Voices in Stone - Emily Diamand Page 0,16

running straight through a wall and disappearing; Isis hadn’t seen him since.

And now Mandeville was materialising right next to her, dustily congealing onto the plastic school chair. He was much too tall for it, and forced to draw his knees up, his green-grey skin showing through the threads of his trousers.

Isis shifted in her seat, facing away from him as much as she could. If only she could run out of the classroom. Run out of school!

She glued her gaze to the paper.

“Who do you think has the better job?” she read, trying not to cough. “A lawyer or a car mechanic?”

“Whatever,” answered Jess. “A lawyer, because they earn loads of money.” She gave a sudden shiver, rubbing her arms. “Why is it so cold in here?”

“Is this girl one of your friends?” asked Mandeville, surveying Jess with his ice-blue eyes.

Isis ignored him. “A mechanic makes people happy though,” she said to Jess, “when they fix people’s cars. My mum thinks her mechanic is great. She says he keeps her on the road.”

Jess answered Isis without looking at her. “Your car must be a heap of rubbish, then. A lawyer can just buy a new car, so they don’t need mechanics.” She wrote ‘lawyer’ on her sheet of paper, next to the question.

“What a charming girl,” said Mandeville.

“Go away!” Isis mouthed at him, not making a sound.

Mandeville tilted his head. “All I want to do is help you.”

Jess ran her finger along the next question on the sheet. “What kind of job would you like?” she read. “This is so lame!” Her eyes flicked up to Isis. “Go on then, what job do you want to do? Something that makes people happy?” Mandeville tutted and Jess coughed, scowling a little deeper. “I think you’re making me ill.”

“Isn’t she delightful?” said Mandeville. “She reminds me of my descendants, and why I never visit them.”

Go away! Isis wanted to shout, except she couldn’t even admit he was there.

“I don’t know what I want to do,” Isis said to Jess. It was hard to imagine doing any normal job, with Angel and Mandeville around. “Maybe… something where you can be by yourself?”

She instantly regretted her words, because Jess laughed and said, “You’ve got that already! Is that why you’re so creepy, so you can be alone all the time?”

“I’m not creepy,” said Isis, but Jess only laughed again.

“Unique is the word I would use to describe you,” said Mandeville. “No one else here has your talents, my dear.”

“I know!” said Jess, pointing her pen at Isis. “You could work for the council, emptying dog poo bins! You’d definitely be by yourself, and you wouldn’t stink much worse than you do now!”

“I’m not doing that!” said Isis, fighting back tears. She wasn’t going to cry, not here.

“Dog poo dead girl,” said Jess, smiling nastily.

“What do you want to do, then?” asked Isis. “You couldn’t be a lawyer, you have to be clever for that.”

Jess’s smile vanished. “Write what you want,” she said, “you’ll still end up doing something pathetic. I’m going to be rich, and live in a big house and have loads of designer clothes.”

“But what job will you do?”

Jess shrugged. “I’ll probably win The X Factor or something.” She wrote ‘earn lots of money’ as her answer.

Mandeville reached out a long arm and tapped Jess’s pen with a bony finger. The nib seemed to disintegrate, the plastic becoming aged and brittle. Ink smeared across the paper and over Jess’s hand.

“Hey!” she cried.

“She used to be such a sweet, caring girl,” said Mandeville. “How sad the way she has changed.”

Isis turned and glared, trying to show with a flick of her eyes that he should get lost.

“Doubtless you don’t believe me,” said Mandeville, “but we need only ask her family.”

He turned and cupped his hands to his mouth. Isis could see his mouth move, as if he were calling out, but there was no sound. A shape began to form behind him, a new smell filling the air, oddly mixed of wet clay and roses. The ghost of a tall woman was materialising in the classroom, her presence wavering and uncertain. Isis could see her short grey hair, pale eyes, and the long scarf draped around her shoulders. As the woman turned her head, looking at Jess, a warm smile spread over her face. The woman’s mouth moved, but Isis couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“What are you doing?” Isis hissed at Mandeville.

Jess looked up, unaware of the ghosts. “I’m doing this stupid