Dirty Magic by Carol Hughes
Author:Carol Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780375849190
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2008-01-08T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER
16
Breaking In
When Joe woke the next morning, Mary was going about her daily tasks. The old woman built a fire in the dusty grate and hung a teakettle over it. Then she stood and took the wooden shutters from a large window. Daylight, or a sort of daylight, filtered in through the filthy panes. The weather looked as grim as it had been on every previous day. There was one difference. The dawn had brought with it a fog. A real pea-souper. Joe watched the mists swirl past the window.
Spider slept without stirring till after midday. No more Heathermen came to the ramshackle room, and Mary spent the whole morning puttering about. She seemed to be constantly tidying, but what there was to tidy, Joe couldnât see.
Beside him, Katherine was silently removing everything from Spiderâs backpack and taking stock. In the bottom, she found the one remaining distracter box. She lifted it out and laid it gently on the ground. Then she began to unpack the pockets.
âWhat are you doing?â whispered Joe.
âLooking for anything that might be useful,â she said. âIf I had the control for this box Iâd take it, but heâs got it in his poacherâs pocket, the big one inside his coat.â
âYouâd take it?â queried Joe. âTake it where?â
âTo get my brother out. Iâm tired of waiting.â
Spider started to laugh.
Katherine rolled her eyes. âHe canât even be trusted to be asleep when heâs snoring,â she said, stuffing her pockets with the most useful items she could find.
âYou wouldnât know one end of the Druckee from the other,â Spider said. âYouâd be caught and locked up in seconds.â He laughed some more.
Katherine looked furious and tried to get up. Spider pulled her back down.
âSettle yourself, miss,â said Spider, still chuckling. âI promised to take you to the Druckee, and I will. But weâd be fools to go out there in daylight. Just you hold your horses till nightfall, and weâll be off.â
That day was one of the longest and slowest Joe could remember. It was worse than a rainy winter Saturday at home. At least at home he had his things, his projects, his models. Here there was nothing to do except sit and wait.
When evening finally came, however, Spider sniffed and stood.
âLetâs go,â he said as he quietly opened the door.
âWeâll take a look at the old place first, and then Iâll have to do some thinking.â
Spider stepped out onto the street and beckoned them to follow him. The street was crowded with people, and they all seemed to be heading in the same direction. Horses and carts blocked the road, and crowds of people walked three abreast on the pavements. Joe was stunned. The last time heâd been out, the streets had been deserted.
Joe had never seen a city like this. It must have been incredible before the war. For one thing, there didnât seem to be a straight line anywhere. The buildings that were still standing leaned, swooped, curved, or twisted as they loomed above him.
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