Invisible! by Robert Swindells Page B

at her. ‘You mean like, go invisible without Rosie? Or would we do it visible?’
    â€˜Invisible, you donkey. We’ll use Inchlake Ring. It’ll work just the same without Rosie.’
    â€˜Yeah I know, but like … I prefer to have her around in case something goes wrong.’
    â€˜Like
what
, for Pete’s sake?’
    â€˜Well, like if we went invisible and couldn’t get back. You know – walked round the ring and just stayed invisible?’
    â€˜It won’t happen, and if it did I don’t suppose there’s anything Rosie could do about it. I say we do it today, straight after tea.’
    â€˜I’d want to think about it first.’
    â€˜Chicken.’
    â€˜It’s not that. I just don’t like rushing into stuff.’
    â€˜Chicken.’
    â€˜Shut your face.’
    â€˜Chicken. I’ll go by myself.’
    â€˜You can’t.’
    â€˜What’ll you do, chicken-licken – tell Mummy?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Keep me in an armlock all night?’
    â€˜Don’t be daft.’
    â€˜Come with me then.’
    â€˜I … oh, what the heck. All
right
, but don’t blame me if we both end up invisible for ever.’
    Carrie grinned. ‘You’re a hero, Con. I always said so.’

It was dry, but a spiteful wind whipped the bleached grass round the feet of the ancient stones and drove flocks of ragged clouds across the sky. Conrad shivered.
    â€˜Flipping freezing.’
    His twin nodded. ‘Wait till you’ve no clothes on.’
    â€˜Oooh, don’t. Think I’ll go invisible first,
then
strip off.’
    â€˜Good idea.’ There was nobody about. The pair positioned themselves and began walking backwards. ‘
Does
feel strange without Rosie. You were right about that.’
    â€˜Want to change your mind?’
    â€˜You wish!’
    They completed the circle. Conrad looked down at himself. ‘Think it’s worked?’
    â€˜â€™Course it has, you turkey. Let’s get our stuff off. It’ll be dark in an hour.’
    â€˜You start. I’m just going to take my clothes for a walk.’
    â€˜What’s the point? There’s nobody to see.’ ‘I don’t care. I’ll
pretend
there’s someone. The Bee.’
    â€˜You’re a nut.’
    Carrie crossed to the stone with the recess, unzipping her top. She was shrugging it off when she heard a cry. Turning, she saw her brother topple backwards, arms flailing. She was about to laugh, but then the back of his head struck the altar stone with a sound like an apple splitting. He slumped sideways and lay like a rag doll, one arm cocked against the sky.
    â€˜Con? Conrad?’ She ran towards him, her top flapping. He didn’t move. She knelt, feeling his brow. ‘Con? Are you OK?
Say
something.’
Daft stuff you come out with when you’re scared.
‘Con?’
Shake him. No, don’t. Not supposed to move someone who’s had an accident, right?
She wished she knew first aid, not just fragments picked up from thetelly.
He’s knocked out. Dead, maybe. What the heck do I do?
    Fetch someone. Go visible first, of course, then find an adult. Or a house with a phone. Yeah, that’s it. A house with a phone. Ambulance. We were playing. Just playing, and my brother overbalanced. I’ll say that to Josh, like on
Casualty.
He’ll know exactly what to do. Clear the airway. Immobilize the head. All that. Yeah, but …
    Invisible.
She
could go visible in a minute, but what about him?
She
could see him, but to anybody else there’d just be a set of clothes. What would she tell Josh about that?
Oh yes, he’s invisible at the moment. We go invisible sometimes. There
is
a head though, somewhere, and it’s bleeding …
    Impossible. Can’t fetch help and don’t have a clue what to do myself. One thing. One possibility. If I carry him round the ring he’ll go visible,