21
" Even houses change, Reynie had thought, and it had caused an odd flutter in his stomach. Weren't houses supposed to represent stability? Sure, the Society had changed a lot of things about Mr. Benedict's house on purpose, but some things, Reynie realized, they had changed simply by being there. A thousand footsteps on that particular board, and now it creaked.
Every member of the Society, too, bore a thousand hidden footsteps: effects of a different kind, many impossible to have predicted. "
― Trenton Lee Stewart , The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #2)
24
" Now listen,” Reynie said, holding up his hand to check Kate, who had begun to speak again, “before we stray too far from the subject, won’t you tell me what you were doing just now? The last time I heard a sound like that was when the orphanage cat spit up a hairball.” “Oh, that?” Kate said with a shrug. “I’m training myself to regurgitate things, but it’s a lot harder than you’d think.” Seeing Reynie’s horrified expression, she quickly explained, “It’s an old escape artist’s trick. Houdini and all those guys could do it. They’d swallow a lockpick or something, and later they’d use their throat muscles to bring it back up. You’re supposed to train with a string tied to whatever it is you’re swallowing, so you can help pull it back out. I did that at first, but then I thought I might manage it without the string. No luck yet, though.” “So I was right,” Reynie said. “It is funny. But isn’t it dangerous?” Kate pursed her lips, considering. Evidently this had never occurred to her. She wasn’t one to worry about danger much. “I suppose it isn’t the safest thing in the world,” she admitted, and with a serious look she said, “You’d better not try it.” Reynie laughed (for nothing could possibly induce him to try such a thing himself), then affected an equally serious look and said, “All right, Kate, I promise never to swallow—well, what was it you swallowed, anyway?” Kate rolled her eyes and waved off the question. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “And, hey, what happens to it now?” Reynie persisted, looking horrified again. “I mean, since you couldn’t—?” “I don’t,” Kate said firmly, “want to talk about it. "
― Trenton Lee Stewart , The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #2)
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #2)