Emily.
‘Of course,’ he says. ‘But I haven’t got very far with it.’
‘Are we going to make this defence shelter or not?’ asks Bryn, more interested in doing something physical.
‘It’s getting a bit dark,’ says Thea. ‘Can someone put the light on?’
Chapter Five
The light doesn’t work.
‘The one in the cellar didn’t work either,’ says Jamie.
‘Maybe all the bulbs have gone,’ suggests Bryn.
Emily yawns. She still feels incredibly tired. Thea gets up and leaves the room.
‘There’s no electricity in the house,’ she says when she returns one minute later.
‘How do you know?’ Emily asks sleepily.
‘Well, none of the lights work, and there’s no meter.’
‘There must be electricity,’ says Jamie.
The light’s fading fast now.
‘Well you try to find some sign of it, then,’ says Thea.
‘There are three in here,’ says Jamie. ‘Three signs, I mean.’
‘A riddle,’ comments Paul.
‘What are you on about?’ says Thea.
‘It’s a riddle,’ repeats Paul.
‘Not you,’ says Thea. ‘How can there be electricity?’ she asks Jamie.
‘I told you, there are three signs,’ he says.
He’s being quite sweet, Emily thinks. She doesn’t know anyone else who’s quite this arrogant without being in any way cool. Maybe that’s part of his charm. But who’s she kidding? He doesn’t have much charm; the other two are much more sexy. Of course, they have their drawbacks as well. Paul’s kind of mean. He’s the type of guy who makes you feel nervous all the time, like you might be a fraud and he’s going to expose you. Emily’s aware that pretty much everyone is a fraud, and has bullshit conversations all the time, but there’s always that unspoken agreement that if you don’t say the other person’s bullshitting, they won’t say you are either. Paul clearly doesn’t play that game. He’s the kind of guy who’d point out you were two years old at the peak of the now-trendy TV show you’re claiming to have adored as a young child, but really only discovered when you were about twenty, after
Sky Magazine
or
The Face
did a feature.
Emily decides that Bryn doesn’t have too much going for him personality-wise, but he is, nonetheless, good-looking, and he probably has a huge cock. But Jamie? He’s all blond and ruffled and smokes his cigarettes nervously, as if it’s a habit he’s only just picked up. He’s from a totally different world. So is Bryn, but while Bryn’s world is probably like Ibiza, Jamie’s is more Prague, or some other worthy place that students go to. Emily’s more of an Ibiza girl really, or at least, given that choice she would be.
‘I can see three as well,’ says Anne. ‘Plus one more.’
‘What are they then?’ demands Thea.
‘It’s pretty obvious,’ says Paul. ‘Unless you’re retarded,’ he adds.
‘Don’t play stupid games,’ says Thea. ‘What are these signs?’
‘Well, there’s the toaster,’ says Paul.
Everyone looks at the toaster. It’s plugged in by the stove.
‘And the fact that there are light sockets and bulbs,’ says Anne.
‘And these,’ says Jamie, pulling a packet of 13 amp fuses from the drawer. ‘You wouldn’t have these without having plugs to fit them in, and you wouldn’t need to change them anyway unless there was electricity to blow them in the first place.’
‘Maybe whoever owns the house got cut off,’ says Bryn.
‘Well there weren’t any letters on the mat,’ says Thea. ‘As well as there being no meter,’ she adds.
‘What?’ says Jamie, looking confused.
‘No letters on the mat. Come to think of it, there was no post when we walked in here. Unless whoever owns this place removed it recently, you’d expect there to be all sorts of utility bills, junk mail and everything. And if the electricity had been cut off, then there’d be disconnection notices lying there.’
‘Do postmen come to places like this?’ says Jamie slowly. ‘I don’t think they
‘Of course,’ he says. ‘But I haven’t got very far with it.’
‘Are we going to make this defence shelter or not?’ asks Bryn, more interested in doing something physical.
‘It’s getting a bit dark,’ says Thea. ‘Can someone put the light on?’
Chapter Five
The light doesn’t work.
‘The one in the cellar didn’t work either,’ says Jamie.
‘Maybe all the bulbs have gone,’ suggests Bryn.
Emily yawns. She still feels incredibly tired. Thea gets up and leaves the room.
‘There’s no electricity in the house,’ she says when she returns one minute later.
‘How do you know?’ Emily asks sleepily.
‘Well, none of the lights work, and there’s no meter.’
‘There must be electricity,’ says Jamie.
The light’s fading fast now.
‘Well you try to find some sign of it, then,’ says Thea.
‘There are three in here,’ says Jamie. ‘Three signs, I mean.’
‘A riddle,’ comments Paul.
‘What are you on about?’ says Thea.
‘It’s a riddle,’ repeats Paul.
‘Not you,’ says Thea. ‘How can there be electricity?’ she asks Jamie.
‘I told you, there are three signs,’ he says.
He’s being quite sweet, Emily thinks. She doesn’t know anyone else who’s quite this arrogant without being in any way cool. Maybe that’s part of his charm. But who’s she kidding? He doesn’t have much charm; the other two are much more sexy. Of course, they have their drawbacks as well. Paul’s kind of mean. He’s the type of guy who makes you feel nervous all the time, like you might be a fraud and he’s going to expose you. Emily’s aware that pretty much everyone is a fraud, and has bullshit conversations all the time, but there’s always that unspoken agreement that if you don’t say the other person’s bullshitting, they won’t say you are either. Paul clearly doesn’t play that game. He’s the kind of guy who’d point out you were two years old at the peak of the now-trendy TV show you’re claiming to have adored as a young child, but really only discovered when you were about twenty, after
Sky Magazine
or
The Face
did a feature.
Emily decides that Bryn doesn’t have too much going for him personality-wise, but he is, nonetheless, good-looking, and he probably has a huge cock. But Jamie? He’s all blond and ruffled and smokes his cigarettes nervously, as if it’s a habit he’s only just picked up. He’s from a totally different world. So is Bryn, but while Bryn’s world is probably like Ibiza, Jamie’s is more Prague, or some other worthy place that students go to. Emily’s more of an Ibiza girl really, or at least, given that choice she would be.
‘I can see three as well,’ says Anne. ‘Plus one more.’
‘What are they then?’ demands Thea.
‘It’s pretty obvious,’ says Paul. ‘Unless you’re retarded,’ he adds.
‘Don’t play stupid games,’ says Thea. ‘What are these signs?’
‘Well, there’s the toaster,’ says Paul.
Everyone looks at the toaster. It’s plugged in by the stove.
‘And the fact that there are light sockets and bulbs,’ says Anne.
‘And these,’ says Jamie, pulling a packet of 13 amp fuses from the drawer. ‘You wouldn’t have these without having plugs to fit them in, and you wouldn’t need to change them anyway unless there was electricity to blow them in the first place.’
‘Maybe whoever owns the house got cut off,’ says Bryn.
‘Well there weren’t any letters on the mat,’ says Thea. ‘As well as there being no meter,’ she adds.
‘What?’ says Jamie, looking confused.
‘No letters on the mat. Come to think of it, there was no post when we walked in here. Unless whoever owns this place removed it recently, you’d expect there to be all sorts of utility bills, junk mail and everything. And if the electricity had been cut off, then there’d be disconnection notices lying there.’
‘Do postmen come to places like this?’ says Jamie slowly. ‘I don’t think they
Similar Books
