Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 116

I still want to know about the Great Beyond, but I can ask Yates when I find him. I won’t give Teague the satisfaction. I won’t let him play the genius lecturer to humble student. Age doesn’t matter in the afterlife. You stay the age you want forever. I could have 400 years of experience under my belt just like Benjamin. One day I will.

                  We reach the lake in the middle of the park after another ten minutes or so. It’s a picturesque scene. The sparkling water, the children paddling in the shadows. Over to our right, I can see people having a boat race with a thousand little sailing boats, each sail a different colour.

                  I can see why Benjamin chooses to sit here. You could people watch forever. The worst thing is, I know Teague is standing next to me doing what? Ignoring them? Viewing such puny mortals with distain? I look at him and see him examining his fingernails that could do with more than an examining. Penny, with her fingernails a different colour and design every day would have fainted at the sight of his grotty claws.

                  I close my eyes again. I search for Elle and Yates but this time, I find nothing. Their bright beacons have faded to nothing. I almost fall to the floor in despair. I’ll be trapped with this malevolent mad scientist forever. My every thought would be met with a sarcastic response. There are worse existences but this definitely isn’t the one I’d have chosen.

                  ‘I think they’ve…’ I start but out of the air behind Yates, three people spring into being.

                  Elle and Yates appear either side of Yates and grab his arms. Elle twists his right one into a complicated looking hold that I was sure only policemen and spies knew.

                  ‘You’re nicked mate,’ she hisses. ‘Always wanted to say that.’ She winks at me. ‘Dad’s a copper.’

                  Graham takes his place next to me, his own remote control tight in his grip.

                  A few faces around us survey the scene. They must be ghosts. Some people get up, I know what it must look like. Three people appear out of thin air and take a man hostage, nothing good.

                  ‘It’s alright,’ I say quickly as the shouting begins. ‘I have him under control. We need to go, now.’

                  ‘Aye aye, captain,’ Yates says, smiling.

                  ‘We’re a crime fighting team, not pirates, Yates,’ Elle says.