Read Online Mutation by Chris Morphew - Free Book Online

was, what else did they know? Would they think I’d told her about Tabitha? Or did van Pelt know enough to guess that there was something even weirder going on?
    Either way, I was dreading the Shackleton Co-operative’s next move.
    The bell went, and we started cutting across in the direction of the gym. Cathryn, Tank and Mike were already over there, waiting.
    Peter had got nothing out of them yesterday.
    It looked like the only reason they’d invited him along was to try to smooth over the locker incident and convince him how normal and innocent they all were. The most suspicious thing he’d come back with was that Tank had been ‘scratching his arm a lot’.
    Brilliant.
    Before school this morning, I’d filled Luke in on my latest vision. I’d almost told Peter too, a couple of times, but something kept holding me back. The last thing I needed right now was hearing him go on about how impossible it all was.
    Besides, it was hard to see how knowing that Peter’s old friends were stealing groceries from the mall was actually useful information. If anything, it made things even more confusing, because why would Shackleton have them stealing from his own supermarket?
    Unless it was some kind of test or something. Maybe Shackleton was –
    Huh.
    I lost track of my thoughts, attention flashing across to the gym. Mike had just twisted around to stick something in his bag.
    A black notebook.
    The one from my vision.
    Maybe yesterday afternoon hadn’t been such a waste of time after all.
    â€˜Peter,’ I whispered, grabbing his arm. ‘That book Mike just put in his bag. Have you ever seen it before?’
    Cathryn glanced up and I shut my mouth. She smiled at Peter, then went back to her conversation with Mike and Tank.
    Ms Jeffery appeared at the door and sent us all in to get changed. On the way inside, Peter went over and slapped Mike on the back. ‘Hey, mate. After school, you guys want to go –?’
    â€˜Sorry, man,’ said Mike. ‘Homework.’
    Peter smirked. ‘Homework?’
    â€˜Yeah, it’s like school work, but you do it at your house.’
    â€˜Since when do you do it at all?’ said Peter.
    Mike started to answer, but by then they’d both turned into the guys’ change room.
    I walked across to the girls’ and got into my PE uniform as slowly as possible, weighing up my chances of sneaking in and getting Mike’s notebook without getting caught.
    All around me, the other girls were busy complaining about their mobile phones not working or discussing how wrong it was that Hannah was going out with a guy in Year 8.
    Like these were the biggest problems in the world.
    I took off my school shirt, careful not to smudge the make-up on my hand. The discoloured skin was starting to darken again, but it was still a long way from normal.
    Luke would tell you to wait, I thought. He’d tell you there’d be plenty of other opportunities to get that notebook. No point rushing in there now.
    But what if there weren’t other opportunities?
    What if this was it?
    What if I’d seen that notebook in my vision because I’d needed to see it?
    I pulled my sports shirt down over my head and saw Cathryn staring at me from across the room. She didn’t even try to disguise the scowl on her face. I rolled my eyes and reached for my shorts.
    How much do you know? I wondered.
    Judging from her reactions to Luke, Peter and me, it definitely didn’t seem like Cathryn had the whole picture of what was going on in Phoenix. Shackleton had obviously told them something in that letter – but then, who knew how much of it was even true?
    And that was another thing: Cathryn’s mum, Louisa Hawking, was one of the heads of the Shackleton Co-operative. So why was Shackleton communicating with Cathryn and the others through a locker in the school? Surely it would be easier to just pass their instructions on through