Chapter 3

“Would you like some more lemonade, Peter?” Pete was stuck in an incredibly dull conversation with the vicar’s wife. He had only accepted the first glass of lemonade to be polite. It was horrible; it tasted as if someone had liquidised lemon-flavoured gravel. Pete wondered when Harriet was going to show up.
“Oh, no thank you, Mrs Miller” said Pete as politely as he could.
“Well, if you’re sure...” and at long last she hobbled off to talk to an elderly couple by the cakes.
Pete spotted Harriet walking down the street with her parents. Her striking hair wasn’t hard to miss. It seemed as if it was slightly messier than usual, as though Harriet was silently rebelling against the formalities of the picnic through her hair-do. Pete was anxious to tell Harriet about Gus.
“Pete!” Harriet had seen him.
“Harriet, I’m glad you're here, I really need to talk to you - ” began Pete, but he was interrupted.
“You're in my way” growled a voice behind Pete. He turned round to see a tall figure with cold, dark eyes.
“Move!” barked this person and as he did so, Pete noticed a tooth was missing. Pete carefully stepped aside, and saw Harriet looking puzzled.
“I’m not sure I know him... he doesn’t look much older than us, does he? I'm sure I haven’t seen him at school” Harriet said quietly.
“Look, Harriet - ” Pete began again, but was interrupted for a second time. It was Mrs Miller.
“Peter and Harriet, dears, I see you have met my son” she said, with a somewhat forced smile. “Simon, come here please!” she called over her shoulder, and the tall boy came shuffling back across the lawn. “Simon, darling, this is Peter, and Harriet, and they live here in the village. Why don’t you make friends...?” she looked desperately at Simon, frowned, and wandered off to resume her conversation with the elderly couple. Simon let out a harsh laugh.
“You look like the wimpiest people I have ever seen. Hey... you!” He pointed at Peter. “Wanna fight?”
“F - Fight?” spluttered Pete incredulously. The request had come out of the blue, but Pete had a sneaking suspicion it was more than a mere request. He doubted the level of choice he had.
“Yeah, fight. Y’know, like, fighting...” Simon said, looking increasingly bored at Pete’s utter confusion.
“I... I've never fought someone before. I don’t even know h - ” began Pete but he had to stop, because Simon had just punched him on the nose. Pete yelped in pain and he could feel warm blood running down his face. He staggered back, but Simon had hooked his foot around Pete’s ankle. Pete lost his balance and fell hard onto his back, and had all his breath knocked out of him. Simon laughed. As he turned to walk away, Harriet hurried to help Pete to his feet.
“Are you alright? Gosh, you've got a lot of blood on your face, Pete... oh, let me go and hit that guy, Pete... here let me help you” Harriet rambled quickly as Pete straightened up.
Pete and Harriet moved over to the table where Mrs Wilson was engaged in polite conversation with Mr Lossanger who had recently moved into the small town, and lived opposite the school.
“Mum, can I go home, please?” Pete asked cautiously. Mrs Wilson looked up.
“Good grief Peter, what have you done to your face? Go home at once and wash!”
*
“Right, Harriet,” began Pete once again. At least now he knew he couldn't be disturbed. Pete had brought Harriet into his barn, for privacy from his mother. Harriet needed to know about Gus.
“Harriet, there was this guy in my barn. He was really old, and he materialised out of nowhere!”
Harriet stared in disbelief. “ I know what you're going to say,” continued Pete. “I'm not crazy!”
“Well, Pete, you've quite clearly gone mad. I'm going to have to fetch a doctor. I'm mildly surprised it didn't happen sooner. It was nice knowing you, Pete” sighed Harriet.
She tried to leave but Pete grabbed her arm.
“No, Harriet, listen! I'm not mad. Look, I can prove it-” started Pete but, how did you call him? Gus had said just call, but he didn't explain how. “Gus?” Pete tried quietly, and immediately he knew it had worked when he saw the ominous patch of dark air towards the centre of the room.
“Who's Gus? What are you looking at, Pete?” began Harriet.
“Shhh... Over there. There, do you see it? That bit of air over there is dark. Oh, it's a cloud already!” said Pete excitedly.
Harriet still looked sceptical. Pete watched her face to see her expression as she finally saw the dense air in front of her.
“Woah... What is that?” she asked, amazed.
“It's Gus, he's coming. It's how he materialises.”