Lost on Mars by Paul Magrs Read Free Book Online

noise. No almighty scuffling sound. No shrieks or protests in those early hours. Not one of us was woken up. We all slept till first light came flooding through the blinds.
    Ruby was first downstairs. She went hurrying down in her night things – startled because the television set was still buzzing.
    And the windows were open, letting in cooler air and street noise. It was obvious they had been open all night.
    At that moment Ruby felt her old heart was going to burst right out of her chest. She knew something terrible had occurred.
    Grandma was gone.
    Only her leg remained.

8
    It was late in our Martian autumn when we were allowed to hold the funeral for Grandma’s leg.
    F.E. Baxter wasn’t a very reliable town sheriff. No one felt any safer because he was in charge of law and order. Now he said we had to hang on to that left-behind leg for ten whole weeks before we could legitimately bury it and only then could we assume that Grandma was officially gone.
    â€˜It’s ridiculous,’ said Ma, with Hannah grizzling on her lap. ‘What does he think? The old woman went off on a whim? Dragging herself along on one leg just for fun? And that some day soon she’s gonna come hopping back to the Homestead and surprise us all?’
    Da told her, ‘Hush now.’ Da was grim-lipped and subdued that autumn. Chill winds were coming in from the wasteland west of us. He never said much about Grandma’s Disappearance but what he said was enough. It was a bad business. An unfitting end to the life of an Historical Personage.
    Of course he tried to say as little as possible in front of us kids. Al and me were as upset as our parents, but we were also secretly thrilled. Grandma was gone forever. The old Martians had taken Grandma away. We whispered this to each other at night and then lay awake, wondering what it could all mean.
    Ma went about cleaning and baking and making the house nice for Ruby. The old lady was bringing a letter of permission from the sheriff to hold a small ceremony commemorating the loss of Grandma. The white-haired old lady also brought with her a parcel tied up in brown paper. At first we wondered what she might be bringing us, and then we realised. Of course. The leg.
    Toaster shuffled forward and took possession of his owner’s last remnant. He took it away to the shady spot we had picked out, where he’d spent all of the previous Saturday digging a hole to bury her in. He was extra quiet. He’d been very attached to the old dame.
    Ma saw to it that Ruby felt at home. She had fixed up Grandma’s room, making it fresh and habitable. Ruby couldn’t have been a more gracious guest, complimenting Ma on the comfort of her home and the excellence of her food – especially the feast Ma put on in her honour that night. We had all our favourite Sunday night foods: salted lizard steaks and hickory sauce and mashed taters. Ruby joined in as one of the family. She listened to stories and told her own and cracked jokes – and she never once got nasty-mouthed and crazy like Grandma often did. It was nicer having Ruby than Grandma with us. Al and me were starting to think it was a decent swap.
    However, this old lady in her khaki fatigues and her soft sugary hair wasn’t ours to keep. As she told us, her place was in town and her own house off Main Street. Even the Disappearance of Grandma couldn’t put her off living there alone.
    â€˜I told her,’ she said, looking upset for the first time. ‘I told her about closing the windows. Over fifty years I’ve lived in that house and shut the whole place up each and every night. I never thought to go on about it, in case it insulted her – of course she knew the windows had to be fastened tight. Not because I thought night creatures would snatch anybody away. No, it was on account of the vapours. I didn’t want the poisonous vapours leaking into my home.’
    I saw Da roll his eyes at this