The Unseen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Page A

gave her the push toward another last-ditch effort to be herself. To say something like “Well, in the first place don't call me Alexandra. I hate being Alexandra. And as for being a Hobson, that's even worse.” But instead she found herself playing it straight, saying, “About Alexandra Hobson? Yes, my real name is Alexandra but I call myself Xandra and Iam part of the Hobson family. You've probably heard about the Hobsons?”
    He shook his head, smiling, making fun of her question maybe, even though it was a perfectly sensible one. After all, lots of people
had
heard of the Hobsons. “I've heard a bit from Belinda,” he said. “She tells me you come from a large family?”
    Xandra tried for her usual disgusted grimace and her favorite sarcastic comment about having lost count of how many siblings she had. But the familiar words were somehow out of reach. She nodded. “Yes, a large family,” she mumbled, and then, hanging her head to escape the dark, overpowering eyes, “I guess I don't want to talk about it.” She breathed deeply, clenching her fists, feeling confused and angry, resentful of whatever was keeping her from making her usual sharp-edged comments. Still looking down at her hands, she asked, “Why do you want to know about me? I thought I was going to get to ask you questions.”
    The grandfather's deep voice seemed to echo through her head as he said, “Soon. That will be soon. But before I can answer your questions correctly I must know more about you. About you and your family and the people and things that are important to you.”
    Xandra didn't get it. Why would knowing about her and her family explain the vicious, sharp-fanged creatures that had appeared out of nowhere in her familiar basement hideout? She took a deep breath and tried again to resist. “Tell you about me and my family?” She said the exact words she'd intended to, but they didn't come out the wayshe'd expected. She'd meant it to sound surprised and sarcastic. Like, “Tell
you
about
me
and my family? Why should I do a thing like that?” But instead, with her eyes caught again by his, she only repeated the question and then began to answer it.
    “Well, there are my parents. My father is Henry Hobson, the stockbroker, but my mother is the really famous one. She's Helen Hobson.” She gave him a chance to say, “Oh, you mean
the
Helen Hobson?” But he didn't, so she went on. “Well, she's this very important lawyer and she's handled a lot of famous cases. And then there are five kids.” She paused, narrowed her eyes and added, “Six, if you want to count me.”
    She was expecting him to ask what most people would have: “Why shouldn't I count you?”
    But he didn't, at least not quite. Instead he only nodded slowly and said, “And why do you think you don't count?”
    This time her determination to avoid giving a straight answer was even less strong and certain. Instead, after only a second's hesitation, she began, “Well, all of them, all the other Hobsons, are really great at something. At everything, actually. Not just at school but at things like … Well, there's Quincy, for instance, he's the oldest and he's this incredible scientist. Like he's won so many prizes that all the science fairs started giving out two blue ribbons—one for Quincy Hobson and the other for whoever happens to come in second. And the twins are next. They're good at school too, especially in math, but mostly they're practically famous athletes, both of them. And really good-looking. All the girls in six school districts are completely gaga about them. The twins are sixteen and Victoria, thenext one, is fourteen. She's not just good, she's perfect. At everything, especially playing the piano. I came next and I guess after they saw me they decided I would be the last one. And I
was
for almost seven years. But then they had Gussie. Augusta Katherine, that is. And Gussie is …Well, according to Clara, Gussie is the most beautiful thing God ever