Alice Parker & the Curse of Fate (2 page)

‘
I also know
what you are because Isabella told me. Don’t worry, I don’t
care. It doesn’t change anything.’

‘
Oh! Er,
that’s good.’

‘
Listen, I
know I should be loyal to my own family but ... I don’t like
this. I don’t understand what’s going on.’

‘
What do you
mean?’

‘
I don’t
know how to say this without sounding completely insane. But I think
Isabella’s losing the plot. I keep finding her talking to a
statue in my dad’s office. She seems to have conversations
with it, as if it’s real.’

‘
Oh!’
gasped Alice, her heart pounding. ‘What sort of statue is it?’

‘
Well, it’s
an ugly thing made of blue stone. It looks like a man but it’s
more of a monster really, with scaly skin. Weird or what? Anyway,
this is the part I really need to tell you. I heard her promising it
that she would get revenge on the Parkers. I actually heard her
mention you and Thomas. I’m so sorry. Does any of this make
sense or is my sister really ill?’

Mortified that
Lionel was in the same town, Alice closed her eyes and tried to
compose herself. Lionel, the Sinwip who Thomas had accidentally
killed by turning him to stone, was residing with the Rowbottoms just
minutes away from the Parkers’ home. ‘It ... it does
make sense, thanks,’ she stuttered. ‘But it’s bad
news for me. How long has that statue been in your house?’

‘
Quite a
while. Since May or June, I think. Horrible thing. It gives me the
creeps. I don’t know how Isabella persuaded Dad to buy it. I
really don’t understand her any more. Or him.’

A tear ran down
Lucinda’s face. She brushed it off hurriedly. ‘I just
thought you should know. Isabella would kill me if she ...’

‘
I won’t
say anything, I promise,’ Alice assured her. ‘I really
appreciate this. You will tell me if you hear anything else, won’t
you?’

Lucinda nodded and
hurried back indoors. For a moment, Alice paused in the rain. No
wonder Isabella had been pursuing them relentlessly. She had a
partner in crime now, fuelling her motivation. The last time they
had seen Lionel, he was being exhibited as a statue at the British
Museum. That was when Alice realised that Isabella shared one of her
abilities; she could communicate with the dead. But Alice had no
intention of telling Lucinda why her sister was talking to a statue.
She had been through enough already, without discovering that her
father’s latest art acquisition was actually a corpse.

Chapter 2

A
Secret Escape

After the initial
shock of learning that Lionel was just down the road, Thomas couldn’t
help seeing the funny side of it.

‘
Imagine that!
Lionel standing in Brian’s office as a talking point for his
clients! I wonder how many of them comment how ugly he is? His face
would put me off my lunch, never mind a business deal!’

‘
It’s
not funny,’ snapped Alice. ‘We knew Lionel and Isabella
would be a deadly combination if they managed to work together.’

‘
I never
thought they’d end up living together, though.’

Alice grimaced.
‘Well, she’s always had bad taste.’

Thomas ignored that
dig at his brief but disastrous relationship with Isabella. ‘I’m
actually quite glad we’re going away now,’ he admitted.
‘Lionel’s a bit too close for comfort. Isabella’s
bad enough but now we know he’s involved ... I dread to think
what they’ve got planned for us.’

‘
I’ll
try and find out,’ said Benedict, who had been pacing up and
down on the back of Alice’s chair. ‘I could slip in and
hide. The maid always opens windows while she’s working.’

‘
No!’
insisted Alice. ‘It’s too risky. Even for you.’

‘
I’ve
nothing to lose. I’m dead already, remember, inside this
stupid bird body.’

‘
I’m
still not keen on that idea.’ Benedict may have been dead,
strictly speaking, but Alice had grown very close to him in the last
few months – partly because she was the only person who could
understand him.

Thomas guessed what
their peculiar white pigeon friend was suggesting. ‘Make sure
you go with an empty stomach, Benedict. If you make a mess on
Jacqueline Rowbottom’s upholstery, Lionel will be the least of
your concerns.’

*

‘
Promise me
you won’t tell anyone where we’re going,’ Alice
pleaded with Sarah on the last day of term. ‘Otherwise it will
be a waste of time.’

‘
Of course I
won’t tell, silly. When have I ever dropped you in it? I
still don’t see the point of this trip, though. I mean,
nothing will have changed when you get back, will it?’

‘
Probably not.
I think Mum and Dad just want us out of the way for a while,
somewhere safe. Grandad thinks he’s going to find a solution
to all this. I don’t see how, though.’

‘
Nor do I.
Unless you peek inside your books.’

‘
You know I
don’t want to. And
I
don’t really need to. I know I’m not going to die any
time soon, because the books about me are dated way in to the
future.’

‘
But you could
still be injured. And what about Thomas? You said there are very
few books about him, compared to you.’

Alice fell silent.
She had forgotten about that. Could Thomas really die while he was
young?

‘
This is why
we need to get away,’ she said quietly. ‘For his sake,
not mine.’

‘
I thought you
couldn’t change the future,’ Sarah pointed out.

‘
Um, no. But
if it makes Mum and Dad feel better, it will be worth going.’

‘
Hmm,’
grunted Sarah. ‘Have a nice time, then. I’ll just sit
at home and watch the news. If something horrendous happens in
Berlin I shall know who’s responsible.’

*

When Alice got home
from school, Benedict was waiting in the kitchen with Thomas.

‘
He’s
just arrived,’ said Thomas, nodding at an extremely impatient
Benedict. ‘I think he needs to tell you something.’

‘
You don’t
say!’ cooed Benedict. ‘Listen, Alice, Lionel has gone!
When Isabella went to the study to see him this morning, he wasn’t
there!’

‘
What?! What
happened?’

‘
A huge row
broke out,’ explained Benedict, flapping his wings in
agitation. ‘Isabella was furious, demanding to know where the
statue had gone. Eventually her dad admitted he’d sold it!
Apparently one of his clients made him an offer and he was glad to
get rid of it. He said it made him feel uncomfortable, as if it was
watching him all the time.’

‘
But where
is
Lionel?
Who bought him from Brian?’ squealed Alice.

‘
I’m
afraid I don’t know for sure. Brian refused to tell Isabella.
But I suspect Lionel may have gone to Switzerland. I saw a van with
Swiss plates arrive at their house yesterday evening. It was
collecting a large crate. Whatever it was, it was heavy. Four men
struggled to lift it in to the van.’

‘
Well, this is
marvellous,’ grouched Thomas when Alice repeated what Benedict
had told her. ‘Lionel’s already on the move and we
haven’t left the country yet!’

‘
Yes, but he
doesn’t know we’re going anywhere. I haven’t told
anyone apart from Sarah.’

‘
Keep it that
way,’ warned Thomas. ‘I’d like to live a bit
longer.’

Alice glanced at him
anxiously. ‘If something did happen to you ... do you think
... would you be able to ...’

‘
No. There’s
no way I could bring myself back to life. That’s impossible,
Alice!’

Of course it was.
It was stupid of her to ask. Then again, Thomas had thought it would
be impossible to bring Imogen back from the dead ... until he
succeeded.

*

The next morning Dad
drove Alice, Thomas and Grandma to the airport, making sure they
arrived in plenty of time for their flight at 6.00 a.m. Alice had
not relished being woken by her alarm in the early hours, but she had
chosen that flight in the hope that they would not be seen leaving
the house. It felt strange, knowing that her parents were glad they
were going. Of course, there was a very good reason for that, but
Jack, Mr Flavel and Benedict were the only ones who looked miserable
when she waved goodbye. An Irish Wolfhound, a tame fox and a white
pigeon would miss her terribly. And Alice would certainly miss them.

‘
Give my love
to Brigitte!’ Grandad had joked, clearly delighted that he was
avoiding his sister-in-law.

‘
We’ll
invite her back to stay with you,’ teased Thomas, ‘for a
month!’

‘
You dare!’
replied Grandad, scratching his beard – a tell-tale sign that
he was worried.

‘
Keep safe!
Promise me you’ll look out for each other,’ pleaded Mum
as she hugged them before they left.

‘
They always
do,’ Dad reminded her. ‘At least we can be sure of
that.’

*

Although the flight
was only an hour and a half,
it
felt like an eternity to Alice. While dealing with her fear of
planes and trying to keep herself calm to prevent her wings erupting,
she was continually looking around for Isabella. She couldn’t
decide which would be worse; her wings making an appearance in a
packed aircraft or finding that Isabella was on board. If she
thought about things rationally, the latter was highly unlikely.
Alice had kept watch all the way to the airport that morning, and no
one had followed their car. It was more likely that Isabella was on
her way to Switzerland, having screamed at her father until he
relented and told her where to find the grotesque statue.

It didn’t help
matters that Thomas had a window seat, which happened to be over a
wing.

‘
Uh oh! Was
that crack there when we left?’ he asked, his face pressed
against the window.

‘
What! Where?
Show me!’ Alice squealed.

‘
Don’t
be daft,’ said Grandma calmly. ‘He’s just winding
you up.’

Thomas was snorting
with laughter. ‘I really don’t know what your problem
is. If there
was
an emergency, you’re probably the only person on board who
could save herself! You don’t even need a parachute!’

‘
That may be
true. But I can’t just open a door and shout, ‘Me
first!’ If my wings burst out in here, I’ll get stuck in
the gangway!’

‘
If you eat
all the German food you’ve been talking about, it won’t
be your wings that get stuck.’

Alice leaned back in
her seat and groaned. ‘Couldn’t you have sent him
somewhere else?’ she asked, nudging her grandma.

‘
No, my love.
I don’t think they’d have him.’

*

They touched down in
Berlin nearly forty minutes later than scheduled. Several other
airports had been closed due to snow, causing a queue to land at
Berlin Tegel. Alice was not impressed when their plane had to circle
several times and wait its turn. As far as she was concerned, the
less time spent in an aircraft, the better.

‘
At least it
looks nice and festive here,’ she said happily when her feet
were finally on solid, snowy ground. ‘It actually feels like
Christmas!’

‘
I doubt
Brigitte will be full of festive cheer after waiting this long.
We’ve still got to get our suitcases,’ said Grandma.

Thomas watched from
a window inside the terminal as the luggage from their plane was
stacked on to a trailer. He spotted their suitcases easily near the
bottom of the pile, since Grandma always tied a blue ribbon around
the handles.

‘
What are you
doing?’ asked Alice as Thomas screwed up his eyes. Three
suitcases flew off the trailer and repositioned themselves on top of
the pile. ‘Oh, I see! Nice one!’

Grandma was
delighted when their suitcases were the first to appear on the
luggage carousel. Thomas put them on a trolley and they hurried to
the exit to find Brigitte. Behind them groans of dismay rang out as
all the carousels in the room suddenly ground to a halt.