Alice Parker & the Curse of Fate (17 page)

Chapter 14

Something
Else in Common

Alice knocked on the
door of Ralph’s family’s living quarters. Christina
opened it.

‘
Ah, Alice! I
am so happy you are OK. Your friend, Hugh, was very worried this
morning when he arrived in the village. I am glad Ralph could help
him find you.’

‘
Er, yes,
thank you,’ replied Alice. ‘Is Ralph here?’

‘
Of course,
come in. He is in his room. Just knock on the door. I am sure he
will be pleased to see you!’

‘
I doubt it,’
said Alice under her breath. She tapped on his door apprehensively.

‘
Wer ist da?’
was the grumpy response.

‘
Me. Alice.’

There was an awkward
pause while Alice waited and tried to look optimistic in front of
Christina. Thankfully Ralph opened the door.

‘
Er, hi. My
grandad’s here,’ Alice began.

Ralph turned his
nose up. ‘I know. I am avoiding him. I have nothing to say
to him.’

‘
I don’t
blame you. I feel like that too. But I think he wants to explain
things. He came here especially to see you.’

‘
Oh. You had
better come in.’

His room was not at
all what Alice had expected. In contrast to the ornate style of the
rest of the village, Ralph’s room was very plain. No silk
wallpaper, no antique furniture or oil paintings. The walls were
pale blue emulsion, his furniture simple and modern. A few carefully
selected items were laid out on the top of a chest of drawers. Alice
was drawn to them instantly. They were the only clues to his
personality in this room.

‘
I call it
minimal,’ said Ralph. ‘I am not interested in fancy
decoration. I get bored with seeing it everywhere else.’

‘
I suppose you
do, living down here all the time,’ replied Alice.

‘
I cannot wait
to go to college and leave here. I just cannot relax. I cannot
invite friends from school or throw a party. We have to use the
address of our old house for mail, even though it is being rented at
the moment. Luckily Dad knows the family and they let him collect it
twice a week. You do not realise how lucky you are, Alice. You have
the best of both worlds.’

‘
Hmmph.
Sometimes it feels like I have the worst of both.’ She picked
up one of his many school trophies for running and admired it.

‘
Embarrassing,
really,’ admitted Ralph. ‘I have to slow down to a
fraction of my speed at school, otherwise I would give the game
away.’

Alice turned to face
him. ‘Listen, I want to thank you for helping us today. For
helping me rescue Thomas, I mean. The Hermann thing backfired,
though.’

‘
I know. But
our intentions were good. It nearly worked too.’

Alice shrugged her
shoulders. ‘If your catalyst ability is so powerful, why
didn’t you just help Thomas to open the gate at the top of the
plinth?’

‘
It would have
taken him much longer to run down the stairs and get out. Plus, the
opportunity to embarrass him was too good to miss. Did you see his
face when he had to hold on to me? I know he does not like me.’

‘
Oh, don’t
worry about him. Thomas doesn’t really like anyone. It’s
nothing personal.’

‘
It does not
matter now, does it? Your dear friend Hugh is here. I almost wish I
had not told him where you were,’ said Ralph dolefully, sinking
down on to his bed.

‘
How did you
know we were at Hermannsdenkmal anyway?’

‘
I did not
know. It was a lucky guess. You had thought about me briefly so I
knew that your location was Detmold. Then you mentioned sightseeing.
Anyway, Hugh told me you were in danger, so I had to help.’

‘
He’s
not my friend, you know. I don’t even like him! He’s
...’

‘
Often on your
mind. I know that.’

‘
No! Well,
yes but not in a good way. A while back I was scared of him and with
good reason. His ability is mind control and it’s terrifying.
If I’m honest, that’s why I pushed you away. Your
ability reminded me of him and it freaked me out. I’m sorry.
I really am. It’s not your fault.’ Unable to look Ralph
in the eye, Alice turned her gaze back to the objects on the cabinet.
There was an old bear, a few model cars and a fork bent in to a
peculiar shape. But one item sent a shiver down her spine. To
anyone else, it was an uninteresting lump of dull brown rock. Alice
recognised it instantly.

‘
Where did you
get this from?’ she blurted out, pointing at it.

‘
What, that
stone? Oh, my mother gave it to me years ago. I have always liked
it. I am not sure why.’

‘
But where did
she
get it from?’

‘
Er, I think
she said it was a gift from an English man. A strange gift, I
thought. But then you English are strange! Why are you interested
in that old thing?’

Alice’s head
was spinning. It was all beginning to make sense now. No wonder
Grandad had been avoiding the subject of Ralph.

‘
You need to
get rid of that stone,’ she said firmly. ‘But first, you
need to see my grandad. Please. He’s waiting.’

Ralph groaned. ‘I
really do not want to. But if it is that important to you ...’

‘
It is. And
it will be for you as well.’

Reluctantly Ralph
accompanied Alice to the lilac room. He nodded briefly to Grandad
but turned sour when he realised Hugh was present.

‘
I appreciate
you coming to see me,’ began Grandad. ‘I owe you an
explanation. You too, Alice.’

‘
I don’t
think I need to hear it,’ she said bluntly.
Ralph
looked at her in surprise.

‘
Just one
question,’ she said, facing her grandad with an interrogating
glare. ‘Did you give one of those stones to Christina?’

Grandad scratched
his beard uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. ‘I might
have known you’d work it out.’

‘
It wasn’t
difficult. I’ve just seen it! Why? Why did you do it?’

‘
I gave
Christina that stone long before I realised what they can do,’
confessed Grandad. Ralph seemed perfectly normal as he was growing
up, so I tried not to worry.’

Alice tutted. Hugh
concealed a smile with his hand.

‘
Listen,
Alice, I gave that stone to Christina over twenty years ago! When
she was a teenager she presented me and your grandma with a piece of
the Berlin Wall when it came down in eighty-nine. We were touched.
So the next time we came to Berlin I brought her a piece of my stone
from the Wips in Arcanum Cove. It was only a small piece that had
broken off, but I told her it was something special. At the time I
had no idea how special, did I? It was only last year, when Ralph
discovered all his abilities, that I realised I was to blame.
Again.’

‘
How are you
to blame for my abilities?’ asked Ralph, thoroughly confused.
‘And how is a piece of stone relevant?’

‘
Oh, this is
brilliant!’ sniggered Hugh. ‘We have something in
common, Ralph! In fact, we’re almost family! Isn’t that
nice?’

‘
Are you sure
you’ve changed?’ asked Thomas, who had listened in
silence to Grandad’s confession. ‘Only, it sounds like
you still enjoy making people squirm.’

The smile
disappeared from Hugh’s face. ‘I was only having a bit
of fun. Sorry.’

‘
I don’t
need to hear the story about the stones again,’ said Alice
tearfully. ‘I’ll be waiting for you in the library,
Ralph.’

‘
I’ll
come with you,’ said Thomas. ‘Ralph and Grandad should
have some privacy while they talk.’

‘
Oh, er, of
course,’ mumbled Hugh, jumping to his feet hastily.

When Alice and
Thomas wandered in to the library, Hugh didn’t follow them.

‘
Aren’t
you joining us?’ Alice called after him.

Hugh turned around
in surprise. ‘No, thank you. I’ve got some late-night
Christmas shopping to do. Have a safe trip home, Alice. And let me
know what you discover in your books!’

‘
I can’t.
I ... I tried to call you a few days ago but I seem to have the
wrong number.’

‘
Oh, I had to
change it – I was getting so many vile messages from Isabella.
I’ll send you my new number. I must say, I’m flattered
that you tried to get in touch.’

‘
Don’t
be,’ replied Alice. ‘It was a desperate measure.’

‘
Ah. Well,
I’ll be off, then. Goodbye, Alice. Or should I say
Auf
Wiedersehen
?
Actually, don’t tell me. You’ll only hurt my feelings!’

Alice rolled her
eyes and began to walk away. ‘Idiot!’ she muttered.

*

When Ralph appeared
after his conversation with Grandad, Alice was surprised to see that
he looked happy. Far from being angry or disappointed that his
multiple abilities stemmed from a powerful stone, Ralph was relieved.

‘
I am just
glad I am not a freak!’ he admitted. ‘For the past few
months I thought I was, and I know my parents were secretly worried.
Now I know that I belong to an exclusive club! Although I can’t
say I’m pleased that Hugh’s a member.’

‘
None of us
are,’ agreed Thomas. ‘But I’m afraid we can’t
do much about it.’

Ralph pulled a face.
‘Can I ask a question? Your books, Alice, where your old aunt
describes your future ... are you tempted to make some of them
untrue? I mean, if I could see my future and there were parts I did
not like, I would try my hardest to change things.’

‘
I’ve
thought about it, believe me!’ replied Alice. ‘But it
doesn’t work like that. My destiny seems to be inescapable. I
call it the curse of fate.’

‘
I do not
believe that. Fate is not a curse, but prior knowledge of it might
be. I think those books are the problem. You could end up using
them as instructions and living your life accordingly. Even if you
think you are not.’

‘
Not true! I
can think of one event already that I will NOT allow to happen.
That’s if it really is written down.’

‘
We shall
see,’ said Ralph. ‘So, one day left in Berlin. What are
you going to do?’

‘
Have one last
German breakfast, then pack,’ replied Thomas. ‘We leave
at midday, so we don’t have much time left here at all.’

‘
Oh.’
The disappointment on Ralph’s face was unmistakable. ‘So
I will not see you tomorrow then?’

‘
Sorry mate,’
grinned Thomas.

Ralph blushed.

‘
No, you
won’t,’ said Alice hurriedly, wishing her own face wasn’t
burning. ‘We’ll say goodbye now.’

‘
Should I
leave the room or turn my back?’ asked Thomas.

Alice ignored him
and turned to Ralph. ‘Thanks for all your help. I’m
glad we met at last. And ... I hope to see you again.’
Awkwardly, she tried to shake hands.

‘
Ach, do not
be silly!’ beamed Ralph, giving her a hug. ‘Of course we
shall see each other again. And we shall keep in contact all the
time. Remember, you only need to think of me and ... ’

‘
I know.’
Alice’s eyes were stinging but she refused to let them well up
in front of Thomas. She certainly did not want him to know how she
felt. It was bad enough admitting it to herself and knowing that
Ralph was reading her thoughts.

‘
You could
always come and visit us,’ suggested Thomas, to Alice’s
surprise. ‘Not that you need to improve your English, but ...
you know. If you’d like a change of scenery. Our house isn’t
as posh as this, though!’

‘
Thanks!’
said Ralph, astonished by Thomas’s offer. ‘I might just
do that! Will you say goodbye to my mother before you go?’

‘
Yes, you
must,’ said Grandad as he approached them. ‘And when you
get back, please tell Grandma that I’m here. I’ll stay
here tonight and meet you at the airport tomorrow. I managed to get
a seat on the same flight home as you. I don’t fancy arriving
at Brigitte’s unannounced! I left home so quickly – it
was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But I’m glad we’ve
straightened things out.’ He patted Ralph on the back. ‘You
all look as though you could do with a good night’s sleep.’