Old Enemies by Michael Dobbs

Author:Michael Dobbs
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction & Literature
ISBN: 9781847393241
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Once her tears had dried they left the church. It wasn’t an appropriate place for some of the thoughts that raced through Harry’s mind as Terri nestled in his arms and her perfume set siege to his senses. They walked out into the small courtyard that faced Piccadilly, and there they found a Christmas market in full swing, with ruddy-cheeked stallholders wrapped in gloves and colourful scarves, serving out good humour and mulled wine as they tried to entice the passers-by. The bustle of the crowd was intense, forcing Harry and Terri distractingly close. They stopped beside a stall where a small girl with raised voice and stamping foot was begging her mother for a trinket, a glass globe with a primitive model of the towers of Venice inside. As the girl shook the globe, flakes of imitation snow cascaded over the city.

Venice. They’d been there, as well, not just Paris. He knew from the look in Terri’s eyes that she was back there, too, and he wondered what memories she clung to, and whether they were the same as his own.

Venice – that was the direction the helicopter had been heading. But something told Harry the gang wasn’t there, couldn’t be, not on the water, yet if not Venice . . . ?

He took Terri’s arm, swung her round. ‘What did they say again – drop him down a hole so deep we’d never be able to find him?’

She nodded: ‘Almost exactly that.’ And suddenly he had grabbed her hand and was running, forcing their way though the crowd.

A little further along the pavements of Piccadilly stood Hatchards, purveyors of books to many members of the Royal Family and the oldest bookshop in London. When Harry dragged Terri through the doors they found themselves surrounded by a sea of bodies, elbows nudging, tills clattering, telephones ringing. This was its busiest time of year.

‘Hello there, Harry. Where have they been hiding you this time?’ a voice called out above the throng. A man with short-cropped silver hair and a recent yachting tan waved from behind the cash desk. Roger Katz came close to being as much of an institution as the shop itself, a man who loved books and people to the point that he’d retired several times yet somehow could still be found behind his beloved counter. His enthusiasms bubbled forth, his eyes danced in fascination over Terri and he was about to launch upon a detailed interrogation when Harry raised his hand and brought him to a halt, like a traffic cop.

‘Roger – Italy. Geography. Now!’

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