Alice Parker & the Curse of Fate (4 page)

‘
No! It’s
too crowded here. It’s too risky. Go and join the queue and
get one for me! I’ll look for something for Ellie on this
stall while I wait. I won’t move until you’re back, OK?’

Alice nodded and
headed off to the pancake stall. She wasn’t keen on crowds but
this place was so full of festive atmosphere,
she
could make an exception. After pushing her way through hundreds of
smiling, dawdling shoppers she waited impatiently for her turn. The
aromas around her were tormenting her cravings. It was not easy to
fulfil her Finwip food requirements while staying with a normal
human. Brigitte would be appalled if she saw Alice consuming as much
fruit and sugar as she needed.

When the pancakes
were finally ready, Alice decided to walk back to Thomas via the
steps of the concert hall, so she could take in the view of the whole
market. Plenty of people had the same idea, and were sitting on the
highest steps or leaning against pillars, wrapped up in their scarves
and hats. As she gazed across the striking display of star lights
above white canopies, one in particular caught her eye. It seemed
much brighter than the others – more a burning yellow light
than a gentle white glow. Alice wondered if there was a nativity
scene beneath it. Intrigued, she decided to take a look. Thomas’s
pancake would be cold by now anyway.

As she got closer to
the bright star, she realised that it belonged to the stall where she
had left Thomas. How strange! When she tapped him on the shoulder
someone pushed past her rudely, knocking her off balance and nearly
making her drop his pancake.

‘
Verzeihung,’
mumbled the man before he disappeared in to the crowds.

‘
Let’s
move,’ said Thomas. ‘I fancy a drink when I’ve
eaten this.’

Thomas ordered an
Eierpunsch, a sort of German eggnog and Alice chose a non-alcoholic
Glühwein. The cafe was busy and the only available chairs were
outside the tent, but Alice was glad to sit down and warm her hands
on her hot drink. Her eyes wandered from stall to stall, admiring
Christmas decorations, brightly coloured candles, hand-made toys and
gingerbread. Then she happened to look up at the roof of the cafe.
The star above them was bright yellow now! Just a few minutes
earlier it had been white. Before she could open her mouth to tell
Thomas she felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. She slammed down
her mug and grabbed his arm.

‘
Run!’
she shrieked. ‘Now!’

Startled, Thomas
abandoned his drink and followed Alice as she dragged him away from
the cafe and past dozens of disgruntled people as she jostled her way
through the crowds. She didn’t stop until they had nearly
reached the far side of the market. A loud bang made her turn
around. It sounded like an explosion and was immediately followed by
screams and shouting. A short distance away the sky lit up as fire
engulfed one of the canopies. Alice was shaking but it wasn’t
the cold. It was fear.

‘
I ... I can’t
believe it!’ spluttered Thomas. ‘It’s the cafe!
How did you know? DID you know, Alice?’

She shook her head
miserably. ‘No. But I guessed – and just in time, it
seems. There was something funny going on with the lights. Wherever
you’ve been, the light above that tent became brighter. I
realised that it must be some sort of signal.’

‘
Oh, come on!
The star as the guiding light? Leading someone to their target, you
mean? That would be pretty twisted at this time of year!’

‘
And who do we
know with a twisted mind?’ said Alice quietly, her voice
quivering. ‘She knows we’re here, doesn’t she?’

‘
I doubt it.
It might look that way but I just don’t see how it’s
possible. Unless Sarah has blabbed.’

‘
She wouldn’t!
No way! She knows the reason we came here. She wouldn’t do
anything to put us in danger, you know that.’

‘
So how else
would Isabella find out?’

‘
You tell me!’
fumed Alice.

They wracked their
brains in silence, having been directed out of the market and across
the road by security guards. Blaring sirens signalled the arrival of
a fire engine, two ambulances and several police cars as hundreds of
people poured out in to the street. This enchanting setting had now
been transformed into chaos and panic.

Her eyes glued to
the scene, Alice was relieved when the fire was put out swiftly.
Miraculously no one appeared to have been badly hurt. How would she
have felt if they had? She was convinced it was an attempted attack
on her and Thomas, no matter what he thought. That bright light had
definitely been following Thomas around the market, and in Alice’s
mind there was no way that explosion could be a coincidence.

‘
I think we
should head back,’ said Thomas. ‘There’s no point
staying here. I don’t think they’ll re-open the market
tonight.’

‘
No ...
please, not yet. I’m not sure I’m ready to face
Grandma.’

‘
So don’t
tell her. If it happens to be in the newspaper, we’ll say we
had already left when the fire broke out. Besides, I still don’t
think it’s anything for us to worry about.’

Alice shook her
head. ‘You’re wrong. But you might be right about not
telling Grandma.’

‘
Fair enough.
Come on, we’ll get another hot drink on the way home, since we
had to abandon the last ones. I was enjoying that punch as well!’

Alice shuddered when
she thought about it. If she hadn’t been there with him, it
might have been the last drink Thomas ever had.

Chapter 4

The
Similar Stranger

‘
So, another
nice trip today?’ asked Brigitte as she passed a plate of
cheese around the breakfast table. ‘Which attractions would
you like to visit?’

‘
Actually, I
was hoping Grandma might show us some of the less ... um ... touristy
places,’ replied Alice, nudging Grandma’s foot under the
table.

‘
Oh, I could
take you to a few places I liked when I was your age,’ said
Grandma with a twinkle in her eye.

‘
You could
try,’ chuckled Brigitte. ‘But you will be disappointed.
Your favourite little shops are now a multi-screen cinema. And you
remember that coffee house where your boyfriend used to take you? It
is a sushi restaurant now!’

Grandma turned up
her nose.

‘
Grandad used
to take you to a coffee house here?’

‘
Er, no. Not
him,’ mumbled Grandma, blushing.

‘
Anyway, we
are going to visit Barbara today, are we not? She will be
disappointed if we cancel.’

Grandma pulled a
face. Clearly she was not bothered about visiting her cousin,
Barbara.

‘
And tomorrow
Matthias will be here,’ Brigitte continued. ‘He has
offered to take us all out for lunch.’

Matthias was
Brigitte’s son; a huge man with a long, silvery pony tail and a
wicked sense of humour. He was a dentist, but Alice had always
thought he didn’t look like one.

‘
Fine,’
agreed Grandma through gritted teeth. ‘We’ll go and see
Barbara, but Alice and Thomas needn’t come. I’m sure
you’ve got ideas of your own for today,’ she added with a
wink.

‘
We have
indeed,’ grinned Thomas. ‘So don’t worry about us.
Eat up, Alice, then we’ll go.’

*

Alice pulled a face
as she realised they were entering the U-Bahn station again. ‘Oh!
I’d hoped Finwip village would be within walking distance from
here.’

‘
It would take
about half an hour. But I’m so cold I don’t fancy
staying out in the snow any longer than necessary!’

Alice wasn’t
complaining about the snow – it was falling gently again now.
Combined with the city’s Christmas lights and the log cabin
market stalls lining the streets, the overall effect was a perfect
festive picture. Though after last night’s narrow escape,
Alice was hardly full of the joys of the season.

‘
Some of this
looks familiar,’ she realised, recognizing some of the
buildings along their route.

‘
Yes, last
time we were in Berlin,’ replied Thomas. ‘Have you
guessed where we’re going yet?’

‘
No,’
admitted Alice, annoyed at herself. ‘I can’t imagine
where the village might be.’ She continued to gaze out of the
window, enjoying the singing and accordion playing of a busker who
wandered through their carriage.

‘
Give him some
money, Thomas. He’s good!’

‘
Maybe he is.
But I didn’t ask to be entertained on the journey.’

Alice tutted. ‘You
can be so nasty sometimes.’

They got off the
train at Richard Wagner Platz and walked for a few minutes before
Alice spotted a signpost.

‘
It can’t
be, can it?’ she asked, her eyes lighting up. ‘Are we
going to Schloss Charlottenburg? Tell me the village is under the
palace! Please!’

Thomas laughed at
her excitement. ‘The village is under the palace.’

‘
WOOHOO! This
is going to be the most amazing Finwip village! Hold on, we’ve
been to the palace before with Mum and Dad,’ she realised.

‘
That’s
right. But do you remember how Grandad left us for a while? He made
some excuse about going to buy a thicker pair of socks because his
shoes were rubbing!’

Alice thought for a
moment. ‘I don’t remember. I do remember how amazing
the gardens were, though.’

‘
Good.
Because that’s where we’re heading for!’

A few minutes later
they were strolling through the beautiful formal gardens of
Charlottenburg Palace. Alice remembered it well; the round pool with
a fountain, parterres of coloured gravel and rows of citrus trees
outside the orangery. Everything was so immaculate she wondered
where the entrance to the village could possibly be hidden.

‘
Is it in the
trunk of a tree somewhere, like our village?’ she asked.

‘
No. Better
than that!’

They kept walking
towards the lake.

‘
Now, look for
a statue of a boy with a dog,’ Thomas instructed her. ‘All
Grandad said is that it would be near the lake.’

‘
There!’
Alice ran over to a group of white statues. ‘This one’s
holding a sheep, I think this is a goat ... here it is! A boy with a
dog!’

‘
That must be
it. He looked all around to make sure no one was watching them.
‘Right, then. Place your hand on the dog’s head and
count to five.’

‘
This is a bit
like the lion mechanism in Trafalgar Square, isn’t it? Are we
waiting for an invisibility screen?’

‘
Er, no.’

Alice did as she was
told and counted to five. ‘Now what?’

‘
Now we have
exactly one minute to reach that golden willow at the edge of the
lake,’ gabbled Thomas as he began to run.

When they were
standing beneath its weeping branches, many of which were dangling in
the lake, they paused. They had scarcely caught their breath when
bubbles began to appear in the area of water enclosed in this green,
willowy cave.

Alice stepped in to
the shallow margins to take a closer look, glad of her waterproof
boots.

‘
This is
weird,’ said Thomas. ‘I wonder why this tree still has
its leaves when the others are bare for the winter?’

‘
No, THIS is
weird,’ said Alice, staggering backwards in fear. ‘What
IS it?’

As they watched, a
large object covered in weeds and algae rose up out of the water just
inches away from the bank. When it stopped moving and some of the
weeds slipped from its surface, Alice could see that it was a
transparent sphere, seemingly made of thick glass. A curved door
opened silently, inviting them to step inside.

‘
Don’t
mind if I do!’ beamed Thomas, hopping in. ‘Hurry up
Alice! It won’t wait for you.’

She followed him
hastily and the door closed behind her. Within seconds more bubbles
appeared on the surface and their journey beneath the lake commenced.

‘
This has got
to be the strangest lift ever,’ murmured Alice, peering out in
to the murky lake as they plunged slowly through the water. ‘I’m
not sure if I like it or not.’