flailing about his head.
‘DON’T SLEEP! I haven’t slept in years, never go to bed, and all I allow myself is to close my eyes for five minutes in the hour, whenever I am indoors, whatever the place, as soon as the quarter of the hour comes I sit and close my eyes to the world for five minutes.’ Luger panted as he calmed down, his outburst ebbing away as he sheepishly walked back to his desk and sat in the worn leather chair. He looked Mariah up and down and then pulled a piece of vellum paper from a brown folder that lay on the top of his desk. ‘Says you’re a Colonial boy? Know Professor Bilton well, do you?’
‘Very well,’ Mariah replied as he fiddled with the button on his jacket sleeve.
‘You are the last in a long line of boys from that school and I have heard there will be no more. All the others have … run away, gone without a by your leave. Will you do the same, young Mister Mundi?’
‘No, I –’
‘It would be a shame to lose someone as bright as you.’ The clock struck the quarter past noon. Luger looked up and then at his fob watch, setting a small gold lever upon the side, and then sat back in the leather chair, closing his eyes.
Instantly, Luger began to snore, his broad chest heavingunder his fine gold waistcoat, his head tilted back against the chair as thick black spikes of hair stuck out from his upturned nostrils.
Mariah hesitated, unsure if he should wait or disappear from the room whilst Luger slept soundly. He looked at the desk; there in the middle, by a brass smotherer, was the crisp piece of paper that Luger had scrawled upon. He edged closer, trying to make out the words, intrigued as to what the owner of such a fine place should want to write again and again. He counted the seconds with the ticking of the golden clock, whose clicks and whirring marked the slow passing of time. Luger slept on, his tongue sticking from the side of his mouth like a dozing cow in a summer meadow. Mariah could wait no longer. He reached out and turned the paper towards him as Luger slobbered and snored. It was then that he read the words – The Midas Box – scrawled in thick black ink.
There was a sudden and shrill clanging as the bell in the fob watch rattled in Luger’s hand. He leapt from the chair, dropping the watch and grabbing the front of the desk with both hands as if to steady himself for some great surprise. He looked about the room and then fixed his glare on Mariah.
‘Yes?’ he asked madly, as if he had never seen the boy before. ‘Do you want something?’
[ 6 ]
Anamorphosis
A N hour later, Otto Luger released Mariah. His fob watch had jangled in his pocket to remind him it was time to sleep again, and Mariah was despatched with a quick grunt and told to make his way to see his master, Bizmillah the Great. In his hand Mariah clutched a guide to the Prince Regent, a fine brochure etched in silver and giving him a plan to every floor. It was like an exquisite little book, marked in several different colours, showing him where he was allowed to go and what places were just for guests. Luger had warned him severely about breaking the purple code, which was the colour of the rooms for guests only. ‘Instantly,’ Luger had said as he twitched his nose to hold the monocular in his eye, ‘instantly you will be thrown from the building with your chattels behind you if you break the purple code.’
As Mariah walked along the fine corridor which led from the grand office to the theatre, the words rattled through his head. He came to a pair of tall oak doors and saw hanging by the side a small sign painted in gold lettering with the words Theatre Closed … He flicked through the pages of the brochure, his eyes searching for the colour purple. Near the back of the smallbooklet he found a page with a drawing of the swimming pool and the room that contained the Galvanised Bathing Machine. He looked at the hand-painted edges of the page and saw that they were distinctly coloured in
‘DON’T SLEEP! I haven’t slept in years, never go to bed, and all I allow myself is to close my eyes for five minutes in the hour, whenever I am indoors, whatever the place, as soon as the quarter of the hour comes I sit and close my eyes to the world for five minutes.’ Luger panted as he calmed down, his outburst ebbing away as he sheepishly walked back to his desk and sat in the worn leather chair. He looked Mariah up and down and then pulled a piece of vellum paper from a brown folder that lay on the top of his desk. ‘Says you’re a Colonial boy? Know Professor Bilton well, do you?’
‘Very well,’ Mariah replied as he fiddled with the button on his jacket sleeve.
‘You are the last in a long line of boys from that school and I have heard there will be no more. All the others have … run away, gone without a by your leave. Will you do the same, young Mister Mundi?’
‘No, I –’
‘It would be a shame to lose someone as bright as you.’ The clock struck the quarter past noon. Luger looked up and then at his fob watch, setting a small gold lever upon the side, and then sat back in the leather chair, closing his eyes.
Instantly, Luger began to snore, his broad chest heavingunder his fine gold waistcoat, his head tilted back against the chair as thick black spikes of hair stuck out from his upturned nostrils.
Mariah hesitated, unsure if he should wait or disappear from the room whilst Luger slept soundly. He looked at the desk; there in the middle, by a brass smotherer, was the crisp piece of paper that Luger had scrawled upon. He edged closer, trying to make out the words, intrigued as to what the owner of such a fine place should want to write again and again. He counted the seconds with the ticking of the golden clock, whose clicks and whirring marked the slow passing of time. Luger slept on, his tongue sticking from the side of his mouth like a dozing cow in a summer meadow. Mariah could wait no longer. He reached out and turned the paper towards him as Luger slobbered and snored. It was then that he read the words – The Midas Box – scrawled in thick black ink.
There was a sudden and shrill clanging as the bell in the fob watch rattled in Luger’s hand. He leapt from the chair, dropping the watch and grabbing the front of the desk with both hands as if to steady himself for some great surprise. He looked about the room and then fixed his glare on Mariah.
‘Yes?’ he asked madly, as if he had never seen the boy before. ‘Do you want something?’
[ 6 ]
Anamorphosis
A N hour later, Otto Luger released Mariah. His fob watch had jangled in his pocket to remind him it was time to sleep again, and Mariah was despatched with a quick grunt and told to make his way to see his master, Bizmillah the Great. In his hand Mariah clutched a guide to the Prince Regent, a fine brochure etched in silver and giving him a plan to every floor. It was like an exquisite little book, marked in several different colours, showing him where he was allowed to go and what places were just for guests. Luger had warned him severely about breaking the purple code, which was the colour of the rooms for guests only. ‘Instantly,’ Luger had said as he twitched his nose to hold the monocular in his eye, ‘instantly you will be thrown from the building with your chattels behind you if you break the purple code.’
As Mariah walked along the fine corridor which led from the grand office to the theatre, the words rattled through his head. He came to a pair of tall oak doors and saw hanging by the side a small sign painted in gold lettering with the words Theatre Closed … He flicked through the pages of the brochure, his eyes searching for the colour purple. Near the back of the smallbooklet he found a page with a drawing of the swimming pool and the room that contained the Galvanised Bathing Machine. He looked at the hand-painted edges of the page and saw that they were distinctly coloured in
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