A Tangle of Gold Read online

  ‘Ah.’

  Federico relaxed. He held the hat towards Belle.

  ‘He puts historical names in here,’ Belle explained, ‘and then we choose from it and we have to do a presentation on the name. So it’s like his hat is destiny.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Jack agreed, interested. ‘The papers in the hat are like tea leaves or coffee grinds, only the future they predict is assignment-specific.’

  Federico began muttering to himself, low and fast, in Italian.

  ‘He’s cursing us,’ Jack translated for the others. ‘That’s wasteful, Nonno. You should save those insults for when we spray-paint gang symbols all over the office. This is more your general-chitchat-among-students-while-teacher’s-hand-gets-tired-holding-out-a-hat situation.’

  ‘Just put on an ironic voice,’ Madeleine suggested. ‘And say: Fascinating, people, but let’s move on.’

  Federico’s muttering rose and accelerated until he sounded like factory machinery with a wrench loose in its workings.

  ‘All right, all right,’ Belle said. ‘Keep your hat on.’

  Then she laughed so hard at her own joke that she almost knocked the hat out of Federico’s hand. The others laughed too.

  Belle breathed in the last of her laughter, tears in her eyes, and finally reached into the hat. She rustled papers for a while, still smiling to herself, and withdrew a folded slip. She opened it.

  ‘Leonardo da Vinci.’

  Federico beamed. ‘Leonardo da Vinci,’ he repeated with relish.

  ‘He was the blue ninja turtle,’ Jack said.

  ‘That’s all right then,’ Belle said. ‘I look good in blue.’ She spoke to Elliot again. ‘We have to become the people we do the projects on. One time Jack got the poet Byron, and Madeleine got Isaac Newton, and they both became obsessed. Are you still obsessed?’

  Jack began to recite at once:

  ‘Did ye not hear it?—No; ’twas but the wind,

  Or the car rattling o’er the stony street;

  On with the dance! let joy be unconfined.’

  He paused. ‘That’s just a few lines. I can do the whole thing if you like.’

  ‘I read about Isaac Newton every day,’ Madeleine put in. ‘Did you know he was an alchemist? They say maybe the mercury sent him mad.’

  ‘So, yep, they are still obsessed. I don’t get like that because I have a more reasonable turn of mind.’ Belle looked back at Federico. ‘So you want me to become Leonardo da Vinci?’

  ‘To become him? This is impossible!’

  Belle raised a shrewd eyebrow. ‘Now you’re being inconsistent, cause it was impossible for Madeleine to become Isaac Newton, and yet she did. Or anyway she didn’t. She’s still Madeleine.’

  Federico nodded slowly.

  ‘Ha,’ Belle said. ‘I get you. Touché, and that. Or maybe that slow nod is more confusion than you being wise. Either way, I could become Leonardo if it’s helpful to you, Federico. Everyone knows that if you believe something strongly enough, it comes true. Like, I once knew a guy who saw a billboard with a picture of peanuts on it and he went into anaphylactic shock.’

  ‘Who was this?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Because he was allergic to peanuts.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘It was an ad for a financial institution or something. You can buy a house with peanuts, it said. Or you can’t. Either way, that’s why the picture.’

  ‘You don’t know anyone that happened to at all,’ Jack decided.

  ‘Nah,’ Belle agreed. ‘I don’t. But imagine.’

  ‘You can’t believe a word she says,’ Jack told Elliot. ‘Although she’s actually completely honest.’

  ‘It is the time for me to sleep,’ Federico announced. ‘As you are speaking more nonsense than the people I meet in my dreams. So! I will visit my dream friends instead.’

  He folded his arms, closed his eyes and bowed his head.

  There was a thoughtful pause.

  ‘That’s quite good, Nonno,’ Jack said eventually. ‘You’ve got our attention. But open your eyes soon or we’ll lose interest and entertain ourselves again.’

  Federico grimaced, eyes still closed. He pressed his chin into his chest.

  They waited. The fireplace hissed. Federico’s breathing slowed.

  ‘He really is asleep,’ Belle whispered.

  Federico’s shoulders rose and fell comfortably, in time with his breathing.

  ‘So this is homeschooling,’ Elliot said.

  The others laughed.

  ‘You can’t believe a word he says,’ Belle said abruptly, pointing at Elliot. ‘Talking about believing.’

  The others looked from Belle to Elliot, who seemed surprised but not offended.

  ‘It’s not so much you can’t believe him,’ Belle clarified. ‘It’s more he doesn’t believe what he’s saying. You don’t even have to look at his aura, you can hear it in his voice. He’s play-acting. He doesn’t believe that the Kingdom of Cello exists, let alone that that’s where he’s from.’

  Elliot smiled in a pleasant, neutral way.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re right.’

  *

  Sixth, that very night, at their regular night-time meeting, Abel announced that he had news.

  His voice made Holly pause in her sewing. Madeleine bit her finger instead of the muffin she was eating.

  ‘I was at the parking meter today,’ Abel continued. There was a faint wheeze behind his words, which seemed like an effect, designed to heighten tension. ‘And a note was there from Cello.’

  ‘Oh, nice!’ Holly resumed sewing.

  Madeleine looked across at Elliot, but he was leaning over, scratching Sulky-Anne’s head.

  ‘Here’s what the note says.’ Abel’s hands trembled. He read.

  This is a message for Madeleine Tully. Are Abel and Elliot Baranski there with you? If so we want to bring them back to Cello. Meet us here Monday, midnight, to discuss. Keira.

  ‘Who’s Keira?’ Holly said. ‘New character?’

  Madeleine reached for a paper and pen. She angled the paper towards her mother and drew three circles.

  ‘Okay,’ she said, writing in each circle. ‘Here are the three most powerful organisations in Cello. The Royal Family. The Hostiles. And the W.S.U.’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ said Holly.

  ‘No, you don’t. You don’t even know what I’m talking about.’ She pointed to the circles in turn. ‘The Royal Family are in charge. The Hostiles want to take them down. The W.S.U. is the World Severance Unit, and its job is to stop any contact between Cello and our world.’ She looked over at Abel and Elliot. ‘Is this right so far?’

  Elliot walked into the kitchen and opened a can of dog food for Sulky-Anne.

  Abel nodded. ‘Perfect. Carry on.’

  ‘Abel was on the Royal side. The Hostiles chased him over a ravine and he fell through a crack into our world.’

  ‘Lucky,’ Holly said.

  ‘So that’s how Abel ended up here. He lost his memory and thought his name was Denny. Meanwhile, back in Cello, the Hostiles kidnapped the Royal Family and sent them through to our world, where they also forgot who they were.’

  ‘Huh.’

  ‘But one princess was left behind. Princess Ko. She ran the Kingdom secretly, without telling anybody her family was gone, and she formed a Royal Youth Alliance to help her bring them back. Elliot was part of the Alliance. He worked with me, talking through the parking meter, to try to find the Royals and solve the cracks and send the Royals home.’

  ‘So you had a big responsibility, Madeleine,’ Holly said. ‘I’m proud.’

  ‘Thank you. But talking to me was risky for Elliot because it’s illegal. The W.S.U. found out, chased him over the same ravine, and he also fell through a crack into our world.’

  ‘Symmetrical!’ Holly said. ‘Or too much of a coincidence?’

  ‘Anyhow, there were three other teenagers also on the Royal Youth Alliance with Elliot. Their names were Sergio, Samuel and K
eira.’

  There was a pause. Holly was threading a needle. Madeleine waited.

  Holly looked up. ‘Keira! The one who wrote the note we just heard! The new character! Great. I’d forgotten we were trying to place her. Thank you, Madeleine.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ Madeleine said. She looked at Abel. ‘I don’t know much about Keira, except what Elliot told me.’

  Elliot was now at the sink, refilling Sulky-Anne’s water bowl, his back to them.

  ‘I think she was from Jagged Edge,’ Madeleine continued, slowly. ‘That’s a sort of high-tech province in Cello,’ she explained to her mother. ‘And I think she had some connection to the Hostiles. Her mother was a Hostile? So. Do we trust her?’

  Abel studied Keira’s note again, then looked at Madeleine’s diagram.

  ‘You’ve got the three most powerful organisations in Cello,’ he said. ‘But you’re missing a fourth. Each province has its own council. Mostly, they’re just for show, but in Jagged Edge, the provincial council is controlled by a group called the Elite. And a lot of people think they actually run everything—the whole Kingdom, I mean. They’ve got links to the criminal underworld, which helps.’

  ‘Oh, then, for sure they’re the most powerful,’ Holly put in. ‘Crime lords always control everything, because they’ve got lawlessness and tattooed thugs and sinister men in hats and shadows with scars—they’ve got all that on their side. So, if you’re saying that this Keira girl is from the Jagged Edge place, and has Hostile connections, well, I wouldn’t trust her to pick up the milk, let alone to bring you home to Cello.’

  ‘She’s also beautiful,’ Madeleine reflected. ‘I remember Elliot telling me that.’

  ‘That settles it then. Never trust the pretty ones. Well, I’m tired. Shall we go up to bed, Mads?’

  ‘Uh,’ said Madeleine. ‘I have to go with Abel to the parking meter? It’s Monday today. We should go hear what this Keira has to say.’

  ‘Wow.’ Holly stood. ‘You’re really invested in this thing, aren’t you? I guess, as long as you stay warm and don’t get chased over any ravines.’ She took an extra muffin, ‘for the road’, and headed upstairs.

  *

  Seventh, Madeleine and Abel put on their coats, ready to go talk to Keira at the parking meter.

  Elliot said he was ‘beat’ and he’d turn in.

  ‘Let me know what goes down,’ he said, grinning, and Madeleine smiled back, then stepped through the door after Abel.

  She remembered her umbrella. She swung back around. Elliot startled, seeing her, and he grabbed at his grin again. But it was too late. She’d caught the expression on his face. It reminded her of those selfies older women post of themselves sometimes without makeup: You’d get accustomed to seeing them all shiny and glossy, and then wham! Here was the truth. A ravaged, exhausted, colourless, old face. Elliot’s expression was that, but also more: it was utter despair.

  ‘You coming, Mads?’ Abel called to her from the staircase.

  Elliot held her gaze and his careful smile.

  Madeleine closed the door and followed Abel.

  *

  And finally, eighth, she and Abel arrived at the parking meter.

  The mist hunched along the road as if the air itself was huddling, cold.

  Abel was wheezing. He shouldn’t be out on a winter night with that chest of his. She could see he was forcing himself to slow his breathing.

  She was holding a notepad and pen. Staring at a parking meter. In an empty laneway.

  It was exactly like the nights she used to come here to talk to Elliot, except that Elliot was now in a flat ten minutes from here, and Elliot’s father was beside her.

  Also, she was going to speak to a beautiful stranger named Keira.

  ‘It’s exactly midnight,’ Abel said, shining a torch onto his watch and then onto the parking meter.

  A slip of white appeared along the crack.

  ‘Punctual,’ he said.

  Madeleine pulled out the paper, and Abel leaned close and read with her.

  This is Keira. Are you there, Madeleine?

  Abel breathed in with a sharp rasp. Madeleine wrote a single word.

  Yep.

  Are you in contact with Abel and Elliot Baranski?

  Yes. Abel’s right beside me. Elliot’s home in bed.

  There was a long pause, then another note appeared.

  So Abel and Elliot are alive?

  Well, Abel’s right beside me like I said. I’d have mentioned if he was a corpse. I can’t swear that Elliot’s still alive cause I guess a pirate could’ve broken in and cut his throat in the last 10 minutes. Still. That seems doubtful.

  There was another break, then another note from Keira:

  Okay, here’s the deal. The nearest people-moving crack to you is in a city called Berlin, Germany. Based on the maps I have, it looks a reasonable journey for Abel and Elliot to take. Do you know it? If not, I can give you the coordinates. I’ll give you the precise location of the crack in Berlin. Can you direct Abel and Elliot Baranski to be there on Wednesday night? And we’ll bring them across.

  The torchlight wavered. Madeleine looked up, but Abel’s face was in shadow. She wrote a reply.

  Who is ‘we’? Are Princess Ko and the Royal Youth Alliance organising this?

  No. It’s me, Keira, and also Elliot’s mother, and a bunch of Elliot’s friends, plus the local Sheriff and Deputy, plus two secret agent guys. Can you get the Baranskis to Berlin?

  Yeah, it’s not too far. And I already know exactly where that people-moving crack is—I’m the one who worked with Elliot trying to get the Royals back to Cello, remember? But I didn’t know if it was sealed now or not. And I never knew if the mirror/light thing worked. So did it? And is it safe? Are the Royals safe home?

  As she sent this reply, she brushed her hand against the parking meter. It was so cold it burned.

  Keira’s note was brief.

  I can unseal the crack. Light/mirror trick does work. We got the King and younger Prince home to Cello using it.

  Madeleine frowned. Beside her, Abel was trying to hold the torch under his chin while he reached into his pocket for his inhaler. She wrote:

  Only the King and the little Prince? What about the rest of the Royal Family?

  The W.S.U. found out what was happening. They put guards on the other cracks and sealed them so we had to quit.

  ‘Ask her what time we need to be in Berlin,’ Abel said, but Madeleine was already writing.

  Are you saying that if the other Royals went to the places I told them to go, at the times I told them to, they’d still be waiting now???

  Sure. If they’re morons. That was weeks ago. Can you confirm you can get Abel and Elliot Baranski to Berlin by Wednesday night?

  ‘Tell her you can,’ Abel said. ‘But ask what time. And ask if the crack’s being guarded on their side.’

  Madeleine was writing fast, but another note from Keira was emerging. Abel grabbed it and read it to himself.

  ‘She’s already answered my questions. She says the guards are still there, but they’re arranging a diversion for midnight, while we come through. She says timing is vital.’

  ‘Does she?’ Madeleine said. ‘And does she even know there’s a time difference between here and Berlin?’

  She folded her own reply while Abel was still trying to read her handwriting over her shoulder:

  This is too dangerous. The last time Elliot was in Cello, the W.S.U. chased him over a cliff—if there hadn’t been a crack thru to the World he’d be dead. You’re going to ‘divert’ the guards? You screw up the timing and Elliot’s dead. And even if you get him thru safe, how’s he going to STAY safe? They’ll hunt him down and kill him all over again.

  Keira’s reply was scribbled.

  Can’t talk much longer. Agree that Elliot’s in danger here. We have that sorted—he’ll go straight into hiding with a Hostile branch. Friends of mine arranging that. He can stay w/ them till we get his name cleared.
>
  Madeleine’s eyes widened. She wrote again:

  Wait, are you saying there’ll be Hostiles there too????? It was Hostiles who nearly killed ABEL, and they DID kill his brother. Basically you have executioners lined up waiting to take down both Elliot and Abel the moment they arrive!!

  ‘Madeleine.’ Abel spoke her name in a space between wheezes. She ignored him, and sent the message. Keira’s reply came quickly.

  You need to stop worrying about this end of things. We’ve got that. You just need to get them to Berlin.

  Abel was holding the torch high. ‘Madeleine,’ he said again. She was vaguely aware that his shoulders were rising and falling.

  She wrote in giant scribbles.

  Keira, listen to me, Abel and Elliot are alive and well in my world and nobody’s hunting them down with guns and dogs and choppers. Whereas, last time they were in YOUR world they were basically dead. With respect, you haven’t ‘got’ that end at all. You couldn’t even transfer the whole Royal Family w/o everything going to hell??? So half the Royals are still trapped, alone in the World?? Princess Jupiter is right there in Berlin—why don’t you get her thru first? And set up transfers for the Queen and the other Prince at the same time?

  Keira’s reply arrived a few moments later.

  Are you serious? Now you want to throw in a Royal or two? You have no clue what has been happening here. It’s total chaos. Princess Ko has been arrested. Hostiles on the rise. Elite taking power. Anyway, I can’t have this conversation. Great that Abel and Elliot are alive and well but I don’t think you or ‘your World’ can take the credit for that. Cut out the commentary and let me know that this is going to happen. Once they’re thru, I’ll seal this crack and cut off all communications with u and the World—it’s way too dangerous.

  Madeleine clenched her fists so her nails cut into her palms. She turned the page in her notebook so fast it tore in half. She raised her pen to think—and felt a hand wrap around her own hand.

  It was Abel.

  She looked up at him and thought about how noisy asthma made the world. It was not just a regular wheeze, it was a cacophony of rattles and odd, tiny squeals.