Demon's Door Read Online Free PDF

annoyed, and scrabbled at the sides of the basket in frustration.
    Jim felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Maybe he should take the basket out of the classroom and check Tibbles again, just to make sure that he wasn’t hurt. Or maybe he should dismiss Special Class Two altogether, and take Tibbles straight to Dr Hooperman, his vet.
    Kim seemed to guess what he was thinking, because he said, ‘Cat is perfectly healthy, Mr Rook. Same as yesterday. No need for worry.’
    Billy Friedlander called out, ‘Sir? Mr Rook, sir? You still want us to finish this last meal thing?’ Billy Friedlander was sitting right at the back of the class. He had messed-up hair and a gray T-shirt with holes in it and gray sneakers without any laces. Jim had nicknamed him Hobo.
    â€˜I’m just getting to dessert,’ said Billy. ‘I was thinking about Death By Chocolate. Better than Death by Potassium Chloride, huh?’
    Jim said, ‘Yes, please. Everybody finish their menus. Kim – find yourself a desk and sit down, please. Here’s some paper, and a pen. Your assignment is to write down what you would like to eat for your last supper, if you were on Death Row, and you were going to be executed.’
    Kim took the paper and pen, but looked directly at Jim and said, ‘Only in Christian religion is last supper.’
    â€˜Well, write it down anyhow,’ Jim told him. ‘Let’s wait until the bell rings, and then you and I can have a little talk about life and death, can’t we?’

THREE
    J im spent the rest of the lesson with his elbows on his desk, his book open in front of him but unread, his eyes fixed on Tibbles’ cat basket. Every now and then, Tibbles let out a plaintive mew, but Jim thought that he sounded sorry for himself rather than sick. He certainly didn’t sound as if he were breathing his last shrimpy breath.
    Kim had seated himself at the end of the front row, nearest the stationery cupboard, next to Janice Sticky. Jim glanced at him from time to time but he didn’t raise his head once.
    The black girl with the gilded cornrows and the purple glitter nail-polish waved her hand at him. Her name was Elvira Thomas, although Jim had nicknamed her Cleopatra because of her sleek high cheekbones and her exotic looks. She wore dangling gold earrings that almost hung down to her collarbone, like two chandeliers.
    â€˜Sir? My last supper? What if the prison kitchens don’t know how to cook it?’
    â€˜What is it?’
    â€˜It’s blaff, sir.’
    â€˜ Blaff? ’
    â€˜It’s fish, cooked in lime juice and chillies. My grandma makes it.’
    â€˜Let’s assume for the purposes of this assignment that the catering staff at San Quentin know to cook just about anything. Where does blaff come from?’
    â€˜Martinique, sir. That’s where my grandma came from. She’s the greatest cook ever, and she can mix up magic potions, too. When I was a little girl she told me that she knew a way to walk straight through walls.’
    â€˜I’ve heard about that,’ put in Teddy. ‘It’s called a door.’
    Eventually the bell rang and everybody in the class came shuffling forward with their assignments. Some of them had written only four words, while others had used up half of their sheet of paper. Teddy had filled up both sides, and then written vertically up the margins, too.
    Judii tottered up and gave Jim a white toothy smile. She had masses of blonde curls and shiny scarlet lip-gloss. ‘I totally adore your cat, Mr Rook,’ she said in her breathy, squeaky voice. ‘Any time you want a cat-sitter, just let me know.’
    â€˜OK,’ said Jim. ‘But let me warn you that he’s very temperamental.’ Not to mention immortal .
    â€˜He won’t be temperamental with me. I’ll love him and I’ll tickle him and I’ll squeeze him so tight that he won’t even be able to breathe.