Timesurfers Read Free Page B

never happened.” She blasted him with an overly
bright smile. Her ability to use sarcasm at such an inappropriate
moment surprised even her. She had too much to lose to breathe a
word of this to anyone.
    Rafe let out a long breath. “Let me sort
her.”
    “Leave her, Rafe. Who’ll believe her if she
does talk?” Austin called. “Set this situation right in everyone
else’s mind.”
    A fierce buzzing filled Cate’s ears.
    Austin stared at her. “It’ll come to me how I
know you. Naitanui !” he
called and melted from view.
    Rafe and Rose climbed on the motorbike. They
flickered and vanished.
    With a flurry of movement and noise, people
started going about their business again. She scooted over to
Eve.
    “Are you well enough to take the bus, or
should we lash out and take a cab?” Eve asked.
    “What?”
    “ You’ve
been feeling u nwell all
afternoon,” Eve said. There was concern etched on her
face.
    “Give me a second.” She took a deep
breath.
    “Cab it is.” Eve marched toward the road and
let out an ear-piercing whistle. “You look pasty. Let’s get you
home.”
    The ride to Cate’s house was a silent
one.
    “You should go wild and dress in a colour other than black
once in a while.” Eve interrupted Cate’s thoughts. “It’s very goth .”
    “What? Oh!” She glanced at her black
leggings, top, and felt jacket. “You wear enough colour for the both of us!”
    Eve smoothed her red tulle skirt, dotted with
silver stars. Her black tights finished just above her shiny,
cherry-red lace-up boots. Her outfits always reminded Cate of that
eclectic mix five-year-olds wore when they couldn’t decide if they
wanted to be a tomboy or ballerina, or whether to go with patterned
or plain. They went with a bit of everything.
    “I wear black because everything else clashes
with my hair.” Cate braced an arm against the seat as the cab
skidded to a stop.
    “That’s a whole other fashion discussion. See
you at school tomorrow.”
    “Indeed.”
    “Zach’s not worth it, you know.”
    “I know.” Cate regretted for the millionth
time not being able to tell Eve about witness protection. She
slammed the cab door and pushed the iron gates under the rose
covered arbour so hard
that they bounced back and smacked her knees as she hurried
through. The wooden boards creaked as she powered up the front
steps and the security lanterns flooded the porch with light. Goose
bumps rippled across her skin as she wrestled the key into the
lock.
    She shouldered the blue door open and stepped
into the dark house. The short hairs on the back of her neck stood
on end. She swiped her hand over the light switches. The bright
light slowed her heartbeat marginally. With a cheery wave and
forced smile for Eve, she closed the door. Her blasé front crumpled
as the cab vanished.
    She screeched when her phone beeped, startled
by her daily 6:00 p.m. reminder to check in with Pip, her handler.
She slid down the wall and sat on the smooth, cold terracotta
tiles, waiting for her heart to stop threatening to come out of her
mouth. Her fingers hovered over the phone. Instead of physically
meeting Pip each day, Cate had to check in daily by text to confirm
all was well. Did she text the distress code or feign business as
usual? When the alert level went up for any reason Pip also surveilled her for a
good portion of each day and night. That was a complete
nightmare.
    She went with the standard text. If the
people at the bus stop were here to take her, they would have done
it this afternoon. Who were they? How did they vanish like that? And what about the frozen
crowd?
    CATE: “HOME WITH BREAD AND
MILK”
    PIP: “? YOUR
DAY?”
    CATE: “FINE” She
replied and held her breath.
    PIP: “MINE
UNEVENTFUL”
    Obviously the news of her recently single
status hadn’t reached Pip yet. An eerie quiet filled the house. Her
mum and brother went bowling on Sundays. She deleted her
conversation with Pip, pounded up the steps into her bedroom,