The French Code

by Deborah Abela

  ‘And you’ve been hanging around too many bad costume hire shops.’

  ‘You don’t like the outfit?’ Strangways stepped into an easy turn. ‘That’s a shame, it’s genuine and befits my status as a descendant of a long line of Egyptian nobles.’

  ‘You’re not limping,’ Max said. ‘So you were faking it?’

  ‘No, the limp was real and, believe me, I was quite ill. My doctor gave me six months to live at most.’ Strangways smiled broadly and pulled a jar from his pocket with what looked like a muddy green mixture. ‘With this potion, a spell from my beloved book, this neckpiece and a small healing ritual, it seems I’m not dying anymore. I knew it would work,’ he cried, ‘and that all my years of searching would not have been wasted!’

  ‘Where is Veronique’s dad?’ Linden asked.

  ‘He is somewhere that need not concern you.’

  ‘But Papa has been helping you for years and was the one who found The Book of the Dead for you.’ Veronique wrenched at the ropes around her. ‘How could you kidnap him?’

  Fifi ground her teeth into the rag and spat it from her mouth. She put her front paws onto the bottom rung at the back of the chair and began to chew at Veronique’s ropes.

  ‘The book belongs to me,’ Strangways said darkly. ‘It was passed down through many generations of my family, until an unscrupulous ancestor sold it to pay his mounting gambling debts.’

  ‘So your family is full of liars and thieves? You’d fit in nicely, then,’ Max said.

  ‘I am simply taking back what is mine.’

  ‘With a little kidnapping along the way.’

  ‘That was unfortunate, but I am not going to let a few people stand in the way of the progress of history.’

  ‘Or of your ego.’

  Strangways slapped his ivory wand into the wall only centimetres from Max’s face. ‘This is about the resurrection of a better civilisation. Ego has nothing to do with it.’ He calmed. ‘You know this is a high tower, many people feel an overwhelming sense of vertigo. It would be terrible if that happened to you and you just … fell.’

  Max opened her mouth to speak, but Linden squeezed her hand.

  ‘I am sorry about your father, Veronique. After he found the book, he discovered we needed one element to activate its power.’ He ran his hand over his chest. ‘This neckpiece.’

  ‘So that’s what you stole from the Louvre the night you met Antoine in his office?’ Max asked.

  ‘Yes, completely intact except for one single element. With that we would have our dream of creating heka.’

  Strangways’s face darkened. ‘But Antoine discovered how powerful it was and decided the neckpiece and book were too dangerous to be in the hands of just anyone.’

  His voice grew louder. ‘He decided that after all the money I had given him, after all the years I had supported him, that he wouldn’t hand me what was rightfully mine.’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Trouble is, even though your papa thinks he is so clever, I worked out what the missing element was for myself.’

  Fifi continued chewing at Veronique’s rope, breaking it apart, strand by strand.

  ‘Was it you who left the note in the museum warning us to mind the girl?’ Max asked.

  ‘That’s a funny thing.’ Strangways said. ‘I did it to throw the investigation off track by making the French police focus their attention on Veronique, until I realised I needed her.’

  ‘For what?’ Veronique asked. ‘I don’t have anything.’

  ‘That’s what I thought until I overheard your little fudge discovery. That’s when I orchestrated the shooting to scare Tetu into letting you stay with me.’

  ‘It was you who shot into Veronique’s house?’ Max fumed. ‘You almost killed me!’

  Strangways smiled. ‘If I’d wanted François to kill you, he would have.’

  He walked over to Veronique and, using the tip of his wand, slid it under the chain around her neck.

  ‘Leave her alone,’ Linden yelled.

  ‘When I saw you at supper at my house, I took one look at the amulet and knew it was what I needed to commence my plans. You see, this book, as great as it is, is powerless without the amulet in this necklace – and I will have it. Taweret. Protector of children. How sweet.’

  ‘It’s mine. Papa gave it to me.’

  ‘In a few minutes it won’t matter what your papa thinks. Not when he’s tied up in the sewers of Paris.’

  The murmur of thunder rolled through the clouds outside.

  Veronique’s face turned a lifeless grey.

  ‘Where is he?’ Max cried.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry, he’s somewhere he’ll feel right at home. Antoine is beneath the Louvre itself, ready to feel the full force of my water spell.’

  ‘You can’t let him die,’ Veronique pleaded.

  ‘You see, my dear, I can do whatever I want.’ Strangways clutched the wand in his hand so that the skin stretched thinly across his bony knuckles. ‘Your father betrayed me and I have no use for traitors.’

  Max snuck a quick look at her watch to see that it was still transmitting to Toby.

  ‘Now. To business.’ Strangways lifted the wand away from Veronique’s neck.

  ‘Don’t touch her!’ Linden shouted.

  François tightened his grip on the rope even more.

  ‘No! I won’t let you.’ Veronique swung her head sharply and bit down on Strangways’s thumb.

  He snatched it from her mouth and delivered a poisonous scowl. François jolted forward, but Strangways raised his hand to stop him.

  ‘No, it isn’t important. Only this is.’ He lifted the chain over Veronique’s writhing body and pressed the amulet into a moulded space in his neckpiece. A small gasp fled from his lips. A perfect fit.

  He held his wand high and began reading the spell from the scroll. It was a language Max’s Descrambler couldn’t interpret.

  The room became immediately cooler. The murky green mixture in Strangways’s bottle began to quiver. Outside, the wind stirred with more force. Max and Linden’s danger meters hammered into them.

  Strangways’s chanting continued, like a mantra. He closed his eyes. Dark clouds rolled over the city.

  A flash of light tore into the room. Max and Linden looked away just as Fifi ripped at the last threads of Veronique’s ropes. The poodle climbed onto a bench and launched herself at Strangways.

  ‘Aaaah!’ The old man toppled to the floor as the amulet dislodged from the neckpiece. Veronique leapt from her chair and picked it up.

  ‘Your father’s note from the amulet,’ Max cried.

  Strangways lifted his head to see Veronique nod and hold the amulet high. Her voice held firm. ‘A nod of the head and “cast out” in a cry, will chaos banish with Taweret held high.’

  ‘No.’ It escaped from Strangways in a breathless whimper.

  The door slammed open. A thunderous echo filled the room followed by a swirl of wind, taking with it the rolled papyrus pages of The Book of the Dead.

  ‘The book!’ Strangways scrambled to his feet and grasped for the scroll, but he tripped on his robes and fell onto the cold steel outside. He looked up to see pieces of papyrus flying away like seagulls surfing on the wind. François moved to help him up, but Fifi jumped and sank her teeth into his leg.

  ‘Aaaah!’

  François let go of the ropes and Linden wriggled his arms free. He reached into his pack, pulled out his Swiss army knife and sliced through the ropes.

  François was still screaming from the pain of Fifi, who wouldn’t let go of his leg, when Linden squirted him directly in the nose with sleeping powder. He was knocked out immediately.

  ‘That’s good stuff,’ Linden said. ‘Time to go.’

  Linden grabbed Veronique’s hand and led her out of the room. Fifi sank her teeth one last time into François’s other leg before leaping after them. Max went to follow, but Strangways’s strong fist grabbed at her ankle.

  ‘You have destroyed everything.’ He
got to his feet and grabbed Max’s shoulders, forcing her into the cold steel edge of the balcony railing. It was the only thing between her and a deadly plunge through the darkening evening.

  ‘Let her go!’ Linden shouted.

  The wind howled around them, tore into their faces, punishing them with icy drops of rain.

  It was as if Strangways didn’t hear. As if he didn’t know Linden was even there. Only Max existed, and his need for revenge. His hands locked around her neck and forced her back over the balcony. Max turned her head and caught a glimpse of the Paris streets far below. She felt her body surge with fear before her muscles tightened in a wave of nausea.

  ‘Strangways, don’t do this.’ Linden edged forward, slowly, carefully. ‘Please let Max go.’

  ‘You’ve ruined everything.’ Strangways tightened his grip on Max. ‘Years of hard work, of searching, of …’

  His eyes glowed with fury. His arms stiffened and he lifted Max with one forceful push.

  ‘Strangways!’ Linden cried. ‘Please!’

  Max struggled to breathe, gasping what small snatches of air she could.

  Strangways remained unmoved, as if in a trance. Linden watched as his friend teetered on the edge of the balcony, briefly, when Strangways gave one last push and she fell.

  ‘Max!’

  Max tumbled backwards into the night, feeling as if the wind was sucking her into a giant black hole. She struggled to reach behind her, against the pull of the wind and her own disorientation, to find the lever of her pack.

  Fly, fly, fly. She said it over and over in her head. Please fly.

  Finally her hand found the lever. She pulled it out. She continued to tumble and thought she could hear screams from the crowd below.

  Fly, fly, fly.

  The PFD began to find grip in the air, but still she turned and plunged downwards.

  ‘You’re not going to die,’ Max screamed into the air and pulled the lever hard towards her. It slowed in its descent, wobbling through the air. She could see the lights from the ground coming closer. Max’s arm struggled to gain control against the pull of gravity until finally the PFD slowed her descent even more, staggering and reeling, hovering four metres from the ground.

  Max’s throat hurt from the cold evening air and her panicked breaths. The wind pushed into her in wintry, bullying gusts. She swallowed deeply and landed the PFD in a soggy, grassy patch near a fountain. She laughed briefly before her legs turned to jelly beneath her, and she sank in a dead faint to the ground.

  ‘I’ll have a turn.’ Toby sprang from his chair and confidently strode over to The Book of Sayings. ‘If it predicts that my future is going to be filled with beautiful girls and a couple of fast cars, then I’m willing to become a believer.’

  Veronique sat on a deep lounge, curled in the arms of her father.

  Toby held the book between his hands, the spine resting on the table. He closed his eyes, let it fall open and read out loud:

  And you will be showered with gifts beyond your wildest dreams.

  ‘It doesn’t say that,’ Max said. ‘Let me see.’

  Toby slammed the book shut before she could reach him. ‘Oh, I’ve lost the page.’

  ‘The book is very often correct, Max,’ Antoine countered her sceptical look.

  ‘And Toby often makes stuff up, Monsieur Marceau.’

  ‘Linden, do you want a turn?’ Veronique asked.

  Linden sat on a long settee and faked trying to get up. ‘I don’t think I can. I may have had one piece of roasted chicken too many. Or maybe it was the chocolate tart or crème caramel. I’ve never eaten so well in my life as I have here over the last couple of days.’

  Max laughed. ‘Go on. We’ve all done it now. There’s only you left.’

  With an exaggerated moan, Linden pulled himself off the couch. He took hold of the book and closed his eyes.

  ‘Won’t be as good as mine,’ Toby said.

  ‘Don’t forget to think of a question!’ Max reminded him.

  Linden let the book fall open. He placed a finger on a line and read:

  A true friend brings out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you. Old Danish saying

  ‘See, I told you mine would be better,’ Toby said.

  ‘It is all a matter of perception,’ Antoine said. ‘Personally, Linden, I believe that is one of the book’s wisest sayings.’

  ‘What about Strangways?’ Max asked. ‘He said you were once good friends.’

  ‘Yes,’ he answered with a sigh, ‘I thought we were searching for the same thing in our quest to re-create heka, but I realise now we were after something very different.’

  ‘Where did you find the Taweret amulet?’ Linden asked.

  ‘I’d been on three separate trips to Egypt to find it. I knew what it looked like and used all my local contacts to track it down, but with no luck. One day, at the end of another trip, I was sitting at the back of a Cairo market sipping on a chilled glass of sugarcane juice, when I saw it. Sitting on a trinket stall selling tourist junk. Just waiting for me to find it.’

  The doorbell sounded. A man with a hat in his hand and black suit stood at the door of Veronique’s house.

  ‘The car is here, Mademoiselle.’

  Veronique picked up Fifi and held her to her chest. ‘I guess it’s time for you to go.’

  Max, Linden and Toby collected their bags and went outside where the limousine was waiting for them.

  ‘I’m glad they found you, sir.’ Linden held his hand out to Antoine.

  ‘Me too.’ He took Linden’s hand. ‘I’m only glad the French government chose such intelligent agents to be on the case.’ He shook Toby’s and Max’s hand. ‘We will always be indebted to you.’

  Veronique smiled. ‘Thank you, Max. For everything. You’ve been …’

  Fifi jumped out of Veronique’s arms and into Max’s where she began licking her face in a frenzy. Max flung out her arms and held the dog away from her. ‘Hey! Can’t you just wag your tail like a normal dog?’ She put her on the ground.

  Veronique laughed. ‘She likes you.’

  ‘I preferred it when she didn’t like me.’

  Toby nudged into her. ‘You can’t help it when you’re irresistible. I know all about that.’

  ‘Come on, boys. I will help you pack the car,’ Antoine offered.

  ‘You once asked me why I take her everywhere,’ Veronique whispered to Max when they were alone.

  ‘You don’t have to –’

  ‘Papa gave her to me when my mother died. It’s like when Fifi is with me, Mama is still with me. Does that makes sense?’

  Max nodded. ‘It does.’

  Outside, Veronique hugged Toby and Linden and kissed them on both cheeks. ‘You two stay out of trouble.’

  ‘Us? Trouble? Never.’ Toby said. ‘Good luck with the TV show. They obviously know great talent choosing you.’

  ‘Je m’ennuyerai de vous,’ Veronique said with a smile. ‘Vraiment.’

  ‘Nous aussi,’ Linden replied.

  Max leant over to Toby. ‘What did she say? I’ve taken out my Descrambler.’

  ‘She said she’ll miss us,’ he answered. ‘Especially me.’

  Veronique launched into Max with a hug. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘I wasn’t very kind to you when we first met. I’m sorry. You were so brave. There is no wonder Linden really likes you.’

  ‘What? How do you …?’

  Veronique pulled away quickly and opened her arms for Fifi, who leapt into them with practised ease. ‘Now give Max one last goodbye kiss.’

  ‘No, that’s really not –’

  Fifi licked Max in one long slurp, complete with a blast of dog-breath.

  ‘Ah! I just had a shower.’ Max wiped her face on her sleeve.

  Antoine encircled Veronique and Fifi in a hug. ‘Au revoir and safe trip home.’

  ‘Do you always have this many fancy houses, castles and limousines on your missions?’ Toby asked Max. />
  ‘I don’t know. I don’t notice those things,’ she answered.

  ‘How can you not notice?’ Toby looked horrified.

  ‘I don’t know, maybe because I’m busy trying to save the world.’

  Linden laughed and gave Max a look that made her feel like she was falling from another great height. ‘I never notice either.’

  ‘Can I get in the front?’ Toby asked the driver, who nodded.

  ‘Can I drive?’

  The driver shook his head.

  ‘Worth a try though, eh?’ Toby climbed in the front, while Linden and Max slipped into the back.

  Max fastened her seatbelt and wound down the window. ‘Veronique?’ she asked in a whisper. ‘How do you know?’

  Veronique gave a playful shrug. ‘He told me.’

  She and her father waved as the car pulled away from the curb and joined the crowded flow of Parisian traffic.

  ‘Told you what?’ asked Linden.

  Max met Linden’s questioning look and tried to think of an answer.

  ‘Told me that … that …’ Max’s palm computer vibrated against her leg. ‘That’ll be Chief Harrison. He said he’d call before we left.’

  ‘Ah, Max and Linden. Where’s the third hero of this little party?’

  ‘He’s up front, sir,’ Max answered.

  Chief Harrison’s face drained of zippiness. ‘He isn’t driving, is he?’

  ‘No,’ Max said. ‘We’ve faced enough danger in the last few days without letting that happen.’

  ‘Yes, yes indeed.’ Harrison said. ‘Congratulations on the completion of your mission. I know you were sent to France as minders, but without the skills and expertise of all of you, Antoine – and Paris – might never have been saved.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Max said.

  ‘French police have Strangways and François in custody now, but we’ve also discovered there were other men who were after the amulet, the book and Veronique because of what she may have known. We believe the men you told us about from the cemetery may have been working for a private collector in Germany, but we’re still following that up. Luckily they hadn’t anticipated coming up against Toby and Linden.’

  ‘But they had a note saying they had Veronique’s dad,’ Max said. ‘I thought only a few people knew about that.’