The Special Ones Read Online Free PDF Page B

the eggs so the two of us can run through the day’s plan.
    ‘What time will it happen?’ I ask.
    ‘The gate will be unlocked directly after lunch,’ says Harry. I am not exactly sure how he communicates with Harry. I think it’s mostly done via the computer, although I know that Harry, like me, sometimes finds instructional notes awaiting him in the mornings. ‘The Lucille told her friends she’d be shopping after school. She arranged to meet them at four in the food court.’
    This shopping time will be Harry’s only chance to carry out the collection. Once the girl’s friends turn up, it will be too dangerous.
    ‘Make sure you get her phone,’ I remind him.
    One collection was nearly derailed when the girl sat on her mobile and it rang someone. Harry managed to get it before anyone picked up, but it was a warning to us both. Accidents can happen so easily.
    ‘Have you locked the windows?’ Harry asks.
    I get up and do it immediately, so there’s no chance of my forgetting later.
    ‘And your lure?’ I ask. Harry must have something that will entice the girl to come with him. Something so tempting that it makes her abandon all those years of stranger-danger warnings and decide that he is worth the risk, though I have no doubt his warm brown skin and gentle eyes go a long way with that.
    ‘I’ll probably use the talent-scout one again,’ says Harry. ‘She looks like the theatrical type.’ He gets up, preparing to head back outside.
    ‘Harry?’ There’s one more thing I need to say. Partly because I’ve been instructed to, but also because it’s part of our collection-day ritual. ‘Look out for police officers, won’t you?’
    Harry smiles, but his eyes are serious. ‘I always do.’

    After the morning’s chores, the three of us eat a silent lunch together in the parlour, everyone caught up in their own thoughts. As I start to clear away, Harry stands. ‘Well, I’d better go,’ he says.
    I know that the main gate is only unlocked when it’s time for someone to pass through, and none of us know how long it stays open. Missing that time window would be terrible.
    We walk through the kitchen and out onto the side verandah. I go with Harry to the very edge and slip him a neatly written list of things we need. Black hair dye. Tinted contact lenses. Some spools of cotton thread. Harry tucks my list into the pocket of his jacket.
    Not for the first time, I wonder where he’ll get the money to buy the things on that list, or whether he’ll simply steal them. I have no idea how he gets into town, either – I used to assume that he rode a bicycle or caught a bus, but then once I heard the distant, foreign sound of a car engine soon after he’d gone.
    As Harry starts to walk down the steps, Felicity clutches at his arm. ‘Don’t go,’ she begs. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling in my stomach about it.’
    Harry puts an arm around her shoulders. ‘Young lady, you’ve got a bad feeling in your stomach because you ate too much lunch,’ he says, teasingly. ‘Esther will make you some fennel tea and you’ll feel fine.’ He tweaks one of her plaits. ‘I’ll be back before you know it, Flick. With Lucille. Now, how about you walk with me to the gate?’
    Felicity turns to me. ‘Can I?’
    ‘Of course,’ I say. It’s a relief to be able to say yes for once. ‘But come straight back afterwards so we can bake those biscuits.’
    Felicity nods, happy again. Or happier, at least.
    Harry salutes and almost, but not quite, looks at me. ‘Back soon,’ he says.
    I want to wish him good luck, but Special Ones aren’t supposed to need it. ‘I’ll be here,’ I say. ‘Waiting.’
    I watch from the front door until Felicity and Harry disappear past the gum trees and into the farm. Even then I remain where I am, as if the whole mission depends upon my staying in place for as long as possible. It’s only after I hear the gate clang closed that I return inside, my stomach hollow. It’s begun.

    It’s