The Monsters of Rookhaven, стр. 30
Mirabelle opened her eyes. She was vaguely aware that her forehead was pressed into the ground. She could smell soil and damp grass, and she gasped like someone coming up for air and raised herself onto her knees.
She looked around, and the world gradually came back into focus.
Jem and Odd were standing over her. Jem laid a hand on her shoulder; her lip was quivering.
‘Mirabelle?’
Mirabelle tried to speak, but no words came out.
She looked across woozily at Tom who still sat with his back against the tree.
Tom smiled at her, but his eyes glittered with tears.
‘I told you,’ he said. ‘I told you, didn’t I?’
Mirabelle could only nod. She became aware that she was cradling something in the crook of her arm. It was dark and furry and small, and it mewled softly.
‘What is it?’ asked Jem.
A shaken Mirabelle finally found her words.
‘This is Piglet,’ she said. She thought about it for a moment, realizing that he could still change shape at any moment. ‘For now,’ she added, her voice trembling.
Jem
It was the strangely sedate way everyone reacted at first that confused Jem. That would all change later, but for now Mirabelle seemed to be oddly calm as she cradled the creature in the crook of her arm.
Mirabelle tried to stand, but she stumbled backwards, and both Odd and Jem had to grab an arm each to steady her. Mirabelle looked at them, grateful, but also with an expression that suggested she was close to tears. Since she’d first met Mirabelle, the thing that Jem had liked most about her was her serenity and confidence. Now, much like Tom, she seemed completely changed. It was this that frightened Jem more than anything. More than seeing Tom covered in blood. More than seeing the creature they called Piglet seem to change its appearance with each passing moment. The same creature that had charged her seconds ago and that was now purring contentedly as it nestled into Mirabelle’s chest.
‘Piglet,’ Mirabelle whispered. She smiled down at him, then turned to Odd, her smile vanishing.
‘Did you know?’ she said, her face a rictus of rage.
Odd tried to meet her gaze, but it was so fierce he could only look at his feet. ‘Mirabelle . . . please—’
‘Did you know, Odd?’ Mirabelle roared.
Odd looked stricken. He took half a step towards Mirabelle, but she retreated from him and hugged Piglet closer to her. Her eyes were fixed on Odd, burning with accusation. Jem had no idea what was going on.
‘We need to put him back in his room,’ said Odd, nodding at Piglet. ‘Let me help.’
Odd started to make a circle in the air with his finger. Mirabelle grabbed him by the wrist and pushed his arm down viciously. Jem was shocked by the angry gesture.
‘No!’
Odd blinked at her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then he looked from Jem to Mirabelle and back again, as if seeking direction. He looked completely bereft. Jem felt a sudden sympathy for him.
‘You need to go,’ said Mirabelle, her voice lower but no less angry.
Odd turned away from them, his head bowed, and vanished into a portal.
Jem helped Tom to his feet and put her arm round him, being careful to try to avoid the blood on his shirt.
‘I’m sorry, Jem,’ he said, his eyes brimming with tears.
‘It’s all right,’ she said.
‘He was inside my head. He made me run out of the house. I couldn’t stop him.’ He squeezed her arm so tight Jem had to grit her teeth. ‘He sees everything, Jem. He hears everything. And he’s so old. He’s older than anything.’
In an effort to calm him Jem smiled and nodded as if she understood what he meant. She hugged him fiercely to her with one arm as they made their way over to where Mirabelle stood.
‘We have to get Piglet back to his room,’ Mirabelle said, looking as if she were barely keeping herself together. Jem could see the anger in her eyes, and the grief that lay beneath the surface. A grief so profound that Jem feared it might crack Mirabelle’s alabaster skin.
Jem touched her arm tenderly. ‘What happened?’ she whispered, for fear of waking Piglet.
Mirabelle shook her head and looked away for a moment to compose herself.
‘Piglet showed me things. Things that have been kept from me,’ she replied hoarsely.
They walked back to the house in silence. Jem could sense that Mirabelle didn’t want to talk. She cast occasional glances in her direction, but Mirabelle stared straight ahead, her eyes fixed on the road, jaw clenched, as if on the path towards some dreadful destiny from which she couldn’t turn away. Sometimes Jem would hear Mirabelle murmuring softly to Piglet, but Jem was afraid to look for fear Piglet might become a mountain of eyes or teeth, or something spiked and clawed that breathed fire.
Despite this fear she couldn’t help herself. She held on tight to Tom as she asked Mirabelle the question that had been plaguing her since she’d first set eyes on Piglet.
‘What is he?’
There was just the gentle sound of a breeze rustling through leaves in the dark before Mirabelle eventually answered.
‘He’s family,’ she said.
Tom coughed, and Jem caught sight of the small, dark creature stirring and, despite what Mirabelle had just said, she squeezed her eyes shut for a second and prayed that Piglet wouldn’t wake up.
They walked in silence the rest of the way. It seemed that nothing lay ahead of them but forest, but then Mirabelle put her hand out for Jem and with two more steps there was a sensation of passing through something. Jem was dimly aware of a slight shimmering as they stepped through the Glamour and suddenly they were within the walls of the estate. They walked through the main gate and up the driveway and now the silence was suffocating, all-encompassing, and Jem felt the hairs on