Free Legacy of the Mind by H.R. Moore Page B

an answer, thought Anita, as she was suddenly yanked sideways by an overexcited Cleo, who had bounded across the room and now had her arms wrapped around Anita in a frenzied hug.
    ‘YOU DID IT!’ Cleo squealed.  ‘WELL DONE!’
    ‘Thanks.  It was a bit close for comfort this time, but I just about managed to get to the scroll first.’
    ‘Well, I knew you would do it all along.  Now, let me buy you a celebratory drink.’  Anita put her hand up to protest but Cleo shot her a warning look so ferocious that she backed down pretty quickly.
    ‘Thanks.  I’ll have an Empire then please,’ a cocktail made of a curious mix of spirits that Anita had never quite managed to determine.  This Cleo seemed pleased with, presumably because the drink was both extremely potent and suitably extravagant.  Cleo called the order to the bar tender, who said he would bring the drinks over, then dragged Anita back to the table where she had been sitting.  Cleo shooed the guys she had been talking to away (this always amazed Anita) and leant in conspiratorially; clearly there was something Cleo wanted to discuss.
    ‘So,’ she started, still totally over the top, ‘I’ve heard a rumour.’
    ‘Oh, a new and different past time for you.  I’m thrilled you’re branching out…’
    ‘Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit you know.’
    ‘No?’ Anita replied sarcastically.
    Cleo gave her a chastising look, but couldn’t contain herself any longer, so pressed on.  ‘I’ve heard that Marcus is inviting someone outside his usual circle to the ball.’
    ‘Really?’ Asked Anita, feeling a slight flutter of panic, ‘how do you know that?’
    ‘Well, you know James, the Mind Councillor who organised the Chase?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘His son Henry has invited me to the ball!’
    ‘Congratulations,’ Anita said with genuine feeling, internally slightly surprised, although she didn’t know why, it was exactly the kind of thing that Cleo always managed to engineer.
    ‘Thanks,’ Cleo shot back, looking smug, ‘we can discuss how I pulled that one off in a minute, but anyway, he came in to see me last night for a drink and we drank a little too much Island Punch.  He started saying that Marcus’ friends had all been teasing him about not having a date for the ball.  Pretty much everyone else in their circle has got a date, most of them with each other obviously, apart from Marcus, Henry and one other notable exception,’ said Cleo, eyeing Anita deviously, ‘…Missy, who will be attending the ball with Bas.’
    ‘What kind of a name is Missy?’ laughed Anita.  ‘And who is she?’ Anita asked, feeling both relieved and a tiny bit jealous, if she was being totally honest with herself.  She didn’t want to go out with Bas, but she felt a bit possessive over him anyway.
    ‘She is the daughter of some senior Councillor.  It’s highly likely that it was orchestrated by their parents if you ask me...but anyway, Henry said that they had all been teasing Marcus about it yesterday, and he said that he had options outside the normal crowd.  Apparently he said that he wasn’t going to tell anyone who he had decided to take, because he wanted it to be a surprise on the night.’  Anita sat very still, not saying a word.  Should she tell Cleo?  It would be good to talk to someone about it.  But before she got a chance, Cleo was already speculating who it could be.  ‘I think it’s that girl in our Mind class.  The really useless one who thinks she’s practically a gift from the Gods.  Or maybe the girl that Austin chose to pick the pigeon this morning.  Maybe he’s in on it too.  I can’t imagine Austin would like it if Marcus turned up at the ball with someone outside their circle unless he knew about it first.’
    ‘Cleo,’ Anita said quietly.
    ‘Uh huh,’ Cleo replied, at the same time as thanking the waiter for the drinks he had just put down in front of them.
    ‘There is something I need to talk to you about,’