‘Miss Helen may be stronger than Rick supposes. And even if Rick isn’t lifted, he has special talents. If he tried very hard, I believe he could be accepted by the Atlas Brookings college. Besides, Miss Helen has said she has a secret weapon to assist him.’

‘Her secret weapon? Some creep she knows who helps run that place. An old flame of hers. I don’t want any part of it. Look, Klara, we should be getting back.’

‘You’re right. We’ve been out a long time. Miss Helen might be concerned. And if I could return before Josie’s mother comes in, that would avoid awkward questions.’

* * *

—

The next day, when the doorbell rang towards the middle of the morning, Josie seemed to guess who it was and, leaving her bed, hurried out onto the landing. I followed her, and as Rick stepped past Melania Housekeeper into the hall, Josie turned to me with an excited smile. But then she made her expression completely blank as she went to the top of the staircase.

‘Hey, Melania,’ she called down. ‘Do you know who this weird guy is?’

‘Hello, Josie.’ Rick, looking up at us, had on a cautious smile. ‘I heard this rumor we might be friends again.’

Josie seated herself on the top step, and though I was behind her, I knew she now had on her kindest smile.

‘Oh really? That’s strange. Wonder who put that out there.’

Rick’s own smile became more confident. ‘Just gossip, I suppose. By the way, I really liked that picture. I put it in a frame last night.’

‘Yeah? One of those frames you make yourself?’

‘To be honest, I used one of Mum’s old ones. There are so many lying around. I took out a picture of a zebra and put yours in there instead.’

‘Great swap.’

Melania Housekeeper had walked away into the kitchen, and Rick and Josie went on grinning at each other from either end of the staircase. Then Josie must have given a signal, for they both moved quickly at once, she rising to her feet, he reaching for the banister.

As they went together into the bedroom, I remembered Melania Housekeeper’s instruction from before and followed them in. And for a while after that, it was like the old days, with me on the Button Couch facing the rear window, Rick and Josie behind me, laughing about silly things. At one point I heard Josie say:

‘Hey Rick. I’m wondering if this is the correct way you hold one of these.’ In the reflection I saw her holding up a table knife left behind from breakfast. ‘Or is it more like this?’

‘How would I know?’

‘I thought you might, being English and all. My chemistry professor said you should hold it this way. But what does she know?’

‘What would I know either? And why do you keep saying I’m English? I’ve never actually lived there, you know that.’

‘It was you yourself, Rick. Two, three years ago? You kept insisting how English you were.’

‘I did? Must have been a phase.’

‘Oh yeah, went on for months. You were like, pray this, pardon me that. That’s why I thought you might know about the knife thing.’

‘But why would an English person know any more than anyone else?’

A few minutes later, I heard Rick moving around the bedroom, and he said:

‘You know one reason I like this room so much? The place smells of you, Josie.’

‘What? I can’t believe you said that!’

‘I meant in an entirely nice way.’

‘Rick, that’s so not what you can say to a girl!’

‘I wouldn’t say it to any girl. I’m just saying it to you.’

‘Excuse me? So I’m not a girl any more?’

‘Well, not any girl. What I’m trying to say, all I’m saying, is that I haven’t been here for a while, and so I’ve forgotten some things about this room. The way it looks, the way it smells.’

‘Jesus, that’s so offensive, Rick.’

But there was laughter in her voice, and after a quiet moment, Rick said:

‘At least we’re not cross with each other any more. I’m glad about that.’

There was further quiet, then Josie said: ‘Me too. I’m glad too.’ Then she added: ‘I’m sorry I kept saying stuff, about your mom and all. She’s a good person and I didn’t mean any of that. And I’m sorry about being sick all the time. Making you worry.’

I saw Rick, in the glass, take a step closer to Josie and put an arm around her. Then after a second, he put his other arm around her too. Josie let herself be held, though she didn’t raise her own arms up in return, the way she did to the Mother when they said goodbye.

‘This so you can smell me better?’ she asked after a while.

Rick didn’t reply to this, but he said: ‘Klara? Are you there?’

When I turned, they’d pulled apart slightly and were both looking at me.

‘Yes?’

‘Maybe you should, you know. Give privacy, as you always say.’

‘Oh yes.’

They watched as I came off the Button Couch and went past them. At the door, I turned and said:

‘I always wanted to give privacy. It’s just that there was concern about hanky-panky.’ They both looked puzzled, so I went on: ‘I was instructed to ensure against hanky-panky. That’s why I always remained in the room, even during the bubble game.’

‘Klara,’ Josie said, ‘Rick and I are not about to engage in sex, okay? We’ve got a few things to say to each other, that’s all.’

‘Yes, of course. Then I’ll leave you.’

With that I walked out onto the landing, closing the door behind me.

* * *

—

Over the days that followed, I often thought about the Cootings Machine and how I might be able to find and destroy it. I experimented in my mind with various pretexts on which I could accompany the Mother into the city, and once there, be left to my own devices for a sufficient period, but none of these seemed at all convincing. Josie, noticing my frequent inattentiveness, would say something like: ‘Klara, you’re zoning out again. Maybe you’re low on solar.’ I even considered taking the Mother into my confidence, but rejected this option not only because of the danger of angering the Sun, but also because I felt the Mother would neither understand nor believe in the agreement I’d entered into. But then an opportunity presented itself without any initiative on my part.