The Spook Who Spoke Again: A Flavia Albia Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

introduced to him, then he seemed to be waiting to return to his transactions with Thalia. She looked put out; she was concentrating on the python. You would think if he was arranging to have another baby Soterichus would want to inspect me, to see how well the first one had turned out. Or perhaps he could instantly tell from my impressive demeanour.
    I decided to bide my time before letting them know I knew he was my father.
    ‘Do you want to fetch your ferret, darling?’ asked Thalia, in a kindly voice. By this she was indicating to Soterichus that she was a good mother. It was the first time she ever said ‘darling’ to me, though Helena does. Falco calls me Scruff although I am not scruffy at all, but a neat person unless I have happened to get dirty; He says his nickname is ironic.
    I nodded and started looking around the tent; then came the horrible moment when I began to realise Ferret was not there. Thalia and Soterichus continued their meeting. It involved a tense conversation about the giraffe. They were pretending it was all trading banter, but I could tell they were just saying routine things, not meaning anything real. He claimed he would persuade her to have the crocodile eventually, because he knew she wanted it really. She said he was smooching as usual but he could forget it. Crocs were lethal. She did not have the staff or the facilities. He said yes but the public adored them. She called him a rude word.
    I had not heard that word before; it was obviously very bad. I would have to write it down.
    While Soterichus was spluttering in surprise, I said loudly, ‘My ferret’s gone!’
    ‘Cough up, Soterichus,’ Thalia ordered him. ‘The giraffe was piss poorly from the off and you bloody well know it. You pulled a fast one when you passed him off, more fool me for believing you … Postumus, dearie, I shall help you to look. He can’t have gone far. He must have burrowed in somewhere.’
    She jumped up, pretending to help me, though I could tell it was only to show she would definitely have no more to do with Soterichus’ offer of the crocodile. She still believed nothing had happened to Ferret.
    As Jason slid off her when she leapt to her feet, I felt a terrible premonition creeping over me, like when you have accidentally stood in a very cold pond. I looked at the python. He smirked back at me. He was the kind of guilty criminal who stands there and dares you to accuse him, saying ha, ha, you can’t prove anything, while he’s laughing.
    I said, in a quiet voice, ‘I wonder if Jason has eaten my ferret.’
    ‘No, Postumus darling, of course he hasn’t. Jason had a rat two days ago, he won’t be hungry again yet.’
    ‘He has eaten Ferret! I know he has.’
    ‘Don’t get yourself worked up.’
    I wanted to scream and create like a very little boy, but I was twelve, or more likely eleven as Helena would say, so I knew better. I wanted to cry big tears, because I had lost my friend Ferret and also I was afraid he must have had a frightening experience when the snake attacked him. I hated to think of him in that predicament. He must have been horribly surprised. I always looked after him as nicely as I could, so he was not used to anything bad happening. I hated to think of him slowly going down inside the python, at first perhaps still alive. I wondered what that must have felt like.
    I wished we had never come here. I wanted to go home. Sometimes I imagined that if I could just run home, I might find Ferret sitting up on his normal bed there and it could be as if none of this had happened to us. But I knew that was no good.
    I went back to searching, madly throwing things aside while I looked everywhere again.
    Thalia went out to Soterichus in the round part of the tent. I heard her say in a low tone, ‘You had better go. I need to see to him. His pet is lost and you can see his poor little heart is broken.’
    I did not say goodbye or watch Soterichus leave. Even if he was my father I had no