Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones Page B

all your life without learning anywhere else, and I’ve given you a good meal. In return, you treat me as an enemy. You don’t appear to understand that the least you can do is to help me find Luke.”
    â€œOh no I needn’t,” said David.
    â€œHow do you make that out?” Mr. Wedding asked scornfully.
    â€œI haven’t lived with Uncle Bernard all these years without knowing when someone isn’t playing fair,” said David. “I’ve had a marvelous time and a brilliant lunch—and thank you—and the advice was better still. But you can’t tell me that the earth’s not grateful to a stone for being dropped on and then say I owe you for lunch. You did it all for a reason and that’s not fair.”
    To David’s great relief, Mr. Wedding burst out laughing. “Well done!” he said. “My own weapons turned against me. All right, you win, David.” Still laughing, he pushed back his chair and stood up. At once, as if he had given a signal, the big white car came gliding round the corner and stopped in front of them, ready to take David home.
    The pretty lady got out and held the rear door open for David. Although David was extremely glad that he seemed to have come through without giving Luke away, he could not help looking regretfully up at the green hill above the inn and down at the misty, rippling lake. The weather was quite hot enough for swimming. But David knew he could hardly ask Mr. Wedding to let him stay. He sighed and went to the car.

9
THE RAVEN
    â€œO h, just a moment!” said Mr. Wedding. David turned round. “Your relations,” said Mr. Wedding. “They’ll probably want to know what I said to you, and I don’t think they’ll understand a word of the truth. Shall we say that I’m one of your teachers?”
    David chuckled. “All right.”
    Mr. Wedding took hold of the car door and nodded to the lady, who went back to the driving seat. Then he nodded to David and David started to get into the car. “By the way,” said Mr. Wedding. David took his head out of the car again. “I ought not to let you go away with those shells and stones in your pocket, really,” Mr. Wedding said. “But, as you’ve done so well, you can keep them.”
    â€œThanks,” said David. “Aren’t you coming then?”
    â€œNot just now,” said Mr. Wedding. “But I’ll see you again. In you get.” David got in and sat down. Mr. Wedding had almost closed the door, when he thought of something else. He opened the door and leaned in. “David,” he said, “what do you say to a contest over Luke?”
    â€œWhat sort of contest?” David said cautiously.
    â€œA battle of wits, if you like,” said Mr. Wedding. “I can see yours are pretty sharp. Suppose we agree that I can do all in my power to find Luke, and you can use every way in your power to stop me. What do you say?”
    David saw two things wrong with this at once. “You don’t work on my rules,” he pointed out.
    Mr. Wedding drummed his fingers on the car roof and thought. “Yes, but you haven’t mobilized half your resources yet, have you? You can do anything you like to stop me.”
    â€œAll right,” said David. All sorts of cunning plans came jostling into his head, and he smiled happily. But he did not forget his second objection. “You have to have a time limit. You have to say that if I can keep Luke safe till the end of the holidays, then you’ll stop looking for him and won’t punish him or hurt him if you find him after that.”
    â€œAgreed,” said Mr. Wedding. “But let’s not make it so long. Let’s say that if you can keep Luke safe until next Sunday, then he’s safe for good. All right?”
    This shook David a little. Mr. Wedding must be very sure of winning to set such a short limit. But he felt he had agreed to