The Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl

Author:Patrice Kindl [Kindl, Patrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Eleven

I froze. I did not move a muscle. If I simply lay perfectly still, the person would never see me.

"Well," the voice said impatiently, "answer the question, can't you? Don't just lie there with your jaw hanging open. It's not particularly attractive, you know."

It was true, I did have my mouth open. He saw me!

"Are you A or not?" the voice persisted.

I found my voice. "Not," I whispered.

"What?" it said irritably. "Speak up."

"N-not," I repeated, louder this time.

This did not pacify the voice.

"Don't give me that 'not' stuff," it said. "Sure you are. You must be A. Who else? I mean, there isn't anybody else living in here, is there?"

I shook my head no. What a fool! I should have said that there was a whole colony of us living inside the wall and all of us, to a woman, armed to the teeth.

"Were you the one having the temper tantrum?"

I sat up abruptly. "What do you mean, 'temper tantrum'?" I asked, offended. Kirsty used to have temper tantrums for years, up until she was about seven years old. I had always found them deeply embarrassing to witness.

"The usual, I guess," said the voice, sounding perplexed. "You know, a temper tantrum, where you throw yourself on the floor and kick and scream."

I was silent for a moment, considering what to do. I had never in my life been in a situation remotely like this, and I didn't have a clue as to what my next move ought to be. A panic-stricken voice in my head was shrieking Hidehidehide! But where? While I lay sleeping and unaware, the enemy had broken through my defenses, breached my walls, penetrated to the secret center of my citadel. He was in my hiding place. So now what?

"Could you stop shining that light in my eyes?" I said finally.

"Oh. Sorry." The light swung away from me and then vanished with the flick of a switch.

The pupils of my eyes slowly began to readjust, and I could see a little better. He (for it was definitely a male who had invaded my world) loomed enormous in the narrow space. He must have simply put his head down and bulled his way through the passage. I wondered uneasily if he would be able to retreat or whether he was now a permanent fixture in my front hall.

A thought struck me.

"Are you ... are you F?" I asked.

"Sure. How else would I know about A?"

"A?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Who is A? Do you mean Andrea? I believe there is a girl of that name who lives here in the house. On the other side of the wall, of course. Very pretty," I added, vainly hoping that he would be tempted to go find her and leave me alone.

"No, not Andrea," he said scornfully. "I've known A wasn't Andrea for ages. And stop being so dumb, A. If you're not A, then how do you know about F?"

I was silent, stumped. He had me there, I had to admit.

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