13 Nerys Tells Them the Truth

13 Nerys Tells Them the Truth Whenever Peanut and Nerys had met in the past, she had always been such a jolly, calming presence. As such, the obvious fear in her voice was even more unsettling. 'Of course I'll help you. But... but.. when I just mentioned Mr Stone to Mum, she—' 'She made out that you were crazy for thinking that he would do anything to hurt her? I know! That's been her response to me too! I think that he must have brainwashed her or something. She's totally convinced that we're all just having a nice little city break. She didn't even flinch when he

took our passports from us and said we'd be staying in Milan for a few weeks. I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm absolutely terrified.' 'So what has White, er, Stone, said to you then?' asked Peanut. 'Nothing that made any sense,' she whispered. 'Last night, after the ballet, he started to behave very strangely. When I reminded him that we were due to fly back to London straight after we'd seen The Last Supper, he just smiled smugly, shook his head and said something about not going anywhere until the heir arrives. I had no idea what he was talking about. The heir of what?'

That explains the flash of anger, thought Peanut. White must be cross because Dad— Conté's heir— hadn't shown up with them. Thank heavens they'd persuaded him to stay back in Chroma. 'I just wish we weren't in Milan,' continued Nerys. 'We're so far away from home. What I'd give to just... teleport away from this place.' Peanut smiled and brought her hand up to Little Tail. Then she grabbed Nerys by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. 'Don't worry. I'm going to rescue you both, I promise. I've got a plan, but you're going to have to trust me. And you're going to have to help. 'Of course,' said the woman. 'What do you need me to do?' 'You need to take Mum over to the painting and keep her looking at it for a few minutes. Then I want you to bring her and Mr Stone outside the church. I'll be waiting for you with Rockwell, LB and Leo, and we're going to get you out of here. Whatever happens, don't leave Stone on his own with Mum. Do you think you can do that?' 'Er, yes, I think so,' replied Nerys. 'So just a few minutes with the painting?' 'Yes,' said Peanut, reassuringly. 'That should give me enough time.' She let go of Nerys's shoulders and walked back over to

her mother, who was lovingly redoing Little-Bit's plaits. She caught her sister's eye and winked at her. Little-Bit seemed to understand what was happening and nodded slightly in return. ' Er, Mum,' said Peanut, smiling. 'Look, I'm really sorry about that stuff I said about Mr Stone. I think I'm a bit, er, tired. It's been a busy morning already. In fact, maybe we should all wait for you outside. You know, get some fresh air while you have a look at the painting. Shall we see you in a few minutes?' 'OK, darling,' she said, handing Peanut a ten-euro note. And maybe get yourselves a lemonade or something too. You do look a bit frazzled.'