Page 68 of Fiendish Delights
‘That information is privileged,’ Enger said. ‘There are only a handful of people allowed access to it, and they’ve all had to sign the Official Secrets Act.’
‘I’m perfectly happy to sign whatever you need.’
Enger stared at him. ‘Fine,’ he said, when an appropriate number of uncomfortable seconds had ticked by. He opened a drawer and pulled out a wad of paper. ‘You need to fill out this form – in triplicate. Then you should send it to the address written there.’ He jabbed an ink-stained finger at the London address on the first page.
‘If you’re lucky, you might get an answer within six weeks. In the unlikely event that your application proceeds, you will then be invited to sign the Official Secrets Act. That usually takes a month to arrange. Once that is done, you may return here with the necessary documentation and I will show you on a map where her lair is located.’
Hugo was apparently used to British bureaucracy because his smile didn’t flicker. ‘We don’t have that sort of time.’
‘I wouldn’t worry,’ Enger said. ‘The dragon’s not goinganywhere. She’s only eighty-nine years old, so she has many decades ahead of her yet. There is no rush.’
‘There is every rush. I understand that you have to be careful, but time is of the essence. We need to get to her lair.’
Enger pushed his spectacles further up his nose and peered more closely at him. ‘Wait. You are Hugo Pemberville?’
Hugo grinned widely. ‘I am.’
‘Lord Hugo Pemberville?’
‘Yes.’
‘The celebrated treasure hunter?’
‘Yes.’
I rolled my eyes.
‘The man who found the Loch Arkaig treasure.’
Actually that was me. I found it first.
‘Yes,’ Hugo said, without a single glance in my direction.
‘The man who located Boudicca’s crown?’
‘Yes.’
‘The man who tracked down the golden statuette of Merlin?’
‘That’s me.’
It was Arnold Enger’s turn to smile. His lips curved upwards and twitched slightly, and within seconds he was beaming triumphantly. ‘My lord, it’s a real pleasure to meet you.’
I sighed heavily. Here we go again.
Enger continued, ‘You, my Lord Pemberville, willneverbe granted knowledge about any dragon’s lair.’ With that, he snatched the forms and shoved them back in his drawer.
I folded my arms; I was genuinely amused even though discovering the dragon’s location was paramount to the success of our quest. I bet this kind of thing didn’t happen very often to Hugo.
‘What?’ Hugo asked, blinking in astonishment. ‘Why not?’
‘You are a treasure hunter and treasure hunters seek gold.Dragons hoard gold. No treasure hunters are allowed anywhere near dragons. Don’t you know what happened to the MacAllens?’
‘I’m not planning to steal anything from the dragon!’ Hugo objected.
‘Then why on earth do you want to find her?’
‘She has an important item that—’ He didn’t get to finish the sentence.
