‘Goodness! You’re growing so fast. I’ll have to add another inch before the clasp.’ Astra was standing on a three-legged stool in Craft House. She shifted her weight again from one foot to the other. The fitting was supposed to be fun. She’d wanted to see all the different beads and help choose them and admire herself in the mirror wearing the sample string, but now the beads were digging into her flesh, her head was racing with furious thoughts and Nimma was annoyed with her. ‘Nimma,’ she wheedled. ‘Yes, pet?’ ‘Can I stay at the Earthship tonight?’ Nimma sighed. ‘I thought you were going back to Hokma, darling. I’ve said Meem can have her friends over. What’s the matter with Wise House? You always stay there at the weekend.’ She hadn’t considered the possibility that Nimma would say no. Mostly Nimma complained that she never saw Astra any more. ‘Lil’s acting funny,’ she floundered. ‘It’s because she isn’t Sec Gen. She says mean things sometimes.’ ‘Mean things – like what?’ This was dangerous.
