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Settling in Daily chores - washing-up aftera different couple of floors each day, polishing the furniture in one of the large halls or roo out the garbage, cleaning s, running errands in the village

I enjoy the work It keeps me busy Not much else to do here apart from play chess with Dervish, watch TV - Dervish has a massive 55 inch widescreen set, which he hardly ever uses! - and read Chess doesn&039;t thrill me - Dervish is like Mum and Dad, a chess fanatic, and beats me easily each tiently presses et uess I&039;ll just have to bear it here like I did at ho on &039;litrachoor&039; - but Dervish doesn&039;t have a great collection of modern fiction I pick up a fe books in the Vale, and order some more over the Internet, but I&039;m not spoilt for choice I try souring they&039;ve got to be better than watching the ht, but they&039;re too complicated or densely written to be of interest

So that leaves me with the TV - an endless streara, TV does get a bit boring after a while, if it&039;s all you have to keep yourself amused

But, hey, it&039;s a million times better than the institute!

A week passes At ease with the house Getting to know Dervish, though he&039;s a hard one to figure Kind, thoughtful, caring - but aloof, with a warped sense of huht a report about a serial killer who&039;d chopped off and collected his victims&039; heads Coet ahead in life" Spent the next five azed at him, astonished, and the TV broadcast pictures of bloodbaths and weeping relatives

His thirst for chess is at least equal to that of Dad and Muently encouraginghis true colours Insists that I play with hiets irritated when I play badly

"You&039;ve got to love the ga a captured rook at me with unexpected force "Chess is life You have to love it as you love living If you don&039;t"

He said nomy cheek where the rook struck Later, when I&039;d recovered and was passing him in the hall on my way to bed, I muttered, "Get a life, you freak!" The perfect coot no tirand total of three CDs in the house, all old alburoup called Led Zeppelin Doesn&039;t read fiction Watches only the occasional documentary on TV Spends a lot of time on the web, from what I&039;ve seen when I&039;ve visited hialobe, or visits dull-looking encyclopaedic sites

Apart fro, and his e-mail mates, he doesn&039;t seem to have any hobbies, or any apparent interest in the world beyond this house

There are stables - long abandoned - behind the h the old nails and horseshoes on the ground in search of soet, when somebody raps on the rotten door and startles er chuckles as I duck and grab a horseshoe for protection "I coreet you, not to eat you - as the cannibal said to the er than me enters and sticks out his hand I stare at it a moment, then shake it He&039;s a lot shorter than s half-closed Wearing a faded pair of jeans and an old Si my hand "And you&039;re Grubbs &039;don&039;t call rin thinly, then repeat his name "Billy Spleen?"

"Bill-E," he corrects me, and spells it out "Actually, it&039;s really Billy," he confesses, "but I changed it I haven&039;t been able to do it by deed poll yet, but I hen I&039; with Billy - it&039;s a hell of a lot better than Grubitsch or Grubbs! - but Bill-E sounds cooler, like a rap star"

He talks quick and sharp, fingers dancing in the air to accent his words

"Are you froe?" I ask politely

"Yup - I&039; in the world "I used to live a few e smaller than this stable - until Muinal Spleens,&039; as Mum used to call them They&039;re OK, just a bit old-fashioned and strait-laced"

Bill-E studies the disturbed nails and horseshoes on the ground and grins "You won&039;t find any gold here," he chortles "I&039;ve been through these shedsfor old Lord Sheftree&039;s treasure"

"Treasure?" Bill-E&039;s a little too chu - I&039;ve never been fond of people who coh you&039;re old friends - but I don&039;t want to say anything to insult him, at least, not until I know a bit more about him

"You don&039;t know about the treasure?" He hoots as though I&039;ve admitted I didn&039;t know the world was round "Lord Sheftree - he owned this place years ago - is supposed to have hidden cases full of treasure soetaway stash, in case he ever had to make a quick exit and needed some ready cash He was a real swindler He used to keep a fish tank full of - "

" - piranha," I interrupt "And he fed a baby to them I know"

"Dervish told you?" Bill-E looks disappointed "I love telling that story Just about everyone in Carcery Vale knows it, so it&039;s not often that I have the chance to break it to so it for me"

"Excuse me," I mutter, exasperated, "but who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

Bill-E blinks "No need to speak toto be friendly"

"And I just want to knoho you are," I respond coolly "You co me your name and that you know all about me, but I&039;ve never heard of you before Are you a relative of Dervish&039;s? A paperboy? What?"

"Paperboy!" he snorts "I don&039;t think Dervish ever bought a paper in his life! If it doesn&039;t cos, packed full of spells and dark incantations, he isn&039;t interested!"

Bill-E steps to the left, into the light shining through a hole in the roof "I&039; out with Dervish, play chess with him, do some odd jobs He takes me for rides on his bike in return, and teaches ht you any spells yet?"

I shake rins "I don&039;t know if most of them really work, but the words you use are wicked I feel like a realthem"

"Could you teach me some?" I ask

"No," Bill-E answers proht me - only a teacher is allowed to teach He says if he ever catcheson my spells to anybody, he&039;ll can the lessons and banhere And he means it - Dervish isn&039;t the sort to yank your chain about stuff like that"

I&039; to Bill-E Spleen - I like the way he talks about Dervish - but it&039;s been a while since Isi cynically, "Did Dervish tell you to come chat to me? Are you supposed to be my new best friend?"

Bill-E sneers "My friendship can&039;t be bought or bartered I usually cos every week and at weekends Dervish asked ive you a chance to settle in I was looking forward to checking you out and showing you around the Vale - as a fellow orphan, I thought we ht have stuff in common - but now I don&039;t think I&039;ll bother You&039;re a bit too up-your-own-ass for o see Dervish and leave you to scurry around out here on your own"

Bill-E turns to leave in a huff

"When did your mum die?" I ask quietly

He stops and squints at o I was just a kid"

"And your dad?"

He smiles crookedly "I never knew him Don&039;t even knoho he was He&039;s still alive - I think - so I&039;m not an official orphan But I&039;ve felt like one since Muo," I say "It still hurts A lot So if I act like a spazz, sorry, but that&039;s just the way I feel right now"

Bill-E&039;s features soften "When my mum died, I didn&039;t speak to anyone except Gran and Grandad for almost a year If other kids came near, I&039;d screa back One day, in a shop, I tried it on a kid when there was nobody around - he knocked the crap out of me I was fine after that"

I offer my chin "Take a pop if you want"

Bill-E pads over, hs "Let&039;s go see hirling Dervish is up to"

The study Dervish and Bill-E catching up Lots of na about school, looking forward to the su hiht off the web

"What about the eye spell?" Bill-E asks He looks at me and points to his lazy left eye "I&039;m supposed to have this operated on in a few years, but I&039;m sure Dervish can conjure up a spell to spare hs, "but the greateyelids Besides, ain, Billy" Dervish always refers to Bill-E as Billy I guess he&039;s known hireat-wotsits Garadex!" Bill-E snorts "He used his ic to make millions, didn&039;t he?"

"Bartholomew Garadex was an exception," Dervish says

Bill-E treats the study as though it&039;s his own Pulls books out and only half-pushes the on the web Opens a drawer in the desk to show enuine witch, "burned at the stake for casting lascivious spells on the virile youngit around in front of his face, poking his fingers into its empty sockets Dervish lets Bill-E do as he pleases Sits back and smiles patiently

"He&039;s not noroes to the toilet "Your arrival upset hi the run of the house I think he&039;s worried that things are going to change now that you&039;ve moved in"

"Why does he come here?" I ask

"His mother and I were friends," Dervish says "She died in a boating accident, leaving Billy in the care of his grandparents" He pulls a face "All I&039;ll say about that pair is they&039;re aptly named - Spleen! A ine I felt sorry for Billy, so I started visiting and taking him out on my bike Ma and Pa Spleen weren&039;t too keen - they still do everything they can to stop hiood at I tend to get my ohen I really want to The odd persuasion spell helps" He winks I can&039;t tell if he&039;s serious or joking

Bill-E returns, shaking water frorumbles

Dervish raises an eyebrow at me "Fresh towels are your departriot"

"If I was you, Mr Grady, sir, I&039;d sack &039;ihs and asks Dervish to teach him a new spell