Doctor Who_ Warchild - Andrew Cartmel [83]
But it was her face that really got to him. There was something faintly familiar about it. Sea-green eyes and a soft mouth. Ricky wanted to see that mouth move, so he started talking.
‘What do you mean by a ruse?’ he said.
‘I couldn’t very well send a message over the PA saying
“Ricky McIlveen, come to the guidance counsellor’s office”.
Your friends might have wanted an explanation of that.’
‘They’re going to want an explanation anyway.
Everybody starts gossiping when you’re called to the principal.’
‘Sure,’ Amy smiled. ‘But even being dragged to the principal’s office doesn’t have quite the stigma of seeing the school guidance counsellor.’
‘You mean because it’s like going to see a shrink?’ said Ricky.
‘Well, it does have some of the same connotations.
Although, of course, we’re not fully trained psychiatrists.’
‘I guess that’s why you don’t have a couch in your office,’
said Ricky and then he blushed because, sitting in this small room so close to Amy Cowan, there suddenly seemed to be a sexual implication to the remark.
But Amy remained relaxed and friendly. ‘What you might call my “shrink” duties, talking to the kids about personal problems and so on, that’s only part of my job. I’m also here to give career advice and help students choose a suitable programme of higher education so they can maximize their natural abilities and talents.’ She suddenly smiled at him, her eyes flashing. ‘Does it sound like I just memorized that this morning?’
‘No,’ said Ricky. ‘Not at all.’
‘Well, I did.’
Amy turned and looked out the window. Her blonde hair swayed back and he could see the silver semi-circle of earring piercing the delicate pink flesh of her ear-lobe.
‘I’m not really a guidance counsellor. I don’t really work at Scopes High School.’ She looked back at Ricky, her expression deadly serious now. ‘I actually work at the Agency with your dad.’
And then Ricky knew why she looked familiar. He’d seen her on that windswept Sunday morning, standing on the field outside the Agency buildings as his dad rose up into the sky in a helicopter. Standing there staring at his mom, and his mom staring back at Amy with the oddest expression on her face. And now he remembered seeing her on other occasions too; in her yellow car, outside the sports centre, looking for his dad.
‘You don’t look too surprised,’ said Amy.
‘I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment.’ Ricky remembered the note that had been slipped onto his lunch tray. The crumpled piece of paper was now jammed into the pocket of his jeans. ‘It would take a lot to surprise me.’
‘That’s good, because I thought I was slipping. Like maybe I should wear a badge saying “undercover agent”.’
Amy was trying to keep the conversation on a light-hearted level but Ricky could see a definite tension in her. He glanced down at the canvas shoulder bag she’d dumped on the floor.
Now that he knew Amy worked for the Agency he knew that there was most likely a gun in it. She certainly couldn’t be concealing one anywhere else.
‘What are you doing here? Is this something my dad set up, for my protection?’
Amy looked relieved. ‘That’s it exactly,’ she said. ‘Creed was called away to England on some kind of emergency.’
‘Some kind of?’ said Ricky. ‘That isn’t too specific.’
‘No, it’s not. The Agency doesn’t actually know much more than that. We received a distress signal from someone called the Doctor. Does that mean anything to you?’
‘No.’
‘You’re sure you never heard your mom and dad talking about someone called the Doctor? Someone they used to know a long time ago, back when they first met in England?’
‘Nope.’
‘Well, don’t worry. That’s a side issue. The main thing is, I’m here to help in case you need anything.’ Amy looked at him and Ricky realized that the interview was over.
Then a thought struck him. ‘Why is the Agency making such a big deal of this? I mean, Dad’s gone away before and they never bothered to give us personal bodyguards or anything.’
Amy looked at him for a moment. It was as if she was trying to decide whether to give