Read The Emerald Casket Online

Authors: Richard Newsome

Tags: #ebook, #book

The Emerald Casket (6 page)

‘I am here, Mr Wilkins,' Green said, ‘to warn you.'

‘Warn me about what?'

‘About the other caskets of course. If you thought the contents of the diamond casket were bad for your health, imagine what might be in the other two.'

‘But…'

‘And imagine if those caskets got into the wrong hands. Why, there could be a terrible tragedy.' Green's eyes narrowed. ‘Or three.'

Without warning, the man leapt at Gerald and grabbed him by the throat. He jabbed the tip of the sword into Gerald's chest.

‘It's time you got some skin in the game, son.' With a grunt, Green thrust the sword home, deep into Gerald's ribcage.

Gerald gagged; saliva blocked his throat. He felt like he was about to drown. He launched himself upright, finally waking. His T-shirt was soaked in sweat. He ran his hands down his chest. There was no sword, no wound. He stared at the curtains that were billowing freely in the breeze. He crossed to them, closed the window and collapsed back onto the bed.

What had just happened?

A dream?

Or something else?

In his mind's eye he could still see the apparition of Sir Mason Green, gloating.

The interior of the Archer Airbus A380 Flying Palace has featured in design magazines from Milan to New York. But the lavish descriptions in those publications didn't come close to Sam's response when he climbed on board.

‘This. Is. Fan.
Tastic
!'

Gerald led a tour of the aircraft. Sam and Ruby's jaws dropped lower and lower the further they ventured.

‘There's a bedroom suite at the back and once you're past the dining room and the bar area there's this great cinema set-up. There's something like ten thousand movies and a stack of video games,' Gerald rattled off. ‘Then upstairs there's an office with satellite access, a gym with a hot tub and a library. It's pretty cool, actually.'

‘Pretty cool?' Sam said. ‘It's amazing. And all this is yours?'

‘I guess so,' Gerald said, slightly embarrassed. ‘I'm not really used to it yet.'

‘Keep it that way,' Sam said. ‘You don't ever want to take this for granted.'

Mr Fry appeared behind them, carrying a clipboard and checking items off a list.

‘Careful,' Sam said. ‘Here comes the karate kid.'

Fry marched past them. ‘Monthly meeting of Mensa, is it?' he said, without looking up.

‘What's he on about?' Sam asked. Gerald shrugged.

‘The captain wants a word with you before takeoff,' Fry said over his shoulder.

Gerald watched the butler as he headed towards the galley at the rear of the aircraft. ‘At least he's not flying the plane,' he said.

A tall woman in a blue pilot's uniform stepped from the cockpit.

‘Hello, Mr Wilkins,' she said, shaking Gerald's hand. ‘I'm Captain Baulch. But please call me Laura. We're waiting on a final clearance from the tower then we can get underway. I expect you and your friends are aware of the usual safety warnings.'

They all nodded.

‘Good,' the captain said. ‘So you don't have to hear any of that rubbish from me. I think all you really need are these.' She opened a cupboard and pulled out three large plastic trays and three bicycle helmets.

Gerald took a helmet in one hand and a tray in the other. ‘What are these for?'

Captain Baulch looked surprised. ‘You've never been plane sledding?'

Fifteen minutes later, the airbus was at the start of the runway, engines thrumming. The captain called back from the flight deck. ‘Ready?'

‘Yep!' Gerald, Sam and Ruby chorused. They each sat on a plastic tray on the floor at the front of the jet, helmets on.

‘Righto. Hold on!' Captain Baulch pushed forward on the flight controller and the jet accelerated down the runway.

Gerald gripped the sides of his tray and he glanced at his friends. Ruby gave him a quick thumbs up. Sam was grinning insanely. The plane gathered speed and they started sliding. With a final surge of acceleration, the nose lifted from the ground and the three of them shot along the floor.

Gerald gave a whoop as his tray skidded past clusters of armchairs. He clung to the tray as he hurtled down the length of the plane. He was heading straight towards a couch in the bar area and he leaned hard to his left. He flashed past, buffeting against the leather cushions and bouncing back into the middle of the cabin. The jet was now banking to the right. Gerald found himself veering wildly. He looked up in time to see he was on a collision course with a long dining table. He desperately hauled over to his right but his momentum was too strong. The jet's trajectory was pulling him straight towards the heavy metal and glass furniture. At the last second Gerald ducked like a startled tortoise, and the top of his helmet skimmed the underside of the table as he shot down its length and out the other end. He passed a startled Mr Fry who was still strapped into his seat near the galley kitchen, flicking through a copy of
Oi!
magazine. Gerald was heading at speed towards the closed doors of the bedroom suite. It was time to abandon ship. He dropped heavily onto his side and tumbled off the tray moments before it clattered into the wall at the end of the main cabin. Gerald came to a stop on his backside, facing the way he'd come, a dazed expression on his face. He was still buzzing from the ride when, with a high-pitched squeal, Ruby ploughed right into him. Her tray skimmed off the top of his helmet as she spun out of control and landed in his lap.

‘That was awesome!'

Gerald untangled himself from a knot of arms and legs then looked around. ‘Where's Sam?'

‘Dunno. I heard him crash.'

They found Sam flat on his back halfway up the stairs to the upper deck. His head was on the bottom step, his feet above him.

‘Well, that was interesting,' he mumbled.

Ruby grabbed her brother by the shoulders and pulled him upright. ‘How good was that!' she said. She turned to Gerald. ‘Can we do it again?'

‘I don't think the captain's going to go around again just for us,' Sam said.

A look of confidence spread across Gerald's face. ‘Why not?' he said. ‘It's my plane.' He strode to the cockpit.

Fifteen minutes later Gerald, Sam and Ruby were lined up on the trays, ready for another takeoff.

This time the three of them made it to the end of the main cabin a jumble of giggles and laughter. Mr Fry appeared and Gerald, Sam and Ruby sheepishly handed over their trays and helmets.

‘Lunch will be served in two hours,' he said, as if announcing a death in the family. ‘Unless you decide to take a detour via Disneyland, in which case it will be much later.' He trudged back to the galley.

‘Is Mr Fry married?' Ruby asked.

‘Don't think so,' Gerald said. ‘Can't imagine anyone volunteering to spend any time with him.'

‘I think we should find him a girlfriend,' she said. ‘To cheer him up.'

Sam smirked. ‘And who's going to cheer her up?'

They wandered into the cinema room, piling their arms with chips and soft drinks from the bar.

They each dived into a leather lounge.

‘How long's it take to get to Delhi anyway?' Sam asked, clicking a remote at the enormous flat-screen television. A program guide flashed up.

‘About nine hours, I think,' Ruby said.

‘Time to catch a couple of movies then,' Sam said. ‘What do you feel like? Action? Comedy?' Images filled the screen as he scrolled through the offerings from the plane's library of films. ‘Look. Here's that new war film,
Grunt Once Then Die
. What do you think?'

Ruby tore open a chip packet and stuffed a few into her mouth. ‘Yuck! Too violent. Isn't there something where people's heads don't get blown off? How about that new vampire movie?'

Sam reached over and took some chips from his sister. ‘Oh sure, killing soldiers in a war zone is offensive. But sink your teeth into someone's jugular and suck out their entire blood supply? That's the height of romance and sophistication.'

Gerald sipped on his drink and grinned. He loved it when Sam and Ruby got going.

‘What do you think, Gerald?' Sam said. ‘Gritty war movie or soppy love story? Gore-fest or bore-fest? Your choice.'

‘How about a horror movie,' Gerald said. ‘That way you get a bit of both.'

Ruby snatched the remote from her brother. ‘You're always compromising, Gerald. You need to be more assertive.' She stabbed at the buttons and the screen flashed with a rapid series of movie images. ‘How did you get to be so indecisive anyway?'

Ruby stopped flicking at an extreme close-up of a woman's face. Every pore, pimple and facial hair stood out in massive high definition.

‘Yow!' Sam cried. ‘That's hideous. What slasher movie is this?'

Gerald's eyes popped. ‘That's my mother.'

The face on the screen pulled back and Gerald's mother Vi Wilkins settled into an armchair in a fashionably decorated lounge room.

‘Your mother?' Sam said. ‘Why's she starring in a horror film?'

Ruby leaned across and clipped her brother over the back of his head. ‘It's a videophone, moron,' she hissed.

‘Hello, Gerald? Gerald? Can you hear me?' Vi's voice filled the cabin. ‘I can see you but I can't hear you. Can you see me, my darling boy?'

Gerald sat open-mouthed but mute. He'd spoken a few times to his parents on the phone since they'd abandoned him at the start of the summer. But he hadn't seen them. The weeks spent cruising the Caribbean on the Archer yacht had turned his mother's skin a glossy brown and her helmet of blonde hair had been coiffed into a creation from a fashion magazine. But there was something else. Gerald couldn't pick it. Then it dawned on him.

‘Mum. Have you had Botox?'

Vi lifted her chin and pulled back the corners of her mouth in an attempt at a smile. Her face barely moved.

‘It makes me look twenty years younger, don't you think?'

Gerald thought it made her head look like a waxed apple.

‘Um, yeah. It looks…really natural,' Gerald said, mortified. ‘Where are you?'

‘We're at the Archer compound on Martha's Vineyard, darling. The heat in the Caribbean was a little too much for your father, even with the outdoor air conditioning. I thought he might be more comfortable here.'

Sam leaned across and whispered in Gerald's ear, ‘You wouldn't want to risk melting.' Gerald tried not to giggle.

‘What's at this Martha's place?' he asked.

‘This Martha's place?' His mother rocked back and laughed. ‘Gerald, you are too
too
gauche, my darling. Martha's Vineyard—all the right people come here. To be anywhere else in the summer would be terribly
infra dig
. There's the Lodges and the Cabots, of course. And the Rockefellers and the Carnegies. Geraldine has a simply enormous place here, right on the water—but of course it's your place now, sweetie. Everyone's dying to meet you. We'll come back next summer and stay a few months, I think. The weather here is much kinder to your father.'

Vi took an almighty breath and beamed into the videophone. ‘Who are your friends, dear?' she asked. ‘Introduce me.'

Gerald was glad for the break in his mother's monologue. ‘This is Sam and Ruby Valentine. They're coming to India with me.'

‘So glad you're making friends and keeping busy. Hello there,' Vi said, again attempting a smile.

Ruby and Sam waved at the screen. ‘Hi,' they chorused.

‘You take good care of my Gerald won't you,' Vi said. ‘He's my little soldier.'

Sam bit his bottom lip. ‘He's a very brave little soldier, Mrs Wilkins. Don't worry. He'll be fine with us.'

Gerald glanced sideways at Sam, who had wisely shuffled out of striking range.

‘Anyway, Gerald. I was just calling to say hello,' Vi said. ‘We're off to the Cabots' for brunch in a few hours and I have to put my face on.'

Sam opened his mouth to say something but a death stare from Ruby shut him down.

Before his mother could end the call, Gerald spoke up. ‘Mum, did you hear about Sir Mason Green? And our family tree?'

Vi sucked on her lips. ‘Mr Prisk told me about it. What a frightful chap Sir Mason turned out to be. A Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George! There was a time when that stood for something. Why he'd be interested in us is beyond me. Very disappointing. And speaking of disappointing, I'm none too impressed with our Mr Prisk at the moment either.'

Gerald blinked. His mother was being particularly random. ‘What's wrong with Mr Prisk?'

Vi sniffed. ‘The enormous pile of correspondence and paperwork he expects me to go through. It eats right into my day.'

Gerald couldn't hide the smile spreading across his face. ‘That sounds terrible.'

‘And here's a surprise for you. All this talk about family and I almost forgot. Have a look at this.' Vi hauled herself out of the armchair and bent down to poke through a document box on the floor. Sam had to hold back a laugh as the videophone's automatic camera adjusted to give a close-up of Vi's backside.

She sat down with an envelope in her hand.

‘What's that?' Gerald asked.

‘It's a letter from Great Aunt Geraldine.'

There was a hollow silence in the aircraft as this announcement bounced off the walls.

‘But,' Gerald began, ‘she's dead.'

Vi emitted a shrill laugh. ‘Of course she's dead, Gerald. I'd hardly be kicking back in magnificent luxury on Martha's Vineyard if the old bat was still alive!'

Gerald's mother had embraced the billionaire lifestyle with more gusto than he had. She pulled a sheet of paper from the envelope. Gerald noticed a splodge of red wax on the back.

‘It's dated a week before she died,' Vi said. ‘Written but not mailed. There's the usual blather about how you are and whether you're growing into a trustworthy young man. I swear, she was obsessed about your honesty. She seemed to think we hadn't brought you up right.'

Other books

Because a Husband Is Forever by Marie Ferrarella
The Sacrifice by Joyce Carol Oates
The Twelfth Child by Bette Lee Crosby
A Taste of Sauvignon by Heather Heyford