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‘David?’ the old asped
There was so very odd about the animals It took Rourke a second to process exactly what it was
‘Their eyes’ gasped Rourke ‘Their eyes are white!’
The phone fell from his hand as the man in the doorway lifted his head to stare at hiht fell on his face, reflecting from his eyes – eyes that, just like the animals’, were utterly white, without pupil or iris
++Where is it, old fool?++ asked the intruder No sound came from his mouth, and his lips did not move, but the voice was clear in Rourke’s mind ++Where is it?++
Rourke opened hisrattle came out His hand flew to his head, as if he could ward off the stabbing, awful coht into his brain
++Answer the question!++
Rourke suddenly clawed at his chest with both hands Gorillas vs The Fist fluttered forgotten to the floor
++No!++ shouted the stranger He dashed forward and caught Rourke as he fell
White began to swirl in Rourke’s eyes, too, but it could not outpace the other change that gripped the old man
Young Master Rourke went li the
The stranger lowered the heavy body to the floor He grabbed the phone and pulled it fro out with a piece of plaster the size of a dinner plate Then he bent down and searched through the pockets of Rourke’s dressing-gown
Without any sign or gesture froer, the thite-eyed chimpanzees went into the study while the other ani
The stranger flicked through the pages of Young Master Rourke’s book As he did so, a thick, grey mist formed above him and several heavy drops of rain fell onto his back He paused and looked up, and esture that caused the mist and rain to immediately disappear
In the study, the chian toeach one before dropping it disinterestedly onto the floor The wolves circled Rourke’s fallen body, sniffing his pockets
‘Ithis voice this tirowl, at first neitherfully human ‘But if it’s not, there’s always Plan B’
Behind the chis whirred inside its cavernous casing, cogs grated, and a chiht
The sound echoed through the lodge and, faintly but clearly, outside The ancient reat elms that lined the castle avenue, heard the clock and lowered her proud-beaked head
‘Every parrot for herself,’ shea slow but steady flight to the east, towards the shihts of Portland
CHAPTER ONE
The Accident
THE TWINS WERE DOING MATHS questions when they heard the first siren screa north, and then stop not much further on Back in their old home in the city, they wouldn’t have paid it any attention at all But in the sle siren was unusual When it was followed by another, as was the current case, it beca
‘That’s the ambulance,’ said curly-haired Kyle, one of those kids who could recognise the slight individual variations in the sirens of the local eine’
His voice trailed off as another,louder as it raced towards the town
‘And that’s the rescue rig fro on!’
He jumped up and rushed to the , followed by most of the class
‘Children, children!’ admonished Mr Carver, but as he didn’t actually raise his voice, only the front row heard him and stayed in place
Jack and Jaide looked at each other, and didn’t i already experienced quite a lot of disasters and eencies in the last feeeks Also, they were fro i that probably wouldn’t rate a mention on the news back home
Over the cacophony of all the sirens, there came a deep, fast beat that the twins knew very well: the wokka-wokka-wokka of an approaching helicopter
‘Airswift Aero quickly between a couple of kids to get to theJack followed in her w
ake
‘How do you know?’ asked Kyle
‘That’s our mother’s helicopter,’ said Jack ‘This ?’
‘Not really, but the helicopter looks like it’s going to land near the iron bridge’ Kyle craned up on tiptoe, trying to get a better view ‘Yeah, there it goes – ht in the middle of the road!’
‘Class, I would particularly appreciate it if you would return to your seats,’ said Mr Carver, still in his normal conversational voice, ‘while I endeavour to ascertain if this eency affects the school’
His students didn’t even turn around The kids at the back kept jostling to get to the hile the kids in front pushed back with their elbows to stay in place
‘CHILDREN! Back to your seats!’
No one had ever heard Mr Carver shout before There was a moment of shock, followed by a sudden cascade of students rushing back to their desks, several of the Mr Carver’s ‘meditation time’ They didn’t so much sit back down as do controlled crashes into their chairs
‘Continue with yournow, but his voice was still louder than usual, clear even over the noise of the sirens and the helicopter winding down ‘I a on I expect everyone to stay in their places until I return’
He took his phone out of his pocket as he strode out of the classroo with one hand as he pushed the door open with the other
‘Wow! I’ve never seen him like that before,’ said Tara, the newest student in the school ‘I ht all the time’
‘Nah, old Heath loses it occasionally,’ said Kyle, using Mr Carver’s first nah few of his students could ever bring theo he freaked out when that tree branch fell down in the car park just before the bus left for the whale-watching excursion’
‘That wasn’t three years ago, Kyle,’ said Miralda King, daughter of the mayor