Third In Line

Chapter Forty Two - The Royal Treatment

Ellie yawned tiredly as the curtains were pulled open by her aunt, allowing the harsh morning sunshine to flood inside. Her sleep had been on and off all night because of Alex, who kept waking her up and insisting that someone was in the room with them. Ellie knew the door had opened and closed a couple of times when she heard Harry and Emma get home, but after that it was just her sister being stupid.

"No! Don't open them!" She complained all too late.

"It's 10AM already girl, and we have work to do today!" Emma replied cheerily.

"We did all our homework yesterday Emma!" Alex insisted before flopping back onto her bed.

"Not homework. It's more fun really. We're going into town for some chores."

"That's not fun at all!" After her day in Bucklebury, another outing was far too soon for Ellie.

"Come on now. We hardly ever get to spend time with each other." Her aunt said desparingly.

"But we are spending time together. Right now." said Alex.

"Oh ha-ha. This doesn't count, and there's only so much you can do indoors."

"Wrong, we can do everything indoors. We can order food, buy clothes, watch T.V and play games." Ellie explained her logic.

"Basically everything important." Alex added.

"And what about sunlight? What site do you buy that from then smartass? Come on, we leave in an hour."

There was no winning this argument, she knew. Ellie could never win an argument with an adult, especially her aunt. Emma had no comprehension of shyness or pressure, at least not that she could see. The woman was fearless. They could never hope to convince her with their fears of public outings.

They both slowed down their waking up, just doing enough to get by without more complaining from their aunt. Their feet clumsily moved forwards like a couple of drunks, their slippers lazily slapping against the floor, but it was still no use. Emma was immune to every delay tactic they could think of, and she was making sure she wouldn't leave the house without them.

Despite their efforts, it wasn't long before the car was brought around and they were on their way out the gates. Her aunt insisted on driving, so it was just the three of them plus Steve, their protection officer for the day.

"He is large enough to hide behind." Ellie thought to herself as she watched his arms bulge over the sides of the front passenger seat.

"I know you're nervous." Emma said, adjusting her sunglasses and watching the road they were about to join.

Without much ceremony, their Range Rover merged into the busy weekday morning London traffic. The police cutting a hole in the traffic for them to use drew some attention, but she knew it was easier to lose a car in rush hour traffic than it was to lose a ball under three cups. People could only guess at who was in their vehicle, but they only got one chance at the gate to get a good look. After that, they were very much under the radar and were liable to pop up anywhere in London.

I guess its not as bad this way. This way nobody is expecting us. We can be gone before anyone ever got there.

"We'll stop off at the salon first, and then we can do some shopping afterwards."

"Why do we always have to go shopping?"

"You'll learn to love it girls. It's just part of our DNA."

"And the hair too? Why do we have to get it cut? Don't we have to keep it long all the time?"

"There's nothing wrong with a trim every now and then, which is what your Mom wants. But there's nothing wrong with a little extra treatment too is there?"