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Routines Daily chores Lots of chess coht Bill-E how to play He&039;s h his concentration wanders occasionally, so I beat hi out with Bill-E We play football and explore the countryside e&039;re not stuck in front of thehorns in chess tournanised in Carcery Vale now Bill-E introduced ossips They accept me the same as any other kid Pass the ti Ask about Dervish and what I think of theto spook me
Bill-E also takes me to visit Gran and Grandad Spleen A couple of battleaxes! Narrow-eyed, sharp-tongued, drably dressed, their house in a state of perpetual gloominess Grandad Spleen raone to the dogs Grand tea and biscuits, eyes daring me to spill crumbs on her carpet
Both have lots to say about Dervish, none of it good
Not right, living out there on his own
A house like that&039;s too big for one man
He should beout of order, you let us know
Bill-E srandparents, but I knohat they&039;re like I won&039;t take you there too often"
I shrug as if it&039;s no big deal, but offer up silent thanks I don&039;t kno he sticks theed in with a crabby old pair like that! Although, thinking twice about it, I suppose it&039;s better to have grurandparents as parents than no parents at all I complained a lot about Mum and Dad when they were still with me They had their faults I think everybody does But I wouldn&039;t complain if they ith hts The hts I wake screa demons in the roo at the door
Dervish is always there when I wake froof hot chocolate or a towel to wipe the sweat fro about Leaves as soon as I&039;ve settled down
We haven&039;t discussed the demons I think Dervish wants to, but I&039;m reluctant to step back into that world of darkness He leaves books in my room, or open on the tables downstairs, about ic I avoid thees and study pictures, attracted to the mystery of this other realm despite lance through some of the many encyclopaedias in the mansion, but there&039;s no mention of a Lord Loss or his faht in the Vale A roaring outside, of aBut it isn&039;t Dervish - he&039;s up in his study I creep to theand secretly watch the cyclist dis blonde hair tumbles down over her shoulders when she reh above her head Ay carumba! I&039;m down the stairs in a flash, but not as fast as Dervish He&039;s already opening the front doors I catch a gli, "Meera! I wasn&039;t expecting you for another few days Why didn&039;t you phone?"
"You never answer," the wo him hard She pushes hi, hon?"
"Not bad," Dervish chuckles
"How&039;s the lodger?" She spots me over Dervish&039;s shoulder "Oh, never mind, I&039;ll ask him myself" She strides over and offers her hand I shake it politely "Meera Fla "And if I know Dervish, he hasn&039;t told you a thing about ht?"
I nod dumbly I think I&039;m in love!
"Grubbs Grady - Meera Flame," Dervish says "Meera&039;s a close friend of ularly I ot"
"He&039;s useless, isn&039;t he?" Meera laughs
"At so my voice at last
Meera unzips the front of her leather jacket, revealing a T-shirt with an anti-war slogan She slides out of the coat, then sits on the stairs and peels off her boots and trousers She&039;s wearing shorts underneath
"Make yourself at home," Dervish says wryly
"Don&039;t I always?" Meera replies She catches irlfriend, Grubbs? If not, watch out! I like younger h to the kitchen for a drink
Dervish laughs "You look like a kettle"
I frown "What do youout your ears!"
Before I can think of a comeback, Meera calls from the kitchen "Whoops! I&039;ve spilt milk all over my T-shirt Can you come and help et very interesting!
"Ah," says Bill-E with a cheetah&039;s smile "The mysterious Meera Flame She&039;s hot, isn&039;t she?"
"And doesn&039;t she know it!" I huff "She hasn&039;t stopped flirting with me since she arrived My cheeks feel like they&039;ve been slapped a dozen ti one out for dinner "Don&039;t worry about that," Bill-E says "She does it withmen - and boys! - blush"
"She&039;s doing a good job of it," I h "Her and Dervish are they?"
"Nah," Bill-E says "Just friends She travels around a lot Always off soo on biking holidays together sometimes, but Dervish says they aren&039;t an item, and I don&039;t think he&039;d lie Who could keep quiet if they had a girlfriend like that!"
Saturday Meera woke ht in, wearing a dressing gown and (as far asunderneath Sat chatting withabout life with Dervish and what I thought of Carcery Vale - "Boring as hell, isn&039;t it?" - and just being all-round beautiful I had a hard tis
Bill-E came early to see Meera She fussed over hi out! Beco to sweep me off my feet and take me away from all this?"
Dervish and Meera made for his study after a while, so Bill-E and I headed out to explore the nearby forest Searching for Lord Sheftree&039;s buried treasure
"If we find it, we don&039;t tell anyone," Bill-E says, poking through the roots of an old dead oak "We wait until we&039;re older and know s Then we sell it on the quiet and split the profits fifty-fifty Agreed?"
"Maybe I&039;ll bump you off and take it all for myself," I smirk
"Won&039;t work," he says seriously "I keep a diary If I die, Gran and Grandad Spleen will find it, read about us digging for the treasure, and put two and two together"
"You think of everything, don&039;t you?" I laugh
"I try to," he says ia me to maximise my potential and use my brain more"
"What is it with him and chess?" I ask "My mu in the world"
"I don&039;t know about your mum," Bill-E says, "but it&039;s a faht of the clan have been grandmasters When Dervish talks about his ancestors, he often es people by their ability on the board I asked hiirl who died about thirty years ago - she looked interesting in her photo and I wanted to knohat she was like He just grunted and said she wasn&039;t very good at chess That&039;s all he had to say about her"
Bill-E decides the treasure isn&039;t buried under the tree Picking up our tools - an axe and a spade - we go in search of other likely spots
"How often do you co for this treasure?" I ask
"It depends on the weather," he answers "In su, I maybe come out three or four times a month Perhaps only once a month in winter"
"Don&039;t you have any friends?" I enquire bluntly - I&039;ve noticed he doesn&039;t talkabout school And he always has plenty of ti Dervish and me He never says he can&039;t come or has to dash off early to see another friend
"Not many," he says honestly "I&039;ve mates in class, but I don&039;t see much of them outside of school Gran and Grandad Spleen like to keepindoors, which is part of the probleuessfriends"
"You made friends with me pretty easily," I remind him
"But you&039;re like me," he says "An outsider Different A freak We&039;re both weird, which is e get along"
I&039;ht of myself as a freak - but it&039;d be childish to sta like, "I&039;m not weird!" So I let it ride and follow Bill-E deeper into the woods
In thea spot to clear, where we can excavate I find a patch of soft earth between two stones I start to dig and earth crumbles away It looks like there&039;s a hole here Probably an aniht - " I begin
"Ssshh!" I&039;ers to his lips - silence He crouches low I follow suit I can tell by his intent expression that this isn&039;t a gahtly Flashback to that roo its claws in deep
"I sh and act as if ere trying to surprise him If he doesn&039;t, keep down until I tell you"
"Who is it?" I hiss Bill-E waves the question away and concentrates on the trees beyond the thicket
Ten seconds pass Twenty Thirty I&039; and trying to hold- if it&039;s theht?
Sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one a pair of feet Trainers Lih It&039;s only Dervish! The terror passes and ive Bill-E a thu me like that
Bill-E stays low as Dervish pads past the thicket and les out as quietly as possible and gets to his feet, gazing after the departed Dervish
"What was that about?" I ask, standing, wiping myself down
"Let&039;s follow hiht "You don&039;t think he&039;s going to e his ribs with an elbow
Bill-E glares "Don&039;t be stupid!" he snaps "Just trust me, OK?" Before I can respond, he slips away in pursuit of Dervish, like an Indian tracker I lag along a few paces behind, bea
Several minutes later Hot on Dervish&039;s trail Bill-E keeps his prey in sight, but is careful not to give hi stealth I feel like a clumsy bull behind him
Dervish stops and stoops Bill-E catches his breath, reaches back and drags me up beside him "Can you see?" he whispers
"I can see his head and shoulders," I grunt in return, squinting No sign of Meera, worse luck!