The corners of the woman’s mouth raised a millimetre. She opened the pages of the manuscript again. ‘The Tower of the Winds,’ she stated, ‘is a little-known annex of the Vatican Museum in Rome. It dates from the sixteenth century and was originally used for taking astronomical measurements.’
‘Astronomy?’ Sam said. ‘Planets and stars?’
‘Thank you, genius,’ Ruby said. ‘Top of the class.’
The woman pulled the pages back together and tied the ribbon.
‘Hold on,’ said Gerald. ‘Is that it?’
‘That,’ the woman said, reaching for her cigarettes, ‘is it.’
Gerald snatched the book back from the counter. ‘Then I’m not selling,’ he said.
The woman regarded him evenly. She placed another cigarette in her mouth and struck a match. ‘If I was on the run, I would not wish to be weighed down by such an item,’ she said. She lit the cigarette and blew a pall of smoke in Gerald’s face.
‘On the run? What makes you think—’
The woman flipped over a newspaper on the counter. Gerald couldn’t understand the headline on the front page, but the large photographs of him, Sam and Ruby told a clear enough story.
‘I will do you a deal,’ the woman said, drawing in another lungful of smoke. ‘I will purchase this book from you. And I won’t ring the police.’
Gerald tightened his grip on the book.
‘I don’t think there’s any other option, Gerald.’ Ruby was at his elbow, her hand on his shoulder. ‘And we could do with some cash.’
Gerald gritted his teeth. After a lifetime of not giving a toss about his family, now, for some reason, anything that was linked to his personal history was of immense importance. The rings on his hands seemed to tighten around his fingers as he held the book to his chest.
The woman lifted a beaten tin box onto the counter and opened the lid. ‘One hundred euro is a fair price,’ she said, and held out a wad of folded notes.
Gerald looked at the money. Then he closed his eyes and handed over the book. Sam took the cash and slipped it into his pocket. ‘Nice doing business with you,’ he said. ‘Come on, Gerald. Let’s go.’
Gerald was almost at the door when he stopped and turned back to the old woman.
‘There is one other thing,’ he said.
The woman was engrossed in the book and didn’t bother to look their way. ‘The night train to Rome leaves from Gare de Bercy,’ she said. ‘You should make it if you go now.’
The bell jangled above their heads as Gerald, Sam and Ruby filed back onto the street.
‘So we’re going to Rome?’ Ruby said.
‘If that’s where the Tower of the Winds is, then I guess so,’ Gerald said.
They walked back to the main road and the Metro station. There was a large map of the area on a poster hoarding outside the entrance.
Ruby studied the grid of city blocks and interconnecting rail lines. ‘The Gare de Bercy is just across the river,’ she said, with a satisfied nod. ‘An easy trip on the Metro. We should get there in plenty of time.’
They turned to climb the stairs down to the subway but found a station worker sliding a metal screen across the entrance. ‘La station est fermée,’ the man said.
‘Closed?’ Ruby said. ‘Are you kidding me? What for?’
The station worker ignored them and disappeared down the stairwell.
Sam groaned. ‘Now what do we do? I don’t want to walk all that way.’
‘We could take a cab,’ Ruby said. ‘But that costs money. And the traffic is ridiculous. It could take forever. What do you think Gerald?’
Ruby looked to Gerald, but he was staring down the street. There was a mischievous glint in his eye.
‘Maybe there’s another way,’ he said.
Gerald brushed past Ruby and Sam and walked to a row of bicycles lined up in a rack on the side of the street. Cars and scooters whizzed past the siding. ‘They’re hire bikes,’ he said. ‘It only costs a euro and there’ll be a bike stand at the train station for sure. It’s cheaper than a taxi and probably quicker.’
A minute later they each held the handlebars of a gunmetal grey bicycle with a natty basket attached to the front.
‘Right,’ Ruby said. ‘See if you can keep up.’ She pushed down on the pedals and took off into the stream of traffic.
Gerald was still adjusting the height of his seat and was caught off guard. He leaped on and surged off in pursuit. ‘Come, on Sam,’ he called back over his shoulder. ‘Don’t let her get there first.’
Gerald was having the time of his life. He was in one of the most exciting cities on earth with two of his best friends, in hot pursuit of a goal he could hardly fathom. The sun was on his face and a sense of freedom infused his bones, like he’d been pumped full of helium and might soar into the Parisian sky.
Ahead of him, Ruby was already weaving in and out of lanes choked with cars and lorries and scooters.
‘Come on, Sam!’ Gerald cried. ‘She’s getting—’
Gerald’s foot slipped from the pedal as he looked back towards the bicycle rental station and he juddered to keep upright. Sam’s bike lay abandoned on the footpath. And Sam was desperately trying to wrestle free from the two policemen who had him firmly by the arms.
Chapter 13
Gerald had to choose.
Help Sam? Or escape?
The policemen held Sam tight despite his kicks and struggles. One gendarme wrenched on a flailing arm till it was pinned between Sam’s shoulder blades. Sam’s face shone a belligerent red. He was being bundled into the back of a police car, still kicking and screaming.
Then Gerald saw the man in the front passenger seat staring right at him.
Inspector Jarvis.
And he had blood in his eyes.
He barked an order. The policemen shoved Sam inside and slammed the door. One gendarme jumped behind the driver’s wheel and the other set off on foot, after Gerald.
The moment to choose had passed. Gerald turned and pressed down on the pedals, cycling like fury to catch up with Ruby.
Sam was on his own.
‘Ruby!’ Gerald urged the heavy bike onwards, dodging through the clogged traffic. ‘Ruby!’ He caught up with her half a block away.
‘Where’s Sam?’ she asked, the thrill of the ride glowing on her face.
‘Police.’ Gerald tried to catch his breath. ‘Jarvis got him. The bike stand.’
‘What?’ She threw her head around to look back down the street. In the distance, they could see the flashing light bar on top of the police car. It was stuck in the late afternoon traffic. But the lone policeman on foot was gaining on them. Gerald could see him talking into his police radio as he ran.
‘We’ve got to get away,’ Gerald yelled.
‘But what about Sam?’ Ruby’s eyes were fixed on the car that held her brother prisoner. ‘We can’t leave him.’
The policeman was only metres away, edging between the stalled lanes of cars and trucks. Gerald shook Ruby by the shoulder. ‘We’ve got to go,’ he yelled at her. ‘Now!’
Ruby let her eyes linger a moment too long. The policeman had almost reached them. He was only a car length away. His face was bright red and Gerald watched in despair as he lunged towards Ruby. But just as he stretched out an arm, a young woman on a scooter appeared between two cars and straight into his path. Gerald shook Ruby even harder and screamed: ‘Go!’
Ruby snapped out of her trance and mounted her bike, driving the pedals hard. Gerald was on her tail, surging forward with each pump of his legs. He glanced over his shoulder to see the policeman still trying to untangle himself from the woman on the scooter. Jarvis was way behind, stuck in traffic. But so was Sam, and Gerald knew another difficult decision was looming.
He powered ahead, drawing beside Ruby. ‘Quick, down here,’ he called, and they veered off the busy street into a narrow laneway. The lane ended thirty metres ahead at a stairway to a lower terrace. Gerald spun his rear wheel around in
a wide arc and skidded to a halt. Ruby pulled up and was off the bike in a second, letting it clatter to the ground. She ran up to Gerald, anger etched into her face.
‘What happened?’ she demanded. ‘How did you let them catch him?’ Her eyes were red and she was breathing fast.
‘I didn’t let them do anything,’ Gerald said, taken aback by her ferocity. ‘They must have been waiting near the station and jumped Sam as we took off. Jarvis is with them—giving the orders.’
Ruby wasn’t listening. She pounded her fists on Gerald’s chest. ‘Why didn’t you help him?’ She was furious. ‘You could have done something.’
Gerald, still straddling his bike, almost fell to the cobbles as he jumped to avoid the barrage of punches.
‘Stop it, will you?’ he shouted. ‘There was nothing I could do. There were too many of them. They would have got me too.’
Ruby dropped her fists and bit her bottom lip. ‘This really slows us down,’ she muttered, almost to herself.
‘What do you mean?’ Gerald said.
‘We can’t miss that train to Rome,’ Ruby said, pacing up and down the cobblestones. ‘Any delay and we risk Charlotte getting there first.’ Gerald could see she was weighing a dozen options that were bouncing about in her brain. Then she stopped. A decision had been made.
‘We have to leave Sam,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘There’s no other choice. How can we possibly steal him away from the police? It can’t be done. We have to go on without him.’
Gerald was gobsmacked. ‘But we can’t just leave him,’ he said.
‘Why not? They’ll take him back to London and our parents will collect him. It’s not like he’s done anything really wrong. It’s you that Jarvis wants, not us.’
Gerald didn’t know what to say. Ruby seemed determined to abandon her brother and keep on with the hunt.
‘He’ll even put in a good word for you, Gerald,’ Ruby said. ‘You know, with the police.’
‘But he’s your brother,’ Gerald said.
Ruby didn’t seem to hear him. She nodded, her mind made up. ‘It’s the best thing to do. We can still make that train if we hurry.’
Gerald stared at Ruby in disbelief. It was like he’d never met her before. Ruby had always had a determined streak, but this was something else. Abandoning her own brother?
But deep down, Gerald knew she was right. There was nothing they could do to help Sam now.
He picked up his bike and threw his leg over the crossbar. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘where’s the station?’
Ruby jumped on her bike and headed back towards the main street. She had gone only a few metres when two gendarmes drifted across the opening to the laneway. And stopped.
Gerald didn’t wait. He called at Ruby to follow him, spun his rear wheel around and they bolted back along the lane, with the policemen chasing after them.
Gerald was standing on the pedals, driving the bike towards the narrow set of stairs. He looked back to Ruby. She was pumping the pedals with everything she had. But the gendarmes were keeping up, even gaining on them. They were wearing rollerblades, and were sprinting like speed skaters at the Winter Olympics.
Gerald doubled his efforts, driving himself forward, straight at the stairway.
‘Get ready to jump!’ he yelled back to Ruby. Then he launched himself over the lip of the top step. The bike soared out into the void. Gerald lifted himself off the seat and braced for the impact of the landing. He seemed to float in air for ages. Then his rear tyre clipped a step about two-thirds of the way down. The jolt rattled through the heavy frame and shook every bone in his body. The front wheel touched down and Gerald pulled back to stop himself flipping over the handlebars. A teeth-jarring second later and he was on the lower level. He shot between two parked cars that were squeezed onto the gutters on either side, like a bullet down a rifle barrel.
Gerald glanced back over his shoulder just as Ruby took off from the top step. He couldn’t tell whether the scream was one of delight or terror, but she landed her bike, with a crunch of metal and buckling spokes, and sped along the lane towards him.
‘That was awesome!’ Ruby screamed as she skidded to a halt. ‘I so want to do that again.’
‘Maybe some other time,’ Gerald said. ‘But at least those guys on skates won’t get down here so fast.’
Gerald almost choked on the words. Behind them the two police appeared at the top of the stairs, and didn’t hesitate. They leapt into the air, slammed their skates onto the metal handrails and grinded to the bottom in a blur of blue uniforms.
‘Let’s go!’ Ruby yelled, and peeled around a tight corner into a winding backstreet. Gerald was on her rear wheel, coursing in her wake. They sped past a string of street cafes, the coffee drinkers’ heads turning to watch them fly by, followed seconds later by the two policemen on skates. Ruby led the way, bouncing over the cobbles, riding like a jockey on a thoroughbred with the finishing post in sight. But with the two policemen in close pursuit, there seemed no end to this race.
Gerald caught up with her, driving hard. ‘Keep going,’ he called. ‘You’re slowing down.’ The shouts from the pursuing policemen followed them around a tight corner.
Ruby hoisted herself onto the pedals and pushed harder, but she still drifted behind. Gerald looked back with alarm.
‘You’ve got a puncture,’ he called. ‘Your back tyre is flat.’
Ruby looked urgently over her shoulder. The two policemen were only metres behind; Gerald could make out Ruby’s reflection in their wraparound sunglasses.
‘Jump onto my bike!’ Gerald yelled. He stood up, leaving the saddle open for Ruby to make the leap.
‘Are you nuts?’ Ruby yelled back. She struggled to keep pace, her rear tyre dragging in the ruts and grooves of the roadway.
‘There’s no time to stop. Jump for it.’
Gerald eased back until the two bikes were level. Ruby glanced over her shoulder; one of the gendarmes had sprinted ahead. He was barely two metres behind them.
‘Now, Ruby!’ Gerald yelled. ‘Do it now!’
Ruby stared at Gerald, dread on her face. The gendarme had closed the gap to a metre, the clatter of his skates against the cobbles a staccato drumming in the air. Ruby gave a frantic burst of pedalling, inching ahead of Gerald as they reached a downhill stretch. She then stood on one pedal and spun her other leg over the seat so she was standing on one side of the bike as it coasted along.
‘Get ready, Gerald,’ Ruby called, ‘Here I come!’ Using all her strength and gymnastic agility, Ruby threw her trailing leg around and she spun across the gap to the seat on Gerald’s bike. She landed with a grunt, facing back towards the pursuing policemen. One stretched out a hand, but just as he touched her shirt the abandoned bike slid under his skates.
The crash sent the gendarme skidding across the cobbles, wiping out a flimsy wooden table outside a cafe. Ruby’s eyes widened at the scene, as diners flooded out of the building to find a policeman buried in a pile of tables and chairs.
‘Oh my,’ Ruby said.
Gerald leaned forward and struggled to keep up the pace with the added weight on board.
‘The other policeman’s still coming!’ Ruby yelled over her shoulder. ‘Hurry up!’
Gerald tried to blink away the sweat running into his eyes. ‘Hurry up? I’m cycling for two up here.’
‘Lucky you’re such a big strong man then, isn’t it? Now shut up and pedal.’
Gerald dipped his head and powered on. He knew his thighs couldn’t take much more of this—they felt like they would explode at any moment.
‘Come on, Gerald! He’s catching up.’
Gerald glanced back. He was horrified to see how close the policeman was. They emerged from the winding street onto a broad junction. Across the busy intersection Gerald spied a possible way out.
‘Hold on,’ he said to Ruby. ‘This could get rough.’
He ploughed through the crossing without missing a beat. Cars
and vans skidded to avoid them—the junction filled with the squeal of brakes and the smell of burning tyre rubber. Gerald surged on, jumping the gutter with the front wheel but hitting it hard with the rear, and sending Ruby jolting into the air before she landed back in the saddle with a squeal.
‘Steady on,’ she cried. ‘I haven’t got much to hold onto here.’
They shot across a broad footpath and through a large set of iron gates into an enormous park. The gendarme stuck to them like chewing gum in hair.
Gerald bolted along a crushed stone path, past wooden benches and a line of statues, towards a lake. Children playing with wooden sail boats were snatched out of the way by their parents as Gerald tore by closely pursued by the flying gendarme.
Then Gerald saw a team of workmen on a path leading deeper into the gardens. They were leaning on their shovels by a barrow of gravel.
‘This better work,’ he called back to Ruby. ‘Think light thoughts.’
He turned the handlebars and steered right at the cluster of workmen. The gendarme was seconds behind. Gerald sucked in a huge breath and gave it his all, streaming his energy into the pedals. They hit the freshly dumped layer of gravel, tyres biting deep. The workmen jumped clear. Rock chips sprayed out behind as the wheels sunk into the path. The bike slowed, sending Ruby flying forward into Gerald’s backside, her feet spread wide in the air. The shunt from behind urged Gerald onward and he kept the bike moving. But the fresh gravel was too deep for the pursuing policeman. His skates hit the path and he came to a crashing halt, face first onto the loose stones.
Ruby broke out into an enormous grin. ‘Oh my gosh, Gerald. You did it.’
Gerald didn’t look back. The angry cries from the workers told him to keep moving. He gave one last surge and the bike broke free from the path’s clutches. They passed some playground equipment crawling with children and cruised through a set of gates on the far side of the park and onto a narrow street outside.
Gerald was spent.
‘Let’s never do that again,’ he said to Ruby. ‘My legs are killing me.’ He wiped the sweat from his forehead on his sleeve and started a slow pedal through the deserted backstreets.
The Mask of Destiny Page 13
