Page 24 of Tattered Huntress
‘I don’t know. That’s why I asked.’
Otis smirked. Hester’s eyes darted towards him and he instantly smoothed his expression. ‘We’re notthatold,’ he said. ‘I was born in 1868. Hester is older by a year.’
My shoulders sagged a little. ‘Do you know anything about the Jacobites? Or how far they got when they invaded England in 1745?’
They exchanged glances; I guessed the answer was no, then.
‘Perhaps Sir Nigel can tell you,’ Otis offered, in a bid to be helpful. ‘Or he might have a library that will provide the answer.’
My phone was already in my hand. ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Or I can ask Google.’
‘Who’s Google?’
I barely heard him as I squinted at the screen until I’d located the answer. Excellent. It was a shame that I couldn’t find anything relating to a Doctor Talbot, but at least I had a location now. I wouldn’t be beaten by an enigmatic old letter after all. ‘Derby,’ I said, satisfied.
Otis flew towards my phone, stared at it and then at me. ‘You’re a sorcerer,’ he breathed.
‘Nope.’
He started to shake while Hester’s eyes widened with terror. ‘You’ve trapped a brownie in there, haven’t you?’ he demanded. ‘You’ve taken their essence in the same way that sorcerer took ours and you’ve stuck them behind that glass and … and … and…’
‘I knew there was something off about you!’ Hester yelled.
Clearly their entrapment had affected them far more than they were willing to reveal. ‘I haven’t done anything like that,’ I soothed. ‘Come on. I’ll explain along the way.’
Chapter
Ten
‘Show me another one!’ Hester demanded.
Otis shook his head. ‘No. Let’s watch the one where the mum hugs its kitten again.’
‘You’ve already watched it five times.’
‘But it’s so cute! The kitten is having a nightmare and its mum calms it down.’
‘There are other ones we still have to see.’ Hester blinked at me anxiously. ‘There are more cat videos, right?’
I’d created a monster.Twomonsters. ‘Thousands more.’ I pulled my phone away from Oscar. ‘But there’s only so much battery life and we’re about to arrive in Derby.’
‘But—’
‘Later.’ I pulled down my backpack from the luggage rack and moved towards the door. The train was already slowing to a stop. ‘We’re already behind everyone else because they all drove here. For all I know, one of the other teams is about to dig up the first key as we speak.’
‘My money is on Hugo Pemberville,’ Hester said. I glared at her and she smiled innocently. ‘What?’
The train doors whooshed open and I stepped out, forestalling any further conversation.
I had no connections here in Derby and it was my first visit, so I didn’t know the lay of the land. But I wasn’t without a plan. Although Hester and Otis had commandeered my phone to watch cat videos for most of the journey, I’d managed to wrestle it from them long enough to do some research. I wasn’t any wiser as to where the first key part might be hidden – but I did have an idea about where I could go for help.
Outside the station, I ignored the queue of taxis and turned right, away from the town centre. I’d barely turned the corner when I spotted the four men in black at the entrance to a small park, frowning at the screens in their hands. Ah-ha. So I was in the right place!
Perched on my shoulder, Hester lowered her voice as if she were afraid somebody might listen in. ‘I bet they know where the first part of the key is. Sneak up to them, Daisy, then you can listen in.’
As expected, Otis immediately protested. ‘Eavesdropping is wrong! Daisy is perfectly capable of finding the key without resorting to underhand tactics.’
She sniffed. ‘Do you want her to win or not?’
