Teach Primary Issue 18.6

Chapter 5, pages 52–53 www.teachwire.net | 71 52-53 Initially, though, we think the peril has passed. Words like ‘competent’, ‘smoothly’, ‘opened’ and ‘relief’ lower the tension. When Glory speaks in this scene she’s not saying anything the reader won’t already know. What she says doesn’t add to the plot, but rather indicates how she’s feeling. The ‘hardly surprising, really’ bit is what we call a ‘redundancy' – the things we say that mean nothing, but are used to fill awkward gaps in conversation. She’s babbling nervously here. Dennis’s reaction confirms this with the look he gives her. The setting for this awkward encounter adds to the sense of uneasiness. Glory can hardly believe that someone as famous as Harry Houdini is in her kitchen. It feels totally unreal I’m building on this here by having Houdini do something really ordinary and normal, i.e. drink tea. Glory assumes Houdini will leave once he’s free of the handcuffs. This simple statement changes everything. It’s unexpected, it suggests Houdini has something to say, and indicates that Harry Houdini, world famous for his brave and daring stunts, might be feeling tired, so introducing a previously unseen side to his character. By Glory admitting this, it indirectly tells us about her relationship with her elder sister, Effie, and that normally she doesn’t appreciate being bossed about. Immediately, this sets us up for an encounter that might be out of the ordinary… The kitchen itself feels small, almost claustrophobic. Effie and Glory are squidged together on one seat. Houdini’s famous trunk is tucked under the table. This lack of personal space only increases the tension in the room. In the descriptions, I’ve highlighted that each character is doing something different, which adds to the uncomfortable, discordant atmosphere. Extract from T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG Effie quickly took charge of the situation, and for once, I was glad she did. Under her competent handling, the key turned smoothly and the cuffs opened, though once the initial relief had passed, Mr Houdini asked to sit down. And so we found ourselves sharing our kitchen with a world-famous performer, which wasn’t as much fun as it sounded. A mere half an hour ago at the Alhambra, Mr Houdini had been raging at me, so to now be sitting opposite him at the table, drinking industrial- strength tea, felt so awkward I could hardly meet his eye. Houdini, in his shirtsleeves, was still caked in stage make-up. In the seat next to him, Bess Houdini fed Eric milk from a saucer while Dennis, who couldn’t stop staring at our famous guests, let his tea go cold. Meanwhile, Effie had given up offering ginger biscuits that no one wanted and perched on a corner of my seat because we’d run out of chairs. Our kitchen, small and cluttered at the best of times, seemed suddenly cramped. Everything felt very bizarre. Though I couldn’t decide what was more bizarre – the Houdinis in our house, or that they’d insisted on bringing the scuffed leather trunk all the way upstairs with them and sliding it under the table so it sat right by our feet. “They’re quite unusual handcuffs, Mr Houdini,” I reasoned, feeling the need to explain what had gone wrong. “They’re tricky to open, even with the key, so hardly surprising, really.” Dennis gave me a ‘stop talking’ glare.