Page 57 of Box of Frogs
I let out an unladylike snort. ‘Yeah, yeah. Save it till later.’ I pointed. ‘I’ll go right if you go left.’
Morgan nodded agreement. ‘Yell if you need help.’
My eyes flashed at him. ‘Ditto. I’m perfectly prepared to come and rescue you if you need it.’
He offered me a half smirk before turning and melting away to the side. I took a deep breath and headed in the other direction. Coming, Rubus. Ready or not.
The corridor was desperately dingy, with the sort of melodramatic cobwebs hanging from the corridors that looked like they’d been manufactured in a factory for a Halloween party. I stopped in my tracks, my feet refusing to continue. I scanned the cobwebs. It didn’t look like there were any spiders hiding in them. I told myself that the webs were too large to be real and that I shouldn’t be surprised if I rounded the corner and was attacked by a plastic skeleton. My heart rate slowed. That was better. Come on feet.
Shuffling to the corner, I peered round and was confronted with a vast space of nothingness. The place didn’t look like it had been touched in months. At least there were no giant spiders scuttling towards me. Telling myself that appearances could be deceptive, and that I had to look beyond what was on the surface, I edged forward. Given that I left no footprints, the warehouse was certainly cleaner than it looked on first inspection. I sniffed the air delicately. There was a definite eau de mould clinging to the air but, if I weren’t mistaken, there was something manufactured about it. Rubus wanted incomers to believe that this building had been abandoned for months. There must be a reason for that.
Moving forward silently, I swung my head this way and that. There were a number of doors on the left-hand side and nothing but empty space to my right. No prizes for guessing which direction I should head in, then. I tiptoed over.
‘What’s behind door number one?’ I whispered, before pushing it open.
I was immediately assailed by the stench of death. Covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve, I eyed the small space. There was nothing there apart from the tiny corpses of three rats. I pursed my lips and hunkered down.
Obviously I was no veterinary expert but it looked to me as if they’d not been dead for long. They weren’t rotting; in fact, their bodies were remarkably intact. I bent down further. On the dark brown fur of one of them, I saw something sparkly; it was as if the rat had rubbed itself in a bath of glitter before expiring. Interesting. I extended a finger to poke the corpse and investigate further but before I could do so, something poked me.
I almost screamed out of shock, not fear. I managed to stifle the sound and whirled to confront my assailant. When I saw Morgan, I bared my teeth. ‘Don’t bloody do that!’ I whispered angrily. ‘At least give me some warning that you’re behind me.’
‘I did,’ he whispered back. ‘Anyway, you need to stay quiet.’
I rolled my eyes. That’s exactly what I’d been trying to do. I glared at him and pointed at the rats. ‘They look fresh,’ I declared. ‘And the one on the right has something glittery in its fur.’
Morgan barely glanced at it. ‘Dust.’
‘It’s not dust. Dust doesn’t glitter.’
He sighed. ‘Pixie dust. The sortyousell. The sort that makes addicts out of perfectly normal faeries so you can bend them to your will and…’
I held up my hand. ‘Alright. I get it.’ Talk about harping on. I eyed the rat. ‘Is dust that dangerous? Would it have killed these animals?’
‘In large quantities it might have.’
‘It means Rubus was definitely here,’ I mused.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. ‘Or you were.’
My glare intensified. ‘I…’
He lifted his hand and placed his index finger against my lips. ‘Hush. I told you that you have to be quiet.’ He pointed behind us.
My eyes widened. ‘Someone’s there?’ I twisted round and crept out, this time heading away from the doors and into the cavernous space. I couldn’t see anything, no matter how hard I looked.
I was about to tell that to Morgan when I realised that, yet again, it wasn’t sight that I should be relying on. Somewhere above and to my right, there was the sound of quiet but regular breathing. I froze. My glance fell on a set of banister-less stairs leading up to a mezzanine floor. I turned to check on Morgan but he wasn’t looking at the stairs. He was looking at me.
‘Rubus?’ I mouthed.
He shook his head. ‘Human,’ he mouthed back. ‘Male.’
I grimaced. Not even a faery. That was unfortunate. This would have been a whole lot easier if Rubus had left one of his minions behind so we could torture them for information. One of hisotherminions, I amended. All the same, the human might possess some information that could prove useful. I was confident I’d be able to wheedle something out of him.
I’d have a better chance of handling this situation quickly and without a fuss if I were on my own. I indicated to Morgan that he should stay put. He frowned at me. I gestured more vigorously. Morgan’s eyes narrowed but he indicated that I could go ahead. If there was any trouble, he wouldn’t be far behind and he possessed the skills to eavesdrop on anything I said. He’d be neither out of the loop nor shooing me off into immediate peril. The man had to chill out and stop being such a worrywart. Besides, I might not have had all my faculties or understood all my powers but I was still the Madhatter.
Keeping my footsteps as light as a mouse scurrying past a slumbering cat, I headed up the stairs. Whoever was up there, I had no desire to wake them up until I understood the lay of the land and what I was up against. Our sleeping beauty might indeed be human – but humans could be dangerous.
When I reached the top of the precarious staircase, I remained on the balls of my feet as I tiptoed forward. I allowed myself one quick glance backwards. Morgan had moved to the foot of the stairs and was watching my every move, his arms folded and his expression inscrutable. I flashed him a cheesy grin and a wave. When that didn’t elicit a reaction, I pasted on my best evil-villain stare and glowered at him instead. I couldn’t be sure but I thought I spotted the glimmer of a smile in return.
