Final Storm

by Deborah Abela

  Isabella slumped against the table. Her strength draining from her. Nothing made any sense.

  ‘Ooops, sorry. I probably should have said that more gently. It must be upsetting to know she isn’t your mother. I was told you got along famously, which makes me a bit teary.’

  He lifted his glasses and dabbed the scarf against his eye, before he brightened, as if remembering a good joke.

  ‘Oh, and have you worked out who Aleksander’s sponsor is? Yes! Me! Did you guess? He’s a clever boy, and handsome like his father, wouldn’t you say?’

  He struck a film star pose, peeking over the rim of his glasses.

  ‘I’d love to stay and chat, but the world awaits my genius. Enjoy your return to Grimsdon and the front row seat to your own destruction. Unlike last time, there’s no flying machine, no one to rescue you and no one who even knows you’re there. You are going to spend the last of your wretched days trapped and alone in a flooded city. Just where you belong.’

  The hologram froze, Sneddon’s black eyes brimming with delight, until the image disappeared, as if it had never existed.

  Isabella didn’t move. Even the wind was silent. As if the world had stopped.

  She snatched the flying toy in her hands, gripping it so tightly the metal edges dug into her palms. Reaching back, she gathered as much strength as she could and threw it against the wall. It fell to the floor, its metallic wings and red coat lay buckled and out of shape.

  A rising dread clawed into her. She sank into the chair. Her head hung limply, her skin clammy with fear.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  A Frightening Prospect

  ‘Raffy’s gone!’ Bea rushed into the lounge room, her body shaking.

  Griffin sprang from his chair, tossing his book aside. ‘Gone where?’

  Words spilled out in frantic torrents. ‘I don’t know. I’ve looked everywhere. All the places I can think of and I can’t find him. I’m worried that he …’

  Aleksander knelt by her side. ‘When was the last time you saw him?’

  ‘About an hour ago.’ She twisted her hands. ‘He was really quiet when he found out about Isabella. I asked him if he’d like to do something together, but he said he wanted to be alone.’

  Griffin caught sight of the snow outside, falling in stubborn waves. ‘Don’t worry, Bea. We’ll find him.’

  ‘How?’ Her voice trembled.

  ‘Come with me.’ Aleksander led them to a small room off the main foyer lined with a row of monitors.

  Black and white images of the property flickered on each screen, changing every few seconds.

  They watched in silence until Bea cried, ‘There!’

  A single line of footsteps was etched into the snow in the backyard. They led to a stone fence, draped with material.

  Aleksander froze the image and zoomed in. ‘He’s tied sheets together.’

  ‘What’s behind that wall?’ Griffin asked.

  ‘The forest.’

  ‘He’ll be cold,’ Bea said, fighting back tears.

  ‘What’s the best way to follow him?’ Xavier asked.

  ‘Snowmobile.’

  ‘You have a snowmobile?’

  ‘I have two.’

  Xavier pursed his lips. ‘Of course you do. Tell me how they work.’

  Outside the vehicle shed, Aleksander gave Xavier final tips on driving a snowmobile. ‘The brake is on the left, throttle on the right, lean in when you turn. It’s easy, just don’t push too hard on the throttle.’

  ‘Got it.’ Xavier looked to Griffin. ‘What did Jeremiah say?’

  ‘He’ll stay at the library in case Raffy turns up there.’

  Aleksander checked his weather detector. ‘No warnings. He’s lucky so far.’

  Xavier lifted the chin of a miserable Bea. ‘Don’t worry, Princess Bea. We’ll bring him back.’

  He snapped down the visor of his helmet.

  Bea and Griffin stood back as a flurry of snow kicked into the air and the snowmobiles sped through the back gates, following Raffy’s footprints into the forest.

  Despite Aleksander’s advice, Xavier pushed the throttle hard, lurching forward and lifting into the air. He looked over his shoulder with a sideways smirk, which faded when he saw Aleksander easily catch up.

  But not for long. Xavier pushed the machine even harder and swept in front of Aleksander, cutting him off and entering the forest ahead of him.

  Xavier slowed as the trees crowded in on either side, keeping an eye out for Raffy as he navigated through twists and turns.

  He looked behind him. Aleksander was metres away, zigzagging through tree trunks.

  Mr Nice Guy, Xavier thought. What are you up to?

  He turned back just in time to narrowly avoid crashing into a tree.

  The path dipped and rose in sharp waves. Xavier’s hands tingled from the vibrations of the machine and his ears filled with the roar of the engine. His legs ached as he rode the waves of snow.

  In the distance, through the trees, he saw Raffy. He stumbled as he walked. His red jumper stood out against the snow.

  There you are, he thought, allowing himself a brief smile before pushing the throttle hard. Aleksander saw him too and increased his speed, but Xavier wasn’t having it. He wasn’t about to let Wonder Boy swoop in and be the hero again.

  Xavier drove even faster, ducking and weaving through the trees, when he felt a hard thump into the back of his snowmobile.

  His body was flung forward, wrenching the handles in a sudden twist. The machine slid sideways across the snow. He tried to straighten it out but was too late. The snowmobile careered up a bank before it slammed into a tree. Xavier was thrown into the air and landed with a heavy thud, his arm pinned awkwardly beneath him.

  The air was ripped from his lungs. He struggled to take a breath as the pain tore through him.

  Then everything went black.

  The white Armavan with a red cross lumbered down the drive, away from Aleksander Larsen’s mansion.

  ‘I’m sorry I scared you.’ Raffy lay in bed, swaddled in blankets. The paramedic had declared him fine but that didn’t protect him from Bea’s anger.

  ‘You did scare me.’ Bea was trying hard not to yell at him. ‘And I should be really mad at you, which is my duty as your sister.’

  ‘Where were you going?’ Griffin asked.

  ‘I thought if I went to Jeremiah, he’d have a plan to bring us all together.’

  ‘So you walked into the snow, without a jacket and without telling me!’ Bea did yell a bit this time.

  ‘Sorry.’ Raffy looked sheepishly at Xavier. ‘And I’m sorry about your arm.’

  Xavier had been sitting on a lounge, his broken arm in a cast and his temper frayed.

  ‘It’s not you who should be apologising,’ he fumed. ‘Aleksander deliberately ran into me.’

  ‘What?’ Griffin asked. ‘It was Aleksander who rescued you.’

  ‘I didn’t need rescuing,’ Xavier said. ‘At least not until he rammed into me.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’ Raffy asked.

  ‘To get back at me.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘The first night we were here, I went into his study.’

  ‘Without asking?’ Bea said.

  ‘I think he’s up to something.’

  ‘But Aleksander’s been really nice to us,’ she argued.

  ‘It’s all an act.’

  Griffin shook his head. ‘You don’t think you were driving too fast and crashed into a tree?’

  ‘No, I don’t. And what about the foul during Aeroball?’ Xavier asked.

  ‘It was just that.’ Griffin was getting exasperated. ‘A foul.’

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Aleksander appeared at the door.

  ‘No.’ Xavier sprang to his feet, sending a sharp pang into his arm. ‘It isn’t okay and you know it. You’re hiding something and I want you to tell us what it is.’

  Aleksander held out his hands. ‘Why would I be hiding anything
?’

  ‘You tell us!’

  ‘Xavier!’ Griffin glared, warning him to calm down.

  Aleksander didn’t rise to Xavier’s fury. Instead, he sighed. ‘What have I done to make you so suspicious of me?’

  ‘Let’s start with the Aeroball foul and running into my snowmobile.’

  ‘What?’ Aleksander jolted, as if he was the one who’d taken a hit. ‘The foul was an accident and I was nowhere near your snowmobile. I went to rescue Raffy –’

  ‘What about the folders in your study?’

  ‘So you did find something?’

  ‘What folders?’ Bea asked.

  ‘He’s been collecting information about all of us.’

  ‘You survived for three years in a flooded city,’ Aleksander said. ‘No one does that.’

  Xavier scoffed. ‘That’s all it is, curiosity?’

  ‘What else would it be?’

  Aleksander’s innocent smile made Xavier even more furious. ‘What about the phone call I overheard on the night we came to stay?’

  Aleksander laughed. ‘I thought my sponsor should know I have guests, since he’s paying for us all to be here.’

  Xavier moved even closer. ‘You don’t get sick of this nice guy act?’

  ‘Why do you think I’m lying?’

  ‘It’s a feeling I have based on years of meeting some of the world’s worst creeps.’

  ‘That’s enough.’ Griffin hissed but Xavier held his ground, refusing to back down.

  Suddenly, Aleksander sank onto a chair. His shoulders hunched in defeat.

  ‘You’re right. I have been hiding something.’

  Xavier sent Griffin a victorious look.

  ‘After I lost my parents, it felt like everything had been ripped away from me. I was sent from one foster carer to another. Most of them were good people, but I was so angry, I lashed out. I yelled at them and tore up their homes. Pretty soon, no one wanted me. I’d won and I’d never felt so lonely.’

  ‘That’s what happened to us,’ Raffy said.

  ‘Until Isabella and Griffin found us,’ Bea added.

  ‘That’s why I wanted to know all about you. I’d heard lots of stories of survival after the flood, but there was something about what you’d been through that I felt connected to.’

  ‘How did you end up here?’ Griffin asked.

  ‘Luckily a teacher at the orphanage saw I had talent and recommended me to an Academy sponsor.’

  Griffin crossed his arms and stared at Xavier. ‘You don’t think you owe Aleksander an apology?’

  ‘There’s no need,’ Aleksander said. ‘Xavier has every right to be doubtful. The last few years have made it hard to know what to believe. For all of us.’

  Xavier shifted under his gaze, but said nothing.

  Aleksander stood up. ‘It’s time for lunch. I’ll see if Maxwell needs any help.’

  They watched him leave, a heaviness in each step.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  A Disturbing Realisation

  Isabella gripped her sword and searched the Palace. She checked every room, looking under beds and opening cupboards and wardrobes to make sure she was alone.

  The wind whistled through the building. Even though her feet were freezing and her pyjamas did nothing to keep out the cold, her chest felt as if it was on fire whenever she thought about what she’d learned.

  About Sneddon and Aleksander.

  And her mother. Or the person she thought was her mother.

  She stopped, caught by another wave of panic. She rested her hands on her knees and waited for it to pass.

  When she straightened, her eyes fell on the glass doors of the library. This had been one of their favourite places in the Palace. It was where she and the others would huddle on lounges and snuggle under blankets, while Griffin read stories. It was here they could forget everything – the floods, Sneddon and all they’d lost.

  She pushed the doors open. A strong smell of mould drifted up from the sodden rugs. Wooden shelves bulged where rain dripped through cracked beams and books lay on the floor like dead fish, bloated and wrinkled.

  She walked out, not bothering to close the door behind her.

  At the end of the building, the glass roof and walls of the greenhouse were smashed and lay splintered on the floor. The plants were dead or overgrown with weeds. Water flooded planter boxes and birdbaths. Broken statues lay on their side.

  There was one place left to check.

  Isabella took a careful breath before entering her old bedroom. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and the roof gaped with fallen plaster. Ragged strips of curtains caught in the icy breeze.

  Without the heat of Griffin’s inventions, the building was crumbling into decay.

  She laid her sword on the bedside table, took a jumper, scarf and beanie from her drawer and slipped on a double layer of socks. She crawled into her old bed and pulled the blankets to her chin.

  They’d survived in this place for three years. They’d fought off Sneddon and bounty hunters and thugs. They’d found a way to escape when they thought it was impossible.

  And now she was back and only had herself to blame.

  ‘Aleksander Larsen,’ she said out loud. He felt no more real than a character from their books.

  She now knew why he’d seemed so familiar when she first saw him. He had the same eyes, the same swagger and the same charming smile as his father.

  Why hadn’t she realised before now?

  She thought back to the night on the castle wall and Aleksander telling her there was no need to be afraid, that New City had never been safer. He’d helped Raffy with his Maths. He’d caught Griffin when he fell during Aeroball. He was there for them when their home was attacked.

  When all along he was Sneddon’s son.

  He’d lied to her.

  And she believed him.

  Xavier tried to warn her but she hadn’t listened.

  And Griffin. He knew too. She replayed their last few moments together in her head.

  ‘What if, after all these years, my mum has come back? What if it’s as simple as that?’

  ‘And what if it isn’t?’

  He’d tried to help her and she’d turned her back on him and asked him to leave.

  He was the one person she could always trust.

  And now she may never see him again.

  The building groaned and creaked as the wind whistled in a low mournful wail, sneaking through the cracked walls and broken windows.

  Isabella curled into a ball, buried her head beneath the blankets and fell into a deep, heavy sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  An Old Foe Returns

  ‘Still nothing?’ Xavier entered the school hall beside Griffin, his broken arm cradled in a sling.

  Griffin peeked at his phone. ‘Not yet.’

  ‘She’ll call.’ Xavier looked as if he was about to make a joke, but Griffin’s downcast look made him say instead, ‘You’ll see. She won’t be able to keep away from you.’

  After being closed for a week, school had finally reopened. Students gathered in the hall for a special assembly along with teams of TV crews. Griffin and Xavier took their seats next to Bea and Fly, who sat on either side of a very glum Raffy. He’d barely slept the night before, hounded by nightmares.

  ‘Will you and Charlie sleep over tonight?’ Raffy asked Fly.

  Even though she’d already answered, she said, ‘Of course, we’re looking forward to it.’

  On stage, a weary Principal Galloway showed men and women in suits to a row of chairs. One of them was Premier Albright accompanied by the effervescent Ariella Frost.

  Principal Galloway approached the lectern. ‘Welcome esteemed guests, teachers and students.’

  She seemed tired and Griffin was surprised that her usual poise and confidence was missing.

  ‘How wonderful to see you all again. Now that the damage caused by the recent storm has been repaired and the Academy thoroughly check
ed, we are safe to continue our studies. And what better way to resume than with an exciting announcement. To tell us more, please welcome Ariella Frost.’

  With her glistening orange bob, Ariella strode across the stage, making sure to smile at the cameras as she passed.

  ‘For too long, the world has been at the mercy of increasingly unpredictable weather, but –’ she paused ‘– all that is about to end. We believe the weather can not only be predicted but controlled.’

  ‘Is that even possible?’ Xavier asked.

  ‘I guess we’re about to find out.’ Griffin watched Ariella play to the crowd as if she was on a home-shopping channel.

  ‘It is known as climate engineering and uses various ways to control weather over a long period of time.’ Her smile was blissful. ‘But we have technology that will stop dangerous weather in its tracks.’

  The hall burst into applause, led by Principal Galloway and Premier Albright.

  ‘Our tests have been so successful, we are conducting a live demonstration tomorrow for all the world to see,’ Ariella declared with triumph in her voice. ‘From now on, Future World Solutions and the government of New City will have the power to keep you safe.’

  The crowd again erupted in applause.

  ‘Monumental advances like this can only be achieved with great leadership and a fierce dedication to making this world a better, safer place. Future World Solutions is lucky to have such a leader. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr Phineas Snowden.’

  Ariella led the applause as a man in a slim grey suit emerged from the darkened wings. He wore a trimmed silver beard and silvery hair with a white silk scarf dangling around his neck.

  Griffin turned to Xavier. ‘Please tell me it’s not him.’

  ‘It can’t be.’ Xavier shook his head. ‘He’s … dead.’

  Phineas Snowden waved and took in the adoration with a humble bow.

  No matter how much Griffin tried to deny what he was seeing, he knew it was true.