The Twelve Days of Christmas

Chapter 27

I had no idea how he had found me, but it didn’t seem like the right time to ask him. I just stood there staring at him like he was some sort of aberration. I couldn’t even imagine how much trouble I had gotten myself into. Not even just me, but Dylan, too. Alice, thankfully, hadn’t done anything. We hadn’t even told her how we had left the palace.

“You left the palace unaccompanied. How could you be so reckless? Have you got any idea how much trouble you could have been in? You had me worried sick. I’ve been chasing around half of London, while you’ve been… shopping.” The disdain and anger in his voice took me by surprise. I had expected Ben to be angry with me, disappointed maybe, but not quite to the extent he was.

“I’m sorry Ben. I didn’t think you would even know I was gone. It’s no excuse, I know, but I didn’t think you would be worried about me.”

“Well, I was. Your friends are already in the car. Get your things. It’s time to leave.” There was nothing for me to grab. I hadn’t taken anything out with me when I had left the palace. It was hardly a planned adventure. “Your things!”

“I haven’t got anything.” I couldn’t even look at him. There was something about him being so angry with me that made me feel deeply ashamed. My dad had never been one for shouting and I got the feeling Ben wasn’t either. I knew for him to be so angry that his veins were trying to escape his temple that I had really screwed up.

“The girl said I am not allowed to let you leave without the clothes.”

“She was paying.”

“I know. I have her card and apparently you know her pin.” I had tried to use my lack of purse as an excuse for them not to drag me shopping in the first place, but Alice refused to accept it. She just insisted she would pay and I could send her the money when I was finished with the competition. I started nervously gathering up everything I was supposed to be buying. The last thing I wanted was for Alice to be mad at me, too.

I could feel him staring down at me as we stood at the till. The woman scanning everything looked scared stiff, and I wondered if it was her I had heard him shouting at. She was constantly glancing at him over the top of my head. The whole shop was empty except for the other two staff members huddled nearby and I had a feeling that was Ben related too.

He seemed to have a way of clearing rooms easily. Even the fact that Alice had gone willingly with him to the car proved just how scary he could be. I was certain she must have gone easily. It had all happened too fast for her to have put up a fight. Which surprised me, because Alice had no idea who Ben was and she was fiercely protective.

As the woman passed the three large paper bags towards us across the counter, Ben scooped them up one handed. I might have been in trouble, but he was still a gentleman. I wasn’t sure anything could suppress that natural instinct in him. Then, out of nowhere, he smiled, a genuinely warm smile. “Thank you for your help. I am very sorry for the trouble. Have a nice day.” I just looked up at him gobsmacked until he nudged me forward again.

As we walked out the doors, a thought struck me. “Ben, how is Agnes? You didn’t leave her poorly to come looking for me, did you?”

“She is feeling much better. It was her who realised you were missing. She had come down to your room with hot chocolate and some of the gingerbread you made.”

I stopped dead. “Are you trying to make me feel as guilty as possible?”

“Pretty much, and you deserve it. Now, in the car, miss.”

“Oh, great, we are back to the miss thing again. I’ve said I’m sorry, Ben.” He didn’t wait for me to comply and get in the car. Instead, he put the bags in the boot and walked around to the driver’s side. Realising he had come on his own, I got in the passenger seat. Turning to face the other two, who looked like naughty school children themselves. “I’m sorry, Alice. I should have told you what we had done.”

“It’s fine, but he said I can’t go back to the shop.”

“What? Why?” I turned to Ben for an explanation.

“Seatbelt, please, miss.”

“Not until you explain.”

He wasn’t messing around, and the anger was back again. “Your stupid stunt has so far gone unnoticed. If anyone knew what you had done, then you would be getting arrested, all three of you. You are lucky that I saw Jimmy coming back up scoffing on cakes. He asked me straight away if the king really knew about the pair of you. I had to lie for you. Then I risked being locked up myself by getting a buddy of mine to track your phone. I’m risking my job every second we are out of the palace.”

I put my seatbelt on. I knew I was in enough trouble already. Ben was right about everything he had said. He was skilled at making people realise their own guilt. He would have made an outstanding detective. Every criminal would be confessing and apologising within minutes. “Surely Alice coming back will be more of a giveaway that something has happened.”

“Alex has told everyone that you are under the weather. He has gotten the king to agree to let you have Alice at the palace with you until you feel better. They all think I am out now picking her up and that you are in bed poorly. All so I could come and look for you without anyone knowing what you had done.”

“I’m meant to be spending Christmas with my mum. She will be worried.” Alice sounded like she was on the edge of tears. “I don’t even have clothes.”

“Well, after the shopping trip there are plenty. If you get me a list of what you need, I will get someone to get them for you. You can call your mother from the palace.” It seemed like the decisions were made and there was little I could do to stop them.

Dylan was uncharacteristically quiet. So much so that I had almost forgotten that he was sitting behind me. Even Alice seemed to have stopped even attempting to argue with Ben and had accepted her fate. “How does Alex know?” It wasn’t like Ben would willingly go to him for help.

“When I found out you were missing, I assumed you were with him. You have a habit of sneaking off with that boy. I went to his room and wasn’t overly calm when I got there. He was the one who sent me to the bakery, said that you had been missing your friend and that would be the first place he would look for you.” I wondered what it even meant. Would he be waiting for me when I got back? Then I mentally told myself off because I was hoping he would be. That he had been worried about me. The idea was to have forgotten about him.