Dream Paris Read Online Free

of here. I don’t want you anywhere near my client!”
    “That’s as may be. But I’ll still be here at 5:25. You won’t.”
    That air again. That charming bastard air. There were boys like him at school: good-looking, intelligent, arrogant. They knew what they wanted and they just took it. But with Mr Twelvetrees there was something else, too. A touch of cruelty…
    “Where did this scroll come from?” I asked. “Why do you have it?”
    Mr Twelvetrees’s fly eyes were disconcerting. You couldn’t tell which way he was looking. So what if he couldn’t see; you didn’t know where his attention was fixed. His reply seemed to be directed at the corner of the kitchen.
    “The scroll was found in the ruins of Angel Tower. Someone noticed my name was written on it and they passed it along to me. And here I am, just as it says.”
    Petrina licked her lips.
    “That doesn’t prove anything. You read Anna’s name, you turned up here.”
    “True, true.”
    “So you came here because the scroll said so?” I interrupted. “I find that hard to believe. There must be so much junk blowing around London. Lots of scrolls, lots of people’s names. Why come to me?”
    “Look at the scroll Anna. You’ll see why I came to you.”
    “Leave it alone, Anna,” warned Petrina. I couldn’t help myself. I took it, unrolled it.
    “The bottom’s torn off.”
    “I know. That’s how we found it. Don’t procrastinate. What does it say?”
    I took a deep breath. I looked at the scroll.
    Anna and Mr Twelvetrees sit in the kitchen of the Poison Yews, London Temporary Zone Code B54 F11, on Thursday 11th January at 5:25pm.
    Walking towards the ruined castle on the hill, furious at your companion
    Anna moves through the crowd, terrified. What if they were to recognise her for who she was?
    “Recognise me for who I am? What does that mean? When does this happen?”
    “Who knows? I told you, you can know when, or what. That’s the nature of this fortune. Read on.”
    “ He is so gorgeous! He strokes your breast as he… ”
    I broke off as I realised what I was saying. I felt the blush spring to my face. Mr Twelvetrees’s mouth had curled a little at the corners. He’d tricked me. The bastard had tricked me into reading it out loud.
    “What does it say?” asked Petrina. Even amidst the strangeness, I could see her eyes dancing once more at the thought of teenage sex.
    “I’m not saying.”
    He is so gorgeous! He strokes your breast as he thrusts into you. You are coming, again and again.
    I had the distinct impression that Mr Twelvetrees was looking at me. He knew what was on the scroll, he knew what I was reading. He knew!
    “What does it say?” asked Petrina.
    “It doesn’t matter. I’ll go on.”
    Such was my distress that I read the next line before I registered the words.
    “ Anna looks on in horror as Petrina dies. ”
    Petrina said nothing. Mr Twelvetrees was smiling properly now. I scanned the next line before reading it aloud.
    “ Nivôse 22nd. You are sitting in the Café de la Révolution . ”
    “Nivôse?” I said. “What’s that?”
    “Ah, yes,” said Mr Twelvetrees. “The benefits of a private education. That comes from the French revolutionary calendar. It’s the month of December or January.”
    “The French revolutionary calendar? Why should it give dates according to the French…”
    But I’d already read the next line.
    “ Anna sits down to a meal in Dream Paris. ”
    Dream Paris.
    It was important not to show any emotion. But I felt hollow, like if you blew across my lips I would sound a note, deep and low.
    “It says here I’m in Dream Paris. I… I don’t want to do that.”
    I was struggling to speak. Were you in Dream London? If so, you’ll understand what I was feeling. How would you feel if you were told you had to return to that place?
    “I’m sorry,” said Mr Twelvetrees. He didn’t sound sorry. “But I’m not sure that you have a choice.”
    “Of course she does,”