The Monsters of Rookhaven, стр. 15
They walked some way down the empty hallway before Daisy popped out of the wall again and fell into step beside them. Mirabelle could see the smirk on her face, and she felt the whisper of air behind her that announced the fact that Dotty had joined them too. She took in a deep breath in an effort to suppress her anger, knowing full well that Daisy would be looking for the first available chink in her armour in an attempt to provoke her.
Daisy being Daisy, though, was willing to fight a battle on all available fronts, which was why she targeted Jem next.
‘It’s a courtesy shown by the people from the village,’ she said, grinning at Jem.
‘What is?’ asked Jem.
‘The meat. The boxes of meat. I know you’re thinking with rationing still going on, why are they having all that meat delivered? We could probably get it by other means with the help of Odd, but the more senior members of the Family prefer to stick with this so-called sacred agreement cos it’s gone back generations. The people of the village of Rookhaven have given us meat for a very, very long time, and because of that we’ve agreed to leave them alone.’
‘Daisy!’ Mirabelle growled.
Daisy ignored her. ‘Like I said, it’s a courtesy. Some might say a necessity, in case we might be tempted to look elsewhere for food. We can only really enjoy raw meat, you see.’ Daisy’s smirk returned, and now her eyes were hard and bright as she looked at Freddie. ‘Freddie’s just continuing the family tradition by helping his father with his deliveries. Isn’t that right, Freddie?’
Freddie kept his head lowered as he pushed his trolley. They’d reached the main hallway now and Freddie picked up his pace as the door came closer.
Daisy ran ahead of him and stood against the closed door, blocking his escape.
Mirabelle could feel her head starting to spin as rage wormed its way through every nerve ending.
‘Freddie’s very good for bringing us deliveries,’ said Daisy.
Jem looked lost as she glanced from Daisy to Freddie. Freddie stared at the floor, his knuckles whitening, biting his lower lip.
‘You’re nearly as good as your brother, James,’ said Daisy.
Freddie flinched as if he’d just been punched, his tightened shoulders finally sagged, and he looked as if his legs might go out from under him. The fury Mirabelle felt was cold and tingling.
‘He was very good too,’ said Dotty in her whispery awefilled voice.
‘We miss him. Do you miss him, Freddie?’
‘You do miss him, don’t you?’ said Dotty. ‘Of course you do. He was very nice, always polite and smiling. Such a pity he had to go away and fight in the war . . .’
‘You leave him alone!’
Even Mirabelle was shocked by the source of the voice. She turned to see Jem standing ramrod straight, her face white with anger.
Daisy tilted her head. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said, leave him alone.’
Jem was shaking. Her transformation was dramatic enough to make even Mirabelle forget her own fury for a moment.
Daisy moved away from the door and took a step towards Jem. ‘You can’t talk to me like that.’
‘I just did,’ said Jem, refusing to move.
Mirabelle smiled at this response. Even Freddie was fascinated now.
No one said anything. Mirabelle felt as if a thundercloud were rolling in from the horizon, announcing a storm.
Daisy narrowed her eyes and licked a corner of her mouth, eyeing Jem like a predatory tiger.
‘Do you feel sorry for him because you’re just like him in some way? Is that it? I mean you look sad and pathetic, like you’ve lost something too. Or should I say . . . someone.’
Jem lowered her eyes and took a step back. Mirabelle felt her heart sink.
Daisy stepped closer to Jem.
‘Was it your father? Is that who you lost?’ Daisy pouted. ‘Aw poor widduh diddums, did you wooze yo daddy in the waw?’
Jem refused to look at her, and she wiped her eye with the cuff of her cardigan.
‘So small and mortal and weak. I feel sorry for you, little girl,’ said Daisy. ‘And now look at you, snivelling like a—’
The slap Mirabelle delivered to Daisy’s face echoed through the hall. Mirabelle didn’t know whether she was more surprised or Daisy. Daisy blinked and put a hand to her cheek. Black dots danced in front of Mirabelle’s eyes. She wanted to do it again and she raised her hand, not even sure about what she was doing. Daisy became almost completely transparent. She laughed in Mirabelle’s face. A horrid angry laugh. Mirabelle couldn’t help herself and she swung a fist, but it passed right through her. Daisy circled her and laughed again. She called her names, called Freddie a cry baby, called the humans pathetic. Mirabelle didn’t hear most of it. She was still too angry, and the world was flaring around her.
‘Can’t catch me, can’t catch me,’ Daisy chanted.
Mirabelle dived and just passed through Daisy again.
‘Can’t catch me, can’t catch me.’
Mirabelle saw Daisy’s pendant dangling from her neck. Uncle Enoch had used a special combination of spells to ensure that the twins’ pendants would always stay in place whether they were corporeal or not. Mirabelle grabbed at it. Daisy snarled, swerving out of the way, then recommenced chanting ‘Can’t catch me’ as Mirabelle swiped at her again and again.
At last Mirabelle managed to grab the stone pendant with both hands and started to twist Daisy around by the leather band. This only made Daisy shriek with delight as she continued her chant.
There was a full-length mirror at the rear of the hall that Aunt Eliza liked to use when she was prettifying herself for a night walk. Mirabelle kept whirling Daisy around, keeping in mind the exact position of the mirror, moving closer to it with each arc.
She felt her rage swelling to bursting point