Read The Chaos Code for Free Online Page B

not. But we’re none of us as young as we were, are we?’
    It was a clear, crisp day – cold, despite being July, and Matt’s misty breath hung for a moment in the air. Aunt Jane had shown him a map of the estate, and he headed through the woods towards the village. Before long, he saw the shape of the church tower through the trees, and he headed towards that.
    The church looked older than the manor house. The graveyard surrounding it was well kept, the grass cut and the borders edged. He walked all round the church, and stood at the main gate looking out onto the village green, and the houses arranged round it.
    Dad and Aunt Jane must have lived on or near the green, he guessed, for them to play in the grounds of the manor house. It seemed strange that his father had swapped one tiny village for a different one. Did heresent the new developments here? Had he decided he needed to get away? Or was it just the luck of things – his academic work, marrying Mum and then getting divorced? Was it a deliberate decision or just how things had worked out?
    Thoughts of his father were making Matt sullen and anxious again. Where was Dad? Had he sent Matt to Aunt Jane just so he was with an adult, or was he actually supposed to be doing something to help? Did Dad
need
help – after all, he’d managed to send Matt the letter and the message. What, if anything, should he tell Aunt Jane of his worries? She seemed to think Dad had just wandered off, absent-minded, the way he did. Letting her continue to think that helped Matt to convince himself it might even be true.
    Rather than explore the village, Matt decided to get back to the cottage. Perhaps Aunt Jane would be back and he could talk to her, share his worries. There was a hint of rain in the air and the breeze was getting up. He watched the leaves spiralling round the gravestones, whipped up and spun round in patterns. Matt retraced his path through the churchyard and out of the gate that led back into the Venture estate. There was the remains of a path outside the gate, winding up past the woodland and round to the manor house. It was overgrown and all but reclaimed by the grass, but the line of it was just about visible. Matt followed the path round.
    After a few minutes, the rain got heavier and hedecided he’d rather be in the shelter of the trees. So Matt left the narrow path and set off back through the woods. He wasn’t sure he was aiming for the cottage, but he knew if he kept going in a straight line he’d eventually reach the main driveway. Then he could follow that back down to Aunt Jane’s.
    It was eerie in the woods. The wind sounded like someone moaning or crying. Leaves drifted and curled and branches dipped and swayed. The sky had clouded over and was a uniform grey, so it was like twilight among the trees. Rain was blowing in his face now. It was a fine rain that was almost a mist, like he was walking through his own breath. He blinked and peered into the gloom ahead.
    There was a clearing, an open area near the edge of the wood. You could stand here, Matt realised, hidden in the trees but with a good view across the driveway and the lawns up to the manor house. It was obviously a deliberate feature, as there was a large stone bench positioned to give the best view. It was old, cracked and weathered, and with moss growing over the stone supports. The bench was curved gently, so sitting on it must be like being in the front row of an amphitheatre, watching over the estate like it was a play being acted out in front of you. The best place to sit would be in the middle of the bench.
    Exactly where the girl was sitting.
    She was so still that Matt didn’t see her at first. Andwhen he did he wondered if she was a statue. But while everything round her was dull grey and brown, she was wearing a bright red coat. Her long black hair was glistening with the moisture of the fine rain. When she turned to look at Matt, he saw that