Gold

Gold — page 5 — seven-hundred-year-old building that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and you are doodling And what’s this bit about me in ice Nothing personal I needed a three letter word Don’t you think it’d be neat to visit one of Humphrey Battleford’s mansions and see some of the unique things he’s collected Stolen you mean but yes it would be cool However I doubt that he’ll invite us any time soon Oh I don’t know He seems to like us He even said he enjoys matching wits with us He did set up that Arctic cruise so we would be a part of his scheme And we have outfoxed him so far I say but that doesn’t mean he won’t win if there’s ever a next time He has unlimited money But we have brains Annabel points out with a smile Okay I have 4 John Wilson

Gold — page 6 — most of them but you do help a little bit Thanks very much I say Then I point at the piem At least I’m smart enough to notice that you made a mistake Battleford is one word Poetic license I broke it up into six and four so it would work She looks up Here’s Mom and Dad I can see Annabel’s parents winding their way between tour groups and pairs of scruffy backpackers Even in the crowd they stand out For a start Annabel’s dad Jack is even taller than she is and towers above everyone He’s wearing his usual uniform hiking boots khaki cargo pants and shirt covered in bulging pockets and a wide-brimmed beat-up bush hat His long face is never clean-shaven unruly tufts of red hair stick out from beneath his hat and his piercing blue eyes are continually on the move taking in 5 Gold

Gold — page 7 — every detail of the world and people around him In contrast his wife Pam is at least a foot shorter and is always neatly dressed Her honey-blond hair is stylishly cut and she’s wearing a bright flowery summer dress and carrying a new Italian-leather shoulder bag She sees us smiles waves and heads over Jack gazing at the low sun painting the front of the cathedral a dramatic gold stumbles into a busload of Japanese tourists Hello you two Pam says as she glides between the tables kisses us both on the cheek and sits down She loops her bag over the back of the chair and looks out onto the square Jack is untangling himself from the tourists who keep trying to take selfies with him I don’t know how he ever gets anywhere Pam shakes her head and 6 John Wilson

Gold — page 8 — catches the attention of a waiter As Jack finally stumbles to our table and slumps into a chair Pam orders two coffees and two more colas for Annabel and me Do anything exciting today Jack asks Annabel immediately starts telling him about the buildings and art we’ve seen Jack who teaches history chips in with facts and questions When they begin to discuss which sculptures on the front of the cathedral were done by the fourteenth-century architect Lorenzo Maitani Pam and I look at each other and raise our eyebrows This has happened before So Sam Pam says I think Maitani’s very overrated Don’t you agree No I think he’s easily the best central defender the Italian soccer team’s ever had 7 Gold

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