Alchemy

Alchemy
Margaret Mahy

Mindblowing novel from multi-awardwinning author, Margaret Mahy.Roland has everything a young man could wish for – good looks, enough money, a cool relationship with his mother, ready wit, intelligence, a sexy girlfriend, a perfect school record. So the fact that he committed a petty crime and that, somehow, one of his teachers knows about it is something he can hardly explain to himself, let alone anyone else.The teacher, Mr Hudson, uses this knowledge to blackmail Roland into befriending the school misfit – Jess Ferret. The reason he gives is concern for her wellbeing, but even Roland finds this rather far-fetched. And when Jess doesn't respond to his confident advances, he becomes intrigued with the girl for his own reasons.Roland discovers Jess's dark secret and also finds that he has one of his own…

ALCHEMY

MARGARET MAHY

CONTENTS

Cover (#uc714720f-928a-5603-98d0-81b0eb7fa1a9)

Title Page (#ua552d583-1b01-5eb5-b6bc-43fbfd8f8c35)

Dreaming (#u8d98a870-f0ca-52c1-8c49-43fd3db59b48)

Waking (#u184f019a-5a70-55e0-b784-9a9398ad2121)

1. Three Pens, a Pie and a Notebook (#ub64a7ece-b967-535e-80b0-1b46f8cd9e8f)

2. An Alarming Proposition (#ucfe743ba-7506-526a-a770-904458e8fb21)

3. The View Across the Schoolyard (#u9597e0a7-6d35-55ad-8fd8-336d9b4f5078)

4. Unexpected Difficulties (#ue1d1405c-3e3f-5938-bb53-5443fdac1e72)

5. A Complicated Pursuit (#u85202477-2fc8-5b7d-91bd-dfda42ea5924)

6. Remembering Midnight Tears (#u103dcba3-8d88-5648-b6dc-99de5551ee1b)

7. Looking Into an Invented Darkness (#u22544f41-1968-5867-b5e8-59c3db08c0a8)

8. Saturday (#ub0f4c3f3-62e9-5553-8246-c75f9aa5354f)

9. Edging Past Medusa (#litres_trial_promo)

10. An Unnatural Stillness (#litres_trial_promo)

11. Reporting In (#litres_trial_promo)

12. Alchemy (#litres_trial_promo)

13. The Flicker in Mr Hudson’s Eyes (#litres_trial_promo)

14. Dream or Memory (#litres_trial_promo)

15. A Proper Answer (#litres_trial_promo)

16. Putting Things in Order (#litres_trial_promo)

17. The Third Time (#litres_trial_promo)

18. Something Worse Than Fear (#litres_trial_promo)

19. On a Riverside Bench (#litres_trial_promo)

20. Family Histories (#litres_trial_promo)

21. A Dangerous End to an Ordinary Day (#litres_trial_promo)

22. Inner Silence (#litres_trial_promo)

23. Meeting in the Museum (#litres_trial_promo)

24. What the Lions Heard (#litres_trial_promo)

25. Sunday (#litres_trial_promo)

26. Confessing (#litres_trial_promo)

27. The Dark Tower (#litres_trial_promo)

28. Climbing With Closed Eyes (#litres_trial_promo)

29. Spells (#litres_trial_promo)

30. Down the Stairs (#litres_trial_promo)

31. Jess’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)

32. A Hook in the Head (#litres_trial_promo)

33. A Call From Beyond (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

DREAMING (#ulink_e0004a7d-480d-55db-b705-3cfc210918f1)

So here it was again… coming through the dark at him – the dream, the nightmare that had haunted him for years. OK, he’d been through it all before. He already knew what was in store. He already knew there was no way of waking out of this particular dream until it had run its course. It would end in terror – as it always did. And yet that terror seemed to be necessary. He felt himself dividing like a cell, becoming two, then three people – the dreamer, the child in the dream and someone outside it – watching the dreamer dream… watching the child move innocently towards the coffin… and feeling the familiar panic as he watched it happening yet again.

Look! There they go, moving through the fairground, side by side, Roland and his father – hand in hand, yet apparently joined in other ways as well. And, in spite of the reassuring way his father’s hand curls around his fingers, Roland – the watcher – knows that Roland – the dream child – is becoming more and more alarmed with every step. He is being warned… warned from inside. I’m frightened, he is thinking. Iam going to change. Everything is going to change. There’s no escape. Here it comes!