Aldrin Adams and the Legend of Nemeswiss by Paul Howard

Author:Paul Howard [Howard, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241441695
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2023-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

FLASHBACK

It was an ordinary weekday morning and Maurice was sitting in the refrigerated van outside Cynthia’s apartment.

‘Morning,’ said Cynthia, climbing into the front passenger seat. ‘Are we ready to sell some cheese?’

‘More than ready!’ Maurice enthused.

Cynthia had her dream journal tucked safely under her arm.

‘So,’ Maurice said as he pulled out into the traffic, ‘how did it go last night?’

‘It all went to plan,’ she told him. ‘The poor little girl.’

‘A monkey playing the cymbals, wasn’t it?’

‘I don’t know why they have to make toys so scary.’ Cynthia opened her journal. ‘Toys that come to life,’ she said as she made the entry in her usual small and tidy hand. ‘Des jouets qui prennent vie. Cinq onces de Pont l’Évêque et trois onces de Rosso di Lago.’

‘How’s your head?’ Maurice asked.

‘It’ll be a lot better after I eat this,’ she replied, removing a ziplock bag containing four slices of Red Leicester from her briefcase.

They smiled at each other as they passed through Sloane Square.

Cynthia didn’t regret telling Maurice her secret. He was not just her friend now – he had become her sidekick.

He was an additional pair of ears. He listened out for stories of people who suffered from recurring nightmares and he brought them to Cynthia’s attention. For instance, the little girl who was terrorized nightly by the battery-powered monkey with the cymbals was his sister’s goddaughter.

As well as providing her with material for her missions, Maurice offered Cynthia a supportive shoulder. She bounced ideas and theories off him. And, when she worried – as she often did – that she wasn’t doing enough to thwart the work of Habeas Grusselvart, Maurice reminded her that every nightmare she entered resulted in one more person being freed from his evil hold.

But, while he was being a friend to Cynthia, something else was happening. Maurice was falling in love with her. It had happened slowly over the course of the past year – in fact, almost from the very day she told him her secret.

There were many times when he was on the point of telling her how he felt. But his nerve always failed him. Until that morning.

They were driving along the Mall.

‘Cynthia,’ Maurice said out of the blue, ‘I have something to tell you. It’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.’

‘Oh?’ she replied.

He took a deep breath.

‘I’m in love with you,’ he said.

Cynthia remained quiet for a long moment.

‘Morr-eece,’ she said then in an apologetic tone, ‘I’m very flattered, but –’

‘You don’t feel the same way,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry, Morr-eece,’ she said, ‘but no. And also –’

‘What?’ he snapped, feeling foolish for having revealed his feelings. ‘You’re not going to tell me there’s someone else?’

‘Well, yes,’ she said. ‘His name is Doug.’

‘Doug?’ Maurice repeated. ‘Who is he?’

‘Please don’t be like that,’ she begged him. ‘He’s a buyer for a local supermarket chain in Norwich.’

‘What?’ said Maurice bitterly. ‘And you actually like this supermarket buyer person?’

‘Yes, I do,’ she said. ‘And he likes me. As a

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