The Many-Angled World by Christopher G. Nuttall

Author:Christopher G. Nuttall
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2024-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One: Gatehouse, York, Now.

“This is the dining hall,” Norris said, as he showed Janie into the giant chamber. “I think you will find the food is actually edible, unlike the slop they used to serve back home.”

Janie didn’t smile. Norris understood. She’d spent the last day answering questions from countless people, from the school staff to police and government security officers who’d been allowed into Gatehouse for a few hours, and then gone to bed early. Norris had woken her in the morning and taken her to breakfast, then started to show her around the school. It would have been easier, he supposed, if the magical students hadn’t been giving him the cold shoulder. He hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with the mundane newcomers , either… he thought they would take one look at him and put him firmly back in his place. It would be like he’d never gone anywhere at all. Janie, thankfully, didn’t seem inclined to try.

Norris shot Janie a sidelong look. It was hard to be sure – he’d never been the most empathic person – but she looked depressed, perhaps even grieving. Norris had no idea what it was like to have a proper friend. It was hard not to feel a tidal wave of envy for the now-dead Jack, yet … he supposed that Janie having lost Jack had to be painful. The fact she’d played a role in his death, and the deaths of several others, couldn’t have helped, either. Norris didn’t feel any guilt over Colin’s death, but he’d been Colin, the resident bullying arsehole who made normal bullying arseholes look decent by comparison. Norris would have danced on his grave, if he’d had a chance, and besides … it had been his other personality, Norris2, who’d killed him. Janie had helped to kill her best friend, and – perhaps – a few innocents. She could hardly be blamed for feeling guilty.

He picked up a tray and led her to the counter, where he picked up slices of roast chicken, roasted potatoes, and a selection of vegetables that were cooked properly. It still staggered him to realise that one could cook a decent meal for an entire school, rather than feeding kids meals that had been rejected by the local jail, when they didn’t look suspiciously like cardboard covered with brown water. Janie followed him like a duckling following her mother, keeping her eyes lowered as they made their way to the drinks counter – no coloured water here – and then a table at the far side of the room. Norris felt weirdly protective as she sat down, eyes following their every move. He deserved their suspicion. Janie did not.

“They don’t seem to like you,” Janie observed, quietly. “Why?”

Norris made a face. “You’re not the only one to make a dangerous mistake,” he said, a statement that was technically true even though it was a little misleading. “And my mistake was a great deal worse, because I went into it with my eyes opened wide.

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