Lana squinted her eyes and nodded. ‘So he must’ve taken her.’
‘But that doesn’t add up. You said that in your vision, the person who took her was very gentle and caring. That doesn’t sound like Stan,’ asked Patrick.
‘That’s right,’ Emma said, chewing on the inside of her mouth. ‘He must’ve come to the island with his brother as well. It’s the only explanation.’
‘Yes, I agree,’ said Patrick. ‘So, both brothers came to the island and the eldest took Lucy Jo on Christmas Eve. They then took her by helicopter to the oil rig in the North Sea, where she was looked after by the eldest son and his girlfriend Kimberly?’ He looked over at Eleanor who nodded. ‘Then they somehow arrive in the Algarve and travel to…?’
‘Sagres,’ filled in Arabella.
‘In the meantime, they’re hunting Almerinda and her sisters so that they could utilise their – powers – to change Lucy Jo’s memories, in order to make my child think that she is the daughter of Sthenelaus?’ continued Patrick.
‘That about sums it up, I think, mate,’ said Declan, who was warming his hands in front of the fire.
‘Luckily for them, they didn’t find me,’ Almerinda smiled. ‘But they might be getting closer to finding my sister.’
‘How come your family is the only family that can change people’s memories forever?’ asked Ava, who was lolling on the sofa with her head on Liam’s shoulder.
Almerinda shrugged. ‘There were many others, but most chose to leave Europe in the Middle Ages.’
‘What? You’ve been alive since the Middle Ages?’ Rupert asked, astonished.
Laughing, Almerinda shook her head. ‘No, silly.’
‘Oh.’ He blushed.
‘I was born just a few years later.’ Almerinda’s eyes twinkled and she winked.
‘No way. Dude, that is awesome.’
‘What’s with all the Americanisms, Rupert?’ Lana laughed, throwing a cushion at him. He held up his hands to catch it but instead it stopped in mid-air.
‘What the…?’ he said, staring at it as it hovered in front of his face.
‘Rupert, your powers are improving.’ Eleanor clapped her hands together. ‘That’s wonderful.’
‘But h…h…ow?
‘You’ll probably find that all your powers evolve and get stronger. That’s what happens to most Watchers. You just need to try and control them. Like now, can you move the cushion?’
Rupert focussed on the cushion, but it plopped down on the floor in front of him.
‘Don’t worry, give it time,’ she said.
‘My powers still haven’t evolved… at all,’ sulked Imran.
‘What can you do, Imran?’ asked Almerinda.
‘I can manipulate time.’
Patrick’s head shot up. ‘You what?’
‘I can go back in time.’
‘But…but… that means we can go back and stop them from taking Lucy Jo in the first place?’ Patrick said, with his hands in the air.
‘I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Patrick,’ Eleanor replied sadly. ‘If the kidnap had happened anywhere near Imran, there’s a chance he would be able to do that. But, as it stands, his power is not strong enough to change time for someone he doesn’t really know. I wish it were different too, but alas, it’s not meant to be.’
Patrick’s hands dropped to his sides.
‘Don’t worry, Dad. We’re getting closer,’ reassured Emma.
‘I know, sweetheart, I know.’
‘Yes, that’s true. We currently have people searching the whole of the area around Sagres and we’re doing everything we can to track down Almerinda’s younger sister. In fact, Almerinda has indicated to me that she has reason to believe she might be living by the sea, near a place called Lagoa. We’ve got a group of people combing the area as we speak, while we have dinner,’ Eleanor explained.
‘Well, we’ve finished eating. I’d like to go and join the search?’ suggested Patrick.
‘Me too,’ said Lana and Emma together.
‘Okay, whoever wants to join the search should go and get ready. We’ll leave in ten minutes,’ said Declan, nodding at Arabella to make sure that it was okay.
She nodded. ‘Perfect.’
oOo
Even though it was still fairly early in the evening, darkness had descended and the region was filled with twinkling lights coming from all directions, causing beautiful images to reflect off of the Arade River as they drove over a large bridge towards Lagoa.
Laughing, Arabella pointed it out. ‘Hard to believe it’s actually a city, it’s absolutely tiny. More of a small town, more than anything,’ she said. ‘Having said that, it’s quite a nice place. I grew up nearby.’
‘Oh really?’ asked Declan. ‘I would’ve pegged you for a city girl, myself.’
‘Like I said,’ she laughed, pointing, ‘thecity of Lagoa.’
‘Oh right, yeah. Good one,’ he laughed, as they drove past some apartments, a petrol station and the bus station to their left.
‘Down there is Praia do Carvoeiro.’ She pointed off to the right. ‘That’s actually where I spent much of my youth. It was fun. There’s a beach, lots of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and so on. It’s very touristy now, though. Not that that’s a problem. It’s still nice.’
Declan smiled. ‘Sounds perfect for a holiday.’
‘It is. I’d recommend it.’
As they stopped at some traffic lights, Emma watched what appeared to be a football match, the pitch floodlit in the darkness. ‘Do people like football here, then?’ she asked.
‘Are you kidding? They’re football crazy!’ Arabella grinned.
‘Really? Don’t get me started,’ Declan laughed. ‘Did you see the last World Cup? Jeeze.’
‘Clearly a sore point,’ Lana laughed. ‘I couldn’t care less about football. It’s a stupid sport. Full of wusses.’
‘Oi, you,’ Declan warned, turning from the front seat to gently punch her on the knee.
‘Aw, c’mon, Declan, you disappoint me. I figured you more of a rugby man. Rugby is a proper sport, for real men,’ Diarmuid piped up, laughing.
‘I forgot you used to play rugby,’ Emma said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
‘Yep, but that was quite a while ago. Shame we’ve nowhere to play at Praxos in London.’
The lights turned green and Arabella deftly turned right, and they drove down a long winding road with just a few street lights.
‘So, where are we heading?’ asked Barber, who had been very quiet thus far.
‘The area around Benagil and Vale D’el Rei. I’ll show you where I lived when I was a child,’ Arabella smiled, turning left at a little roundabout at the top of the hill.
‘Do you see that little road down to the right? My house was down there.’
‘Do your parents still live there, Arabella?’ asked Emma.
‘No, they sold it to an Englishman who tore it apart and built some ridiculously large villa instead. I think it’s horrendous, myself. He ruined it. It was a beautiful old farmhouse. Oh well, never mind.’
‘Where do they live now, Arabella?’ she asked.
‘They have a large apartment in Lagos, actually, but they travel a lot these days. They’re in Thailand at the moment, helping Praxos over there.’
‘There’s a Praxos in Thailand? That’s so cool,’ Lana replied.
‘Okay, here we are,’ Arabella said, pulling up beside a little church.
‘She lives in a church?’ asked Emma.
‘We have no idea where she lives, but we believe it might be around here somewhere,’ Arabella said, looking around.
As if by a miracle, the church door slowly opened and a woman appeared. She looked very much like Almerinda, just a little younger, with short silver hair. She waved at them and strolled forwards.
‘I understand you’ve been looking for me?’ she said before anyone could say a word. ‘And my sister, Almerinda. She’s here, too?’
Arabella shook
her head. ‘She’s a little tired, so she stayed at the villa.’
The woman nodded. ‘Well, I’ve packed my bags. I’m ready to come with you.’
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ said Declan, who followed her back into the church.
‘Don’t you think this is a little weird?’ asked Lana.
Emma nodded. ‘It’s a bit too… convenient. I think something’s wrong.’
‘They’re in the church,’ Lana suddenly screeched. Everyone climbed out of the two cars and ran towards it, but they were too late. They could smell the fire before they could see the flames. Soon, the building was engulfed.
‘Declan!’ yelled Emma and Lana together, watching in horror, sobbing.
Suddenly, the flames began to move unnaturally, as though they’d been pushed to only the very sides of the crumbling building.
The girls turned, confused until they saw Elliott deep in concentration, focussing all his attention on moving the flames. The others rushed forward into the abyss, returning moments later carrying Declan’s limp body.
‘What about Almerinda’s sister?’ asked Ava.
Arabella shook her head. ‘She’s not there. It was a trap. The Skulls have her, I’m sure of it.’
‘But they can’t have gone far,’ Diarmuid said, as the sound of whirring filled the night sky.
‘It’s a helicopter again. She’s in there. I know it,’ added Ava.
Everyone watched as it disappeared into the sky.
‘Declan? Declan? Can you hear me?’ asked Emma.
‘No, he can’t. It will take a while for his body to come back. Let’s just get him back to Praxos.’
‘Wait,’ shouted a voice. ‘I can help.’ Imran smiled as he approached them. ‘I can go back in time and stop this from happening.’
‘Imran, of course you can!’ Lana exclaimed.
‘How long?’
‘Maybe fifteen minutes before we arrived? Tell Almerinda’s sister everything.’
‘Wait, no… then you’ll be in danger from the Skulls. I can’t allow it,’ Arabella said.
‘Sorry, but there’s nothing you can do to stop me,’ he said, and then all of a sudden, he was gone.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The little church was exactly how it had been when he’d first laid eyes on it from the car. Imran hid behind the wall by the road, looking every which way to make sure the Skulls weren’t already there.
Confident that he was alone, he ran forward as fast as he could, pushing the door open and stepping inside the building. It wasn’t an old church by any means. In fact, it looked like it had only been built a few years ago.
Sitting at the front, all alone, was the woman he was looking for. He stepped towards her and she jumped in fright.
‘Quem es tu?’ she asked in Portuguese.
He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Please. You must come with me. You are in danger.’
‘Danger? What are you talking about, young man?’
I’m a friend of your sister’s, Almerinda.’
The woman’s eyes lit up. ‘Almerinda, eh?’
He nodded.
‘She’s in trouble, is she?’
‘No, you are. Please, they’re coming. You must come with me. We need to get away from here.’
‘Who is coming? What are you talking about? It sounds like a load of nonsense to me. Leave me alone to pray in solitude.’
‘The Skulls are coming and they want you. Please, just come with me.’
Imran became so worried about the Skulls arriving any second that he had no choice but to grab her arm and jump. He thought of the Praxos villa in Monchique and hoped he could get them both there.
But when he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the church.
The old woman gasped. ‘What did you do to me?’
‘I…erm… I tried to time travel, to get you away from the danger. But we’re still here. Why are we still here?’ he panicked.
‘It’s the church, you can’t perform time travel from a church. You can’t really perform much magic in a church. Oh dear, my boy. What kind of trouble is this? Who are you?’
‘I’m a Watcher and please, we have to get out of here. The Skulls are coming for you.’ The sound of a helicopter in the distance made his heart sink. ‘It’s them. Please,’ he begged, ‘come with me. I can do it outside. We have to get away from here.’
Looking deep into his eyes for a second, she stood up and nodded. ‘I believe you. Come, this way.’
They ran out of the back door, down a dirt track to the left of the church and stopped at a huge nearby tree.
‘You should be okay here. Try now,’ she said, taking his hands in hers.
The next minute, they were standing in the living room of the Praxos villa, while everyone sat having dinner.
‘Sister?’ Almerinda suddenly shrieked.
‘What the…?’ Declan exclaimed as everybody jumped up, wondering what on Earth was going on.
The first thing Imran did was run to Declan to give him a hug.
‘Imran?
‘You… you… died again, Declan,’ he said, breathless.
‘I did?’
Imran nodded and began to tell everyone exactly what had happened, while Almerinda and her sister sat together by the fire and did a little catching up of their own.
oOo
‘So now we’ve removed the sisters from the equation, all we have to do is find Lucy Jo, right?’
Eleanor nodded to Lana.
‘Do you think they know we’ve got them?’ Lana asked.
‘Maybe.’
‘Do you think they’ll try and take them from us?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘Are they safe enough here?’ Lana asked.
‘Yes, Lana.’ Eleanor smiled. ‘So stop worrying.’
‘But… but…’
‘What is it, Lana?’
‘She’s thinking that if he can’t change Lucy Jo’s memories, maybe he’ll decide he doesn’t need her after all,’ Declan answered on her behalf.
Lana bit her lip and slowly nodded. ‘Maybe we’ve inadvertently put her into even more danger,’ she breathed. ‘Maybe, he’ll… he’ll… get rid of her.’
‘Which is why our number one priority right now is to find your sister, okay?’ Eleanor replied.
Lana nodded.
‘Now, because of Imran’s admirable actions earlier this evening, we now have another lead. The helicopter,’ smiled Eleanor.
Declan opened the door from below and poked his head out. He didn’t say a word. He just nodded to Eleanor, who said, ‘Right, we might have got them.’
Lana squealed and jumped up off the sofa, knocking Barber’s hot chocolate into his lap. ‘Oops, sorry. That must have been hot.’
‘I didn’t feel a thing.’
‘So, when do we leave?’ Lana asked, trying to put on her coat and clear up the spilled drink at the same time.
‘It’s fine.’ Barber smiled. ‘I got it.’
‘You aren’t going anywhere,’ Lana’s father said to her.
‘But… you might need me,’ she said, continuing to put on her coat.
‘I said no, Lana Beth. I don’t want you or your sister going anywhere near this guy.’
‘Well, if you don’t let us come, we’re only going to find our own way of getting there. You do realise that, don’t you?’
Patrick rolled his eyes. ‘Are they always like this at the academy?’
Eleanor smiled.
‘Pretty much, mate,’ Declan answered. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’
oOo
‘Whaaaaaattttt?’ yelled Sthenelaus. ‘What do you mean, she wasn’t there? They’ve taken her, too? Those bloody Watchers!’
Aria listened from behind the door and smiled to herself before walking away.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
With Watchers working undercover at every airport and aerodrome, when the helicopter had landed at the Alvor air strip earlier that evening, word had
immediately spread to Eleanor about the strange people on board. Definitely Skulls. No doubt about it.
The Watchers followed their car, arriving at a small house on a development inland from the coast. Parking a few doors down, they had staked out the property until Eleanor’s people had arrived on the scene.
It hadn’t taken long for the Skulls to be subdued. There were only five of them, and they looked scarier than they were. And unfortunately for Sthenelaus, they also weren’t the most loyal of Skulls - quite easily revealing the location of the little girl with very little pressure involved.
Just before they left, Declan punched them all. ‘That’s for killing me,’ he growled, before walking out the door without looking back.
‘Aren’t we going to do something with them? Lana asked.
‘Don’t worry, the Portuguese Watchers will be here any second to sort them out,’ Declan smiled.
‘Cool,’ replied Lana. ‘So next stop, Praia da Rocha? Where’s that, Arabella?’
‘It’s along the coast. It’ll take us ten minutes to get there from here.’
Hopping back into their cars, the group drove as quickly as possible until they passed a sign saying Praia da Rocha, finding mostly tall hotels.
‘So where are they?’ whispered Emma. ‘We’ll never find her in this concrete jungle.’
‘Don’t worry, we know exactly where,’ Arabella reassured her. A few minutes later they arrived outside a huge villa. All the lights were out and there didn’t seem to be anyone home.
‘Are we too late?’ Lana whispered, as she watched her father jump out of the car ahead of them, with Declan right behind him.
They jumped over the walls and disappeared out of sight.
‘Shouldn’t we be following them?’
‘Yes, we will. They just wanted to check the area first. Don’t worry,’ said Arabella.
‘You wait here. I’m going in,’ Barber said as he heard the sound of dogs barking viciously.
‘Dad!’ yelped Lana.
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it’ Barber said, as he practically threw himself over the wall.
Seconds later the sound of yelping filled the air and then there was nothing but eerie silence.