Wednesday 10 March 1999, Edinburgh, Scotland
"Those weeks between Daryl's proposal and the day of the robbery were all about planning everything, itwould be right in the middle of a school day, luckily as I was already nine I went to school alone, my mumslet me go there on my broom, since they trusted me, except that on that particular day I was going to beabsent and as I was a student who was never absent, I'm sure I could end up getting into trouble, But I hadno choice, I didn't want to end up kicked out of the house, so much so that I already knew what to say when Iwent to talk to my mothers, I had already trained enough with Daryl on how to act, I had to steal the thingsthat people had and exchange them for jewellery, they had been studying each of the people invited to theplace and had already made copies of each jewel, at least the vast majority, since I would still have a marginof what to steal there."
Well that's today... I've learnt enough, I can't believe I'm going to break one of the most important rules of magic for this, I can't give up, even if I really want to, my well-being depends on it, apart from the fact that if I leave here I'll end up leaving Daryl's bloody path even freer for her to terrorise mums, I have to do this for everyone.
"Are you ready for school, girl?" Mum Laura asks and I nod, putting my rucksack on my back.
"Yes, I am, Mum Laura" I tell her, since Mum Bernadette was at work at that time, she always left early in the morning.
"If you want I can even take you today, you seem a bit nervous" said Mum and I just nodded.
"It's nothing Mum, I'm going" I tell her, turning my face away.
"Ah, it's a crush, isn't it? Who's she? Or him? Hahahaha, I'm joking, go have fun, I imagine she's quite embarrassed to think about it" Oh yes, a crush, yes, I think she'd better believe it, since she has no idea what's going to happen.
I leave the house through the door, grabbing the broom, now it's time to go to school, or at least pretend that I'm going, I'm going to have to follow the broom to an alley, from what Daryl called me on my mobile, well let's go, I hope I don't find anyone familiar, I'm going to have to pretend all this, but damn, right now... Because I had to agree to it, I get to the alley, luckily there's no one, I land there with the broom, and I look around, there's nothing, that's strange, I thought there would be a van or something around here, this is really weird, I feel something touching my neck, then I get bewildered, what is it? Have I been tricked? Fucking Daryl.
[...]
I wake up somewhere and when I open my eyes I see that I'm inside a van, it was moving along the road and in front of it there were some people, I wake up a little more and with that the evil witch realises that I'm already more awake, I see that there are some other people there, I get a little scared, trying to stay on the defensive.
"Oh, it looks like the little girl you were talking about has finally woken up" said a strange brown-haired woman.
"What is this? Why am I in this place? All I remember is going to the alley you asked me to" I tell her.
"I unlocked you and took you to our van, so no one will think you came here on purpose, I pretended it was all just a kidnapping mission, so when your mums find out something they'll just think you've been kidnapped, I saved your arse girl, you came all the way to the alley with your uniform and everything, how do you think we're going to stay with a girl giving up her identity, we have to do a robbery mission in the shire, now we're about to arrive in Glasgow" She said and I get all angry, just thinking that she let me down so easily and I was still used like that.
"She doesn't have any experience, does she? How do you think it's a good idea to call a nine-year-old girl to a robbery? We've planned everything, but that doesn't mean it's going to be the most successful thing in the world, if she dies the responsibility will be yours, it's very unethical to take a child into this kind of thing" said the girl who at least has a few more neurons.
"And you want to talk about morals when we're planning a big jewellery heist? We have to put everything on our side, I've already explained it to you, a child is going to pass himself off as a child and go out and steal everything, we've already got everything planned, even the parts divided up, Harold has taken care of
temporarily kidnapping the people we're going to pass ourselves off as, you've taken care of making fake jewellery, and also to distract any magical people there, so it'll be easy, the security guards won't notice the jewellery being taken, apart from the fact that Chariot has light hands, you'll even be surprised" Oh yes, of course, you will, you have no idea how I'm doing this as a last resort.
The others just shrug and I remember the whole plan, where I pick up and exchange the real jewels for the fake ones, using magic, while they're scattered around the event, I hand some of them to them who fill a bag until it's in the van, I pick them up one by one, I hope it's quick.
Why did I have to go and steal, it's so wrong, I hope the mums haven't found out anything about it, or anyone else, if I get caught, goodbye home, I could be arrested, I won't even go to France, or worse, the police could come and open fire on us
[...]
The van has stopped in the vicinity of the place, so we get out of it, and then everyone starts signalling, then Daryl pulls me back inside, where it's just me and her, handing me clothes, she's already changing in front of me, I take a deep breath and do the same, We even put on wigs, making everything as convincing as possible, contact lenses and everything else, since my red eyes give away a lot I have to pretend to have brown eyes and hair of the same colour, I think I look like someone else.
"Make-up time, come here girl, make-up has to be convincing and since you're a child and your mothers never taught you that, you'll have to be made up" I don't really like wearing make-up, I'm just a child, apart from the fact that Mum Laura doesn't wear any and Mum Bernadette rarely does either, I only see her wearing lipstick every now and then.
I'm facing the wicked witch, she's putting make-up on me, I'm going through my decisions in my head, just wondering if this is going to be the right thing or not, it's all or nothing to stay in this house where I love so much, so as not to let the worst happen to my mums, I hope I can save myself from this.
Soon I'm ready and wearing make-up, I look at myself in the mirror, seeing that I look like someone else completely, just like my aunt, I get a bit nervous, just thinking about what's going to come next, it's going to be complicated, but it's good to try what we can do, we get out of the van and everyone's already gathered there, there was a car in front of the van this time.
"Our lift is here, it's time to start acting" said Daryl.
"Is it now? Are we going to have to do this?" I ask her.
"Relax girl, it's going to be easy, just remember the whole plan I've given you, keep calm and let it happen, it's not every day that a party like this can happen, apart from that we're going to accompany them, don't forget to give them the real jewellery, you've studied each person's face well, these jewels are worth a fortune" I know this, I even get more scared just imagining it, but it's not like I have all the choice in the world.
I swallow my saliva, I get into the luxury car, it even has doors that open from the other side, it's very strange, but it's comfortable, I sit down just thinking about what's going to come, I even feel a little sick to my stomach, just imagining it, I could be caught, it's a unique chance, which we're getting to with every step.
I look out of the window and luxury cars appear, there are so many of them, I can't believe they're getting to this point, I can see the mansion in front and there really is an event going on, which we're signposted to, we get out of the car, now it's time to pretend to be someone. Walking around the place, I'm feeling the weight, but I decide to swallow it all for the performance, I've rehearsed enough for this, time to pretend to be some kid.
"Oh Miss Jones, you brought your daughter here too, welcome" said the security guard, as Daryl showed him a badge.
We enter the place, classical music is played by the instruments themselves, I see that there's like a band, I notice people talking and picking up things, I think it's time to act, I just have to wait for the signal they're sending us, precisely by the device in the hand of the evil witch who's holding her hand.
"I didn't say, it was very easy to get here" she whispers to me and I just stay in character.
The signal is given, she hands me a fake copy of Mrs Valiant's jewellery, you can see it shining from afar, a gold bracelet with encrusted diamonds, I walk along pretending to be someone from the party, luckily the dress has long sleeves to make everything easier, I walk past her as if it were nothing, with my hand I gesture everything and make the exchange, making the bracelet go to my hand and then I hide it.
I go back to Daryl, this was the first test, I hand her the jewel and she puts it in her bag and signals me with a jewel, I'm relieved, it doesn't seem so difficult, I'm even managing to do it with a certain calm.
"All right girl, that was the first victim, she won't even realise it, now I'm going to give you one more and we'll do it one by one, I want this whole bag of mine changed" I just nod my head, there's really not much of a way now.
I take a deep breath and she hands me another piece of jewellery on the sly, I go along to the music, this is another bracelet, with emeralds, and gold plated, it's Miss Hilton's and it's not one, apparently they're on both sides, I move as delicately as possible, just pretending to be a quiet child.
I see some of them talking to their parents, but I just ignore them until I find Miss Hilton, who I pass by without realising, I use magic and her bracelet goes to me, exchanging it for the fake ones, thanks to magic I can make this exchange.
I make my way back to the evil witch to hand it back, but soon I'm approached by two girls, they must be Miss Crown's daughters, I had to study each of these people to know how to act.
"Victoria Jones, what's up? It's been a while since we've seen you, since that golf match, so how are things going?" She asks and I start to get into character.
"Ah, you know how it is, having to study for things" I say, a little flustered.
"Oh really, I know what it's like, luckily we've been allowed not to go to school today, but don't go, we can go and have a chat, I heard that the Doohan's handsome son came here" she said and I just nodded, walking past them.
"Cool, I'll see you later, my mum's calling me" I say both of them, jeez boys, I think I'm done like mums with this, I can't find them attractive, I prefer girls, that's for sure, but that's not something to think about.
I manage to get back to Daryl, handing over two more pieces of jewellery as she asked, they come in her hand and she puts them in her handbag, and then we move on so as not to create suspicion at the party itself, I look at everyone, already analysing in my head what the future robberies will be, I have no idea how I'm going to get my back out of all this, but at least everything is quite easy to do, as long as I have magic to spare.
"Now that we've moved on, just stick to the plan, I'm going to pass on some more jewellery, I want you to sweep up about five at once, can you do it?" Whispers the evil witch and I nod.
I'm getting a handful of jewellery, I've trained that too, maybe this way at least the theft will go faster, I walk around the girls who are in a group talking, precisely the little circle with five of them, jewellery with diamonds, gold, emeralds, quartz, amethysts, They're really quite peculiar stones, most of them being bracelets, I even picked up a chain that went through my dress and luckily I managed to make the magic glow faintly so that no one would notice, so I walked over to my aunt talking to a group of women.
"Oh this is my daughter, Victoria, she's a role model, she gets the best grades, we had to leave today because I want to show her a bit more manners and prepare her for high society, you know how it is, the sooner you get used to it, the less poor people's habits you pick up" she said and I'm sure that wasn't even acting.
"She's really beautiful, she has a strong-minded mum" the lady said to me.
I see that Daryl is signalling for me to take her bag, which I do, opening it and putting the real jewellery in the pocket where the real jewellery is, and handing it back to her. I realise that this is going to be the next theft, it's the necklace, this is going to be huge.
I listen to the conversation, until we're in a more secluded place, and with that Mum signals, I use my magic to replace her real necklace with the fake one I've picked up from her handbag, listening to all the chatter about rich people.
"What about those witches? Do you really think they'll continue to exist?" said Mrs Bay, and I felt like telling her off, but I held back.
"Pfff, old-fashioned stuff, these witches will soon be discarded, we don't need brooms, we have aeroplanes, we have everything they do, even bigger and more comfortably, can you imagine sitting on a broom like that, with rotten wood hahahaha" Sometimes I even think it doesn't even work.
"It's good not to teach, I'm already seeing some families who are even stopping this practice, they're waking up to this absurdity, well I hope this practice ends soon, it will be a blessing" And I hope you get robbed even more, you're going to lose your bracelets now.
I'm stealing the rest too, the bracelets with chains and the rings too, they're coming off without her realising, when she hides her arms, I'm stealing them with pleasure, I'm beginning to think it's justifiable, no Chariot! No! Don't get a thief's mindset, I have to think like a normal person, mums would never do such a thing, they'd swear at them, that's it, use your neurons Chariot.
She's soon out of there, I've stolen everything I had to take from the wretch, I'm holding back so I don't get angry, I hope she'll be devastated when she sees that she's wearing fake jewellery.
"Get a grip on your anger, you've almost ruined everything, if this is still going to get to you, you'll never be ready" And I don't want to be a thief? I only did it because I was forced to.
"You forced me into this, don't fill me up, now let's get back to work" I don't care about any of that, just doing my job properly.
"Stay calm girl, the next target will appear, I've invited a couple to come and talk, I'll distract them and you do the work, the Harrises, there's a lot of interesting stuff, don't listen to their conversation and focus on it" I have to admit she's right, I'm going to stay calm, take each thing calmly so I don't waste magic for nothing, that way I'll fill Daryl's bag and I can go to the next person, I'm going to have to probe a lot of people yet, damn it.
They arrive with the greatest of friendliness, I can see the wedding ring, the other rings on her husband's finger, the designer watch, the jewellery that's everywhere, she's got lots of necklaces, tiaras, bracelets, this woman is a walking jewel, this is going to be a lot to take off, I have to do it one at a time with a lot of patience.
Because I had so much to do, I had to go and rob people straight away, and I'm not even to blame for that, I only did it because I had no choice, I hope that after everything I'll be well rewarded by Daryl
"I spent hours in that place, I never thought a robbery would take so long, we had plenty of fake jewellery toexchange, it was too elaborate to be just a simple robbery, Daryl had been working on it for a long time andalready intended to use me, but at the time I was just doing my job, I went person by person, one by one, Itook the jewellery carefully, without anyone getting suspicious, some distracted the security guards so theywouldn't notice the magic, others were carrying the bags, I could only see them emptying completely andbeing handed over, that van was getting full, what I wanted to be at school, but everything ended upchanging, it was something that whether I wanted it or not gave me a little satisfaction, to see that it could beso easily taken and give a huge return, the plan was working very well, which in the end Daryl signalled forus to leave".
Finally it's over, I thought hell would never end, we get into the van and damn that huge bag was just the fake jewellery, I see everyone admiring all that stolen stuff, I'm shocked, how could I have taken all this out of people's hands, it's all my fault? There's no way I can feel good, it was all my fault.
"Look at Daryl Cavendish, you've hit the nail on the head, this girl has talent to spare, look at how much we've picked up, no one will look at the child when she's picking up the jewellery, their magic is less noticeable, we're too rich, you've trained a criminal genius" said the brown-haired girl and I just turned my face away.
"It's only her first theft, I think it might be enough to pay off the money I owe someone, then we'll discuss each other's share" said the wicked witch.
"Look at the little girl who's going to come out on top, she's the one who deserves it most, she was the one who went out there to risk getting the jewellery, we just got paid, she's going to buy toys until she can't afford them, hahahaha" said the man with the sunglasses.
"Leave it to me and I'll hand over her share later, I've already divided up how much of each part of our robbery I'll get" Oh, I'll get a share in this? At least I won't be leaving empty-handed, it can't be that bad, but what do I need money for? Oh yeah, that's right, I might need it in case the worst happens, if the bastard gets me expelled I'll have a reserve.
They're all celebrating, with that bag in their hands, full of gold and various other precious stones, it's like we've robbed a jewellery store, I never thought it would come to this, it's really intriguing to imagine that I'm the one who did all this, I feel very guilty, even more so when I get home, I stole it.
[...]
We've had a long journey, I wake up in the same alley I came out of, it seems that bloody Daryl has knocked me out again, what a bastard, I get up from the floor and realise that it's five o'clock in the afternoon, by the nine lesbian witches, I'm really screwed, I take a deep breath and get on the broom, I'm sure I'm going to be grounded.
I fly home, as I land I see that my mums are already at the door tapping their feet, they don't seem to be very happy about it, I just land and wave to both of them staring at me.
"Come in" they both say with a very serious tone and I go in, swallowing my saliva.
I'm coming in all tense inside, I have to think of a way to make a good excuse, I took a little too long, I hope they don't suspect anything, I walk tense, they accompany me to the bedroom, where I sit on the bed, they use a spell similar to Daryl's, I've already seen that it's time to lie to them.
"Okay, you missed school today, we haven't seen you anywhere in Edinburgh, can we find out what the funny girl is up to?" My mum Laura asks.
"I couldn't resist and flew off with the broomstick to reflect, I flew off to the... concert" I can't, I can't think and remember, my head is full of lies.
"You don't have to lie, girl, we know you've been absent for an extra reason, you don't have to lie to us, it's too hard to hear, Daryl's not here" said Mum Bernadette and I started to cry.
I can't answer, I don't want to say that I had to commit a robbery just now, if Daryl finds out she'll make me go away, I'm sure of it, they're hugging me, I don't think I need to say much, you must have realised that it's something of enormous seriousness, to the point of taking into account what she owed.
"It was her, wasn't it? She made you do something against your will, you don't have to be afraid, we've got your back, she says horrible things, doesn't she?" I just nodded as my mum Bernadette hugged me.
"She's threatened me every day since I've been here, if I don't do the things she wants, she makes my life a living hell, she threatened that she'd get me expelled if I didn't do anything to help her, she always threatens, she knows she can make my father want to take me from you" I tell them and they change their expression.
"Ah, she's threatening a child, but it can't be for no reason, there's something behind it" said Mum Laura and I nodded in agreement.
"She can't just purely hate you and ask you to do things just because she doesn't want you here, there's something to it, you don't have to tell us, let's just pretend to her that none of this happened, OK?" Mum Cavendish said.
"It must have been about what happened with her and Paul, I'm sure Daryl put all the responsibility on her back, look Bern, I know how much the twins need a mother, but Daryl isn't a mother, even if she is their mother, that woman is a monster, we have to get her kicked out somehow, I know it hurts to do it because she's your sister, but it's that or everything will end up getting worse" said Mum McLaren and I agree too.
"It's not going to be easy to do this, you know how I've been trying for years to gather evidence with you to get her to leave the house, but it won't be easy, now that she has daughters, it only makes her even more armoured not to leave here, whether she wants to or not, she still has the right to live in this place and it's better to keep her close knowing what she can do, than to keep her away with the constant danger of her attacking us, if you ask me, the only way we could do this with any security would be to put her in jail" It would be, but if we do that she'll sink me with her, so I can't even think about that option.
"This is a huge fuck-up, but anyway, we have higher priorities right now, our daughter's wellbeing is important, so I know what we're going to do, we'll pretend to have given Chariot a hard time, that way Daryl won't think we had a conversation with her knowing she used her, we have to let her think we're stupid, when we get the chance we'll get her and we'll be able to have peace in this house" I don't know if we will, she's more dangerous than you think.
"That's good, so let's stick to this plan, you're always great love, stay in the room, the plan will be to pretend you're grounded in the room, you can leave it with us and everything will go according to plan" I breathe a sigh of relief.
The mums are leaving and I've been able to breathe a little, but even with the nine lesbian witches, I felt that I was going to get out of this for the better, not only do I risk losing this house, but my part in the robbery is all gone, just the one that can make me live somewhere far away from my father, I have to have my security too.
[...]
I'm still playing trying to forget everything, but it's still going through my head, the jewellery heist, just remembering what I did to get what Daryl wanted so badly, that woman is a disgrace, I can't believe I'm having to do everything she wants, ugh, what a piece of shit. The bedroom door opens, it's her, I take a deep breath, pause the game and look her right in the eye, close the door, using magic.
"Congratulations girl, you did everything according to plan, now the jewellery is being sold and the money will be laundered, in just a few weeks my share will arrive and I want to thank you, you got my back out of this, you even have a talent for it" she said and I just wanted to know something.
"And my part?" I'll be blunt, she's starting to laugh.
"Your part? Hahahahahahahaha, you've done no more than your duty, I got your arse out of this place, you should thank me, your part is not to get kicked out of this house and go back to France, that's your part, you helped me as I needed it, now I'm going to enjoy it, but I'm not going to be that mean, I'm not going to disturb you at night with nightmares and I'm not even going to forbid you to go near my daughters, at least for now, until I need you again, you've already done me a big favour" Said the damned woman and I'm furious.
"You're a bastard, you know that? I'm the one who does the hard work, I'm the one who had to put in the work, take the risk, and that's all I get? I had to put in all the effort in the world and then some" I tell her, clenching my fists in anger.
"Welcome to the real world girl, that's how things work, one day you're the hammer and the next you're the nail, you only served as a nail while I was hammering you, you knew you'd be used, I don't know why you're wanting your share... Oh yes, you're not stupid, you'd want your share so you'd have a reserve of money in case I ended up kicking you out, so you wouldn't end up in your father's house and you'd be able to live peacefully, or even use the money to buy a judge and get custody of your mothers back, ah Chariot, you think I didn't think of that, I'm not that stupid either, I know you also want the money to guarantee your safety, but you have to understand something, as long as you're in the situation you're in, you're in my control, you'd better stay that way and not question my authority, but I'll take it easy for now, you've proved your worth, you've proved what you can do, a deal's a deal, I'm going" Damn, what a bastard.
"I hate you" I say to her, who just laughs and shrugs as she reaches the door.
"I'll take that as a compliment, I'm scared to death of your hatred, oh for the nine witches, your hatred is going to melt me, I'm going to die because you hate me, hahahahaha, how pathetic, it had to be a child" I hate this woman, I hope the mums' plan works and she goes away soon.
She's gone, I'm bubbling over with rage, she knew everything, I can't believe it, it's like she can read minds, she's always one step ahead, it's like she's in control of the house, there's nothing I can do, it's like I've got a target on my forehead, what the hell? She's simply made me a slave, it's so unfair, really unfair.
"And that's how I just pulled off one of the most successful robberies in Scotland, a nine-year-old girl whodidn't even know it was able to steal 13 million pounds worth of jewellery, almost single-handedly, and all Igot out of it was nothing, while Daryl got his share, which was supposed to be mine too, she's got more thaneveryone else, more than enough to pay off what she owes and she's still got a comfortable reserve, don'tever be fooled by your aunt saying she's short of money, she's got easy money, she hides a lot of moneyfrom you, more than enough to let the Cavendish family survive... Anyway, if you think it's over here andeverything's quiet and Daryl's stopped bothering me, you're wrong, there's a very obvious reason why younever knew me as a sister and why I never told you anything about it, a reason why we didn't grow uptogether, the reason why I was kicked out of the Cavendish mansion."
See you, steal witches...