the Tartles there was Alley Street’s biggest house – the dwelling of Professor David Marlow, a chemist. He had a shaggy St. Bernard-dog-like head, black-rimmed glasses and always-dirty-with-some-mixtures hands. Mr. Marlow was a bachelor. He had no time to clean his lodging, so the house looked like the scientist himself – quite scruffy. Professor’s absent-mindedness had become a legend. For example, he had recently mistaken sunset for sunrise and set off for work, wearing slippers on top of that…
Sometimes Katy saw her neighbour walking across his weedy lawn, muttering to himself. Then she usually passed him by without even saying hello, not to distract him – perish the thought – from some highly important chemical discovery.
The older Tartles were saying that professor had been stargazing, but nevertheless they always treated him with the highest level of respect. What couldn’t be said about his other neighbour, Mrs. Agatha Thompson; she was often having fights with him over his untrimmed lawn.
And there was Mrs. Thompson herself – a passionate cat-lover and main news and gossip agency in the town. If you wanted to learn about Adamson spouses’ vacation plans or gender of Mrs. Birch’s baby that was to be born the following month; if you wanted to find out the colour of the Doyles’ new carpet or the Barkers’ yesterday dinner menu – then you’d just have to ask Mrs. Thompson. She would always give you chapter and verse.
No one had the slightest idea of where that beady-eyed woman got all the information. She was sitting her days through in her big old chair with knitting-pins in her hands and a fat spotty cat Smoky lying at her feet.
Probably she had been getting her knowledge from Flitton homeless cats she fed up daily on her lawn. Or, perhaps, she collected it from the neighbours coming up for tea to find out something new… For what it was worth, the turnover of Flitton gossip started and ended at Mrs. Thompson’s.
This time she had already beset her watch-post, having settled herself in the chair, looking as though she had no business at all in anything going on in the street.
Usually Katy was delighted to stop and chat with Mrs. Thompson, and to ruffle the fur of her pet, resembling an air-cushion. But today she had been feeling annoyed and weirdly anxious since the very morning. So, having given her a polite greeting, Katy got a move on.
Crisp autumn morning breathed some chill at her face and relished a cheerful chirrup somewhere over her head. Katy turned to the river-walk. She didn’t notice her mood going better and her face brightening with a smile again.
… No, Alice’s slackitude had nothing to do with her inner strain – her junior had always been like that. But what had that been all about, Katy had no idea. Some imponderable disquieting apprehension stuck in her heart like an invisible nagger.
The way to the university led along the Flit’s river-walk, so Katy was delighted to watch ducks, amusingly diving into the water for some fish.
The ancient university building – profusely decorated with molding – looked more like some royal residence than like the sanctuary of sciences. Students had already been creating much crowd and noise at the entrance. With great animation they were chattering, joking and debating on something.
Katy couldn’t help noticing some students darting apprising glances at her. It confused her as usually. Being fit, green-eyed, with wavy chocolate-chestnut hair now scraped back into a sleek ponytail – she did often attract guys’ interested glances. But it had never gone any further: seriousness and modesty were definitely not the right features for gaining popularity. Especially, if a girl was shy.
Even her stylish, delicately-rimmed glasses seemed to be sort of a barrier between her and the rest of the world. Put her diligent studying on top of it and you would get Keener Katy – which, in fact, she was to the opinion of her more thoughtless age mates.
What a difference Alice was! Being amicable and cheerful, she always hit the highlights. Many young hearts had fallen victims to her blue eyes.
The sisters even dressed differently: Alice liked colorful outfits showing off her delicate stature; Katy preferred classical-styled dresses, loose trousers and plain blouses.
Katy was still going up the stairs to the entrance door when she heard a familiar voice jingling behind: her sister had already been greeting her friends. How in the world could she get here that soon?
Alice caught up with Katy. Folds of her mini-skirt flying sideways, her blond hair showering her shoulders and her eyes sparkling with cheerful twinkles as they always had: she was an amazing mix-up of an angel with a devilkin. She wasn’t anything someone would call a keener!
Alice was good at studying, although her teachers always told her she could do better.
“Here I am!”
“How did you manage to get here so soon?” Katy wondered in astonishment.
“Didn’t you know I can fly?” Alice made her pretty face look surprised for a moment, and then burst into laughing.
The sisters entered their well-lit and noisy classroom together and seated themselves next to each other as always. So different – both in temper and appearance – they were almost inseparable. Their classmates knew: it was enough to find one of them and you would find both. The other one would surely be somewhere around.
Another day begun, as ordinary as the whole caravan of student daily routine. Mr. Blake, a history teacher, entered the classroom, and all the noise went down instantly. Katy opened her work-books with some kind of relief, to plunge into her studying and stop listening to that odd feeling within. She succeeded: the something’s-wrong-feeling, have been harassing her since the very morning, drowned in the swirl of new experiences.
It all went on further, following the regular round: study – friends – library… Afterwards Katy attended her dance studio and her sister went to her karate class. She had joined trainings only recently, but she worked out with great joy and gained a good ground in it. Her dexterity and swift reaction were the subjects of envy even among guys, and sensei himself called her Fearless Alice.
However Katy only waved off all of her sister’s it-is-so-cool-in-there attempts to lure her in! What a pleasure could it possibly be in jumping and flapping your arms and legs? And to keep fit, it was way more enjoyable to perform dancing pas then scamper across the gym shouting “Hiii-yaah!”
But if one of them had finished her classes earlier, she was waiting for the other sister at the river-walk to go home together.
A walk home was a part of their usual course of the day as well. Though today they weren’t chattering about anything and everything as they did every day; they were just walking side by side in complete silence, each deep into her thoughts. Now nothing could distract Katy from that odd feeling of some inexplicable longing and unshaped anxiety that had been back. As if there was a hole somewhere within; she had nothing for it to be filled.
Alice suddenly stopped and stared at the sky.
“What are you looking at?” Katy asked in a surprised voice, having lifted up her head.
“The birds… Look, how many there are of them! They are likely to fly home,” Alice said, glaring to the heights. Somewhere in the clouds, a bird skein was swooping overhead.
“I wonder how do they know it is already time to leave?” Katy uttered quietly, whether addressing her sister or herself.
“I suppose, at a sudden moment they just feel… they have to be somewhere else. And
