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  Chapter 10

  Antonia was sitting on her bed wearing her great-grandfather’s hat and feeling downright glum. At least, she had stopped weeping. Her first reaction to Tony’s murder had been an overwhelming sense of injustice. People shouldn’t die because they’re not too bright. But on reflection she realised that, while he wasn’t entirely wicked, he had allowed himself to get mixed up with some thoroughly disreputable people and he had paid the ultimate price. She had finished her little cry on Ogg’s shoulder and put the whole thing behind her.

  Back to the problem on hand! She had come to the conclusion that their investigation wasn’t going too well. She had certainly found out a lot about her family history, which would come in useful if she ever took up amateur genealogy in the future. That is, if there were to be a future. If the future was hanging on desperately for her and Ogg to come to the rescue, it was in a very bad way. O.K. she had made some mistakes, but she really felt she was getting the hang of correct and proper thinking and it was getting her nowhere. As for Ogg, he was all questions and no answers. To Antonia’s mind, it was time for a change of tack.

  “What we need is a symbol!”

  Ogg frowned and looked at her, but at least he stopped whistling.

  “You know, like a tablet of stone, or a ring, or a cross, or an amulet…”

  “Ant, have you gone off your rocker?”

  “No, if we had something magic, it would help us in our quest.”

  “Like this!” Ogg said, and a small, dirty, unattractive piece of rock appeared in his hand.

  “Perfect! A magic stone!”

  “Don’t be so ridiculous, Ant. What kind of way is that to think?”

  “But it is magic! It just materialised from nowhere, right in your palm.”

  Ogg put on his most scientific, matter-of-fact voice.

  “Ant, you know I can travel at the speed of light, and faster if I want. I just nipped out and picked this up from the garden. Nothing magic about it. There is a rational explanation for everything.”

  “What about you and your magical powers?” A triumphant gleam had appeared in Antonia’s eyes.

  “What magical powers?”

  “Your age. You’re infinitely old.”

  “Careful dieting and regular exercise.”

  “The speed at which you travel?”

  “Super fitness.”

  “Your ability to travel through time?”

  “Einstein. Special theory of relativity.”

  “The way you can change the way you look?”

  “Einstein. Special theory of relativity.”

  “Oh, no, Ogg! You can’t catch me out like that. There’s nothing in Einstein’s theory of relativity about changing form a young girl to an old man.”

  “The equivalence of matter and energy?”

  “Oh!” She reached out and took the stone from his outstretched hand. “I think I’ll keep this anyway, just for luck.”

  Ogg sighed. Ant was a good pupil, but she still had a lot to learn. Ogg never got irritated, but when he thought of all his friends with their statues, pictures and quaint Oggy keepsakes he almost got irritated.

  “Does your magic stone have any ideas about what we should do next?”

  “It’s not like you to be cynical,” she reproached him, and he lowered a penitent head. “Since you ask, my little stone, my little ordinary non-magical stone, which I am keeping merely out of some possible misplaced affection for you, has absolutely nothing to communicate on the matter which you have just raised. I think we need some help.”

  “I agree. And you will be pleased to know that I have been consulting with a particular friend of mine who has some novel ideas on the whole case. I’m sure you’ll be delighted to meet him.”

  Whether or not she would be pleased to meet him would depend entirely on the quality of his ideas and the nature of his personality. He might perhaps be a totally obnoxious nerd.

  She didn’t have the opportunity to express this opinion, however. Ogg whisked her off to the Nevada desert to join Peregrine Pratt.