Gone In A Flash

Chapter 14: Tuesday (1)

Chapter 14: Tuesday (1)

It was a day or so later, and Ruby and Clancy were huddled together on the couch underneath a frankly ridiculous amount of blankets and pillows, watching television. As soon as Clancy had heard that Ruby was alive and unharmed, he had come over and established quite firmly that he wasn't going to leave until he was absolutely sure that she wasn't going to go off unexpectedly and do something stupid again. For her part, Ruby didn't seem to mind this, and mainly just seemed pleased to spend time with her friend.

Hitch was keeping half an eye on them as he chopped meat in the kitchen and listened absently to the radio. The storm front had moved across town again, and if the weather forecast was anything to go by, it would start raining heavily in the next hour. Clancy might have to sleep over if the roads became too dangerous to navigate.

On the television screen, a series of bushes exploded in quick succession, and there was a muffled sort of scream. It seemed as if they were watching some sort of comedy sketch – not usually Ruby's sort of thing, but the two of them seemed to be enjoying it.

Hitch's watch beeped, causing his attention to momentarily divert from the radio. He read the message with a neutral expression, and then finished making the sandwiches that he had been busy putting together.

He entered the room just as several houses, huts, and next-door neighbours exploded in convincing plumes of smoke and flames on the TV screen. Ruby and Clancy were tangled in the blankets on the couch, laughing together.

"I brought snacks," he said, offering the plate to them – which they took, as the scene switched over to a presenter talking to an invisible audience. The three of them watched the sketch for a few minutes, Ruby and Clancy both sharing the plate of sandwiches between them.

"Got a call from Spectrum," he said. Their heads turned to him in eerie synchronisation, and Ruby muted the television.

"What sort of call?" she asked. Behind her, the camera silently panned out to reveal that the presenter was talking to a five-foot-high filing cabinet.

"The Count's body was identified," he said, fully aware that he shouldn't be telling the two of them about it. "Or, I mean – I guess we should call him Baker now, that's who he was."

"Is that good news?" Clancy asked, shifting the blankets slightly.

"Depends how you look at it." Hitch offered a shrug. "On one hand, it means that basically everything we've known about the guy for years has been a complete lie, on the other hand..."

"On the other hand, I was right," Ruby said. She sighed, tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling. "Means that I didn't go through all that for nothing, I guess."

"That's the spirit," Hitch said dryly, wondering how best to deliver the other part of information. He decided to just go straight for it. "Also, LB's been impeached."

Ruby didn't react at all to this at first. Clancy just shrugged. "Inevitable," he said.

Hitch narrowed his eyes. "How much do you know about this?"

"About as much as you'd expect." He paused, and then clarified: "That's everything, by the way."

"And you're going to keep your mouth shut?"

He mimed drawing a zip across his mouth. "Not a word," he said, "but you knew that already."

"Glad to hear it," Hitch said.

Ruby pushed herself upright, apparently done with thinking about the subject. "Clancy's right- it was inevitable."

"There wasn't any sort of way that she was going to come out of this without some sort of backlash," said Hitch, wondering why Ruby was restating something that was obvious. "But we knew that already."