The Collector Book One: Mana Leak Read Online Free PDF Page B

surprising grace and agility. Her bare feet silently moved across the carpet. She pulled back a flimsy lace curtain and peered out into the bright street.
    “They’re still there,” she said.
    “The Deans? Oh yeah, they’re out there all right. They haven’t been bothering you again, have they?”
    “They broke some of the fence posts out the front,” she replied, not moving her gaze from the window. “I watched them do it. Blind drunk, the pair of them. Kicking it, they were. Kicking and shouting.”
    “Didn’t anyone do anything about it?” Joe asked, outrage clear in his voice. “I thought their mother was meant to be keeping them in check?”
    “I think Jenny’s as afraid of the boys as the rest of us.”
    She let the curtain fall, but still remained by the window. The sunlight illuminated half her face, highlighting every crack and crevice in her skin. It added ten years to her appearance.
    “You shouldn’t have to put up with them!” Joe said, voice rising. “Not after what they put you through.”
    “That’s all over with, Joseph. Well, once this money business is finished with. I don’t know why you insisted I went through with the court. All more bother. I don’t need any more money. What am I going to spend it on? I just want all this behind me.”
    “Grandma, you can’t just let them get away with what they did! Just because the police were lenient with them, it doesn’t mean we have to be. We’ll take them for every penny they have!”
    “Look at the house, Joseph. They don’t have much. And it’ll be Jenny that has to pay it, not them. I feel sorry for that woman, having to raise two hooligans like that on her own.”
    Eleanor wandered away from the window. She sat in a high backed armchair that faced the television.
    “They broke into your house,” said Joe. “Your home! They should have been punished, but look at them. Sat outside drinking, happy as Larry.”
    “Always been a handful, them two. Even as kids. Did you know that they thought I was a witch?”
    Joe looked around the large living room. With all the books, exotic ornaments and rich tapestries that adorned every wall, he wasn’t surprised she was considered a mystic.
    “Anyway,” she continued, “let’s hear no more about it. I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to have a debate with your old grandmother!”
    “You were a wreck last time I came. I mean, getting up in the middle of the night and hearing them two rummaging around downstairs? Even I would have shit myself-”
    “Joseph!”
    “Sorry.”
    Her frown lightened and she smiled. “Have some tea. Maybe that will give your foul mouth something better to do.”
    He sat in silence, watching her pour two small cups of tea from the pot.
    “How was your journey? Not much traffic, I hope.”
    “It was fine,” he replied, receiving a saucer from his grandmother’s shaking grasp. “Made good time.”
    “I watched you pull up from the window. That’s a new car, isn’t it?”
    Joe nodded.
    “It’s a bit…flash.”
    Joe drank some tea. “I thought it was time I treated myself. It’s been a while.”
    “I didn’t know drawing paid so much.” She took a quick sip from her cup.
    “It’s not as simple as drawing, grandma. It’s called ‘graphic design’.”
    “The whole New World Design thing paid that much then?”
    “Yeah. Carter use it on all their products, and now that the American royalties are coming through, I’m on a good thing.”
    Eleanor picked up a jammie dodger from the plate of biscuits, but then reconsidered, choosing a more sensible custard cream instead. “Have you forgiven yourself yet?”
    He paused.
    “What do you mean?”
    “You were so upset on the phone, Joseph. The New World Design logo was your work. You should be proud.”
    Joe grunted and drank more tea.
    “This is good. What kind is it?”
    “My own special blend. A mixture of leaves from India and China. Warms the soul!”
    Joe and Eleanor shared a quiet