When the sun sets more than once a day and the world's diamonds are stolen, a small brave girl, struggling to belong, has secrets to discover.
Marigold leaves her lonely life to join extraordinary thieves, Bert and Bob. Who is their Mistress? What i...
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When Marigold and Bert returned to the library, Jet was waiting up for them.
'I thought her ladyship had teken you', he said.
She saw the relieved look on his face.
You should've told him where you were going.
But she wasn't used to anyone genuinely worrying about her. The Flaunts only worried if she couldn't perform.
'I'm sorry, Jet', she said.
'As long as you're safe, we'll say no more about it.'
She smiled. Then she remembered. 'Jet, did you know Daffodil Green?'
The dog thought for a moment. 'Sorry, lass. Never heard of her.'
'Are you sure?' she asked, hoping he was mistaken.
'I can never be sure', he replied. 'Can't remember owt that happened before operation.'
Marigold sighed. 'Who was she? And what's Whatnot got to do with her?'
Jet and Bert could only look at her with blank faces.
She yawned.
'Somebody needs their sleep', said Jet.
Bert nodded and strolled across the room to lean himself against his favourite shelves. He closed his eyes. Marigold and Jet exchanged a smile.
Jet began to unfold the sheets of newspapers at the bottom of her bed of books.
'You can think about it in t'morning, flower.'
Will Whatnot tell me anything?
Jet nudged her towards the bed. She barely remembered lying down as thoughts swirled around her head. Whatnot wouldn't explain why he called Lady Artifice 'my darling'. Why would he tell her about Daffodil?
Jet pulled the newspapers over her shoulders, licked her face and said goodnight.
*
Falling in and out of sleep, Marigold heard screeching and scratching and rumbling. They were the same sounds that had come from under the floor the night she and Jet had freed the animals. This time they seemed to be coming from directly beneath the library. When she woke, she wasn't sure if they were real or part of a dream. Either way, she was too exhausted to get up and investigate. The only sounds she could hear now were a squeaking and something struggling for breath. She opened her eyes.
Bob was pushing the trolley bag into the room. He collapsed on the floor with a great moan. She pretended to be asleep. Within seconds, he was snoring.
The effort it must have taken him to push and pull the trolley through the cemetery, into the Hall and down the stairs to the library was enormous. She knew there was nothing that Bob wouldn't do for diamonds. But before she drifted off tosleep again, she wondered if it was also fear of Lady Artifice that had made him work so hard.
