‘Come on, Suzy!’ Leaf whispered. She had an idea of what to do to save herself, but first she had to get rid of the pocket. The mould was taking over so fast!
The door opened and Leaf choked on a gasp, because it wasn’t Suzy. It was a teenage girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen. Arthur’s sister. The youngest one. Michaeli.
‘What are you doing here?’ asked Michaeli. ‘Who are you?’
‘Friend of Arthur’s!’ said Leaf, but her mouth wasn’t working properly because her lips and tongue were suddenly partially numb so it came out as ‘Fiend up Arfloor’.
‘What?’ asked the girl. She had a mobile phone in her hand, thumb poised over what was probably a speed-dial button for the police.
‘Arthur!’ burst out Leaf, speaking slower so she could be understood. ‘I’m a friend of Arthur’s!’
‘What are you doing here?’ repeated Michaeli. She hadn’t pressed the button. ‘And what’s wrong with you?’
‘Arthur sent me,’ said Leaf. ‘Got Greyspot.’
Michaeli recoiled in horror, backing out the door so fast she ended up against the corridor wall on the other side.
‘Not contagious,’ said Leaf, spoiling her words by losing control of her leg and falling on the floor, where she writhed around in a desperate struggle with her own body.
Michaeli screamed then, but it wasn’t because of Leaf’s contortions. Suzy Turquoise Blue had materialised in the corridor, and she was wearing pale-yellow wings that were fully extended, tip feathers touching the ceiling and walls. She also had a Metal Commissionaire’s truncheon in her hand, an apparently wooden club that was covered in crawling blue sparks.
‘What’s going on?!’ screamed Michaeli. She had dropped her phone, Leaf was pleased to see.
‘I’m a friend of Arthur’s,’ said Suzy. She folded her wings and bent over Leaf, gesturing with the truncheon in her hand. ‘Do I need to knock you out with this, Leaf?’
‘Not yet,’ chattered Leaf. Her jaw was moving of its own accord. But her right arm was still her own. She made contact with her jeans and tried to pull out the box with the sorcerous pocket, but her legs kept thrashing away. ‘Thanks … coming … so quick.’
‘I’ve been watching through Seven Dials,’ said Suzy. ‘Off and on, after the Army nobs knocked me back. Got to do something useful, even if Old Primey objects.’
She suddenly transferred the truncheon to her belt and put her booted foot on Leaf’s thigh, stopping her spasms. Then she reached down and took the plastic box.
Leaf’s arms whipped around to try to snatch the box back as Suzy took the sorcerous pocket, confirming Leaf’s worst fears. The Skinless Boy could see what she saw. It would probably be only minutes before it had total control of her body.
‘Take … to House,’ she said. ‘Quickly.’
‘What about you?’ asked Suzy.
‘Knock me out,’ whispered Leaf. Her right hand was starting to crawl across the floor to Suzy’s foot. ‘Tell Sylvie in ambulance. Get … sedate …’
‘The old lady in the conveyance with the light on top?’ asked Suzy, but she was really only talking to distract Leaf as she whipped out the truncheon and tapped her on the shoulder. There was a sharp crack, and a river of blue sparks ran up and down Leaf’s body, from toe to head. Every muscle in her body spasmed, and her eyes rolled back.
‘You’ve killed her!’ cried Michaeli from the doorway. She’d picked up a broom from somewhere and was brandishing it with a technique that suggested past lessons in kendo or perhaps a role in a stage musical of Robin Hood.
‘No, I haven’t,’ protested Suzy, keeping a wary eye on the broomstick. ‘You’re Arthur’s sister Michaeli, right?’
‘Yes …’
‘I’m Suzy Turquoise Blue. You might say I’m Arthur’s chief assistant.’
‘His what? What is going on?’
‘No time to explain,’ said Suzy airily. ‘Could you nip down to the … what d’ye call it, ambulance, outside and tell the old lady that Leaf needs to be taken care of. I must hasten away.’
‘But …’
Michaeli lowered the broom a little. Suzy took this as an invitation and gingerly edged past, her wings flapping a little. A few feathers brushed Michaeli’s face, making the other girl jump.
‘Those wings … they are real!’
‘I should hope so,’ said Suzy. ‘Best you can get. Hopefully the owner won’t miss ’em before I get back. Which way is the Eastern Hospital?’