Mythlands: THE HEIST

The Key (To The Story) Part Two

Jessica turned to The Hare. 'Chicken was part of the Mirror's original set of visions!'

'Did he see that television interview?'

'No, he saw Chicken at the end, screaming the sky was falling on him.'

'So Chicken-Licken's having prophetic visions too. He always claimed he had them, but nobody took any notice of him.'

'You know Chicken? Personally.'

The Hare nodded in response. 'Sure, haven't seen him in a while though. I do know that he went through literally decades of therapy before turning his life around and gaining tenure at DC University.'

Jessica pondered a moment. 'Chicken was determined to put his past behind him. He worked really hard to restore his credibility, so if he's giving interviews where he claims to have seen the end of the world ...'

'Maybe we ought to talk to him ... after we've eaten,' The Hare added, picking up his menu as one of the bar teddy bears approached.

'Sure. Hi Rufus, didn't know you worked here?'

The beige teddy bear smiled up at her. 'Just doing cousin Schlomo a favour. It's a busy night. Actually I came in with some friends of yours before I got roped into this. Rose Red and Miranda.'

'Hey, those are my employees!' said The Hare. 'I guess I knew Rose was stuck here with the rest of us seeing as she's a stewardess aboard my jet.'

Jessica kicked his ankle under the table. 'Don't be a snob Hare. We'll have a drink with the girls after the food's arrived. Rufus, I'll have the 12 ounce sirloin, medium rare, 2 eggs over easy, mushrooms and fries with a side salad and some mustard. Jug of water and two more of these,' she indicated the whiskey.

The Hare ordered a mixed grill and turned to Jessica as Rufus Goldbloom headed back to the bar to hand in their order. 'What's going on Jess? I thought we were here to discuss ... you know, not socialise.'

'It's part of the cover dummy. It'll look as if we're having a night out and meeting friends. For all we know Loki has someone watching us right now. No, don't look round you idiot. Look, take a breath, count ten and then I want you to put the pen drive under a napkin and slide it over. I'll go powder my nose and take a look.'

The Hare did as instructed and then Jessica got up and walked away. She was only gone a few moments before slipping back in her seat. 'Forgot this,' she said, retrieving her compact. She walked away again.

The Hare waited patiently as the minutes ticked away. He tried to watch a bit of television - there was a baseball game happening on the wall screen. The Wizards were playing the Enchanters and it looked like Oz was up a few points, but he couldn't concentrate. His mind was full of visions of the Medusa and fearsome monsters code-named The Weapon. When the drinks were placed in front of him, he gulped his second whiskey down in one go and ordered another.

More time passed and the food arrived and Jess still wasn't back. He began to nervously nibble at his fries and ... what was this? There was a piece of paper just under his plate. Damn cheek, giving them the bill before they'd eaten. He'd have a word with those teddy bears and ... it wasn't the bill, it was just a scrap of note paper. There were some words written on it. Idly he lifted the note to the light.

It was today's date with 7:21pm written beside it. A quick glance at his watch told him that was 25 minutes ago, but they'd been sitting here longer than that ... the bear must have dropped it on the food tray. Underneath it said 'Very Important. Remember.' He turned it over and there was nothing on the other side. Probably a reminder note from the bear to himself about something.

The Hare shrugged and turned his attention back to his mixed grill.

Just then Jessica returned and sat down. She looked very thoughtful. They ate in silence for a while.

'Any luck?'

She shook her head. 'I went into a cubicle, uploaded to my device and had a look. Couldn't make much sense out of it and there doesn't seem to be an obvious key. We'll definitely need you to find out what Renard uses to break the cypher.'

'I expected as much,' returned The Hare gloomily. 'Why that expression?'

Jessica shook her head. 'It's nothing. Just something strange happened in the ladies. Someone came in when I was in the cubicle. I heard her moving about and when I came out, there was nobody there, but whoever it was had scrawled A B C on the mirror in lipstick, one under the other.'

They continued to eat in silence and then Jessica suggested they pay their bill at the bar and walk through to the main section to find Rose and Miranda.

Rufus was cleaning a pint mug as they approached and Jessica asked to settle up. They did so, but all the while Rufus the teddy bear was staring strangely at The Hare. The cony in question felt quite uncomfortable about it but didn't say anything. He merely followed Jessica and turned his mind towards the excessive consumption of mind numbing amounts of alcohol.