Arcadia's Family (Book THREE)

ArcShildr

Arcadia:

"Right." I muttered, landing in the middle of a forest. Vortex manipulators, lousy way to travel, but sometimes its needed when your parents are asleep. My phone, the new gizmo I'd attached to it, was beeping rapidly but softly, a pair of red lights illuminated on stalks sticking out and slightly forward. "Warm." Then an orange light came on. "Warmer."

Following the signal, I walked straight through trees and found a carriage being robbed by a short highwayman, well, woman, but lets not let on. e are cursed. The Knightmare is in league with the devil. "Hello." I smiled, phasing through the carriage from the other side.

"Ah! Don't shoot!"

Why would I shoot? "Oh, don't mind me, don't mind me. I'm only going to be a minute. Don't worry. Oh, very warm."

"What are you doing?"

Shh, I was busy. "Oh, just ignore me, I'm just passing through, like fish in the night." Pause. "Sorry, that was supposed to make sense."

The Highwayman was getting frustrated now. "This is a robbery!"

"It's not fish in the night, it's something else." I sighed, phasing through the people to get out the other side of the coach.

"This is my robbery."

Seriously, what was it? "No, ships in the night. Yeah, something like that."

Then the gun was pointed at me. "Step aside or I shall blow your brains out."

"Sorry, were you talking to me there?" I asked, both looking for this piece of tech and texting SJ. What on Earth was she doing in Cardiff? "Try again. I promise I'll listen this time."

"You have interrupted my robbery, sir, and you will step away, if you wish to take another breath."

The Coachman glared at me. "You're going to get us all killed, if you don't shut your mouth."

And? "Sorry. Sorry, I really was planning to listen that time but, basically, I didn't. Usually, someone hits me at this point, but they're either taking the Year 7s for Taekwondo or apparently looking for a wandering meat sausage in Carduff. Don't ask, it's Sarah Jane." The signal was getting somewhere. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" The luggage chest on the back of the coach. "Yes! Got you! Oh, hang on. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a robbery."

"I am robbing these people. You are getting out of my way."

Am I? I don't remember that being in my plan. "I just need one tiny little thing from out of this box."

She was getting annoyed now. Well, it was a convincing voice, but SJ could do it too. "This is my robbery!"

"Well, can't we share it? Isn't that what robbery's all about? Collberobbery? Wait, that's not a word."

"Yah! Get up!"

Then the coach started going away at a gallop, and I tried to run after but I wasn't my sister. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"You bungled my heist."

Excuse me? "No, you bungled mine, Zorro!"

"Shining violet haired fool!"

Hey, I was born with it! "Yeah, well, why don't you show your face? At least I show my face. What's wrong with yours?"

The Highwayman's false masculine voice changes to feminine and recognisable. "Nothing, Dear Sweetest Arc." And then she dismounted, removing her hat, kerchief and mask. Ash...

"You."

Ashildr nodded. "Yes, it is me. What took you so long, my courter?"

"Courter?"