Thief of Always by Clive Barker Read Free Book Online Page B

clockwork-defying feats on the lawn.
          The greatest surprise, however, began with the appearance of one of Rictus's siblings.
          "My name is Jive," he said, stepping out of the early evening murk at the top of the stairs. Every muscle in his body seemed to be in motion: tics, jigs and jitterings that had wasted him away until he barely cast a shadow. Even his hair, which was a mass of oiled curls, seemed to hear some crazed rhythm. It writhed on his scalp in a knotted frenzy.
          "Brother Rictus sent me along to see how you're doin'," he said, his tones succulent.
          "I'm doing fine," Harvey replied. "Did you say Brother Rictus?"
          "We're from the same brood, loosely speaking," Jive said. "I hope you call your family now and then."
          "Yep" said Harvey. "I called them yesterday."
          "Are they missin' you?"
          "Didn't sound like it"
          "Are you missin' them?"
          Harvey shrugged. "Not really," he said.
          (This wasn't strictly true-he had his homesick days-but he knew if he went back home he'd be in school the day after, and wishing he'd stayed in the Holiday House a while longer,)
          "You're going to make the most of bein' here then?" said Jive, practicing a weird little dance step up and down the stairs.
          "Yeah," said Harvey. "I just want to have fun."
          "Who doesn't?" Jive grinned, "who doesn't?" He sidled up to Harvey, and whispered: "Speakin' of fun..."
          "What?'' said Harvey.
          "You never did get Wendell back for that trick of his."
          "No, I didn't," said Harvey.
          "Why the heck not?"
          "I could never think of a way."
          "Oh I'm sure we could cook something up between the two of us," Jive replied mischievously.
          "It has to be something he'll never think of," Harvey said.
          "That shouldn't be difficult," said Jive. "Tell me, what's your favorite monster?"
          Harvey didn't have to think hard about that. "A vampire," he said with a grin. "I found this great mask-"
          "Masks are a good beginning," Jive said, "but vampires need to swoop out of the mist " he spread his arms, curling his long fingers like the claws of some eye-gouging beast "-swoop down, snatch up their prey, then rise up again, up against the moon. I can see it now."
          "So can I," said Harvey. "But I'm not a bat."
          "So?"
          "So how do I swoop?"
          "Ah," said Jive. "We'll have Marr work on that for us. After all, what's a Halloween without a transformation or two?" He consulted the grandfather clock on the landing. "We've still got time to do it tonight. You go down and tell Wendell you'll meet him outside. I'll go up on to the roof and find Marr. You meet us up there."
          "I've never been up on the roof."
          "There's a door on the top landing. I'll see you up there in a few minutes."
          "I'll have to get my mask an' coat an' stuff."
          "You won't need a mask tonight," Jive said, "trust me. Now you hurry up. Time's a-wastin'."
          It took Harvey only a minute or two to tell Wendell to go on ahead. He was sure Wendell suspected something, and was probably preparing some counterattack, but Harvey knew he and Jive had something up their sleeves even Wendell-expert on shock tactics though he was-couldn't anticipate. With the first part of the plan laid he hurried upstairs again, found the door Jive had mentioned, and climbed up onto the roof.
          Heights had never bothered him; he liked to be up above the world looking down on it.
          "Over here!" Jive called to him, and Harvey took off along the narrow walkways and up the steep roofs to where his fellow conspirator stood.
          "Sure-footed!" Jive observed.
          "No problem."
          "How 'bout flyin'?" said a third voice, as its owner stepped from the shadows of a