‘Yes! Le Temps stopped him. Thought it was odd. The way he clapped like crazy when the poem was . . . you know.’

GMT sits up in bed. Her hair’s frizzy and wild, like she hasn’t combed it for days. She claws her fingers and combs it back from her face.

‘We may be reading too much into this, guys, but,’ she says, ‘I’ve known MC for light years. Brother speaks rhyme or code or rhymecode.’

‘He’s not brother to you,’ says Ama.

‘Near as,’ says GMT. She begins to climb down the ladder. ‘Something’s happening here. MC’s giving you clues, Elle. Has a sixth sense when he’s ’stylin’. It must link with the Predictive. How did the tale end?’

‘Gretel throws the witch into the oven,’ I say.

‘I mean MC’s mix. Something about a phoenix?’

‘No. It was fee-fi-fo but he never got to fum. Le Temps started clapping. That’s Jack and the Beanstalk not Hansel and Gretel.’

GMT starts pacing the room. Ama’s pacing the room. It’s not a very big room. I look away. I don’t want to witness a crash. GMT stops pacing and Ama walks straight into her. Ama swears but she doesn’t sit down. She just keeps on walking. GMT pulls her hair back hard till she looks like a boy again.

‘Guys,’ she says, ‘MC’s on to something. The tales, don’t you see? They’re all about—’

‘MC this, MC that! You’re obsessed.’ Ama rolls her eyes anticlockwise. ‘Maybe Season’s in on it. She runs The Beanstalk. Maybe SHE’S the wicked witch. Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s Elle. Maybe it’s YOU! How will this help find Kwesi?’ She runs out of the chalet.

But I’m not listening to them shouting any more. I’m thinking about MC2’s rap with too much remixing and no end. Why did Le Temps stop him? Does Le Temps hate fairy tales because he’s a witchcraft himself? Maybe this has something to do with the Predictive. MC2 called me maestro, which means I’m good at storytelling. He wasn’t able to finish his story but I could. I wouldn’t speak in riddles and rhymes. It wouldn’t be fairy tales, it would be real. I have to find out what SOS L means. It’s up to me to finish the story. MY story.

Chapter 14:00: The Law of The Jungle

Chapter 14:00

THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE