Read Online The Changeover by Margaret Mahy - Free Book Online
Authors: Margaret Mahy
Tags: supernatural, Young Adult
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texture of Jacko's blanket which she had clutched between her thumb and forefinger as if she were taking a pinch of wool from it. Only a second or two had passed, but time, worked on by the excited energy of her fear, had altered yet again for her. There were probably small triangular formulas for it which she would have to do in fifth-form physics next year - time divided by fear multiplied by imagination and so on.
Jacko still wept and smiled, but the smile was fading now.
"All right, Lolly?" called Kate from the next room.
"I don't think he's too good," Laura replied slowly. "But there's nothing new."
It was nothing new, but it was still something known only by her and inaccessible to other people. She could not sing in tune but she could resonate with mystery, and some part of her brain could understand and interpret the resonance.
"I don't like it," Jacko said in a tiny, thin voice. "Fox eat up gingerbread boy."
"It was a bad dream," Laura said, pouring him a drink of water from the jug Kate had put on his table. He was quite recognizable again.
"Laura will get that bad fox, Jacko," she promised him. "It just might take a little time, but Laura will get him." A moment later he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Laura returned to the sitting room. Kate glanced up anxiously, but Laura smiled and nodded reassuringly. She thought once more that Kate and Chris talked together like people who had known each other for years, instead of having met only the day before, but as she thought this Laura also realized that 'the day before' had stopped making a lot of sense to her. Time had indeed gone strange and the day before felt as if it stretched back as far as the limits of her memory. Mr Braque had stamped Jacko the day before ... Sorry Carlisle had arrived at school the day before ... her father had left them for Julia the day before. Jacko had been born the day before and so had she... There had only been one day in the entire history of the world, and that was the day before, so maybe Kate and Chris
had known each other for ever.
"Mum, I've finished my homework," Laura said, lying slightly. "Can I go and see Sally for a few minutes — watch some telly, perhaps? You don't look as if you'd miss me." She couldn't entirely banish sarcasm from her voice, so smiled to show she meant no harm by it.
"That's fine," Kate replied, noting Laura's tone and smile and giving her a dry look. "Don't be long though, will you?"
"No," said Laura. "I haven't seen Sally since Monday night, that's all. If I meet any molesters in the street I'll shout and Chris can come running and save me." She was teasing him in an experimental way because he was a librarian and not some 'macho' gang member like those in the Gardendale Video Centre.
"Gladly!" said Chris. "I'll have you know that I'm a black belt."
"At Judo?" Laura asked sceptically.
"At philosophy," said Chris. "I am a great fan of Bishop Berkley. I'll confront any molesters with the theory that they are ideas in the mind of God and, as molesters are probably all atheists, they'll stop believing in themselves and cease to exist."
"If you make it a really good argument I might cease to exist too," Laura said.
"Oh, I don't expect you would allow me to convince you," Chris replied, and Laura laughed a little reluctantly as she left the house.
It was a warm night, and she did not take her coat, although she was not going to Sally's at all. She had lied about her homework and lied about visiting Sally. She was going several blocks through the dangerous night to the very heart of the Gardendale subdivision and was, of course, intending to talk to Sorry Carlisle, seventh form prefect and secret witch.
5 Janua Caeli
Once upon a time the Carlisle family had lived on a farm on the edge of the city and had owned the whole Gardendale Valley, though they called it by another name. But the city crept out and out, an industrious amoeba, extending itself, engulfing all it encountered. The
Jacko still wept and smiled, but the smile was fading now.
"All right, Lolly?" called Kate from the next room.
"I don't think he's too good," Laura replied slowly. "But there's nothing new."
It was nothing new, but it was still something known only by her and inaccessible to other people. She could not sing in tune but she could resonate with mystery, and some part of her brain could understand and interpret the resonance.
"I don't like it," Jacko said in a tiny, thin voice. "Fox eat up gingerbread boy."
"It was a bad dream," Laura said, pouring him a drink of water from the jug Kate had put on his table. He was quite recognizable again.
"Laura will get that bad fox, Jacko," she promised him. "It just might take a little time, but Laura will get him." A moment later he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Laura returned to the sitting room. Kate glanced up anxiously, but Laura smiled and nodded reassuringly. She thought once more that Kate and Chris talked together like people who had known each other for years, instead of having met only the day before, but as she thought this Laura also realized that 'the day before' had stopped making a lot of sense to her. Time had indeed gone strange and the day before felt as if it stretched back as far as the limits of her memory. Mr Braque had stamped Jacko the day before ... Sorry Carlisle had arrived at school the day before ... her father had left them for Julia the day before. Jacko had been born the day before and so had she... There had only been one day in the entire history of the world, and that was the day before, so maybe Kate and Chris
had known each other for ever.
"Mum, I've finished my homework," Laura said, lying slightly. "Can I go and see Sally for a few minutes — watch some telly, perhaps? You don't look as if you'd miss me." She couldn't entirely banish sarcasm from her voice, so smiled to show she meant no harm by it.
"That's fine," Kate replied, noting Laura's tone and smile and giving her a dry look. "Don't be long though, will you?"
"No," said Laura. "I haven't seen Sally since Monday night, that's all. If I meet any molesters in the street I'll shout and Chris can come running and save me." She was teasing him in an experimental way because he was a librarian and not some 'macho' gang member like those in the Gardendale Video Centre.
"Gladly!" said Chris. "I'll have you know that I'm a black belt."
"At Judo?" Laura asked sceptically.
"At philosophy," said Chris. "I am a great fan of Bishop Berkley. I'll confront any molesters with the theory that they are ideas in the mind of God and, as molesters are probably all atheists, they'll stop believing in themselves and cease to exist."
"If you make it a really good argument I might cease to exist too," Laura said.
"Oh, I don't expect you would allow me to convince you," Chris replied, and Laura laughed a little reluctantly as she left the house.
It was a warm night, and she did not take her coat, although she was not going to Sally's at all. She had lied about her homework and lied about visiting Sally. She was going several blocks through the dangerous night to the very heart of the Gardendale subdivision and was, of course, intending to talk to Sorry Carlisle, seventh form prefect and secret witch.
5 Janua Caeli
Once upon a time the Carlisle family had lived on a farm on the edge of the city and had owned the whole Gardendale Valley, though they called it by another name. But the city crept out and out, an industrious amoeba, extending itself, engulfing all it encountered. The
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