fat people on board. He always watched to see if they could get around the sideways doors on the plane’s washroom. Once a woman did get stuck, on the Darwin-Bali flight, but Christopher was asleep. Amy told him about it later. He was disappointed he’d missed seeing her wedged in the doorway. He liked sketching people from unusual angles.
The courier looked a little surprised, but he answered,’ I’ll try not to drink much on the flight. Then I won’t need to go.’
It was a long flight to Tokyo. William would be serving orange juice soon. Adults often had other drinks too, from the bar trolley. It must be hard not to drink.
Amy asked. ‘Do you fly a lot?’
He nodded. ‘You do too, don’t you?’
Amy was pleased he knew that. Of course he couldn’t miss the I.D. tags the ground staff had pinned on their tops. Name, age, destination and a contact person. Mum’s was the contact name this time.
‘Yes. We’re U.M.s Our parents are eco-photographers. They work all over Asia. We’re flying to meet our Mum in Tokyo. What do you carry in your bag?’
Amy was a question- firing machine. Surprised at the children’s interest, the man answered gruffly,
‘Contracts usually. Legal promises to do things. Bits of special paper’
‘What are they for?’ asked Amy.
‘Something that’s very important to a big international company. Something they can’t trust to the mail. And I..er...they can’t fax or scan it in case someone else sees it, by mistake.’ That was a big speech for him. Amy wondered why he said ‘I’ at first and then ‘they’. Using his free hand, the man took out his inflight magazine. He also reached for his head phones.
The twins knew he was giving them a hint to shut up, but Christopher was rapt in the idea of a silver chain and padlock. What if the key were lost? What if it fell down the airline toilet? What if there were only one key in the whole world? Would they have to use a hacksaw to chop the chain off? What would you do if for the rest of your life, until you were a hundred, you were chained to a briefcase? ‘Who has the key?’ asked Christopher peering across at the chunky man sitting alongside the courier. He looked scruffy but the courier was well-dressed. They didn’t speak to each other, so perhaps they weren’t together.
‘That’s a secret,’ said the courier. After talking such a lot, he was returning to his short answers. Perhaps he’d run out of words, like a car runs out of petrol? But no, he revved up again when Christopher asked,’ Do you know what’s in there?’ ‘Not exactly. I just know that it’s important for the gallery and for me. And it must stay with me all the time, until I hand the briefcase to the right person at the Tokyo airport.’
Christopher wondered how the courier could hand over the briefcase if it was still locked to him. So either the courier had the key or the person he was meeting had the key. Or maybe it was with the other chunky man, sitting alongside? Although they hadn’t spoken yet.
‘How will you know who the right person is?’ Amy was curious. Tokyo was a very big airport. They’d been there before. There were Japanese signs everywhere.
‘You ask a lot of questions,’ said The Holder of the Silver Chain.
Amy nodded. It was one of her hobbies. But she didn’t need to ask his name. KEI was printed on his boarding pass which was on his knee.
‘They have to show me the right papers to identify themselves. And I have to show them my identity.’
‘You have to prove to them you are Mr Kei.’
‘Mmm.’ He glanced down at his boarding pass. ‘You noticed Kei on that. Pretty quick for a kid. You can read upside down can you?’
Amy nodded. So his name was said like a ‘key’. That was funny. The courier called Kei who needed a key. Her next thought was that being a courier might be a good job for someone who liked flying for free. But it wouldn’t suit Aunty Viv. She wouldn’t fly if you paid her! The twins looked up at the seat belts ON sign .
The plane was ready for take-off. They could feel the engines. Amy smiled at Christopher. She loved the going-up when her tummy was left behind. It was like riding a roller coaster. A tour director was giving out packets of photos to his ‘Sunny Tours’ people.
He was also trying to explain to one couple holding a giant bunch of dried wedding flowers. ‘You need a permit for dried banksia flowers, cacti or orchids.’ Quickly the newly weds pulled out their piece of paper. ‘Permit. The shop gave us one. They said we could take them out of the country and into Japan.’
The director shrugged. ‘Fine.’
‘Sit down please sir,’ William said. ‘We’re ready for take off.’
Obediently the director sat, just as a man in an old-fashioned red cloak swept past and joined people a few seats behind the twins. He was carrying a packet in one hand and a saggy bag in the other. His beard stuck out like a mini shelf. He looked as if he’d stepped out of an old movie.
‘Look, the guards!’ Christopher pointed. ‘They’re heading for the front seats.’
The two security guards were the last people to come on board. The plane door was shut and the crew went through the usual safety checks. The video screen lowered from the roof and a William-look- alike told them what to do in an emergency. The twins had heard it all before.
‘Are you okay?’ William checked on them before he strapped himself into his own seat. He seemed to check on everything as if he wasn’t used to doing some things. Perhaps he was new?
‘No worries.’ said the twins. Amy wasn’t worried about flying, but she was interested in what was in the chained briefcase and whether anyone would artnap the Rembrandt. Why would someone going to modern Tokyo wear such an old fashioned cloak? Or was he just playing the fool?
During the flight, the frequent flyer twins would find out. They usually did discover what they wanted to know.
Chapter 3
Wrong Shots
‘Excuse me.’ The ‘Sunny Tours’ director was trying to visit his tour people in seats all over the plane. He was giving out envelopes.
Meanwhile, there was a fuss in the seats nearby.
‘No! Not right! The passenger pointed with a sparkly, gold ringed finger.
Not us!’ On her lap was a big, silver envelope. Some photos spilled out.
‘Wrong photos?’ Amy peered curiously across the aisle.
Just before take-off, the tour director had given out some of his envelopes. Obediently the tour group had sat still until the seatbelt sign went off. Then they started to open their silver edged photo envelopes from the airport FAST-FOTO shop. The woman nodded, very upset. Her gold ring was so sparkly and looked very new. Her partner’s gold ring looked new too. Their hand luggage was hot pink. So were the bags of most of
