Shadow: Bloody Fairies Part 9

"Sounds nasty," Hippy said. "Why do you want such a box?"

"Can't you imagine? Something so old and fabled would be infinitely valuable."

"What happened to her?"

"Who, Pandora?" Poppy shrugged. "The usual myths don't really say. Of course the ones I've been pursuing have been lost for so many years, it's difficult to translate, but I've gathered she suffered some kind of punishment. Banished in darkness was the literal translation, but I've really no idea what that means."

They gained the top of the slope and stopped. Ahead lay a flat gra.s.sy area strewn with rectangular rocks. To one side pillars rose from the ground, but supported no roof. Pierus crouched in the centre of the ruins. His coat flared out around him.

Hippy went and crouched down beside him. She plucked a blade of gra.s.s and twirled it in her fingers. "It's a nice hill," she said. "But the house is all broken."

"Three thousand years will do that," Pierus said in a low voice. "I had no idea it would affect me so much."

"What would?"

"I lived over there." He pointed to the south. "I used to come here often. This was a temple then, a beautiful stone temple."

Hippy tried to imagine it, but she'd never seen a temple.

Pierus patted her hand. "Forgive an old man for getting maudlin," he said. "I've been back to Dream from time to time, but never to my home. I had no idea it would be like this. It must be all this talk of Pandora. I brought her here once." He brushed a lock of wet hair out of Hippy's face and tucked it behind her ear. "You remind me of her."

Hippy quickly stood up and stepped out of reach. She wasn't sure why the look on his face made her nervous, but it did. "Poppy said Pandora opened a box and let all the bad things out."

Pierus chuckled. "It didn't quite happen like that."

"How do you know?"

"Of all people, I should know. She was my wife."

Poppy cleared her throat behind them. "Sorry to interrupt, you two," she said. "Where's your transport?"

"Transport?" Hippy looked at Pierus.

"Given we weren't antic.i.p.ating the theft of the Apple of Chaos, transport was not my first consideration when we arrived," Pierus said.

"If talking like a pompous a.s.s gave you wheels, you'd go miles. You'd better follow me. You don't want to stay here." Poppy turned around and walked down the slope toward a road that wound beneath the hillside.

Hippy skipped after her. Pierus followed a minute later. She thought maybe he was saying his goodbyes first. How odd, to think of Pierus as a young man with a wife. She wondered what Pandora had been like.

By the time they reached the road Hippy was hot and thirsty. She re-pinned her hair to lift it off her neck while they walked. The fabric of her tunic had dried all stiff and was gritty against her skin. Poppy seemed to know where she was going, even though the road was completely empty and wound on for miles and miles and miles.

After a while Poppy headed away from the road and towards a stand of trees where a black vehicle was parked. It was similar to cars Hippy had glimpsed in Shadow City the one time she'd been there, but it had the oddest dents all over it, a little round hole in the windscreen and no sleek shiny horns or b.u.t.tons or dials to be seen. It was shrouded in foliage.

Poppy gave an apologetic shrug. "You can never be too careful." She lifted a camouflaging branch off the bonnet and took a key from her pocket.

"How right you are, Miss Praeconius," said an unfamiliar voice.

Something cold and metallic pressed into Hippy's neck. She looked around in surprise.

Three men in black and white suits had appeared out of nowhere. One was short and bald, the other two were very big and had shoulders like tree branches. One pointed a gun at Poppy's head, the other at Pierus.

Poppy slowly raised her hands in the air. She gave a nervous laugh. "Gentlemen, really, it's so nice of you to come out and meet me here! I'm sure we can dispense with the hardware."

"Dispense with the hardware? Really?" The bald guy made a wheezing noise low in his throat that could have been a laugh. "That's my insurance. Where is it?"

"Gone." Poppy looked steadily into his eyes and never flinched.

"Gone? Now why don't I believe you?"

"She's telling the truth!" Hippy scowled at him.

"Shut up Hippy." Poppy kept a smile pasted on her face, but spoke through clenched teeth.

"Hippy is it?" Bald guy grabbed Hippy's chin and twisted her face one way and then the other. "Yeah, she looks like a hippy. What do you know about the box, little girl?"

"I'm not a little girl," Hippy said.

"Seriously she's got nothing to do with it," Poppy said. "Her and the old guy, I just met them up on the hill. They're tourists. Now Tony I'm sure we can talk about this like civilised people."

"Sure we can." Tony jerked his head at a long black car that had just pulled up on the road behind them. "Get in. All three of you. No funny business or the hippy gets it, alright?"

CHAPTER EIGHT.

It was all very well climbing into the back seat and looking to see if there was anything shiny in there, but when the doors locked them in and the countryside rushed past faster than the wind, Hippy started to feel sick. She'd never actually been inside a car, not even in Shadow City. b.l.o.o.d.y Fairies didn't trust any mode of transportation that lacked visible feet.

It was very cramped on the two facing bench seats. Poppy sat on one side, in between Tony and one of the big men. The other big man sat between her and Pierus.

"Now isn't this cosy?" Tony plucked a small white box out of his pocket, took a little white tube from that and applied a flaming match to the end. The most foul-smelling smoke curled from the stick and filled the car.

Hippy couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. "Do you know that thing in your hand is on fire?"

Poppy muttered something under her breath.

Tony chuckled. "It's a cigarette, sweetie." He sucked on the thing and exhaled a cloud of smoke around her head. "What's wrong with her?"

Hippy winced and waited for someone to say it.

"Nothing's wrong with her," Poppy snapped. "She's just not from around here."

Hippy beamed, then coughed when she inhaled a lungful of smoke.

"See I have a problem with this," Tony said. "I could almost swear you told me you were going after this box alone, and I've got a very good memory." He tapped his head. "But then you go underground and you come up with two new friends. What gives?"

"You know I've been asking myself just that," Poppy said.

"I could just about see my way clear to getting over that little hurdle," Tony continued, "if you had of come back with the box. Like you promised. But you didn't, so we're going to have a problem."

"d.a.m.n right we're going to have a problem." Poppy took a deep breath. "Someone else got there first. I'm going to need more money if you want me to keep chasing this, Tony. A woman can't live on air."

Pierus made a sharp movement. The big man planted a hand on his chest.

Tony glared at him. "Don't you worry mister, you'll get your turn to talk. Mostly because I just don't like you. Unlike you-" he looked at Hippy. "You I could get used to." He paused a moment and sucked on his cigarette. "You're not getting another cent, Miss Praeconius, till you give us something solid. I'm starting to think there is no treasure. You don't want to me to think that, because you know what'll happen." He drew a finger across his throat.

"Now Tony, have I ever given you cause not to trust me?" Poppy looked at him over her gla.s.ses.

Hippy lost interest in the conversation. She reached in to check on Fluffy Ducky.

"I don't trust anybody." Tony dragged on his cigarette. "I don't trust you. You're too smart for a woman. I don't trust your man friend here, he walks around looking like he's smelled something bad. I could maybe trust the little girl here, but it'd probably get me in deep trouble. You see where I'm coming from?"

"Little girl?" Hippy scowled. Fluffy Ducky ran up over her arm, paused on her shoulder and launched himself straight at Tony's face.

The two big guys went for their guns. Tony screamed.

Pierus gave a low, deep chuckle. "That's the first time I've had any use for that creature."

Poppy moved faster than the men. She seized their guns right out of their hands and pointed each one at their owners. "Hippy just make sure that spider doesn't bite him, will you? You, Ugly, stop the car."

The big guy next to Hippy snarled and thumped on the gla.s.s that separated the cabin from the driver. Hippy reached across and plucked Fluffy Ducky off Tony's face, but held him just about two inches away to keep the man cowed. "I'm not a little girl." She gave him her most ferocious scowl.

The car slowed to a halt.

"You two, get out." Poppy jerked her head at the door.

The big guys got out of the car.

Poppy reached across and locked the doors. Then she extended one leg and thumped the floor twice. The car moved off again. "Alright Hippy, put the spider away."

Hippy tucked Fluffy Ducky safely away.

Tony said a whole string of bad words.

Hippy's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Do rabbits do that kind of thing over here?"

Tony spluttered.

"There," Poppy said, when he subsided. "Now we're on more even terms, perhaps we can all be a little bit more friendly."

"You're going to regret this." Tony made a nasty face at both Pierus and Hippy. "And you two as well. Those are my good friends you left back there!"

"They're big boys, they'll be fine." Poppy handed a gun to Hippy. "Here love, hold this. No not like that, that's where the bullet comes out. Point it at Tonythat's itand don't squeeze the trigger unless I tell you to."

"Which bit's the trigger?"

"Don't give it to her, she's psycho!" Tony yelled.

Hippy broke into a big grin. "Really? That's almost the nicest thing anyone ever said to me." She wiped a tear from one eye.

Tony dropped his face in his hands. "I knew it was gonna be one of those days. Alright Praeconius, what do you want?"

"You off my back would be a good start." Poppy took a slim metal file out of her pocket and started sc.r.a.ping dirt from underneath her nails. "I mean really, I'm doing my very best to be a serious archaeologist here, but it's very difficult when you and your goons overreact at every little setback."

Tony scoffed. "You're not a serious archaeologist, you're a thief!"

"I would be a serious archaeologist if you'd get off my back, give me the s.p.a.ce to pay you your money back and move on!"

"I knew it," Pierus said between clenched teeth. "I knew you weren't to be trusted."

"You think?" Tony glared at all of them.

"Shut up, or I'll put you out of the car too, and keep your friend," Poppy said.

Pierus turned bright red. Then he went white. "You wouldn't dare."

"I'm doing the fandango with organised crime here, you want to try me? Now shut up, I'm trying to close a deal." Poppy returned her attention to her nails.

"Seriously, who is this guy?" Tony said.

"Never you mind. Now here's the deal, Tony. Pandora's Box was gone, but we have a lead on who took it. I'm going to need time to chase that up and some cash to cover expenses. Not a lot mind, but you understand it'll all be worth it in the end."

"You're crazy," Tony said. "You think I'm going to give you more money and let you run off with the box?"

"I don't care what you think. I'm sure you don't want me to teach young Hippy here how to shoot that gun, do you?"

"Oh!" Hippy exclaimed. "I think I found the trigger!"

"Alright, alright!" Tony put his hands up. "But you got a week, alright? And then I'm coming to check up. And you'd better not have these two jokers with you when I get there, either."

"Good man." Poppy stuck out her hand and the two shook. "Are we in Athens yet?" She peered out of the window.

"What makes you think that's where we're going?"

"That's where you always go. Ah, good. Let us out here."

Tony leaned forward, giving Hippy a wide berth. He knocked on the gla.s.s. The car slowed to a halt.

Poppy unlocked the doors and pushed them open. "Come on team."

"One week Praeconius!" Tony yelled.

Poppy slammed the door shut.

Hippy stared all around her with big eyes while the car pulled away. More cars rushed past on a big, wide road. Tall, dirty buildings loomed over them, their rows of windows climbing up and streaming across for miles. In, around and behind them crowded far more ancient buildings, most crumbling and in ruins. People swarmed everywhere. Most of them stared at her. She moved closer to Pierus.