ill tugged at ;e on, e on..."

        But ill afraid. ill looked up and doreet in t, along ttle terrace of s tiny garden and its box    mucime. People o stare and ent and notice. It o , but all he could do ersuade her, as usual.

        "Mum, lets go in and see Mrs. Cooper," ;Look, ;

        "Mrs. Cooper?" sfully.

        But o put doo do it, because ill    mig to be seen     would o .

        tooped elderly figure of teac of lavender er about her as he remembered.

        "? Is t illiam?" t;I    seen you for over a year.    do you , dear?"

        "I    to e in, please, and bring my mot; he said firmly.

        Mrs. Cooper looked at tidy racted    tig lips, tting ja Mrs. Parry, ills mot makeup on one eye but not on t noticed. Ahing was wrong.

        "ell..." sepped aside to make room in the narrow hall.

        ill looked up and doightly Mrs.

        Parry o enderly o tting room iced t Mrs. Parrys clotly musty, as if too long in t ht black brows.

        " is it, illiam?" t;s tter?"

        "My moto stay for a fe; ;Its too difficult to look after     no mean s kind of fused and muddled, and ss a bit er. S needs someoo be kind to    quite easily, probably."

        t    seeming to uand, and Mrs. Cooper saaken e.

        "S be expensive,"    on. "Ive brougs of food, enougo last, I s too. S mind s;

        "But ... I dont kno;

        "No! S ill."

        "But t be someone ;

        "e    got any family. Only us. And too busy."

        " about t mean to put you off, dear, but—"

        "No! No. S needs a bit of    do it myself for a little    be long. Im going to ... Ive got to do. But Ill be back soon, and Ill take    o do it for long."

        t rust, and urned and smiled at    Mrs. Cooper couldnt say no.

        "ell," surning to Mrs. Parry, "Im sure it    matter for a day or so. You    ers room, dear. Sralia. S be needing it again."

        "t; said ill, and stood up as if o leave.

        "But ; said Mrs. Cooper.

        "Im going to be staying ; ;Ill pen as I . Ive got your number. Itll be all rig;

        over and kissed her clumsily.

        "Dont ; ;Mrs. Cooper er you better t. And Ill palk to you tomorro;

        tigly unfastened o t door. Mrs. Cooper could see , because ening, but urned, remembering    his hand.

        "Good-bye," ;and t;

        "illiam," s;I ter is—"

        "Its a bit plicated," ;but s be any trouble, ly."

        t    ; but someever it    shed never seen a child so implacable.

        urned a ty house.

        tate ical . t garden    a patced some s tering. As ill came around t, Moxie, rose up from e spot uill-livig    meoting    his leg.

        ;;

        t. In t of t t ook no notice of ill, and ill didnt look at ice people took, tter.

        ,    in quickly. tened very carefully before putting o y.

        in for Moxie a o eat in tche men came back?

        telling, so ter move quickly.    upstairs and began to search.

        tered greeing case. to    size even in any ordinary modern    need secret panels aensive cellars in order to make someto find. ill searc, aso be looking t ematically t of tairs, even o see w    and ed herself nearby, for pany.

        But    find it.

        By t time it    and sat at tcable    t order to look tairs rooms.

        As he ph.

        absolutely still,    ted: ty-six rings, and t stopped.    e in tarted to search again.

        Four er ill    found t    out of reach.

        And almost at o seemed (taneously.

        First,    tairs, opening t door.

        ed Moxie out of tly est. t on raining every o airs.

        t sounds: a ced and replaced, a s whe creak of a floorboard.

        Moving more silently t iptoed to t top of tairs. It    quite pitcly gray predae at tterns and bobbins .

        for it delicately, listening all t doairs, and ill could see a dim flicker of lig mig at the door.

        tt and clicked it open, and t as    ing case.

        And noening hard.

        tairs. ly, "e on. I    ;

        "Its not ; said t;ell o look upstairs."

        "Go on, t ."

        ill braced    creak of top step. t all, but     expeg it. t s along tside. ill sa the crack.

        to move. ill ed till t of to truders belly.

        But .

        As top step, Moxie ly out of tood ail just beo rub    trained and fit and     t ried to move back, ripped over airs and crasally against table.

        ill    stop to    it. Clutg case, er, leaping over t lay tc t of t, seized tattered tote bag from table, and    of t door and a of tare.

        Even in e ill er him, or chase him.

        ter o do was run.

        urning into ts of ric cart pallid in t o t-darden, do garden    lao tangle of srees betate and the main road.

        ting and trembling. It oo early to be out on t till later, ed.

        get out of ruck table, and t so far and in sucche man was dead. hed killed him.

        get it out of    o. te enougo t.    tell, urn up as , no hed killed someone.

        And Moxie.    o follohem?

        It ting lige. It e bag: est letter from te bars, toote, spare socks and pants. And ting case.

        Everyto plan, really.

        Except t hed killed someone.

        ill    realized    from ot o look after , and to put an item in t only o look all around and ; and s or a packet from t it silently into t. hey became invisible.

        It     on for a long time, because turday m and t t it and ogetrusted ea told old he same.

        So ed and    find     of too, even ; but ill ting tired by time, and oo, and Mummy    so ened, and t around and around putting t time to be extra careful because trag t card numbers, whey had her purse....

        And ill got more and more frigo make to a game so t    be alarmed, and    ruto pretend not to be frigo reassure her.

        So ttle boy prete ill, so s o    ened, and t    any s safe from table any to t, and opened anot to be sure. t sometime during t fe t in t t in    made tening and dangerous; it just meant o protect    in t end in order not to    to ies. o protect her.

        As for ills fato remember ely curious about o plague ions, most of w answer.

        "as ;

        ";

        ";

        "Is ;

        "ill he e back?

        " was ;

        t question    to bee an explorer and lead expeditions to remote parts of to    ting togeto gaze out across stormy seas from torco deciperious inscriptions in a bat-ied cave. ... t of friends, tless times, talked togeto t.

        But t, to , riding -bearded men on Arctic sledges or examining creeper-covered ruins in tropies     ten about him in a book?

        kno ou his mind.

        S;One day, youll follosteps. Yoing to be a great man too.

        Youll take up le."

        And t k, ood t, a uplifted o e true.    some    life, if you    aim like t.

        So    rouble secret. times o learn from o s    iced at sc to attract attention from tate of fear and mad s ill    ties    about ake    rangers. Any difficulty ter t.

        Because times    ter panion, and ed noto live h her alone forever.

        But the men came.

        t police, and t social services, and t criminals—at least as far as ill could judge. t tell    ted, in spite of s to keep to ate    then.

        But ened outside t    h ore quickly.

        ted to knoo    act h any fn embassies.

        ill ting more and more distressed, and finally o told to go.

        and deadly.

        So t. Naturally, trengtion: rouble some rue, and o be .

        And not long aftering t ills moto tell t sc alking doairs    ill came    t.

        to kno    go to to ties, and t more and more persistent. Finally to to fetg ouce slat in every separate benco get it done quicker.     day t of t io find t t of the drawers and cupboards.

        ter. t precious possession;    , and    even kno. But    tained letters, and imes, and cried, and it    salked about    t ter, and k.

        to find someay.    and t, but o ask, and t rust    , and to go to Oxford,    too soon.

        And now hem.

        So ter oo.

        ell,    not being noticed. o not be noticed    up as long as ill eit,    care hem he killed.

        Later t day, to of ty of Oxford, forty miles ao coo late to do    a Burger King and goo a ema to    t even as c), and now h.

        No one iun so far. But    ter find someer it got, ticeable rouble    to able ill no sign of open try.

        o a large traffic circle . At time of nigtle traffid tood , able    back beed along t tly symmetrical close-leafed croreetligificial, like a stage set. ill upefied ion, and    o t rees and slept; but as o to clear .

        Sabby, like Moxie. S of a garden on tanding. ill put doe bag and     came up to rub     as Moxie did. Of course, every cat be, but all t suc tears scalded his eyes.

        Eventually t turned a, aory to patrol, to . So beyond trees, and topped.

        ill, still c behave curiously.

        S a pao pat somet of e invisible to ill. tail    stiffly. ill kne becly as t approac again, just ay patcted the air once more.

        Again s less far and ime. After anotouccy overcame wariness.

        t stepped forward—and vanished.

        ill bliood still, close to trunk of t tree, as a truck came around t its lig ,    ing. It    easy, because to fix on, but    about to look closely, .

        At least,    from some angles. It looked as if someone    a patc of t t a yard across.

        If you c it     ely invisible from be only from t t see it easily even from t ly t lay in front of it on tc by a streetlight.

        But ill k doubt t t patc world.

        possibly    at once, as strongly as    fire burned and kindness hing profoundly alien.

        And for t reason alo enticed o stoop and look furt    t    ate: ote bag to another.

        anding under a rorees. But not rees: tall palms, and trees in Oxford, in a ro ter of a broad boulevard, and at tly bt, all open, and all utterly silent ay bears. t nig of flo smell of the sea.
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