Split Second Read Online Free PDF Page A

around?’ Rosa asked. She still had a smile on her face, but it was a little fixed now and there was a wary look in her eyes.
    ‘Sure.’
    Rosa glanced at her mum. Gail nodded. ‘Go on then, I’ll make the tea.’
    Rosa led me through the hall. Both the doors beyond the stairs were open. She stood back to let me peer into each room in turn. A gigantic living room, then a dining room with a polished wooden
table and elegant, glass-fronted cupboards. I could feel Rosa watching me as I took in both rooms. I felt hot and uncomfortable. I would so much rather have been left to wander around by myself.
Rosa kept looking at me expectantly, but I had no idea what I was supposed to say. Everything seemed very grand and formal, the total opposite of Aunt Karen’s mess and nothing like the cosy,
comfortable home I’d shared with Mum. A sob twisted in my guts as I thought of her. I swallowed it down.
    ‘Mum got our cleaner to come in today so it would be nice for you.’ There was a slightly reproachful edge to Rosa’s voice. I looked at her.
    ‘She didn’t need to do that,’ I said.
    Rosa smiled her bright, fixed smile again. ‘We wanted everything to be just right. I helped with your room. Do you want to see?’
    I nodded, wondering what Rosa meant by ‘helped’. Privately I hoped that the glittery eyeshadow and harsh, bright blue of her jumper and earrings weren’t an indication of the
décor she’d chosen.
    Upstairs on the first floor Rosa pointed to all the doors that led off the landing, naming a study, her parents’ bedroom and at least two spare rooms and bathrooms.
    ‘Our rooms are upstairs,’ Rosa said.
    I followed her up the next flight of stairs to the second-floor landing. Rosa indicated the open door on the left. ‘That’s mine,’ she said.
    I peered inside. Every surface in the room overflowed with make-up and jewellery. Each wall was painted a different colour: pale blue, dark blue, pink and lilac. Clothes spilled out of the large
wardrobe and onto the floor. It was all frills and bright colours . . . the opposite of my own, darker, simpler tastes.
    Rosa surveyed her room proudly, then turned away. ‘The bathroom’s opposite. You’re there.’ She pointed to the only remaining door, next to the bathroom.
    I crossed the landing, my heart in my mouth. What on earth was my room going to look like? I pushed the door open.

Nat
    It was still raining when I got in from school on Monday evening. The house was empty but for once I was relieved. I was in no mood to chat. I dumped my school bag on the
kitchen table – still covered with this morning’s cereal bowls – then decided to check to see if anyone had responded to my League of Iron post. I opened the browser on my phone.
The internet connection was frustratingly slow, so I went to the bathroom while I waited. The floor was covered with damp towels. I kicked them into a corner, knowing that I should really take them
all downstairs and put them in the washing machine. Maybe Mum would do it when she got in from the hospital.
    Yeah, right
. Even when Mum did come home, she was never really here. It was as if she left her brain at the hospital with Lucas then simply drifted around the house, commenting that the
boiler was overdue for a service or that Jas needed a haircut.
    Back downstairs I saw a note from Dad saying that he was working on a repair job at the garage and wouldn’t be home until midnight. Shoving it to one side, I checked my phone. The League
of Iron forum had opened at last. Two other users had left supportive comments in response to my post. But there was nothing that directly picked up on my reference to the Canal Street market
bomb.
    And then I read the private message. It was a direct reply to my own words – an individual and specific invitation:
    Saxon66
to
AngelOfFire
:
    MEETING in London next week for all seeking answers. POWER watches. Be CAREFUL. Details to come. KEEP the FAITH.
    Iron Right
    Iron Might
    Iron