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.‘Just put a dress on and go!’ Ginny had already left the room; Mrs Sutton heard the front door slam.Carrie lingered in front of the mirror.‘What are you going to do, Mother?’ She sounded a little sobered, as if the full impact of the situation had finally reached her consciousness.Mrs Sutton thought for a moment.‘I’m going to get dressed.Then I’m going to sit down and wait.’Carrie pulled out a yellow dress, held it up against herself, nodded thoughtfully.‘In case she comes back?’‘In case - ‘ Mrs Sutton broke off, surprised to hear a catch in her own voice.‘In case anything, Carrie.’She left Carrie to dress, returned to her own room, but made no attempt to dress herself.She ignored the rapidly cooling breakfast on its tray by the bed, instead stared out at the garden, at the leaves on the horse-chestnut, green edged with yellow.After a couple of minutes she heard Carrie run down the stairs and slam the front door.Mrs Sutton stared at the horse-chestnut for a few moments more, then went and sat down on the bed.She closed her eyes and put her head in her hands, then began thinking, very hard.Benny, she thought.Benny.The woman hadn’t said that she personally could hear thoughts, but you never knew.It was something people sometimes talked about, and if half of what Benny had said about herself was true it had to be worth trying.Benny, she thought.I need your help.Mrs Sutton repeated the message four times, as mariners in distress were supposed to repeat an SOS.When she’d finished, without opening her eyes, or changing her posture, she began to pray.Chapter 5Professor Bernice Summerfield looked at the yellow dress spread out across the bed and sighed.She’d have loved to wear that to work, perhaps with the fluffy purple scarf, white shoes and a white hat.She could just imagine the oohs and aahs from the other girls, the amazed disapproval of Mrs Milsom, the supervisor - in fact it would probably bring the whole factory to a stop.‘Oh, well, one can but dream.’ Benny muttered, and turned to the small, slightly spotty, mirror on the dressing-table to examine her blue-striped cotton dress and cheap lace collar.Even in this she was better dressed than most of the women she worked with, though, she hoped, not suspiciously so.She leaned forward, peered closer into the mirror.She had put her lipstick on wrongly again - gone over the top of the lip contour and made herself look like a clown.She would never get used to this smudgy stuff.The Doctor had assured her that whilst it wasn’t made from any part of a whale, it was identical in colour, smell, taste and consistency to the local product.But it was no good it being authentic if you didn’t put it on correctly.Benny thought about it for a moment, then wiped the lipstick off with her handkerchief.Some colour remained, and that would have to do.She was late already.She picked up her door keys and her satchel and left, taking one glance back at the small, plain room.It had a bed, a tiny wardrobe, a wash basin and a dressing table.There was even a rug on the floor, with a faded floral pattern.Not bad for three shillings a week.Benny closed the door, locking it behind her, and crept down the stairs.It wasn’t all that early- half-past seven - but Mrs Kelly, the landlady, liked her morning kip, and was annoyed if her tenants made any noise that woke her up.Benny didn’t blame her.Given a chance, she’d have liked some extra beauty sleep herself.She hadn’t got back from the Suttons’ till almost midnight, and she’d spent another hour writing up her report for the Doctor.Even then, she hadn’t got to sleep for a while, but had stared out of the window at the dark bulk of the opposite terrace, wondering what exactly had happened at the séance, and how it was related to the spatio-temporal disturbance that the Doctor claimed to have found.Outside, a fresh breeze blew across the tiny front yard, smelling of coal smoke and leaky drains, soap and dust.It was cold, much colder than the sunshine had led her to expect.Benny felt goose-bumps grow on her arms.She considered going back for her cardigan, then thought better of it.No time, really [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]