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“Me too,” said Xemerius. “Only her hairstyle is … well, the pits.”
Caroline sighed amorously. “You’re so nice! Will you be visiting us often?”
“I’m afraid so, yes,” said Xemerius.
“I hope so, yes,” said Gideon, and our eyes met. I couldn’t suppress an amorous sigh of my own. After our successful visit to the costume stockroom, we’d also made a little side trip to Dr. White’s treatment room, and while Gideon was providing himself with a couple of instruments there, I suddenly had an idea.
“While we’re burgling this place anyway, could you find a kit for a smallpox vaccination that we can take with us?”
“Don’t worry—you’ll have been inoculated against all the diseases you could meet while traveling in time,” Gideon had reassured me. “Including the variola virus, of course.”
“It’s not for me—it’s for a friend,” I’d told him. “Please! I’ll explain later.”
Gideon had raised an eyebrow, but he opened Dr. White’s medication cupboard without comment, and after a little searching, he found a red box and put it in his pocket.
I loved him all the more for not asking questions.
“You look as if you were about to start drooling,” said Xemerius, bringing me back to reality.
I fished the key of the door leading up to the roof out of its hiding place in the sugar bowl in the cupboard. “How long has Mum been in the bathroom?” I asked Nick and Caroline.
“Quarter of an hour at the most.” Nick was looking far more relaxed now. “She was kind of odd this evening. Kept on kissing us and sighing. She didn’t stop until Mr. Bernard brought her a whisky.”
“Only quarter of an hour? Then we ought to have plenty of time. But if she does happen to come out earlier than anyone expects, please don’t tell her we’re up on the roof.”
“Okay,” said Nick, while Xemerius chanted his silly song about necking in the porch again.
I glanced mockingly at Gideon. “If you can tear yourself away from Tinker Bell, let’s get going.”
“Luckily, I know how the film ends.” Gideon reached for his backpack and picked it up.
“See you soon,” Caroline breathed.
“Yup, see you soon. I’d rather watch fairies at work than you two smooching,” said Xemerius. “A demon has his pride, you know. I wouldn’t like anyone to say I was a Peeping Tom.”
I took no notice of him, but climbed the narrow chimney-sweep’s staircase up to the roof and opened the trapdoor at the top of it. It was a fairly mild spring night—the perfect evening to come up here, and yes, for smooching too, why not? From up here, there was a wonderful view over the nearby buildings, and the moon was shining in the east above the rooftops.
“Where are you?” I quietly called down.
Gideon’s curly head appeared in the hatch above the trapdoor, and then the rest of him followed.
“Wow. I can understand this being your favorite place,” he said, taking his backpack off and kneeling cautiously down.
I’d never noticed before that the roof really was romantic, especially at this time of night, with the sea of bright city lights reaching out forever beyond the intricately decorated roof ridge of the house. Sometime we’d come here with a picnic, plus soft cushions, and candles … and Gideon could bring his violin … and with any luck Xemerius would be taking a day off.
“What are you grinning at?” asked Gideon.
“Oh, nothing. Just letting the fancy roam.”
Gideon made a face. “Oh, yes?” He looked carefully around. “Okay. I guess the show can begin.”
I nodded and cautiously made my way forward. The roof here was flat, but the slope began a couple of feet beyond the chimneys, marked off only by the knee-high decorative iron border. (And immortal or not, I didn’t feel that plunging four floors down to street level was a great way to enjoy the weekend.)
I opened the ventilation flap in the nearest of the broad chimneys.
“Why up here of all places, Gwenny?” I heard Gideon ask behind me.
“Charlotte’s afraid of heights,” I explained. “I knew she’d never come up to the roof because of her vertigo.” I took the heavy bundle out of the chimney, balancing it carefully in my arms.
