Dicing with Death

by Beth Chambers

Max shot forward. ‘Oh no you don’t!’ He snatched it away before the person could vanish. ‘How long have you had this?’

  The young man ignored him. He was looking at Liah.

  ‘Who are you?’ Max felt as if the ground could swallow him up right now and neither of them would notice. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘It’s Tom,’ Liah finally whispered. ‘He’s Tom.’

  The young man’s expression flickered into a smile. ‘Hello, Liah,’ he said. ‘Have you missed me?’

  Max disliked Tom on the spot. Maybe it was because of the way Tom was blanking him, although it could have had something to do with the way Tom towered over him. It could also have something to do with the way that Liah was gazing at Tom as if he were some kind of god. It definitely had something to do with the fact that Tom had stolen Max’s hat.

  Max snapped his fingers in front of Liah’s face. ‘Earth to Liah! Weren’t you the one telling me we had to get the elixir? Something about the universe imploding?’

  Liah ignored him. ‘You’re a ghost,’ she said hoarsely. ‘When did you…’

  ‘Die?’ Tom said cheerfully. ‘Two years after you disappeared. What happened? One moment I’m heading towards a bright light after duelling in your honour, the next I’m seeing you disappear with a giant walking, talking skeleton and I’m fine!’

  ‘You only lived for two more years after I left?’ Liah gasped. ‘That’s all?’

  Tom shrugged. ‘Oh, you know, all those nineteenth-century duels could play havoc with a fellow’s health.’

  ‘Right, I’ll just leave the two of you to your cosy chat and I’ll try to find the elixir on my own.’ Max thrust the cap into his pocket and pushed past Tom.

  ‘Whoa, not so fast,’ Tom said. ‘We’ll come with you.’

  Max narrowed his eyes. Why would Tom want to help? And just what was he doing here anyway? He added suspicion to dislike. ‘Aren’t you supposed to ask, “What elixir?” I don’t suppose you know anything about a recent spate of falling objects or magically self-opening and -closing doors?’

  Tom grinned and held out his hand to Liah. ‘Come on!’

  Liah reached out but her hand passed straight through his. ‘I can’t touch you,’ she sighed. ‘Only the assistant’s robes give the wearer the power to touch the dead. How is it that you’re here, Tom? Have you been with us ever since we left the Underworld?’

  In Max’s opinion, Tom suddenly looked shifty – like he’d been caught with his fingers in the till.

  ‘Do you mind if we walk and talk?’ Max said pointedly. He didn’t know how far ahead his father was with the elixir. I have to get it. If I don’t, Death will sack me and then it will be all over for Amy. And I’ll end up like Tom. He strode along the passageway, aware of Tom and Liah trailing behind.

  ‘There are rumours all over the Underworld that the elixir can give back life. Is it true?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Liah told him. ‘We have to get it back before it’s used again.’

  Tom was silent for a moment and then said, ‘The Grim Reaper wouldn’t miss a drop or two would he?’

  Max waited for Liah to shoot Tom down in flames.

  ‘I guess one or two drops wouldn’t do any harm,’ she said slowly.

  Max spun around. ‘What? Only a couple of days ago you were talking about the end of the world happening if we didn’t get the elixir back.’

  Liah glared at him. ‘I’ve given more than a lifetime of service to Death, and all the while Tom’s been dead. The least he can do is give us back our time together.’

  Behind Liah’s back Tom grinned and raised an eyebrow.

  Before Max could punch him, a gunshot rang out, echoing down the passage. Max turned around and raced towards the sound. Please let Dad be okay!

  Up ahead was a narrow spiral stairway set into a wall. Max hurried up the twisting flight feeling giddy and breathless. Liah and Tom followed close behind, although only Liah’s footsteps could be heard clattering against the stone steps.

  Light flooded out from a room at the top of the staircase. Max would have dashed in but felt a tug on the back of his robes. ‘Don’t be an idiot, you can’t just burst in there,’ Liah hissed.

  ‘Okay, okay, you can let me go now,’ Max panted, realising Liah had just saved him from making a stupid mistake. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cap. Putting it on he stepped into the room.

  It appeared to be some kind of laboratory. It didn’t have bubbling test tubes but everything was either metallic or tiled. Crowded around a stainless steel table were his father, Ralf and another man.

  Max’s hand flew up to cover his mouth as he realised what they were staring at. Lying on its side was a mongrel dog, its long shaggy coat sticky with blood. It wasn’t moving.

  Max watched his dad take a tiny glass bottle out of the silver casket. He very gently unscrewed the stopper and carefully placed a drop on to the dog’s wound.

  All eyes fixed on the dog.

  The silence was broken by a whimper.

  It works, Max thought. The elixir really does work. The dog lifted its head and feebly wagged its tail. How did my dad get hold of it?

  Ralf pushed a gun back in to his jacket pocket. ‘Is that evidence enough, Mr Hoffman?’ he asked.

  The balding man looked up and smiled slowly. ‘Call me Larry.’

  Chapter Fourteen

  Overhead an ominous rumble sounded. Every eye swivelled up to the ceiling.

  ‘What was that?’ Greg frowned.

  Max knew exactly what it was. It was thunder – the kind of thunderclap you read about when the gods have been angered.

  ‘Let’s wrap this thing up,’ Larry said briskly.

  ‘Have you got the money?’ Ralf asked.

  Larry gave a short dry laugh. ‘You think I would just hand over a hundred million euros without seeing with my own eyes that this stuff actually works?’

  ‘You’ll make that amount a hundred times over once you’ve found out how to replicate the elixir,’ Greg pointed out.

  Ralf’s expression darkened. ‘I think you’ve been wasting our time…’

  ‘Relax,’ Larry interrupted. ‘The money’s here, but it’s in a safe. There’s a million in cash and the rest will be made by electronic transfer.’ He jerked his head at a door at the opposite end of the room. ‘This way.’

  A hundred million euros! Max was having a hard time getting his head around such a huge sum of money.

  Ralph followed Larry through into the adjoining room, shutting the door firmly behind them.

  ‘Max, you’ve got to stop them,’ Liah hissed.

  Max was already untying his belt. What were the words Death had spoken to make the belt turn into a weapon? ‘How’s your haggis?’ he attempted.

  Nothing happened.

  ‘Cage your maggots,’ he tried again.

  ‘Oh for goodness sake, it’s Age quod agis,’ Liah snapped.

  Greg looked their way, his eyes wide with surprise.

  ‘Age quod agis,’ Max gabbled, imagining the first weapon that came to mind. The rope turned into a long length of braided leather. What, so I’m Indiana Jones now? He stepped forwards. ‘Give me that,’ he said to his father. His voice came out as a squeak, nothing like the butt-kicking tone he’d been going for.

  Greg’s mouth opened in terror. Max suddenly realised that he and the bullwhip were still invisible.

  He pulled off his hat and watched Greg’s terror turn to shock.

  ‘Give me the elixir, Dad.’ Max twitched the whip warningly.

  ‘Max…’ His dad looked nervously at the closed door behind him. ‘I have no idea how you got here or what’s going on but you need to get out of here, now. This is none of your business.’

  Max wondered how he could possibly get his dad to part with the elixir. What could be worth more than a hundred million euros? Suddenly he knew. ‘It’s Amy,’ he said. ‘I need the elixir to save her.’

  Greg looked confused. ‘Is she sick? Your mum didn�
�t mention – ’

  ‘She’ll die without the elixir,’ Max burst out. ‘I have to have it, Dad.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Max,’ Greg held out his hands in apology. ‘When I’ve got the money I’ll give you some of it to help her. But you have to understand, bad things happen in life. What makes you a man is learning to deal with them.’

  He’s really ready to let Amy die so he can get his stinking, lousy money, Max realised. Never had he felt such rage – not even on the day when his dad had walked out on them. Realisation hit him like a freight train. David would have turned down the money in an instant if it meant saving me.

  Gritting his teeth, Max leapt forwards and snatched the elixir.

  ‘Thank you, Max.’ Liah plucked the tiny bottle out of his hand.

  ‘W-w-w-hat’s going on?’ Max’s dad whispered, looking from Max, to Liah, to Tom. ‘Is that a … that can’t be a … is that a ghost?’

  Max spun around. ‘You’ve got to be joking,’ he shouted at Liah, then to his father he added, ‘Of course it’s a ghost!’

  ‘Boo,’ interjected Tom, grinning.

  Max’s father suddenly looked extremely pale. ‘I don’t feel well,’ he muttered, and slumped to the floor in a faint.

  ‘Dad!’ cried Max.

  ‘Leave him,’ said Liah. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’

  ‘I’m not leaving him.’ Max tried to lift his dad from under the arms. ‘Help me!’

  ‘OK,’ hissed Liah, grabbing one of Greg’s legs with her free hand, ‘but keep the noise down or they’ll hear you.’

  ‘You can’t really think the two of you are going to be together again?’ Max muttered as they painstakingly dragged his father towards the stairs.

  Tom nodded. ‘Of course. Liah’s the love of my life. Once I’ve had the elixir we’ll be together forever.’

  ‘Until you die,’ Max pointed out. ‘And considering it’s Death you’re cheating, I wouldn’t count on being left alone to live happily ever after.’

  Liah glanced uncertainly from Max to Tom.

  ‘Just one or two drops, Liah,’ encouraged Tom, ‘that’s all I need, and then it will be like the old days.’

  ‘Not quite,’ Max said, wondering how they were going to get his dad down the stairs. ‘For a start, nobody’s allowed to fight duels anymore.’

  ‘That’s not a bad idea,’ Tom grinned, ‘since I nearly died when I fought over Liah.’

  ‘What was the name of the girl you actually died for?’ Max said, as innocently as he could.

  ‘Sarah,’ replied Tom.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The silence that followed was even thicker than one of Liah’s stews.

  ‘Sarah?’ Liah finally whispered. ‘I thought I was the love of your life?’

  ‘You are,’ Tom said hastily. ‘Sarah didn’t mean a thing compared to you.’

  ‘Well, she was worth dying for,’ Max pointed out, laying down his dad at the top of the stairs.

  ‘While I was slogging in the kitchen so you could be saved,’ Liah hissed.

  ‘But I was willing to die for you first!’ Tom said plaintively.

  Max made a swooping action with one of his hands. ‘You have crashed and burned, my friend.’

  ‘And,’ Liah added furiously, ‘I note that you’ve never once looked me up in the Underworld.’ She turned to Max. ‘Get him away from me – now!’

  Max was happy to help. He seized Tom’s arm and dragged him over to the balcony doors. Inserting Death’s key into the lock, he opened the doors. Instead of the welcoming glow of the night sky, he saw a familiar staircase lit with an ominous red glow. Tom began to struggle, determined not to return to the Underworld, but his ghostly strength was no match for a living human.

  ‘You know what they say,’ Max panted as he shoved Tom through the doorway. ‘Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.’

  He banged the door shut and turned the key again before turning back to Liah and his unconscious father. Two bright spots of colour burned on her pale cheeks. ‘Are you okay?’

  Liah nodded and tilted her chin. ‘Never better.’

  At that moment, a catch clicked and Ralf and Larry pushed open the doors at the far end of the room.

  ‘What the hell!’ roared Ralf, pulling the gun from his pocket.

  ‘Watch out!’ Max cried as the man aimed at Liah and began to close in on her.

  ‘Ow, my head,’ muttered Max’s dad, dragging himself to his feet by the stairwell. ‘What’s happening? Ralf?’

  Liah held up the elixir. ‘Come any closer and I’ll smash it,’ she warned.

  Ralf laughed unpleasantly. ‘Do that and you won’t have anything left to bargain with.’

  Liah narrowed her green eyes. ‘I’m done with striking bargains.’ She opened her fingers and let go of the glass bottle.

  ‘No!’ Greg, Larry and Ralf shouted in unison as the glass tumbled through the air and smashed into tiny shards on the floor.

  ‘You little…’ Whatever bad name Ralf called Liah was drowned by the sound of a gunshot.

  Liah looked down and then back at Max. She frowned slightly as a scarlet stain spread over her chest. ‘I don’t feel very well,’ she said.

  Max got to her just as she hit the floor.

  ‘What were you thinking! She’s just a kid, Ralf!’ Max’s dad yelled.

  Max heard the sound of running feet, followed by his father’s fist connecting hard with Ralf’s face, but all he could focus on was Liah. Frantically he dipped the corner of his robe into the rapidly evaporating elixir and squeezed out a drop on to Liah’s wound. ‘Come on, come on,’ he muttered. ‘Heal.’

  When nothing happened he shouted again, ‘Heal, will you!’ He felt tears burning his eyes. Liah couldn’t be dead – she’d had never really had a chance to live.

  ‘Steady,’ Liah muttered without opening her eyes. ‘I’m beginning to think you care.’

  Max hunkered back on his heels and let out his breath. ‘You’re okay.’ He helped her up as another rumble of thunder sounded overhead.

  Ralf staggered past them, his hands cupped over his bloody nose. He stumbled against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

  Max spun around in time to see his dad wrestle a briefcase away from Larry and swing it at his head. Larry’s eyes rolled up and his knees buckled. Before he’d hit the deck, Max’s dad had sprinted out of the room.

  ‘Oh no you don’t,’ Max muttered as his father’s footsteps rang out down the spiral staircase. ‘You’re not running out on me for a second time without saying goodbye.’ He pulled the whistle out of his pocket and blew into it.

  Lightning flashed outside the balcony windows, illuminating the outline of a rearing winged horse. Seconds later its hooves thudded down on the balcony doors, the glass shattering from their frames as they burst open. Buttercup trotted into the room and pawed the ground dramatically. ‘How do you always get here so fast?’ Max wondered out loud, before grabbing a handful of mane and pulling himself up.

  ‘Don’t go without me.’ Liah put her foot on top of Max’s and used it to scramble up behind him.

  Max leaned forward, trying to ignore Liah’s fingers digging into him. ‘There’s a bad man I need you to find, Cuppy,’ he said. ‘I don’t want you to hurt him but I don’t mind if you want to play with him a bit.’

  The pegasus pawed the ground again before turning and launching itself off the balcony.

  ‘Hang on!’ Max shouted to Liah as Buttercup swooped from the tower.

  ‘What are you going to say to him when we catch him?’ Liah shouted in his ear.

  Max didn’t know. ‘I guess I’ll find out when it happens.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cuppy circled the house until Max’s dad burst out of the main entrance and ran towards the car, his speed hampered by the heaviness of the case he was carrying.

  Galloping through the air, the great horse’s hooves were noiseless as he bore down on the desperate figure. As soon as Cuppy drew close enough
, he dropped out of the sky like a stone. Baring his teeth, he grasped Greg’s jacket, pulled him from the ground and started shaking him from side to side like a rag doll. The briefcase flew from his hands and hit a tree. Bursting open on impact, wads of notes spilled all over the ground. ‘My money!’ screamed Greg.

  Max shook his head in disbelief. His dad had just been picked up and shaken around by a flying horse and all he could think about was money?

  ‘Put him down, Cuppy!’ Max ordered.

  The black horse just snorted and continued to shake his prey.

  ‘Now!’ Max shouted.

  The pegasus dropped Greg and then made what Max felt sure was a deliberately bumpy landing. He slid off and stared down at his dad who was sitting holding his head. ‘Why did you leave me and Mum?’ Max asked. ‘And for once, would you give me a straight answer?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Liah agreed, ‘or we’ll set our pegasus on you.’

  ‘A straight answer,’ his dad groaned. ‘That’s ironic coming from the two of you.’

  Buttercup stamped his hoof warningly.

  ‘OK, OK,’ Greg said hurriedly. ‘The truth is, I’m not a location scout. I’m a night hawker. I travel the world searching for treasure. It’s all about finders being keepers.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound exactly legal,’ Max replied.

  His dad shrugged. ‘It was never going to be a career that fitted being a father or a husband.’

  Max felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. ‘You were never going to come back, were you?’

  ‘I wanted to,’ his father said. ‘I just couldn’t.’

  ‘Yes you could,’ Max said quietly. ‘But you chose money over me.’

  His dad stared up at him. ‘I’d have come back to you once I’d sold the elixir. I can come back now.’ He scrambled to his feet and ran over to the money. He gathered up armfuls of notes and clasped them against his chest.

  ‘You know what I think?’ Max said. ‘I think that even if you had come back, it wouldn’t have been long before you’d have found a reason to leave again. Did you know you haven’t once asked me if I’ve been alright in all the years you’ve been away, if anything bad had happened, or if David’s been treating me OK…’