Dory's Avengers (16 page)

‘When Mum disappeared, and Grandma and Grandpa went to Italy, I became a very angry young person. There was no way I was going to let him know I was upset; instead, I let him know that I'd heard the way he treated Mum. I accused him of killing her. I also accused him of being a tyrant, which he is, and told him I was going to tell the whole country what I knew and screw up his dictatorship for good.

‘Big mistake! God, I was naive. It was about then that I had my alleged nervous breakdown, poor weak-willed little boy who couldn't cope without his mummy. I've been in this decaying old room ever since.'

Louis realised the truth of Theo's description of the room; the luxury was clearly fading now he had a chance to look more closely, the once-beautiful furnishings starting to age. The room was like Theo in a way; hidden out of sight and left to age without care.

‘Once upon a time, I don't think…he…realised I could hear every word from the room below. Now he revels in it, inviting his closest allies into his inner sanctum to discuss delicate Sponsorship business, knowing I can hear every word but do nothing about it. That is, until now.'

‘I can do something about it!' said Louis.

‘Indeed! There are plenty of things I could tell you that have gone before, but there's no point. They're done.'

‘Hang on, Theo; if you can hear every word from the room below, can't someone in the room below hear us?'

‘I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the acoustics don't work that way. Anyway, we're whispering, they don't.'

‘It's still a risk, Theo,' said Louis, worried.

‘Look, if there was someone in there listening to our every word I think we'd know by now. Surely you've realised that security round here doesn't exactly move subtly.'

‘All the same…'

‘Shhh!'

Louis heard first-hand what Theo had been telling him about the acoustics as voices from the room below suddenly reached them loud and clear. Theo winced at the sound of his father's voice.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for arriving early this evening. I wanted the chance to speak to you before the social event begins.

‘You have all been with me since the birth of the Sponsorship scheme. I never forget how you believed in me then, and I'm happy that you've all had the opportunity to benefit from the Scheme's success. You are the people whose opinions I trust the most, and as such I once again need to turn to you for advice. Lysander!' This time it was Louis's turn to flinch at his father's name. ‘I'm sorry to say it's Applethwaite giving me cause for concern – yet again.'

‘Lord William, if you'd let me, I'd like to propose that we go into Applethwaite and go in hard,' said a nasal and rather whiny voice from below.

‘Mortimer O'Reilly,' Theo whispered in Louis's ear.

‘The seer?' Louis whispered back, grinning. Theo returned his grin and nodded.

‘The very same. Hush now, Trev.'

Below them, Louis's father was speaking.

‘WSB, what seems to be the problem? If you let me…'

‘I've let you too many times before, Trevelyan,' roared
Lord William, ‘ – with little or no effect. I'm beginning to think your affection for that wretched village overrides your common sense sometimes.'

There was the sound of laughter from below, the nasal voice laughing louder and longer than anyone else.

‘No, Lysander, I think we need to send out a clear message to Applethwaite. For too long we've let the provinces slip as we concentrated on the cities. Of course the cities are important, but now they're exactly where we want them. It's time to concentrate on tying up loose ends.

‘Now, Anthony here has repeatedly contacted that homosexual bloke running The White Lion in Applethwaite offering a very generous Hotel and Catering Sponsorship package. The idiot continues to reject the offer. He's had his chance, and I say we now make an example of him.'

Loud cheers greeted Lord William's words. In the clamour, Louis couldn't make out whether or not his father's voice joined the cheers.

‘What have you in mind?' asked a female voice.

‘Dr Fiona Turnbull. Pro Spo,' whispered Theo.

‘I think a beating should do the trick, either for Mont-fiore or his boyfriend,' said Lord William casually. ‘The boyfriend I think. They consider themselves in love!'

More laughter.

‘Yes, the boyfriend. I'll get Stephen Dyer on the case.'

Horrified by what he heard, Louis whispered, ‘He's going to send Dyer after Alan,' while downstairs another man was speaking.

‘David Foster,' whispered Theo.

‘Sports,' Louis whispered back before Theo could say the word. ‘Gideon told me about him.'

‘Any news from Barrington?' David asked.

‘Not for a couple of days no, so we'll have to assume no news is good news.'

Upstairs, Louis breathed a sigh of relief. So far it would appear his absence had gone unnoticed.

‘The boy's keen; he'll do a good job for us,' continued Lord William in the room below.

‘The boy's a bit thick, in my opinion, Lord William.'

‘Stephanie Rogers – Retail,' whispered Theo.

‘Then I'll check on the boy right now. Put your mind at rest.'

There was a short silence from below, then Lord William's voice sounded clearly again.

‘Maxwell! Yes, yes…Indeed, I've no doubt it is an honour to hear from me. Now listen, Maxwell! I've got my most trusted Sponsors around me, and they're anxious to hear a report from you…Ill is he? To whom did you speak?…You spoke to Wallis, did you? Well done, well done. Keep up the good work, and keep me informed!'

Lord William clearly finished the phone call, and his voice became sarcastic as he addressed Lysander Trevelyan.

‘Apparently your son's ill,' he said. ‘Strange you didn't think to mention it.'

‘I didn't know,' said Lysander coolly. ‘I don't really have much time for Louis. Bit of a let-down as sons go.'

‘Not as big a let-down as mine,' snorted Lord William. Then, a little impatiently, he added, ‘What is it, Mortimer?'

‘Lord William, please don't forget…'

‘…Your prediction? I know, Mortimer. Lysander, give home a ring. See how your son is, be the dutiful father for once!'

Louis and Theo looked at each other in alarm. Again there were a few moments of silence from downstairs, then Lysander's voice carried up to them.

‘Nicola? It's Lysander, darling. How are you…Good. What about Louis? Just heard he's ill…Sunburnt…Yeah, silly sod, when will he ever learn? Can I speak to him?…No, let him sleep. Say hi to him later, get him to ring me on my mobile,
yeah … Thanks, Nikki, love you too. Give Genevieve a big kiss for me. will you?…Yes, take care…Hang on, darling, Lord William wants a word.'

Once again Louis and Theo held their breath. Louis realised with surprise that one or other of his parents had been covering for him, and God help Lysander if he'd only been pretending to talk to Nicola. The next words put both their minds at rest.

‘Nicola!' said William. ‘Lovely to hear your voice again…Yes thank you, I'm very well. Rose and Marina too; Theodore's not so good though, poor thing.'

Theo curled his lips in a snarl as the man he'd never call father again carried on.

‘Yes, Nicola, we do what we can for him, but it's pretty hopeless, truth be told.'

‘Devastated, isn't he!' muttered Theo.

‘I hear your Louis's been sunbathing,' Lord William was saying below them, still on the phone to Nicola Trevelyan. ‘Not the best idea for an albino…I should think he is sore. Give him my best, will you…And to you Nikki. Bye then.'

‘How did someone as bright as you end up with a son so dumb?' Louis and Theo heard Lord William ask Lysander, laughing. ‘I must say, Mortimer, that Trevelyan the younger doesn't seem to present us with much cause for alarm. Come on now, people, I think I can hear my guests arriving downstairs.'

Louis and Theo lay silent for a while after the room below them had fallen quiet. Finally, his voice incredulous, Louis said, ‘My mother covered for me!'

‘Why wouldn't she?' asked Theo, whose own mother had been the strongest and most positive influence in his life.

‘Because she's always out of her head, that's why,' replied Louis simply, wondering as he spoke if maybe his mother had hidden depths he didn't know about.

As the time passed all too quickly, and the sounds of Lord
William's soirée drifted up to Louis and Theo, they continued to talk long into the night. Soon worries about the present gave way to more pleasant reminisces about the past, and to the sheer joy of being together again. Finally, as the guests were leaving the house, calling cheerful farewells to each other in the avenue below, Louis and Theo fell asleep.

Theo was awoken some hours later by the sound of screaming downstairs. Marina, he thought anxiously, hearing feet hurrying to the back of the house where Marina slept. Leaning over the sleeping Louis and peering out from behind his bed curtains, Theo found to his surprise that it was already daylight outside.

‘Louis,' he said urgently, shaking his friend who gradually and reluctantly woke up.

‘Bloody hell, Trev,' said Theo, smiling. ‘I'd forgotten you sleep like the dead once you're out! Just thought you ought to know, morning has broken.'

‘What's going on downstairs?' asked Louis.

‘Marina was shrieking. I think she gets nightmares or something. Wait until the furore dies down, then you really need to get out of here.'

‘Why don't you come too?' asked Louis.

‘You do know your door's unlocked?'

‘Not if I go near it,' replied Theo. ‘Camera spies Theo making a bid for freedom, door locks immediately. Even if I were to get through before it locks, you'd hear the claxons go off from Land's End to John O'Groats!'

‘So how do I get out?' asked Louis.

‘Same way as you got in. You open the door, walk through and close it behind you. After that, it's down to you.'

‘I'm going to get you out of here you know, Theo. It may take some time but I'm going to do it.'

‘I know,' replied Theo. ‘I never doubted you for a second.'

Theo, long accustomed to the routine of the house in which he was imprisoned, waited until the perfect moment for Louis to make a bid for freedom. Breakfast was delivered and taken away, this time by a surly, silent servant rather than the loathsome Dyer, and Theo had distracted the camera so Louis could use the bathroom before he decided the time had come.

Sitting once again in the sanctuary of his curtained bed, Theo said, ‘This is it, Louis. Good luck, and thank you for everything. I'm going give the camera something to watch, you know what to do.'

‘I don't want to leave you, Theo,' said Louis desperately, tears forming in the corners of his eyes at the thought of the awful life he was leaving Theo to face.

‘Don't you blub, Louis; don't you dare! It's time now. I'm going to get off the bed right now.'

‘Theo…'

‘Now!'

Hugging Theo briefly, once again marvelling at his friend's strength of character, Louis said, ‘Now!'

Without hesitation, Theo slid out of his bed on the window side, opening the bed curtains as the camera panned on to him, and Louis left by the other side of the room. Hearing the door close behind Louis, Theo kept his face impassive despite the sudden unbearable loneliness he felt.

Once again, Louis was in luck. The hallway outside Theo's room was deserted as it had been the previous afternoon. Security guards were happy to rely on the camera to alert them to any escape attempt, never thinking for a second that anyone else would be in the room with Theo. Household staff were happy to give the unpleasant fourth floor a wide berth as much as they could – the last door on the right and the crazy son in the room behind it gave them the creeps. Knowing that the lower, pleasanter floors
wouldn't be so deserted, Louis was very relieved to see Marina waiting for him on the third floor.

‘Hello,' she said simply.

‘Hello,' replied Louis. ‘Are you all right?'

‘Yes thank you…oh, you mean earlier?' said Marina, smiling. ‘Good job I got one of my nightmares, something had to get you moving!'

‘Thank you,' Louis began, but Marina hushed him with a wave of her hand.

‘Father's showering; Rose is plastering make-up on her face. Hurry!' she whispered. Once again grabbing Louis's hand, she led him rapidly down two flights of stairs before frantically ushering him into the shadows.

‘Good morning, Lady Marina,' said a pleasant, female voice. ‘Off for a morning stroll?'

‘I am indeed, Mrs White. Bit of fresh air.'

‘Jolly good, Lady Marina,' said Mrs White, going on her way and thinking what a nice young woman Lady Marina was, unlike her troublesome bitch of a sister. Mrs White was far too wise to ever give voice to these thoughts, though, and guiltily put them to the back of her mind. Instead, she thought wistfully that Lady Marina was so like her gentle mother, whom Mrs White missed every day. It was possibly this thought that made her pretend not to notice Lady Marina was sneaking a young man from her room!

‘Come on!' hissed Marina to the young man who'd actually spent the night in her brother's room, and they sprinted down the stairs to the front door.

‘Go!' said Marina, pushing Louis through the door. ‘Kensington Gardens, five minutes.'

Running down the steps of the St Benedict household, in full view of anyone who cared to be looking, Louis slowed to a walk as he reached the sanctuary of the public pavement. Sneaking a look at his
A to Z
, he found he didn't have far to go to Kensington Gardens. He also realised that they
covered a large area, and his chances of meeting Marina there were remote.

However, meet her he did. Sitting himself down in the welcoming shade under the mature trees near the first gate he came to, he didn't have long to wait before a small figure sat down beside him.