Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner Page A

cunning for that, oh my word yes. Instead, she kept questioning Sinew about the girl, as if that was the true reason for their being here and not just a pretence.
    And now she was on a mission from His Honour! She could hardly wait to carry out his instructions. She stalked through the drab rooms, peering into every corner, poking behind the broken display cases, looking for things that were out of place , or strange .
    At the same time, she allowed a corner of her mind to slip into her favourite daydream, the one where she was part of the Fugleman’s inner circle, where she had power and importance and influence. If she did this job properly, that dream might well come true . . .
    ‘Haven’t we been through this room already?’ said Comfort.
    ‘What?’ said Hope, jolted out of her fantasy.
    ‘Look at that cupboard with the smashed doors. We were here just a few minutes ago.’
    ‘Nonsense,’ said Hope, glad of the excuse to needle him. ‘We haven’t retraced our steps, have we, colleague? We haven’t turned aside at any point? We haven’t been spirited away by demons ?’
    She laughed briefly at her own wit, then settled back into seriousness. ‘I think you’ll find I have an excellentsense of direction. Keep your mind on the job.’
    Comfort’s face closed in a barely concealed sulk, and he strode through the nearest doorway without waiting to see if Hope was following.

    Twenty minutes later, Hope found herself standing in front of the broken cupboard once again.
    ‘There,’ said Comfort smugly. ‘I told you so.’
    ‘Self-righteousness,’ said Hope, ‘is a sin. I’d hate to have to report you, colleague.’
    ‘I wasn’t being self-righteous, colleague,’ smirked Comfort. ‘I was merely pointing out that we’re going in circles. That’s a fact, is it not? It’s clear enough to me.’
    ‘What’s clear to me , colleague, is that you have brought us astray. It was you who led the way out of this room, was it not? You must’ve taken a wrong turn. Perhaps you weren’t concentrating.’
    Comfort’s sallow face reddened. ‘I’d like to see you do better, colleague.’
    ‘And so you shall, colleague. So you shall.’
    Hope fully intended to take them back to the office. Despite what she had said to Comfort, she found the rooms confusing. If she could get hold of a floor plan, it would help them to be more efficient in their search.
    She didn’t realise straight away that they were lost. She led the way through room after room, retracing the way they had come. But somehow, instead of reaching the office, they ended up back at the broken cupboard.
    Hope snorted in surprise and annoyance. She set off again, back through the gloomy rooms with Comfort hurrying along behind her. Around the glass cases. Through this doorway. Through that doorway. Turn right here. Turn left there . . .
    And there was the broken cupboard again! Hope glared at it, suspecting that it was mocking her in some way.
    Comfort cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps it’s time to summon help—’
    ‘Ridiculous,’ said Hope. ‘Ridiculous!’ And she set off once more. Back through the gloomy rooms. Around the glass cases. Through this doorway. Through that doorway. Turn right here. Turn left there . . .
    In the end, she let Comfort shout for help. She wouldn’t normally have given up like that, but they were wasting time, and so she was not displeased to see Sinew hurrying towards them.
    ‘These rooms!’ he cried out as he approached. ‘They all look the same! Don’t feel bad, Guardians. Even the keepers get lost almost daily. Sometimes I think we should paint little tracklets on the floors, all in different colours, and then we could follow them to wherever we were going. But what if we got lost while we painted the tracklets, and they went around in circles? Ha ha ha!’
    The man was even more of a fool than Comfort, but at least he managed to get them back to the office. Hope commandeered the chair behind the desk