Flying high above the hill, Kitor flew on his daily patrol over Arthur’s Seat. He didn’t have to do it but he felt that it helped the Ranger and was a small return for making him part of his family. So, if any of the sheep strayed or got themselves caught on the crags, he let the Ranger know and, with the MacArthurs on holiday in Turkey, he also kept an eye open for trouble from the world of magic. Although this was always a possibility, it was, nevertheless, remote and the last thing Kitor had expected were problems from that particular quarter. He was, therefore, stunned when Lewis was quite obviously stopped in his tracks by the protective shield that the MacArthurs had left round the hill.
Kitor watched through narrowed eyes as the boy left the slopes and continued to jog round the park towards the exit. He knew perfectly well that the protective shield round the hill only kept out magicians, but this lad — tall, thin and lanky — certainly didn’t look like any sort of magician that he’d ever met. The fact, however, remained that he’d tried to get through the shield and hadn’t been able to. Kitor flapped to the branches of a nearby tree and, nerves alert, watched and waited. He was most definitely going to follow this strange boy home.
11. Prince of Thieves
“Well! Did you find a way in this time?” Kitor asked excitedly as Neil and Clara came home from the Assembly Hall where rehearsals for Ali Baba were in full swing.
“No,” Neil said, opening the fridge to get a drink, “the doors to the cellars are still locked but we might have a chance to get into them in a couple of days time! I heard the producer say that they’re going to have to use them to store all the props and things that are coming from The King’s.”
It was Clara who had had the brilliant idea. The Assembly Hall building, she had pointed out to Neil, stood at the top of the Mound. And if the cellars from Deacon Brodie’s Tavern gave on to the Underground City then it was more than likely that they could get down to it through the cellars in the Assembly Hall as well. Although it had seemed a sensible plan, however, it had come to nothing for, as Neil had said, all the doors leading to the basement had been locked and, with no idea where the keys were kept, they hadn’t been able to do anything.
“What about you, Kitor,” asked Clara, pushing her hair behind her ears, “did you have any luck with that boy?”
“He’s started school now,” Kitor informed them. “His mother picked him up afterwards and they went to the hospital to visit his grandmother. They go there most afternoons. His name is Lewis, by the way. I heard his mother telling him to go back into the house and get his PE kit.”
“He doesn’t sound much like a magician to me,” Neil frowned. “Are you sure he was trying to get through the MacArthur’s protective shield?”
Kitor nodded his head. “Quite sure,” he croaked.
“I wish the MacArthurs would come back,” Clara said with a sigh. “I really miss them.”
It wasn’t only Clara who was missing the MacArthurs, however. Sir James and the Chief Constable of Edinburgh were missing them, too. As they stood chatting together in the windows of the New Club, overlooking Princes Street Gardens and the wintry bulk of Edinburgh Castle, it was the Chief Constable who brought the subject up.
“I’ve been meaning to have a word with you for a while, James,” Archie Thompson said, “about the MacArthurs.”
Sir James looked at him in surprise. “The MacArthurs? They’re still in Turkey aren’t they?”
“You don’t, by any chance, know when they’ll be back, do you?”
Sir James shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he replied. “Er … I don’t want to pry, but is something bothering you?”
“You could say that,” the Chief Constable said, eyeing him sourly. “It’s all these art thefts that are taking place round the world.”
“All what art thefts?” queried Sir James, startled. “I heard that the Mona Lisa had been stolen and there was something about a famous emerald but …”
“That’s all that’s been released to the public, James. The rest has been kept quiet.”
Sir James raised his eyebrows. “The rest?” he queried.
“Yes, there have been quite a few other robberies that haven’t reached the pages of the newspapers.”
“For any specific reason?”
“It’s not so much the things that have been stolen, James, it’s the manner of the thefts. You see, all the stuff that’s been taken from art galleries, museums and the like — well, the pieces have literally just disappeared. No signs of forced entry, no trace of the thieves … nothing whatsoever.”