of course we had no idea she was involved with such a prestigious spy agency. She was no more than a rank amateur. If they had only trained dear Lopez,’ he continued with a theatrical flourish, ‘perhaps she would be sitting here today – instead… of…’ The Count laughed. ‘Well… you.’
Ruby shivered.
‘But avalanches are such unpredictable things. And loud noises – dynamite for example – do tend to set them off. What a shame. Such a smart lady: I think her brain was almost equal to mine and I am considered quite the genius.’
Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘Some genius. You left her with the code, which is the reason we caught onto you,’ she said. ‘You gotta learn to look – check, check, check.’
The Count narrowed his eyes. ‘Speaking of which, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?’
Ruby gulped.
‘Just tell me where it is and I’ll leave you in peace.’
‘Where what is?’
‘Ms Redfort, let’s not play games, not you and me, we are above all that surely.’
‘But look at me, what could I possibly have that you could want?’ But Ruby’s heart wasn’t in the lie – RULE 26: NEVER KID A KIDDER, she thought.
He stared at her with his cold black eyes.
‘OK,’ she ventured. ‘I give you the key – you let me go?’
The Count shook his head sadly. ‘I’m afraid that’s just not how it works. You see you are in the worst possible position to make a bargain.’
Ruby swallowed – her mouth was very dry and beads of sweat were forming on her brow.
‘Speak up, Ms Redfort.’
But Ruby said nothing.
He stamped his foot. Ruby jumped and felt a heavy lock of hair fall across her right eye. And her barrette – her barrette slipped slowly, very slowly past her nose. She held her breath.
Will he see? Of course he will.
The Count reached his long elegant hand out, slipped the barrette from her hair, and just like that… the glass K was his.
‘Good, no need for torture today – you see how pleasant things can be?’ he said. ‘Poor little Dorothy, doesn’t look like you are going to make it to the Emerald City after all.’ He looked at her clogs. ‘Not even your ruby slippers can save you now.’
‘Never mind, I’m not really dressed for a party,’ said Ruby with a weary smile.
The Count looked at Ruby’s T-shirt, which read, in deep trouble.
‘No, I dare say you are right, though the sentiment is perfect for the occasion,’ said the Count with a wink.
‘What now?’ Ruby’s voice was almost a croak.
‘Quite right, let’s move on, no more chatter,’ said the Count. ‘I have devised something rather splendid for you – it’s straight out of The Wizard of Oz, what a wonderful film that could have been, if only someone with a little imagination had directed it. My favourite scene is the one where the witch turns over the hourglass – Dorothy will die when all the sand has fallen. What a shame, I always thought, not to put little Dorothy inside the hourglass. So much more dramatic, far less chance for error… So consider this a remake, the version Hollywood would not dare to screen!’
Ruby’s eyes grew very big and she could no longer be sure that her heart was still beating.
‘Well now my pretty,’ said the Count, adopting the wicked witch of the West’s mocking tone. ‘When the clock strikes half past eleven, the tower you are sitting in will begin to fill with jade-green sand like a giant hourglass.’
Ruby winced – she had never liked sand in her hair but to be buried alive in it was gruesome beyond anything she had seen in any of Mrs Digby’s thrillers.
‘You can kill me if you want,’ said Ruby, her voice beginning to crack, ‘but that won’t help you get past all the museum security, all the alarms, all the guards. You haven’t a chance of getting anywhere near the Jade Buddha of Khotan.’
‘It’s sweet of you to show your concern, but I have it all beautifully choreographed and I have the perfect little distraction for the good folk of Twinford – a power cut and an explosion all in one. It really will be very exciting. Total blackout, so dramatic. Blow up the bank and watch all those pretty green dollars float up into the sky. And of course once the power is cut they can forget about all their clever little lasers – they will look like they are activated, but I can assure you, they won’t be!’
Count Von Viscount looked at his watch – it was an old fashioned timepiece, kept in his pocket, secured by a chain. ‘Time marches on, however, and now I regret I must leave you. I am glad we had a chance to meet, too bad I will not have the pleasure again.’
And with that, he was gone.
Ruby couldn’t be sure, but as the door closed, she thought she heard the sound of a woman’s voice – one she almost recognised. But before she had a chance to search her mind, she heard another.
Is that singing?
Ruby looked up and there perched on a ledge was a reel to reel tape player, playing a tune she knew very well. Mr Sandman – her father sometimes whistled it before bedtime. She shivered. Would this be the last time she ever heard that song?
Think like that, Ruby, and you’re already dead.
The sands of time
HITCH WATCHED AS A TALL MAN in a rather old-fashioned-looking suit walked into the imposing museum hall, followed by a relieved looking Agent Blacker.
The clock struck eleven-thirty. Just in the nick of time, thought Hitch. Herr Gustav had been expected at least three hours ago.
He radioed the search team again. ‘The kid?’
‘Nothing,’ came the reply.
On the other side of the room Clancy had spotted his parents – they were talking to Mr and Mrs Redfort and an elegant man who Clancy didn’t recognise.
‘I just don’t know where that daughter of ours has gotten to – I was so hoping to introduce you,’ said Brant, shaking the man’s hand.
The man smiled reassuringly. ‘I am sure she is somewhere nearby… buried up to her ears in something. I remember myself as a child,’ said the man. ‘I used to wish I could lock myself away and listen to music undisturbed.’
‘That sounds like our girl,’ said Brant.
‘No doubt she’ll be wearing something utterly inappropriate for the evening,’
