Wraith(9)

I was fastening my boots when Becky returned. She gave a quick, hesitant knock on the door as if half expecting me to pretend to be out. I opened up and welcomed her back in. She raised her arms towards me, desperate for a hug. Gritting my teeth, I granted her wish although I only managed a few seconds before pulling away.

‘Did you find anything?’ I asked.

She bit her lip, nodded and thrust a small lacquered box at me. It had an intricate, colourful design that, to my untrained eye, simply looked a mess. ‘I’ve never seen this before,’ she said. ‘I tried to open it but it seems to be stuck.’

I frowned. She was right; there was a seam around the rim, indicating that the box could be opened, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t prise the lid off. I held the box up to my ear and rattled it. There was definitely something inside although whatever it was, it wasn’t very heavy.

‘Where exactly was this?’

‘In our secret stash. The one in the…’

I put my hands up. ‘Don’t tell me.’ I pursed my lips. ‘When was the last time you looked in the hiding place?’

‘Monday.’ She twisted a curl around her finger anxiously. ‘It wasn’t there then.’

‘You were searching through your stash just five days ago?’ That was unusual. The best stashes were hidden away and then forgotten about. They were for emergencies only – genuine, about-to-die emergencies.

Becky’s eyes filled up. ‘We hadn’t eaten in three days. Our rations were blocked and there was nothing in the cupboard. Mum told me to look in the stash. She told me to take out some money to buy rice.’ She sniffed. ‘We didn’t have enough though. The prices have gone up.’

‘Why were your rations blocked?’ I asked more sharply than I intended.

Her shoulders drooped. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered.

I hissed through my teeth. They should have come to me; I might have been able to help. Ange was too damn proud and Becky was too much of a kid. But this wasn’t the time for recriminations. I looked Becky up and down. Despite the mess she was in, she didn’t look too hungry. ‘Did you get food in the end?’

She nodded. ‘On Tuesday. Mum must have gone out when I was sleeping. I woke up early because I was hungry and she was already in the kitchen making pancakes.’ Becky swallowed and gazed at me with wide, frightened eyes. ‘She had maple syrup.’

Maple syrup? It was so long since I’d had maple syrup I could barely remember what it tasted like. Clearly Ange had performed some kind of miracle – or horrific deed – to get some. And no doubt she’d got this strange little box at the same time. I held it up to the light and examined one of the engravings on the lid. It was a simple Celtic knot, the sort you’d see anywhere. The snaking lines leading away from it detracted from the knot’s elegance, however. Pity. Turning the box over in my hands, I frowned to myself. Had Ange stolen it? Or was she keeping it safe for someone else?

‘We need to hide this. It might be nothing or it might be everything.’ I chewed the inside of my cheek. ‘With the goblins stationed outside, it’s probably better if we put it somewhere out of the way. Just in case.’ I gazed at Becky. ‘It’s also probably better if we put you somewhere out of the way too.’ It was a risk. The Filits wanted her to stay here; they wanted to know where she was. Discovering that she’d flitted from under their noses might set off a chain reaction that would lead to disaster. But they wanted her here for a reason; denying them the possibility of using Becky against her own mother seemed prudent.

‘Can’t I come with you?’ Becky asked in a small voice.

I shook my head. ‘It’s too dangerous. I’ll take you to a friend of mine. She’s … interesting. She’ll keep you safe.’ I handed the box back to her. ‘The first chance you get, hide that somewhere. Don’t tell anyone where it is.’

Becky swallowed but she nodded agreement.

‘We’ll get to the bottom of this,’ I said. ‘Somehow or other.’ I walked to my open window and peered down. Clambering down in full form was considerably harder than leaping out as a shadow. With those goblins in place at the front, however, we had little choice. I glanced back at Becky. ‘I hope you’ve got a head for heights.’

***

Sally Slate lived on the far fringes of the city, close to the city walls – and near to the imposing weaponry of the Gneiss goblins that loomed on the slopes beyond the river but was less than a mile away. When the first Gneiss shelling and bombardment had begun, her neighbours had gathered up their belongings and skedaddled. Sally had watched them, bemused, declaring that this neighbourhood was the safest. The Gneiss weren’t interested in targeting the poor outskirts of the city; they were aiming for the centre. They wanted to kill Filits.

In the end she was right. The majority of the buildings here were still standing. Before the heavy artillery attacks were abandoned, the Gneiss destroyed buildings and left piles of rubble in the middle of the town. Of course, had the Gneiss goblins pushed through and attacked in person, Sally would have been on the front line and caught between both sides. That prospect never seemed to bother her much; indeed, looking around her collection of old tins of food and paraphernalia looted from her departed neighbours, Sally didn’t seem to be doing too badly.