Under The Mountain by Maurice Gee

Author:Maurice Gee [Gee, Maurice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780143305019
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-11-23T07:00:00+00:00

7

THE SWEDISH TWINS

‘So let’s get started,’ he said.

The old man laughed. ‘Theo brings us down to earth.’ But his face had taken a more lively expression. ‘He’s right, Rachel. We aren’t beaten. They’re close to breaking free, those worms of ours, but we’ve got one last chance to lay them low.’

He went to the window, picked up the stones, and came back to his chair. ‘I’ve been more than four hundred years on your world and in that time I’ve found only one other pair who could use them. I’ve hunted in every land. But only one pair. And now two. Twins. Red-heads – red is our colour. Opposites. And with the gift of “speaking”. I thought because you weren’t identical it mightn’t work – but see …’ He held the stones out on his palms. ‘… they want to go to you. They want to be used.’

The stones were flickering – at least, the one in his left hand was flickering for Rachel, from white to reddish-yellow, from oval to seven-sided, and the one in his right for Theo, in shape, in colour – white to blue. They felt warmth radiating from them, and they reached out their hands.

‘No,’ Mr Jones said. ‘Things have changed since yesterday. You’ve come a long way – the mud-people have pushed you through whole generations of change. You’re not the same Rachel and Theo Matheson. But there’s still a long way to go. You can’t touch these again until you can see them. Absolutely steady. And you’ve got to see every side at once. All seven sides. And see yourself looking in from every one. And you’ve got to see the colour – rich and dark, and yet as clear as water.’

He looked steadily at them. The stones flickered and threw out their warmth.

‘And when you can do that you’ve got to hold them. And that will hurt. You’ve got to endure the hurt – and wait – until it grows less. It will go away in the end.’

Silence again. They could hear themselves breathing.

At last Theo said, ‘All right. I think we understand. What happens then? When we can hold them how do we use them?’

‘One thing at a time, Theo. I’ll show you how to use them – but first, you show me you can hold them.’

‘All right.’

He reached out his hand and picked up the blue pebble. But at once he yelled with pain and jerked his hand in the air. The stone fell on the floor and lay there flickering.

‘It’s red-hot.’

‘You’re too fast, Theo. Learn to see it first. Then it will not be so hot. Not quite so hot.’ Mr Jones was smiling but he had gone pale. He reached down and picked up the stone.

‘Now look at them. Concentrate. Forget your hand, Theo, the pain’s gone now. Look at your stone. Seven sides. Take it in your mind. Let it know it belongs to you – you’re the boss. Tell it to keep still. Tell it to stop flickering.

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