Read Online The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud - Free Book Online
Authors: Jonathan Stroud
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trilled, light spilled into the house. Her father hummed as he stood before the mirror, adjusting his tie. Her mother left her an iced bun for her breakfast, waiting in the fridge.
Jakob had called on Kitty early. She opened the door to find him flourishing his bat.
"Cricket," he said. "It's perfect for it. We can go to the posh park. Everyone will be at work, so there'll be no one there to clear us out."
"All right," Kitty said. "But I'm batting. Wait till I get my shoes."
The park stretched to the west of Balham, away from the factories and shops. It began as a rough area of waste ground, covered with bricks, thistles, and old rusted sections of barbed wire. Jakob and Kitty, and many other children, played there regularly. But if you followed the ground west, and clambered over an old metal bridge above a railway, you found the park becoming increasingly pleasant, with spreading beech trees, shady walks and lakes where wild ducks swam, all dotted across a great sward of smooth green grass. Beyond was a wide road, where a row of large houses, hidden by high walls, marked the presence of magicians.
Commoners were not encouraged to enter the pleasant side of the park; stories were told in the playgrounds of children who had gone there for a dare, and never come back. Kitty did not exactly believe these tales, and she and Jakob had once or twice crossed the metal bridge and ventured out as far as the lakes. On one occasion a well-dressed gentleman with a long black beard had shouted at them across the water, to which Jakob responded with an eloquent gesture. The gentleman himself did not appear to respond, but his companion, whom they had not previously observed—a person very short and indistinct—had set off running around the side of the lake toward them with surprising haste. Kitty and Jakob had only just made good their escape.
But usually, when they looked across the railway line, the forbidden side of the park was empty. It was a shame to let it go to waste, especially on such a delightful day when all magicians would be at work. Kitty and Jakob made their way there at good speed.
Their heels drummed on the tarmac surface of the metal bridge.
"No one about," Jakob said. "Told you."
"Is that someone?" Kitty shielded her eyes and peered out toward a circle of beeches, partly obscured by the bright sun. "By that tree? I can't quite make it out."
"Where? No.... It's just shadows. If you're chicken, we'll go over by that wall. It'll hide us from the houses across the road."
He ran across the path and on to the thick green grass, bouncing the ball skillfully on the flat surface of the bat as he went. Kitty followed with more caution. A high brick wall bounded the opposite side of the park; beyond it lay the broad avenue, studded with magicians' mansions. It was true that the center of the grass was uncomfortably exposed, overlooked by the black windows of the houses' upper stories; it was also true that if they hugged close to the wall it would shield them from this view. But this meant crossing the whole breadth of the park, far from the metal bridge, which Kitty thought unwise. But it was a lovely day and there was no one about, and she let herself run after Jakob, feeling the breeze drift against her limbs, enjoying the expanse of blue sky.
Jakob came to a halt a few meters from the wall beside a silvered drinking fountain. He tossed the ball into the air and thwacked it straight up to an almighty height. "Here'll do," he said, as he waited for the ball to return. "This is the stumps. I'm in bat."
"You promised me!"
"Whose bat is it? Whose ball?"
Despite Kitty's protests, natural law prevailed, and Jakob took up position in front of the drinking fountain. Kitty walked a little way off, rubbing the ball against her shorts in the way that bowlers did. She turned and looked toward Jakob with narrow, appraising eyes. He tapped the bat against the grass, grinned inanely, and wiggled his bottom in an insulting
Jakob had called on Kitty early. She opened the door to find him flourishing his bat.
"Cricket," he said. "It's perfect for it. We can go to the posh park. Everyone will be at work, so there'll be no one there to clear us out."
"All right," Kitty said. "But I'm batting. Wait till I get my shoes."
The park stretched to the west of Balham, away from the factories and shops. It began as a rough area of waste ground, covered with bricks, thistles, and old rusted sections of barbed wire. Jakob and Kitty, and many other children, played there regularly. But if you followed the ground west, and clambered over an old metal bridge above a railway, you found the park becoming increasingly pleasant, with spreading beech trees, shady walks and lakes where wild ducks swam, all dotted across a great sward of smooth green grass. Beyond was a wide road, where a row of large houses, hidden by high walls, marked the presence of magicians.
Commoners were not encouraged to enter the pleasant side of the park; stories were told in the playgrounds of children who had gone there for a dare, and never come back. Kitty did not exactly believe these tales, and she and Jakob had once or twice crossed the metal bridge and ventured out as far as the lakes. On one occasion a well-dressed gentleman with a long black beard had shouted at them across the water, to which Jakob responded with an eloquent gesture. The gentleman himself did not appear to respond, but his companion, whom they had not previously observed—a person very short and indistinct—had set off running around the side of the lake toward them with surprising haste. Kitty and Jakob had only just made good their escape.
But usually, when they looked across the railway line, the forbidden side of the park was empty. It was a shame to let it go to waste, especially on such a delightful day when all magicians would be at work. Kitty and Jakob made their way there at good speed.
Their heels drummed on the tarmac surface of the metal bridge.
"No one about," Jakob said. "Told you."
"Is that someone?" Kitty shielded her eyes and peered out toward a circle of beeches, partly obscured by the bright sun. "By that tree? I can't quite make it out."
"Where? No.... It's just shadows. If you're chicken, we'll go over by that wall. It'll hide us from the houses across the road."
He ran across the path and on to the thick green grass, bouncing the ball skillfully on the flat surface of the bat as he went. Kitty followed with more caution. A high brick wall bounded the opposite side of the park; beyond it lay the broad avenue, studded with magicians' mansions. It was true that the center of the grass was uncomfortably exposed, overlooked by the black windows of the houses' upper stories; it was also true that if they hugged close to the wall it would shield them from this view. But this meant crossing the whole breadth of the park, far from the metal bridge, which Kitty thought unwise. But it was a lovely day and there was no one about, and she let herself run after Jakob, feeling the breeze drift against her limbs, enjoying the expanse of blue sky.
Jakob came to a halt a few meters from the wall beside a silvered drinking fountain. He tossed the ball into the air and thwacked it straight up to an almighty height. "Here'll do," he said, as he waited for the ball to return. "This is the stumps. I'm in bat."
"You promised me!"
"Whose bat is it? Whose ball?"
Despite Kitty's protests, natural law prevailed, and Jakob took up position in front of the drinking fountain. Kitty walked a little way off, rubbing the ball against her shorts in the way that bowlers did. She turned and looked toward Jakob with narrow, appraising eyes. He tapped the bat against the grass, grinned inanely, and wiggled his bottom in an insulting
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