Shadow of the Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page A

studiously admired the scenery, she knew what the curious eyes would really have been wondering: how a sad case like her got to walk with him. It wasn’t that he was good looking, at least, not in a trad way: there was something not quite balanced in his face. Butthe imperfection suited him, she decided, and he had a great smile — she recalled registering that when they were climbing, though she’d assured herself it didn’t mean anything then. Geneva returned his smile, wondering whether it did now.
    ‘Yeah, okay. I was planning on going into town anyway,’ she hesitated, thinking how it must have felt, copping the full attention of every girl heading out the school gates. Simon would have loved it, but not Angus. ‘Walk and talk?’ she suggested. ‘I have to pick up some stuff at the supermarket.’
    As they crossed Wallace Park, Geneva’s bike in tow like an obedient dog, an army of ducks rushed noisily from the water.
    ‘Looks like we’re under attack,’ Angus observed, ‘and seriously out-numbered.’
    Geneva reached into her school bag. ‘I’ll divert them while you make a break for it.’
    ‘Ungentlemanly,’ Angus replied. ‘I should defend you to the death.’
    The ducks did a rapid U-turn as she tossed the remnants of her lunch into the pond. ‘Saved from noble sacrifice by a peanut butter sandwich.’ She paused. ‘I used to come here to feed the ducks with my gran. When I was really little, I thought they were all her pets.’
    ‘Is she still around?’
    Geneva shook her head. ‘She went into a home a few years ago but she wasn’t happy there. I think she just gave up.’
    Angus nodded. ‘My mum’s parents are still alive but they don’t live around here so I’ve never seen much of them. My other grandfather was great. He lived with us for a while. He died when I was ten.’
    Geneva steered the bike towards the park’s sister-city garden, thinking about how many facts go into finding out who a person is. Leaning her bike against the tile-topped wall, she led the way over an ironwork bridge to the central pagoda, set on an artificial island that was for once free of prepubescent boys armed with bottles of dishwashing liquid.
    ‘Do you like living on a farm?’ Angus asked.
    ‘It’s okay. Peace and quiet. Great views. Weird parents. Fairly standard stuff.’
    ‘Brothers and sisters?’
    ‘Nope.’ She chose the left fork of the path. ‘You?’
    ‘Ditto the parents — not sure there’s any other kind. Siblings: younger brother, sisters either side. Kat’s at university, Blair’s in training to be the most annoying being in the universe, and Beth’s in Year Nine and thinks her PE teacher is the universe.’
    Geneva smiled. ‘That’s Wakefield uniform, right?’ They knew hardly anything about each other, as if the climbing was a whole separate existence. Perhaps it was, she decided, picturing the way her parents would react.
    Angus was looking at her expectantly.
    ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I missed that — I was miles away.’
    ‘I could tell.’ A vertical crease appeared between his eyebrows when he frowned. ‘It doesn’t matter. Actually I was wondering — tell me to piss off if you want — but …’ He nudged a pebble off the path with his toe. ‘There’s a party on this Saturday. It’s a farewell thing for a mate from school whose family are moving to the States. It’s in the Assembly Hall in town. There’ll be about a hundred kids — his friends as well as his sisters’, plus adults.’
    Parties. God. Geneva studied the boulders that were artfully arranged in the water below them.
    ‘I’d like you to come.’ Angus added, sounding awkward.
    Well, he hadn’t appeared at St Andrew’s gates for the sake of impressing the inmates. ‘I wouldn’t know anyone,’ she said, stalling for time.
    ‘You’d know me,’ he suggested, mouth curved in a hopeful half smile. ‘Well, a bit anyway.’
    Geneva chewed on her lip. ‘I’m not sure if I could get