The Mask of Destiny (31 page)

The lazy afternoon peace was cut by the sound of a helicopter landing somewhere north of town.

Nico shielded his eyes with his hand. ‘We don't get helicopters at this time of year. Just for injured skiers in the winter.'

Gerald lifted himself out of the broken chair and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder. ‘Charlotte won't be waiting around,' he said. ‘And we shouldn't be either. I say we check out those caves.'

Something had shifted. Even though Gerald wouldn't admit it, there was now a new objective. It came from deep within him, an unnamed desire, a slow-burning fuse. Whether it was a response to fate or a suppressed instinct that had been waiting to be triggered, he didn't know, but Gerald Wilkins was now sure of his path. They had to find the lost treasure of the Oracle of Delphi.

The narrow path zigzagged up the mountainside, cutting across the rocky cliff face. The going was steep, hot and dusty. Gerald was surprised by how quickly they left the village behind.

They reached a flat spot and clambered onto a large boulder that gave a panoramic view of the valley. The four of them dangled their legs over the edge and passed around a water bottle. They could see right down to the ancient ruins of Delphi: the temple, the amphitheatre, the Sacred Way.

‘It's so beautiful here,' Ruby said, taking in the scene below. ‘It's like we're sitting on the edge of the world.'

Sam took a long drink of water. ‘If you like that sort of stuff, I guess.'

Gerald laughed and took the water bottle from Sam. ‘There's not a lot of poetry in you, is there? Look, I've been thinking. Do you remember what Dr Serafini said about twins in history?'

‘About how special we are?' Sam said.

‘Special. Freak-like. Whichever,' Gerald said. ‘He mentioned those twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. They took turnabout at being dead.'

‘What about them?' Sam said.

‘When we were in the museum, before we saw Charlotte, there were two statues of Castor and Pollux. The tour guide said something about there being a cult of the twins around here. Seeing those two statues, and how they were dug out of the ground, gave me an idea.'

‘And what's that, Howard Carter?' Ruby said.

‘But his name is Gerald,' Nico said. ‘Why do you call him Howard Carter.'

‘Howard Carter was the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of King Tut in Egypt,' Ruby said. ‘It was a joke.'

Nico frowned up at her. ‘You are this boy's twin sister?' he asked, jerking a thumb towards Sam.

‘That's right,' Ruby said.

Nico nodded. ‘Your jokes aren't funny either.'

Before Gerald could continue, a bright glint of light flashed across Ruby's face. The afternoon sun was reflecting off something, from down near Nico's house. ‘What's that,' Ruby said, shielding her eyes from the glare.

Then, carried on the still summer air, came a voice on a megaphone. ‘STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!'

Gerald looked at Ruby. ‘That sounds like—'

‘THIS IS DETECTIVE INSPECTOR JARVIS OF THE LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE. STAY WHERE YOU ARE!'

‘How did he get here?' Sam said.

‘Helicopter,' Ruby said. ‘That vile woman must have woken up.'

Gerald scrambled to his feet and shouldered his pack. ‘I'm not hanging around to find out.' He set off up the path at a jog, scrabbling over the loose scree. Sam, Ruby and Nico followed close behind.

‘Nico,' Sam panted. ‘You don't have to come.'

The boy set his jaw and soldiered on. ‘Twenty dollars an hour,' he said.

They reached the brow of the hill before they heard the megaphone again.

‘STOP!'

Gerald looked back but couldn't see any sign of the pursuing police.

‘STOP. THERE ARE POLICE MARKSMEN WITH ME AND WE WILL SHOOT.'

Ruby looked to Gerald. ‘Surely they wouldn't shoot.'

A rock above Sam's head exploded out of the cliff face, showering him with shrapnel. A sharp
crack
echoed up the hillside.

Everyone ducked. ‘Or maybe they would,' Ruby said.

‘Quick!' Gerald led a crouching retreat over a boulder. They landed in the dust on the other side just as another shot cracked overhead.

‘What are they shooting for?' Ruby said. ‘We haven't done anything.'

Nico sat wide-eyed in the dirt. ‘It's the local police,' he said. ‘They excite easily.'

‘What do we do now?' Ruby asked, her back flat against the boulder.

‘Nico, how far are the caves?' Gerald asked.

Nico thought for a second. ‘Five kilometres,' he said. ‘Maybe six.'

‘That's a hike,' Sam said. ‘But it's got to be better than sitting here.'

‘We've got a good half hour's head start,' Gerald said. ‘Let's not waste it.'

A long gentle slope ran ahead of them, boxed on either side by rocky cliffs. After the climb up the mountain they made good ground. The country was barren and supported only the scrappy trees and scrub that lined their way. They raced around a cairn of rocks and past a low-set concrete bunker with a steel manhole cover on top. They could hear rushing water bubbling deep underground.

After running for a solid thirty minutes without any more megaphone warnings or gunshots, they scurried up a dry creek bed and tumbled through a cleft in a rock face into an open expanse. The grass was littered with boulders and cowpats. Hills rose on either side. The trail continued along a gully for another fifty metres before turning to the left.

Ruby made for the shade of a gnarled olive tree by a rock wall. ‘Time for a break,' she said. ‘Jarvis didn't look that fit. They'll be well behind.' She dropped into the grass under the tree and fished in her pack for the water bottle. She drank deep and long.

‘It's a shame Lethbridge wasn't leading the charge,' Sam said. ‘We could have taken all day.'

Gerald's face burned red. His cheeks were streaked with sweat salt. ‘How much further Nico?' he asked. His hands were on his knees and he was sucking in deep breaths.

Nico looked around, getting his bearings. ‘Another hour, maybe.'

Gerald took the bottle from Ruby and took a generous swig. He went to hand it to Sam, but—

‘Sam?'

They spotted him on the far side of the tree, near a pile of rocks that must have slid down the cliff wall. He was on his hands and knees, poking around the base with a stick.

‘Sam?' Gerald said. ‘What are you doing?'

Sam poked his head up and beckoned them over. ‘Check this out,' he said. He prodded the stick into a gap between two large rocks, then dropped to his stomach and shoved his arm in, up to the shoulder.

‘Careful,' Ruby said. ‘There could be snakes.'

Sam writhed around for a second, then, ‘Gotcha!'

He pulled his arm back and in his hand he held a tortoise-shell kitten, only a few weeks old. He bundled the mewling ball of fur into his lap.

‘Trust you to find a cat in the middle of nowhere,' Ruby said.

‘What is it with you and cats?' Gerald said.

‘Simple,' Sam said. ‘Cats means no rats.'

‘We really don't have time for this,' Gerald said. Then, out of the gap between the rocks, came a cat's head. The kitten's mother slinked into the open, boxed its child around the ears with a paw then clamped her mouth around the scruff of the kitten's neck and dived back through the opening.

Sam laughed and set about loosening some of the rocks at the base of the pile.

‘Come on, Sam,' Ruby said. ‘We need to get going.'

Sam widened the gap and squeezed his head and shoulders through. ‘Hold on a sec,' his muffled voice came back.

‘Stop being an idiot,' Ruby said, pounding his back with her fists.

Sam pulled his head back into the daylight, blinked, then grabbed a headlamp from his pack and dived into the rock pile again.

The space around Sam's head glowed from the lamp, then his shoulders slid through the rocky opening. And then he disappeared altogether.

‘Sam!' Ruby cried. ‘What are you—'

A single shout of surprise echoed out of the gap. It was followed seconds later by a colossal splash.

‘What's the idiot done now?' Ruby moved towards the hole, but Nico beat her there. The boy threw himself into the gap between the rocks, kicking up a plume of dust as he wriggled through. Gerald watched speechless as his shoes disappeared.

He stared at Ruby, unsure what to do. The sound of another splash came out of the hole.

Ruby didn't hesitate. She grabbed a torch from her pack, strapped it to her head and slithered through the opening.

‘Ruby!' Gerald called into the hole. ‘Can you see anything?'

There was a pause, then Ruby's voice came back, ‘I can't see them. Hold on.' There was another pause. Then a cry of surprise.

And an enormous splash.

Gerald was alone.

He had no choice.

He had his torch out and on his head just as the first of the policemen charged into the clearing behind him.

Chapter 25

G
erald spun his head to see three more policemen stumble into the broad expanse of grass and rocks. A second later they were joined by a sweat-covered Inspector Jarvis.

Gerald froze where he was, crouched low to the ground. The gnarled olive tree gave him some cover but he knew any movement would give his position away. The policemen were looking straight ahead, towards the far end of the gully, and hadn't looked his way…not yet.

Gerald's eyes locked onto the sniper's rifle that was slung over the shoulder of one of the local police. Nico was right—this one looked particularly excitable.

Gerald held his breath. Jarvis was barking orders to keep moving. They were barely twenty metres away. If he kept completely still, didn't flutter an eyelid…

A furry head appeared between Gerald's knees.

The kitten looked around, its eyes darting left and right, in search of mischief. It spotted a beetle shuffling through the grass, and pounced.

Gerald stifled a gasp of panic. His eyes shot back to the policemen. They were advancing up the slope, eyes still straight ahead.

The kitten launched itself into a scrubby plant, rustling among the leaves. Gerald slid out a hand and scooped it up. It wrapped itself around his fingers, then sank a mouthful of tiny teeth into his thumb. Gerald clamped his lips together, swallowing the cry that he wanted to bellow out. The kitten meowed in protest at its game being cut short.

The policeman with the rifle was thirty paces away— almost at the turn out of the gully. He stopped, pulled a water bottle from his belt and took a long drink. If one of his colleagues looked back at him, Gerald was sunk.

The policeman drank and drank.

The kitten released its bite on Gerald's thumb, and started licking the wound. Gerald let out a silent sigh of relief. A second later eight needle-like claws dug in as well.

The policeman with the rifle holstered his water bottle and set off after his companions. Jarvis was the first to reach the turn out of the gully and take a step up the rocky culvert.

Gerald released his grip on the kitten; his shoulders relaxed.

Then a distant shout of ‘Gerald!' echoed up out of the gap in the rocks.

All of the policemen stopped in their tracks.

Jarvis spun around.

‘Wilkins!' he bellowed. ‘Stay where you are!'

Gerald's brain stalled—but only long enough to notice the policeman swing the rifle from his shoulder and point the barrel right at him.

The Inspector's cry of ‘NO!' and the shot came at the same time. An explosion above Gerald's head showered rock splinters down on him. He didn't wait for the policeman to reload. Still clutching the kitten, he scrambled through the opening, like a terrier into a rabbit hole, head first into darkness.

Whether it was Gerald's foot catching a boulder on the way through, or the policeman's second shot dislodging a keystone, something caused a rockslide. Gerald's eyes were peppered with grit as the opening behind him was swallowed up in tonnes of rubble. He curled into a ball and toppled to his side, trying to make as small a target as possible as stones rained down on him. He held the kitten to his chest and looked up just as an enormous boulder loosened and fell towards him. He held his breath waiting for the impact. But the rock wedged into a cleft and stuck fast, just centimetres from his nose.