Dory's Avengers (29 page)

Looking round the room and finding that all his most trusted Sponsors were now in attendance, Lord William just shrugged, an expression of mild amusement on his face.

‘Stay or go, Theodore; it's all the same to me,' he said. ‘Perhaps, however, you would be so kind as to place whatever Lysander just passed to you on the table in front of me.'

Tick-tock, went the old grandfather clock. Lysander felt his blood freeze, and even Theo was too shocked to come out with a smart retort. When Theo finally did speak, it was one word.

‘No.'

So absolute was the silence that the clock's volume seemed to have notched up a few decibels. Drumming his fingers on the table, Lord William regarded his son with an air of amusement that everyone knew spelled bad news for the young man.

‘Theodore, put it on the table or I'll have Dyer break your arms and take it from you forcibly. Either way, I'm going to get to see what's in your pocket. So what's it to be; the easy way or the painful way?'

I seem to bring nothing but trouble to Theo, thought Lysander miserably as Theo put his hand in his pocket and drew out the scrap of paper from Louis. Placing it on the table in front of Lord William, Theo backed away a couple of steps and crossed his arms defiantly. It seemed to take Lord William an age to unfold the note; indeed, most in the room suspected that His Lordship was milking the moment. No one was prepared for Lord William's reaction, though; he started to laugh.

‘‘‘Hapy crissmus theo from Louis,''' Lord William read out, before raising his eyes to look at Lysander.

‘I'm not too happy with the teaching at Applethwaite School if this is the usual standard of spelling, or is it just because your son's a halfwit?'

‘Louis finds things difficult, Your Lord…erm…ship; I believe the standards are perfectly acceptable. My daughter's doing very well.' Stopping himself before he started gabbling, Lysander inwardly rejoiced at his son's genius at
giving him a decoy note for Theo. He also rejoiced that Theo had chosen to keep the other, tightly folded, piece of paper in his pocket.

‘Actually, I'm bored already,' said Theo, cheek masking his own relief at having chosen the correct note to give to his father. ‘I think I'll make myself scarce.'

Before anyone could reply Theo left the room, treating Lysander to the ghost of a wink as he passed, and sprinted up to the privacy of his curtained bed to read the real message from his ‘halfwit' friend:

Hi there, Theo Dory. I hope Dad doesn't get caught handing you these notes, but if he did I hope the decoy worked. If you didn't need it, then ignore the other note – it's from my imbecile alter ego!

I don't know if you can imagine how pleased we were to hear from you on my birthday. By the way, nice card. I'll treasure it for ever! Dad came in for a bit of a grilling from my mates, but he took it well. He was able to tell us what's been going on with you. I gather the tyrant's eased up on you a bit, and the piece of excrement Dyer has been demoted. We celebrated that one well, I can assure you! However, we also know that the tyrant still isn't above a bit of torture. We're on the case, Theo my friend; we'll never desert you, but the time's got to be right. The Unsponsored are getting stronger by the day, believe me, and they're ALL ON YOUR SIDE! We've also put a bit of a band together here in Applethwaite, called Dory's Avengers. Hope you like the name!

We'll get you out of there one day. Hang on in there. I know I don't need to tell you to be strong!

Lots of love, right back at ya Dory! Love to Marina. Spit in the eye to Rose the Bitch and his LordSHIT. Louis Trev x

The writing then changed, became gentler and more feminine:

Not much to add to Louis's note, just echo that we're thinking of you all the time. I know you're strong; you're a Farrell, how could you be anything else? Can't wait to see you again, Cuz. Miss you and love you loads, Abi xxx PS So pleased to hear the Dyer SCUM is off your case, wish I'd been there to witness his demotion!

I wish you had been too Abi, thought Theo, you'd have loved it. Finally, one more change in the handwriting:

Hi there, Theo, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Matilda Santiago and I think you are HOT, so if it's OK with you we are so going to get it on when we meet. Matty xxxxxxx.

Lying back on his bed, laughing silently, Theo couldn't remember ever feeling so happy in his adult life. Knowing it was risky to keep the note, but reluctant to part with it, Theo contented himself with stuffing it deep into a hole in his mattress before throwing himself back on to his pillow. Delighted though he was at word from his best friend and his cousin, it was the postscript from the mysterious Matilda that caused Theo the most pleasure. Wondering if Matilda was hot as she seemed to find him, Theo drifted into some very pleasant daydreams.

‘I do hope we meet soon, Matilda Santiago,' he said to himself, still laughing with joy, ‘I like your style!'

Chapter Eleven

While Theo was lying on his bed, happy thoughts filling his head, Lysander was getting a very hard time in the room below.

‘So, Trevelyan, let me get this straight. Your half-witted son just decided, out of the blue, to send my son a greeting. How nice of him.' Seeing Lysander squirm, Lord William warmed to his task.

‘So you expect me to believe that, after all these years of no contact, your barely articulate son decides to send Theodore this very touching Christmas greeting?' Picking up Louis's decoy note, Lord William screwed it up into a ball and threw it in Lysander's face.

‘HAVE YOU BEEN PASSING NOTES BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THEODORE AND…WHAT'S HIS FACE…LEWIS?' Lord William bellowed suddenly, causing almost everyone in the room to flinch. His Lordship, even in his fury, was impressed to notice that Lysander was the only one who did not flinch.

‘No, Your Lordship. This was an impromptu greeting; and my son's name is pronounced ‘‘Lou-ee'', by the way. Not Loopy Louis, just Louis.'

‘Trevelyan, I don't think you're in a position to question whatever I choose to call your half-witted offspring. Impromptu greeting, was it? After all this time?'

‘With respect, WSB, there haven't been many opportunities for me to pass on notes to Theo in previous years…'

‘ARE YOU QUESTIONING HOW I TREAT MY SON YET AGAIN, TREVELYAN?'

Calming himself, Lord William added in a quieter voice that was somehow more menacing for its lack of volume, ‘Has Theodore ever asked you to pass a message to your son?'

At that moment the door opened and Theo came back into the room.

‘It's OK, Lysander; I'll take it from here,' he said. ‘Your Lordship, Louis sent me his little Christmas card in response to me sending him a birthday card last week.'

‘So it wasn't impromptu at all, Lysander! You were lying…'

‘Lysander was covering for me, for which I thank him wholeheartedly.'

‘Why would he do that?'

‘Probably because he feared the consequences would be pretty harsh for me otherwise.'

‘You sent the Trevelyan boy a birthday card?'

‘Yes, Your Lordship. A birthday card. It's a thing people send to their friends. On their birthdays.'

‘ENOUGH, Theodore! Your insolence is not helping. Both of you, listen to me! There will be no more correspondence between Theodore and Louis. None! If I find this order disobeyed, the consequences will be grim for both of you. Understand?'

Both Lysander and Theo had the good sense to nod, even Theo realising that a smart answer wouldn't be a wise move at that moment.

‘Now,' said Lord William, addressing everyone in the room once more and making Mortimer O'Reilly flinch again, ‘I'm sorry that this meeting seems to be all about Lysander here, but there's one more thing I'd like him to
explain. Lysander, what in the name of heaven were you doing…here?'

Switching on his monitor screen, Lord William started to play the film that had been standing by on his computer. To Lysander's horror, the Applethwaite Unsponsored versus Eden Valley football match he'd attended the previous Saturday filled the screen.

‘Here we have some underclass attempting to play football. This,' Lord William went on, tracking one of Cameron's runs on the screen with his pen, ‘I understand to be Elliot Farrell's son. I suppose that would make him your cousin, Theodore.'

Theo leant forward in his favourite armchair and watched the football match with interest.

‘Some of these players, my man in Applethwaite informs me, are pretty useful. Farrell junior falls into that category. However, they have all spurned the benefits of Sponsorship and are paying the price. Sponsorship equals a fine career, possibly playing in the Premier League. No Sponsorship equals cold Saturday afternoons playing on a field in Cumbria. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you yet another example of the way Sponsorship enhances lives!'

Lord William's lapdogs all applauded right on cue, with the exception, Theo was pleased to notice, of Lysander.

‘This is not actually why I wanted to show you this film, however. Lysander, would you be so kind as to explain what you were doing?'

The camera panned round from the match to the spectators; particularly to Lysander. Jenny on his shoulders, he was jumping up and down; shouting, cheering, singing, leaving no doubt that he was very much involved in supporting the Unsponsored players.

‘As you can see, Lysander isn't the only person we wouldn't expect to see fraternising with the Unsponsored.' Tapping the screen with his pen once more, Lord William
pointed to Max Barrington. ‘I've long suspected that this young man has been relaxing his loyalty to the Scheme, and for some time I have had undercover men and women keeping an eye on Applethwaite and Barrington. Barrington has made his choice; his Sponsorship has been suspended permanently, and he can rot with the rest of the underclass.'

Watching Max roaring with laughter along with a couple of young women, Theo decided that rotting with the underclass seemed rather a pleasant option.

‘Ah, look, Lysander. Loopy Lou-ee,' Lord William continued, regarding Lysander with the same air of detached amusement that he usually reserved for Theo. To Theo's delight, Louis had indeed wandered into view, arm tightly wrapped round the shoulders of a young woman. The young woman in question was so clearly a Farrell that, even if Theo hadn't been aware of his friend's affections, he would have known at once she was Cousin Abi. Passing cups of some hot drink to Max and his companions, Louis and Abi looked as happy and relaxed as everyone around them.

‘Louis looks a little more with it than last time I saw him, doesn't he, Lysander?' murmured Lord William, watching Louis swapping quick-fire banter with Max.

‘Lord William…' began Mortimer O'Reilly desperately, but as usual Lord William cut him short.

‘I haven't forgotten, Mortimer. I never forget your prediction for a moment. However, we're reaching the bit of this film I find the most interesting.'

The Sponsor spy at the football match had focused the camera on Lysander. His and Jenny's faces loomed large on the screen, Jenny laughing in delight on her father's shoulders as they both sang their support. No one in the room needed to be an expert in lip-reading to know what Lysander was saying.

‘Applethwaite Unsponsored!' he chanted along with the underclass around him. ‘Applethwaite Unsponsored!'

Pausing the film with Lysander's face still filling the screen, Lord William sat back in his chair and stared at the man himself. Even Theo thought it would be best not to offer his usual witticism, so the only sound in the room once again was the ticking of the clock.

‘So, Lysander,' said Lord William eventually, ‘would you please tell us all why one of the highest-ranking Sponsors in the land spent his Saturday afternoon very visibly and very vocally supporting a team of underclass? What sort of message do you think this sends out to the Sponsored? Whatever did you think you were doing?'

Lysander raised his head to meet Lord William's gaze. Knowing that there was no way he could lie his way out of this tight spot, he got a taste of Theo's world.

‘I was having fun, Your Lordship.'

The atmosphere in the room was electric as everyone stared at Lysander and Lord William. Mortimer O'Reilly looked terrified and exultant in equal measures. Surely there was no way out for the loathsome Trevelyan now? Some of the others members of Lord William's inner circle, particularly Stephanie Rogers, almost looked impressed. Lady Rosanna just looked irritated, but that was quite a normal state of affairs for her, and Theo beamed his approval at Lysander.

‘Would you like to elaborate, Lysander? You were in the underclass-loving hole you call home for days; please share with the group what kept you there! What other…fun…activities did you enjoy with the Unsponsored?'

‘I made an attempt to make up for all the years I've neglected my family. I watched my daughter perform as a very convincing angel in her school play. I watched my son training. I spent some quality time with my wife – the details of which stay between Nikki and me…'

‘Boring,' said Lady Rosanna, shocked to find herself chastised sharply by her father.

‘Not boring, Rosanna. I suggest you don't interrupt again or I shall have you removed from the room. Don't taunt your sister, Theodore!' added Lord William in response to Theo licking his finger and drawing a one in the air. Turning back to Lysander, Lord William asked, ‘You watched your son train in what? How to conduct himself in company?'

Mortimer O'Reilly started to laugh, but was hushed by Lord William.

‘Gymnastics,' replied Lysander simply.

‘Is he good?'

‘Very.'

‘Interesting.' Lord William sat in quiet contemplation for a while, before turning to David and Julia Foster, the husband-and-wife team who headed Sports Sponsorship.

‘I'd like one of you to go to Applethwaite and watch Trevelyan's son train. Take a camera crew with you; I want a film of his performance beamed back to my office. I'll give you today to get it organised, tomorrow to travel, so we'll say Wednesday morning. Everyone be back here at ten o'clock Wednesday morning, when we'll see if the lad really is any good.' Glaring once more at Lysander, Lord William continued.