The day was already beginning to wear Rafael down. His stress levels were beginning to bubble and he was really starting to wonder how far he could stretch the money burning against his thigh in the pocket of his jeans. He and Mynah had been putting off the school shop until they could shop without fear of not being able to supply the children with their necessary clothing items. They’d been scrimping and scraping in an attempt to pulls some money together. Rafael had even been sneaking up to Jaret’s room to steal back some of his pocket money that would eventually be wasted on cigarettes as it was. He’d ordered packets after packets of socks online using one of the Library’s computers and they’d arrived a couple of weeks ago. Mynah had lengthened the arms in Nicolai’s blazer and re-stitched the pockets on Jaret’s. But what they really needed was shoes and they were the most expensive items. Rafael was just glad he could use magic to fix his.
The boys had disappeared into one of the sports shops with Mynah on their heels. This had left Raina and Rafael to their own devices. So they’d wandered up to Marks and Spencer, bought some sandwiches and taken up residence on an empty bench. Raina had picked a tuna sandwich, as had Rafael because the tuna ones were the only ones that sounded appetising. All of the sandwiches looked nice but they sounded really quite weird. The seven-year-old was already munching away but her eyes were aloft. Rafael followed the direction her eyes were in and saw little creatures sitting on the HMV sign. His eyes widened slightly and he looked at Raina who was taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Can you see them?” She asked suddenly, her eyes darting to him. “The Nargles I mean; the ones on the sign. They’re the ones that poke holes in my socks and steal my ribbons. Mynah doesn’t believe me. She says they don’t exist. You can see them, can’t you Rafi?” All he could do was nod.