To read the story from the start go to: https://the-inkling.com/catch-up-with-the-inklings/
D’arby sat down on a stone wall and felt like a failure. He’d watched Anthony lead Syafika into his block of units and hadn’t been able to save her. D’arby was glad that Fanta hadn’t been there to see how useless he’d been. D’arby realised that he’d gotten into this mess by being over-confident – he’d begun to think that he knew how to be a spy but that was just because he’d never really been tested. Real spies would know how to save their friends from dangerous situations but D’arby hadn’t had a clue.
D’arby tried to calm himself down by telling himself that Syafika probably wasn’t in any real danger and the only problem was that she might be feeling unprotected and alone. D’arby decided that he’d wait outside, all night if necessary, to make sure that Syafika made it out ok. To make the time pass faster D’arby thought about his work at RenewBank. The business with Anthony had caused a delay in the modelling work that D’arby, Carol and Valentine had been doing. D’arby knew they weren’t ready to make any plans public, because they hadn’t properly modelled anything yet. Leopold seemed to have worked things out in his head already though. D’arby wondered what Leopold had been doing before he started working for RenewBank and decided he’d ask him the next time he saw him.
D’arby was busy thinking about all the things RenewBank would have to do to phase-in their new currency and was imagining all the things that could go wrong when a man stopped and handed him some money and said “Go and get yourself a coffee”.
“Thanks!” said D’arby. He realised that a coffee would be a really good idea and wondered why someone would be so kind. D’arby stood up and wondered where he could get a coffee at that time of the night. He realised that he’d have to go to one of those dreadful 24 hour fast food places and wasn’t sure the coffee would be worth the effort. It also occurred to D’arby that maybe the person who’d told him to get a coffee was working for Anthony and the plan was to get him away from the door.
D’arby looked up at the building, half expecting to see Anthony spying on him from one of the balconies, but D’arby couldn’t see anyone. Then D’arby noticed a balcony light turn on about two thirds up the building. He watched carefully and saw the balcony door slide open. Out walked Syafika. She closed the door behind her and looked out. D’arby realised that she must have been looking for him and he started to wave. Syafika didn’t seem to notice and D’arby realised he was standing in the dark so he rushed to a street light and waved again.
When Syafika saw D’arby she waved back and smiled. Then she leaned over the balcony and yelled “Go home! I’m ok – I just keep vomiting so I’ll stay here tonight. I’ll probably be ok by the morning. Go!”
“I’d rather stay, just in case” yelled D’arby.
“What?” said Syafika.
“I’m staying, just in case” yelled D’arby.
“No. Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t sleep in the park. Go home” Syafika replied. And she went back inside and turned off the balcony light.
D’arby stood there for a few minutes. First he memorized which balcony Syafika had appeared on and then he thought about what he should do. He realised that the main thing stopping him from going home was what Fanta might say when she realised that Syafika was all on her own with Anthony.”Maybe Fanta will know what I should do” thought D’arby. “I should just tell her what’s going on, not sit out here doing nothing”. D’arby looked at his watch and realised that if he hurried Fanta might still be awake when he got home.
The Inkling 