Fifi barked and stared at Max.
‘I’m not scared,’ Max said. ‘I just think it sounds a little wacky.’
‘Papa says scepticism is often a cover for fear. Why don’t you try it?’
Max stared at the musty book that smelled like a forgotten wing of an old library. ‘I think I’ll leave my future to me to decide, not some moth-eaten book.’
Veronique sighed. ‘You wouldn’t be the first person to be nervous about having your future held up before you.’
‘It’s a stupid old book that I’ve never seen before. It has nothing to do with my future.’
‘If you’re scared of what I’ll think of you, you can ask your question under your breath.’
‘Unless it says “your friends are safe and you’re going home soon”, I’m not interested.’
‘I’ll go first.’ Veronique laid the book on its spine and held it firmly between her splayed fingers. ‘You can ask a specific question or simply be open to whatever the book has to tell you.’
Max looked at Fifi, who was sitting upright, transfixed by Veronique and her smelly book.
Veronique took a deep breath and closed her eyes. ‘Will I meet a handsome boy soon who will think I’m charming and cute?’
‘Maybe you should ask if you’re always going to be this shy?’ Max mumbled.
‘Shhhh,’ Veronique whispered. ‘I need to concentrate.’
She took her hands away and let the book fall open. She slid her finger across the page, opened her eyes and read aloud:
Sometimes what you are searching for
may already be with you.
French proverb
Veronique looked up. ‘Excellent.’
‘Excellent what?’ Max asked.
‘It means I’ve already met him. Probably … very … recently.’ Veronique flounced her hair.
‘Really?’ Max frowned at the book. ‘Maybe I will have a go.’
She pulled the book towards her and held it between her hands. She closed her eyes and let it fall open. Her finger swept across the page to one small passage:
Avoid being impatient. Remember, time
brings roses.
Anonymous
Fifi barked and pawed the air.
‘I’m not impatient.’ Max shut the book firmly. ‘This book has no idea what it’s talking about.’
‘I said you don’t always get the answers you hope for.’ Veronique patted Fifi. ‘Have another go.’
Max scowled at the book and held it upwards. ‘I’m only doing this to amuse you and as part of my babysitting duties.’ She took a long, deep breath, let the book fall open, pointed her finger and read:
If you never leap, you’ll never learn to fly.
Chinese proverb
‘And since I’m not planning on doing any flying any time soon, it’s been another pointless reading. This bibliomancy thing is a pile of –’ Max’s watch lit up. She held it to her mouth. ‘Linden? Are you okay? Where are you?’
‘We’re fine,’ Linden’s voice came through in a whisper. ‘We’re at the cemetery.’
‘Can you see anyone?’ Max asked.
‘You mean live people?’ Toby piped up.
‘That’s the general idea,’ Max answered.
‘Not yet.’
‘What can you see around you?’ Max asked.
‘Apart from a tree-lined road, a bunch of old crypts and loads of weeping angels, not much,’ Toby whispered.
Veronique grabbed Max’s wrist and spoke into her watch. ‘Have they left any more messages?’
‘You have to press this button to speak.’ Max pressed it for her and she asked again. ‘Can you see any messages?’
‘No, but it’s pretty dark,’ Linden said. ‘There are only a few lights, and we don’t want to use our torches in case they’re seen. We’ve got our Night Vision Sunglasses on so we should … wait.’ Linden went quiet.
‘What’s wrong?’ Veronique asked Max.
‘I don’t know.’ Max texted Linden via her watch. ‘u ok?’
In a few seconds a message came back. ‘i c 2 men hiding. will leave camera on. txt l8r.’
‘What are they going to do?’ Veronique asked.
‘Find out what those two men are up to.’
Max retrieved her palm computer and focused intently on the screen. The bumpy, darkened image crept closer to the two figures. They were dressed in dark skivvies, beanies and gloves, and their faces had been blackened. Linden’s watch caught their conversation and Max’s Descrambler translated.
‘It’s almost nine o’clock. She should be here soon,’ a raspy voice said.
‘How do you know she’ll turn up?’ A second, uneasy voice whispered.
‘I hear she’s a feisty one. She won’t let her dad be kidnapped and do nothing about it. Not after our invitation.’
‘Why did he have us meet her here?’ the second one breathed. ‘It’s a little creepy, isn’t it?’
‘Sorry if it’s not glamorous enough for you.’
‘I don’t need glamour; I just don’t need freaky.’ He sighed. ‘All of this because of a piece of rock. Why does he want it so badly, anyway?’
‘Not sure, but we’ve been paid good money to do this job, and I’m not leaving until we do it.’
Max watched as Linden moved his radio watch even closer to the two men.
‘What’s he doing now?’ Veronique asked.
‘I’m not sure yet.’
There was a brief pause before Linden released a ghoulish wail: ‘Oooooo.’
‘What was that?’ The second man gasped.
‘I don’t know,’ the raspy one hissed. ‘But don’t get so close; you’re on my toes.’
‘Oooooo.’ It was Toby this time.
‘It’s a ghost. I knew it. We’re being attacked by a ghost.’
‘There’s no such thing as ghosts.’
Within seconds a vase of flowers lifted from a nearby grave and floated within centimetres of their faces.
‘That is a ghost.’
‘Whyyy arrrre yooou heeeere?’ Linden deepened his voice and added a ghostly waver.
Max’s computer screen showed torchlights skittling amongst the gravestones like panicked moths. ‘You’d better come out, whatever you are, or we’ll … Ouch! That ghost threw a stone at me.’
‘They’re not ghosts!’
‘Well, what are they then?’
‘I don’t know!’
‘Whooooo has sent yooooou?’ Linden wailed.
‘I’m getting out of here.’ The second man shuddered.
‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘Whoo has paiiid yooou to beeee heere?’ Toby sang out.
‘It was …’
‘What are you mad? You can’t tell anyone or we’re done for.’
‘Tell us!’ Toby whined. ‘Or we will haaaauuuunt you for aaaaall your dayyyys.’
‘But these ghosts are going to get us if we don’t tell.’ A splintering crash rang out. ‘That’s it, I’m out of here.’
Max and Veronique heard scuffled sounds as the screen went black, followed by footsteps and panting.
‘What’s happening?’ Veronique asked Max.
‘I’m not sure.’ Max drew in a quick breath. ‘I can’t talk to Linden yet in case we give them away. Do you recognise the voices of either of those men?’
‘No.’
‘And what did they mean all this being for a piece of rock?’
‘I don’t know.’ Veronique sat heavily on the lounge. Fifi climbed beside her and lay her head in her lap. ‘So it was a trap and they’re after me?’
‘It seems so,’ Max answered.
‘Why?’
‘That’s what we have to figure out.’
‘Maybe this is why Papa gave me the amulet. To protect myself from those men.’ Veronique looked up. ‘We have to tell Tetu.’
‘Tetu might be in on it.’
‘We don’t know that.’ Veronique shook her head and nestled Fifi closer.<
br />
‘Think about it,’ Max said. ‘He thinks your father is involved in his own kidnapping, and he’s watching you partly for your protection but mostly to see if your father passes any messages to you. I don’t think that adds up to someone you should trust.’
Veronique scowled. ‘What if something happens to Linden and Toby?’
‘It won’t,’ Max said. ‘They’ve been around tougher men than Tetu. And even if they do have problems, which they won’t, Spyforce will be there in a second to help them out.’
Max’s watch lit up. ‘It’s Linden.’ She read the screen. ‘tailing 2 men. T @ c’tery. needs help.’
Max texted back, ‘Ill b there.’
Max entered the code for Linden and Toby’s Tracer Bug on the Time and Space Machine. The virtual search engine immediately revealed an image of Paris and zoomed in to their exact locations. The screen showed Linden leaving the cemetery, but Toby stayed where he was.
‘What are those lights?’
‘The green one’s Linden,’ Max answered. ‘Toby is blue. I have to go and help him.’
‘I’m coming too.’
‘You’re staying here. It might be dangerous.’
‘I’ll be fine. I have this.’ Veronique held up the amulet.
Max’s eyes lowered. ‘It’s a necklace. I’m not sure how that’s going to protect you.’
‘Because it’s a protective amulet and I don’t care what you say, I’m coming with you.’ Veronique threw her hands to her hips. Max recoiled slightly at the gesture that was becoming annoyingly familiar.
‘Okay.’ Max threw a subtle look towards the windows. ‘We can’t leave from this room; the police will see us. Look tired and let’s go up to your bedroom.’
Veronique picked up Fifi, Max exaggerated a yawn for whoever may have been looking in from outside and the three went upstairs.
‘This is your bedroom?’
‘Yes.’ Veronique held Fifi and looked around. ‘What’s wrong with it?’
Max surveyed the four-poster bed with its pink doona and curtains, the purple fluffy lounges filled with cushions, and soft animal toys that were crammed into almost every other space.
‘Nothing.’ Max began to cough and felt her throat become clogged with all the girliness. ‘Let’s just go.’
She closed the curtains and switched off the lights.
‘Now that those guards think we’ve gone to bed, let’s go and help Toby,’ Max whispered.
‘Are we going to use the invisible cream?’
‘No.’
‘How are we going to sneak out of here without being seen?’
‘You have got to learn to trust me.’ Max focused on the steady bleep of Toby’s tracer on the screen of the Time and Space Machine. It hadn’t moved.
‘What are we going to do?
‘You’ll see. Take my hand and hold on tight to the mutt.’
‘She’s not a mutt, and why should I –’
‘Stop asking questions.’
Max grabbed Veronique’s hand and pressed transport. With a quiet fffttt and the muffled barking of a small poodle, the three disappeared from the room.
Fifteen seconds later, in the darkened folds of Père Lachaise cemetery, a flash of fluorescent light ballooned in the air and tiny sparks of colour fell like a freak rain shower of light. Max, Veronique and Fifi appeared in the centre and, after a few moments suspended in the air, floated gently to the ground.
‘What just happened?’ Veronique’s hair sat like a wind-blown curtain over her face. Fifi shook her flattened curls from her eyes and let out a small whine.
‘We’ve just travelled across Paris using this Time and Space Machine that my uncle and his brother invented. Great for travelling fast, not so great for your hair.’ Max stifled a giggle until she realised she and Veronique were still holding hands.
‘Err!’ They both let go.
Max put on her Night Vision Sunglasses and switched on the torch in her watch. ‘Toby?’
Veronique placed Fifi on the ground, pushed her hair out of her face and began searching between graves, around tall marble crypts and amongst flower-strewn plots with carved angels, crosses and harps. She delved behind a huge cross-shaped headstone. ‘Oh.’ She picked up a large sack, some rope and a piece of wood. ‘I guess this was meant for me.’
‘They must have left in a hurry,’ Max said.
Fifi sniffed along the edge of a path and around the bottom of a rose bush. When she reached the base of a grave, she sat and barked.
‘What is it, Fifi?’ Veronique made her way to the pooch.
Fifi barked again but wouldn’t budge.
Max ran over and saw a smashed vase. ‘That would explain the crashing sound we heard.’ She looked behind the grave and her Night Vision Sunglasses revealed a glowing green human shape. ‘It’s Toby. That dog might be good for something after all.’
Fifi growled.
Max put the glasses in her pocket and handed Veronique her watch. ‘Hold this so I can see what I’m doing.’
Max reached into her pack and took out the bottle marked ‘conditioner’ that contained the Invisibility Cream Antidote. She rubbed it over Toby’s body and he slowly appeared, his arms and legs skewed, his face lifeless.
‘Toby?’
He didn’t move.
Max put her head on his chest. ‘He’s still breathing.’
She tapped him on both cheeks, but he didn’t come to. She pulled Frond’s Wake-Up Spray from her pack and squirted a fine mist of fish-scented spray over his face.
Toby stirred, moaning softly and moving his head from side to side. Max kept spraying until he convulsed into a writhing, coughing outburst. ‘What are you trying to do, kill me?’
Max stopped spraying. ‘I’m trying to save you, actually.’
‘Maybe you could use something less smelly next time?’
‘Frond’s working on it,’ Max smiled broadly.
Toby tried to sit up but stopped and held his head. ‘Did one of you use my head for soccer practice?’
‘I’ve wanted to, but not this time.’ Max’s smile faltered. ‘Where’s Linden?’
‘When we spooked those two guys, and they ran off, we followed them to see where they were going.’ Toby frowned. ‘That’s the last thing I remember.’
‘I think it might have been because of this.’ Veronique held up the plank of wood.
Toby gave a half-smile. ‘One of the men was swinging wildly, trying to kill ghosts with it before they left. Must have landed a lucky blow.’
Max’s watch lit up. ‘Linden?’ Veronique answered. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine. Is everyone there okay?’
Max reached for her watch. ‘Toby got hit on the head, but it’ll probably do him good. Where are you?’
‘After those two guys left the cemetery, they got in a car and sped off. I followed them with my PFD but lost them in a tunnel in the centre of Paris. I took photos of them at the cemetery, but they’re too dark to make anything out.’
Veronique grabbed Max’s hand. ‘I was very worried about you, Linden. You were very brave to chase those men like that.’
Max frowned and withdrew her hand. ‘As for us, Mr Brave, we’ve had enough of graveyards for one night and we’re heading back to the house.’
‘I’ll see you there, boss.’
‘Don’t call me …’ but Linden had already signed off.
Max slipped her watch back on. ‘Toby, do you think you’ll be okay to transport?’
‘No problem, I …’ Toby got to his feet and wavered. Max and Veronique grabbed him by his arms. ‘As soon as I can master this standing-up business.’
Max used one hand to activate the ‘return’ function on the Time and Space Machine. ‘Veronique, make sure you hold on to him tightly.’ She smiled. ‘It’d be terrible to lose him half way.’
‘Wait.’ Veronique leant down and picked up Fifi. ‘Now we’re ready.’
‘What a shame,’ Max mumbled. ‘We almost forgot Fi
do.’
‘Fifi.’
‘Whatever.’
Max pressed transport and the machine teleported them in seconds to Veronique’s overly cushioned bedroom.
‘That’s not as much fun when you have a sore head.’ Toby sat gingerly on the edge of the bed.
‘So what do we –’ Veronique began.
‘Shhhh.’ Max crept to the door and heard muffled voices downstairs. She opened the door a little and her Descrambler went into action.
‘What do you mean you don’t know where zey are? You must know. You ’ad ze simple job of guarding Veronique, and now you don’t know where she is?’
‘Quick, put your pyjamas on,’ Max whispered.
Toby snuck to his room and changed while Veronique rifled through a drawer and threw a pair of bright pink satin pyjamas to Max.
‘Tell me you don’t seriously wear these?’
‘They’re my favourites.’
‘The things I do for Spyforce.’
The two quickly changed. Max looked at Veronique’s ruffled hair and mussed it up even more. ‘That’s better,’ she said.
Veronique scowled. Max smiled back and gestured for her to follow.
‘Nice pyjamas.’ Toby smirked when he met them in the corridor.
‘Nice fish smell.’
‘I haven’t had a chance to shower since I was almost killed.’
Tetu’s screaming lifted into the upper floors of the house.
‘We better go down before he busts something.’
At the bottom of the stairs, Max’s heart beat wildly at the sight of the enraged Tetu and two cowering officers. ‘Commandant Tetu?’ She feigned a just-woken-up yawn. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Where ’ave you been?’ Tetu’s face fired up like a bulging hot coal and his eye twitched like a dancing caterpillar.
‘Upstairs in our bedrooms.’ Max was flanked by a bleary-eyed Veronique and Toby.
He strode across the room and loomed over her. ‘You ’ave not. I checked, searched, investigated zoroughly and you were not zere.’
Max slipped from under Tetu’s knife gaze and slumped onto a couch.
‘And where is ze other one?’ Tetu rippled with fury.
On cue, Linden appeared at the top of the stairs, his pyjamas crumpled and his hair askew, as if he’d just been woken from a deep sleep.
The French Code Page 7
