The Portal Read Online Free PDF

seventeen minutes, and William did a brief calculation in his head.
    â€˜Twenty-four minutes past midnight,’ he said.
    â€˜Well done.’ Uncle Larry took off his jacket, dropped it on the floor and began unbuttoning his shirt. ‘You don’t have to remember the exact time because Emma’ll give you a ring ten minutes beforehand. I gave you the phone, didn’t I?’
    William held up the mobile.
    â€˜Good. And you remember the number?’
    â€˜1066,’ said William.
    â€˜Right.’ Uncle Larry threw his shirt on to his jacket and began taking off his trousers. ‘Make sure you don’t go too far from the house. You don’t want to be late. Any questions?’
    â€˜I don’t think so,’ said William.
    â€˜There’re no passengers booked in till Tuesday, so it’s only the bricks tonight you have to worry about. The next ones aren’t till eleven in the morning and I’ll be back long before then!’ Uncle Larry stood there, his wrinkled body clad only in a pair of shorts. ‘Don’t forget, any problems, you ask Emma.’
    William nodded.
    â€˜But there won’t be any problems.’ Uncle Larry stepped forward to stand in the middle of the Portal. ‘You’ll be fine. And when you wake up in the morning, I’ll be here with news about your parents!’
    He gave a brief wave and, like a swimmer diving into a pool, sank straight into the floor and disappeared from sight.

C HAPTER F OUR
    William stood there for a moment, staring at the empty surface of the Portal, before bending down to pick up the clothes that were scattered over the floor. Now he knew why Uncle Larry’s suit was always so crumpled, he thought, and wondered where would be the best place to put them.
    â€˜I would suggest the laundry drawer,’ said Emma, from somewhere in the ceiling.
    The voice made William jump – he wasn’t aware that he’d spoken out loud – but the suggestion seemed reasonable. ‘Where’s the laundry drawer?’ he asked.
    â€˜Third door on the right,’ said Emma.
    William made his way back out to the lobby, turned right, walked along to the third door andfound the wedge-shaped room in front of him was filled almost entirely with clothes. There were literally hundreds of items – suits and jackets, trousers and skirts, coats and jeans – all hanging on racks that filled most of the floor space and with more suspended from the ceiling above.
    â€˜The laundry drawer is on your left,’ said Emma. ‘You pull the handle under the red arrow and place any items that require cleaning inside.’
    William walked over to the wall, pulled the handle under the red arrow and pushed Uncle Larry’s clothes inside. Emma told him that cleaning would be complete in approximately ten minutes and, sure enough, the suit and shirt came out ten minutes later, not only pressed and cleaned but with the missing button replaced on the jacket.
    â€˜Does Uncle Larry have a room down here?’ he asked.
    â€˜He’s in the blue suite,’ said Emma. ‘Fourth door on the left.’
    William carried the clothes back out to the lobby and walked round to the fourth door on his left, just past the Portal. It led into a large, comfortable room with a bed on one side, a couple of armchairs and a table on the other, and a door at the far end that led through to the bathroom.
    The room was extremely untidy. The bed was unmade, there were towels and clothes scatteredover the floor, and the table was littered with plates of half-eaten food and dirty cups. William hung Uncle Larry’s clothes in one of the cupboards and went back out to the lobby.
    It was time, he thought, to do a little exploring.
    There were nine doors opening from the central lobby. Moving clockwise, the two doors after the Portal and Uncle Larry’s bedroom led to two more guest rooms, one decorated mostly in green and the other