The Squire's Crystal by Jacqueline Rayner

Author:Jacqueline Rayner [Rayner, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Book, Prose, Novel
ISBN: 1903654130
Publisher: Big Finish
Published: 2001-04-16T16:04:30+00:00

10

Mirror Image

They were almost out of the mansion by the time Benny recovered the power of speech. She’d noted with some amazement that everyone they passed was extremely deferential to her, and called her ‘sir’. Poppy hadn’t had to shoot any of them. This was good. Especially as they were about to go back the way they’d come.

‘You’re joking!’ Poppy yelled. ‘Our luck’s held out this far, but we’ll never make it all the way back there and out again! And I don’t think this thing has much charge left in it.’ She waved the gun at Benny.

‘We have to get the crystal,’ Benny said. ‘And I’m not arguing about it.’

‘Well, I am! What is wrong with you, hon? First you act all weird, then I think you’re trying to do me out of my share…’

‘Which I wasn’t, as I’ve already explained,’ said Benny, who was fed up with having to think up excuses for Dominic.

‘Yeah, yeah, I know, sorry – but now you want us to go back for the thing that got us into trouble in the first place!’

‘Exactly!’ said Benny. ‘We went to all this trouble to get it… and it’s worth a lot of money, you know – it’d set you – us – up for life!’ If this woman was a mercenary, appeal to her mercenariness. Was that a word?

‘Okay, okay. But if anything goes wrong…’

‘It’s my fault yada yada yada. Come on.’

As they turned, a guard stepped out of the corridor behind them. ‘Nice of you to offer to take the blame, Bernice,’ he said – drawing the crystal out of his pocket.

‘Oh goddess!’ Benny yelled, realising what must have happened. ‘Shoot him! Quick!’

The guard began to shout: ‘No! Pop-‘

And Poppy shot him.

She turned a puzzled eye to Benny. ‘Why did that guard call you Bernice?’ she said. ‘Wasn’t that the woman on –’ … ‘–on Braxiatel, yes it was. Don’t know. Guess he was confused. It doesn’t matter, we’ve got the crystal!’

Benny plied the guard’s – Dominic’s – rigid fingers from the crystal, and breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had this… all she had to do was find Avril, or get word to Brax somehow.

All she had to do. She really didn’t believe in an easy life, did she?

‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ she said, and she and Poppy hurried off, leaving Dominic stunned on the thick pile carpet.

Rix was outside the mansion, leaning against a flyer.

‘Get ready to stun him,’ Benny muttered out of the side of her mouth as she and Poppy walked down the steps. ‘Then we take the car.’

But to her great surprise, the man sprang to attention as they approached. ‘Mr Troy, sir!’ he barked. ‘Do you wish to be transported anywhere, sir!’

‘Er…’ said Benny. ‘Anywhere?’

‘Anywhere you wish to go, sir! I will summon a chauffeur, sir!’

Well, this was certainly a change from last time…

‘Yes,’ said Benny. ‘Summon a chauffeur. We’d like to go to the shuttle port.’ She waited a moment. ‘No arrests?

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