Wuthering Dormice (aka Bike) Part 790 by Angharad

“So what do Bill and Ben suggest we do next?” I asked, and Bill rolled his eyes.

“Do as I asked before, use different routes but obviously let us know which way you intend to go.”

“What about Simon and Tom, they have to go out as well?”

“Simon is much more at risk than Professor Agnew, he is a direct member of the Cameron family, whereas the Professor is only by association.”

“He’s my father,” I groaned.

“Not according to our records, that was Derek Watts.”

“He adopted me.”

“Not according to our records.”

“What about the children? What do your records show for them?”

“They show that you have legal guardianship of them for various reasons and are acting as foster mother. The decision was challenged in court and the judge came down very heavily in your favour. It would take a higher court to revoke it, so effectively you and the kids are stuck with each other for the duration.”

“Did it say why it was challenged?”

“What? The sex change business? It’s of no consequence to us, you have legal status as female so are free to marry your fiancé and he you. I believe one of your children is also transgendered. Does that answer your question?”

“So what else did it say about me?”

“Really, Cathy, we have more important things to do than talk about you.” He turned on his heel and went out while I was left speechless for the moment. Simon sniggered behind me, and I went into the kitchen and banged a few pots and pans around while I dealt with my annoyance. How dare he accuse me of being self-absorbed? The sooner they are out of my hair the better, so we need to get these foreign bandits rounded up and dealt with.

“What exactly is happening with the bank?” I asked Simon.

“Shares have been suspended.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“You can’t buy or sell them until things are sorted out.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Both – it means they can’t acquire any – least, not legally. At the same time it tends to lose them value.”

“So that drops the share price?”

“It does, people will sell as soon as they can. Which means they often do at a loss. What we try to do in such circumstances is to buy back the shares, which a couple of hours or so later drives the price up again.”

“Sounds a bit high risk to me,” shares and things were matters I had very little idea of, I planned to keep it that way as long as Simon was with me, he knows far more than I do or am ever likely to.

“It has a certain risk factor; so far on the two occasions when it has happened, we made a few million in a matter of minutes, and reclaimed further control over the bank. It’s pretty well the last one in the west that is still owned by a family, other than some very small fry in the US and places like Italy.”

“What do we do to get these monkeys off our backs?” I asked him thinking he probably had no more idea than I did.”

“I’ve got a friend coming over to install an encrypter on the phone line.”

“Will that make much difference?” I assumed if someone could think of these things someone else can do the same only for profit.

“Oh yes, it will also piss off our uncivil servants, because it will take them time to decode it.”

“Meaning?”

“We could well have invaded Russia by that time.”

“Napoleon and Hitler came unstuck there, Simon, so I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“We actually do quite a bit of business there.”

“Which is why they want your bank so much.”

“Possibly, it’s also a very profitable place to invest apart from all the corruption.”

“So why don’t you pull out?”

“Because it would cost us loads of money.”

“It could anyway, if they get control of the bank.”

“It would also cause horrendous problems on the world’s financial stage.”

“Would it cause the Russian government problems?”

“It could bring them down.”

I picked up the phone –“Tell Henry it’s what you should do?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cathy, this could cost us billions.”

“It would show the Russian government that you don’t do victimhood.”

“I don’t wear any hoods – oh yeah, got you.”

“What if it brings down the government?”

“Ours or theirs?”

“Either, but primarily, theirs.”

“Tough.”

“Geez, Cathy, since when did you get all militant?”

“When my family are threatened – desperate problems require desperate solutions.”

“Are we at desperate, yet?”

“Simon, you might not have noticed we have MI-bloody-5 camped on our doorstep for problems caused by the bandits who profess to be the Russian government. If you threaten to destabilise said government, maybe they’ll think twice and withdraw the gangsters.”

“They could also threaten to nationalise us or kill us.”

“If they nationalised you, there’d be an international hue and cry which would cause enormous ructions. The international community wouldn’t let that happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t. You’re the expert, but it’s how I see it myself.”

“Even if you’re right, what’s to stop them killing us?”

“Bill and Ben.” He looked into my eyes and we both started to snigger, which went on to become a full blown guffaw.

“That’s alright then,” he added while I wiped the tears from my face.

Tom arrived with the girls who were full of questions about the men mending the walls. I explained that there were some nasty men out there who were intent on harming us if they could, so to be extra careful. Simon got them all together with him and read them some stories while Stella and I went over to the garage and did some kick-box exercises. These culminated in us being exhausted, sweaty and sore, but it reminded me just how useful it can be.

If the bad guys had done their homework, they wouldn’t come close enough to get their heads kicked off – I was sincerely hoping they hadn't done all their homework.