The Purple Haired Craze

In Which A Trip To China Is Required

Valkyrie gave Skulduggery a quizzical look as he finally sat himself down in the driver's seat of the Bentley. He ignored her and switched on the engine, the quiet purr barely disrupting the silence.

"So are you going to tell me what that was about?" she asked after they had been driving for a while.

"Nope."

"And why not?"

"Don't have to."

Val frowned. "Yes, you do. We are partners. We tell each other everything."

Skul glanced at her quickly before returning his eyes to the road. "No, we don't. There are still plenty of things that I haven't told you about yet."

"Yes, but that's probably because it hasn't occurred to you that you haven't mentioned said things you are keeping from me. This you are purposely keeping away from me."

"Ah, well. I have my reasons."

She felt like glaring at him, or screaming in frustration. She hated not knowing things, absolutely hated it but she also knew that if Skulduggery did not want to tell her, she wouldn't know until he wanted her too. She curbed her anger and pulled it down to a bad mood.

Skul picked up on her temper and didn't try to initiate a conversation. She just wouldn't reply. They pulled up in front of China's library and got out swiftly, the tension hanging in the air between them.

China had been sitting, reading a very interesting diary written by a woman known as Juno Flight, who was the founder of the Adept discipline of shunting. Flight, according to extra research on the woman that China had found, was the only know person who could shunt in all manners; dimension, time and place. China had just reached this interesting section in which Flight had begun to describe her hopelessly romantic love affair with her husband's younger sister when Valkyrie and Skulduggery almost stormed into her domain. She noted that the Sanctuary's top detectives were in bad moods as soon as they stepped through her door.

"Good afternoon," she said, calmly placing the delicate book on the desk beside her, taking note of the page number. "What do you two need today?"

"Have you heard about a time traveller called Iyzebel Trix?" Skulduggery asked her, sharply in his no nonsense voice. "Any rumours or stories?"

China's eyes flickered towards his dark-haired partner. Valkyrie was trying her best to ignore her partner, her eyes darting all over the place except in Skulduggery's direction. "You two had a fight?" she asked, curious as to what would make them argue.

"Answer my question."

She sighed. "Yes, as a matter of fact. She is mentioned in this diary here." China waved the little battered book at them. "She was involved romantically with a woman called Juno Flight, who was the first of the shunters."

Val raised an eyebrow. "What discipline did Juno have?"

"She, apparently, was the only person who could teleport, shunt dimensions and time travel. She taught her husband's younger sisters, Iyzebel and another girl, a little bit younger, as a favour for him and then had an affair with Trix."

"Where is Juno now?" Skulduggery asked.

"Dead, I believe, or in a different time or dimension. I did a bit of research on the woman as I felt that she was a notable person in history. According to records, she vanished one day, along with Iyzebel and neither of them has been seen since. This was about fifty years ago, in the 1950s or 60s from what I've gathered."

"What about this younger sister and husband?"

"The husband was called Lucas Nile, an unexceptional Elemental who got caught in a train crash and killed in the 1920s. The other sister appears to have no records."

Skulduggery tilted his head, as if puzzled. "You have no other information about Trix?"

"Other than the fact that she has been wrecking havoc around Dublin, but then again, you already know that."

"Yes. Well, thank you for your help." Skulduggery gave her a nod and made to sweep out of the room.

"Wait, Val, can I talk to you?" Valkyrie turned round in slight surprise to face her. Skulduggery gave a nod as if to say he would wait in the car. They waited until they couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. "What happened?" China asked.

Valkyrie gave a small sigh. "He is keeping something from me. About this investigation if I'm looking at this right."

"And you two had a fight because he doesn't want to tell you this thing and yet you don't like not knowing."

She nodded.

China gave her a sad look. She knew what Skulduggery was trying to hide and she knew she couldn't tell Valkyrie about this and neither could Skul, even if they wanted to. She tried to think what would be best to say to the girl that was currently looking like a sad puppy.

"Bear with him. He doesn't ever want to mean you any harm. He is your friend after all and while it sometimes seems like he doesn't trust you, he really does. There are always going to be things, though, that he needs time before he tells you." Val looked up at her, eyes shining. China gave her a hug. "Don't worry. He'll get round to telling you soon."