Oscar began by telling Lady Amelia how he had met Delta at
the airport when their flight was rerouted. He told her that they had lunch
together in Munich Airport and that they had come home on Delta’s Uncle Frog’s
plane. He wasn’t sure that he should tell her about Delta using her martial art
on the policemen at the border, or the conversations they’d had about Friarr,
or about being rescued from the interrogation room via the air duct.
“You tell it very well,” Lady Amelia complimented him when he
paused for breath. “Well, very succinctly, at least.” He suspected she knew
those things he had neglected to mention, that Delta had already told her.
“What happened after you landed? When you arrived home?” Lady
Amelia asked.
“We got in a taxi which took us to my house. But we didn’t
stop there.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it was surrounded by police.” Oscar struggled to
say it aloud because he could still hardly believe it was true.
“So Delta brought you here?” Lady Amelia prompted him.
“Yes, she told the driver to keep going and not stop. It was
like being in a film. Although at the time it didn’t feel very glamorous. I was
so shaken from parachuting out of a rickety biplane and seeing my house
surrounded. It was very surreal.” As he said this, he looked up to see Lady
Amelia’s reaction. Had he already said they had parachuted down? Maybe he
shouldn’t have called Uncle Frog’s plane rickety. Lady Amelia didn’t seem
concerned though. She simply smiled amusedly and motioned for him to go on.
“The next thing I knew, the taxi had stopped and Delta helped
me out of the car. She led me up a hill and across a cobbled square, and up a
lift to her room, where I fell asleep on the sofa.”
“I see. Have you told anyone that you’re here? Have you taken
any phone calls?” Lady Amelia asked.
“I phoned a colleague this morning to excuse myself for being
late for work,” Oscar recalled. “But he told me the office had burnt down
during the night, that there was just a pile of rubble where it used to be.”
After a pause, Oscar continued. “So I have nowhere to go. I can’t go home
because my house is surrounded. I can’t go to work because it’s not there any
more. I can’t go to my parents because…”
“Yes, that was very tragic,” Lady Amelia said sensitively.
“Tragic? Has something happened to them on holiday? Are they
going to be alright?” Oscar could feel himself panicking. He felt sick. It was
one thing to lose his house and his office, but if the Cotwg were also hurting
people he knew…
“Nothing has happened to your parents,” Lady Amelia said
softly. “I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Oscar stared at her, taking deep breaths
to calm himself. “You are right that you can’t return home at the moment. It’s
not safe for you to go out at all because the Cotwg are clearly targeting you. We
will train you to defend yourself against them. Your classes will start
tomorrow morning but I’d like you to meet your trainer this afternoon.”
“Um, OK, thanks,” was what Oscar heard himself say.
Lady Amelia turned in her chair and called someone over. “Daphne,
could you take Mr Thornton to meet Doctor Phoebus?”
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