Agent Crew

Nearly a mountain

Ruby was late. Clancy wouldn't have minded, except it was her idea to come out here in the first place. He could be sat in a booth at the Double Donut Diner right now, laughing with his friends and enjoying a chocolate-vanilla milkshake. Ruby said his flavour choice was criminal, but Clancy maintained that simple was better. Del would have breakfast waffles as well...

Instead, here he was, dripping wet and freezing. And still no sign of Ruby.

She'd rung him up this morning, in typically abrupt fashion.

"Hey, madhouse calling," her familiar voice had called down the line.

"What gives, Rube?" asked a sleepy Clancy, thankful that he'd reached the phone before anyone else. In the background, he could hear Olive breaking something in the living room, but he could only give his attention to one troublesome kid at a time.

"Dasher's Peak, ASAP," replied Ruby, sounding the opposite of sleepy, which a more alert Clancy might have thought was odd, considering it was 6:00 AM in the morning. And as anyone who knew Ruby could tell you, she was no early bird.

Unfortunately, Clancy got back late from an ambassadorial function last night. He had been woken by his sister Olive a while earlier, and he had not yet got over the fact that he could still have been in bed.

"Huh?" he said intelligently.

He could practically hear Ruby rolling her eyes down the phone. "Just get there, bozo," she said. Before Clancy could reply, she hung up.

"Bozo," Clancy muttered now, as he realised he was probably going to be late for school. It was all right for Ruby, with her never-ending array of absence slips. Clancy couldn't fake so much as a permission slip, and he definitely didn't have the chill to gaslight Mrs Drisco. And to top it all off, his father would be mad. Ruby really owed him one.

Scratch that, she owed him two for making him climb up to this godforsaken place to begin with.

Dasher's Peak was about as close as you could get to a mountain while still - technically - being a hill.It was just to the north of Boulder Valley, overlooking the east side of Twinford, the collection of shabby and grandiose buildings that used to make up the posh part of town. Now, they were just a waste of space.

The Historical Society had made many attempts over the years to turn it into a 'cultural hub' but none of them had ever lasted. The latest scheme involved the run-down Twinford Hall, the crumbling towers of which Clancy could just make out through the pounding rain.

To be honest, Clancy only knew about the plans because Ruby had been non-stop complaining about them for months. Her parents - dedicated members of the Society - had been excitedly planning fundraising events ever since someone suggested they turn the Hall into a museum. And since they were the Redforts, there was actually a pretty good turnout. Renovations had already begun - as had Sabina Redfort's plans for a grand opening ball.

Ruby, who had never shared her parents taste for parties and social niceties, was much more interested in the land surrounding the Hall. According to her, there were supposed to be all sorts of secret tunnels and stuff connecting the old town.

"You see, Clance," she'd told him over milkshakes one time, "secret tunnels aren't actually as far-fetched as they sound. I mean, they weren't secret to begin with, they just got... lost."

She paused to take a sip of her choco-cherry milkshake, and Clancy took the opportunity to object.

"That's all well and good, but why build them in the first place?" he asked. "What could you possibly need a secret tunnel for?"

"All kinds of things!" cried Ruby, waving her arms around excitedly. "Connecting hurricane shelters, cellars. Smuggling - I mean c'mon Clance, we all know there were pirates round here."

She shot him a significant look, and Clancy glanced around nervously before nodding, intimating that he understood.

As Ruby herself often said, there is always a chance that someone, somewhere, is watching you {Rule 9}.

"We shouldn't be restoring Twinford Hall," Ruby continued, "we should be digging it up!"

Clancy sighed as he remembered the scandalised looks some of the other diners had shot at Ruby. For a secret agent, she was remarkably loud sometimes.

Through his sopping wet fringe, Clancy squinted at the rest of Old Twinford (the Historical Society's chosen designation of the place). The buildings rose in waves of twisting rooves and dramatically gothic outlines, framed by the barren and rocky slope that led into Boulder Valley. To the left, Clancy could just make out the lone figure of a runner, making their way through the Valley itself. He shivered. Granted the rain didn't help, but he couldn't help finding the scene a little sinister, as he remembered the last time he'd been through Boulder Valley alone...

Attempting to shake off his bad feeling, Clancy turned back to face Old Twinford. The rain still gave it a sort-of gothic mystery, but at least it didn't bring to mind any psychopaths. (You know you're in trouble when you've met more than one - Ruby should make that a rule.)

The view might have been nice, even, if it weren't for the weather. Still, it wasn't nice enough to warrant an early-morning meeting - especially if Ruby couldn't be bothered to show up.

"Darn it, Rube," muttered Clancy. He took one last look before he turned to make his way back into town.

On the bright side, at least he'd miss French.

******************************************************

A/N: Hello to anyone reading this! Just wanted to warn you in advance that updates probably won't be too regular, as I am a world-class procrastinator and also have a lot of school work (yay). I'll try to upload at least once a week. Feel free to prod me if I forget. Thanks!