Previous|Index | Next

“And what are we going to call you?” Lucy asked. “Scrap knight? Junkyard girl?”

“I haven’t decided on a name yet, but neither of those,” Wendy said.

“We’ll work on it,” Lucy said. “Now what fabric should I u–” She broke off as they all heard someone coming up the stairs. Sure enough a moment later there was a knock on the door.

“Dinner’s ready, girls,” Sienna’s mother said.

“We’ll be right down, mum,” Sienna said.

“Is there any more news from that town in California?” Sienna asked as they ate dinner. “Because it’s not a coincidence is it?”

“I don’t think it can be,” Sienna’s father said. “For one thing there’s video on the internet that shows the fog bubbling up from cracks in the ground and drains but there’s a pattern to it that looks artificial.”

“But how would someone know an earthquake was going to happen there or that meteorite was going explode here?”

“I don’t know,” Sienna’s father said. He curled and uncurled the spaghetti on his fork without eating it. “I wish I did.” He shook his head. “Not that it’s any of our problem. I’m sure the authorities will sort it out.”

“Excuse me, but what town are we talking about?” Lucy asked.

“Oh! You probably haven’t heard because you were in hospital until a couple of hours ago,” Sienna’s father said. “There’s another magenta fog incident. This time in America.” He twisted around in his seat to grab the remote control from the sideboard and flicked on the TV turning to the BBC news channel where news of the earthquake and fog was the top story.

Lucy frowned at the television as she watched the story unfolding. “Yes,” she said. “That’s certainly not a coincidence. Is anyone looking for similar incidents that might have flown under the radar?”

“I would imagine so,” Sienna’s father said. “But as I said, let’s leave it to the authorities, it might actually keep them out of mischief for a while. There’s not much we can do–” He paused as the news turned to the shootings in Castleham. “More? What the hell are the police doing?” He shook his head angrily and muttered something about them being too busy harassing activists. “People shouldn’t be able to walk around in broad daylight killing people.”

“I think that the killers must have some unusual resources,” Sienna said. “Whoever is behind the gas certainly does… and I don’t think they are the same people.”

“No,” Sienna’s father agreed. “I think they are working against each other, but I think both groups are bad people.”

“Can we talk about something else,” Sienna’s mother said. “We can’t do anything about this and it scares me.”

“Of course,” Sienna’s father said. “Though I think it’s natural to speculate in such a strange situation.” He turned the television off again and looked over at Lucy. “So what time is your mother coming to pick you up, Lucy?”

Lucy checked her watch. “About ten I think. I’ll call her and ask if you want.”

“Please do,” he said.

Lucy pulled out her phone and spoke with her mother briefly.

“Yes, ten o’clock,” she said.

“Ooh, we’ve got time to watch a movie after dinner then,” Sienna said. “That will take our mind off things.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sienna’s father said. “You’re all unsurprisingly tense.”

“Yes,” Sienna said and turned her attention back to her meatballs and spaghetti.

*

After dinner the three girls did return to Sienna’s room and put on a movie but only half watched it because Lucy immediately picked up her sketch again began refining it.

“I need to decide what fabric to use for the costume.”

“Not spandex,” Sienna said quickly. That provoked another attempt to laugh that became a coughing fit from Lucy, which made Sienna feel like jerk. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to happen.”

Lucy waved off her apology. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “And of course not spandex. That would look ridiculous. I’m thinking some sort tough and breathable fabric like you’d use for hiking or climbing.”

“If we could somehow get hold of any without leaving an online trail I’d suggest something stab proof,” Wendy said.

“Yeah,” Lucy said. “There’s a few good stab and slash resistant fabrics out there, but like you say they’re hard to get hold of offline and are somewhat restricted. I might be able to swing it due to my fashion design aspirations – stab proof fashion is on trend for obvious reasons, but as soon they realised Sienna’s costume was stab proof it would lead them straight to me.” She shrugged slightly. “They’re probably too expensive for my budget as well. A good hard use fabric will have to do. I have a few ideas.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Sienna said. “You always make nice clothes.” She paused then added. “Are you still going to make that dress for me?”

“Of course I am,” Lucy said. “I’ve been working on a design for you while I was in hospital. I’ll need to do a pattern fitting for both once I have drafted them. We can do the dress here but the costume…” she trailed off meaningfully.

“We’ll do that at the secret base,” Wendy said. “Hopefully you’ll be a bit better by the time the pattern done.”

“I really hope so,” Lucy said. “Now how do you intend to track down these gunman and stop them killing anyone else?”

“That’s a good question.” Sienna flopped back on her bed. “I really have no idea.”

“Martin is working on it,” Wendy said. “But we will have to think about it and make a plan. But Sienna needs to train more first.”

Previous|Index | Next