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  • Writer's pictureLynne Clark

OUTtake 1 - Nails


As I've been re-writing How to Breathe Underwater, I've been pulling out some of the writing that was all backstory, and was slowing the story down. It isn't likely (although I'd never say never...) to be used in the final book, so I thought you might like to get a feel for Orson, the world they are living in, the girls themselves and their families.

One thing I often get asked about are the nails. They aren't like human nails, they are much more like cat claws: they can be retracted, they shed their outer skins, they stay razor sharp. (If you know my own cat, Millie, a cat who communicates with my via nail and claw, you will know this is rather close to my heart...) So here is your first OUTtake, where Izzy talks to Amma about nails.

Changes

“When do the Minx lessons start?”

Bella and Izzy were lying on their backs, making daisy chains. The sun was warm on Izzy’s face, and she was struggling not to fall asleep. She gently flicked a lazy bumblebee from the flower she'd just picked, and turned her head sideways to follow his wobbly progress from daisy to daisy across the lawn.

“Soon, I think,” she said. “Amma said Minx Hall would tell us when we should turn up. Do you know what we’re supposed to be doing there?”

“Special Skill stuff apparently. Stuff everyone can do in Liberty.”

Izzy frowned. “It’s ridiculous, Amma's so vague about it all. I don’t think I want to go anyway…”

She rolled over onto her elbows and held a daisy up to her eye. She straightened her forefinger, unsheathed a razor-sharp nail and slit the stem, threading another daisy through to start a new chain. She plucked another from the lawn and tucked it behind her ear.

“How many chains have you got now, Bella? I’ve got five,” she said, “It’s always the same at home, Amma tells me half a story, and then she gets sidetracked, and somehow the rest gets left behind. Do the Minx even exist? Has anyone seen one? And what do they want us for? You know what, I think they are just some kind of fairy tale.”

Bella wrinkled her nose. “Four. Not enough. No, I’ve not seen one. I wonder if we get to learn all their Skills? I suppose we’ll find out soon, though. I can’t wait!”

“Do you know how long we’ll be away for? I’ve never been away from home on my own before. This is going to be months, I reckon…first there’s Minx Hall, and then we have to go to Liberty. Amma doesn’t seem to know how long I’ll be away.” Izzy rolled onto her back. She sighed again. “She doesn’t seem to know anything useful.”

Bella flicked her daisy away. “Stop worrying Izzy, and lie still! You’re making me mess up my daisies. Look, my nails are shedding; they aren’t sharp enough to make these chains. I’ve ruined half of them.” She extended her nails to show Izzy. “See… all the tips are fluffy and coming away.”

Izzy dropped her chain and took Bella’s hand. “Your nails aren’t as long as mine.”

She laid her hand alongside Bella’s and extended the rest of her nails. Bella snatched her hand away. “Stop showing off.”

“Sorry…” Izzy flushed slightly. She hadn’t meant to show off, but she did have pretty nails. Even her mother thought so, and it was unusual for Amma to pay attention to how she looked; they’d even had a conversation about it a few months back.

"You are growing up quickly now, darling" Amma had said.

"There are lots of lovely things you can look forward to. We can have your nails gilded, and perhaps your first toothstone? Would you like that? I had my first stones when I was around your age, the blue ones in the middle. Come and have a close look, I don't suppose you have ever seen my teeth up close, have you?"

Amma stretched her mouth so Izzy could see her two eye-teeth, encrusted with tiny gems.

Her mother was right; she hadn't seen her teeth close up. They were beautiful. A line of blue stones snaked down the centre of each long eyetooth. Each side was chased with intricate inlays; the gold and platinum was studded with minute rubies and diamonds which glittered as they caught the light. Izzy looked closely; it wasn't a random design, it was a little dragon on each side, each one facing the central S.

"Are they real rubies and diamonds?" she asked.

"Yes," Amma said. "The blue ones are lapis lazuli; I suppose I could have them replaced now with better stones, but I like the fact your grandmother bought them for me. Your father added the dragons for our wedding, for luck." She closed her mouth and wriggled her jaw.

"Ouch - keeping my mouth open makes my jaw ache! It reminds me of when I had them done - it took hours, I had to take four breaks when he was doing the dragons."

"Can I see your nails?" For as long as Izzy could remember, she'd played with Amma's nails. Amma would extend them for her, and she'd spend ages tracing the designs; she loved the smooth burnished surface, it felt cold to the warm pads of her fingers.

Amma stretched out her fingers, extended her nails and smiled.

"I love my nails,” she said. "If I had to lose my tooth-stones I would be unhappy, but if I lost my nails I would be heartbroken."

Amma was right to love them. Izzy would give her eyeteeth - especially once they were jewelled - to have hands like her mother's.

Amma's hands were long and narrow. The sides of the fingers were covered in tiny golden freckles, each one separate and distinct. Izzy's spots clumped together in places so they were more like squiggles than freckles near the knuckles.

Extended fully now for Izzy to look at, Amma'a nails turned her fingers into beautiful weapons. Each one tapered to a curved point, viciously sharp, and was inlaid with a curling dragon. Red, white and pink gold tangled up into such an intricate pattern it was hard to see where it started and ended.

Normally, she kept them sheathed for safety. Izzy knew only too well how easy it was to puncture yourself with those needle sharp tips -- if she forgot and fiddled with her hair with her nails out a little bit, she ended up with a crisscross of red lines under her ears.

"How many nail sheddings will these last for?" she had asked her mother.

"I've had them for 10 years now. I reburnish it when I shed a nail skin, but I don't know if they will last much longer. They'll need to be redone soon, I would think. "

Izzy smiled at the memory.

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