“Then tell us what it is so we can get on to something important.”

“It’s a false face,” he said, trying to hide his embarrassment with impatience. “She tattooed two symbols on my collarbones and when they’ve healed, in theory, they’ll make me look like I’m normal for a short period of time.”

“Normal?”

“No scars.”

“Wow.”

“Like I said, it’s not important.”

“When can you try it out?”

“Another few hours. It mightn’t work, but…it’s worth a try. It’s better than having to a wear a scarf every time I go out. I think we should get back to the matter at hand. Chabon’s plane lands in an hour, right?”

“He’d be here by now if he’d let me pick him up,” Fletcher said.

“He doesn’t trust us,” Valkyrie told him. “He buys and sells and the people he deals with aren’t always as honest and trustworthy as we are.”

Fletcher shrugged. “I’d have just nicked the skull off him and teleported back here.”

Valkyrie sighed. “Do we have the money?”

Tanith kicked a duffel bag on the floor beside her. “A bit each from our various bank accounts. Good thing money doesn’t mean a whole lot to people like us.”

“Speak for yourself,” grumbled Fletcher.

“You didn’t contribute anything,” Tanith frowned.

“Is contributing time not enough?” Fletcher replied archly.

“Not when you’re trying to buy something, no.”

“Oh.”

Tanith looked back to Valkyrie. “And Val, relax, OK? We’ve thought of everything.”

“Skulduggery told me once that only he can think of everything, but he doesn’t do it very often because it spoils the surprise.”

This raised a smile on Tanith’s lips. “Then we have thought of everything that we four are capable of thinking of, and we can’t think of anything else. There is absolutely no reason to think that this won’t be as easy as meeting up, handing over the money, getting the skull and saying thank you. This afternoon we take a trip up to Aranmore Farm and Fletcher opens the portal. Then we go in, find Skulduggery and bring him back. Easy as proverbial pie.”

“Unless something goes wrong,” Valkyrie said.

“Well, yes. Unless something goes horribly, dreadfully wrong. Which it usually does of course.”

4 BRING ME THE HEAD OF SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT

4
BRING ME THE HEAD OF SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT

Chabon had picked a café on Duke Street for the exchange to take place. Valkyrie and Tanith sat facing the door. Fletcher was beside the window, reading a comic and drinking a Coke and doing his best to look inconspicuous—not an easy feat with that hair. Only Ghastly was absent. His scars were too difficult to conceal from the public for any length of time.