"What did he say?" Anna asked eagerly when she drove off again in the direction Seton pointed out to her. He made her drive a roundabout route. She had only heard what Seton had said.

"Not much. He asked who I was."

"And you didn't tell him. And you are going to be called tonight."

"Yes, I'll drive a bit and then receive the call."

"Do I have to come with you again?"

"If you want to," said Seton, who rather enjoyed her company.

"I'll think about it." She fiddled a bit with the radio and the heating in the car. "Is that a traffic jam?" she asked when the cars in front of them slowed down.

"Have you ever been in a traffic jam?" Seton asked.

Anna rolled her eyes. "I'm not from Mars."

"But from somewhere close to it."

She tried to find traffic information on the radio and after ten minutes she finally got what she wanted. "On the A4, 5km between exits 11 and 12 due to police controls --"

"Police controls?" Anna shrieked and slammed on the brakes.

"Calm down!" Seton cried as he anxiously peered in the rear view mirror. Fortunately there had been no car directly behind them. It would have collided with them.

"What are we going to do?" she asked in a panic. "One look at my driver's license and they'll see it's made out to Anna Juliette Maryse Maria --"

"Switch places," Seton cut her short. His own driver's license would not draw as much attention as hers.

"How? Do tell! We are in a moving vehicle in case you hadn't noticed and we can't stop or we'll have two hundred angry drivers pounding on us!"

"We'll soon stop moving," Seton predicted. "When we do, I get out of the car and you climb into my seat and we change places. Simple."

"How? Will we have enough time?"

"Anna, just do as I say, please, and don't drive into any cars." He patted her leg comfortingly. "Now," he said when the car came to a halt after they had been driving and stopping for a while. He got out of the car and they exchanged places. "Everybody will just think you're one of those women who can't drive," he said reassuringly, helping her to vacate the driver's seat. He felt in his pocket and took out his gun. "Here. I'd be much obliged if you could put this under your seat. I'd put it under mine if I didn't know there was a chance of it sliding out and I can't kick it back if I have my feet on the pedals."

Anna accepted the gun with a distasteful expression. "Can it go off?" she asked as she carefully placed it under her seat.

"No, it can't. You'd better put your identification papers there as well. We're done for if they find either, so we should limit the chances of them finding them."

"Won't they recognise your name?"

"I have some false identities."

"But your photo?"

Seton shrugged. "If they know what I look like despite my precautions, they'll arrest me and you can go home."

Anna looked out of the window. She did not want that to happen. I must be levelheaded and see that we get through the control without trouble. But she was very nervous and her palms were so sweaty that she had to wipe them on her trousers. Seton seemed very calm but his knuckles on the wheel were white. Slowly they moved forward in the queue and their turn came. Seton rolled down his window and the cold air streamed in. He had calculated that their chances were slim should they be forced to make a quick getaway, but even if their chances were slim, they would have to risk it. He had seen that all drivers had to show their papers. His spare set would not pose a problem. The car officially belonged to a cousin of Anna's, who had more cars than he could keep track of. It would be easy to come up with some excuse about having borrowed a friend's car. As long as nobody wanted to search the car, they were all right. Perhaps he should have told Anna to leave her documents at home.

"Your papers, sir," said the police officer.

Seton handed him his papers and breathed a sigh of relief when he received them back. Just when he thought they were safe, the other officer knocked on Anna's window and gestured that she should roll it down. "May I see your papers, Madam?"

"I don't have them with me," she said a little anxiously. She tried to look away but he bent down and stared her full in the face.

Seton sensed trouble and prepared himself for a fast getaway. He had kept his hand on the gear lever very casually. This did not bode well. He could see that the officer thought he recognised Anna but that he was not certain of it yet.

"You do not have any identification?"

Anna shook her head and looked away from his eyes. She was terrified, having seen the recognition in his eyes. In fact, she recognised him too now -- his name. Marchal -- the president of the royal family's fan club was called Marchal. This must be his son. The discovery he had just made, stunned the policeman so that he temporarily did not know what to do. When a glow of excitement began to appear on his face and when he opened his eyes to tell his colleague, Anna's hand moved quickly. She placed her left hand over Seton's and pushed the gear lever into first gear. Apparently he had had his foot ready on the clutch pedal, because she could push it all the way. He also reacted very quickly by immediately pressing down the accelerator and the car sped forward.

Anna's heart raced as fast as the car. She glanced in the mirror and saw they rapidly left the control post behind them. She could barely see the policemen anymore, but they seemed to have been stunned into inaction at first. Now they seemed to be radioing, but they had not yet set off in pursuit. "He recognised me," she said raggedly.

"I know," Seton replied, his eyes fixed on the road ahead and the cars he was overtaking. Sometimes the situation required him to overtake on the right and several angry drivers honked their horns as the car zigzagged its way across the motorway.

When Anna tore her eyes away from the mirror, she screamed when they narrowly missed a truck. She did not have the stomach for racing and she quickly closed her eyes so she would not have to see how many centimetres separated them from colliding with other vehicles. "He was a royalty fan."

Seton did not answer as he took the first possible exit. Undoubtedly all exits would be closed off as soon as possible. He kept his speed down to normal on the B-road they were on next, so they would not attract any attention.

Anna still had her eyes closed but she had felt the car slow down. "Why are we slowing down?" she asked in fear.

"We're off the motorway."

"Are we being followed?"

"Not that I know of, but we've got to lose the car very quickly."

"Where do we go?"

Her ragged breathing had already told him that she was scared to death and her posture only confirmed that. Seton knew that his driving had only made it worse. It was not the way he usually drove and he was not so calm himself either. Where would the authorities think they would go? Before they mobilised all forces to look out for the car, he had better get rid of it. He turned into the parking lot of a roadside restaurant. The parking lot was large and crowded. There was a big chance that the car would not be discovered any time soon if he parked it as far out of sight as possible.

Now they came to the most difficult part. He got out of the car and helped Anna out. With that wild and wide-eyed look he could not take her anywhere public. He retrieved his gun and other useful things from the car and led her along a path that seemed to lead into a wood. The other option was to walk along the B-road, but that did not seem such a good idea.

Slowly he felt himself relax a bit and lose some of the adrenaline that had built up in his body. When they were a good way into the wood, he paused and consulted the map he had taken from the car. "We should call the lads to pick us up," he said as cheerfully as he could. Anna did not seem to have heard him. Her eyes were red and watery and she stared into space. "Anna?"

"I'm sorry." Her lip trembled. "It was my fault. I should have kept my head down. I should have bluffed my way out of it. I shouldn't have forced you to take off. Now we are fugitive criminals."

"Anna…don't…"

She cried and he put his arms around her to comfort her. "It's not your fault."

"I should have --"

"You did exactly what you should have done. It was just bad luck that we came across a royalist."

"I made you a criminal," she said haltingly. "The kidnapping could be explained differently, but you can't make anything good out of ignoring the police."

"Anna, shut up. I'm not a criminal and you did not make me do anything bad."

"But they'll say you abducted me. They'll come after us and arrest you."

"They won't catch us."

"They might even shoot you because they think you're dangerous. They might even have shot you just now," Anna looked horrified. "And it's all because of me. Get rid of me. I don't want you to be in danger just because you are with me. I'll go on alone. I'll go home so you can disappear and save yourself. I'm not worth risking your life for." She backed off and shook her head. "Go," she cried desperately. "I'll be alright. They won't do anything to me. Go!"

Seton did not move.

"Go!" she cried again. "If you don't go, I'll go."

"I'm staying with you," he said quietly.

"No! You can't. They'll say you forced me. That it was against my wishes to go with you."

"You said you felt less scared with me."

"I do! But I can't handle the guilt. I'd never forgive myself if they got you." Anna rubbed her eyes.

"And I'd never forgive myself if I did not extract you from this mess. And you're the only one who can extract me from it. Apart from that selfish reason, I really don't think it's a good idea for you to go home."

"I just want it all to end," she sobbed softly.

"It won't end if you go home. It will be out of sight, but it won't be gone. I'll make it end. Just hang on." Seton linked his arm through hers and started walking. They could not keep standing there forever. They were on the run. "You're very brave. I was impressed by how fast you reacted back in the car. We wouldn't be free if you hadn't reacted so quickly. We're free -- chased, but free. Say: you're right, John."

"You're right, John," Anna echoed in a quavering voice. "You sound so calm. How can you be so calm?"

"Calm?" he forced a laugh and zipped opened his coat. "I'm far from being calm. Here, feel it." He placed her hand on his heart.

"Are you sure it's on this side?" Anna said a little shakily. She could not feel anything.

"Quite sure." He zipped his coat back up. "Could you phone your house to tell the guys? I don't know the number and their phones are off."

"Would that be wise?" Anna asked.

He winced. "You're right. Well…that means we have to walk."

"Walk?" she asked in shock.

"To a bus stop or a station."

"And then? If they find the abandoned car, won't they know we've moved on by public transport? They'll be looking out for us," Anna said dejectedly.

"We're smarter than they are."

"Are we?"

"Yes," he said confidently. "We are together. Of course we are smarter."

"A police officer saw the Queen," the Commissioner reported excitedly. "She was in a car with a man who raced off as soon as the officer recognised the Queen."

"Was it really her?" Thalen asked. It seemed a bit improbable that one of the kidnappers would actually take the Queen on car trips.

"He's positive. Apparently he's very much into royalty. He and his colleague set off in pursuit of the car, but they lost it. All patrol cars in the area have been mobilised, but they haven't discovered the car yet."

"Who was the man?"

"According to his papers his name was Frey and he was in his thirties."

"Frey?" Thalen repeated. He did not know any Frey. It was either a false name or there were more people involved than the four he knew about. "Was she with him voluntarily? What was the officers' impression?"

"They at first assumed it was an ordinary couple. Frey did not appear nervous and he gave his papers without hesitation. She was just sitting beside him and she did not attract any attention until Marchal saw she looked like the Queen. He had her roll down her window -- to which Frey did not object -- and asked for her papers, just to be certain, but she said she did not have them with her --"

"She spoke? Herself? Not Frey?"

"No, he never said a word. Marchal said she seemed nervous and she did not look at him much. Just when he was about to tell his colleague, Frey raced off. They were a bit surprised so it took a while before they had recollected themselves and start the chase, but by then they could no longer catch up. They did not get all of the license plate either. They did not suspect anything, because they had appeared an ordinary couple. She was probably being threatened in some way, but there is no telling how. Not a visible way, at any rate. One would have expected her to signal something to the police, but according to Marchal she was afraid to be recognised. I don't know what you want to do next, Thalen, but I have put all forces on the case. They will all be looking out for the fugitive car. The press have not been notified yet."

"Good. I don't think they should be notified at all." Thalen was puzzled. It sounded as if the Queen was voluntarily staying away, but that could not be. Queens did not do that. It was more likely that Seton and co had some hold over her.

A few minutes later, he called the Prime Minister to relate the story, but the Prime Minister had some news of his own to relate. "Your men called me."

"When?"

"Nearly three hours ago."

"And you did not inform me?"

"I was going to," said the PM. He had had to consult his advisors first. "What news have you got?"

"They have been seen. With the Queen. On the A4. They got away."

"They got away?" the PM exclaimed angrily. "When was this?"

"Almost two hours ago. The Queen was with a man in a car."

"Why did they get away?"

"The car was stopped at a roadblock and a policeman recognised the Queen. Unfortunately the man noticed and he got away."

"That strikes me as very odd, Thalen," the PM remarked. "Was the man one of your men? I thought their names had been spread. Were those policemen sleeping?"

"He had a different name."

"Listen. This cannot leak out. It will be against our purposes. Think of the public opinion. They cannot hear of this clumsiness. I shall have a word with the commissioner about this and emphasise that this had better not happen in the future. What is happening with your other Units? Have they come any closer to finding the hideout?"

"They will check out another house tonight, sir."

The PM was still reflecting on the case. "The Queen shall not return until we resign, they say, and we shall not resign even if this means we shall become a republic, but we shall have to consider very carefully what we should do next. I shall order for more roadblocks to be erected now that they have shown that they are in possession of a car. I want that car traced, by the way."

Not long after he had spoken to Thalen, the Commissioner was notified by Anna's Swiss bank that another substantial sum had been withdrawn. He checked the location and the time. It was a machine at a petrol station directly on the A4 and it had not been long before they had come to the control post. He immediately sent two men to retrieve the video.

He still had the other video to watch. It had been ignored in all the commotion, but now he took it to the video room to watch it. He forwarded the tape until the time when the money had been withdrawn and leant forward when he saw two shadows enter the range of vision. One, a man, was not recognisable with his collar pulled up high. He was only visible for a moment until he moved out of sight and only his legs could be seen. The other was a woman in a long dark coat over a skirt and she was the one who operated the machine, while the man kept standing in the same place just outside the camera's range. It was not possible to see whether he was pointing a gun at her. Sometimes the woman turned her head to him and spoke. It took her extremely long to withdraw money and she seemed to become increasingly irritated with the machine. The Commissioner frowned as he observed that she seemed triumphant when she finally extracted the money. It was odd. She did not act like a woman who was being threatened by a kidnapper, even though her resemblance to the Queen had been great. There was another brief glimpse of the man as they walked away, but the shot was very unclear. He certainly did not seem to be forcing her to do anything.

Chapter 12

The Commissioner ordered the tapes to be checked against one another. Perhaps it was possible to determine whether the woman withdrawing money was the same as one of the two in the kidnapping tapes. However, that did not necessarily mean she was the Queen. He tapped his fingers and contacted the bank again, demanding a list of her last ten cash withdrawals, so he could have the video images of those compared as well, if necessary.

After that, he was contacted by the Prime Minister, who told him he wanted more roadblocks because the kidnappers had shown themselves to be mobile. Apart from not having the manpower to monitor all roads, the Commissioner was not very much in favour of the idea for another reason. In his experience, people who had almost been caught one way, would try another way next time and they would not make the same mistake again. It would be highly improbable if they were to go out on the motorway again. "Would they not be wiser than to venture out on the roads again?" he asked.

"They are obviously still in the country, which means they cannot escape us. The country is not as large as that. If they continue to take the Queen with them, they will be caught sooner or later."

"That is exactly what I asked," the Commissioner said patiently. "Will they continue to do that? Won't they have learnt their lesson?"

He had spoken to Marchal and Schmidt, the two officers in question, at length and he had only become more puzzled, especially since Schmidt had not seen anything suspicious about the woman accompanying Frey. Frey had not seemed to be forcing her, in fact, Schmidt had thought she was Mrs. Frey. Admittedly, he had not got a good look at her face, so he could only trust that Marchal had seen it correctly. What was odd about the whole thing was that Schmidt swore it had been the woman who had made the first move towards driving away. The Commissioner did not know how to interpret that. Driving off signified a guilty conscience, but how could the Queen have a guilty conscience? He found it very hard to imagine that an abducted woman would urge her kidnapper to drive away from the police.

Seton got an idea when he was waiting for a train with Anna. They still had a little time to make a phone call. He took Anna to a phone booth and started dialing. "There is someone I need to call."

"Who?" she asked.

"Her name is Nathalie."

"Nathalie?" Anna repeated. She did not like that one bit. Nathalie. Who is Nathalie? His girlfriend? I thought Raine had said they didn't have -- oh, but that was about wives and not about girlfriends.

"She's a journalist."

But what else? Anna wondered. And why should I be surprised that he has a girlfriend? He's very attractive -- of course he would be taken by now. She wished she was not so close to Seton while he spoke to his girlfriend, though, but the smallness of the phone booth made that inevitable. She tried to get out, but he held her back. I don't want to hear! she tried to signal with her eyes, but he frowned in incomprehension.

"Nathalie? It's Pierre."

Pierre? PIERRE? Anna stared at him in amazement. His name is PIERRE? Not John?

"I need a favour, Nathalie. Ask the authorities -- read government -- some critical questions regarding the kidnapping."

Such as?

"Such as how does the PM think he's going to get the Queen back if he doesn't even do what she asks?"

Do you mean the thing about the fake Queen asking him to resign?

"That was the real Queen. The first one was a fake."

Who was the first one? And who made that tape?

"Good question."

Anna could only hear half of the conversation and she wanted to know what was a good question. Maybe this was not Seton's girlfriend after all, but you never knew. He seemed quite capable of greeting even a girlfriend so lovelessly when there was business on the horizon.

"Don't ask how I know. Just believe me. Grill the authorities -- the higher authorities. I doubt that the lower ranks know any more than you or I."

Pierre, what kind of conspiracy theory is this?

Seton told her what had happened that day, without mentioning his own involvement. "It's a true story. I'm telling you this in case it doesn't make the news."

Why shouldn't it?

"They can't explain what she was doing there, can they? Not if she is supposed to be kidnapped. That's all I can tell you, Nat. I'm sure you have enough to dig into now. I'll talk to you later."

Wait! Pierre! Pierre?

Bloody Pierre, Nathalie said to herself crabbily. She had already become crabby because of the lack of information from the government and she was sick of travelling between the various buildings in the hopes of hearing anything and whatever the journalists were told, was unsatisfactory. And now Pierre was being his usual mysterious self by feeding a her an interesting bit that was almost too tiny to work on.

So a car had broken through a control post on the A4 and the Queen had been in it. The police had set off in pursuit, presumably, which meant that there must have been a chaos afterwards. She looked up the number for the traffic police and inquired after the control post between exits 11 and 12.

"It was removed this afternoon."

"Can you tell me why?"

"I can't disclose that, madam."

"Why not?"

"It's classified."

"Has it got anything to do with a chase across the A4?" Nathalie asked.

There was a brief silence at the other end. "I don't know anything about a chase on the A4. Was that all, madam?"

So there had been a chase across the A4. She was sharp enough to be able to distinguish secrecy from ignorance. Pierre had been speaking the truth. Something had indeed happened on the A4 and it was important enough to cover it up. Perhaps Pierre worked for the traffic police if he knew such things, but then she had guessed at the exact nature of Pierre's job more than once and she had never come up with anything that satisfied her and that fit with the tidbits of news that he fed her.

She thought of the news. The authorities would indeed not be very happy to have let the kidnappers slip through their fingers. It would be a major blunder, in fact; something they would be happy to cover up. It was odd, though, that the Queen had been in the car with only one man, as Pierre had said. Only one man? Surely a strong woman could prove to be a very difficult hostage for a single man, or is the Queen such a ninny that she would be scared to death already if someone said booh to her? And why don't they keep her locked up in some attic somewhere? Are those kidnappers crazy?

Anna had wanted to know why Seton called himself Pierre and who Nathalie was, but she did not know if he had spoken the truth when he had said Pierre was just a name he used sometimes and that Nathalie was a journalist. He did not seem to want to say more than that.

Several hours and bus trips later, she and Seton arrived back at the house. She was exhausted and could only sink into a chair. Seton was almost as exhausted as she was. They had walked a lot and his arm hurt from holding the umbrella all the time. Both their faces told the others that all was not well.

"What happened?"

"We were stopped at a traffic control," Seton explained. "Has there been anything on the news about it?"

"No, we've been watching it all the time because you took so long. What happened?"

"They recognised Anna and we drove like a bat out of hell. I left the car somewhere. I'm glad we took that car and not ours."

Hegge looked at Anna in concern.

"Leave her," Seton mouthed. He beckoned the rest to come and sit at the table so they could talk things over. He spoke softly so Anna would not hear. "Anna feels guilty for putting our lives in danger and I don't feel right about having taken her with me." He paused when Anna came to their side of the room to rummage in the fridge.

"Do you need help?" Raine asked, but she shook her head.

"That's what the situation is, basically," Seton continued. "They now know that we can move more or less freely. I don't know whether they know she was not under any pressure from me. It would make a difference and that is why I had hoped it had been on the news. It might have told us something about how they perceive the situation. Now it's only guesswork. I have to go out at nine again to call the Prime Minister, by the way. He'll tell me whether he's going to resign. Probably not."

"No," said Anna. "You can't go." She bit in a sandwich. They had not stopped to eat along the way. Neither of them had felt any hunger due to the anxiety, but now that she was back home and she felt more relaxed, she suddenly felt very hungry.

"Why not?" Seton asked.

"They know what you look like now." Anna feared they would have spread his picture or a drawing and that he would be caught right away.

"That's right," said Raine. "Let one of us go."

Seton was surprised when she left the room and he heard her go upstairs. Alone. Alone?

He did not know that she carried the knife that she had used to make her sandwich with and neither did he see how cautiously she moved. Anna was determined to be a little braver. She could not keep relying on a man who had some Nathalie on a string, and perhaps even more useful connections here and there. She checked all the rooms herself, nearly without breathing and then she lay down on her bed.

After three hours -- it was a quarter past six, she noticed -- Gris came to see her. "Dinner is ready," he told her. Anna got out of bed and followed him downstairs. Seton was pouring the water off the pasta while she waited to wash her hands.

"I was surprised to hear you go," he looked at her carefully with his blue-green eyes.

"I took a knife," she confessed and showed him the knife.

Seton grinned. "I'm impressed nonetheless. And tonight?" he asked quietly. "Will you take a knife tonight?"

Anna washed her hands thoughtfully before answering. She gave him a quick look. If he had a Nathalie, it would throw an entirely different light on the situation -- not a very nice light, either -- and she did not want anything to do with him then.

Seton saw something was bothering her, but he could not think what it was.

"I won't be scared tonight," she said.

"It would be very presumptuous of me to think anything, but --"

"It's indeed very presumptuous of you." Anna did not look how that comment fell with him.

"So, Anna," said Hegge when they were all eating dinner. "It's not clear to me yet whether you were driving or Seton. You were driving when you left here, but I can't really imagine you doing the Formula One thing."

"He was. I'm glad I wasn't. They would have caught us easily if I had been driving. I was sure he was going to get us killed. It would have been a lot less nerve wrecking if we had been arrested. I'm not going anywhere anymore."

"You can stay here," Seton said.

"And you won't be alone, because we've grounded him for the time being," Hegge remarked.

"If you are staying too, you should know that I want to know your real name once and for all. I don't want to hear you use a different name with just about everybody you know or that 'well, if he calls me John then I suppose it's my name' stuff," Anna declared.

"But it's his name," Hegge said in wonder. "Part of it."

"What do you want, Anna?" Seton asked, slightly exasperated. "Here, look through my wallet if it makes you happy."

"What does that tell me? You have fake papers."

"Yes, but you may see both my genuine and my false ones."

Anna studied the contents of both his wallets. "I'm not convinced. None of these blokes are called Pierre. How can you remember who you are if you keep using different names?"

"That's very odd coming from someone who has cards in three different surnames herself," he replied sharply. "Anna something, Anna de something else and Anna von again something else."

"Have you been looking through my wallet?" Anna cried.

"Yes, I have," Seton said calmly. "I needed some of your money and I took the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I wondered what name would be on your bank cards."

"My name happens to be rather long and it doesn't fit onto the cards in its entirety. And what about Pierre?" she asked defiantly.

"Ahh…finally the truth comes out. Was it Pierre who was bugging you?"

"Who is Pierre?" Raine asked.

"He's Pierre," Anna said accusingly.

"He's Pierre?"

"I'm Pierre," Seton nodded. "To some people."

"As long as he's not Pierre to his mother, you needn't worry, Anna," said Hegge.

"Here I am in this phone booth, with a man I thought was called Seton and suddenly his name is Pierre. I mean, that's enough of a reason to want out of the phone booth as it is, and then to top it, he is calling his girlfriend and I'm forced to listen to what he's saying to her," Anna shuddered.

"And what was he saying to her?" Hegge asked in amusement. He was absolutely certain that Seton had no girlfriend.

"That was the worst bit! He spoke in his duty mode to her. Very loveless."

Seton groaned and uttered something. "I think a collective duh is required here. Maybe several duhs. Duh, duh, duh!"

"Duh? What is duh?" Anna asked.

"It stands for 'was it the heavy crown or all that inbreeding that affected your brains? Save me from moronic royalty, please!'"

Anna glared at him and stormed out of the room.

"What is stuff about a girlfriend?" Gris asked. It seemed a clear case of jealousy to him. "Who did you call and which name did you use?"

"Nathalie."

"Nathalie?"

"Nathalie is just a friend and not one of my aliases. She's a journalist and not really a friend. I don't invite her to my birthday parties," Seton frowned as he realised that his birthday was coming up very soon, not that he would pay any special attention to it.

"I think Anna would prefer it if you let her out of the phone booth next time," Hegge said. "Or maybe you should not call this Nathalie at all." He winked at Gris.

"She's angry now, because you called her an inbred moron," Gris nodded.

"Oi," Hegge winced. "Angry women are but rarely afraid. There won't be any escorting tonight, I fear. Especially not if she's taking that knife again. That is too bad, because you really needed to read How to Seduce a Man in 6 Steps again. You're not only reversing the sexes, but you're also reversing the order. You're going from step six to step one."

"It sounds as if you've got that article memorised, Hegge," Seton remarked. "But you're overlooking one thing."

"And that is?"

"There is male, female and royalty."

"What do you think of this proposition?" the Prime Minister asked to his assembled comrades. "We offer them to go scot-free if they'll return the Queen to us."

"That might be dangerous to us," Thalen remarked.

"To you, Thalen, not to me. Your men's orders came from you and not from me." He overlooked the fact that Thalen could link it to him. "If they return the Queen to us, we can carry out the rest of our plans. They are now convinced that we are after them and they'll do anything to save their skins," he said confidently.

"Prime Minister, I am not so sure. Seton is a difficult character."

"Still, I'm convinced that if we threaten him with charges of insubordination and kidnapping, he will do what we say. If he delivers the Queen, we shall drop the charges. We need to get her back to save face. The man has got to comply. He cannot keep running forever and he is reckless, considering that we almost caught him once. Reckless people will get caught sooner or later." He paused to let this truth sink in. "What is the public opinion at the moment?" he asked of one of the other men present.

"The public are not as much behind you as we had expected, sir. That is to say, the national public opinion is not unequivocally in your favour. It is a different story when it comes to the foreigners. They generally praise your firm stand abroad. However, there is growing sympathy for Her Majesty."

"Is it Leonard's doing?" Leonard was the leader of the opposition.

"Leonard has been working on women especially. His opinion is that the government's image is of lesser importance than a human life. He has been talking a load of nonsense about how awful Her Majesty must be feeling, locked up in a cold, stone cellar with only water and bread for food --"

"While in reality she is being taken on BMW test drives on the A4," somebody else remarked dryly.

"Exactly! He is misinforming the public."

"What on earth was she doing on the A4?"

"We don't know," said the PM. "But Mr. Koster, I don't think it was for a BMW test drive."

In another country, a president was informed about the situation. "Queen Anna? Which country was that again? What does she look like? Do I know her?" Once he was up to date, however, he judged the situation serious enough to interfere. "They can't have decent intelligence services and this is a potential time-bomb situation. What if she has been kidnapped by one of our enemies? We can't have her country get into a scrape, because they are in NATO and that will affect us, do you see what I mean? Send in some men."

Seton went in search of Anna and found her sitting on the stairs, which meant that she had probably heard everything they had said, for the door had been open. He sat down beside her and thought of what he should say. He should apologise to her for calling her moronic and inbred, but surely Anna would know that he could never have meant that? Anna would know he had a much higher opinion of her than that. But he had really felt compelled to say it; how on earth could she have thought he had been speaking to a girlfriend? And why should that bother her at all? Considering that the door had been open, she would have heard by now that Nathalie was just a friend and Seton was extremely glad that Hegge had not alluded too much to the fact that Anna was potentially more. "I'm sorry," he said. "I apologise."

Anna's anger was always short-lived and by the time he had come, she had already lost most of it, so she had been able to regard him in a composed state of mind. If he had called her stupid, then she probably had been stupid. Period. Anna did not see the point of dwelling on the fact or the insult.

The longer Seton had gone without speaking, the more amused she had become, because she knew she could out-silence everyone, even professional listeners such as psychologists, and when he finally apologised, she could only giggle, because he had lost the game.

Seton gave her a puzzled glance in the dark and went upstairs. He did not understand the giggle.

Anna shrugged and rejoined the others, who looked at her cautiously. She smiled to show them she was harmless and sat down with them. The sports news was on, but she liked sports. Not this particular sport they were covering now, but there would be others after it.

"You're not upset?" Hegge asked. He had had his feet on the low table, but he had swung them off as soon as she sat down.

"No. Why?" Anna swung her own feet onto the table to show them that she did not require them to sit with straight backs and parallel feet.

"Why? Because of what Seton said to you." Hegge opened his eyes wide and promptly resumed his former position.

"No." She shook her head politely at Raine, who offered her a bottle of beer. Beer was alright, but not from the bottle. She preferred a glass, but if she asked for a glass, they would feel compelled to drink it from a glass as well, perhaps.

"Did he apologise?"

"Yes. I don't understand him," Anna said quietly.

"The poor boy is in a fix," said Hegge. "He is driving himself crazy."

"Aren't we all doing that?" Anna asked philosophically. She was driving herself crazy at times too. "Fate is driving me in a direction that will end in pain." She shook her head at the bag of Bolognese crisps that was held out to her and tried to grab a roll of fat from around her waist to indicate that she could not possibly indulge in crisps. Unfortunately, there was not much to grab and her attempt was heartily laughed at. Still she refused, because dinner had not been very long ago.

"Oh gosh," said Hegge. "You call it Fate?"

Anna looked at him. "What do you call it then? God?"

"No, I call it chemistry."

"Chemistry?" she frowned, thinking far too deep about difficult theories on molecules being propelled forwards.

"Human relationships," Gris supplied.

"Human relationships?" Anna said in alarm. He might indeed be right about that, but it was a bit unnerving that they should have noticed anything.

"Fate is inevitable, but relationships can be controlled."

"I'm not sure," Anna squeaked. "Can we change the subject?"

"Why?" Hegge asked in disappointment. "I just love philosophical discussions."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Anna.

"We don't know what you're talking about either. A direction that will end in pain. Pain? What pain? If you can foresee that there might possibly be pain, then it's up to you to do something about it. That's why humans have a will."

Seton returned while Anna was thinking of an answer. He saw they were drinking beer, so he got himself a glass and sat down across from her, wondering what they were discussing. It sounded serious.

"You don't know what you're talking about," said Anna to Hegge. "It's not that simple." He would not know anything about the hopelessness of liking unsuitable marriage partners and the like.

"Alright. Tell me what kind of pain you're foreseeing and I'll offer a solution."

"It's not that simple. Besides, it's not really pain. You can't solve it."

"That's fatalistic."

Anna shrugged. "I have no will of my own."

"Eeek, Anna!" Hegge exclaimed. "People have wills of their own. Don't tell me we're being controlled by some vague power."

"People have wills, yes, but am I people? Have I got any say whatsoever in what is happening to me now?"

"Yes," said Seton. He wondered what sort of pain Anna thought she was going to suffer, if she was the one who was going to suffer it. Perhaps it concerned someone else. "Maybe not at first, but you took over."

"I took over?" Anna asked. "You took over."

"That is essentially the same thing, since we always have your wellbeing in mind when we take a decision."

"We have your wellbeing in mind, as you hear, and we don't foresee any pain," Hegge said quickly. "Well, Seton does -- he fears he may not survive, but he has a heart condition. After all, he is thirty-four. It was about time that it should start to show signs of permanent damage. We all have the minor troubles, but there always comes a time when the real blow is delivered that weakens the heart."

Gris and Raine choked on their beers and Seton too, but for a different reason.

"Oh," said Anna, visibly impressed, in a concerned voice. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are you sure you should be doing this kind of work with a heart condition? Racing across the motorway with 180 km/h? Is that why I couldn't feel it beating?"

Seton coughed when he saw the three other men prick up their ears at the last sentence. If they knew already, even before he had known, then why not allude to the fact? "Yes. I don't have a heart anymore."

"You have a pacemaker?" Anna wondered and there were snorts all around.

"No, I just lost it." Seton took another sip of his beer and grinned at her. It was not too overt a statement to place him in any danger and yet it released enough of his tension.

Anna looked puzzled.

"I must leave," Hegge interrupted. "At this point, bummer! A last word of advice from Dr. Hegge: those who experience pain -- physical, mental or amorous -- should quit their jobs, and I should know, because I studied for it."

"Are you rehearsing for your phone call?" Seton asked. "Are you going to tell him to quit his job in the same words?"

"Good idea," Hegge answered thoughtfully. "And if he doesn't have pain yet, I could tell him that I have some friends who could help him with that. But I should go now. Till later."

Nathalie had studied the map and she had seen that exit 11 was only half an hour away. She got into the car and drove onto the A4, not sure what she would do when she got there. There was no more sign of any roadblock after exit 11 and since Pierre had said that the car had left the A4 by exit 12, she left it there too.

Common sense led her to believe that the car would have taken a turn left at the crossroads, because the right road led straight to a town. She was in no hurry and she parked her car at a snackbar directly opposite the motorway exit. Perhaps they had seen something there.

"Did you see some kind of chase here today?" she asked the boy behind the counter, with her coffee in her hand. She chose to stand rather than to sit on the dirty plastic garden furniture that had mayonnaise and coke stains on it.

"There were lots of police cars going by. Some had their sirens on."

"Where did they all go to?"

"Most went that way," he pointed away from the town. "But later on some went back to town."

"Were they chasing a car?" Nathalie asked.

"I didn't see it if they were."

After finishing her coffee, Nathalie drove on, seeing a restaurant to her left. On a whim, she decided to check out the parking lot where Pierre had said the car would have been left. It was large enough to hide a car, but it was relatively empty now in the lull between lunch and dinner and it would soon fill. She did not expect to find the Queen bound and gagged in some car boot, but would it not be great if she did? She parked the car and studied the parking lot. At the far end -- a place she would personally pick to park a car she did not want to be found -- there was indeed a car, as Pierre had said. Considering that most spaces were empty, it was rather strange to park a car so far away, unless it had been there for a while. Nathalie approached it with excitement. She looked around but unless someone would come out of the kitchen, nobody would see her. She circled the car unobtrusively and noticed that the keys were in the ignition. That was invitation enough and she got into the car.

A quick search revealed that the car documents were on the floor, which was a strange place to keep them, but not so strange if one considered that they might have been checked by the police and that the driver must have dropped them in his hurry to drive off. They were in an Italian, aristocratic-sounding name that she had no trouble identifying as Queen Anna's cousin. Nathalie leant back in the seat and frowned. Anna had been kidnapped by her cousin? No, that was ridiculous. But how else could they have been driving in her cousin's car? What if the authorities knew it was him but they wanted to cover it up? They were covering up something at any rate.

She would ask him.

Hegge walked across the busy square and paused when he passed the Christmas tree salesman. Why not? He had chosen to come to the capital because it was busy and he would not be noticed, but now that he was here he might as well make use of it. He bought a small Christmas tree and some decorations. If he was stopped by the police when he went back, he would look very harmless. At five to nine he switched on Anna's phone to receive the call from the Prime Minister and he took care to stand somewhere where he could not be overheard and where he was sheltered on at least one side. He stood right in front of one of the God sees you signs that hung in every place where the cathedral's walls formed a niche. Despite the signs, it still smelt badly in the niches and Hegge sniffed disgustedly, but from there he had a perfect view of anyone approaching, so he remained where he was. "Hello," he said when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Have you got an answer for me?" he asked.

"I have a proposition for you --"

Hegge was not sure that they would accept any propositions, but he listened all the same.

"-- You know which charges you will be facing --"

"Charges?" Hegge interrupted. "Don't make me laugh." They were just about the only people involved who could not be charged with anything.

"You will be charged with kidnapping, insubordination, speeding… We are willing to drop any charges if you return Her Majesty to us. Do you accept this proposition?"

It did not impress Hegge in the least. "Will you resign?"

"I shall not resign," the PM said in irritation. "Whatever for?"

"She shall not return unless two things happen. One, we're no longer chased and you call off all forces. Two, all the people who were responsible for setting this up, resign."

"What will the public say if I pull all forces off the case?" the PM asked as if Hegge had just made a very stupid suggestion.

"What will the public say if they find out the truth?" Hegge countered. "Charge all you like, but there is one person you cannot charge and she knows the truth. We'll contact you again." He ended the call. He had not expected the PM to give in easily, so he was not disappointed with the outcome. Hopefully the man had been given food for thought now. Had he really discounted Anna? Surely he could not seriously think that she could be used in such a way and remain ignorant of it? Or if not ignorant, at least silent?

The Prime Minister leant back into the seat of the car and thought of what the caller had said, as he was being driven through the gates of the palace. There is one person you cannot charge and she knows the truth. Would she? But she was constitutionally restricted in her utterances. She could not say anything, because she knew that he was responsible for what she said. Besides, he doubted that they would have informed her that they had taken over the kidnapping. She would not know the difference.

He had ordered someone to find out if Anna's phone had been used in the past two days, after he had received the first phone call. However, it seemed it had only been used to call him. Apparently the kidnappers were clever but he had not yet received an answer to his inquiry if the Telecommunications Company could trace exactly where they had been calling. He did not know if such a thing was possible with cell phones.

He knew they had withdrawn more money. The upkeep of a Queen must be costly. The Commissioner had not got back to him yet about the video images of the cash points. Perhaps he should call, but he could no do that now, since he had an appointment with Princess Marie-Celeste, who was Anna's younger sister.

Marie-Celeste had requested the interview because she was concerned about her sister and she was not certain that the Cabinet were doing all they could. She was an ambitious thirty-year old, who was convinced that she would do a much better job than her sister, having had the same kind of education, as the spare heir. Contrary to Anna, who had failed most of them, her sister had always obtained the highest grades in those university courses that her father's advisors had deemed absolutely indispensable for the future monarch. Consequently, the press had always written that Anna was not academically inclined, but Marie-Celeste knew about Anna's degrees in subjects that were not considered worthy enough to be mentioned and that alongside Anna's hobby-courses in several languages, she had struggled for twelve years to pass her prescribed courses. While those had all cost Marie-Celeste very little time to study, Anna had great problems with them, and she wondered why the uninterested sister should be forced to succeed their father instead of her. She had tried to become interested in foreign crown princes so she could become a queen elsewhere, but unfortunately they were neither handsome nor interesting.

"Prime Minister," she greeted him with a handshake, immaculately dressed in an aubergine two-piece suit with a pearl necklace and matching earrings. She knew what to wear, she knew what to say and she knew what to do; which was a lot more than could be said for Anna, who merely knew what to wear.

"Your Highness," he said reverently.

"I have asked you to come here to discuss my sister. I am very concerned about her safety. Are you doing enough? I want to know exactly what you have done so far and which results you have obtained, if you got any results so far."

"Your Highness, I assure you that we are doing our utmost to ensure that Her Majesty returns safely."

"Of course," she gestured. "You could not say anything to the contrary, but what concrete action have you taken so far?"

"All the police forces have been mobilised and they are keeping an eye out for the kidnappers."

"What if they are in one place?" Marie-Celeste asked skeptically.

"I can tell you this little secret since it concerns your sister, Madam. She was seen today."

"Seen? So she is alive?" Marie-Celeste asked in relief.

"Yes, she was seen in a car on the A4, so that means they are not staying in one place."

"They?"

"The kidnappers," the PM clarified.

"How many kidnappers are there?"

"Four."

"How do you know there are four? Was she with four people in a car?" she asked.

He could not say that Thalen had told him there were four kidnappers and of course the Queen had only been with one of them yesterday. "No, she was with just one."

"Only one? Why did they let them get away?"

"The kidnapper drove very fast."

"That is not an excuse. Were they not pursued? I can't believe that they were seen and not caught! Prime Minister, you do realise that this is no ordinary kidnapping? My sister is the Queen of this country. This might have far-reaching political consequences."

"I am aware of those, Your Highness…"

"Not aware enough, apparently. I demand that you comply with the kidnappers' requests. Give them money. Release those prisoners. Resign. Surely you would agree with me that my sister's life is more valuable than your job?"

"Of course…"

"My sister might not be pleased with your actions and when she returns, I will pressure her to dismiss you. She has that power, you know, even though it would not occur to her and perhaps you had not considered it either."

The hard expression in the Princess's eyes convinced the Prime Minister that she meant what she said. Perhaps the kidnappers had contacted her and planted this idea in her head. "Have you been contacted?"

"Contacted?" she asked. "By whom?"

"By the kidnappers."

"If I had been contacted, Anna would have been here right now," she said coldly and stood up. "I suggest, Prime Minister, that you make a little more effort."

Marie-Celeste had tried to call Anna more than once, but Anna's phone had always been switched off. Not really expecting that it might be otherwise right now, she tried again at half past nine and to her great surprise, she got through because Hegge had forgotten to switch off the phone. She wondered whether she would get Anna or a kidnapper on the line.

He was in the car and he debated whether he should answer. It might be the PM again, to track him down. Or to tell him he would resign. He answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello? Where is Anna? I want to speak to Anna," said a woman's voice.

"Who am I talking to?" Hegge asked cautiously.

"Her sister! What are you doing with her phone? Have you taken it away from her? Where is she?"

Hegge wished he could consult someone, but he was facing this alone now and he had to deal with it himself. Anna had two sisters and it did not really matter which one he was speaking to now. "She is alright."

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry I can't tell you that," he said politely.

"Why not?"

"Because you might tell someone and then I'll be in trouble." Who knows if someone had not ordered her to call Anna's number to see if she could find out some more. He could not go ahead and tell her things.

"Considering that you have her phone, you already are in trouble!"

"Yes," he conceded. "But that was not my fault."

"Of course. I want to speak to my sister."

"I'm sorry. You can't. I'm not with her at the moment."

"Where is she?"

"She's somewhere safe and until we return her to you, I regret to say that I doubt that it will be possible for you to speak with her."

"You will return her?" A doubt began to creep into Anna's sister's voice.

"Yes, we will, in good condition, too."

"Are you one of the kidnappers?"

"I would say no, but our friend the Prime Minister would say yes."

"Well, I don't like him! He's not making any effort at all."

Hegge began to wonder if they could not use this sister and win her over to their side. "Madam, if you'd be so kind as to give me your number, I'll ask my boss if Anna may ring you back. I can't promise anything, but he's a decent fellow."

Marie-Celeste gave him her number. "Please?" she asked.

Nathalie had tried to get hold of Anna's cousin's number and she had succeeded, even though it was unlisted, but his housekeeper told her Lorenzo had been skiing in Austria since mid November and that he was not due back until mid January at least. That would rule out his involvement, as she did not think him capable enough to arrange things from a distance. From what she had read about Lorenzo, he was too much of a playboy to ever be thinking of anything else.

Well, that was one lead gone nowhere, Nathalie thought as she considered the case once more. She bothered the man who was spokesman for the investigation for a bit, but he would not tell her anything and kept referring her to that day's press conference and the one scheduled for the day after. "Is there an investigation at all?" she asked him. "There are traffic controls and there seems to be an elite team raiding houses, but they do not seem connected somehow."

"Again, I refer you to today's press conference during which the course of the investigation was clearly outlined," the spokesman said impatiently.

"It's not quite clear to me, though. Where do the orders come from, for instance?"

"From the Commissioner."

"Does he also control the elite team? Do they belong to the police?" Nathalie asked. The Commissioner could not be running elite teams alongside the police force. The elite team was probably some intelligence unit, which would imply that someone higher up was giving orders, perhaps the Minister for Home Affairs, who had been relatively invisible up to now.

"I can't say anything about the elite team," said the spokesman. "That is classified."

"Is it the Minister who runs the show?"

"The Minister is ultimately responsible for the functioning of the police force," the spokesman droned off.

"Thank you," said Nathalie. She thought she could write an article now, although many questions remained to be investigated tomorrow.

Anna thought about what Hegge had said -- that people in pain should quit their jobs -- and she was even more quiet than usual. It was an option, of course, but it would cause so much fuss that she would rather not consider it. She was already daunted by the prospect of returning and the attention she would receive then, when she would rather just go home quietly.

Now that Hegge was gone there was no teasing and much less talk and Seton and Raine were the ones who spoke, while Anna and Gris listened while they discussed whether they would play a game or watch television. Seton did not look at her, but at Raine, and so she studied him, not considering that Gris could be observing her looking at Seton, but Gris was as quiet as she and he did not draw attention to the fact. She liked Seton, but that he might perhaps never find out was something that did not even occur to Anna.

Raine zapped past a few channels and paused at one where they showed Anna delivering last year's Christmas speech, probably because that was one of the few images of her. "Turn that off," she shrieked. "Ugh!"

The startled Raine quickly switched to another channel. "What was wrong with it?"

"I can't watch it."

"Why not?"

"Because I look awfully stupid!"

"I liked the dress…" Seton said, but he agreed that she did not quite look like herself on television.

"Oh no! It was awful. You may look at it but I'll just go away while you do," said Anna, getting to her feet hastily.

Raine turned off the sound and switched back. "Look the other way. Will you hold a speech this year?"

"How?" Anna asked, her eyes firmly fixed on a painting on the wall. "I was going to, of course, but it will be cancelled now."

"We could make another home video of you."

"No, thank you."

"You could have one published in the newspaper," Seton suggested. "People won't see you then."

"Do you think anybody would be at all interested in my Christmas message?" she asked with obvious skepticism. "Because I doubt it. Or do you think I'm obliged to give one? It's a tradition and maybe it will give people faith if I don't break it even if the situation is different this year."

"Faith in what?"

"Faith in the future," Anna shrugged. "Some people seem to think there is a revolution coming up and what about all those people hoarding up food? What is the meaning of that?"

"I think that has to do with the millennium," Seton said calmly. "They're waiting a bit too long if this was supposed to be a real revolution and if they meant to replace you with a president, they ought to have taken care of your relatives as well."

"Then what is this?" she demanded.

"I don't know yet, but if you want to write some speech I am sure I can get it published. I could even get you an interview."

"With your friend?" Anna asked.

"Yes, with my friend. Are you keeping a diary? That would be a big hit."

"I'm not keeping a diary," she said with dignity. "I don't think other people should be acquainted with my private thoughts. Besides, if I had kept a diary, you would undoubtedly have read it behind my back."

"Yes, I probably would have," Seton agreed. "However, to turn the public opinion against the PM, maybe it isn't such a bad idea to have you give out a little message."

"And what would I say?"

"That you're being treated very well," he smiled.

"What would the use of that be?" Anna asked. "They will only think there is no hurry to get me back if I'm so happy to be where I am."

"Well, you would also say something about betrayal and power abuse. Not too directly, of course, but clear enough for them to understand."

"I don't know," said Anna. "I don't like drawing attention to myself."

Hegge returned and the Christmas tree was greeted enthusiastically. "You'd almost think I didn't go out for any other reason," he complained. "But I have a lot to tell you."

"You can say it while we put up the tree, can't you?" Raine asked.

"What did he say?" Seton asked.

"He said he would not resign and he had a proposition for us. We're all to go free if we return Anna to him. I demanded that he end the chase and that he would resign. I don't know if it was okay to say it, but I sort of threatened him with Anna."

Anna looked startled at being something one could be threatened with.

"I asked him if he had assumed that she would keep her mouth shut after her return, basically."

"Apparently he had," Seton commented. "Maybe it will make him see that there is only one sensible thing to do and that is resign."

"And then," Hegge saved the best for last. "I made a mistake." They all turned their heads towards him in alarm and he grinned. "I forgot to switch off the phone."

"He called again?" asked Gris.

"No, somebody else did and I answered the call. "Don't worry," he said when he saw Seton began to frown. "It was no one but Anna's sister."

"My sister?" she exclaimed. "Which one?"

"I don't know which one. She did not say her name. She asked if she could speak to Anna and I said I'd ask my boss if Anna could call her. From what I gathered, she is not too impressed by the PM so I thought she might be useful as an ally."

"It must be Celeste. Can I call her?" Anna turned to Seton pleadingly. He got up and walked around the room. Hegge held up his thumb to her reassuringly, to signify that he was confident that Seton would grant her permission to speak to her sister. He gauged that Seton could not withstand Anna's pleading looks and that that was why he was now looking the other way.

"Well…" Seton said slowly. "I think that you might have a point there…" He glanced at Anna, who was looking up at him expectantly. "If you stick to what I allow you to say then I suppose --" He broke off upon seeing the expression on Anna's face.

Hegge was certain that a less reserved person would have flung herself around Seton's neck and have kissed him squarely on the mouth. However, Anna merely limited herself to a happy smile and he grimaced at Gris, who knew exactly what he meant.

"When?" Anna asked Seton. "Now? Please?"

"We'll dress the tree and you can go," Raine suggested.

"I won't be able to sleep if I can't speak to her," Anna promised.

Seton sighed and gave in. "Alright. We'll go into town and we'll find a public phone."

Anna smiled and again she did nothing else, except go out in the hall to get her coat. Hegge rolled his eyes at Gris, who chuckled.

Anna led Seton to the town along a dark path through the woods. "We ought to have a dog," he remarked as he lit the way with his flashlight. "It would be much less conspicuous. Now, about your sister…"

"I know what I can say to her," she said patiently.

While he believed her, he nevertheless found it necessary to state the obvious. "You can't say where you are and can't name us. Say as little as possible. You don't know what she will do with the information."

"I know. She is very discreet, though."

"One slip…" Seton said meaningfully.

Anna bit her lip. One slip and he would be caught. If she kept that in mind, she would be alright. The rest of the way she rehearsed what she would say and what Marie-Celeste would say in return. Seton found a public phone booth just off the central square. He gave her a phone card and sat down on a bench near the phone booth. "You're not coming with me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. Why should I intrude on your conversation?"

Anna smiled gratefully and retreated into the booth. She would be able to speak much more freely if he was not standing beside or behind her. With nervous fingers she dialed the number and bit her lip while she waited for Marie-Celeste to answer the phone.

"Marie-Celeste."

"It's Anna," Anna said nervously. "Please only take this call if you're completely alone."

"Anna?" Marie-Celeste cried. "Where are you?"

"I can't say, but I'm alright."

"What happened?"

Anna wondered how much she could explain. "Something went wrong."

"That's obvious! What?"

"I can't say exactly."

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" her sister asked anxiously.

"No, they didn't."

Marie-Celeste sighed an audible sigh of relief. "Anna, tell me something! Are they -- are they forbidding you to say certain things? Are they there with you?"

"No. Well, there is someone outside but he's not with me in the phone booth," Anna glanced at Seton on the bench. He seemed to be looking at the traffic and not at her, but appearances were deceptive and he probably had eyes in the back of his head.

"But can he hear you?"

"No, he can't."

"Then tell me! Tell me what's going on!"

Anna felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to but she could not. "I can't, Celeste! You might tell someone and then he will get caught!"

"Anna!" Marie-Celeste shouted. She did not understand why Anna should be reticent if there was nobody there to keep her in line. "Tell me what is going on! Who are you talking about? Who will get caught? Who are you with?"

Anna swallowed and spoke in a strangled voice. "I could have come home, but there is a conspiracy. I was afraid that -- afraid that the people I'm with would get caught, because they're being chased --"

"Of course they are!" Marie-Celeste cried. "They kidnapped you!"

"They didn't! They were set up. Oh my God, I said too much now." Anna's stomach contracted and she sobbed. "He will get caught if you tell anyone. Cel, don't…t-t-tell anyone that I…c-c-called you," she stuttered. "Please? H-H-H-H-He-e-e-e --" Anna almost hyperventilated.

"Calm down, Anna," Marie-Celeste urged. "If you don't, they'll come in to end the call."

Anna breathed in and out deeply. "Don't t-t-tell anyone I called. Please? It might be d-d-dangerous for someone who has b-b-been very g-g-good to me."

"Anna, don't tell me you fell in love with a kidnapper," her sister said horror.

"I-I-I --" Anna twisted the phone cord around her fingers and stared through the window of the phone booth at the bench where Seton was sitting. He was staring straight back at her now and she could not look away. Maybe that's exactly what I did.

"Anna!"

"He's not a k-k-kidnapper and I don't know if I'm in love with him," Anna took care to keep her voice down so Seton would not hear. "I can't be, c-c-can I? I'm the Q-Q-Queen." There was an edge to her voice.

"Anna!" Marie-Celeste was speechless. Anna sounded as if she regretted being the Queen so she could marry this criminal.

"I swear I'm n-n-not." She did not want to be in love in case it was not mutual. Besides, it was ridiculous, after two days. It was probably only that she had needed a shoulder because she was scared and he had been there and he had been kind to her when she had needed it and she was merely grateful. It was only gratitude.

Marie-Celeste was not convinced. "A criminal, Anna?" she said in a tone of disgust.

"He's n-n-not a criminal! The people in p-p-power are criminals! Why do you think I asked the P-P-Prime Minister to resign?" Anna knew it was hopeless to make her sister understand and she wished she had not betrayed so much, but she had had a strange and inexplicable desire to mention Seton.

"He was here tonight and I told him to resign too. Why don't you just go ahead and dismiss him? You can do that. I told him you would."

"I can do that? I hadn't thought of that." Anna thought about what would happen then. "I'd have to discuss that." She saw Seton approach. Her time was probably up, because he tapped his watch. "I have to go."

"Why?"

"Because he says so."

"Who?"

"He-e-e-e."

"Your criminal?"

Anna dared not say anything about Seton anymore now that he was standing so close that he could probably overhear it. "Yes. I mean, no. I'll ask if I can call you again. Don't tell anyone, alright? Because if you do, you might make me very unhappy."

"Anna, don't do anything stupid."

"I won't. You know me," Anna tried to speak lightly. "Nobody will notice a thing. Bye."

"Bye."

Anna hung up the receiver and felt the lump in her throat again. She swallowed a few times before she stepped out of the phone booth, dreading what Seton would say. She would not be able to lie. She would have to tell him that she had said too much. "I told her -- I told her that you were not kidnappers but that you were set up," she said anxiously. "Please don't kill me."

Seton looked up at the sky and breathed in deeply. "I won't."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

"I'm really sorry," Anna said contritely.

"It's al…right," he said emphatically.

"But you're angry about it."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not."

"I had to. My sister was saying you were kidnappers. I could not have her think wrongly of good people."

"Anna, shut up," Seton said insistently. He dug his hands a little deeper in the pockets of his coat and his jaw set a little more firmly, as if he was not affected.

Nobody ever said that to Anna and she was completely subdued. Seton announced that he also had a call to make and it was her turn to wait on the bench this time. He did not tell her whom he had called and she did not ask. She said nothing when they walked home and thought Seton would not notice if she cried, because it was dark. Anna did not know exactly why she cried, but she had to get rid of those tears.

He did notice, because they glistened on her cheeks whenever they passed a street light. Her talk with her sister had obviously affected her.

"How did it go?" Hegge asked when Seton came in and admired the tree. Anna followed right behind him. "Did you cry?" he exclaimed.

"No," Anna said haughtily.

"Oh, okay…I understand…you went swimming without goggles, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What did your sister say?"

"She said I could dismiss the Prime Minister."

"Is that so?" Hegge raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense since you're the one who officially appoints him." Apparently Anna had not told Seton, because he did not look as if he had already heard this, and that was odd. He had expected them to discuss it.

"She told him I would do it." Anna looked at the tree. It gave the room a cosier and more festive appearance. "I like it. I'm going to bed."

"Wait," Hegge called when she turned to go. He dropped the angel he had been about to hang in the tree and walked to the kitchen drawer to extract a vicious-looking knife. "Don't forget this."

Anna shied away from it. "No! That's dangerous."

He replaced it. "Oh well. I think some of us will be pleased to know that you're not taking it. We might be innocently going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and it's not such a comfortable thought to know that we might run into Anna with a knife. No knife and no Seton?" he whispered. "It's not because we teased him, is it?"

She straightened her back and shook her head. "I don't want to rely on somebody else," she whispered back.

"Oh well. Good night."

But Anna's night was not good. She had a frightening nightmare in which she was being chased by hordes of villains and her legs were all wobbly so she could not run away from them. Suddenly she came to a car and four men were ready to help her into it. Seton was the chauffeur and he was wearing a uniform with a driver's cap. He looked absolutely gorgeous in a uniform but she was not allowed to enjoy the sight for too long, because there were three shots -- she heard them very clearly -- and the four men dropped to the ground. She screamed and dropped to her knees beside Seton, but he was bleeding and his eyes were making strange turns in his head. She had never felt so desperate as she felt now that he was slipping away from her and his face was ice cold. He spoke but she could not hear him and the villains were coming closer, headed by the Prime Minister who had a big knife. He made straight for Seton, who was dead but whose eyes funnily enough still moved, and cut loose his facial mask. The Prime Minister's face grinned up at her from under Seton's mask and Anna screamed.

She woke up with a start. The feeling of fear remained, although she immediately forgot most of the nightmare, and she could not get rid of it, no matter how far she ducked under the covers. At long last, she climbed out of bed and ran into the hallway. She did not know where Seton was sleeping, because he had gone to bed after her, but there were only two bedrooms where he could be and one of them had its door closed. The other door had been closed too, but now it was open and she guessed that he was in there, since the others all slept with their doors open as well, for some mysterious reason.

He was there; she flicked on the light briefly and she saw him in the bed. Quickly she dropped to her knees by his bedside and reached out her hand to feel if he was alive and to her surprise he was not ice cold at all.

"What's wrong, Anna?" he asked in a low voice, taking her wrist. He was ready to sit up and take action, if necessary.

"H-H-How do you know it's me?" Anna asked shakily.

"The others would be a bit more rough in waking me and they certainly wouldn't touch my face. What's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," Anna apologised. Next to the ability to wake up in an instant, Seton apparently also possessed the ability to fall back asleep in an instant, because what he said next was no more than sleepy mumbling, and the only word that Anna gathered from it was 'bed.' She wondered if he meant that she should go back to her own bed, especially since he shifted his body, to fall back asleep, she assumed, but she would rather sit here by his bedside than go back to her lonely room. He surprised her by pulling her wrist so far towards him that she could not but follow with her body, but since she had not expected the pull, she fell forwards.

"Do you always get into bed so clumsily?" Seton mumbled in an amused voice. "Most people don't go head first."

"What?" said Anna in alarm. She felt herself being pulled and pushed into the right position. Is he pulling me into his bed?

"Mmmm?" Seton mumbled, not wanting to say too much for fear of waking up completely. Finally he had Anna on the bed with her head and feet in the right direction, and he threw the covers over her, lay down his head, snuggled into the mattress, and was gone.

Anna lay awake. Not only was she in a very uncomfortable position -- she was used to turning over several times before falling asleep and Seton had positioned her so that she could only turn into him or fall off the bed if she tried -- but she also worried about what the three others would say if they saw her thus in the morning. They had already commented so much on last night and this was much worse. Last night Seton had been on the other half of a double bed and now they were on one quarter of a double bed, together.

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