landing, they paused and watched his wife close Grace’s door. Then they walked quickly down the stairs and through the house toward the kitchen. Mika primed the house alarm and they left, locking the kitchen door behind them.
Awen ran ahead up the sloping lawn, and the twins followed quickly. When they reached the copse of trees, they looked back and saw a gold light in Grace’s window. She was watching them leave.
I feel sorry for her,
Ellie thought.
Her father’s Raphael Mose. She’s going to get mixed up in this
.
We’ll look after her,
Mika replied.
If she needs looking after. I get the feeling she can look after herself
.
9 Dangerous Friends
K obi’s first night in The Shadows was cold. He’d forgotten how cold it could be. The damp permeated everything, and nothing ever dried. Clothes rotted in drawers, carpets rotted on the floor, and curtains blackened and fell to bits at the windows. The platform was to blame, and the burst river, and ultimately, the adults who had made this mess.
A couple of hours after they arrived, his father decided to go and find John, who’d moved his old pub in Soho to the eleventh floor of the Future Communication Building. He invited Kobi to join him, but Kobi didn’t feel like it. He felt strange, a little sick, and he didn’t understand what was wrong with him. So he said he felt ill and stayed behind.
But although he tried to sleep, he couldn’t. His clothes and the bed were damp, and through the walls he could hear all the people around him. Children fretting, adults talking, doors opening and closing, and people walking up anddown the passage. The room had no window, so it felt like a cardboard box left in the middle of somebody else’s house.
He tossed and turned in the bed, unable to get comfortable and vaguely aware that he was missing out on something. He was also starting to feel guilty. He was in a safe place, but where were his friends? What had happened to Mika and Audrey … and Tom? Tom had been left without a game partner when Kobi stopped playing the game. Kobi hadn’t cared at the time, but he was starting to care now.
He tried to call Mika but got no reply. Mika’s companion had been taken away by Mal Gorman, but Kobi didn’t know this.
He lay in the darkness feeling stifled and restless. Wondering if coming to this place had been a mistake.
His father returned after a few hours, looking warmed by beer and good company. He brought the bustle of the building with him. He talked loudly and filled the small room with movement. He didn’t seem to care that everyone around them could hear what he was saying through the walls.
Kobi lay with his hands behind his head, watching his father change into his pajamas.
“John’s really landed on his feet here,” Abe said. “The bar was packed. He’s got the old pub sign on the wall and they even salvaged his chairs and tables. Real wood. Two hundred years old. It’s good in there … a really good atmosphere. You should come next time.”
“I’m not old enough to drink beer,” Kobi said.
“True,” his father replied. “But you’re old enough to be sociable. They let kids in.”
“They’re all younger than me.”
His father looked at him, with one leg in his pajamas. “Do you still feel ill?” he asked.
“Sort of,” Kobi replied. “And guilty,” he admitted. “All my friends are gone.”
His father finished putting his pajamas on and sat on the bed, next to his son. “Have you spoken to any of them? Have you tried calling Mika?”
“Yes. His companion’s switched off.”
“They’ve probably taken it away,” his father said.
“That’s what I thought,” Kobi replied.
“We were talking about it in the bar,” his father said. “You mustn’t feel guilty. Everyone believes you did the right thing. They’re all saying what a smart boy you are. You’re a hero, Kobi.”
“No, I’m not,” Kobi replied.
“You are,” his father insisted. “You were smart enough
Awen ran ahead up the sloping lawn, and the twins followed quickly. When they reached the copse of trees, they looked back and saw a gold light in Grace’s window. She was watching them leave.
I feel sorry for her,
Ellie thought.
Her father’s Raphael Mose. She’s going to get mixed up in this
.
We’ll look after her,
Mika replied.
If she needs looking after. I get the feeling she can look after herself
.
9 Dangerous Friends
K obi’s first night in The Shadows was cold. He’d forgotten how cold it could be. The damp permeated everything, and nothing ever dried. Clothes rotted in drawers, carpets rotted on the floor, and curtains blackened and fell to bits at the windows. The platform was to blame, and the burst river, and ultimately, the adults who had made this mess.
A couple of hours after they arrived, his father decided to go and find John, who’d moved his old pub in Soho to the eleventh floor of the Future Communication Building. He invited Kobi to join him, but Kobi didn’t feel like it. He felt strange, a little sick, and he didn’t understand what was wrong with him. So he said he felt ill and stayed behind.
But although he tried to sleep, he couldn’t. His clothes and the bed were damp, and through the walls he could hear all the people around him. Children fretting, adults talking, doors opening and closing, and people walking up anddown the passage. The room had no window, so it felt like a cardboard box left in the middle of somebody else’s house.
He tossed and turned in the bed, unable to get comfortable and vaguely aware that he was missing out on something. He was also starting to feel guilty. He was in a safe place, but where were his friends? What had happened to Mika and Audrey … and Tom? Tom had been left without a game partner when Kobi stopped playing the game. Kobi hadn’t cared at the time, but he was starting to care now.
He tried to call Mika but got no reply. Mika’s companion had been taken away by Mal Gorman, but Kobi didn’t know this.
He lay in the darkness feeling stifled and restless. Wondering if coming to this place had been a mistake.
His father returned after a few hours, looking warmed by beer and good company. He brought the bustle of the building with him. He talked loudly and filled the small room with movement. He didn’t seem to care that everyone around them could hear what he was saying through the walls.
Kobi lay with his hands behind his head, watching his father change into his pajamas.
“John’s really landed on his feet here,” Abe said. “The bar was packed. He’s got the old pub sign on the wall and they even salvaged his chairs and tables. Real wood. Two hundred years old. It’s good in there … a really good atmosphere. You should come next time.”
“I’m not old enough to drink beer,” Kobi said.
“True,” his father replied. “But you’re old enough to be sociable. They let kids in.”
“They’re all younger than me.”
His father looked at him, with one leg in his pajamas. “Do you still feel ill?” he asked.
“Sort of,” Kobi replied. “And guilty,” he admitted. “All my friends are gone.”
His father finished putting his pajamas on and sat on the bed, next to his son. “Have you spoken to any of them? Have you tried calling Mika?”
“Yes. His companion’s switched off.”
“They’ve probably taken it away,” his father said.
“That’s what I thought,” Kobi replied.
“We were talking about it in the bar,” his father said. “You mustn’t feel guilty. Everyone believes you did the right thing. They’re all saying what a smart boy you are. You’re a hero, Kobi.”
“No, I’m not,” Kobi replied.
“You are,” his father insisted. “You were smart enough
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