The Midnight Mercenary (10 page)

But it wasn't over yet: they still had to walk back along all those long, dark tunnels and up those stairs to get to the hotel. After everything they'd been through, they weren't even home yet.

To Amelia's surprise, the walk home turned out to be fun. It was a much shorter journey when they were heading back to safety rather than down into danger, and when they could talk and laugh together. Mum hadn't seen glowing lichens in the tunnel she'd followed Krskn along, and she was as delighted as Amelia by the pink grotto.

James walked more slowly at the back of the group, keeping Len company as he inched along. The sandy ground was extremely hard work for his soft slug belly, especially as he'd already used up a lot of his slime, but James encouraged him with descriptions of all the lettuce and baby spinach they would give him in the hotel.

Amelia looked over her shoulder at the two of them, and nudged Mum.

Mum smiled. ‘I knew he'd get it in the end. It took longer than Dad and I thought, but he got there!'

It also took Tom longer than he thought to free Dad from the binding tar in the meter shed. The sun was up and already getting hot before Tom finally limped back to the hotel with Dad half-draped over his shoulders. He was trying to walk by himself, but a whole night standing upright and immobile had left his legs rather wobbly. The tar still clung in chunks to his clothes, and he was white with fatigue, but he grinned when he saw Amelia running over the grass toward him.

‘Cookie!'

She wrapped her arms around him, at last giving him the hug she'd missed out on the night before.

‘Tom has been telling me how amazing you were. You and Charlie. Even James!'

Amelia looked sideways at Tom. She had her doubts that he'd said any such thing.

Tom just grunted. ‘Can you make your own way back to the hotel from here? I've got things to do.' And without waiting for an answer, he shrugged off Dad's arm and turned to stump off down the hill again.

Dad staggered a bit and Amelia rushed to put her arms around him. He just laughed. ‘Good old Tom. He was impressed, you know. And even if he didn't say it quite like that, I'm saying it now. You were a star last night, kiddo.'

The praise was warm and genuine, but Amelia didn't feel like a star. What had happened last night was far too complicated for that. What she did feel, though, was happy. Truly and simply happy.

A flock of cockatoos flew across the blue sky, screeching outrageously. Far below them, the surf pounded against the foot of the headland. And in between, standing on the grass in the sunshine, was her whole family: Dad with his arm around her, Mum and James talking intensely together by the rose garden, and Charlie squirming to get away as his mum smothered him in yet another weeping bear hug.

‘Mum!'

Mary crooned over him in Greek, but Charlie had had enough.

‘I know! You've said it a million times!'

He struggled out of her arms. ‘But if you really loved me, you'd stop hugging me and get me some
toast!
'

Amelia laughed. ‘And me! I could eat a whole loaf!'

‘Two loaves!' James threw in. ‘And then I'm going to bed until July.'

‘Actually,' Mary said, ‘you might have forgotten – we still have fifty guests in the hotel.'

Amelia sighed. It was true. While they'd been down in the caves struggling with Krskn, Mary had been sitting up in the library waiting for each hysterical Scout to calm down enough to make their way back to shelter. Human and Lellum alike, they'd all eventually crept back and were now spread out on the floor of the library, sleeping off the terror of the night before.

‘What are we going to say when they wake up?' Amelia asked.

‘I doubt we'll have to say anything,' said Mum. ‘The Lellum know exactly what was going on last night, and once they see Len is safe, they'll save all their questions for the Keeper when he comes back to escort them through the gateway.'

‘But what about the humans?'

Mum raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘What did they really see? A boy with an allergic reaction, a smashed window – nothing so very peculiar. In fact, the only really strange part about last night was how they all behaved, but even that will probably make sense to them – once they find out they spent the night in Australia's most haunted hotel.'

Amelia laughed. ‘That's so mean! You're going to let them think the broken window and the screams were because of ghosts?'

‘Are you kidding?' Mum laughed back. ‘This will be the stuff of Scouting legend! They'll tell this story at every campfire for the rest of their lives! And for once, it'll be a true story – more or less.'

They made their way wearily up to the hotel steps. Then Amelia's dad spied the library annexe window.

‘Oh, no!' he groaned. ‘Not more broken glass – we just replaced every window in the kitchen.'

Amelia laughed out loud. What a brilliant day when a broken window was all they had to worry about. Grawk bumped against her leg, and together they all went into the hotel. Home.

 

Amelia and Charlie panted as they ran. There had been some kind of crisis at the hotel that morning – the phone had been ringing and ringing long before dawn, and between each call, Dad and Mum kept having this hurried, whispered discussion. By the time the sun was up, it felt like everyone had been awake for hours. In fact, when Charlie's mum Mary had looked at the clock and screeched, ‘You're twenty minutes late!' Amelia was surprised it wasn't already lunchtime.

So here they were, sweaty and puffed and still half a block from school.

As they got closer, though, Amelia realised that there might be some sort of crisis at school, too. Thudding along the pavement, swinging around the signpost and racing down the driveway into the school grounds, Amelia heard kids shouting at one another. Not just the usual loud, playful shouts, but angry yells. The school bell rang on and on, but no-one paid any attention.

She glanced at Charlie, but he looked as confused as she was.

Slowing to a jog, they passed the school buildings and reached the playground at the back. Kids were swarming under the old crabapple tree.

‘It'll be the start of World War Three!' yelled Callan, a panicked look on his face.

‘No it won't!' Erik snapped. ‘Don't you know anything? It's the start of a new world order – a new world peace!'

‘What on earth …' Charlie murmured, his eyes moving from one kid to the other. He found any sort of chaos very cheering.

Ms Slaviero was in the middle of the playground, the old brass bell in one hand, but she'd given up using it. With her other hand, she put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

For an instant, the playground was silent. The arguing kids stood frozen, stunned and staring at one another before turning to face their teacher.

‘What is all the noise about?' Ms Slaviero asked. ‘I could hear you from inside the supply cupboard!'

The quiet broke abruptly as six or eight kids shouted their explanations at Ms Slaviero over the top of everyone else. She held up her hands.

‘Stop, stop, stop! One at a time, please.' She waited until they were all quiet again. ‘Right. Thank you. Now, Sophie T. How did this begin?'

‘Oh, miss! Not her –' Erik blurted out.

Ms Slaviero held up a hand again and looked steadily at Sophie T.

‘Well,' Sophie T said, ‘it all started because of the aliens.'

Amelia and Charlie glanced at one another.

‘I beg your pardon,' said Ms Slaviero.

‘Because of the aliens they found in Egypt,' said Sophie T.

Amelia let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding.
In Egypt – phew. Nothing to do with the gateway, then. Nothing to do with me or my family at all.

Ms Slaviero laughed. ‘Ooo-kay. Aliens in Egypt. I've got to say, I haven't heard that one before.'

‘It's true!' said Erik. ‘It was on the news and everything.'

Charlie grinned at Amelia. ‘No way!' he whispered.

‘Are you sure it was the news, Erik?' said Ms Slaviero. ‘And not one of those funny internet videos?'

‘It was on the radio, too,' said Callan.

‘It's a hoax!' Sophie T scoffed. ‘You guys are so gullible.'

‘It's not a hoax,' said Callan, eyes widening. ‘It's a conspiracy. My brother told me all about it!'

‘If that was true, we'd be blown to bits already!' Erik shot back. ‘They've come in peace.'

‘It's an invasion!' Callan shouted. ‘It's been going on for centuries. Wake up and learn the facts before it's too late, you drone! The whole world has been run by a secret society of giant space lizards since 1776.'

Amelia gasped aloud. It was surely just a coincidence, wasn't it? Callan couldn't possibly know that the first alien Amelia and Charlie had ever seen going through the gateway under Tom's cottage had in fact been a giant space-reptile. She hadn't told anyone about it. She shot a sideways glance at Charlie, but he seemed as bewildered by Callan's announcement as she was.

Ms Slaviero turned and noticed Amelia and Charlie had arrived.

‘Hello, you two,' she said. ‘Well, if we've got the whole class here, I think I know what we're studying today.'

Callan nodded fiercely. ‘The real history of the Illuminati and their plans to enslave all humanity.'

‘Er, no …' said Ms Slaviero.

‘How proof of alien existence will unite all humanity in a new era of peace and enlightenment,' said Erik.

‘No!' Ms Slaviero was starting to sound irritated. ‘More like: truth versus fiction, and how to tell whether a story comes from a reliable source or not.'

Charlie groaned. ‘How do teachers do that?'

‘Do what?' said Amelia as they joined the crowd heading to the classroom.

‘Take something as awesome as a fight about aliens and turn it into the world's most boring lesson.'

But as far as Amelia was concerned, the quicker they got off the topic of aliens, the better. She was good at keeping secrets, but she was a terrible liar – if anyone asked her if she believed in aliens, it wouldn't matter what she said. The truth would show clearly in her face.

And what would happen if, even as a joke, someone asked her if she'd ever
seen
an alien? Worse still, what if they asked
Charlie?