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Authors: Justin Richards
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cordon.’
Ben peered out carefully through the gap between the driver’s seat and its headrest. The soldier was approaching and Madam Sosostram hobbled towards him.
‘How’s she going to distract them?’ Ben whispered to Rupam.
‘Don’t look too closely. Try not to focus.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know those pictures that look like a mess of jumbled colours?’ Rupam asked quietly. ‘And if you focus beyond them, let your eyes sort of relax, then a three-dimensional shape appears?’
‘I can never do that,’ Ben admitted.
‘Well, try again. Try now. And you’ll see what the soldiers can see – what Madam Sosostram wants them to see.’
Ben tried it. Madam Sosostram had met the soldier halfway between the car and the Land Rover. The other soldier was walking over slowly to join them, grinning. Madam Sosostram laughed at something the first soldier said. She tilted her head back, pushing a curl of white hair behind her ear. It was a strange movement for the old woman.
‘Can you see it yet?’
Ben shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Madam Sosostram was walking towards theLand Rover, the soldiers walking with her. She placed one hand on the bonnet of the vehicle, leaning over it. There was something odd about the way she had walked, Ben thought – her limp was gone. There was a confidence to her movements that he hadn’t noticed before. And the way she leaned towards the soldier, hand still on the bonnet …
As if she was a young woman, not an old lady.
A young woman.
Ben gasped. He rose up out of the seat to get a better view, but Rupam pulled him down out of sight.
‘You see it now, don’t you?’ He was grinning again.
Ben did see it. As he let his eyes relax, the ungainly figure of Madam Sosostram faded, shimmered and changed. She grew slimmer, her tweedy skirt and jacket somehow becoming an elegant, low-cut dress. Her flat shoes were knee-length boots with chunky heels. Her white curls extended into long, straight, gold-blonde hair. She glanced back over her shoulder and Ben saw that she had eyes like a cat’s, the deepest green. Her skin was no longer old and wrinkled. She was a stunningly beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties.
‘She lets us see her how she really is. But that – that’s how everyone else sees her. The soldiers, those hoodies in the town, everyone. Well, if she wants them to.’
Ben just stared. ‘I saw her,’ he remembered. ‘Soon after I came to the School of Night – I saw her like that and I never even realised it was her.’
‘Maybe she didn’t know you were watching. I guess it’s a habit, keeping up the appearance. Hey – come on,’ Rupam said, climbing quickly and quietly out of the back of the car.
The young woman who was Madam Sosostram had walked slowly round behind the Land Rover and the two soldiers were following her. Ben heard laughter again – the laughter of the soldiers and of a young woman.
He grabbed his rucksack from the front of the car and ran after Rupam to take cover behind the Land Rover, hidden on the opposite side to the soldiers.
Madam Sosostram appeared at the back of the vehicle. She glanced quickly at Ben and Rupam, then gave a curt nod. The boys edged round as Madam Sosostram led the two soldiers back towards her car.
‘Restricted area?’ Ben heard her saying – hervoice was strong and light at the same time, almost musical. ‘That sounds very exciting. I am sorry to have distracted you, but thank you so much for the directions to Dorchester. If I get lost, I’ll just have to come back here and try again, won’t I?’
On the other side of the roadblock, Ben gripped his rucksack tight and ran. He sank down beside Rupam at the edge of the road. The soldiers were watching as an old lady in a red sports car executed a rapid three-point turn in the narrow lane, then roared off into the distance, the music of the Prodigy echoing in her wake.
*
With the soldiers back the other side of the
Ben peered out carefully through the gap between the driver’s seat and its headrest. The soldier was approaching and Madam Sosostram hobbled towards him.
‘How’s she going to distract them?’ Ben whispered to Rupam.
‘Don’t look too closely. Try not to focus.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know those pictures that look like a mess of jumbled colours?’ Rupam asked quietly. ‘And if you focus beyond them, let your eyes sort of relax, then a three-dimensional shape appears?’
‘I can never do that,’ Ben admitted.
‘Well, try again. Try now. And you’ll see what the soldiers can see – what Madam Sosostram wants them to see.’
Ben tried it. Madam Sosostram had met the soldier halfway between the car and the Land Rover. The other soldier was walking over slowly to join them, grinning. Madam Sosostram laughed at something the first soldier said. She tilted her head back, pushing a curl of white hair behind her ear. It was a strange movement for the old woman.
‘Can you see it yet?’
Ben shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Madam Sosostram was walking towards theLand Rover, the soldiers walking with her. She placed one hand on the bonnet of the vehicle, leaning over it. There was something odd about the way she had walked, Ben thought – her limp was gone. There was a confidence to her movements that he hadn’t noticed before. And the way she leaned towards the soldier, hand still on the bonnet …
As if she was a young woman, not an old lady.
A young woman.
Ben gasped. He rose up out of the seat to get a better view, but Rupam pulled him down out of sight.
‘You see it now, don’t you?’ He was grinning again.
Ben did see it. As he let his eyes relax, the ungainly figure of Madam Sosostram faded, shimmered and changed. She grew slimmer, her tweedy skirt and jacket somehow becoming an elegant, low-cut dress. Her flat shoes were knee-length boots with chunky heels. Her white curls extended into long, straight, gold-blonde hair. She glanced back over her shoulder and Ben saw that she had eyes like a cat’s, the deepest green. Her skin was no longer old and wrinkled. She was a stunningly beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties.
‘She lets us see her how she really is. But that – that’s how everyone else sees her. The soldiers, those hoodies in the town, everyone. Well, if she wants them to.’
Ben just stared. ‘I saw her,’ he remembered. ‘Soon after I came to the School of Night – I saw her like that and I never even realised it was her.’
‘Maybe she didn’t know you were watching. I guess it’s a habit, keeping up the appearance. Hey – come on,’ Rupam said, climbing quickly and quietly out of the back of the car.
The young woman who was Madam Sosostram had walked slowly round behind the Land Rover and the two soldiers were following her. Ben heard laughter again – the laughter of the soldiers and of a young woman.
He grabbed his rucksack from the front of the car and ran after Rupam to take cover behind the Land Rover, hidden on the opposite side to the soldiers.
Madam Sosostram appeared at the back of the vehicle. She glanced quickly at Ben and Rupam, then gave a curt nod. The boys edged round as Madam Sosostram led the two soldiers back towards her car.
‘Restricted area?’ Ben heard her saying – hervoice was strong and light at the same time, almost musical. ‘That sounds very exciting. I am sorry to have distracted you, but thank you so much for the directions to Dorchester. If I get lost, I’ll just have to come back here and try again, won’t I?’
On the other side of the roadblock, Ben gripped his rucksack tight and ran. He sank down beside Rupam at the edge of the road. The soldiers were watching as an old lady in a red sports car executed a rapid three-point turn in the narrow lane, then roared off into the distance, the music of the Prodigy echoing in her wake.
*
With the soldiers back the other side of the
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