baby swappers (working title lol)

Chapter Three

Arlot Borge didn't usually work Sundays, but today was important. He triple checked the fat envelope in his briefcase which contained all of Ophelia Elefry's known information, and then made sure his thick hair wasn't too wild in the reflection of the window.

He made his way out onto the street, and stood at the bottom of the steps, watching across to the medical centre for Phi to emerge. A car was the first to arrive, too loud for the silent street and looking dangerously rusting and dented. It rolled to a halt. Arlot leaned down to the door and peered inside. "This the car for me?" he asked worriedly. 

"Are you Mr Borge?" Arlot nodded and the driver smiled a toothless smile. "Tis then! Hop in, sir."

"Just a moment," Arlot saw Jenny and Phi were coming out of the building. Phi was wearing a white robe that he knew was provided by the centre, and an old cardigan that was far too big for her. He wondered if that had come from lost property or Jenny's own collection.

"You'll be fine." Jenny told Phi with a firm smile. She pressed a little cloth bag into Phi's arms, and then opened the car door for her behind the driver. Her eyes met Arlot's over the little car, and for a split second he thought he saw tears in them. "Have a pleasant journey, Mr Borge," and then, quieter, "look after her."

The car wove through the tight streets of the city with a concerning rumbling groan. Arlot didn't like to comment, but found his hands clutching the door handle at each corner the driver took with speed. He glanced back at Phi in the mirror, and saw her staring out of the window. Of course, she had never left her parents estate. The city was beautiful, even the back alleys their transportation was taking were charming, and each turn they made flashed a moment of a scene of the life; past exotic merchant stalls, fancy bakeries, gowns in dress shop windows fit for a queen, and then as they left the centre the school children with nannies racing to school, men shouting and shifting cargo as their ships reached the city river boundaries. Phi took it all in, her hands clutched the bag Jenny had given her so hard her knuckles were turning blue.

Once they were out of the city the driver slammed the accelerator and took the little car into flight mode, raising it into the air with a force that flung them all back into their seats.

"Gosh! I didn't realise this model could take air!"

"Oh yes!" the driver chucked. "One of the first versions to be able to actually!" He laughed again. Behind him, Phi was white as her robe, gaze fixed at the rapidly shrinking land below them. The car coughed and seemed to pause for a second, causing the driver to swear and bang his hand on the dashboard, where it jolted forward and carried on like nothing had happened.

A tense two hours later, the car came back down with a bump onto a little road that seemed to crawl up a high hill, surrounded by intimidating forests. The hedges weren't well kept, and any car larger would have barely scraped through the imposing branches and brambles. The road took a bend and then came out a wider stretch, approaching a driveway and paused at two huge iron gates, and then took in the looming estate as the gates peeled open for them.

The gate house was gone in a moment, revealing sloping gardens and a trimmed hedge rim – perhaps a maze lay behind it, but that wasn't what stood out for the view.

A large gothic house, almost a castle, in grey stone with black edgings, two towers could be seen as they approached, coming into tight points with black slate finishing. It was intimidating, and while the Phi willed the car to slow down, it sped up its final leg of the journey, pulling to an abrupt stop as a smaller but nevertheless impressive black iron gate. It felt very different to the warm sandstone buildings and cobblestone streets of the city