House of Trembling Leaves, The by Julian Lees Page B

general paper and one on comparative religions. See you here Michaelmas term. She stopped cycling after five minutes and retrieved the list of theological books from her basket. She counted sixty-eight titles and immediately broke into a prickly sweat. Hell … ! Sixty-eight bloody textbooks! September’s less than . .  She counted out April, May, June, July on her fingers. Less than six months away! That’s almost twelve textbooks a month!
    When she returned to Portugal Place, she saw red, and blue and white tea towels twitching in the breeze on a long pole; laundry aired from the first floor window, swaying in the wind high above like Tibetan prayer flags.
    â€˜â€˜What’s all this?’’ she asked Sum Sum when she came to the door.
    â€˜â€˜For luck and happiness. My way of appeasing the gods. Mrs Slackford not home yet, still at market. How was interview?’’ Sum Sum’s bloodshot eyes flickered up and down the cobbled street.
    Lu See gasped hard when she saw Sum Sum’s face. ‘‘What happened to you?’’
    Sum Sum touched the side of her nose lightly, wincing in anticipation of the lancing pain. ‘‘ Aiyoo! I so stupid, lah. I was taking picture of one of the big colleges and climbed on to a bridge to get tip-top shot, but then my foot slip and I fall and hit head on floor. Camera smash on ground and then fall into river.’’
    â€˜â€˜Do you want me to take you to a doctor?’’
    â€˜â€˜No, lah!’’ Sum Sum sounded offended. ‘‘Only small accident. I’m sorry for the camera.’’ Just then a fat string of blood seeped from her nose and down her chin.
    â€˜â€˜Never mind the camera. Take this tissue and keep your head up. Let me get you some ice to put on it.’’
    Sum Sum set her head back and blinked away the pain. She wouldn’t be aware of her scraped hands and elbows until much later.

6
    The following week, to celebrate Lu See’s success, Adrian promised to take the girls to London as a treat. A day at the zoo followed by a trip to the Natural History Museum! – Lu See could hardly contain her excitement. ‘‘It’ll be fun, don’t you think, pumpkin-head? You might even see your Picalilli Circus. And while in London I can call on the organ maker, Conrad P. Hughes.’’ Pietro decided to tag along too.
    They lingered in the waiting room at Cambridge station before catching the 09.45 for King’s Cross. The conductor, leaning from a carriage door, blew his whistle and a great gout of locomotive steam engulfed the railway.
    Adrian wore a plaid, Windsor double-breasted suit and a Cagney-style homburg. He carried his overcoat draped over his arm. Lu See thought he must have dressed in a hurry that morning because his back collar stud was missing. ‘‘Love the outfit, Adie,’’ mewed Pietro. ‘‘Do you like my hat? It’s by Elsa Schiaparelli. It’s a woman’s hat, I know,’’ he sighed, ‘‘but I simply had to have it.’’
    When Lu See watched Sum Sum settle into her compartment seat she noticed something she hadn’t seen before – she looked morose. Sum Sum had always been feisty, sometimes touchy, but never ever morose. It must be this grey weather and stodgy English food, she decided. All those pork pies! Still, that’s no reason for her to be acting like a cursed princess in a fairy tale.
    Ignoring the scrutiny, Sum Sum pretended to read a copy of Modern Screen magazine with a picture of Marlene Dietrich on its cover. Meanwhile, Adrian buried his nose in the Manchester Guardian . After a while he muttered something about German troops crossing into the west bank of the Rhine. ‘‘It’s a flagrant violation of the Versailles Treaty,’’ he said to nobody in particular, shaking his head. ‘‘Bloody fascists!’’
    Outside, beyond the window, a