I Spy by Graham Marks Page B

big, blue eyes, she was actually quite pretty. If you liked that sort
of thing. Which he wasn’t sure he did.
    “I’m Christina.” She came over, holding out her hand, which etiquette demanded Trey shake. “And that’s my absolute pill of a brother whom you should really
just ignore. He wants to be the Prime Minister when he grows up,” Christina added, as if that explained everything. And then she finally let go of Trey’s hand.
    “Well, now that we’ve all met I think it’s time to think about going!” Miss Renyard nodded and smiled, somehow managing to look relieved and anxious at the same time.
“I’ll go and make sure Cook has everything ready and then tell Stevens to meet us with the car at the front of the house. I’ll send Molly up to get you...”
    Trey watched her go, wondering how many people this family had working for them.
    “What do you want to be when you grow up, MacIntyre?”
    “You talking to me?” Trey frowned at Arthur, who hadn’t even bothered to look up as he spoke.
    “I do believe I must have been, old chap.”
    Trey took a deep breath, aware that Christina was watching him like a hawk and for some reason he did not want to come out of this looking like he’d been gotten the better of.
“Let’s make a deal, okay? You keep out of my hair and I’ll keep out of yours . That way I won’t have to boot your keister, old chap .”
    Christina snorted with laughter, Arthur’s ears turned a deep puce and Trey could tell that the next few days were not going to be a cakewalk, by any manner of means. On top of which, every
moment he had to put up with the Stanhope-Leighs was a moment he was unable to spend with Ahmet, watching his father’s back (as he knew all the best shamuses called checking to see if someone
was being followed). The thought of what he might be missing made Trey grind his teeth.

 
11 THE VISITOR
    A hmet closed the car door, and as he went back to the driver’s seat Trey heard Christina call out.
    “Bye-eee! See you tomorrow!”
    He also thought he could hear Miss Renyard urging Arthur to say goodbye as well (some hope she had); he sank back into the seat, giving a desultory wave as Ahmet drove off, and then going
cross-eyed at the thought that what he had just been through was going to be repeated, ad nauseam , for some days to come.
    “You have good day?”
    “No, Ahmet, I do not have good day...how about you?”
    “I fine, thanking you.”
    The two of them sat in a reasonably easy silence for the next few minutes as Ahmet guided the car through the traffic; the last thing Trey wanted to do was go over what he’d done that day,
and he was exhausted from the strain of answering the seemingly continuous stream of questions from both Miss Renyard and Christina about what it was like to live in Chicago. Not to mention constantly
having to stop himself from biffing that sneering worm Arthur, who seemed a real sneaky type. Which reminded him...
    “Did you see anyone following you today, Ahmet?”
    “Were back again.”
    “They were?” Trey snapped upright.
    “Yes, that men, from day before today. Different car, but I spot all the same; they follow like lost puppy.”
    “Are they here now?” Trey whirled round and looked out of the rear window, amazed with himself for not having thought to check before.
    Ahmet shook his head. “Not you they like to see. Only Mr. Macktire.”
    “What happened?”
    “Not so much. I just see the car, and two men with it, here.” Ahmet reached up and tapped his rear-view mirror.
    “Where’s my father now?”
    “I took him Pera Palas – in the room, maybe?”
    “And the people who’ve been on your tail all day, you think they’re still there outside?”
    Ahmet shrugged eloquently. “I not magic...can’t not see from here.”
    Trey couldn’t tell if Ahmet was joking with him or not, but he was more concerned with the fact that, while he’d been traipsed around yet another collection of cultural artefacts,