During the bus ride, Mike told me the few things he knew about the missing princess Ariella de Nova. There wasn't any more to say other than a half dozen facts, as the princess disappeared at such a young age.
I felt very sure that I was she. It all would make sense if I was. But in the back of my mind, I realized that there was still a small chance I wasn't that this was all one big coincidence.
If it was somehow proved that I wasn't the princess, it would be a bit embarrassing. I would feel bad for having gotten the family's hopes up. I hoped they wouldn't get angry with us. And I would have no idea what Mike and I would do next.
When the bus came to a halt at our stop, Mike tapped me on the shoulder, and I silently stood up. Once off the bus, with our luggage in hand, we stopped next to a payphone booth.
While Mike went in to call for a taxi, I pondered over the chances of the payphone booth's existence. I had thought that all payphone booths were long gone by now.
Mike exited the phone booth.
"The taxi should be here in 25 minutes", he said.
Ten minutes later, a black car pulled up in front of us and two men got out.
"That's not the taxi." I said to Mike in an uneasy way.
The men were dressed like bodyguards. They walked up to us and stopped in front of Mike abruptly.
"Are you Mike?" he asked.
Mike just nodded.
"Alright, both of you come with us!" one of the men said.
"And who might you be?" asked Mike.
"We were sent on behalf of the royal family de Nova to collect you."
Mike and I shared a look.
"Let's go. Get in the car, the plane is waiting!" the second man said gruffly.
Mike and I got into the backseat as one of the men started the car and the other put all our things into the trunk.
Once he closed the lid of the trunk, and got in the passengers' side, we drove off.
The car ride was strangely quiet, and I could feel the tension in the air. Or maybe it was just my own anxiety.
The driver said, "So, this is your princess Ariella de Nova, huh?", to Mike.
But Mike never answered him.
I remembered when Mike told me about his previous employment with the royal family and how he was fired. But based on his reaction, he hadn't recognised these two men. It made me wonder if the family went through different staff often.
When the car turned off a main road and down a dirt lane, I stared paying attention to where we were driving again. The close-knit trees on either side of us soon thinned and then disappeared altogether as we drove into a clearing. In the field of short grass was a runway for airplanes. At one end of the runway was a small airplane.
The driver stopped the car a little way from the plane.
"Get out." He said.
Mike and I exited the car. One of the men handed Mike some of the luggage and then he carried the rest. We were escorted towards the plane.
As we got closer, I could see that the pilot was already in the cockpit.
A man greeted the four of us with a wave. It seemed there was six of us in total; Mike and I, the pilot, the two men escorting us and the one waving.
"Good to see you two." The man who waved said to the two men we were walking with.
They both nodded to him.
"Let's get in the plane and get a move on."
Our luggage was loaded into the plane and then we were asked to get in. I followed Mike in.
Inside, the arrangement of the plane surprised me. I expected there to be seats in rows, like there were in airplanes in the movies.
But, instead, there was the cockpit and then a small bathroom, and two rows of bench seat on either side, ending in an area to secure luggage.
After letting my eyes flit everywhere, taking in the plane's interior, I sat down silently beside Mike.
'You look surprised.' Mike thought to me.
'Yes, I am. This plane is very different.' I said to him with my thoughts.
Mike smiled. 'This is the kind of plane owned by the royal family de Nova, but never used by them.'
'When is it ever used then?'
'To transport the family's staff and servants. If the family flew somewhere on vacation, then this would be used to transport whomever they wanted to join them there.'
I said nothing, but silently I wondered if I knew what I was getting myself into.