Thursday, November 16, 2006

Roses are Blue, 6.


Scruff and I stepped into the now disused church. It was a huge space, impressively built and clearly designed for all the glories of the old Catholic Apostolic liturgy. Right now it was empty, and the lamps that hung in the sanctuary were dark. They had not burned for a long time. It was an evocative space - but Scruff and I weren't there as sightseers.
Scruff looked funny in my spare costume. The suit fitted her snugly, but the fact that she wasn't wearing the boots or gloves made her look... well, untidy. But that's part of what I like about her, it makes her sort of appealing.
We tip-toed through the darkness of one of the aisles, watching out for any other intruders. This was definitely the church in Little Venice, it had to be.
"But then there were halls and vestries as well as the sanctuary. We were about to turn around when a door towards the East end opened and a robed figure stepped out.
His robe was blue, a dark blue in a beautiful fabric. And on the front of the robe there was embroidered an electric-blue rose. I had been right! What was more, this was being used as a base by the mysterious League of the Blue Rose.
"Father, the girl got away with the papers," I heard the older man from the flat speak. He followed the robed gentleman from the vestry or whatever it was.
"That is most unfortunate, brother Roland. If she has those papers she will know enough to be able to guess at our next move. And that means you must get them back and kill her."
"Father, she is the Girl in Grey. No-one knows where she lives or who she is."
"And the other girl?"
"An untidy teenager, no-one important."
"Brother Roland, I decide who is and who is not important. That is why I am the Prior and you are not. That teenager is obviously an agent of the Girl in Grey. Both of them must die."
"Finding them will be difficult, Father."
I smiled. If only they knew how close we were to them.
"Father!"
Clarence barged in, obviously flustered.
"Brother Clarence! What happened?"
"I pushed the teenager off the balcony. I don't know about the Girl in Grey."
Scruff, who had sat herself down, stretched and yawned. She spends far too much time in the evenings online.

"She's here!" Roland cried.
"Brother?"
"Brother Clarence shouted 'Little Venice Church' as I ran away. What person who knows London wouldn't recognise here!"
"Search the building!" the Prior cried, "She must be found!"
"Scruff," I said urgently, "hide. They think you're dead. I'll go somewhere else."
"But..."
"You're a bright girl. You'll think of something."
And with those words, I ran.

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