The Crystal Code (4 page)

Chapter 5

T
he moment Gerald walked into the Fairmont Hotel lounge, he spied his old school friend from Sydney.

‘Ox!' Gerald threw his arms around a stout lad of about fourteen and wrapped him in an enormous hug. ‘How're you going?'

Ox stood there for an awkward moment, his arms by his side. ‘Uh, this is all very European,' he said, squirming to free himself. ‘You do this to all the boys you know?'

Gerald laughed. ‘Only the ugly ones,' he said. He looked at Ox for a few seconds, studying him. He hadn't seen him in six months. Then he gathered him up in another bear hug. ‘The
really
ugly ones!'

Ox raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘Gerald,' he said. ‘I would like you to release me as this is making me uncomfortable.'

Gerald looked at his friend in surprise. ‘Excuse me?'

Ox cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. ‘You are invading my personal space and I would like you to respect my wishes please.'

Gerald released his grip and took a step backwards. ‘Are you serious?' he asked.

Ox's face broke into a broad grin. ‘See! It works. How amazing is that?'

‘What are you talking about?'

‘My assertiveness training,' Ox said. ‘People in the know call it A.T.'

‘Do they?'

‘Oh yes. My mum booked me into some self- confidence classes so I can be more comfortable around girls. You remember how hopeless I was trying to talk to them.'

Gerald remembered. Even by his own rubbish standards when it came to dealing with girls, Ox brought new meaning to the word ‘useless'.

‘The classes have been fantastic,' Ox said. ‘It turns out I was rude to girls because I was nervous around them. But the instructor has taught me a bunch of ways to relax and act natural whenever they're around. I can talk to girls now like they're normal people. You remember Madeleine from our history class?'

Gerald's eyes bulged. He once had a major crush on Madeleine. But she hadn't responded all that well to his drawing of him rescuing her from a fire-breathing dragon.

‘You didn't ask Madeleine out, did you?' Gerald stared at Ox in awe.

‘Of course I did,' Ox said, with a smug grin.

‘What did she say?'

‘She said she wouldn't be seen dead with me unless I was the last human being on earth.'

‘Oh.'

‘But that's good,' Ox said.

‘How is that good?'

‘When I asked her the time before that she gave me a flat “no”. So there's some progress.'

Gerald shook his head. Ox hadn't changed at all.

Just then, Felicity, Ruby and Sam wandered into the lounge. Gerald waved them over.

‘I'll introduce you,' he said to Ox. ‘Hey everyone, this is Ox—'

Ox silenced Gerald with a flick of his hand. ‘I've got this,' he said with a confident nod. ‘A.T.'

Ox walked up to Ruby and took her by both hands. ‘I'm Ox,' he said, his voice clear and strong. ‘You must be Felicity. Gerald wrote to tell me all about you.'

Ruby's face looked like it had been soaked in vinegar for a week. ‘Did he?' she said.

‘Oh yes. It sounds like you two get up to all sorts of fun on weekends. But that's Gerald. He's always been one for the ladies.'

Ruby whipped her hands free and turned on Gerald. ‘So you managed to write a letter to this boy but not to me,' she said. ‘You truly are unbelievable.'

Gerald closed his eyes and muttered, ‘Ox, this is Ruby, a very good friend. Ruby this is Ox, a blundering idiot.'

Ox looked to Ruby and then to Felicity. ‘Ohhh,' he said. ‘So
you're
Felicity.' He paused to look at her for a second. ‘That makes sense. Gerald said you were really pretty.'

Felicity blushed.

Ruby's mouth dropped open.

Gerald tried to fill the painful gap in the conversation. ‘How about we get some hot chocolates, eh?'

Ox clapped his hands. ‘Great idea, Gerald. I'll do it.' He looked around and his eyes fell on a young woman dressed in a smart black suit as she walked into the lounge. Ox beckoned her across.

‘Excuse me, Miss,' he said. ‘Can we order five hot chocolates, please?'

Alisha Gupta glared at Ox like she had just stepped in something foul on the footpath.

‘I beg your pardon?' she said.

‘Five hot chocolates. And if you could hurry it up. My friends are thirsty.'

Alisha's eyebrows peaked into an incredulous arch.

Ox tapped his foot. ‘Come along. Time's wasting.' Then a light went on in his eyes. ‘Oh! You're wanting a tip first.'

Alisha watched with growing fascination (and Gerald with growing horror) as Ox reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled dollar note. He flattened it out and held it up. ‘There's another one of these for you if you're quick,' he said.

Alisha stared at Ox then down at the money in his hand. She plucked the dollar from his fingers, balled it up and flicked it against his forehead.

‘Hey!' Ox said.

Alisha brushed past him and leaned into Gerald, kissing him lightly on each cheek. ‘Thank you for inviting me, Gerald. Tell me, is this a friend of yours?' she said, indicating Ox with a nod of her head. ‘If so, you're a better person than I am.'

‘This is Ox,' Gerald said.

Alisha looked at Ox through half-closed eyes. ‘Mm-hmm,' she said. ‘So he is.'

Ruby rushed to Alisha with an excited cry and grabbed her by the hands. ‘Alisha, thank goodness you've come,' she said. She shot a poisonous glance at Gerald. ‘I've got so much I need to tell you.'

Alisha smiled broadly, and gave Ruby a warm hug. ‘Hello Sam,' she said, giving him a wink. Sam's face glowed red and he let out a goofy laugh.

Then Alisha's eyes came to Felicity. ‘And who is this?'

Felicity stepped into the circle and held out her hand. ‘I'm Felicity. Felicity Upham. But please call me Flicka. All my friends do.'

Alisha's eyes barely moved but Gerald knew she was conducting an instant top-to-bottom laser scan, taking in every detail of Felicity's hair, her makeup, her clothing, her shoes, her poise. The whole process took less than half a second. Then Alisha smiled—and Gerald let out his breath.

‘I love your jacket, Flicka,' Alisha said. ‘Where did you get it?'

The girls settled onto a cluster of chairs and ordered hot chocolates from a waitress.

Ox introduced himself to Sam, then sighed. ‘That could have gone a bit better,' he said, looking across to where Alisha was holding court with Ruby and Felicity.

‘Yep,' said Gerald. ‘Just like the
Titanic
could have gone a bit better. Why did you say that stuff to Ruby?'

‘I don't know,' Ox said. ‘When I get nervous all girls start to look the same.'

‘Don't worry about Ruby,' Sam said. ‘She's saving all her hatred for Gerald at the moment. And Alisha just comes across as a bit of a toff. She's fine once you get to know her.'

‘I don't think that's going to happen any time soon,' Ox said. He rubbed his belly. ‘It feels like someone's tied my intestines in knots. Speaking of which, I'm starving. Is there any food about?'

Sam patted Ox on the shoulder. ‘Come with me,' he said and he led his new friend towards the rear of the lobby. ‘I want you to meet the most amazing person in the world.'

The day dawned under a clear winter's sky. The fleet of helicopters spread across the heavens like a flight of mechanical geese. But rather than heading south to escape the winter, this flock was going east, straight towards the snow of the Sierra Nevada.

Gerald peered out the window to the white-capped mountains below. Massive forests of conifers spread as far as he could see, like a never-ending plantation of Christmas trees. The glare from the empty blue sky made his eyes ache. He fumbled for his sunglasses, then adjusted the headphones over his ears and moved the microphone in front of his mouth.

‘How much further is it, Mr Fry?'

Seated in front of him at the joystick, his butler studied the flight plan clipped to a board by his elbow. ‘Our ETA is thirteen-thirty Pacific.'

Gerald shook his head. ‘Normal human language, please.'

Mr Fry cleared his throat. ‘Our expected time of arrival at Mt Archer is 1.30 p.m., about another twenty minutes.'

‘Thanks, Ace.'

‘Roger that.'

Mr Fry's transformation whenever he was behind the stick in a helicopter never ceased to amaze Gerald. But it was nothing compared with the change that came over him when Alisha's governess Miss Turner was around. And as she was now sitting next to Mr Fry in the front of the helicopter, the butler was at his most cheery.

A squadron of twenty helicopters fanned across the skies, carrying houseguests, ski gear and supplies.

‘I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already,' Felicity said. ‘And we get to have Christmas at our own private ski resort. It's going to be such fun. Epic.'

‘Won't it be strange, though,' Ruby said, ‘being away from your family?'

Felicity reached out and took Alisha by the hand. ‘Alisha and I were talking about that,' she said. ‘We're boarding-school brats—we're used to fending for ourselves.'

Alisha nodded. ‘I'm a corporate orphan. When work calls, my father responds. He'll be in Delhi all winter. But there's always Miss Turner to keep me company.'

Ox puffed out his chest and nudged Alisha with his shoulder. ‘I can keep you company if you like.'

Alisha's eyes dropped to where Ox's shoulder was pressed against hers. ‘Are you always like this?' she said. ‘Or are you making a special effort at being unpleasant just for me?'

Ox's ears turned pink and he leaned the other way.

Gerald glanced at the back of Miss Turner's head. Her hair was pulled into a fierce riding-school ponytail. ‘If she keeps Mr Fry happy,' Gerald said, ‘that'll be the best Christmas present I could get.'

Felicity looped her arm through Gerald's and flashed him a smile. ‘I can't wait to see what Santa brings me.'

Gerald let out a nervous laugh. ‘Oh yeah,' he said. ‘Good ol' Santa.'

He caught Ruby looking at him. The arrival of Alisha had tempered Ruby's attitude. But things were still frosty.

Then Mr Fry's voice crackled through the headphones. ‘Welcome to Mt Archer.'

They swept over a ridge and there was a collective gasp from the back of the helicopter.

A winter playground was laid out beneath them. A ski field sat ready, complete with lifts and a dozen runs that wound through stands of redwoods down the mountainside, like an unopened gift waiting for someone to tug on the ribbon. At the base, on the shore of a frozen lake, was a magnificent chalet, built from red stone. It looked large enough to host a small army. Smoke curled up from the cluster of chimneys that poked through the snow-covered roof. The lake reflected the winter blue sky like a mirror. It was the sort of place that postcard photographers could only conjure in their most elaborate dreams.

‘Mate?' Ox said to Gerald as they all drank in the view below.

‘Yeah?'

‘I love you.'

Not for the first time, Gerald could only marvel at the fortune his great aunt Geraldine had left him. An island in the Caribbean, a luxury yacht and a country estate in England were something, but a private ski resort was on another level altogether.

‘And we have this whole place to ourselves?' Felicity asked, squeezing Gerald by the arm.

‘Yep. Apart from our folks and my parent's closest thousand friends, this is our private playground for the next two weeks. Nothing to do but ski, snowboard, skate and eat.'

Mr Fry and Miss Turner cringed at the cheer that sounded out from behind them.

Mr Fry swept the helicopter through a broad arc and brought them down onto a helipad at the end of a row of identical choppers, all bearing the blue and gold insignia of the Archer Corporation. They had landed by a large hangar in a natural bowl in the hillside, out of sight of the main house.

Gerald jumped out, followed by the others. As the rotors wound down, a roar like a turbo-charged lawnmower came from over the rise. A snowmobile emerged over the lip and pulled a tight circle to come to a halt in front of them. A figure in a bright-yellow ski suit straddled the machine. He pulled a pair of designer sunglasses from his tanned face.

‘Hey there,' he said. ‘Welcome to Mt Archer.' He was about eighteen years old with blond hair, and he looked like he would be more at home riding waves at Maui. Gerald noticed that Ruby and Alisha were staring. Even Felicity's eyes had widened a touch.

‘Howdy everybody. I'm Travis. I'm helping out here over the winter. Now, you guys are the last to arrive and since you're about a hundred years younger than everyone else staying here, I figured you might like some fun on the way to the chalet.'