‘And double-check everything.’
Cool? Check. Distant? Check. Forbidding and reserved? Check. Now, who could this possibly be?
Carefully, I peeked around the corner and there he stood: Mr Rikkard Ambrose, a motionless figure in white and black, overseeing Karim, who was packing a few scrolls of paper into a bag. They looked like maps to me. Or ground plans.
‘…the main entrance. Soldiers will be stationed there.’
‘Yes, Sahib.’
Mr Ambrose stood more like an Ancient Greek statue than ever, his body now as motionless as his face, his figure erect, his eyes distant, as if looking at something three thousand years away.
Well, it was high time to startle some life into him.
I stepped out into the hall.
‘Hello, everybody.’
Mr Ambrose jumped in a most un-statue-like way. He whirled around, and his hand was already on its way to grip his sword cane when his eyes fell on me.
‘You!’
‘Yes, I.’ I marched forward and stopped only a few feet away from him, my fists on my hips. ‘What did you think? That I was going to stay home and miss all the fun?’
‘It was probably too much to expect sensible behaviour from you, for once.’ His eyes flashed, darkly. ‘I certainly didn’t expect you to be here this early.’
Ha! I knew it! He had known I would show up, but had hoped to be gone before I did so.
‘Well, I’m a morning person,’ I told him with a bright, fake smile.
‘I told you to stay away!’
‘Yes, well, I ignored you.’
‘I can see that.’ He took a step closer, bending forward a little. ‘I am displeased, Mr Linton, to put it mildly. Leave. Now.’
‘No.’
‘Mr Linton?’ He took another step closer. His eyes grew darker and stormier the closer he got. ‘I am going to do something I have never done to an employee in my entire life.’ Slowly, he bent forward, fixing me with his cold, sea-coloured gazes. ‘I’m giving you the day off. Go!’
‘No.’
‘Didn’t you hear me? You have a holiday in front of you! Enjoy it! It’ll be the last you’ll get out of me for the next five hundred years.’
‘You can take your holiday and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine! I’m coming with you!’
‘You work for me! You have to obey me.’
I raised my chin, meeting his gaze without blinking. ‘If you give me the day off, that means today I don't work for you, and I can do as I wish. And I wish to accompany you.’ Gesturing to Karim. ‘I can’t let you walk into danger with only him around for protection.’
The Mohammedan’s eyes bulged, and I fancy he would have said something pretty explicit, had not Mr Ambrose spoken first.
‘And what,’ he asked, his voice as cold as the North Pole, ‘makes you think I am going to let you accompany us?’
‘Oh you probably won’t.’ I shrugged. ‘But I can hire a cab and follow you. It’s as simple as that.’
‘I see.’ For a few moments, Mr Ambrose regarded me in silence. Then: ‘All right. You have won, Mr Linton. You can come.’
I wasn’t sure whether I’d heard correctly.
‘Excuse me?’
‘I said, you can come. I am not fond of repeating myself, Mr Linton.’
My mouth popped open.
‘I… I was expecting you to fight me on this for about a hundred years.’
He shrugged. ‘I know when to yield to superior forces. You have convinced me, Mr Linton. You should be there, you were right from the beginning. I need you.’
‘What?’ Karim demanded. ‘Sahib, you cannot be serious! She cannot-’
‘Silence, Karim!’ Mr Ambrose cut him off. ‘You will speak when I say so, and not before!’
The mountainous man closed his mouth, his eyes burning with anger.
‘As I said,’ Mr Ambrose repeated, ‘You should be there. You have a right to.’
‘Well… thank you. I’m glad you’ve finally seen sense.’ A timid smile broke over my face. At last! He was starting to be sensible. He was starting to accept me! ‘Shall we go, then?’
‘Soon,’ Mr Ambrose said, looking out of the window, his face as immovable as ever. ‘I just need one last thing. I think I’ve forgotten to take one of the ground plans I need. It’s on the desk in my office. Would you get it for me, please?’
‘Of course, Sir.’ Quickly, I ran past him and into his office. If he was going to take me along, I would do anything! In my mind, I was already picturing the sinister silhouette of the villain’s lair. My first ever real villain’s lair! My first adventure!
I had thought that the visit to the polling station was my first adventure, but compared to this, it was nothing! I would be entering a new world. A world of mystery, money, power and strife that most people didn’t even catch a glimpse of. I was so excited, that I almost didn’t catch the click behind me.
Almost.
I whirled around, just in time to see the door to the office close.
~~*~~*
Would it surprise anybody to hear that there was no ground plan on the desk in Mr Ambrose’s office? No? I didn’t think so.
‘Let me out! Let me out, curse you!’ My hand already hurt from hammering against the door. It was useless. The door was firmly locked, just as was the connecting door to my own office. He must have directed Karim to lock it while he was doing the same with the other, damn him!
‘Let me out, or I will break this door down!’
‘Don’t excite yourself, Mr Linton,’ came a cool voice from the other side of the door. ‘The door is oak, reinforced with steel. It won’t break. And don't bother calling for help, either. Nobody is here, and even when the other employees arrive, it won’t be any use to call out. I sent Mr Stone to Newcastle on a matter of business, the hallway will be empty. Everybody else will be out of hearing range. This building has thick walls.’
I heard him turning away from the door.
‘Come, Karim. We still have to collect the necessary supplies and scout the area one final time before the operation can begin.’
‘Yes, Sahib.’ Karim’s voice dripped self-satisfaction. I wanted to pull his beard out hair by hair and throttle him, and then bash in his employer’s head. Unfortunately, the door was in the way.
‘Mr Ambrose! Let me out!’
In answer, I heard only silence. Silence, and the sound of footsteps retreating down the hallway. Then those were gone, too.
I beat against the door, again and again, not because I thought I would be able to break it, but simply to vent my anger. Anger at him, and at myself. How could I have been so stupid? Of course he didn’t want to let me come along! Of course he had a hidden trap laid for me! This was Rikkard Ambrose we were talking about. And I had forgotten that fact, and walked right into his trap.
Maybe I didn’t deserve to come along on the great adventure. Maybe I deserved to stew here, in this office, like an old piece of beef in an old pot the cook forgot to take off the fire. I felt appropriately disgusted with myself.
When my hands hurt so badly I could hardly feel them anymore, I stopped torturing the office door. Instead, I looked around, desperate for a way to get out. But there was nothing. The office was just as bare as I remembered, with no possibilities of… wait a second.
In the farthest corner, there was a niche I hadn’t noticed before. Quickly, I crossed the room to see what it contained, and found myself in front of a door. My heart made a leap! Could it be? Could my escape be so easy?
I reached for the doorknob. My fingers clasped the cool metal, turned it, and - the door was locked.
Blast, blast, blast!
Of course, my escape couldn’t be that easy.
Turning around, my gaze drifted to the windows. They, too, appeared to be firmly shut and locked. I could break the glass, of course, but what would that gain me? If I shouted from the top floor to people in the street that one of London’s richest financiers was keeping me prisoner in his office, this surely would bring the police down on me. I would be lucky if I ever got away, let alone in time to join Mr Ambrose in his illegal endeavour.
Yes, but it would make a nice, juicy scandal and annoy the hell out of him, wouldn’t it?
True. But in my heart of hearts, I knew the problem was I didn’t want to annoy him.