Tom Holt by Flying Dutch

Author:Flying Dutch
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-04-07T21:15:14+00:00

Anywhere, Vanderdecker replied. I can assure you that my ship is entirely free of etchings.

Etchings? Jane asked and then said, Oh I see, quickly and reflected that it was one way of putting it. I dont know, she said. I mean, you said yourself, its quite boring being at sea for seven years at a time.

Vanderdecker smiled. Ah yes, he said, but is it as boring as being an accountant?

Jane thought hard. Nothing, she said, could possibly be as boring as being an accountant. What was he like?

Who?

Bonnie Prince Charlie, Jane said.

Oh, him, Vanderdecker replied. Just like all the others, really.

He stood up and went to the bar for another drink, just as the barman put the towels over the pump handles.

Not for the first time, Danny was stuck for the right word. As a result, he was feeling frustrated, and he gripped the telephone receiver so tightly that it creaked slightly.

Youve got to look at it, he repeated, globally. You what?

Take the global view, Danny urged. Perspective-wise.

You do realise I havent the faintest idea what youre talking about?

The slender umbilical cord connecting Danny to his self-control snapped. What Im talking about, he said, is the biggest story since Westlands. And youre prepared to jeopardise it for the sake of the cost of hiring a boat.

What was Westlands?

Danny made a noise at the back of his throat not unlike an Irish linen sheet being torn into thin strips. Dont play silly buggers with me, he said. God, what a way to run a television network! Dont you understand, all I want to do is hire a bloody boat and go and shoot some pictures.

I understand that, yes. What I dont understand is why. Thats where our communications interface appears to have broken down.

But dont you… Danny paused for a moment, and an idea sprouted in his mind like the first pure, simple snow-drop of spring. Stuff you, then, he said.

Sorry?

You will be, Danny retorted, slammed the received down and retrieved his phonecard from the jaws of the machine. It was pathetically simple, he said to himself. Ill hire a boat myself. With my own money. Or, to be precise, put it on expenses. Alexander the Great, unable to untie the Gordian Knot, sliced through it with his sword. Similarly, Danny had reached the point where nothing was going to get between him and the story. When the time came for a documentary to be made about the making of this documentary, the actor portraying him would have plenty to work with in this scene. He strode out of the telephone booth and went in search of a boat.

It wasnt much of a boat, when he found it, but then again, by modern standards neither was the Golden Hinde. It would do the job. He herded his camera crew onto it, indicated to the mariner in charge that it was time to go, and sat back to prepare himself.

About half an hour later, the mariner leaned across and said, You sure it was here?

Yes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.