The Uninvited

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‘Mum does that.’I stop drying my hair and look at him.Has he forgotten what I told him? ThatKaitlin has brain damage and might notwake up again?I crouch down to his height and observehis freckles. ‘Well Freddy K, the thing is,Mum’s not here.’He shrugs and mutters, ‘Mum does it.’‘Freddy Kalifakidis. Aged seven. Oldenough to do it himself. Official.’He shouts: ‘I said Mum does it!’‘Freddy K, Freddy K, Freddy K. Whydo you think Mum isn’t here?’He shrugs. <strong>The</strong>n his lip wobbles. ‘I’mnot washing it. Or brushing it either.’ Hisvoice is shaky. ‘My mum does that. That’swhat my mum does. My mum. My mum.’I finger the tangled black mass of hair
on his head. ‘Freddy K. Mum’s inhospital. In fact, I’m going to visit herthere this morning to say hello from bothof us.’ Stephanie wants me to see theextent of the damage. Last night, duringour uncomfortable meal together, sheinsisted on it, and I acquiesced. ‘Do youremember why she’s there?’‘No!’ His eyes open wide, then squeezeshut. Big tears burst from the corners andtrickle down his cheeks. <strong>The</strong> slight curveof their surface magnifies the freckles. Hewipes his face with his hand. It comesaway covered in snot. ‘I don’t want you totell me, OK? So don’t tell me!’ he shouts.‘Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, don’t tellme!’ He covers his ears with his handsand a shudder works its way through hissmall frame.
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For Clare Blatchford ReesAn inspira
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CONTENTSPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2C
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PROLOGUEMass hysterical outbreaks r
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she’d put it to her father’s fa
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pewter glint of the Atlantic. I’d
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Taiwan working flat out on the sabo
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The TV showed a semi-detached house
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existence. Ever since the High Ener
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stepson aiming his catapult at anot
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attracted you to Hesketh when you f
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the package called Hesketh Lock and
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some of the ‘normal social graces
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of the country, or even abroad, to
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evidence of dark forces: demons, sh
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selling tofu, lychees, starfruit, s
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cross-culture specialist, who has a
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aid triggered further investigation
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several hours, kept awake by coffee
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The next morning I was at the timbe
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though my Chinese was unfortunately
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computer. It all added up, and he a
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Martin Yeh sighed. ‘If I had been
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police asked me the same thing. And
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The loading of the trunks and the s
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His face mask hid his features. I
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drying up from the wood dust.‘The
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He shook his head. ‘It’s bad. L
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the concrete prairie. I like to be
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and paint-colour charts (here I use
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do what they want.’ As he spoke,
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He took a deep breath. ‘The spiri
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they are all dead. But they are ali
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Chen seemed absorbed in his ownthou
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the city. Up here, we were right on
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shaking the black-stemmed bamboos a
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with gold. Hell notes. Each leaf of
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leg. I would have bent it to form a
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The laugh came again. ‘Sure, I wi
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settled it on the marble slab betwe
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‘I made it,’ he said. ‘That
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‘Do you fear that there will be a
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sandalwood. I recognised it instant
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it from me. I need to know why.’
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should not ask.’‘Later she regr
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too.’ I meant it.‘We will say g
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As the taxi drove off, I looked bac
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oof had lost a few tiles, and a dea
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starting these miniature contained
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the surface in tiny bubbles likecha
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‘I know your mum has already talk
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to do. So I cleaned it up. A few mi
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toothpaste.Sometimes we pretended w
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Taiwan whistle-blower?’Sunny Chen
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said? Sunny Chen. Your factory-mana
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don’t feel anything.But I do feel
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feelings: they are a component of t
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‘Ashok. Just tell me.’‘Er, Je
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She is generally considered to beex
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here and there, white blobs in a mu
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publicity generated by a disgruntle
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The French term un acte manquédesc
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CHAPTER 3Sometime at the end of the
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Taiwan report. Chen’s suicide mea
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visible behind his left ear. I don
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the matter in hand, so I say, ‘I
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applied it. Last Christmas he sent
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doodling a bunch of amoeba fucking,
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over.’I was doing a tricky blintz
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stuck through their combs where the
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Station in Copenhagen, where I chan
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The morning after my arrival in Sto
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confused.’‘Is there no explanat
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not Japanese and nor is Lars Axel,
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If I am on to something, my blood f
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invent, and get messy. He is a fan
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choose it a name.’ He is very kee
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woodlouses.’ His voice has change
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field of study and secondly because
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dog. But she would like one. I ask
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established a definitive momentum m
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‘No, but I’d like to,’ I tell
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interrupted sex with the demographe
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her smile, and led to her questioni
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applying for. She told me she wante
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By now I have studied Sverige Banke
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CHAPTER 4When Ashok skypes me in th
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‘Swiss-German. Attending a UNconf
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a state of enlightenment. Was thiss
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Svensson is probably in her mid-fif
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violent. Never. He’s become anoth
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happened at the bank.’‘So sit d
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‘The fucking . . . creature. It
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doctor buzzes an alarm. ‘You fuck
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follow. Outside, others are chasing
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on his mobile phone. Within seconds
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Svensson and what followed. When I
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combination with other things, have
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get it over with.’ They look at e
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else the image freezes. So I say,
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Then I text Ashok asking for thedim
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Men attacking institutions that the
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fingers across the bicep, and a thu
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gum in his mouth. Numerous studies
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neurophysiology of self-deception.
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fears which dominated the lives of
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they had done.The Venn diagram in m
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significance, on some level. ‘Som
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would be catastrophic for farming -
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‘Well, enjoy the rest of your lif
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‘And what kind of fucked-up weird
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He’ll shout, ‘Jesus Christ, Hes
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she once claimed to find endearing.
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the car and we put the dead body in
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grow and then we eat the plants,’
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is Afghan, so I try out a few words
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day here, so at 8am local time I co
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only travel in one direction. But n
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shown that there are dimensions tha
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At 10.30 I am heading upwards in a
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the rest are erecting and dismantli
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ig muscled arm to show me ‘the wo
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lady, Halla. Very traditional. Can
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they feature as recent additions to
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overloaded now. I rock harder and h
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child he stops licking his arm, he
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Later, when I am being interrogated
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him. I didn’t push him.’ I say
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matter as you’ll be dead. But som
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e shouting.I don’t usually shout.
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construction elevator. Its slow sha
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against my faith. And it’s not in
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and he crumbled something into it.
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with three daughters. One said she
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de Vries then Mazoor could solve th
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it seemed. And I heard her too. She
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observes them, then looks up at me.
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To the mother-root, when they haveb
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epresentations are highly accurate.
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speculations it has led to.‘I bel
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honeybee. Serviced by a million dro
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one. Quite rare, though it’s on t
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This day has not been a good one so
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comes to escort me back to my hotel
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CHAPTER 6There is an explanation fo
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At the time though, there was nocon
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version. Lot and his wife and daugh
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many tribes of Africa. He’d have
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Is she beautiful? Most of my maleco
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‘Whatever it is, now is not the t
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speculation, I have to tell you. As
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glass as I speak.‘With Chen it’
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uprising. And there are other thing
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together?’I grab a napkin and dra
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Care Units for them. Drafted an arm
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A classic distancing technique. You
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‘A small figure,’ I say. ‘Chi
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esults I’m waiting on. It may mea
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entirely new way.’ In addition to
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Victor?’ That familiar cracked an
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Professor Whybray and Naomi Benjami
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‘Superstition was part of Hesketh
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Whybray.‘The girl,’ I say. ‘I
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goodbye and Stephanie presses End C
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their sudden, intense camaraderie a
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I’m overloaded. I stand and pick
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intense pummelling of my muscles.I
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that happen. Kaitlin’s wrong to s
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strain to hear it. ‘Don’t think
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seems slightly drunk. Did she have
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No. I am not OK.I clear my throat.
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it. The hand-print’s too small to
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hold of this and copied it?’ asks
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CHAPTER 8Kaitlin’s house, built i
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carry him through the narrow entran
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when I moved in has disappeared fro
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secretly a pirate ship, he insists.
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‘I say, ond som jooz. Ploz.’A m
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half-chewed crisps, and drops the l
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tissue, but he wriggles out of her
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‘What do you mean, Freddy?’ ask
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Three ways to die. ‘Except there
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He shrugs. ‘You saw the girl with
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Freddy K?’He wipes his nose on hi
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ago. But she is still beautiful and
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another?’‘No,’ says Kaitlin.
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Freddy and Hesketh both want to see
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ottle of Australian Shiraz from the
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huge. It’ll expand and peak. In w
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has flown up around her neck, distu
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I go to the window I see only one p
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make you spaghetti. Out in the kitc
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Stephanie says, ‘My sister says i
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him into another mood. He pulls awa
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desert. Is that what he wants? Is h
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Care Unit. In the meantime there’
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on all children under twelve in the
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At five, Stephanie calls from the h
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plasticine and cracked clay and a f
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‘Yep?’‘It was an accident. No
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Freddy is a collector, and tins are
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world? Somewhere out there, Freddy
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come in and hold the fort? Ashok’
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youngest two killed him.’So Amit
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pouring and stirring are soothing -
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air can be bad for you!’‘No. Ai
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engaged. The net connection hasdisa
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lind!’ he calls after me as I lea
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Professor Whybray - but the line’
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nuts. I don’t know where he got h
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‘Hesketh.’ That reedy, throaty
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swayed by the culture.’‘You onc
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‘Secondary hysteria?’ Is that w
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‘Well the human extinction lobby
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anomalies. ‘Any eye infections am
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living in the cottage on the island
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‘What do you mean, bones?’I rec
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options to choose from on the BBC
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anomalies, this information is unli
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calls again. She sounds exhausted,
Page 441 and 442: Freddy down,’ I say. ‘You need
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Page 445 and 446: information it contains.I’d antic
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Page 449 and 450: did. In a manner of speaking.’ I
Page 451 and 452: crap they wanted. There’s no way
Page 453 and 454: intrigued me.If Freddy and I were g
Page 455 and 456: the vast orange ziggurat of Sainsbu
Page 457 and 458: taller, but not much older. Ten per
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Page 461 and 462: camera angled at us from the corner
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Page 465 and 466: you can join the others. OK?’‘Y
Page 467 and 468: telling if it’s peaked. And there
Page 469 and 470: where he waves at the three supervi
Page 471 and 472: ‘Glossolalia?’‘Except that I
Page 473 and 474: eaching in his pocket. ‘Phone cal
Page 475 and 476: I ask, ‘Do you have children?’S
Page 477 and 478: ecame intimate, we would have to ha
Page 479 and 480: emarkable,’ says Professor Whybra
Page 481 and 482: I pull up a seat and glance through
Page 483 and 484: eyes.’I jump up. ‘That fits!’
Page 485 and 486: world with no adults, no toilets, n
Page 487 and 488: answer. ‘He’s still Freddy. His
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Page 491: CHAPTER 11The practical side of loo
Page 495 and 496: next to the basin. ‘We were talki
Page 497 and 498: eyes and it is as if the clock has
Page 499 and 500: means?’I watch him in the rear-vi
Page 501 and 502: for a place to settle. Her hair is
Page 503 and 504: Stephanie together, the images I co
Page 505 and 506: Stephanie. ‘Thank you, Hesketh.
Page 507 and 508: she calls after me: ‘I heard toda
Page 509 and 510: CHAPTER 12‘It was a disgrace,’
Page 511 and 512: ‘believed to be the work of anarc
Page 513 and 514: a distaste for it. Contempt, even.
Page 515 and 516: call it the White Death.’ The pro
Page 517 and 518: e born and then you made us live li
Page 519 and 520: hand on my shoulder. ‘Good work,
Page 521 and 522: the unexpected. And then adapt. It
Page 523 and 524: few, Hesketh. Hold on to that.’We
Page 525 and 526: ‘Hey!’ calls a male voice. I gl
Page 527 and 528: lessing.’As we approach, a couple
Page 529 and 530: two worlds can occupy the same spac
Page 531 and 532: Vries jumped. I say urgently, ‘Pr
Page 533 and 534: gently tries to prise her off. But
Page 535 and 536: donning face masks. I call out a br
Page 537 and 538: ‘The reason for that is that supe
Page 539 and 540: I slide some origami paper from the
Page 541 and 542: global economy, bang goes capitalis
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its knees. You heard about the arre
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heading back to the Stone Age. At l
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Ashok waves him into a seat and ask
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what Svensson’s autopsy showed. I
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They’re children for ever, like P
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‘Hesketh,’ she says evenly, ‘
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I give the short version.‘So I an
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out what impact this has on our oth
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‘Stop,’ I say. ‘This is now.
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and started writing very fast. So I
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Professor Whybray drops his noteboo
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CHAPTER 14Kaitlin Kalifakidis is de
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Kawasaki rose in an envelope marked
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forced into a wide detour: a burst
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since she organised this event, she
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While the others head for the group
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Mazoor. Mrs Helena Whybray’s. She
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My belief is that when you die, tha
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Freddy starts clicking his tongue.G
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‘No,’ he whispers. Then he stan
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nodding at the door. ‘Go now.’A
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has no power in it. My groin is thu
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‘Where are you?’ I keep my voic
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wearing a necklace like the one Fre
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with no sign of human life. I can i
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shouts, violent elbowing, shoving a
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comprising ten or so kids. Then the
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Then the world shrinks to a pinpric
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which forms a little tent. I don’
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the pillows behind my head.My mouth
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unexplained anomaly of the kidneys.
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CHAPTER 15The next morning I wake i
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pointing upward. ‘That’s lasagn
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another soldier on guard. I show hi
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een cordoned off. Some soldiers are
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notebook and then find Naomi.‘How
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hand-prints in human blood.Freddy i
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The door has a small reinforcedwind
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‘Because there’s one in here.
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She puts a hand on my shoulder.‘Y
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Freddy in the car again. They haves
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of human history has begun.
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after a storm. We’d walk beyond t
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Svensson. Here’s where I’ll exp
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attention - or seemed to, until I s
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pressed him further. Why I kept dig
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the island, he told me. All native
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to me daily, sometimes hourly. And
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There is a lot more in this vein. M
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We are a species in crisis: a speci
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the one I made for Sunny Chen. Irem
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what happens next, Freddy?’ He do
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eality.Once upon a time the Earth w
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‘Stop. It means we want you to st
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think. They’ve come back to stop
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swivelling in my chair and watching
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new course is set. You know that,He
Page 657 and 658:
metaphysics of being. I am not a gr
Page 659 and 660:
you open them out, their intended s
Page 661 and 662:
encouragement.My thanks also go to
Page 663 and 664:
for the Orange Prize for Fiction an
Page 665 and 666:
Also Available by Liz JensenThe Rap
Page 667 and 668:
The Ninth Life of LouisDraxNine-yea
Page 669 and 670:
My Dirty Little Book ofStolen TimeI
Page 671 and 672:
War Crimes for theHomeLonglisted fo
Page 673 and 674:
Click for more information
Page 675 and 676:
a world of compulsive consumption,
Page 677 and 678:
Since the year all British women be
Page 679 and 680:
sister for backup, Hazel Sugden, fo
Page 681:
SydneyA CIP catalogue record for th
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The Uninvited

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