“In short, that pushed inflation up and made the price of everything soar to mega pricey levels, which in turn means no one’s got any money and the majority of businesses have had to shut.”
“So that’s why this place looks like a ghost town?” Scarlett said. “That sucks.” Usually, she needed her dad to explain politics and economics to her, but she found Neelam’s simple explanation easy to grasp.
“Yeah,” Neelam nodded. “And, of course, crime has gone up massively too, but the government don’t care. As long as they and their super-rich mates are all right.”
Lucy yawned. “Can we stop talking about all this depressing stuff? We’re supposed to be having some time off.”
“OK,” Neelam said, rolling her eyes.
“This stop. Is. Tottenham. Court. Road,” the train announced.
“This is us,” Lucy said. “Nearly forgot!”
The three of them jumped up and headed to the doors.
As Scarlett got off the train, she realised the station looked much the same as the last time she’d seen it. It was a bit dirty and run down and the only adverts were peeling off the wall, but it was otherwise unchanged.
“The other day, I found London Bridge station closed,” she said. “Why is this one open?” She was intrigued.
“They shut down a lot of the stations because of the Victoria Incident and a lack of money,” Neelam explained as they wandered out of the station. “But they kept some train lines running. Prime Minister Goulden lives in Barnet and most of his cronies are scattered around north and west London too, so he makes it easy to travel to and from there.
“Plus the West End still has shops open for the lucky few who have lots of money to spend their millions in. Compared to the rest of the country, it seems like a paradise. But while the West and North of the city are still thriving, the East and South have been left to go to ruin. You can’t even get any tubes or trains to take you there – they’ve been completely cut off.”
“It’s like London is two different cities,” Scarlett observed.
“Pretty much,” Neelam agreed. “The haves and have nots. Across much of the country, poor people can’t even afford electricity because of rising prices, but in the exclusive parts of the capital, people spend thousands on an outfit. It’s crazy.”
Lucy yawned again.
“Can’t we help them?” Scarlett asked.
“That’s one of the many reasons why we’re trying to bring the government down. We admit we’re stumped as to how to though. They’ve got us cornered. Because we’re public enemy number one, we have to move carefully and not show off our powers in public. We also have to be sure we don’t get caught.”
The three of them stepped out into the outside world, where Scarlett saw the streets were almost as busy as she remembered. Neelam was right, the West End looked fairly unchanged.
“Come on, we need to take a bus to Kerridges,” Neelam urged as she grabbed Scarlett’s arms and ushered her down the road. “There’s a stop this way.”
“The posh department store? I can’t afford to shop there,” Scarlett laughed.
“We’re not shopping, we’re spying,” Neelam whispered.
Scarlett should have known this trip would have a hidden agenda.
“Spying? On who?”
“Sshhh,” Neelam said. “The Prime Minister’s wife Clarissa Goulden is on a shopping spree in Kerridges today, and she’s meeting her husband for lunch in the store’s restaurant.
“How do you know that?”
“Lucy hacked into her personal assistant’s diary. It seems hers isn’t as guarded as Adam Goulden’s.”
“So, are we attacking him or something?”
“No, no, I just want to get close enough to read his mind. See if there’s anything I can find out,” Neelam explained. “Lucy also saw a reference in the diary about some teenagers he’s kidnapped and we want to find out if it’s true.”
The three of them hopped off the bus just past Bond Street and made their way into the store.
“Do Dylan and Jay know we’re here?”
“No. We had a row yesterday. Dylan thinks we should keep our distance from Goulden and the police, so I knew he’d never agree to this. Plus, we blend in more as three girls on a shopping trip.”
Scarlett felt bad for betraying Dylan, but it was too late to go back now.
“Be inconspicuous,” Neelam instructed. “Look like we’re just normal teenagers on a day out. I’ll mask our identities, so Goulden doesn’t recognise us.”
“Can you do that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I kind of cast a psychic spell over everyone who can see us, it makes their mind see something different.”
Scarlett looked impressed.
“It’s easy,” Neelam said with a shrug of the shoulders.
It didn’t sound very easy to Scarlett.
“Now only chat about normal stuff from now on. Any questions, ask me up here.” She tapped her head. “And absolutely no powers.”
“OK,” Lucy and Scarlett said obediently before they all cautiously climbed the stairs up to the restaurant.
“Hello ladies,” said a posh-looking waitress with a welcoming smile. “Can I help you?”
“Table for three please,” Lucy said in her haughtiest voice.
The woman nodded sycophantically and signalled for them to follow her.
“I can’t believe she was so nice to us. People in posh shops and restaurants usually push me away,” Scarlett said mentally to Neelam.
“I made us appear to look rich and well-heeled,” she explained. “I thought it would help.”
“Here you go,” the assistant said, ushering them to a table over the other side of the restaurant and pulling their chairs out for them as they sat down.
Scarlett was impressed as she strode through the room, which had stunning, modern décor. It was a mix of lime green and white, with some striking art on the walls. She realised that the whole restaurant was effectively a huge mezzanine balcony that sat between two real floors and at the far edge, there was a low balcony wall, which she assumed looked down into the store below.
Neelam peered over her menu and Scarlett turned to see she was looking at a couple in their fifties.
“Is that the Gouldens?” she asked.
“Yes. Don’t stare!”
Scarlett turned back to her menu and worked on being inconspicuous. It was hard not to shout in shock at these prices though.
Neelam must have sensed Scarlett’s concern. “Don’t worry,” she said, “we’re paying.”
“Where do you get all your money from?”
“Mostly Lucy’s inheritance, but her family set us up with some money too. They pass it through several people to somewhere abroad and Jay runs over to fetch it. That way it’s untraceable.”
“Smart,” Scarlett remarked.
“Now you two chatter to yourselves,” Neelam said. “I need to concentrate on prying into Goulden’s mind whilst keeping our disguises up at the same time. If the waitress comes, I’ll have the nicoise salad.”
“I like your dress,” Scarlett said to Lucy, trying to make conversation.
Lucy looked down at her navy, bird-print dress, which she had teamed with thick black tights and knee-high boots.
“Thanks. Yours is nice too.”
“Thank you,” Scarlett said. She had fallen in love with the pale-blue, 1950s-style dress the second she found it in the other Scarlett’s closet. She thought it might be a bit too fancy for shopping, so she’d teamed it with her usual Converse and leather bomber jacket to create a more casual look. However, now she looked at everyone else in Kerridges, she wished she’d made a bit more effort.
“We can do a bit of shopping after all this, if you like,” Lucy offered. “I know you think you’re not our Scarlett, so maybe you don’t want to wear her clothes.”
“Actually, they’re all my style. I love them,” she paused for thought, thinking about her last remark. “Lucy, where do you t
hink I’m from?”
“I have no idea. You seem like the same Scarlett to me. Beautiful, charismatic, smart, funny… everybody’s best friend.” Lucy spoke with an odd mix of jealousy and admiration, but Scarlett let it go.
“But I remember this whole other life,” she explained.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders in response. “I dunno. Maybe it’s some kind of trauma from hitting your head. You could have dreamt all that while you were unconscious. Maybe your brain wanted to block out all this hell and create a nicer world. The one we could have had if that horrible Goulden hadn’t destroyed the country.”
Scarlett felt confused as she found herself wondering if Lucy was right. It was an interesting and plausible theory.
“Why can’t I remember any of you if that’s the case?” she said.
“OK, OK... maybe you are from another world and you magically ended up here after your accident, as you call it. Yes that’s probably what happened?” Lucy said a little too sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. “You travelled here from an alternate reality.”
When she said it out loud like that, Scarlett realised how ridiculous it sounded.
“When I first woke up, I was sure the life I remembered was true,” she explained, “but the longer I stay here, the more that past seems like a dream.”
“Well that’s your third option,” Lucy laughed. “You’re still asleep!”
“Can I take your order, ladies?” interrupted the waitress.
“Yes please,” Lucy answered. “One nicoise salad, one salmon with charlotte potatoes and whatever my friend would like.”
She turned to Scarlett, who had barely looked at the menu.
“Erm…the soup of the day please.”
“OK… can I get you anything to drink?”
“Just some still water please,” Lucy said.
As the waitress walked away, Scarlett glanced at Neelam, who was still deep in concentration, then she spotted someone she knew by the top of the stairs.
“Oh no,” she whispered to Lucy.
“What?”
“By the stairs.”
A look of shock fell over Lucy’s face. “What are they doing here?”
There, stood smiling and chatting with the waitress, were Toshiko and Sasha.
Chapter 9
Lucy and Scarlett stared over at Sasha and Toshiko, both were dressed very chic in head-to-toe black and fitted into the surroundings perfectly. There was a small chance they were just here for an innocent spot of shopping, but Scarlett doubted it.
“Maybe they won’t stay,” she suggested hopefully.
“No, look they’re sitting down,” Lucy said. “What are we going to do? I don’t want to interrupt Neelam, but I’m unsure what our next move should be.”
They looked at each other apprehensively.
“They could just be eating lunch here,” Lucy said with false optimism.
“Bit of a coincidence, though, isn’t it? They may well be planning something,” Scarlett said.
“Oh god… I hate having responsibility,” Lucy moaned.
“We could call Dylan.” Scarlett suggested, remembering her promise to get in touch at the first sign of trouble.
“He’ll go mad!” Lucy looked somewhat scared of what his reaction would be.
“He’s not our dad,” Scarlett laughed.
“He might as well be sometimes, silly stuck-in-the-mud fuddy duddy.”
“He’s just looking out for us,” Scarlett pointed out. She wished they’d give him a bit more credit.
Lucy laughed. “You are the same Scarlett! You always take Dylan’s side.”
“It’s not about sides, I’m merely pointing out that he’s trying to make the decisions that are best for us. Even though he probably doesn’t want to carry that load. You said yourself just now that responsibility is hard. It can’t always be easy for him.”
Lucy raised her eyebrows. Scarlett realised this was a pointless debate. “Come on, now’s not the time to argue. What are we going to do?”
“Run?” Lucy said wryly.
“We could just keep an eye on them and hope Neelam finishes her mission before they do anything. After all, they can’t see us because of Neelam’s disguises.”
“That’s true. I just hope Toshiko’s ninja super senses don’t sniff us out,” Lucy said, shaking a little. “I have to admit, I kinda want to leave as soon as possible and get out of the way in case Toshiko and Sasha get all reckless as usual. They wouldn’t think twice about launching an attack on Goulden and using their powers, then we’d all be in trouble. The public don’t understand that we’re two different groups and we’re nothing to do with them.”
“Isn’t that a reason to stick around?” she whispered. “So we can stop those two crazy girls if they try to do something rash, and also to help any bystanders that get caught up in it.”
Lucy looked thoughtful. “Maybe…”
“What’s going on?” Neelam asked, startling them both.
“Are you done?” Lucy begged. “Because we…”
“Yeah, you’re not going to believe this but…” Neelam tried to say.
“Wait, Neelam, there’s more important things at hand here. Look…”
Lucy nodded subtly at Sasha and Toshiko, who had just stood up and were walking purposefully over to Goulden’s table.
“Oh no…” Neelam muttered.
Lucy pulled a gadget out of her pocket and pressed it – it looked like the one Neelam had given Scarlett to summon them when they first met. Before she could ask Lucy about it, Neelam was taking charge and shouting out orders.
“Scarlett, there’s a fire alarm on that back wall. Can you set it off with your powers? We need to get the members of the public out of here. I can’t risk Lucy flashing lightning about all over the place.”
“I’ll try.” Scarlett said. To be honest though, she had no idea if she could, or even how she would do it. She glanced around and spotted the alarm, focussed on it and concentrated really hard, then she mentally forced the handle to flick down and sound the alarm,
“Wheeeeoooooooh wheeeeeooooooooooh,” the alarm announced, rudely interrupting everyone’s civilised lunches.
“I did it!” Scarlett thought with a sense of achievement. “I really did it.”
Meanwhile, everyone jumped up in a panic and ran towards the stairs. There was chaos everywhere.
“Calm down people,” the waitresses were saying. “Single file now. Don’t worry, it’s probably just a false alarm.”
Neelam, Lucy and Scarlett stood up and pretended to look concerned with gathering their belongings, so people didn’t notice they were hanging back from the crowd.
“Wait here,” Neelam said to the other two telepathically.
Adam and Clarissa Goulden got up from their seats too, but they didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
“This place,” he was shouting. “I’ll have it shut down if it’s a false alarm. I don’t know why you come here, darling. I much prefer Harrods anyway and you know I’m friends with the new owner.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she complained, flicking her perfectly coiffed blonde waves back. “‘I know best’, that’s all I ever hear.” She had an annoying, high-pitched voice.
“Just remember who pays for your expensive clothes,” he snapped, holding her fur coat out for her to step into. “Come on, hurry up, we don’t want to dilly dally. You never know, it could be a real fire”
“OK, let me just grab my handbag,” she said as she bent down to search on the floor.
Goulden turned round to see Toshiko and Sasha stood in front of him.
“We have to do something,” Scarlett said to Neelam.
“Wait,” Neelam insisted.”
“Remember us?” Sasha and Toshiko sneered at a shocked Goulden.
“You little…” he snapped. “How did you…? Get out of my way!”
Goulden went to walk past them, but Toshiko stepped in front of him.
“Come on, we can’t just
stand here, surely?” Scarlett said to Neelam. “It’s obvious they’re planning to hurt this couple.”
“No,” Neelam said firmly. “We must wait until it’s absolutely vital for us to risk acting. We can’t blow our cover unnecessarily.”
“Oh, I see, now we’re being cautious,” Scarlett muttered, shaking her head. “It’s fine to come out in public as half a team and put ourselves at risk with our worst enemies though.”
Neelam narrowed her eyes at her.
“Sorry,” she gulped.
“No, you’re right, this was a bad call on my behalf. I just want to tie up this mess and get out of here unscathed now.”
Scarlett peered back at the Gouldens. Sasha and Toshiko were getting pretty menacing.
“Where are they?” Sasha demanded. “Where is she?” She flew off the floor slightly and glowered down at the couple in an intimidating show of power.
“Who? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Goulden insisted.
“You know who!” Sasha wailed, raising her arms.
Clarissa Goulden screamed.
“Shut up, you rich cow,” Toshiko snapped. “You disgust me, I should throw you over that railing.”
She gestured towards the edge of the restaurant, which was basically a large balcony that sat between two floors. It would take no effort at all for her to throw Clarissa over there and into the gaping space of the store below. Scarlett couldn’t let that happen. She looked at Neelam and Lucy, but they clearly didn’t intend to help. Well, she didn’t care if Goulden was evil, she couldn’t watch this couple – any couple – being threatened like this. Violence was never the answer.
“Excuse me,” Scarlett smiled as she sashayed over to the group, hoping her disguise would stay in place. “Are you people OK?”
“Scarlett, no!” Neelam said, in her head, but it was too late.
“This ain’t none of your business,” Toshiko drawled.
“Yeah move along,” Sasha snapped.
“No,” Scarlett said with her arms folded defiantly.
“No?” Sasha squealed. She turned to Toshiko. “She said no.”
“I heard.” Toshiko gave Scarlett a menacing look. Scarlett didn’t care.
“I don’t know who you are or who you think you are, but you’re causing an elderly couple hassle and I don’t like it,” she snapped, summoning her most threatening tone. Scarlett might have sounded confident, but she was quaking inside.
Out Of Time Page 8
