The Complete Ruby Redfort Collection. Lauren Child

Ruby, ‘Kinda cryptic isn’t it? Who’s the boss?’

      ‘That would be me,’ said LB coolly. ‘Naturally she wouldn’t have wanted to say anything obvious over an unsecured line. She said she would be in touch that evening when she got back from her climb. She had booked herself on the very next flight home – she was cutting her vacation short by ten days.’

      ‘Do you have any idea what she was talking about?’ asked Ruby

      ‘We can be sure she was talking about a code – one she had missed. She must have figured it out while she was away.’

      ‘Did she have it with her?’ said Ruby.

      ‘Of course not – it is strictly forbidden to take classified information out of the Spectrum building. So we know that whatever she missed has to be in the Fool’s Gold files. Which is why we want you to go through them in the same way she would have gone through them – see if you can’t find what she didn’t see first time around.’

      Ruby frowned. ‘What do you think she meant when she said she “saw it in the mirror”?’

      ‘She’s referring to the local newspaper, the Twinford Mirror – that’s where all the codes where hidden.’

      Ruby looked perplexed.

      LB waved her hand impatiently; she needed to get on. ‘It will all be explained to you tomorrow. You will return here. Agent Blacker will take you to the file room where you can read through all Agent Lopez’s papers and try and get a grip on this case. Understood?’

      ‘Uh huh.’

      ‘OK, so get out of here.’

       Chapter 14.

      Don’t erase me

      ON THE WAY BACK TO CEDARWOOD DRIVE Ruby tried to work her Ruby Redfort powers of persuasion on Hitch.

      ‘Don’t you think it might be a good idea for me to have some kind of little radio device so I can radio in?’

      ‘Radio in to where?’

      ‘To HQ,’ said Ruby

      ‘No kid, you don’t radio in to HQ, you always go via me.’

      ‘OK, so I should be able to radio in to you.’

      ‘And why would you need to do that?’ said Hitch

      ‘Well you know, in case I need to get hold of you super quick,’ said Ruby

      ‘And you can, by using that incredible gadget known as the telephone.’

      ‘But what if there is no telephone, or say someone was on it and I had to run all over looking for another one?’

      ‘I imagine you are a pretty good runner.’ It was clear Hitch was unmoved by Ruby’s argument.

      ‘Oh man, can’t I have some little radio walkie-talkie gadget?’ pleaded Ruby. ‘What’s the big problem?’

      ‘The “big problem”,’ said Hitch, ‘is you getting in over your head. Look kid, this is a desk job, OK? You are being hired to go through files and decipher information – it is not a matter of life and death and let’s not make it one.’

      ‘But what if it was? What if I find something out – something kinda vital… to everything! And I need to follow it up on the double – get on someone’s tail before they disappear; you know, step in before something bad happens.’

      ‘Kid, you do any “stepping in” and you will be stepping out of Spectrum for good – you find something out, you sit tight. No drama, no heroics. Sitting tight is a rule – you got that?’

      ‘Oh man!’ sighed Ruby, ‘did anyone ever tell you, you can be a royal pain in the derriere?’

      ‘All the time kid, so you’d be wise to remember this – you never act alone. That’s another rule.’ Hitch looked her in the eye. ‘You hearing me kid?’

      Ruby nodded. She was hearing, but it was hard to be sure if she was listening, and listening and hearing are two very different things.

      Back at the house, Ruby went straight to the living room and played the messages on the family answerphone. She just wanted to be sure that the school hadn’t called and said something that would lead her parents to find out about her class skipping.

       Maybe Mrs Digby will have phoned from Miami or wherever in tarnation she has gotten off to.

      There were several messages for her father from the detective, explaining that they had ‘no more leads’ – several from her father for her mother, unusually bad tempered, complaining about the airline and how there was ‘still no sight nor sound of their luggage’ – one from the drycleaner to say they were ‘having trouble with the tomato stain and would have to send the jacket away for super cleaning’.

      The final message was from Freddie Humbert and basically went on and on about his problems with the bank security system and how he was ‘up to his ears in it’ and ‘wouldn’t be able to attend the museum meetings or indeed play golf for the foreseeable future’. Right at the end he said ‘don’t forget to tell that cute daughter of yours to give us a call – Quent would love to see her.’

      Ruby made a face – a couple of hours with Quent Humbert was all she needed. She was about to erase the message when her father popped his head round the door. ‘Jeepers!’ blurted Ruby, ‘what are you doing home?’

      ‘Oh I’m sorry, got off work early. I didn’t mean to make you jump – you checking the messages? Any good ones?’

      Ruby pressed the playback button. ‘I don’t know, I didn’t listen.’ She headed upstairs to her room and checked her personal answerphone. There was a message. It was from Clancy.

       ‘Hi Rube, where were you today? You didn’t say anything about skipping school. Are you sick? Whatever – give me a call, OK? Hey don’t erase me, don’t erase me… aaaahhhh.’

      It was a Clancy Crew classic joke. Ruby smiled as she erased the message. Darn it though, what was she going to tell Clancy? She hadn’t thought of that when she had promised to keep it zipped. She couldn’t lie to him, she never lied to him, but she had sworn she wouldn’t talk. Hitch was right, code breaking was easy compared to keeping a secret like this. She needed to think. But all she could think was, Darn it! Dad is sure to make me call Quent.

      She picked up her backpack and rummaged for the Spectrum Escape Watch, but it wasn’t there. She was about to panic when she remembered how she had stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

       Now where is my jacket?

      Then she heard her mother calling.

       Geez, now what?

      ‘It’s time to eat!’ called her mother.

      The watch would have to wait – her mother was a stickler when it came to ‘dining time’.

      The meal seemed to drag on for just about ever. Ruby was finding her folks less than scintillating company. Most of what they said she had heard from her history teacher, Mrs Schneiderman – she certainly was in no hurry to hear it all again.

      ‘Don’t you just love the legend of the Jade Buddha, Brant?’ cooed Sabina.

      ‘Love it,’ replied Brant.

      ‘It’s kind of romantic, don’t you think? To look the Buddha in the eye at the stroke of midnight – you know, as it rises up through the floor – and in that moment double your wisdom, and halve your age.’

      ‘Desperately romantic,’ agreed Brant, through a mouthful of steak and tomato.

      ‘I mean, imagine getting