Molly Moon & the Monster Music by Georgia Byng Read Free Book Online Page A

with high ceilings and elegant tall windows. A balcony ran along the outside, and a neat spiral staircase at the back of the room led up to a mezzanine platform with doors leading off.
    In the main room the walls were hung with three long tapestries, each a picture of one of the boys surfing. There was a long orange sofa, and a few giant bright-green beanbags, which looked like massive squashed peas.
    â€œMake yourself at home,” invited Toka. “I go sort out where you guys sleep.”
    Gerry went with him, and Molly walked over to the windows. Tokyo stretched away for miles. Beyond its urban horizon was the backdrop of a brilliantly blue cloud-specked sky, dotted with helicopters and small aircraft.
    As Gerry’s excited voice gabbled away upstairs, Molly stood drinking in the city.
    â€œWonder if Titch will get on with your mice,” Gerry was saying, as Toka showed him his bedroom. “Wow! I’ve never seen so many posters of sumo wrestlers!”
    Petula had followed Gerry upstairs. Now, from the mezzanine, she looked down at Molly. She was a little scared of her now. The way Molly had reacted on the plane had given her a real shock. Petula sighed and watched her lovely Molly as she sat down on the sofa and picked up a book. Petula was convinced that that coin was having a bad effect on her friend.
    Something small and hard hit Molly’s head. She looked up at the mezzanine expecting to see Gerry there, but the platform was empty. Molly rubbed her head and glanced about her. Something clipped her hard on the cheek and landed on the sofa. It was a dried pea.
    She spun around. This time a pea hit her smackon the nose.
    The pea seemed to have come from what looked like a miniature shrine that stood up against the wall. Molly went over and peered between the little statues of gods and the decorations of zigzag paper. Was there a hiding place behind the shrine?
    Another pea pipped her on the cheek. It had come from a shadowy place under the staircase.
    A squeaky noise came from the darkness. An ancient shrunken woman with a turnip-like head emerged from the gloom. She was in a rickety old wheelchair. She wore a silk flowered kimono (the traditional dress for Japanese women) and red socks that separated her big toes from the rest. On her lap was a long, apparently hollow, stick. Lifting this to her lips, she dipped her gnarled hand into a bag that was resting on her knees and picked out a pea. This she put into the end of the hollow shooter, and fired again. The pea hit Molly thwack between the eyes.
    â€œHey! Hang on a minute!” Molly exclaimed, shocked and affronted. “What are you doing?”
    The old woman laughed and pointed at Molly.
    â€œHey!” she mimicked, echoing Molly. Like a spook from a nightmare, she started to wheel herself forward, her chair squeaking hysterically. Mollystepped backward but still the woman approached. She wheeled forward until Molly was pinned against the window and the old lady was directly in front of her.
    Her skin was thin, creased round her eyes and mouth in well-ironed pleats. Her eyes were long slits and her nose, which she was now wrinkling, was small and flat.
    Molly was confused and, she had to admit, a little panicked. Why was this woman being so aggressive? Perhaps she thought Molly was an intruder? Molly assumed the woman was the sobo , the grandmother Hiroyuki had called to. She decided to see what was going on in the old lady’s mind and so she summoned a thought bubble over her head. For a moment nothing happened. For some reason Molly had to try harder than usual to get a bubble to appear. Eventually one did. And to Molly’s surprise, inside it was an image of herself with devil’s horns. The picture was such a shock that Molly lost her focus and the bubble popped.
    The old woman spread out a hand, splaying her bent fingers. As if her palm had eyes in it, she moved it in front of Molly’s body from left to right and up