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Meggie looked at the rucksack with distaste She was glad she couldn’t see Gwin’s er leaned back in Elinor’s deckchair ‘Shall I give you a perfor – show you what the bottles, the cotton wool and all the otherat her ‘It has to be dark for that, pitch dark Are you scared to be out of doors in the ie, offended, although really she was not at all happy to be out in the dark ‘But first, tell me why you stuck those horns on Gwin! And tell er folded his arms behind his head ‘Oh, I know a lot about that book,’ he said ‘And perhaps I’ll tell you some time, but first the two of us have a date Here at eleven o’clock tonight OK?’

Meggie looked up at a blackbird singing its heart out on Elinor’s rooftop ‘OK,’ she said ‘Eleven o’clock tonight’ Then she went back to the house

Elinor had suggested that Mo set up his workshop next door to the library There was a little room where she kept her collection of old books about animals and plants (for there seemed to be no kind of book that Elinor didn’t collect) She kept this collection on shelves of pale, honey-coloured wood On solass display cases of beetles pinned to cardboard, which only ie dislike Elinor all the s, but it was barely half as long as the one Mo had in his workshop at ho quietly to hiie put her head round the door

‘Look at this table!’ he said ‘You could sort a stamp collection on it but not bind books This whole roo to put the press and my tools? Last time I worked up in the attics, but now they’re filled with crates of books too’

Meggie stroked the spines of the books craether on the shelves ‘Just tell her you need a bigger table’ Carefully, she took a book off the shelf It contained pictures of the strangest of insects: beetles with horns, beetles with probosces, one even had a proper nose Meggie passed her forefinger over the pastel-coloured pictures ‘Mo, why haven’t you ever read aloud to me?’

Her father turned round so abruptly that the book almost fell fro to Dustfinger, haven’t you? What did he tell you?’

‘Nothing Nothing at all’ Meggie herself didn’t knohy she was lying She put the beetle book back in its place It felt al a very fine web around the two of the in on theh,’ she said as she took out another book It was called Masters of Disguise The creatures in it looked like live twigs or dry leaves

Mo turned his back to her again He began laying out his ih it was too s tool on the left, then the round-headed hammer he used to tap the spines of books into shape, the sharp paper-knife … He usually whistled under his breath as he worked, but noas perfectly quiet Meggie sensed that his thoughts were far away But where?

Finally, he sat on the side of the table and looked at her ‘I just don’t like reading aloud,’ he said, as if it was thesubject in the world ‘You know I don’t That’s all’

‘But why not? I mean, you make up stories You tell wonderful stories You can do all the voices, andand then funny …’

Mo crossed his ar behind theie ‘or How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin’ That was one of Mo’s favourite stories When she was s crumbs in their clothes, like the crumbs in the rhino’s skin