The Grey Beginning by Barbara Michaels

Author:Barbara Michaels
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1984-08-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

6

I WOKE UP SNEEZING. I HAD NOT CAUGHT COLD; THERE was a cat sitting on my face. Somebody giggled, and a voice said, “You have a mustache. A black-and-white-striped mustache.”

I removed the cat’s tail from under my nose and sat up. The kitten slid down my front, rolled over, and attacked my knees. I made a grab for it. Pete got to it first and hugged it protectively to his chest.

“Joe did not mean to hurt.”

“I was thinking about the sheets.” Ruefully I examined the perforated silk. “Your grandmother isn’t going to like this. I’m afraid Joe will have to have his claws clipped.”

“Clipped?” The silver-gray eyes widened in horror.

“It won’t hurt him. A scratching post might not be such a bad idea either.” I sank back onto the pillows, yawning. “You little demon, don’t you know that people who wake up their friends by putting cats on their faces are not popular?”

“But you sleep too late. Today we have the football, and also washing of David’s things. He said we could help. What do you call them—the things from the storeroom?”

“Darned if I know.” It had been late before I got to sleep, following the accident and its aftermath, but the beaming face that peered at me from over the cat totally disarmed me. He was reacting to a Saturday off like any child freed from the appalling boredom of studies.

“You have a mustache now,” I said. “Okay, buster, scram out of here and let me get dressed. I’ll be with you soonest. Am I allowed to eat breakfast first?”

A knock sounded at the door, and the boy’s face altered so unpleasantly I reached out a hand to him. Emilia came in before I could reply. “You are ready for breakfast?” she asked. “I have—” Then she saw Pete, who had retired behind the bed curtains, and burst into a tirade in Italian.

“I asked him to wake me,” I said sharply. “That will be all, Emilia. I’ll be down in fifteen minutes.”

“The contessa has eaten an hour ago. I will bring a tray to you.”

Pete didn’t come out from his shelter until she had closed the door. “You don’t have to go,” I told him. “Wait for me if you like.”

“No, I will put Joe in my room. Then I will go to David. He is in his room, at the garage. You will come?”

“As soon as I can.”

He scuttled out, clutching Joe. He didn’t want to encounter Emilia again, even with me there to defend him.

When I came out of the bathroom my breakfast tray was on the desk. For all her bulk Emilia could move quietly when she chose. I wasn’t sure I liked that idea.

The scientists were hard at work when I arrived. David had put his rags to soak. A row of trays filled with muddy liquid lay on the table. Pete was peering onto one of them with an expectant air that was, in my opinion, hardly justified. All I could see was dirty water.

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