scott street

12: AGATHA

"AGATHA!" Sophie roared. "AGATHA, WAKE UP–"

Agatha, convinced she was having a nightmare, turned over and slapped herself. Nothing happened.

Horrified to discover this was apparently real and she was awake, she sat up slowly...

"Get out of my room." she said. "And stop shouting, it can't be much after seven–"

"It's almost nine," snapped Sophie, holding Tedros like a puppy by the collar of his shirt. Tedros dangled disdainfully in her grip, examining his nails. "And it's urgent. Want to know where I found him this morning?"

"Doing press-ups in a field at an obscene hour," said Agatha, which she thought was a pretty good guess.

"This," said Sophie. "Is not a joke."

She thrust something into Agatha's hands. Agatha stared at it, half-awake and confused. It was a storybook page, but not one she recognised; an old hag, a witch, standing onstage in a theatre, hounding a princess in blue at the–

Agatha froze, staring at Sophie... she and Sophie, their painted selves...

She looked at the caption:

AND the witch said:

"But look closer, children, and see the vampire she is, come to suck our souls. Since she doesn't have one of her own."

Beneath her dress, Agatha trembled. But she withstood her withering glare, until Sophie swivelled to Tedros and smiled–

Agatha stopped reading, heart slamming. It was the Tale of Sophie and Agatha. It was Sophie's storybook. Her storybook.

But the only copies were– Tedros had said they were at School...

Tedros had said they were at School.

And who had been at School all summer?

"That is what was shoved under my door this morning," said Sophie. She reached into Tedros's pocket. "And this... is what Tedros saw fit to show my brothers."

It was another page; a split illustration. A girl in pink, falling towards the black spires, and a girl in black, falling towards the pink–

"You told Sophie's brothers they had it wrong," realised Agatha, heart clunking in dread. "Tedros, you told them that their sister was a witc–"

"He'll be sorry," said Sophie quietly. Agatha looked at her, spine prickling at the tone.

"Will I, now." said Tedros, who couldn't have sounded less bothered. Agatha turned to look at him, genuinely alarmed. She knew he never thought things through, but this was too premeditated to be truly impulsive. This was–

"You brought a copy with you, didn't you?" said Agatha. "Tedros? Why would you–"

"Was meant to be fun, since I knew you'd never seen it." Tedros glanced between the two of them with a narrow, sharp look that Agatha had never seen on him before. "Guess not so much, now..."

"You bought the whole book?" Sophie said slowly. "Then where's..."

They both looked around, but there was nothing new on the shelf, or on the floor, or the messy heap of blankets and cloaks where Tedros had been sleeping...

They clearly remembered at the same time. What was it that he'd said last night? He'd said...

What will you do if your storybook reaches Deauville's shop?