Gideon the Cutpurse Read Online Free PDF

mean, you don't know me? I've only been forced to spend half the morning with you...except then it was winter and now it's summer, and then we were with my dad and now we're...in this place. I knew you were going to be trouble as soon as I saw you."

Peter looked at her in silent astonishment. He was so confused, he could not tell whether this was dream or reality. The girl looked familiar, but he really couldn't remember who she was.

"Are you all right?" Kate asked. "You're ever so pale. Did you know you've got a massive bruise on your forehead?" She touched him where a large purple bruise was blossoming on his temple, and Peter winced.

"And I've lost Molly! Oh, Molly, Molly, where are you?"

Kate was on the verge of crying again and quickly turned away from Peter and reached into her pocket for a handkerchief. She blew her nose noisily and sat quietly for a minute to compose herself. There has to be a logical explanation for all this! I just can't see it right now.... And it must be because Peter's been hit on the head that he can't remember who I am.

Peter turned to watch Kate get to her feet purposefully. She sprinted up the slope behind him, shading her eyes and scanning the horizon for signs of life. Then she whistled through her teeth like the farmers do at sheepdog trials. "Molly, come!" she shouted. "Molly, come!"

Peter lay watching this scene play out like a film at the cinema. It began to seem like this was happening to someone else, when, suddenly, an excruciating tingling pain started to run up and down Peter's legs like an electric current. He writhed in agony, rolling backward and forward in the long grass and clutching at the calves of his legs. It was Peter's turn to let out a piercing shriek that ricocheted across the peaceful landscape. He tried to stand up and immediately fell over. As his shoulder blades hit the ground, there was a suspicious squelching sound. Peter was in too much pain to take any notice for the moment.

"Help me! Somebody help me! Ow, ow, owwww..."

Kate was at his side in a moment. "Now what am I supposed to do?" she cried. She stood looking down at his squirming body, her jaw clenched and her lips pursed together. Despite Peter's continued moans she began to look more cheerful.

"I know what's wrong with you," she said. "I woke up lying over your ankles. You've just got pins and needles." And Kate began to rub his legs vigorously like she did when she helped her mother dry Milly and Sean after a paddle at the seaside. "Stamp your feet," she suggested. "By the way, do you know that you're lying in a cowpat?"

It was several minutes before Peter could bear to put any weight on his feet. Kate was now squatting in the long grass, staring into space. It was clear that she was thinking hard. Peter stood up and wiped his anorak on some long grass, taking a long sideways look at the unfamiliar girl as he did so. She noticed him and her face went into a lopsided sort of frown with one eyebrow higher than the other. Peter instantly knew who she was. It was as though someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over his head--he recognized the girl and could remember her father and all her brothers and sisters, and the Van de Graaff generator, and Kate and himself chasing Molly down a long white corridor. What he couldn't remember, or begin to understand, was how he and the girl found themselves here in this beautiful, deserted valley.
    * * *
    "You're Kate," he said.

"Yes, I know that," said Kate. "Why don't you tell me something I don't know, like how we got here?"

"But I don't know," replied Peter. "I can't remember."

"Well, try," said Kate. "Think back. Try and picture everything that happened between this morning and the last thing you do remember, and look for clues. That's what I'm trying to do. Something very weird has happened to us today. One of us has got to work out what."
    * * *
    Molly could not be persuaded to leave Tim's laboratory. When Dr. Dyer tried to pull her away, she