Excerpt
Chapter One
A Theft, a Homecoming and a Plan of Sorts
When Merlin calls, you don’t make excuses like telling her you’ll drop by after coffee. You leave whatever you’re doing and go as fast as your little legs can carry you, because her reputation for changing people into rabbits is no idle threat. Believe me, it’s a sure-fire promise.
Actually no one has ever seen her do it. But when people disappear, as they sometimes do around Camelot, and the number of bunnies multiplies...well, everyone puts two and two together and makes five. Merl just smiles and carries on feeding carrots to her furry friends, while the rabbits carry on doing what rabbits do best.
Merl called us a couple of days after we got back from the year 1734. We’d just solved a Temporal Detective Agency case in South Wales, beating the evil Black Knight and his wrecking thugs with the help of our old friend Sir Gawain. I ended up with a nice diamond brooch, while Marlene, Merlin’s younger sister, got the Mona Lisa to cover the damp patch on her office wall, and Unita (or Neets as I call her) managed to grab a Welsh boyfriend in the shape of Gawain’s son Bryn. Job well done.
My name’s Tertia by the way, and I suppose I got a boyfriend out of it as well, though David’s more of a friend who happens to be a boy, no matter what he thinks. He’s also the Black Knight’s adopted son, not that I hold that against him unless I’m in a particularly nasty mood, which isn’t often because luckily I have a very nice nature...say it myself. David’s real parents drowned in a shipwreck on the Gower coast, but on a whim the Black Knight decided to keep David alive and adopt him, so long as he made himself useful.
The five of us were having tea and bickies in Galahad’s Olé Grill restaurant cave when Marlene’s talking cup went off in her pocket. Actually it sounded more like someone clearing their throat down a trumpet and from the urgency of the rasp it wasn’t going to be a social chat. Marlene put the tin cup in the middle of the table so we could all join the conference call and as the agency’s senior partner she sat nearest to it, taking charge.
“Okay, Merlin,” she said, recognizing her sister’s cough, “we’re all ears, because you don’t normally phone us on the cup out of the blue, so what’s up in Camelot?”
Marlene leaned back in her chair, raised its front legs and balanced on the rear ones, something she never let Neets or me do because she said it wasn’t ladylike. The boys always got away with it though, because Bryn was built like a brick privy and David was just death-defyingly obstinate, like a lot of smaller people. Yeah, all right. Like me!
“Merlin, are you still there, dear?” Marlene pinged the cup with her forefinger and smiled as I stopped it from skittering off the table onto the floor. The cup started talking and after that we didn’t get a word in edgeways, but that didn’t matter because what Merl had to say was pretty awesome, especially the bit about she and Arthur expecting a little prince of their own.
Marlene finished the call and put the cup back in her pocket. “It looks like we’re going back to Camelot, girls. The royal pair needs the Temporal Detective Agency’s help and I’ve always found it’s best not to turn down royalty.”
Neets looked at her beloved Bryn and I glanced at David because Marlene had very obviously said girls. Boys were not included in this trip.
“Bryn, David, I have another little case for you to solve while we’re away. An old friend has sent me a message through the usual secret channels asking the TDA to look into the disappearance of the crew of a ship called the Mary Celeste back in 1872. He wants to see if we can find out what went on and help one of his relatives who was on board. There may be nothing to it, but see what you can do.” The boys began to protest, but Marlene held up her hand. “This isn’t a club, it’s a detective agency. Finish your tea and get ready, please.” The boys nodded meekly and even David, who had opened his mouth to argue, wisely closed it again.
