over as soon as I can.’
‘How’s your back fence escape route?’ I asked. ‘You sure it’s safe?’
‘Should be OK. I won’t come if it’s not. No-one’s been out on the street for days. And Zombrovski was the regular house-sitter, but I guess he won’t be coming round any time soon.’ Boges laughed awkwardly. ‘This arvo cool?’
‘Yep. See you when you get here.’
‘Nice look!’ said Boges, in a way that made me unsure whether he was making fun of me or not. My hair was pretty different, and I was wearing a blazer I’d picked up at a thrift store, over jeans and a T-shirt.
‘Something smells good. What’s in the bag?’ I asked, checking out the heavy-duty bag Boges had in tow.
He looked down at his watch. ‘Early dinner?’
We tucked into some kebabs, and in between greedy mouthfuls I gave Boges a more detailed run-down of my trip to Manresa. When we’d finished we took a look at the Jewel.
‘It never leaves my side,’ said Boges, carefully handing it to me, along with a magnifying glass. ‘Take a look for yourself.’
Sure enough, what had looked like nothing but tiny scratches before suddenly jumped into focus, and groups of letters began forming words.
Boges held out a piece of paper. ‘Here, I wrote it down.’
‘Awesome,’ I said. ‘Something about celery!’
‘“Amor” means “love”,’ Boges explained, ‘but I’m not sure about the rest. I can ask Madame Rodini at school. I’ll just tell her it’s for a … umm … oh, I’ll come up with something, don’tworry. Your turn; let’s take a look at the Piers Ormond letters.’
‘Paper must have been scarce or something,’ I said as I grabbed the envelope. ‘Check it out; when he finished going one way, he turned the paper around and wrote over the top of what he’d just written.’
Boges pulled out his laptop, and handed the letters back to me. ‘Start reading out loud and I’ll type it up,’ he said. ‘That’ll make it a bit easier . Just focus on following the lines.’
I put aside the first two, which were about travels from Australia to London and Dublin, and began on the third.
‘“Kilfane”,’ said Boges. ‘That’s from the transparency !’
‘Yep,’ I said, ‘it was the first thing that jumped out at me.’
Boges dug through his backpack and brought out a folder with the transparency safely stashed in it. Sure enough there were the two names—G’managh and Kilfane, with the black dot between them. I remembered my kidnappers’ interrogation: Your father gave you a map. Where is it?
Was this a map? Was this what they had been referring to?
‘What do you think that black spot between them means?’ I asked Boges.
‘Another place? Unnamed?’
‘I wonder if Piers went back to the Black Abbey the year after, like he said he would. Maybe he found the last two lines of the Riddle. Maybe he had them!’
‘No, dude,’ replied Boges, shaking his head, ‘Piers Ormond never went back to the Black Abbey. Because before he could, the First World War broke out in 1914.’
Trust Boges to know that. ‘And what was the rumour he was investigating?’ I asked. ‘A rumour that was regarded as fact? Do you think it was something to do with the Ormond Singularity?’
Boges shrugged. ‘I’m more interested in the fact that he believed there was a version of the complete Ormond Riddle in a book in the library at the Black Abbey. Or at least the last two lines.’
‘Let’s just jump on a bus and check out the Black Abbey library ourselves,’ I joked.
Boges ran his hands through his hair. ‘It’s frustrating these places are so far away, but it’s good to know that the Ormond Angel comes to the aid of the heir,’ he said.
‘I haven’t noticed any angelic aid lately.’
‘You’re alive, aren’t you?’ Boges tapped his fingers impatiently over his laptop keyboard. ‘Let’s keep going. Turn the paper.’
‘Awesome! Piers Ormond was on track all right!’ said Boges. ‘He
‘How’s your back fence escape route?’ I asked. ‘You sure it’s safe?’
‘Should be OK. I won’t come if it’s not. No-one’s been out on the street for days. And Zombrovski was the regular house-sitter, but I guess he won’t be coming round any time soon.’ Boges laughed awkwardly. ‘This arvo cool?’
‘Yep. See you when you get here.’
‘Nice look!’ said Boges, in a way that made me unsure whether he was making fun of me or not. My hair was pretty different, and I was wearing a blazer I’d picked up at a thrift store, over jeans and a T-shirt.
‘Something smells good. What’s in the bag?’ I asked, checking out the heavy-duty bag Boges had in tow.
He looked down at his watch. ‘Early dinner?’
We tucked into some kebabs, and in between greedy mouthfuls I gave Boges a more detailed run-down of my trip to Manresa. When we’d finished we took a look at the Jewel.
‘It never leaves my side,’ said Boges, carefully handing it to me, along with a magnifying glass. ‘Take a look for yourself.’
Sure enough, what had looked like nothing but tiny scratches before suddenly jumped into focus, and groups of letters began forming words.
Boges held out a piece of paper. ‘Here, I wrote it down.’
‘Awesome,’ I said. ‘Something about celery!’
‘“Amor” means “love”,’ Boges explained, ‘but I’m not sure about the rest. I can ask Madame Rodini at school. I’ll just tell her it’s for a … umm … oh, I’ll come up with something, don’tworry. Your turn; let’s take a look at the Piers Ormond letters.’
‘Paper must have been scarce or something,’ I said as I grabbed the envelope. ‘Check it out; when he finished going one way, he turned the paper around and wrote over the top of what he’d just written.’
Boges pulled out his laptop, and handed the letters back to me. ‘Start reading out loud and I’ll type it up,’ he said. ‘That’ll make it a bit easier . Just focus on following the lines.’
I put aside the first two, which were about travels from Australia to London and Dublin, and began on the third.
‘“Kilfane”,’ said Boges. ‘That’s from the transparency !’
‘Yep,’ I said, ‘it was the first thing that jumped out at me.’
Boges dug through his backpack and brought out a folder with the transparency safely stashed in it. Sure enough there were the two names—G’managh and Kilfane, with the black dot between them. I remembered my kidnappers’ interrogation: Your father gave you a map. Where is it?
Was this a map? Was this what they had been referring to?
‘What do you think that black spot between them means?’ I asked Boges.
‘Another place? Unnamed?’
‘I wonder if Piers went back to the Black Abbey the year after, like he said he would. Maybe he found the last two lines of the Riddle. Maybe he had them!’
‘No, dude,’ replied Boges, shaking his head, ‘Piers Ormond never went back to the Black Abbey. Because before he could, the First World War broke out in 1914.’
Trust Boges to know that. ‘And what was the rumour he was investigating?’ I asked. ‘A rumour that was regarded as fact? Do you think it was something to do with the Ormond Singularity?’
Boges shrugged. ‘I’m more interested in the fact that he believed there was a version of the complete Ormond Riddle in a book in the library at the Black Abbey. Or at least the last two lines.’
‘Let’s just jump on a bus and check out the Black Abbey library ourselves,’ I joked.
Boges ran his hands through his hair. ‘It’s frustrating these places are so far away, but it’s good to know that the Ormond Angel comes to the aid of the heir,’ he said.
‘I haven’t noticed any angelic aid lately.’
‘You’re alive, aren’t you?’ Boges tapped his fingers impatiently over his laptop keyboard. ‘Let’s keep going. Turn the paper.’
‘Awesome! Piers Ormond was on track all right!’ said Boges. ‘He
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