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celebration as the minutes ticked down to the New Year.
    And yet, despite all this, Alex and Sabina felt out of place. Not many other teenagers had been invited, and the ones they met all lived locally, seemed to be at least six feet tall, and clearly regarded them as outsiders. Alex and Sabina ate together, had a couple of sodas, and made their way to the dance floor—
    but even here they didn’t feel comfortable, surrounded by adults twisting and swaying to music that hadn’t been popular in decades.

    “ I’ve had enough of this,” Sabina announced as the band lurched into an ABBA classic.
    Alex knew what she meant. The center of the dance floor was dominated by three bald men in kilts, jabbing their fingers into the air to the tune of “Money, Money, Money.” He glanced at his watch. It was only ten past eleven. “I don’t think we can leave yet, Sabina,” he said.
    “ Have you seen my dad?”
    “ He was talking to one of the politicians.”
    “ Probably hoping to get a story. He never stops.”
    “ Come on, Sabina. Cheer up. This place is meant to be hundreds of years old. Let’s go and explore.”
    They pushed their way off the dance floor and headed down the nearest corridor. The stone walls twisted around, and the music and the noise of the party were cut off almost at once. Another corridor led off of it, this one decorated with tapestries and heavy gilt mirrors with glass blackened by age. At the end, they came to a staircase that led to one of the towers, and suddenly they found themselves outside, surrounded by a low brick wall, looking out into the white-spotted blackness that the night had become.
    “ That’s better,” Sabina said. “I was suffocating in there.”
    “ Are you cold?” Alex could see the snow falling gently onto her bare neck and shoulders.
    “ I’ll be all right for a minute.”
    “ Here.” He took off his jacket and handed it to her.

    “ Thanks.” She slipped it on. There was a pause. “I wish I didn’t have to go back to America,” she said.
    The words jolted Alex. He had forgotten momentarily that she would be returning in a few days’ time.
    She’d enrolled at a school in San Francisco, where the family was living, and it would be a while before they saw each other again. He’d miss her. The thought saddened him. He’d seen so much of Sabina over the Christmas break that he’d gotten used to having her around. “Maybe I could come over for the Easter holidays,” he said.
    “ Have you been to San Francisco?”
    “ Once. My uncle took me on a business trip. At least, that’s what he told me. He was probably working with the CIA, spying on someone or something.”
    “ Do you ever think about Damian Cray?”
    “ No.” Alex shook his head. The question seemed to have come out of nowhere. Alex glanced at Sabina and was surprised to see that she was looking at him with something close to anger in her eyes.
    “ I do. All the time. It was horrible. He was crazy. And the way he died! I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”
    Well, that made sense. Sabina had been there at the very end. In fact, she had been at least partly responsible for his sensational death.
    “ I thought you said you were going to stop all that,” she went on. “Playing at being a spy …”
    “ It was never my choice,” Alex replied. “And anyway, I’ve already told your dad. I’ve stopped. It’s not going to happen again.”

    Sabina sighed. “San Francisco’s great,” she said. “Great shops. Great food. Great weather. But I miss England.” She paused. “I miss you.”
    “ I’ll come visit. I promise.”
    “ You’d better… .”
    They had only been outside for a couple of minutes, but in this weather it was more than enough. Alex could see the flakes of snow in Sabina’s hair. “Let’s go downstairs,” he suggested.
    “ Yeah. Let’s find Dad and get out of here. I’ll go back to the main hall. You look in the other rooms. I want to get back to Mum,