Amongst all those bits and pieces I've been inadvertantly collecting are generations of scissors that I've used for sewing and embroidery. They all still work, though some are less sharp than they used to be. The 'pinking shears' really haven't been used in a very long time, so it's probably a bit of oil that's needed there. The tiny embroidery scissors are still very sharp pointed and unless they get broken they always will be. They're all treasures of a sort for me, just like my novel TOPAZ EYES is about finding lost treasure.
So, I'm metaphorically using a pair of those scissors, and I'm snipping out a little bit from TOPAZ EYES to share with you today.
Third generation cousins are brought together to find a fabulous jewellery collection which once belonged to a Mughal emperor. At the outset of the quest none of the cousins know each other, all are wary and some are more distrustful than that. Keira Drummond is also involved in the search, though is not a blood relative. She goes to Vienna to visit with one of the third generation cousins who might have more access to pieces of the Tiru Salana jewel collection than has been first stated.
Unfortunately, Keira knows someone else is interested in finding the jewels but who.....
Instead of
walking back to her hotel, she hopped onto the Ring-tram as it squeaked to a
halt outside the impressive museum frontage. Entering through the middle doors,
she punched her ticket and squeezed her way to the rear of the car. It was
jam-packed, but she found an empty seat when a couple made an impromptu late
choice to get off at the stop, jumping up in a flurry. As she settled down, her
gaze drifted to the front of the tram. Just before the doors closed and the car
slid into motion, a man forced his way through the closing space at the front
doors.
Oh God! That shit again?
Panic set in. She stared out the
window for guidance, from who knows what, or whom. The grip on her bag
threatened to break the leather strap, her fingers trembling against her chest.
Rat in a trap.
Not absorbing a thing outside, she
willed calm to descend. She was being ridiculous again. The back of one hand
snaked up to towel her sweaty brow. The tram was packed full of people, the man
trailing her couldn’t do anything to her while she was on… but when she got
off? Her eyes tracked her surroundings. Wide open. Squelching down her fear, she made plans. Exit really
quickly, so fast her hunter would be unable to follow her. He was still wedged
down near the front and that was a good thing. Wasn’t it?
Oh God! Why was the tram so hot? The
window close to her was open, but she felt as if she was a tasty bit of meat on
a spit… just ready for the picking. Or more like the meat in amongst all the
vegetables on a plate: her pursuer the fork, poised and ready.
Having got on at the Museumplatz
area, she guessed the tram might get less busy by the time it reached the
University quarter. That was a good few stops ahead. She had to get off before
then to lose her shadow. Once she lost him, she could do normal things like...
find somewhere to eat? She felt nauseous already. Drawing on reserves of
strength, she fought back the bile threatening to erupt and concentrated on the
elusive being-normal thing.
According to her guidebook, there were
plenty of good restaurants around the area called Schottenkirche, and it wasn’t
too far from her hotel. She yanked open her map so fast a split screeched down
the middle. Her eye movements were feverish as she blinked to a clear vision,
one finger tracing her route. When her tram passed along the Rathaus Park,
she could get off and walk down the street named Schottengasse, and stop at
some place when she was sure the man wasn’t following her.
She avidly scanned to confirm her
bearings. When the car hissed to a halt at the next stop, lots of people around
her were exiting. Finding no street name, she swallowed her alarm. She must be
at Schottengasse already! How did that happen?
Scrambling from the seat, she ducked down as low as she could and
followed the queue. When she was almost out of the door, she leaned to the side
to track her snowy-haired follower.
Her stomach almost heaved up its
contents. He’d forced his way to the nearest doors. Panic overtook her; her
foot froze on the lowest step, her body fully out of the vehicle. In slow
freeze frames, her pursuer got off. A pile of travellers surged behind him and
forced him to move further onto the pavement.
Keira’s chin whipped around. No-one
exited behind her. Zipping back inside, the doors hissed to a close before the
tram wheezed into motion. Thumping down onto the nearest seat, her eyes
gravitated to the window. Her stalker speed-walked alongside the tram. She was
terrified. He looked furious. Now he wasn’t just a white head as his features imprinted
on her memory banks. An aquiline nose sat above tightly-drawn thin lips. Strong
blue eyes flared his anger.
Keira shut her eyes tight. She
couldn’t look out the window any more. Her hand willed the rapid pulse at her
neck to still. Involuntarily, her lips curled up in a nervous smile. Her nerves
were still a jingle, but she also felt exhilaration, a heady excitement. She’d
lost him. Steeling herself to be braver, she scanned the street up ahead. He’d
have to run much faster to keep up since the stretch they were travelling on
moved alongside the edges of the Rathaus
Park, now a greater
distance between the tram stops.
That was confusing.
Pulling up her map, she checked
again. A genuine smile of delight split her face; her body slid even further
down the vinyl seat, beginning to relax a little. All those people had exited
at the Burgtheatre, the city theatre, and there was still a bit of park to pass
along before the next stop. She wasn’t near Schottengasse yet. Relief flooded
as the tram clicked into an even faster pace. No-one got off or entered at the
next stop. Keira heaved a sigh of relief when there was no sign of her shadow
alongside.
Her legs trembled like mad when she
got off at Schottengasse. As she walked
down the fairly major thoroughfare, she willed her nerves to calm. She
sporadically scanned back on her speed-walk, relieved there was no sign of her
pursuer. After a few long blocks, she slowed her pace and regained her breath.
She couldn’t truly appreciate the marvellous architecture around her, though
she tried. When she was close to the Schottenkirche, the local parish church, she selected a
place to eat.
Topaz Eyes is available from the following in ebook formats, and in paperback from some of the outlets:
CC Bookstore
Enjoy my Youtube video for Topaz Eyes.
Have a lovely Sunday.
Slainthe!
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