History Keepers 1: The Storm Begins (10 page)

Jake stood up. He looked around at the serious faces. They in turn observed him coolly: a boy in his school uniform, with bright eyes and glowing cheeks. Jake took a deep breath and, knowing he had to show them that he was not a child, he spoke in the deepest tone he could muster. ‘I said, I would also like to volunteer for the mission.’

A few people murmured in embarrassment. Oceane let out a tight little laugh – and was greeted immediately by a glare from Rose.

Galliana smiled at Jake. ‘It is very brave of you to offer, Jake, but—’

‘Seeing as it is my mum and dad who are missing, I really feel that I
should
be included. And I – I believe I could contribute to the endeavour …’ He tried desperately to remember some lines from his favourite adventure films.

There were more murmurings. Jupitus was flabbergasted by Jake’s boldness. But Galliana was unruffled. She continued in her calm, measured tones, ‘Thank you, Jake. We appreciate your courage and concern, but the journey alone is exceedingly hazardous. We need to keep you safe here with us.’

Jake felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment as he reluctantly sat down again.

‘Any further questions?’ Galliana asked.

‘I have one,’ said Jupitus, taking another sip of water. ‘Well, it is more of an observation than a question. Would you not agree that this incident clearly demonstrates that it is time to revoke Alan and Miriam Djones’s licences to operate in the field? They may once have had a reputation, but at their age, and after a ten-year absence, they can hardly be considered “great” any more. Even as diamonds, their valour must have thinned and coalesced by now.’

Both Jake and Rose felt a surge of anger, but it was the latter who spoke.

‘How dare you!’ she exclaimed. ‘My brother risked his life for this service. And once, you have perhaps conveniently forgotten, he risked it to save
you
! God only knows why.’

Jupitus stiffened, although he went on calmly, ‘I’m just being practical.
And
voicing the thoughts of many others around the table. One can always rely on Rosalind Djones to turn it into a drama,’ he added with barely concealed contempt.

‘All right, that’s enough from both of you,’ Galliana interrupted. ‘Alan and Miriam Djones have lost none of their valour – they were the only agents I considered for the mission. And, Jupitus, as I am sure I don’t need to remind you, you are the same age as Alan.’

Jupitus pursed his lips in annoyance.

‘
Je peux dire quelque chose
? May I say something?’ Oceane had a languid, bejewelled hand in the air. Nearly everyone around the table braced themselves for some self-centred request. They were not disappointed.

‘As everyone knows, there is to be a ball in celebration of
mon anniversaire
this week – my birthday. Will the Code Purple situation affect this? It’s been six exhausting months in preparation. I even had to endure London on a jewellery-buying expedition.’

There were embarrassed murmurs, and Rose shook her head in disbelief, but Galliana did not react.

‘In actual fact,’ she said, ‘the party will continue as planned. As we’re all aware, we must open up the Mount occasionally for local inspection in order not to arouse suspicion.’

Oceane let out a squeal of delight. ‘
Parfait, parfait
!’ she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

‘This meeting is adjourned,’ concluded Galliana. ‘The selected team will set sail at two p.m. precisely. You will travel to Venice in 1506 and liaise with Paolo Pozzo, our man in sixteenth-century Italy, at the Quay Ognissanti. That will be all.’

There was a general hubbub as everyone stood up and started making their way out of the room.

‘Jake, may I have a word with you?’ Galliana asked softly. ‘And you three’ – she nodded at Topaz, Nathan and Charlie – ‘can you wait over there? I wish to speak with you afterwards.’

They nodded obediently. ‘Group leader! I suppose we’ll never hear the end of it,’ Nathan muttered as they waited to one side.

Galliana led Jake over to one of the great windows. ‘Bearing up all right?’

Jake nodded bravely.

‘There is something I must share with you in private,’ she went on. ‘I am telling you because I do
not
want you to think too badly of your parents. As you now know, they retired from the service after you were born. But there was a compelling reason why they chose to come back to us three years ago …’ Galliana hesitated before continuing. ‘They hoped they might finally understand what happened to your brother, Philip, and put his memory to rest.’

Jake gasped in shock. ‘What do you mean? He died in a climbing accident.’

Galliana put a comforting hand on his shoulder. ‘At the time of his disappearance he was working for us. Your parents tried to stop him. But we cannot deny our destiny. The pull is too strong.’

Jake felt faint; he gripped the window ledge tightly. ‘So what happened?’ he asked.

‘Philip was sent to Vienna, 1689, to track down one of our oldest and greatest foes, Prince Xander Zeldt,’ Galliana replied. ‘He had uncovered a plot that involved the assassination of three European heads of state. No one knows what happened next – the plot never materialized and Zeldt was never heard of again. Unfortunately, neither was your brother. We think he lost his life in the course of duty, but no body was ever found:
history
, as you can imagine, is a rather gigantic place to be lost in.’

There was a long pause as Jake tried to come to terms with this piece of news.

‘So – so what are you saying exactly?’ he stammered, trembling so much he could hardly get the words out. ‘That Philip might be alive somewhere?’

‘It’s only a remote possibility,’ Galliana told him.

It was too much for Jake; his lips trembled, his breath shook, and he couldn’t prevent the hot tears from springing to his eyes. As soon as the three young agents noticed his plight, they hurried over.

Topaz put her arm round him. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be all right.’

Jake nodded. ‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ he repeated through his sobs. ‘I don’t know why I’m crying – I’m not a baby any more …’ He quickly wiped away the tears.

‘You don’t need to be grown up with us,’ Topaz told him. ‘We understand why you’re upset.’

Charlie turned to Nathan and whispered, ‘I don’t have a handkerchief – do you?’

With only a hint of reluctance, the latter produced a
beautifully
embroidered silk square from his pocket. ‘It’s Chinese silk,’ he explained as he passed it to Jake. As Jake blew his nose on it once, twice and a third time, Nathan flinched.

‘Thank you,’ said Jake, passing it back.

‘Please, it’s yours,’ Nathan insisted. ‘Something to remember me by.’

When Jake had finally got himself under control, Galliana spoke again.

‘I’m sorry if I upset you by telling you this. The fact is, none of us know what happened. Maybe we never will. But your parents were drawn back to the service in the hope that one day they might discover the truth. Do you understand?’

Jake nodded. Galliana put a hand on his head. ‘Now, you must be exhausted. Norland will show you to your room.’ She led him to the door, where the smiling butler was waiting.

Jake was about to leave, but he paused in the doorway. ‘This Code Purple … That’s really bad, is it?’ he asked.

Galliana was not one to sugar the pill: ‘I’m afraid it refers to a threat of potentially cataclysmic proportions. I have known only one in my lifetime, and that did not end well.’

‘And this prince … Zeldt, or whoever he is – what exactly did he do?’

Galliana took a deep breath and started to explain. ‘It’s a long story. For the moment, suffice it to say that once there were only
good
keepers. Long ago, Zeldt’s family worked for this organization, but now they are the enemy.’ She paused. ‘If you choose to join us – and I can’t really recommend it: you have to give it careful thought – you would learn all these things in good time.’

Jake nodded, and Galliana continued, ‘One last thing, Jake: once it has happened, we must never try to
change
the past. We cannot, and do not, bring people back from the dead, or stop wars or undo catastrophes
once they have existed
. We cannot and should not stop the Great Fire of London or the sinking of the
Titanic
, no matter how we feel about those events.’ Now her tone was sombre. ‘History is sacred. The past may be littered with horrors, but remember, Jake, that those horrors could be a million times worse. Zeldt and his like desire that darker and infinitely crueller world; they wish to destroy our history.’ Now her eyes shone with fire. ‘That is why we fight them: to prevent
new
outrages, to
protect
what has gone before in our
fragile
past – that is why the History Keepers exist.’

She waited for Jake to soak up this information. ‘Now, you go and have a rest.’

Jake nodded to the others.

‘Make sure you come and see us off,’ said Topaz with a smile.

Jake nodded again, turned and followed Norland out of the room.

Galliana stared after them for a moment, then closed the door carefully and came back to the other three, who were waiting by the window.

‘Commander?’ Topaz asked. ‘What is it you wish to talk to us about?’

Galliana took a deep breath. ‘Regarding your mission, I have one more important instruction. It mostly concerns you, Topaz, but all of you must understand it …’

10 D
ESTINATION
: 1506

NORLAND LED JAKE
up into one of the towers. ‘As you might have noticed, there’s an awful lot of steps on this little island,’ he said cheerfully, pulling a face. ‘It certainly keeps us older ones in shape.’

‘You live here most of the time, do you?’ asked Jake politely.

‘Between here and London. Mr Cole likes me to be at hand. Make sure his head’s screwed on in the morning.’ Norland hooted with laughter and his ruddy cheeks went rosier still. Jake wasn’t sure if it was particularly funny, but he smiled all the same.

‘And do you go on missions – to other parts of history?’

‘Oh no, not me, sir. I had a few problems with my valour when I was younger, you see … The
shapes
in my eyes were all at sixes and sevens. But don’t get me wrong, I’m happy where I am. It’s wonderful to be part of the History Keepers, in any shape or form.’

Jake remembered something from his trip across the Channel. ‘Didn’t you say you went to Austria once? You heard Mozart playing the piano …’

‘Good gracious, you have got a good memory, sir. You’re quite right, of course, but that turned out to be my one and only mission as a secret agent. It was simply magical, though,’ he added, his eyes moistening at the recollection. ‘All the pomp and circumstance of the Habsburg court; all the dances and balls and important people in their powdered wigs …’ Norland imitated them with a flourish, then wiped the fond tears from his eyes.

‘Anyway, here we are,’ he announced as they arrived at an oak door. ‘Always your mum and dad’s favourite room. They loved the light.’ He led Jake into a small, round room that occupied the top of one of the castle turrets. ‘You’ll be down, I expect, to see the others off. In the meantime, make yourself at home.’

Norland turned to leave, but paused in the
doorway
. ‘By the way, I’m sorry about the kidnapping in Greenwich. No harm was meant.’

‘That’s all right.’ Jake smiled at him. ‘It certainly wasn’t my usual Friday afternoon.’

The butler was still looking slightly anxious. ‘You forgive me then, do you? I was just following orders, you see, sir.’

‘Of course – I haven’t given it a moment’s thought,’ said Jake.

‘Really? You’re an absolute gent!’ Norland exclaimed. ‘I can see we’re going to get on just fine.’ He winked, then closed the door and made his way back down the steps.

Jake dropped his bag and looked around the room. There was just enough space for a four-poster bed, made up with new sheets and plump pillows, and an ancient painted cupboard.

He absent-mindedly bounced on the bed, then lay back and looked at the whitewashed ceiling. Galliana had suggested he should rest, but his mind was too full. He heard noises from outside: Nathan bellowing commands. Jake got up again, opened the window and looked out. The quayside was directly below his bedroom. The
Escape
was no longer there – presumably it had been taken into the secret
harbour
; but in its place was another, smaller vessel: the
Campana
, one of the ships that Topaz had pointed out. It was a distinctive yellow ochre colour, with a steep prow and square sails. Nathan, his voice sounding more American when giving orders, was overseeing a group of sailors as they loaded it up.

Jake left the window open and looked in the cupboard. The blood drained from his face. He had been expecting to find it empty, but it contained an item he recognized immediately: a red suitcase.

It was the suitcase his parents had brought to the bathroom shop when he last saw them. Jake seized it, put it on the bed and unzipped it, instantly recognizing his parents’ clothes. As he rifled through the contents, hurriedly packed for a trip to a bathroom convention in Birmingham, he was once again engulfed in panic. He opened the front pocket of the case and received another appalling shock: inside were his parents’ passports.

Jake took them out and opened them. The familiar pictures of his mum and dad posing self-consciously in the photo booth at Greenwich station stared back at him. He remembered the day perfectly. They had been laughing so much it had taken five attempts. A stern ticking-off from a
sour
-faced commuter had only made matters worse.

As Jake looked from one picture to the other, it hit him more acutely than ever before …

His parents were truly lost.

Not just lost in Europe somewhere, but lost in history. Of course, Jake knew they wouldn’t need their passports in sixteenth-century Italy, but the fact that the documents were here in his hand emphasized their plight: what if they were imprisoned? What if they had been separated? What if they were already …? Jake ran over to the window, desperate for air. Down below, the sailors were still loading up the
Campana
, although Nathan was no longer to be seen.