things.â
âRubbish,â Ruby said.
Gerald looked at her, surprised. âYou donât think so?â
âThink has nothing to do with it,â Ruby said. âI know so. And Iâll show you.â Ruby stood and took Geraldâs hand. She dragged him over to a round table in the middle of the restaurant.
âWhatâs this supposed to prove?â Gerald asked.
âJust shut up and follow me, okay?â Ruby tugged on his hand and led him twice around the table, then back to the booth. She plopped down next to Sam with a look of accomplishment on her face.
âSo?â Gerald said. âWhatâs a guided tour of the restaurant meant to show me?â
Ruby leaned forward and said in a low voice, âYour life is now forever changed.â
Gerald started laughing. âWhat are you talking about? How can two laps of a table change my life?â
âChaos,â Ruby said.
âChaos?â
âItâs chaos theory. If we hadnât walked round that table we might have left this restaurant by now. For the rest of your life you are going to be a minute behind where you would have been. Every interaction you have with the world from now onâthe things you see, the people you meetâwill be different because of that little walk. And all the people you meet: their lives will be different too, even if only just the tiniest bit. The same goes for the people they meet, and so onâlike ripples spreading on a pond.â
Gerald wasnât convinced. âSo life is just one coincidence after another? Thereâs no grand plan?â
âIâm the coincidence queen, Gerald,â Ruby said with a wink. âYou can trust me.â
Sam picked at his teeth. âWell, itâs no coincidence that this conversation is boring. We get to meet Walter tonight. Terrific. Anything actually exciting going to happen, Gerald?â
A shadow passed over Geraldâs face. âTwo things,â he said. âAnd I canât bear thinking about them.â
Chapter 4
V i was still fussing over seating plans for the party when Gerald walked through the front door, weighed down with shopping bags.
âIâm not sure the archbishop should be sitting next to Lady Carstairs,â Vi said to Eddie. âNot if the gossip magazines are to be believed.â
âWhy donât you move the bishop?â Eddie said. âStick him next to Walter.â Then, under his breath, he mumbled, âThat ought to shut him up for a bit.â
Vi bristled and straightened in her chair. âI will not have you white-anting Walter.â She grabbed up her handbag from under the table and pulled out a key ring. She jangled five golden keys in Eddieâs face. âSee this? I am only three away from graduating from the Drawing Room of Indifference to the Library of Absolute Insight on the fourth floor,â she said. âThe fourth floor, Eddie! No one in Walterâs course has ever got that far. He says Iâm gifted.â
Eddie snorted. âA gift, more like.â
âWhat was that?â Vi skewered her husband with a rapier stare. âYou know whatâs in the Library of Absolute Insight, donât you?â
Eddie emitted a weary sigh. âThe Chalice of Inner Stability?â
âExactly,â Vi said. âThe Chalice of Inner Stability. Walter says it is essential for my core structural strength. And from there itâs a mere eleven storeys until I reach the Attic of Ultimate Fulfilment.â Viâs face flushed at the thought if it. âIâm the best student heâs ever had.â
âFor what heâs getting paid,â Eddie said, âyouâre the only student heâll ever need.â
Gerald knew when to make himself scarce. He reached the lift just as his mother exploded.
From the tall window in his bedroom, Gerald gazed out at the line of chimney pots that ran the length of the rooftops