A moment later, Amy jogged up. She reacted faster than either of the brownies. ‘What the fuck is that?’
I gazed at Arbuthnot looming in front of us a few metres away. ‘That is a bogle,’ I said. And there were no prizes – not even a raffle ticket – for guessing who had sent him here. ‘Get behind me, Amy.’
‘But—’
‘Get behind me,’ I snapped.
Thankfully, she obeyed. I tensed my body and prepared for an attack. I’d scorch Arbuthnot and the ground he stood on if I had to.
‘I didn’t mean for you to see us,’ the huge bogle rumbled.
Us? My anxiety ratcheted up another notch as I squinted, trying to see who was hiding behind him and what other threat I’d have to deal with. But Arbuthnot’s companion wasn’t standing behind him; she’d been concealed inside the breast pocket of his oversized tweed jacket and only became visible when she poked out her head to blink at us.
‘Eloise!’ Otis tumbled forward from my shoulder, his fear disappearing at the sight of the blonde brownie. ‘Are you alright? Has this beast harmed you?’
Insulting Arbuthnot, even by accident, was not a good idea but neither Arbuthnot nor I had the chance to react. Hester flashed forward, flying past her brother to grab Eloise’s hair.
The blonde brownie shrieked. Hester shrieked back. ‘Traitor!’ she yelled. ‘Honourless bitch!’ She yanked harder on Eloise’s hair. ‘Where is the bastard? Where is Athair?’
Before Eloise could reply, Otis barrelled forward and slammed into Hester, forcing her away. ‘Leave her alone!’ he yelled furiously.
Hester elbowed her brother. ‘Get it through your thick skull that she’s our enemy, Otis! She’s with that bastard drug-dealing bogle. She works for Athair! Just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean she’s not evil!’
To be fair Hester had made a good point, but one look at Eloise’s miserable expression told me that she was horrified by what was happening. Nothing about this was good. I would have to do something – anything – to defuse the situation. ‘Let’s all take a moment, shall we?’ I said. ‘We’re in a public place. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.’
Unfortunately, as soon as I’d finished my sentence Amy jumped out from behind me, her face a mask of contorted rage. It wasn’t her expression that concerned me, though: it was the knife that she was holding in her right hand. Its blade was only three inches long but it glittered in the afternoon sunlight, implying lethal menace.
Gladys, who was still sheathed at my side, buzzed loudly. Something flashed in Arbuthnot’s eyes and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that all hell would break loose if I tried to slide her out. I hushed her. There had to be a way out of this without resorting to bloodshed. The only thing that sprang to my mind was flattery.
‘I am impressed. The two of you have done well,’ I said.
Amy snarled and stared at me as if I were crazy. I stepped forward, angling myself in front of her outstretched knife in a bid to negate its threat. Arbuthnot also stepped forward. ‘Well?’ he asked.
‘I knew Athair would try and track us down,’ I said, choosing each word carefully. ‘But I didn’t expect him to find us so quickly. I doubt he would have managed it on his own. He’s lucky to have such skilled people working with him.’
Hester growled. Before she could react, I snapped out my hand and grabbed her. Otis smirked and opened his mouth to speak but I silenced him with a glare.
‘Lucky?’ Arbuthnot hawked up a large ball of phlegm and spat it on the ground. I supposed I should be thankful he’d not directed it at us.
‘Ewwww. You ought to see a doctor, mate,’ Amy said. ‘It’s not healthy having that sort of green sludge inside you.’
‘Not your mate,’ he rumbled.
Eloise, who had been rubbing her head after Hester’s hair-pulling attack, frowned at him. ‘Hey, we’ve talked about this,’ she said.
She sounded as if she were scolding him and, despite the tension, I was genuinely surprised. The sight of a blonde brownie the size of my thumb berating the likes of Arbuthnot, a hulking drug dealer whose body was so broad and solid that I’d heard he was once mistaken for a small car, was astonishing.
A deep grumble escaped his mouth then he sniffed. ‘Fine. Not your enemy either.’
My astonishment grew.
Arbuthnot laughed, a short, unamused sound. ‘You think I’m happy about being a fiend’s slave?’ he asked. ‘One minute I’m enjoying life in my own little corner of Edinburgh keeping my punters happy and avoiding the polis. Next minute I’ve got that bastard dangling me on a hook.’ He nodded towards me. ‘And that’s all your fault, girlie. He wouldn’t be interested in me if it weren’t for you.’
‘Remember what we talked about, Buthy Baby,’ Eloise said.
The bogle scowled. ‘Fine,’ he huffed. Then he said eight little words that changed everything. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
Chapter
