Royal Ransom (4 page)

“A decision has to be reached,” Albert said.

“A decision was reached,” Princess Victoria said. “And that decision was that we should go on a canoe trip. That's what our father wants.”

“I think we should go back to Edmonton,” her brother said doggedly.

“Are you concerned about the security?” Albert asked in a serious tone.

“No, I heard about this amusement park that's right inside a mall. That would be so cool!”

“If Father had wanted us to go to an amusement park he would have sent us to an amusement park!” she countered. “We are here to go canoeing and that is exactly what we are going to—”

“Both of you be quiet!” Albert snapped.

Everybody—not just the two royals—stopped and stared at him.

“What I mean,” he began, “is that it is within my authority to make this decision.”

“Could we not just call our father?” Princess Victoria pleaded. “I
know
he would want us to continue.”

Albert shook his head. “There are no land lines from here, and radio transmissions are not secure. For better or worse, the decision is mine to make.”

“But surely, since it's about us, we need to have input into that decision, and—”

“You have had input,” he said, cutting her off. I didn't know you were allowed to cut off a Princess. “I have been your father's security chief for over three years, and in that time he has never, I repeat
never,
questioned my decisions. I know that even if he were standing right here beside us at this very moment, he would agree with whatever decision I make.”

Albert's little speech made it quite clear that there wasn't going to be any more discussion from anybody— apparently including Nigel, who I assumed had to be under his command.

“Now, I need to talk to the persons who will be remaining behind,” Albert said.

“I've got to get to Cross Lake,” my father said, “so this better not take long.”

“It will be brief.”

“Can I fix us all a little snack, or a cup of tea?” my grandmother asked. “Wouldn't everybody love a cup of tea? I have Earl Grey, isn't that what your grandmother the Queen Mother likes?”

“That's one of her favourites,” the Princess answered.

“Thank you, but that won't be necessary at this time,” Albert said. He turned and faced the two royal kids. “I'll ask the two of you go elsewhere while we conduct the interviews.”

“I can take them down to the canoes, or show them around the village,” Ray offered.

“No!” Nigel snapped, suddenly rising to his feet as though he was ready to defend them from Ray.
“I mean … that would not be wise, to allow them to be exposed to further discovery.”

“I could take them to my room,” I suggested.

“Is it part of this building?” Albert asked, sounding very anxious.

“Yeah, it's just down there at the end of the hall,” I said, pointing at the closed door.

“That would be fine. Thank you.”

“Would you mind if
I
go down to the canoes?” Ray asked. “If you decide to go you'll probably want to leave right away, and there are things that need to be done.”

“That does sound wise,” Albert agreed.

“Good, then I'll just—”

“And Nigel will accompany you. He can offer assistance in any manner you feel is needed.”

“Whatever,” Ray said. He started for the door and Nigel fell in behind him. There wasn't any question in my mind that Nigel wasn't going along so much to help as to make sure Ray didn't talk to anybody.

“We should go to my room,” I said, and I motioned for them to follow me. I opened my bedroom door and instantly regretted my offer. I'd forgotten just how messy I'd left it. It wasn't just that I hadn't made the bed—the dresser top was covered with half-filled glasses and dirty plates, and the floor was littered with clothes I'd kicked off and never bothered to pick up.

I bent down and rolled up a ball of clothing, making sure a dirty pair of underwear was concealed.

“It's a little messy in here,” I said as I pitched the clothing across the room and it dropped out of sight behind my bed.

“It's more like a lot messy in here,” the Prince said with a laugh.

“Andrew, be polite! It is not that bad!”

“Look around,” he said. “You only think it isn't so bad because you're comparing it to
your
room!”

“I do not want you
talking
about my room any more than I want you
in
my room!” she snapped.

As the two of them started to argue I continued to straighten up. I kicked some more clothing under the bed, pushed closed some dresser drawers and closed the door to my cupboard. I started to pull up the covers on my bed and—

“That's a nice computer,” Prince Andrew said.

“What?” I asked, even though I'd heard the comment.

“Your computer, it's very nice. Do you have any games?”

“Not a lot. Mostly I use it for my schoolwork and e-mail and—”

“You can get e-mail up here?” the Princess asked.

“Sure, through the satellite. That's how I get my school assignments.”

“And if you get e-mail, that means you can go onto the Internet, right?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“And go to things like chat rooms.”

“I've done that before,” I said, although I'd only done it a couple of times. It never made sense to me to spend time talking to a bunch of strangers.

“Could I use your computer to go into a chat room?”

“I guess … sure.”

“Here we go again!” her brother moaned. “You spend more time talking to people on the computer than you do with real people.”

“That's because the people on the computer are more real than some of the people I spend time with. Especially you!”

“Just shut up!” he snapped.

“You shut up, and stay out of my business!”

Did these two always fight like this?

“You can go on my computer,” I said, trying to break up the fight.

“Thank you, so much!” she said, sounding sweet again.

I pulled the chair out from the desk. I swept the dirty clothes off with the back of my hand and kicked them out of sight under the desk. Then I sat down and tapped on the keyboard, bringing the computer to life. I moved the cursor over to the Internet icon and the screen popped open. I started to type in my password when I became aware that the Princess was right there, leaning over my shoulder. I stopped.

“Excuse me,” I said.

She gave me a puzzled look.

“I have to type in my password. It's personal.”

“Oh … certainly … frightfully sorry,” she said, and backed away.

I typed in the remaining three digits, hit Enter and the Internet screen appeared.

“Here it is,” I said. “Do you want me to find you the—”

“That's quite all right. I can take care of things,” she said. She pushed in close, practically pushing me off the chair.

“I imagine we should feel grateful,” her brother said. “When she's chattering away on the Internet, at least she's quiet.”

I watched as she flashed from screen to screen. It certainly looked as though she'd had a lot of experience on the computer.

“She's headed to her favourite chat room,” he explained. “She likes it so much because some of the kids she talks to are even bigger losers than she is.”

“Did I not tell you to shut up, Andrew? Even if my friends are cyber-friends, that still makes them more real than any friends you have.”

“I have friends!” he protested.

“You only have people who
pretend
to be your friends because you're royalty!”

“And do you think your friends are any different?” he demanded.

“My cyber-friends don't even know who I am,” she argued. “I am anonymous. As far as they're concerned I'm just plain old Torie and nothing special.”

“Well, I'll agree with that. You are nothing special,” he laughed.

“Be quiet!”

He turned to me. “Some of these kids she talks to don't even have a life. They spend practically every moment of their lives on-line.” He turned back to his sister. “Tell Leslie to get a life!”

“You leave poor Leslie alone!”

“Is she on-line now?”

She didn't answer.

“Is she?” he asked again.

“Yes, she is, but don't you go making fun of her. What with her delicate condition and all the trips to the hospital, what else can she do?”

“Yeah, right, and you believe all that. You don't know that she's been sick. You don't even know that she is a she! For all you know, your poor sick Leslie could be a forty-four-year-old man!”

“Even if she were—and she is not—at least she is nice and kind. She has been so interested in everything I have talked to her about, even this trip. Not like some people I know.”

“That just shows what a loser she is!”

“I just wish she were here instead of you!”

“Finally we have something we agree about!” he said. “I wish she were here instead of me too!”

“And I wish that for just once in my entire life you would mind your own business and button your lip!”

She turned around and went back to clicking away at the keyboard. The Prince came and sat down beside me on the bed.

“Do you two always argue like that?” I asked.

“Not always. Sometimes we
really
fight.”

“More than this?”

“This is nothing! If we all go away on this trip for five days I am certain that you will see much, much worse than this.”

“Excuse me!” Princess Victoria called out. “My friend Leslie wants to know if we will be going through rapids. She has always wanted to go through rapids.”

“Um … I don't really know … maybe around some, but we're probably heading east first, and there's none in that direction for a long while.”

“Thank you,” she said sweetly, and she turned back to the computer.

I didn't know for sure, but I remembered that Ray usually headed that way when he had inexperienced paddlers or small children. The longest stretch of flat water and fewest portages were in that direction.

“Why are you telling her anything, anyway?” Prince Andrew asked. “We're probably not even going.”

“We
are
going.”

“Don't lie to your little cyber-buddy.”

“I'm not lying. I'm just not going to tell her everything that's going on.”

My grandmother knocked on the door and came into the room. “Okay, everybody, it's time to go.”

“Where are we going?” the Princess asked.

“Yes, where?” her brother echoed.

My grandmother didn't answer right away. Maybe she knew the answer to their question, but I knew that no matter what she said somebody was going to be unhappy.

She smiled. “You're going out into the bush!”

Victoria cheered as her brother cursed under his breath. She turned back to the keyboard and tapped out a final goodbye to Leslie.

Chapter Four

M
Y FATHER TAXIED THE PLANE AWAY
from the dock and out to open water. I watched as he opened up the engines and it started to pick up speed. My father is a great pilot, but even for great pilots, takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous. And a float plane faces a whole other set of hazards. On a regular runway the surface doesn't move, or have objects hidden just beneath the surface. A big rogue wave or a hidden log could rip open a pontoon or even flip a plane right over.

The plane lifted off and I offered a silent “thank you.” He circled around, gaining height. Then he waggled the wings to say goodbye and broke off toward his destination.

“That is a very exciting job.”

I turned around. It was the Princess. That was such a strange thought. This girl with the brown hair, freckles and teeth that seemed just a little bit too white … was a princess!

“And I imagine it's dangerous,” she added.

“It's not that bad.” I never like to admit it's dangerous. “I don't even know anybody who's even been hurt in a plane crash.”

She suddenly looked down at the ground and I was hit in the head by something I suddenly remembered. Her
mother—their mother—was dead. She'd died in an airplane accident a few years ago. How stupid could I be?

“I'm … I'm sorry,” I mumbled. “I didn't mean anything.”

“I know,” she said softly. “It's all right. It was a long time ago.”

I racked my brain trying to remember just how long ago it was. I remembered how upset my grandmother had been and how she'd cried for the better part of two days. And I even recalled seeing part of the funeral on TV. There really hadn't been that much choice because it had been on half the channels our satellite brought in, and then parts of it were on every news broadcast. It had to be three years ago.

“Do you worry about something happening to your father?” she asked.

“No … not a lot … sometimes,” I mumbled, still struggling for words.

“I worry a great deal about mine.”

“Does he fly?” I asked.

She laughed. It was a nice laugh. “He doesn't fly the planes but he certainly travels in them a great deal. Of course, that's not what I find so worrisome.”

“What is?”

She motioned to where Albert and Nigel stood beside Ray.

“It is a rather strange existence to need to have specially trained bodyguards carrying weapons to protect you everywhere you go, all the time.”

“I guess it would be. At least up here it shouldn't be such a big problem,” I said.

“That's what my father said.”

“Jamie!” Ray called out, and I turned around. “Come on over here, and bring the young lady with you!”

We walked over to the canoes, where Ray already stood with Prince Andrew and the two bodyguards.