of relief—at last we’d met. She stepped back, and seemed to examine me. She had gentle eyes and pale skin, and she smelled of peppermint.
‘Want one?’ she asked, pulling a small tin of mints out from a fold in her lab coat.
‘Thanks,’ I said taking one.
‘The stink of the solvents gets a bit much for me sometimes,’ she said, smiling.
Immediately, I liked her. I felt I could trust her.
‘You’re so much like Tom,’ she said, leading me down one of the corridors. ‘I nursed Tom up until, you know, we lost him.’
I felt comforted hearing her say my dad’s name.
We turned off the corridor into a small laboratory and Jennifer hastily closed the doorbehind us. ‘He was a very special patient to all of the people who nursed him,’ she said, ‘especially me. We all wanted him to recover. But he steadily got worse. Cal, he wasn’t crazy. He just lost his connectors. Everything got mixed up in his mind. He worked so hard on those drawings for you. Tell me, do you have them?’
‘Yes,’ I said, hoping I was wise to trust her. Thinking about Dad made me so sad, but it was good to be talking to someone else who had valued him. It made me feel more determined than ever that I was going to solve the mystery he’d left me. ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I haven’t had anyone around to talk to about Dad for a while … You must know the amount of trouble I’m in?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘And you’re not scared of me?’
‘No,’ she said like it didn’t need explaining.
I slowly followed her around the laboratory, checking it out. ‘What sort of work do you do here?’ I asked, intrigued by all the strange-looking lab equipment.
‘We make vaccines in one section, but this area is for antivenom production. You might notice a lot of information about reptiles around the place; we keep a lot of snakes here, very venomous ones. We milk the snakes thenprocess their venom into the antidotes to their own toxins.’
Great, I thought, now noticing all the snake-related posters and charts crowding the walls. Just what I need … more dangerous animals.
As we walked along together, she pointed out a closed door a little further along the corridor. ‘This is where we keep our stores of antivenom.’
She opened the door and I looked through. A row of small fridges ran along one side of the room. After she switched the light on, I saw that each fridge was labelled with the name of a deadly snake: brown snake, krait, desert viper, death adder and coral snake.
She closed the door again.
‘So you said you have your father’s drawings?’ she asked.
I was immediately suspicious again. Why did she want to know that?
‘The drawings are safe,’ I said, knowing they were right there behind me, in their folder in the lining of my backpack.
‘Tom was very concerned about those drawings. He wanted you to have them. The doctors would happily have sent them to your mother or your uncle, but I knew it was you he wanted them sent to, so I made sure that happened.’
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘I have something else for you that your father wanted to give you … but, Cal,’ she paused and took my hand, ‘I’m afraid I haven’t got it here for you tonight.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, pulling my hand right back. ‘What is it? Why did you make me come here then?’
‘Look, I don’t want to alarm you—and you’ll probably think I’m completely paranoid—but I had a bad feeling this morning that someone was hanging around my apartment. Now I didn’t even see anyone, or anything,’ she said, shaking her hands and her head simultaneously to stress her point, ‘it was just a feeling. Probably nothing.’
‘What do you mean, feeling ?’
‘You know that feeling you get when you know someone’s watching you, even though you have your back to them?’
I knew it all too well, I thought to myself.
‘It was kind of like that …’ she continued. ‘I think I probably also felt a little anxious
‘Want one?’ she asked, pulling a small tin of mints out from a fold in her lab coat.
‘Thanks,’ I said taking one.
‘The stink of the solvents gets a bit much for me sometimes,’ she said, smiling.
Immediately, I liked her. I felt I could trust her.
‘You’re so much like Tom,’ she said, leading me down one of the corridors. ‘I nursed Tom up until, you know, we lost him.’
I felt comforted hearing her say my dad’s name.
We turned off the corridor into a small laboratory and Jennifer hastily closed the doorbehind us. ‘He was a very special patient to all of the people who nursed him,’ she said, ‘especially me. We all wanted him to recover. But he steadily got worse. Cal, he wasn’t crazy. He just lost his connectors. Everything got mixed up in his mind. He worked so hard on those drawings for you. Tell me, do you have them?’
‘Yes,’ I said, hoping I was wise to trust her. Thinking about Dad made me so sad, but it was good to be talking to someone else who had valued him. It made me feel more determined than ever that I was going to solve the mystery he’d left me. ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I haven’t had anyone around to talk to about Dad for a while … You must know the amount of trouble I’m in?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘And you’re not scared of me?’
‘No,’ she said like it didn’t need explaining.
I slowly followed her around the laboratory, checking it out. ‘What sort of work do you do here?’ I asked, intrigued by all the strange-looking lab equipment.
‘We make vaccines in one section, but this area is for antivenom production. You might notice a lot of information about reptiles around the place; we keep a lot of snakes here, very venomous ones. We milk the snakes thenprocess their venom into the antidotes to their own toxins.’
Great, I thought, now noticing all the snake-related posters and charts crowding the walls. Just what I need … more dangerous animals.
As we walked along together, she pointed out a closed door a little further along the corridor. ‘This is where we keep our stores of antivenom.’
She opened the door and I looked through. A row of small fridges ran along one side of the room. After she switched the light on, I saw that each fridge was labelled with the name of a deadly snake: brown snake, krait, desert viper, death adder and coral snake.
She closed the door again.
‘So you said you have your father’s drawings?’ she asked.
I was immediately suspicious again. Why did she want to know that?
‘The drawings are safe,’ I said, knowing they were right there behind me, in their folder in the lining of my backpack.
‘Tom was very concerned about those drawings. He wanted you to have them. The doctors would happily have sent them to your mother or your uncle, but I knew it was you he wanted them sent to, so I made sure that happened.’
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘I have something else for you that your father wanted to give you … but, Cal,’ she paused and took my hand, ‘I’m afraid I haven’t got it here for you tonight.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, pulling my hand right back. ‘What is it? Why did you make me come here then?’
‘Look, I don’t want to alarm you—and you’ll probably think I’m completely paranoid—but I had a bad feeling this morning that someone was hanging around my apartment. Now I didn’t even see anyone, or anything,’ she said, shaking her hands and her head simultaneously to stress her point, ‘it was just a feeling. Probably nothing.’
‘What do you mean, feeling ?’
‘You know that feeling you get when you know someone’s watching you, even though you have your back to them?’
I knew it all too well, I thought to myself.
‘It was kind of like that …’ she continued. ‘I think I probably also felt a little anxious
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