Wisely he decided not to make a big thing of this mask of Alex’s, even though it appeared to be alive. Clearly Chloe was used to the fact.
Instead he spoke to Chloe. ‘There’s a bat that keeps stalking us,’ he said to his step-sister. ‘Clo, Alex has gone loopy.’ Chloe ignored Jordy for the moment.
‘Alex, you can’t just opt out of a family. I’m your sister. Jordy’s your step-brother. You can’t change that, whatever you do. You might not want our company any more, but you’ll still be our brother. Please, try to understand how we feel. We’re concerned for you.’
‘That’s what I mean,’ said Alex simply. ‘I don’t want you to be. I’m all right. Nothing’s wrong with me. I just don’t want fussing.’
‘OK, we won’t fuss. But don’t do anything silly, will you? Promise? Don’t run away or hide or anything.’
This speech, short and simple as it was, seemed to touch something of the old Alex deep inside. He stared at his sister with big, brown, untroubled eyes through the holes in the mask. It was true, there was no turbulence in Alex, only calmness and tranquillity. He was all right. It was them who weren’t.
‘Fine,’ he said. ‘I promise, sis.’
‘Thank you.’
She turned away and began busying herself with something, anything, to stop the tears from welling up and flowing. She was losing her brother. Of course they couldn’t remain as children all their lives. She would leave for university or a job somewhere, or perhaps to get married. He would remain behind for a time, but then leave himself, perhaps finding work that would take him halfway around the world. Who knew how the separation might come about, but it was a natural process, which would leave no scars and no regrets. They would always think fondly of one another, wherever they were, however distant from each other.
This? This was too soon. And he seemed not to care that he was hurting her. All he seemed to care about was his freedom and solitude.
Well, I won’t let him, she told herself mentally. He might not care, but I do, and I can be just as determined and selfish about what I want.
And that was true too.
‘Is that it?’ asked Jordy quietly, later. ‘Are we just going to let him do what he wants? I like having the little beggar around. I don’t want him to become a bloody hermit.’
Chloe could have hugged Jordy for that, but she didn’t, of course.
‘We’ll have to work on him, without him knowing it,’ she said. ‘We’re older, wiser and more cunning than he is, though he thinks he’s the bees’ knees at the moment. We’ll get the old Alex back, don’t you worry, Jordy. I’ll see to that.’
‘What are you two whispering about?’ called Alex. ‘You hatching something?’
‘Listen to Mr Suspicious,’ called back Jordy. ‘Come on over and we’ll tell you.’
‘No chance.’
In fact, Alex was feeling a little crowded, being with the other two for so long.
It didn’t take him long to forget what he’d just promised Chloe about not running away and hiding. He wandered away from the camp. He made sure the other two weren’t looking and went off to see what he could find.
There was something terribly wrong. Every member of the Removal Firm sensed it in the atmosphere. Something very, very bad was in the dust. The whole attic was in danger. A disaster was imminent. Their world as they knew it was about fall down around their ears. The dust sprites sensed it. When they appeared now their brief journeys were frantic affairs. There was panic in them and they knew not the source. Every beetle, every mouse, was waiting in trembling anticipation for something to happen – they knew not what, but they felt disaster coming – and they were full of dread. Hearts beat a thousand times faster. Eyes were everywhere. Today? Perhaps. Tomorrow? Maybe. Soon? Almost certainly.
But who? Who was planning this destruction? The Removal Firm could only think the latest incomers were responsible. Were they not playing with fire, those recent intruders? Had they not caused havoc among the villages? Had not one of them disrupted the underworld by entering the wrong trapdoor and disturbed the currents of time and place? No real harm had been done yet, but surely these were they who planned something awful, something so heinous it was hard to believe. The Removal Firm decided to step up their efforts to capture the incomers before this horrible crime