Invisible! Read Online Free Page A

pretty embarrassing. I mean, I don’t have a sister. I’ve never seen …’
    â€˜Oh come
on
, Pete. I told you – you’ll soon get used to it, and we can do anything we like now we’re invisible. Follow me, only watch where you put your feet.’ She grinned. ‘Thistles and broken glass can be disastrous to bare feet.’
    She led them downhill. On the bottom stretch of the footpath, just outside the village, they saw an old man walking his Jack Russell terrier.
    â€˜Ssssh!’ Rosie pressed a finger to her lips. ‘No use being invisible unless you’re inaudible too. The dog’ll come.’
    Carrie looked at her. ‘Can it see us?’
    â€˜No, but it’ll know we’re here. Dogs go more by scent than sight.’
    Sure enough, as the five children drew near the terrier gave a little yip, bounded towards them and began scampering about their feet, jumping up and whining. Its stumpy tail quivered with pleasure as first one child thenanother bent to ruffle its ears. The old man peered towards the scene of activity, and for an awful moment Carrie felt sure he must see them. It was only when he yelled at the dog that she knew he couldn’t. ‘Matty! Come ’ere, you barmy mutt – what the heck’s up with you?’ To him, the animal was fussing round absolutely nothing. The children clamped hands over their mouths to stifle laughter as he came stumping towards them, muttering swear words he’d never dream of using in front of children. The terrier ignored him, and Conrad had to jump back when the man made a lunge, grabbed Matty’s collar and clipped on the lead. As he began dragging the dog towards the village the children capered round him, goading the unfortunate Matty into a frenzy of barking and tugging. Where the footpath gave way to a cobbled lane, Rosie made them stop. They weren’t quiet enough. Only Matty’s barking had prevented the old man from hearing their giggles. They’d need more practice before she’d trust them in the village.
    â€˜That was ace,’ grinned Conrad as they padded uphill in deep twilight. ‘Frantic dog, old guy swearing his head off. I learned four new words.’
    Rosie shook her head. ‘That was nothing to what we’ll do later, but it’s really important to keep quiet. If enough people report disembodied voices, scientists’ll investigate and then
every
kid will know the secret. It won’t be fun any more.’
    â€˜Brrr.’ Charlotte wrapped her arms round herself. ‘It’s gone flipping cold since the sun went down. I want my clothes.’
    Peter nodded. ‘Me too.’
    Rosie smiled. ‘Race to the top then, OK? Winner hides everyone’s stuff. Go!’ She went off like a mountain goat and the others followed, too breathless to protest.

Sunday morning, ten o’clock. Rosie opened the rear door of the old ambulance which was her home, descended by way of two metal steps and stood barefoot in the dewy grass, stretching and yawning. It was going to be a beautiful day. Hazy sunshine glowed through a mist which would soon burn off. The lightest of breezes stirred the fluffy heads on the willow herb, freeing seeds which drifted lazily beneath their parachutes, up and away. Down among the stems, spider webs glittered as the sun turned dewdrops to diamonds. Rosie breathed in deeply, her senses filtering the elusive scents of late summer.
    â€˜Good afternoon, lazybones.’ Her father had carried water from the stream to boil for tea and was watching her through the steam.
    She grinned. ‘It’s only ten o’clock.’
    â€˜Only?’ He lifted the billy from the Gaz and poured. ‘I’ve been up three hours. There’s porridge if you want it.’
    â€˜Where’s Mum?’
    â€˜Gone up the village for baccy.’ He smiled. ‘I expect she’ll get you a choc bar or something, you’re so