Read Guardian of the Dead for Free Online Page B

teaching.’
    â€˜Say, “Thank you, Kevin.” ’ ‘Get stuffed, Kevin.’
    Throughout, I’d been conscious of Reka, waiting at my shoulder. She didn’t fake patience very well, and the second the conversation lagged she stuck her hand out at Kevin. ‘Hello,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’m Reka Gordon.’ Her voice had an accent I couldn’t place, part upper-class English, part something that purred around the vowels. Her acting voice had been pure Royal Shakespeare Company.
    Kevin’s social training kicked in. He took her hand and gripped it firmly. ‘Kevin Waldgrave. And this is Ellie.’
    â€˜We’ve met,’ I put in. ‘Briefly.’
    Reka’s eyes flicked toward me, then back to Kevin’s face. She was directing that beautiful smile at him again, and I wondered if I’d imagined that brief glimpse of surprise and malice in her glance at me. Kevin, unusually, hadn’t let go of her hand as soon as was polite. He was smiling back, looking slightly dazed.
    It wasn’t fair. I was doomed to be surrounded by beautiful people being beautiful at each other.
    â€˜Come on,’ Iris called from the wings, and Kevin dropped Reka’s hand. I thought Iris’s mock frown wasn’t entirely faked. ‘I want to see if Sarah’s costume might fit you, Reka.’
    â€˜Coming,’ Kevin said, and led the way to the greenroom.
    The reason Iris had borrowed Kevin’s car became apparent, as bags and boxes disgorged from Theodore’s boot and backseat. I did my bit, carrying in a long white cardboard box. It was light in my hands, and I thought it must contain something delicate, so I sat on the sagging couch with the box in my lap, balancing it over my knees. It was about the size of three of my Granny Spencer’s old hatboxes stuck together, but much flatter.
    The greenroom was crowded with activity. Some of the actors were already snatching up costumes, admiring the lush fabrics and darting in and out of the dressing rooms in states of undress that might have made Samia blush. Well, definitely would have. She was very careful about being covered up in front of boys.
    Iris was talking into her mobile phone, looking increasingly more strained, and I shamelessly eavesdropped. ‘Well, of course, your exams are important. Yes, yes, but you did say . . . all right, can you just give us everything you’ve already organised? . . . really. No, no, that’s fine. I’m sure we’ll find someone to take over. Thanks for letting me know.’ She snapped the phone closed and took a deep breath. ‘Well! Malika’s quit.’ She shook her head and darted into one of the dressing rooms.
    â€˜Who’s Malika?’ I asked the room at large.
    â€˜The props mistress,’ sighed the guy who was playing Puck. He sat down beside me, wide mouth quirking. ‘This production is cursed. That’s what we get for putting a first year in charge.’
    â€˜If you didn’t want a first year, why did you make Iris the director?’ I asked tartly. ‘She looks like she’s doing a good job to me. And how old are you ?’
    He grinned and waved spindly fingers. ‘Oh, I’m an ancient and world-wise twenty. Forgive the complaint; she’s doing fine. She shouldn’t even have to do all this, but the producer is useless. What’s in the box?’
    â€˜All the evils sent to plague mankind.’
    â€˜Hah! Someone’s a classical scholar.’
    â€˜I just like Greek myths,’ I said, absurdly pleased. It was ridiculous to be so thrilled just because a uni student thought I’d said something clever. Too late, I remembered that Pandora had actually opened a jar, not a box, but he didn’t seem to have noticed the slip.
    Carrie waltzed over and sat in Puck’s lap, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. I swallowed envy and tried not to let it show on my face.