Blasted Past: Part Seventeen

Ms. Madison's brain was awhirl, as she looked first to the patrician figure of Sir Richard Arcos, then to the dangerous, leather-clad blonde who now stood by his side. She shook her head, pointing first to one figure, then the other.

"But... but that's impossible..." she protested. "I mean... how old are you, Sir Richard?"

"Not being a lady, lassie," Sir Richard smiled, "I cannot be offended by such an impertinent question. Besides, I stopped counting when my daughter clubbed together and bought me a rocking chair. But what you mean to say is that given my age and that of my wife, the idea that I could have a daughter young enough to be my grandaughter is more than a little improbable. Be that as it may, Hawkie is my very own dear daughter. Adopted, I'll confess."

Ms. Madison looked at the masked girl and shook her head, still hardly daring to believe it.

"And when did you take her in?" she continued to question the old gentleman.

"Believe me, Lynette," Hawkie took a step forward, "that's a hard question."

"But, since you are the centre of this," Ms. Madison raised her chin, "then it's a question that needs to be answered. I mean, how come I never heard about Sir Richard taking in a little girl some time in the 1980s?"

"That question's an easy one," Sir Richard laughed idly. "You'd 've been reading the wrong papers, dear lassie. I adopted this little bombshell back in 1952."

Ms. Madison's jaw dropped, as she took another look at the slender figure of Sparrowhawk.

"Long story," the masked girl confessed. "Let's just say that it involves an ancient Egyptian curse. But that's not what matters. We need to find out who had me taken out of the nursing home."

"And biff them on the bean," Sir Richard nodded.

"More than that," Ms. Madison looked concerned. "The reason for the snatch was that someone wanted to get to the Green Man. We still don't know why or for what purpose."

"That no longer matters."

A simister voice, emanating from the shadows, caused the three to turn, looking across a rapidly darkening room. There, in a shaft of light left by the sinking sun, was the Green Man.