Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

I lay on one side of the bed, Hugo lay on the other. We were facing each other, our hands and feet touching.

‘I love you, Lady Daisy Carter Assigney.’

‘I love you too, Lord Snoot-Face Pemberville.’

His eyes danced. ‘Say that again. Go on. I dare you.’

I smirked but before I could risk repeating my words, the bedroom door opened a fraction.

‘You have to knock first, Hester!’ Otis said.

‘He’s right!’ Eloise agreed. ‘Horace, you have to wait until you’re granted admittance! Manners cost nothing!’

I rolled my eyes at the intrusion. ‘We ought to send you lot to minion finishing school,’ I told them.

‘I’d like to see you try,’ Hester snorted. She flew over to the bed and hovered between us. Horace was practically glued to her side. ‘Are you going to stay in bed all day?’

‘It’s not the worst idea in the world,’ Hugo murmured.

‘You won’t say that when you see what’s happening on the news,’ she said ominously.

I sat up straight. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You’ve worried her now.’ Otis scowled at his sister before also flying over. ‘It’s nothing. You and Hugo should stay here and enjoy yourselves. There are no problems and there is nothing whatsoever to be concerned about.’ Unsurprisingly, his words only ratcheted up my anxiety.

‘Tell us what’s going on,’ Hugo said.

Eloise bit her lip. ‘It’s better if you see it for yourselves.’

Hugo and I exchanged glances then we sprang out of bed and bolted downstairs. The television in the lounge was already on and all the Primes were grouped around it. They started guiltily when we entered. Even Miriam looked nervous. ‘Hello dears,’ she said, then she looked away.

‘What’s going on?’ Hugo asked.

‘It’s nothing,’ Becky chirped.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ Rizwan agreed.

Slim was already nodding. ‘Nothing whatsoever.’

Uh-huh. I folded my arms across my chest. Hugo glowered. ‘If anyone else says the word nothing I’m going to rescind our wedding invitations with immediate effect.’

‘I’m glad you mentioned your upcoming nuptials,’ Slim said. ‘There are some details that I’d like to go over with you concerning the flowers. The wedding planner is already in the ballroom setting up the first of the table arrangements, but I’m not sure about the roses she’s selected for the ceremony.’

‘And the hair stylist called,’ Becky said. ‘She wanted to confirm the time with you. She’s planning to be here from eight o’clock tomorrow morning.’

Mmm. I drummed my fingers against my arms. ‘Back away from the television.’

Hugo tapped his right foot. ‘Do what she said.’

They glanced at each other then they moved away. Hugo took the remote control from Mark and turned up the volume.

The news anchor smiled out from the screen. ‘And so we come to our final news item of the day concerning Amy Aurum, a teenager from Hammerwich in Staffordshire, who’s recently made an extraordinary discovery. Our reporter, Edward Dixon has been catching up with her. She’s not in Hammerwich right now, is she, Edward?’

The camera cut to a windswept man. ‘She certainly isn’t,’ he said. He gestured to the wide-open landscape around him.

‘I recognise that place,’ I said.

Hugo’s eyes narrowed. ‘Me too.’

The reporter continued. ‘Amy Aurum is here with me in Sutton Bridge, and it would be fair to say she’s made a most extraordinary discovery.’ He held out a microphone towards her. She was rosy cheeked from the wind and the sun and beaming from ear to ear. ‘Tell us about what you’ve found, Amy.’

‘Only the greatest treasure that’s ever been uncovered,’ Amy told him. ‘I have located the lost crown jewels of King John. They’ve been buried beneath these sands for eight hundred years but they’re buried no longer. I’ve dug up a large number of gold coins, a crown,a sword, a chalice, a helmet, an orb and a sceptre. In fact, I have the sceptre right here.’ She held up a heavy-looking golden object.

Yep: that was definitely a sceptre. A real sceptre. Its surface was dull from the centuries it had spent in the ground but I knew it would soon be cleaned up and restored to shiny brilliance. Its magical power already seemed to sparkle even through the television screen.

‘It’s extraordinary,’ the reporter breathed. ‘Do you have any idea of its worth?’

‘Its monetary worth is in the millions. But,’ Amy added, ‘its historical worth is even greater.’

‘People have been searching for this treasure for hundreds of years,’ he said. ‘It’s amazing that you’ve found it. You’re barely eighteen years old!’

She smiled modestly.

‘In fact, you’re something of a prodigy when it comes to treasure hunting, aren’t you? You come from Hammerwich, which is the location where the Staffordshire Hoard was found. And you recently dug up some of the original Hoard that had been moved to a different spot, didn’t you?’

‘It’s true,’ Amy said. ‘I did.’

‘Not only is this treasure the greatest that’s ever been found, but you must be the greatest treasure hunter that’s ever existed.’

She giggled slightly. ‘That’s something of an exaggeration.’

‘No,’ the reporter said. ‘I don’t believe it is.’

I took the remote control out of Hugo’s hands and turned off the television before I looked at him.

‘What are you thinking, Daisy?’ he asked.

I drew in a deep breath. ‘Amy is very talented.’

‘Indeed.’

‘She’s a great treasure hunter.’

‘She is.’

I shrugged. ‘I’m not sure you could say that she’s the greatest treasure hunter.’

‘Definitely not.’ He paused. ‘Full kudos to her, she’s done incredibly well. But there’s a lot of treasure out there that’s yet to be found. There’s a lot of history bound up in this sceptred isle. It would be foolish to give her the title of greatest treasure hunter when there’s still so much to discover.’

‘We could pack our bags,’ I suggested. ‘Leave this afternoon? Head out and see what we can find?’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Hugo agreed.

Otis tentatively raised his hand. ‘Um, what about your wedding? You’re about to get married.’

Eloise’s expression was worried. ‘Tomorrow,’ she said, in case we’d forgotten.

I looked at Hugo. ‘I mean,’ I said slowly, ‘we can get married any time.’

His blue eyes gleamed. ‘Yep. We can easily postpone the ceremony until later. If you’re alright with that, Daisy.’

Wedding-schmedding. ‘First one to the Jeep,’ I said, ‘is a rotten egg.’

Author’s notes

Culcreuch Castle made it into Skullduggery first and it receives a brief mention in the author’s notes for that book. It is located in Perthshire but, as it’s no longer open to the public, I’ve not visited it. However, it is stunning in all its photos and any descriptions of muddy quagmires or penned-up vampires destroying the scenery are pure fiction. There is a tower with a bottle dungeon (also known as an oubliette); however, I have taken considerable creative licence in describing it and most of the castle in this book comes from my imagination.

The Staffordshire Hoard is also based in reality, although there has never been any indication of a witch who found some of it and buried it in her garden! The real Staffordshire Hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered and includes more than four thousand items. It was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2009 in a field near Hammerwich and was eventually valued at more than three million pounds. It was bought jointly by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. The proceeds were divided between the metal detectorist who found it and the landowner.

The tale of King John’s lost treasure is true. In 1216 he attempted to cross the Wash estuary with baggage wagons containing his crown jewels. He misjudged the tide and only narrowly escaped with his life. Historians agree that King John was a truly terrible and cruel monarch but there is indeed a statue of him in King’s Lynn, and there are lions carved onto the statue’s breastplate. The lost crown jewels have never been found – but they must be out there somewhere.

Although there is no Royal Elvish Institute in Edinburgh, Charlotte Square is real and contains many examples of great architecture including Bute House, the official residence of Scotland’s First Minister. There is indeed a large statue of Prince Albert seated on a horse in the centre of the square. Until recently Charlotte Square was the location for the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival, which is held in August.