Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

Author:Tim Wynne-Jones [Wynne-Jones, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5455-9
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2011-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

The sky over Kingston looks like someone stuck a giant syringe into it and sucked out all the color.

Kitty doesn’t step down onto the platform right away. She hangs back and lets other passengers disembark ahead of her. You stand there looking up at her, afraid you’re losing her again. Then you see the fear in her eyes. No, not fear: caution. That’s all. Intense caution. And so instead of pleading with her to hoof it, you saunter down the platform, cool as all get out, checking the crowd for the kind of person to be cautious of. You’re not sure what to look for. Then you realize that your job is simple: look for someone who is looking for someone. Nobody seems to be. And when you turn back, she has finally disembarked and is walking toward you. The platform is nearly empty.

“Everything’s cool,” you say.

She laughs and grabs hold of your arm. “Thank goodness,” she says in a movie voice. “Our secret formula is safe!” She’s making fun of you, but you like her holding on to you so tight, her breast pressed against your arm. Then she drops it. It was all just part of the charade.

You have to go down a set of stairs to an underground passageway that leads to the terminal on the other side of the tracks.

She stops halfway down the staircase, squats to peer along the tunnel, and you realize that no one with any brains would have waited for her on the platform, anyway. They’d be down here or in the main terminal. She’d thought of that. She’s warier than you are. Remember that, Blink. And faster.

The way seems clear, but you keep your eyes peeled. You will help her escape if you have to. You imagine throwing yourself in the path of some druggie, taking his feet out from under him while she runs away.

The thing is, people do look at her — maybe it’s the clothes: the yellow socks, purple tights, red and blue kilt, and crazy blue jacket. How can they not look? You can hardly stop looking at her yourself.

She gives the terminal a good once-over, twice-over — then relaxes. “I’m going to phone Alyson,” you say. But she shakes her head and makes you sit down.

“Tell me more,” she says.

“Like what?”

She puts her face in her hands to cover a huge yawn. She’s not bored, just exhausted.

“Okay,” she says. “Start with how exactly you’re going to make this million dollars you’re talking about.”

It sounds juvenile to hear her throw this back at you. “Well, that was just —”

“Bullshit, I realize that,” she says, cutting you off a little irritably. “I just want to hear how you expect to make anything out of this.”

This is good, you think: put your gut feeling into words. Forget the picture of the pretty blonde on the lawn for a minute and concentrate.

“The only way to find out for sure Niven is up to something is to check out this idea of Alyson’s.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.