The Curiosity Machine Read Free

list.’
    Sam, Ruby and Felicity burst out laughing. Gerald looked at each of them in turn. ‘Are you all quite finished?’
    Ruby wiped a tear from her eye and flopped back in her chair. ‘I was going to mention our glamour weekend in New York where you were almost gassed to death and the rest of us were nearly swept into the Manhattan sewage system under the Billionaire’s Club, but yes—I think we’re done.’
    Gerald knew they were only poking fun, but it was a fair point: ever since inheriting the twenty-billion-pound estate of his Great Aunt Geraldine Archer less than a year ago, life had taken on an unusual level of complexity. After the fiasco at the Billionaire’s Club in the mid-term break, Gerald had been pleased to get back to the school camp in the Scottish Highlands. But it had only taken afew days of bone-shattering cold and meals of lukewarm baked beans to have him dreaming about his birthday. April could not have rolled around fast enough.
    â€˜Look, I know some of the other trips might have been odd,’ Gerald began.
    â€˜Only odd?’ Ruby said.
    â€˜Well, if not odd, then a little bit weird,’ Gerald said. ‘But my birthday should be drama free. The only thing between us and the Archer island is a week on a luxury super yacht with every comfort thrown in, and a trip through the Panama Canal. It’s as simple and straightforward as that.’ Gerald knew that very little in his life was simple or straightforward but he felt confident that he had clocked up sufficient bizarreness in the previous year to last him several lifetimes.
    They were interrupted by Gerald’s mother, who leaned over Sam’s shoulder to deliver the news that there was a problem with refuelling the jet. ‘I’m afraid we’ll be delayed here for another four hours,’ Vi Wilkins said. ‘But I think I can come up with a way for you to pass the time. How about a helicopter ride to the top of a glacier?’
    There was a moment’s stunned silence around the table, then a burst of fervour.
    â€˜A glacier!’
    â€˜What? Land on top of a glacier in a helicopter?’
    â€˜Yes please!’
    â€˜Will there be any food?’
    This last response came from Sam and provoked abarrage of balled-up paper serviettes from the others. Vi Wilkins fixed him with a wary eye. ‘I was warned about you,’ she said. She dropped a St Cuthbert’s school backpack onto the table. ‘Mrs Rutherford has fixed you a selection of your favourite snacks for the flight. You won’t go hungry.’
    Sam’s face creased into a smile. ‘Thanks, Mrs Wilkins.’
    Vi clapped her hands together as if shooing pigeons in the park. ‘Off you go, then,’ she said. ‘Mr Fry will pilot the helicopter—make sure you do as he says.’
    â€˜Aren’t you coming?’ Gerald asked.
    Vi shook her head. ‘I’ve seen enough snow for one year, dear, what with that horrendous Christmas Eve in the Archer chalet in California. That little affair almost killed me socially. No, you lot run along and I’ll see you back here in a couple of hours.’
    Mr Fry was completing his pre-flight checks as Gerald, Felicity, Sam and Ruby climbed aboard the helicopter. They settled into the cabin, tugging on seatbelts and placing headsets over their ears. Sam unzipped the backpack, and the aroma of home-baked sausage rolls and party pies filled the chopper with a steaming infusion of lamb and rosemary. He picked out a pie and bit into it.
    Mr Fry looked at him with undisguised scorn. ‘Oh look, crumbs everywhere. How marvellous. I must thank Mrs Rutherford for being so thoughtful.’
    Sam paused mid-mouthful and met the butler’s glare. ‘They’re really good,’ he said. Flecks of golden pastry flew from his lips. ‘Want one?’
    Mr Fry’s eyes fell to the confetti shower of crumbs on the sleeve of his jacket. He