Improvisation was the key to survival here. There was no point in attempting a straight assault. If these three had subdued Madame Ko, then they would be more than a match for her in regular combat. Time to try something a bit unorthodox.
Juliet leaped on the run, snagging a clothes line on her way past. The ring resisted for a second, then popped out of the dried plaster. The cable played out behind her, sagging with its load of rugs and headscarves. Juliet veered left as far as the line’s other anchor would allow, and then swung round towards the men.
‘Hey, boys!’ she yelled, not from bravado, but because this would work better head on.
The men looked up just in time to get a faceful of sopping camel hair. The heavy rugs and garments wrapped themselves around their flailing limbs, and the nylon cable caught them below the chins. In under a second the three were down. And Juliet made certain they stayed down with pinches to the nerve clusters at the base of their necks.
‘Madame Ko!’ she cried, searching the laundry for her sensei. The old woman lay shuddering in an olive dress, a plain headscarf covering her face.
Juliet helped the woman to her feet.
‘Did you see that move, Madame? I totally decked those morons. I bet they never saw anything like that before. Improvisation. Butler always says it’s the key. You know, I think my eyeshadow distracted them. Glitter green. Never fails…’
Juliet stopped talking because there was a knife at her throat. The knife was wielded by Madame Ko herself, who was in fact not Madame Ko, but some other tiny Oriental lady in an olive dress. A decoy.
‘You are dead,’ said the lady.
‘Yes,’ agreed Madame Ko, stepping from the shadows. ‘And if you are dead, then the principal is dead. And you have failed.’
Juliet bowed low, joining her hands.
‘That was a sly trick, Madame,’ she said, trying to sound respectful.
Her sensei laughed. ‘Of course. That is the way of life. What did you expect?’
‘But those assassins; I completely kicked their b—; I defeated them comprehensively.’
Madame Ko dismissed the claim with a wave. ‘Luck. Fortunately for you, these were not assassins, but three graduates of the Academy. What was that nonsense with the wire?’
‘It’s a wrestling trick,’ said Juliet. ‘It’s called the Clothes Line.’
‘Unreliable,’ said the Japanese lady. ‘You succeeded because fortune was with you. Fortune is not enough in our business.’
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ protested Juliet. ‘There was this guy in the market. Totally in my face. I had to put him asleep for a while.’
Madame Ko tapped Juliet between the eyes. ‘Quiet, girl. Think for once. What should you have done?’
Juliet bowed an inch lower. ‘I should have incapacitated the merchant immediately.’
‘Exactly. His life means nothing. Insignificant compared to the principal’s safety.’
‘I can’t just kill innocent people,’ protested Juliet.
Madame Ko sighed. ‘I know, child. And that is why you are not ready. You have all the skill, but you lack focus and resolve. Perhaps next year.’
Juliet’s heart plummeted. Her brother had earned the blue diamond at eighteen years of age. The youngest graduate in the Academy’s history. She had been hoping to equal that feat. Now she would have to try again in twelve months. It was pointless to object any further. Madame Ko never reversed a decision.
A young woman in acolyte’s robes emerged from the alley, holding a small briefcase.
‘Madame,’ she said, bowing. ‘There is a call for you on the satellite phone.’
Madame Ko took the offered handset and listened intently for several moments.
‘A message from Artemis Fowl,’ she said eventually.
Juliet itched to straighten from her bow, but it would be an unforgivable breach of protocol.
‘Yes, Madame?’
‘The message is: Domovoi needs you.’
Juliet frowned. ‘You mean Butler needs me.’
‘No,’ said Madame Ko, without a trace of emotion. ‘I mean Domovoi needs you. I am just repeating what was told to me.’
And suddenly Juliet could feel the sun pounding on her neck, and she could hear the mosquitoes whining in her ears like dentist drills, and all she wanted to do was straighten up and run all the way to the airport. Butler would never have revealed his name to Artemis. Not unless… No, she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even allow herself to think it.
Madame Ko tapped her chin thoughtfully. ‘You are not ready. I should not let you leave. You are too emotionally involved to be an effective bodyguard.’
‘Please, Madame,’ said Juliet.
Her sensei considered it for two long minutes.
‘Very well,’ she said. ‘Go.’
Juliet was gone before the word finished echoing around the square, and heaven help any carpet merchant who blocked her path.
CHAPTER 5: THE METAL MAN AND THE MONKEY