not with a name like Buttercup.’ He grasped a handful of mane and scrambled onto the pegasus’s back. ‘You like Liah, don’t you? Even if she does bake bread hard enough to break teeth. You need to help me get her back.’ He then spoke the words he’d always wanted to say. ‘Follow that car. Go!’

  Cuppy rose in the air, his wings beating powerfully.

  Max’s stomach flipped as the black horse soared after the car. The wind whistled in his ears as they followed the vehicle along winding mountain roads to a white villa perched on a hilltop. Its high spiked fence and gate presented no challenge to the pegasus, which soared over them before easily landing behind a huge bush.

  Max slid off, and stumbled forward when Cuppy nudged him in the back. ‘I’m going, I’m going,’ he muttered. He parted the thick branches of the bush and peered through a gap in the foliage. Up ahead his dad, Ralf and Liah disappeared through the villa’s double doors. Max scurried across the broad expanse of lawn and climbed the steps leading to the entrance. Before he could reach the door it slowly opened. Max froze, knowing he had nowhere to hide from whoever was about to come out.

  Seconds ticked by but no one appeared, so Max crept over to the entrance. Through the open door he spotted the men and Liah heading down a long hallway. After a quick check to make sure there was no one else around, Max slipped inside and silently closed the door behind him.

  As he hurried along the dark passageway, he almost caught up with the small group of shadowy figures ahead, before realising that he had no idea how he’d make them release Liah. They stopped suddenly and Max froze, pressing himself against the wall, hoping the moonlight wouldn’t pick him out. A key turned in a lock and two figures moved away, their footsteps growing faint.

  Liah! She must be behind that door. Having learned from his zombie experience, Max assessed the situation coolly. Luckily for him, they’d left the key in the lock. Another door thwarted, thought Max.

  Liah was pacing the
room, her hands tied behind her back, her mouth covered in tape. ‘Mmmmh, mumphh,’ she muttered.

  Max reached out and yanked off the tape.

  ‘Ouch!’ she complained. ‘Watch it.’ She turned around so he could untie her hands.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said awkwardly. ‘For covering for me.’ He waited for her sarcastic response and was surprised when all she did was shrug.

  ‘Come on,’ Liah said. ‘We’ve got to get that elixir.’

  They hurried along the passage and a short way along they stopped and gripped each other. One of the flagstones on the floor was moving all on its own. Slowly it slid back revealing a cavity below.

  ‘How did that happen?’ Liah hissed, her fingers tightening on Max’s arm.

  Max pointed to a small lever on the opposite wall. ‘I bet that’s what opened it. Chill, Liah. The place for ghosts is in the Underworld, not here.’ Ignoring the voice in his head that questioned just who had pressed the lever, he edged forward. He peered into the opening and saw a narrow flight of stone steps leading to a dimly lit passage. ‘Come on. Follow me.’

  He dropped through the hole and took the steps two at a time. Before he reached the bottom his feet slid out from underneath him. ‘Oomph!’ He bumped down the remaining steps and collided with something at the bottom.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Liah reached down and pulled him up. Suddenly her grip went slack and Max bumped back down again.

  ‘Wha–’ Max looked up indignantly.

  Liah stared past him to the foot of the stairs. Her face was even paler than usual. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.

  Max followed her stare to where a young man wearing decidedly old-fashioned clothes was straightening up. He held in his hands a modern baseball cap – a familiar-looking baseball cap. ‘Hey, that’s mine!’ Max said. ‘How did you get that?’ He was positive he’d left it in Death’s kitchen.

  There was something seriously weird going on with the guy’s appearance. He shimmered and flickered like a hologram as he went to put the baseball cap back on his head.