As if by Magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

started to walk towards the gate.
    ‘I’m going back to yours,’ she called over her shoulder.
    She was halfway across the field, making sure she trod carefully this time, when the two men caught up to her. Hugo told them about how he had been teaching yoga once a week at a local leisure centre, which almost seemed normal for him.
    Back at his flat, Hugo led them through the door behind the bookies’ and up the stairs, through the door into his apartment. Although she was expecting it, the stuffed tiger’s head which hung over the door directly opposite the entrance was still something of a shock. Jessica had visited Hugo’s flat a couple of times, but each time she felt intimidated as it stared lifelessly through her. As she had come to know him, she had discovered his love of taxidermy was one of his more mainstream interests. The tiger was over fifty years old and Hugo said he had rescued it from a skip outside of someone’s house a few years ago.
    Hugo led them into the living room, where the curtains were open for the first time Jessica had known, dousing the room in a greyish, white haze. She saw candles placed strategically around the room, while there was his usual scattered selection of throws, blankets and beanbags. An armchair or sofa wasn’t something he seemed to have a need for. As ever, there was a faint odour of a substance Jessica would give the benefit of the doubt as being incense.
    Jessica gave Hugo his jacket back and then lowered herself carefully on to one of the large beanbags. Above her was an elaborate chandelier that she had never seen turned on, even when Hugo had been using electricity. Tall, thick wooden bookcases lined the room, each stuffed with hardbacks. The three titles lying sideways closest to Jessica were: A veterinarian’s guide to bovine reproduction , Why the world will end in 2025 – and what you can do to stop it , and, It’s your life, now get out there and live it. Next to that was a selection of Mr Men books, while on top of that was a stuffed mouse, whose eyes seemed to be staring through her. Jessica looked away before becoming too creeped out.
    As Dave joined her on the beanbags, Hugo asked if they wanted tea.
    ‘We have come to see you for a reason,’ Jessica said.
    ‘I think better after tea,’ he replied, tucking his hair behind his ears. ‘Would you like some?’
    ‘I suppose.’
    ‘I have peppermint, camomile, elderflower, red berry, green and ginger. Which would you like?’
    ‘Er... do you have some normal tea?’
    ‘I have some breakfast tea somewhere.’
    ‘That’ll do.’
    Dave asked for the same as Hugo exited into the kitchen.
    ‘I think he’s getting odder,’ Jessica said.
    ‘He’s always been like this,’ Dave replied, scrunching himself further into the bean bag. ‘When we were at university, we had this three thousand-word essay due on a Friday. He spent all week reading the Torah.’
    ‘Was it religious education?’
    ‘No, he did history but reckoned he was getting into character. He refused to eat anything from a pig and started using Yiddish words. It was due at four pm and by ten in the morning, he hadn’t even got up. We woke him and then he wrote this whole thing about Israel in three hours, handed it in, and went back to bed. The next day, he carried on as if the previous week hadn’t happened.’
    Hugo soon returned with a tray containing two separate teapots, plus three dainty china cups and saucers. He poured their drinks and then leaned back on to a bean bag.
    ‘Have you got any milk?’ Jessica asked.
    ‘I’ve turned the fridge off.’
    ‘Oh yeah, the no electricity thing... so how did you boil the water?’
    ‘I’ve got a gas stove.’
    ‘Isn’t that cheating?’
    Hugo shrugged, unconcerned. Jessica took a sip of the tea, which tasted strange black. Dave told the story of the Rubik’s cube in a box and removed it from his jacket pocket, handing it over.
    As his fingers twirled quickly over the jumbled