THE OTHER BIG SECRET 2: RABBIT STEW / CH. 3:SURPRISE MEETING

LONDON, 11A.M, WEDNESDAY MORNING, OCT 22ND, 1975

“Excuse me?” the elderly lady who'd been feeding the birds asked, as James and Rose were walking through the park. There was no one else around.

They stopped, not knowing what she wanted.

She peered at James and said “Yes, yes, you've got his face, James bn Lidia ha Enoch bn Sathzakara ha my old friend Jacob.”

“Urm.” James managed from his shock.

“Oh, don't mind me. I just got nosey. I do that sometimes. I'm Mabel.”

“Grandpa's cousin.” James finally put two and two together.

“It's more distant that that. But yes.”

“This is Rose, but I guess you knew that.”

“Of course. I was chatting to your grandma yesterday. She asked me to say hello, and I thought I'd do it in person. Have you found that lawyer?”

“Finally, yes. After two months of following one lead after another.”

“Sorry I didn't know you were coming. But then if I had known, I'm guessing you'd have never met this pretty young thing, would you?”

“No. She's been watching me for the past two weeks, we started talking yesterday.”

“And engaged already! Well that's a bit faster than your grandfather. He was a patient man! Five years, he waited to pop the question. But I guess you're still not going as fast as what Sathzakara was expecting before he proposed.”

James blushed. “We're not engaged yet, Mabel.” James protested “We're still talking things through.”

“Got any doubts about him?” Mabel asked Rose.

“No. Lots of questions, but no doubts.”

“Questions? That's no surprise! What about you, James?”

“No, not really. Except it's too fast, and Rose should have doubts, shouldn't she? She's stepping into the absolute unknown. Plus of course I don't know what'll happen when we step off the boat.”

“Well which question do you want me to look into first? Quick call to your Gran or a little bit of dissecting your beloved's thoughts on the matter?”

“I don't know about dissecting my thoughts, but I'm really really confused.” Rose said.

“That's normal, have a seat dear, while I work out how to tell you.”

As they sat, Rose thought to James [Who is this?]

[Someone God trusts to know things. Lots of things.]

[A good enough description for the moment, I suppose.] Mabel thought to them. [Rose, did James tell you what the three things were that saved his Grandfather's life?]

[He said it was because they got engaged, and because he was a servant of the Lord.]

[That's two, yes. The third is he had the same thing from God I have: too much knowledge to be healthy. If I want to know what someone's thinking, then I just need to stop and refocus a bit, and then I do. If I want to know where someone is, same thing. It's not omniscience. I can't learn where James' boat is unless he thinks of it. Thank you James! But I can find people, by name or by category, which is really handy if someone's lost. I don't know what they look like, just where they are. The weirdest use of that I ever heard of was Jacob, James's grandpa; he felt led to look for his future wife and go translate the Bible for her people. That's far too like seeing the future for most of us to feel comfortable with. But, Jacob felt God was telling him to. So he looked, and there Sathzakara was, doing things that made Jacob almost as paranoid as James is. He certainly tried to ban me from being curious, which is a bit like asking a cat in charge of a creamery not to have a taste ever. I'm pretty sure James is keeping lots secret from you or I'd hear them from your mind. And that's probably why he's hiding his thoughts from us right now. Of course it won't work against the gift I've got, but oh well.]

“James, I know you need to be careful, but Rose is trustworthy. There's another thing I came here to do.” she turned to Rose “I can tell you more details later on, Rose; that's the other thing I can do, talk to anyone who can hear thoughts, wherever they are. But, I feel God wants you to say if you're going to be able to trust Him to lead you step by step on a road you can't really see, and I expect part of it is not getting too curious, especially about James' big secret. Let him tell you in his own time, girl.”

“I'm God's servant, He's in charge.” Rose said simply, then added “And yeah, I'll try to not pester the answers out of James.”

“Good girl. Too much curiosity will kill you, so be careful. James, lad, I want your vow. Will you look after God's servant here, no matter what comes? Will you trust her insights, even when your logic and upbringing screams that you should doubt her?”

James looked at Mabel, “That doesn't sound like a marriage vow.”

“It's not. It's a preparing for the future vow.”

He looked at his feet, “That's a pretty difficult vow, all the same, Mabel. How can I look after her all the time unless we never get separated?”

“Men! I didn't say all the time, lad! Will you at least vow to trust her insights like I said earlier?”

“Yes. I vow before God that I'll trust your insights, Rose.”

“Well done. You're planning to protect her anyway, aren't you, James? If she gets banished to somewhere, you'd choose to go with her? You'd get in the way of a shark for her?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Rose, meet your self-appointed body-guard. Be nice to him, and do let him take reasonable steps to protect you. And use your gift wisely and sparingly.” Mabel got up from the bench and started to leave.

“What gift? You mean medicine?” Rose asked, very confused.

“No, the one you've just promised to trust God about, dear. I'd love to stay and chat but I need to catch my train.” [I never was very good at explaining how to do things, but I'll try. Sathzakara!] Rose had the sense that Mabel was reaching out to James' grandmother. [Hey, woman, wake up!]

[Hello Mabel, is there a good reason you're waking me up?]

[Of course there is. Rose, say hello to your future grandmother-in-law, and listen to her reply, only skin-deep at this distance, of course.]

[Urm, Hello.] Rose thought, somehow calling in the same way.

[Have you known James for long?] Sathzakara asked.

[Not really. I've been following him for two weeks, trying to work out why he was even stranger than I am. Most people here don't catch their own rabbits, they buy meat from shops. But then most women don't camp out in woods watching people, either. I spoke to him yesterday when he left the lawyer's, and he said he was leaving. I asked him to take me with him. There's no future for me here. We've been talking most of the time since then.]

[And she's just practicing using the gift for the first time, Sath. It seemed appropriate that she talk to you first.] Mabel added.

[And you just told them they were going to get married, did you?] Sathzakara asked Mabel.

[Oh, they'd worked that out by themselves, though they claim they're not officially engaged yet. I'm fully expecting that to happen in the next ten minutes or so, after I leave them.]

[I see. Well, actually, I don't much these days, but never mind.]

[Cataracts?] Rose asked.

[Yes. Not much anyone can do about that, is there?] Sathzakara replied.

[It's not something I've done, but it's not too complicated with the right equipment. I hope we can bring everything I'll need.]

[{surprise, confusion}] Rose heard.

[I spent five years training to be a doctor, Mrs Turnbull. I've spent the last year and a half finding out that that I'm never going to get a job as a doctor, because I prefer sleeping in woods, fields or even cardboard boxes, to a house where my parents are screaming at each other and me, I'm too strange, apparently, sleeping under the stars.]

[The stars are good companions, as long as you're warm.] Sathzakara said, then asked [How much do you know?]

[James has told me some things, but he's holding a lot back. He's told me your husband made a steam engine, but not where he got the pieces. He told me about sharks, but not about why people don't just stay out of the water. He's told me his friend didn't realise the necklace he gave me had a real emerald in it, but claimed it came from a pirate's treasure chest, and that you'd sell such things at market, but I've no idea how his friend would stumble over a pirate's chest, or who'd be buying. He's promised to tell me a lot when we're on the mysterious boat.]

[He is being careful. The boat itself will probably tell you a lot. Your world has changed a lot since my husband left it, I expect.]

[Urm, yes. Cars, trains, planes, jets, rockets, nuclear energy, electronics, radio, television, medicine, too. Oh wow! Even antibiotics....]

[A lot of those are just sounds to me, sorry.]

[I'm sorry... I didn't mean....]

[No, that's the point, Rose.] Sathzakara said [It would help our people if you could bring knowledge as well as medicines, Rose. Tell James that, please. Now, I think I'd like to sleep.]

[You're in a different time-zone.] Rose realised.

[If that's what you call it.]

[It's almost noon here.]

[Well it's not here, I assure you.] Sathzakara replied.

[James said you'd moved your village.]

[We did. I'm sure I'd be awake if we were still anywhere near the Mediterranean. Good night, Rose. I'm sure we'll talk some other time.]

[Good night, Mrs Turnbull.]

“How on Earth?” Rose demanded of James. And noticed that Mabel had gone.

“How on Earth what?” James asked, confused. “What did Mabel say?”

“Not Mabel, your grandmother. Oh, before I forget, she says we should bring knowledge as well as medicines, that it would help your people. About how the world has changed. I was thinking, it's changed a lot, in the last sixty or seventy years. You didn't tell me she had cataracts. How much cargo can your boat carry?”

“You're serious about coming?”

“Of course. I told you that last night.”

“I wasn't sure if you'd developed any doubts.”

“None at all.”

“And grandma didn't say there'd be trouble?”

“No. I forgot to ask, actually. Mabel woke your grandmother up.”

“Urm, you know old people sleep a lot...”

“She admitted she was in a different time zone.”

“Oh.”

“She also said, or at least strongly implied, that her village used to be near the Mediterranean.”

“Oh. That was your outburst?”

“Yes.”

“So, grandma's dropping hints that make my life more difficult?”

“Seems like it.” Rose agreed.

“And you could pluck the answers from my mind?”

She decided to try reaching out to him like Mabel had shown her. [I don't know how. I know how to do this, which might be handy.]

[I expect so.] James agreed. [What did Mabel mean about curiosity killing you?]

[I don't know. I guess it means I don't experiment. And I also agreed not to pester the answers out of you.]

[Thank you.]

[But I'd have thought that secretly moving a village across multiple time-zones, during a war for goodness' sake, would be rather a tough job.]

[The Far-Seer bit of Gran's name — that was because of her part in it. Grandpa helped, of course, but she actually planned the route, as well as making sure all the supplies were prepared, and so on.]

[So it was foresight as well as looking a long way?]

[Yes. Not to mention predicting the troop movements of several different armies.]

[Wow. So... dropping this question to get back to my original question you didn't answer properly yet...]

James looked guilty, and asked her “Will you marry me?”

It caught Rose by surprise. “Of course! With all my heart, James.”

“I need to get you a ring, don't I? Preferably with a diamond, Grandfather said?”

“Nothing in your collection of pretties?”

“There might have been one in the lot I left in Oxford. I can't remember. (The lawyer's firm was there for a while.) Much easier to buy one, I expect.”

“Save your money, getting all the medical stuff might cost a lot. I don't need an engagement ring. I do want a wedding ring though.”

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“Of course.”

“Maybe I should sell this necklace.” Rose mused.

“Why?” James was surprised.

“If I'm going to operate on your grandmother's cataracts — and I presume she's not the only one with them — then I need some fairly specialised stuff. Plus the rest of what I want to take with me. Its probably going to cost a lot. Hundreds of pounds, certainly. Maybe even thousands of pounds.”

She groaned “And so much of it depends on electricity, too. We'll need a generator, as well, I guess.”

“Alternating or direct current?” James asked her.

Rose was shocked momentarily, then shook her head. “I keep forgetting your grandfather was an engineer. Two hundred and forty volts, alternating current, fifty Hertz.”

“Next question. What's a volt?”

“A car battery is twelve volts, a torch battery is one and a half, normally, but there are some which are four and a half. A transistor radio battery is nine.”

“Urm... and if you get enough volts you get a spark through the air? Like lightning?”

“Yes. But that's thousands, or millions.”

“OK. And the other one?”

“Hertz? How many times it goes up and down in a minute. No, that can't be right, the lights would be going on and off all the time. It must be per second.”

James thought about it for a moment. “How big is the generator you'd need?”

“I don't know.” She waved with her hands. “Maybe this big?”

“Hmm.”

“What does 'Hmm.' mean?”

“It probably means that we're going to need to ask an expert.”

“Is that hard?”

“You'll need to ask someone, I guess Gran. Or my mother, but Gran's got more authority.”

“And somehow describe what a volt is, and so on?”

“Yes.”

“Or we get a generator?”

“Yes. And take that much less cargo. The boat's cabin is about half the size size of my bedroom, and not as tall. There's some cargo space, but it's not even half the size of the cabin. Probably more like twice the size of the bed in my room.”

“Oh. So taking the generator would be a big chunk of the cargo, and it might turn out to be needless?”

“Yes. Or we might find out that we can't do it, and anything that needs electricity is useless.”

“Is direct current easier?”

“I don't know, actually. Grandpa had some bottles with bits of metal in, that he said made direct current. I was thinking maybe we could use enough of those.”

“Oh. Perhaps we need that generator.” The thought of attaching medical equipment to a home-made battery pack made her cringe. Not least from cleanliness issues. She'd need an extension cable too, she realised. An operating theatre was no place for a smelly, noisy generator. Another thought occurred to her. “How do we get all this into your boat?”

“Not the way I was originally thinking I'd get to it: swim. But for the moment, Rose, don't try to sell your necklace. We don't know how much things will cost, I might have enough.”

“Your wallet wasn't that full, James.”

“I didn't put most of it in my wallet, Rose.”

“I hope you didn't leave any of it at home.”

“You really don't trust your parents, do you?”

“I know them. Mum's been accused of stealing from a lodger before. He had no proof though, but I'm pretty sure that's how she got a new dress.”

“I did leave some there. Plus the jewelery, of course.”

“The jewelery ought to be safe. It's recognisable.”

“So's the money; sequential numbers, same value.”

“Just how much are we talking about?”

“I thought it was far too much. I told the lawyer it was too much, but he said that he'd just made a record in his books that I'd been looking for him for two months and had come half way around the world, so he had to put in a reasonable figure, or it'd be suspicious.”

“So, two months at what, ten pounds a week?”

“I was travelling. He said he ought to put in hotel rates.”

“Sixty days at what, five pounds a night?”

“Ten.”

“Six hundred pounds! Wow, I'm engaged to a wealthy man! I hope there's some money left for our descendants.”

“Don't forget the plane ticket. This is silly, why don't I just tell you?”

“Inherent suspicion of dangerous natives?” Rose suggested, with a smile.

“Something like that. He said he didn't think he could get away with putting less than fifteen hundred into the books.”

She looked at him in amazement. “And you left that much money with my Mum and Dad?”

“Not all of it.”

“Let's go home.”

“If you like.”

“I'm going to feel terrible if any of it's missing. I don't know how you can be so calm about it.”

“I guess... I've been thinking of it as just surplus trade-goods. Something you need to look after but don't really need for anything. Sorry. I need to start thinking of it as for you to help people, don't I?”

“Is that what my necklace was?”

“Not really, no. That was something precious to me.”

“But you gave it to me.”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“You'd offered yourself to me, as a totally unexpected gift. I wanted to give you an unexpected gift. Not as valuable, of course, but the best I felt I could do.”

“You're complicated.”

“Isn't everyone?” He sighed “I need to trust you. So you know, Rose: the trust fund has about five million in it.”

“Five... Wow.”

“The lawyer showed me the books, how his predecessors had invested it, and so on. Personally, when he gave me the travel money, I think he was a more than a little embarrassed that he'd just shown me that his management fees on the trust were a hundred pounds per month. Mostly, I suspect he'd been putting it in long-term investments which didn't need much attention.”

“So your grandfather's trust is giving him a nice little income, and he wanted to keep you friendly?”

“Quite possible, yes. There's another fact I need to trust you with, I think. I'm too sparing with the truth.”

“Well, apparently you've got a big secret to keep. What is it?”

“The trust was set up for education. But that's only what the lawyer called a moral obligation.”

“In other words, if you decide to, you could get more out?”

He nodded.

“Thank you, James.”

“What for?”

“Trust. You really shouldn't trust me that much.”

“Why not?”

“I could be an experienced con-artist, after your money.”

“You're not. Not with that gift God just gave you. He doesn't make mistakes like that.”

----------------------------------------

ROSE'S HOME.

“Just in case, James...” Rose started.

“Yes?”

“If Mum hears me going up the stairs, she might run. It's not hard at all to get out of your room, onto the roof of the back porch, and then down. Mum's quite flexible still. Could you wait in the alley here, just in case?”

“I was wondering why we came this way. Of course.”

Rose let herself into the house, and shut the door as quietly as she could. Normally her pattern was to sneak out, but it wasn't so different.

She could see the kitchen from where she was, it was empty. As usual, her father was snoring in his wheelchair in the front room. Rose climbed the stairs, stepping over the steps that creaked. James' door was open, and his briefcase was too, Rose saw past her mother's form, and reached out to James.

[James, Mum's looking in your briefcase.]

[Good job I moved the money then. The pretties are there, and a few other things that might interest her.]

[What?]

[Papers from the lawyer, for instance.]

[She doesn't read well.]

[There's also a signet ring.{image} That's rather important.]

[How important?]

[About five million pounds.]

[I'm going to challenge her.]

[Remember, she's your mother.]

“Interesting reading, Mum?” Rose asked.

She jumped, and the briefcase fell onto the floor. “Rose! You scared me half to death.”

“You don't think that the fact you're searching through James' bag might have something to do with that?”

“He's got money in trust, Rose! He's filthy rich!”

“So, put back the pretties, and we'll forget this happened.”

“He left it open.”

“No, he didn't. It was closed when we left. I saw him lock it, actually, I never knew you were that much of a tea-leaf, Mum.”

“I was just dusting it, Rose.” she said, her hand going to the pocket in her pinafore. Rose assumed it was unconsciously.

“Mum, it's not yours.”

“He's just some foreigner, Rose. I'm your mum, you wouldn't rat on your own mum, surely?”

“I might. We're engaged, Mum. He asked me half an hour ago. What you've taken is stealing from me.”

“I ain't taken nothing!”

“Yes. That's what I suspect.” Rose scanned the jewelery on the floor. “One necklace, I see, one gold bangle, missing, three broaches, I see two of them. One signet ring, nope, I don't see that either. I'm sure James will be here soon. Don't make this worse, Mum. Please!”

“You're a hard girl, treating your mother like this. You're going off, gallivanting round the world with a rich man and I'm going to starve here...”

“Can it, Mum! We're not gallivanting around the world, we're going back to his isolated village where I'm going to be the first doctor they've ever met; healing the sick like you've screamed at me to be doing often enough. Half of his cousins are dead already! He's not rich, that trust is for getting his granddad's descents an education, and that gold you've stolen is so I can get medicines and stuff. You're going to deny his nieces and nephews that that so you can have a pretty dress? You're going to deny my kids that? /Give it back/.”

“Oh all right! Ungrateful chit of a girl.” No gold appeared.

Rose tried another track. “Mum, you hate it when the gajos label us thieves. Why do you give them more ammunition?”

“I'm just trying to...”

“You're just trying to pretend you're entitled to it. You're not!”

“I gave you birth! I fed you! Eighteen, twenty years, I scrimped and saved to feed you, girl! Don't say I'm not entitled to nothing from you, you can't just walk away, leaving me nothing!”

James entered the room. “Good afternoon, Mrs Abbot. I see you violate my guest-rights. That is a very serious thing.”

“You what?” Mrs Abbot exclaimed. He'd climbed the stairs even more quietly than Rose.

“I am a guest in your home, am I not, albeit one who pays for the privilege? You should care for my possessions as your own. That doesn't mean hiding them about your person.” He picked up the briefcase, checked the hidden compartment where the signet ring was kept, it was still there, and carefully picked up the gold jewelery. Then to Rose's surprise he laid it on the bed, as if it were on display. “You've made your choice then?” he asked Rose's mother.

“Pardon?”

“You've made yourself free with my possessions, rummaged through documents that have nothing to do with you, but I see you've chosen some of my trade-goods. If I understood you correctly as I was coming in, you are saying that it is your right to expect a bride-price from me in exchange for your daughter. It is not my custom, I apologise if it is yours, but Rose did not tell me so perhaps you have not raised her as well as you should, which of course reduces her bride-price, doesn't it? What else have you failed to teach her, I wonder? So I ask, before we leave, and I assure you we are leaving, have you made your choice? I must say I think you've chosen quite inferior pieces.”

“What are you going on about?”

“You said you were entitled to something, Mum. Compensation, for cooking all the food and so on that my part of the family allowance bought, you know? He's asking if you want to reconsider what you've chosen.”

James indicated one of the necklaces “This one, for instance, is almost certainly worth far more than its scrap value, made, as you can see from a Spanish doubloon.”

“How do I know it's not a fake?” she asked, looking at it closely.

“How do I know your daughter's not fake?” he shot back, as though insulted. “I've got eyes. Surely you know a genuine doubloon when you see one! If nothing else, feel the weight. You own son loaned me money against it's scrap value. I'm sure he can tell what's gold and what's painted lead, or he'd be out of business. And just look at the workmanship on it! Don't insult your daughter by thinking I'd offer something that's fake for her hand!” Rose was amazed at what was happening, and was torn in so many different directions. He'd turned the question of theft into another one entirely, and was obviously was in command of the situation, but she was more than a little disgusted that her mother seemed to be going along with it.

She spoke in a firm but harsh whisper “Mother, if you dare try to sell me like some piece of meat then I'm warning you, so help me, I'll tell Dad and our Rick too! Your name won't even be worth mud. You ought to be giving me a dowry and well you know it. Who do you think we are? One of them that call themselves gypsies but don't keep the traditions right? Gran'll be turning in her grave! Don't offer anything James, you don't know it, but you insult my whole family.”

He apologised and quickly packed the jewelery away. Rose turned back to look at her mother with a scowl on her face, but saw she was already handing back what she'd stolen. James' ploy and Rose's threat had shamed her far more than accusations of being a thief. She could live with that sort of accusation, but if she accepted a bride-price for her daughter she'd become an outcast.

Mrs Abbot tried to recover the situation, “It was just a little misunderstanding, that's all, Rose...”

“Yes, Mum. You thought you could get away with it. I'm going to invite Rick and the others to my wedding. You can turn up if you like, I can't stop you. But after this, you won't hear where it is or when from me.”

“Now, Mrs Abbot, I think you'd better leave us to pack, don't you think?”

James added.

----------------------------------------

“Where to now?” Rose asked James, as they left the house. This time, Rose had her suitcase with her.

“I was going to ask you for suggestions.”

“Can we try Rick's? I don't want to abandon my family entirely.”

“He's got the space? Of course, if you don't think your necklace will prove too much temptation for him.”

“He's honest, James. I really don't know how my parents did it, but they raised six committed Christians.”

“Maybe God's grace?”

“Probably. Dad didn't used to be so bad, but after he lost his legs...”

“How did that happen? I meant to ask.”

“Accident at work. To start with he'd just have a little drink to help him sleep. Now...”

“It must be painful, I'm sorry.”

“Very.”

----------------------------------------

“'Ello, trouble.” Rick greeted them as they entered his shop. “Now what's up?”

“Short story, best not told.” Rose replied.

“We have two requests.” James said.

“Do we?” Rose asked, surprised “I thought it was just one.”

“First things first.” James said. “Rick, Rose said she's not fussed about an engagement ring, but I'd like her to have one, anyway. And I'll be needing to give her a wedding ring soon too. Do you have anything?”

“He went and popped the question already did he?” Rick asked.

“He did, and it took me all of two seconds to think of a reply, too. Guess what the other request is.” she indicated her suitcase.

“That mean what I think it does?”

“Mum did worse than scream, Rick. I've moved out, permanently. I caught her red-handed, poking through James' suitcase, which he'd locked. There's worse too.”

“Worse?” he asked, surprised.

“I won't tell.” she declared, “While you're thinking of rings, can you think about the idea of finding your sister and her intended somewhere to stay?”

“How long?”

“Last night we found out that we could marry ten days after giving notice. So our wedding ought to be in under a fortnight. How long it'll take to arrange all the things I'd like to take on the boat with us, I don't know, but I really hope we can do it in the same time.”

“Boat?”

“Well, we did think of flying, but neither of us have the feathers.” James replied.

“Or we could swim I suppose.” Rose said.

“Not with your medical equipment, you couldn't.” James pointed out. “And swimming all day and all night without a rest might sound like a stroll in the park, but it really gets boring after the first couple of days.”

Rick laughed. “I like your sense of humour, James. Let me show you some rings and then we can talk about prices.”

“I hope you're going to give your favourite unmarried sister a special discount.” Rose said.

“With that monstrosity round your pretty neck?” he asked.

James knew what he'd offer. “What about we discuss the value of a genuine Spanish Doubloon, made into a necklace sometime between 1650 when the coin was struck and whenever the ship it was on was sunk by cannon fire?”

“How do you know it was sunk by cannon fire?”

“Well, that's a guess, really, but the chest I found it in had a cannon ball embedded in the side, so I'm pretty convinced.”

“You found it?”

“I did.”

“Where?”

“Roughly in the vicinity of the island they call Hispaniola.”

“You some kind of frog-man, then, like that Jaques Cousteau?”

Rose felt James tense up beside her, and decide he needed to ask her what Rick had meant by a 'frog-man'. She said “James doesn't have a telly, Rick, and he's only seen a couple of films in his whole life. Jaques Cousteau is one of those people who strap air tanks to their backs, flippers on their feet and...”

“Go exploring old wrecks, and the like, yes.” James said, recovering quickly. “I was visiting some relatives in the area and they invited me along. I got lucky and found that chest before anyone else did. I guess the cannonball took it off the side of the ship, it was just lying there half buried in the sand, quite a long way from the wreck, covered in barnacles.”

[You didn't tell me any of this! That's why the sharks?]

[I didn't know you had that technology already, sorry.]

[Already?] Rose asked, in surprise.

[We'll talk later, Rose, OK?]

“So, Rick, do you think you'd like to swap that interesting conversation piece there for diamond ring for my fiancée and a wedding ring to match?”

“Along with accommodation for us, out of the rain somewhere, storage space for the medical stuff I hope I can get hold of, and last but not least, a lend of your van to get it to wherever James has hidden his boat.”

“All that, just for this necklace?” Rick asked, his eyes fixed on the doubloon.

“Yeah. Good deal, eh?” Rose said.

“Excellent deal. But you're buying the petrol for the van, and if you smash it, then you're buying me a replacement one. Hold on, a mo! You don't even have a driving license, do you, Rose?”

“Nope. I was hoping the van came with a driver.” she smiled sweetly at her brother.

“Just 'ow far are we talking?” Rick asked.

“No idea. Some isolated, out of the way spot, I presume.” Rose said. “James is only letting me into his secrets bit by bit.”

Another thought occurred to her. [You're going to tell me it's a submarine aren't you? It's the only way we could travel that far and it not be very rough.]

[Yes, it's a submarine.]

[Wow. What happened, your grandpa salvaged one and fixed it?]

[Later, please, Rose?]

“Got a map?” James asked. “I know where it is, but I really didn't feel like strolling up to someone and saying 'Hi, I've just hidden my boat where I dearly hope no one will ever think to look for it, and crept ashore. Could you tell me what the nearest town is called?'”

“No. Sorry, no map.” Rick replied.

“Oh, here!” Rose held out her hand to James. “Think a map to me.”

[OK, it's about here. {image}]

[How on earth did you get it that far inland?]

[There's a nice network of rivers up there, not many people, either.]

“I have no idea how, Rick, but he claims he's hidden it somewhere north of Cambridge.”

“There were loads of really tall reeds, it didn't look like anyone harvested them. I think we'll have to borrow a rowing boat to get stuff from somewhere you can stop the van though.” James added.

“Norfolk Broads, eh? I guess I can manage that far. I was worried you were going to say turn left at Loch Ness. What sort of boat is it?”

“Just one of my tribe's old deep-sea fishing boats, but it'd be an odd design for round here. If someone starts asking questions about where it came from, then ... well, when my grandmother was young the answer was usually a knife between the ribs. I guess I'll want to think with you, Rose, about better options.”

“Maybe you should say it's part of a university science project?” Rose suggested.

“Maybe.” James agreed. He'd thought of that.

“Rose,” Rick asked, “What you just did, holding his hand.”

“Yes, Rick?”

“I thought that was a game you played when you were little, but it's real, isn't it?”

“Yes, Rick.”

“Does Mum know it's real?”

“I've never asked her. I'm not going ask her now.”

“You're really not going to tell me what happened?”

“No. You don't want to know.”

“She hit you?”

“Drop it, Rick. She's our mum, you still speak to her. I can't stop her from coming to my wedding but I'm not inviting her.”

“That bad, eh? What about Dad?”

“Yeah, he can come. He was comatose every time I went past, he doesn't even know I know someone called James. Look, about mum, just so you don't misunderstand.”

“Yeah?”

“She almost did something, OK? She didn't do it, or like I told her I'd 'ave woken up Dad over it, and you'd have heard it too. But she didn't.”

“She was going to call the cops on James or something?”

Rose considered. It wasn't the truth, but it was almost as bad a thing in their culture. “No more from me, Rick.”

“You'd better look at these rings then, see what size fits, and we'll take it from there. And don't go expecting more than a carat, no matter how good the workmanship on the necklace. I don't keep anything bigger in the shop.”

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