Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 173

               When she talks, sometimes I hear the words she wrote. The Alchemist lives inside her and I want to follow to hear more. Visit the desert with Cecily and her ghostly friend. Flood the world and find the key. I remember my favourite line in the book. The last line. The line that always made me yearn for more. But there was never a sequel. No explanation and an author long dead. Now she stands in front of me. I wonder will I ever get to ask her a question as trivial about the last line of a book.

                She leads us into a room off the entrance hall. Inside is a long oval table with more chairs than I care to count. They stand taller than a person's back. The sort of chair used by kings and members of parliament and senates, Lords and Ladies. We enter the room as paupers.

                We all take seats near one end. Thacker sits at the head of the table with Teague at her right hand. We sit on her left.

                'What would you like to know?' Thacker asks. Her voice holds an air of calm.

                'First of all,' Elle interjects before anyone can say a thing, 'I want to know who's watching my parents. I want them to be safe. Agatha said she had people watching them and I don't think I want anyone watching them at all.'

                'That will, of course be dealt with,' Thacker says. A chill travels up my spine. What does that mean? That's the sort of thing a mafia boss says before pieces of animals end up in beds.

                'What are you going to do?' Elle asks.