Chapter 9

 

The next morning started much as most did at Chateau Nullepart, with its meagre occupants rising from a groggy slumber. But something had changed, an invisible line crossed, one tentative step from certainty to its opposite.

'They voted out!' Lala started laughing. 'The silly fuckers!'

'I don't think it's that funny,' Teddy said, looking perplexed as Lala scorned his seriousness. 'What about our right to stay here?' Lala stopped laughing.

'They won't kick us out. Think of the money.'

'Yes, yes, I know but you never know what kind of demented passion this sort of thing unleashes. I think there are a lot of very unhappy people out there.'

Lala thought about the word 'unhappy'. She did not often, but from time to time it leapt out at her like a bogeyman she had almost convinced herself was unreal. Everything she did, had done, consciously thought about, was a vain attempt to avoid that word. It followed her assiduously. Tapping at her shoulder. Here I am, it said, w