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<h1>**#**</h1>
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<p><em>August 4. Night.</em></p>
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<p>The moon rose high in a cloudless sky, now almost completely
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full.</p>
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<p>The night was full of noises. Far down in the dark of the
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valley, a pheasant hawked in alarm, sounding like a tin can scrape
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on rough stone. Far up on the heathery moor a grouse croaked. Up on
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the slope-side, some small thing, maybe a weasel, dislodged a small
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stone and sent a trickle of gravel down in a whispery hiss. The
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stream murmured. The fire, now hot and red, crackled and
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sparked.</p>
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<p>Billy Harrison sobbed. The pitiful sound of it, hardly muffled
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at all by the canvas of the tent, tore at them. It was the sound of
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utter despair and dejection and it was the sound of pain.</p>
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<p>Corky sat silent, staring at the flames of the fire his eyes
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glinting and reflecting the flickering red. He had not said a word
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for hours. He had the same faraway look that Billy had in his own
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eyes earlier that day, the mesmerised glazed stare of someone who
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has recognised the closeness of his own end. They had all seen
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Corky's end when their captor had squeezed on the trigger, but the
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gun hadn't roared and bucked. The gun's firing pin had slammed down
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on the empty chamber with a solid crack. Corky had fallen to the
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ground as if all the nerves in his body had failed, as if all his
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sinews had been cut.</p>
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<p>Now it was night and the moon was up and the sounds of the
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valley were overlaid with the sound of a boy's crying.</p>
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<p>The knife was over in the gloom beside the boulders where it had
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landed. It would do them no good now anyway.</p>
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<p>Corky had lain there, still as death, arms spread-eagled for
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nearly a minute and they had all stood there immobile, just looking
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at him. None of them had been brave enough to move to help him.</p>
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<p>"It's empty," Doug was thinking. Despite the fact that Corky was
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down on the ground, he knew he wasn't dead. All he could think
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about was the fact that the gun had been empty all this time. Since
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the morning when Danny had gone clambering up the slope and he
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himself had managed to get a hand to the second cartridge and send
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it flipping into the pool, he could not remember the man reloading.
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He'd assumed the lunatic had jammed another two shells into the
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breech, but he must have forgotten. If he'd done that, then Corky
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would still be lying there, but the rocks behind them would be
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painted red with the insides of his head. Sudden relief made his
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legs feel boneless.</p>
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<p>The man had slowly lowered the gun and looked down at Corky,
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almost curiously, as if surprised that the gun hadn't fired, as if
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only mildly astonished that the boy's head hadn't been blown right
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off his shoulders. The mad anger that had been in his eyes was now
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replaced by a mad incredulity. He had stood there, possibly
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contemplating his next move and the three of them had stood around
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him, all of them wanting to run, none of them daring to, even
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though they knew the gun wasn't loaded. Water dripped down the
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man's legs. The word <em>Joyce</em> stood out clearly on the side
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of his brawny biceps. Finally he turned his head and gave a little
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shrug, as if that was this scene over and his interest in it was
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done. He crossed to the stream, went down to the shallow part where
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Billy was crouched on low, flat stone, pale and shivering, and took
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him by the hand.</p>
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<p>Corky's eyelids fluttered and his eyes rolled down so that the
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white crescents disappeared. He gave a little start, like somebody
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just coming awake and raised his head dopily, as if unaware of his
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surroundings. He shook himself, making his eyes focus, remembered
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where he was and jerked up, spinning as he did, to get to his
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knees.</p>
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<p>"Take it easy," Danny hissed at him, getting a hand to his arm.
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Tom stepped forward to help him to his feet. Corky's face was slack
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and pale. He turned to Tom, as if he didn't recognise him either,
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swung round to Danny, but he didn't look at him., he looked
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<em>through</em> him, his gaze fixed on something in the faraway
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distance.</p>
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<p>"Corky?" Danny asked. Tom was slapping his friend's knuckles,
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the way people were supposed to do with folk who'd fainted. Corky
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didn't seem to notice.</p>
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<p>"You okay? Hey?"</p>
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<p>Very slowly, Corky nodded, but it was almost automatic. Billy
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came up, led by the hand, his height and robust build still slight
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by comparison to the man. He was shivering visibly and droplets of
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water dripped from his elbows and from his chin. His hair was sleek
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and plastered to his head and goosebumps had risen all over his
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skin. He seemed entirely unaware that he was completely naked. The
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man pointed at Doug and Danny, then flicked his hand to include the
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other two.</p>
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<p>"Fire," he said. "Get it going." He pulled Billy over to the
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where his clothes were lying and told him to get dressed. Billy did
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so without a word. He did not look at any of them, not then. It was
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as if he had become isolated, by the depths of his fear, by the
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fact that somehow the man had singled him out specially, no matter
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what he'd done to the others. The man pulled on his shirt and
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denims, jammed his feet in the old boots and then slung his coat
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around Billy and made him sit down.</p>
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<p>The others had backed off, Tom pulling Corky as they went, down
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to the pile of logs they'd dragged up the previous day and began
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hauling them up to the circle of stones. Corky moved slowly, as if
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he'd not come entirely awake. The embers had cooled to grey ash,
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but Phil Corcoran's stolen Ronson lighter was still in the burlap
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bag and they used that to light the bundles of dry bracken to get
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the fire started. The twigs caught quickly and soon the flames had
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spread to the thicker branches, wavering bright, casting a glow
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around the clearing and once again sending trails of sparks into
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the sky. They dragged more logs up from the pile while the man
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heated the last tin of oxtail soup.</p>
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<p>By this time, Doug was faint with hunger and it may have been
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that which made him go to his own rucksack and take out the bag of
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potatoes they'd swiped from the field. There were still a few left.
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He risked close proximity to the crazy man, edging close to the
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fire, holding one arm across his face to shield it from the heat of
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the blaze, while he stuffed the big early potatoes in to the ashes
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by the side of the stones. The man finished his soup in silence,
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dipping the now-stale bread into it and wolfing it down like an
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animal. He offered some to Billy, but got no response at all. The
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others sat down, closer to the tent, waiting for what would happen
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next and the valley got darker as night begam to fall. After a
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while, half an hour, maybe a bit more, the stranger stood up and
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used one of the branches to scrape the potatoes from the fire. He
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rolled the largest one clear of the others and trundled it closer
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to where he sat. Doug didn't wait. He took that as tacit permission
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and used a twig to get the rest free, leaving little trails of ash
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as he manoeuvred them back from the heat. They had to wait a while
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until they were cold enough to handle. They were black and
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carbonised on the outside. They were still a bit solid and uncooked
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in the centres, but to Dougie and Danny and Tom, those three baked
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potatoes were the best food they could remember. Corky ate his
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slowly and in complete silence. He was still distant, his mind far
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away, or so it seemed. Danny wondered if maybe he'd cracked, and he
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knew that if the crazy stranger had pointed the gun up to his eye
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and pulled the trigger, he'd have shit himself, pissed his pants
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and <em>then</em> cracked. The pain of the birdshot at more than a
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hundred yards had been bad enough.</p>
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<p>They ate and despite everything, they felt better for it. There
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were three potatoes left in the trail of ashes and the man took the
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other two. He thrust one at Billy, told him to eat, and finally
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Billy took it. The others watched him slowly consume it, black skin
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and all, until it was done.</p>
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<p>An another half hour of silence stretched on while the shadows
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lengthened up towards them and finally darkened everything except
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for the circle around the fire. Eventually the man stood up and
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stretched, yawned loudly and looked up at the sky. The moon was
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still unrisen. Over by the corner of the tent was the roll of
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fencing wire and the twine that had been used to loop them together
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the previous night. Now the man took the thin wire and began to
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unravel it.</p>
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<p>"You're welcome to stay the night," he said to Doug, and his
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voice sounded so normal, so ordinary, that it startled them.</p>
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<p>Danny almost blurted out the instant reply that sprung to his
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lips: "<em>No, it's okay. We'd better be going now.</em>"</p>
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<p>He said nothing because the man simply took a hold of Doug's
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shoulder and pushed him backwards, herding them all across to the
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wall where they'd sat in the heat of the day after Danny's failed
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escape attempt. He made them sit down again then fastened a loop of
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wire around a thick root that coiled from a crevice in the rock.
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Very quickly and expertly he slipped another around Doug's neck,
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quickly twisting it until it was tight, then braided it before he
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repeated the motion with Tom, then Danny and finally a silent and
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slow-moving Corky. The loose end he whipped around the trunk of
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another gnarled hawthorn stump, leaving them hobbled together,
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separated only by braided strands of wire. The nooses were tight
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enough to prevent real movement, but not biting like the garrotte
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that had almost taken Billy's head off earlier in the day. The
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knife was well out of reach and even if they could have got to it,
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the old blade couldn't have cut through the metal wire. They were
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caught, like rabbits in a snare. If they moved, they'd choke and
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strangle.</p>
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<p>After more of a while, the moon finally rose over the high edge.
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The man with the twitchy eyes was facing it this time, sitting on
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the tent-side of the fire, on one of the flat stones. Billy was
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close by, like a pet, but unleashed. There was no need of a tether
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when the man had some sort of mental noose that had already roped
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him and bound him.</p>
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<p>"Almost there, Conboy," he said. "Down in the valley again."</p>
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<p>They all listened, because there was nothing else to do.</p>
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<p>"What's that? Oh yes. You can sit there smiling if you like, but
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they'll be back again. Yellow godless vermin. Not long now, but
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we'll be waiting. Nowhere else to go."</p>
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<p>He laughed again and Doug shuddered because the laugh just
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sounded mad. "Flies got you Conboy, but you still smile on through,
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because you know, don't you? You can see through."</p>
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<p>He giggled and Danny felt a cough tickle in his throat and he
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tried to breathe with his mouth wide open to prevent it. The
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stranger was gone again, gone to wherever Conboy was, and he did
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out want to attract attention. The moonlight glinted off the gun
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barrels again.</p>
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<p>"Dung fly. <em>Dung fly!</em> Conboy. I hear them again." He
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raised the gun up in an expectant, protective way, peering into the
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far on the far side of the stream. The conversation went on like
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that for a long time while the moon crossed the stretch of sky that
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hung over the valley. Every now and again, they'd hear the strange
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cry: <em>Dung fly.</em> None of them knew what it meant. Danny
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expected the man to fire into the shadows, because he knew he
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couldn't have many shells left and if they had any chance at all,
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they'd have to take it. It was just the second day since the man
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had stepped across the stream while he and Billy were fishing, but
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he knew now, with a desperate certainly, that there would not be a
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third night. He was not sure they'd even survive this one, though
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despite everything, the wire holding nooses around their necks were
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actually a good sign, but they'd be dead by the time the full moon
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climbed into the sky.</p>
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<p>The man's rumbling voice tailed off into a guttural,
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incomprehensible jabber which became a muttering and then a silence
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for a while. Doug had dozed off and Tom snuggled against Danny for
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warmth. Corky's eyes were open. Danny could see them if he squirmed
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round to look. They reflected the firelight and hardly blinked at
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all and Danny quailed at the thought that Corky might have lost his
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marbles and be unable to think, unable to act when they had to.
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Corky was the one who could think on his feet and the one who could
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lead them when they needed to be led.</p>
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<p>"You okay?" he asked very quietly, nudging his friend. Corky
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never blinked, but he did nod slowly. Finally, after what seemed
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like a long time, he turned round, taking his eyes off the man.</p>
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<p>"Don't you worry about me, Danny boy. Get some sleep if you
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can." Relief surged. Corky hadn't gone crazy. He'd looked death
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straight in the eye, the bravest thing any of them had ever seen
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and by rights he should be dead. He'd maybe just taken a while to
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come to grips with that idea.</p>
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<p>A half an hour passed and the flames were beginning to die down
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a little. Doug was snoring very softly, his big buck teeth catching
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the light. Tom was still jammed against Danny's side when the man
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got up and without ceremony, lifted Billy by the collar. Billy, who
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was almost asleep, whimpered in sudden fright, but the man ignored
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it. He hefted the gun in his other hand and crossed over to the
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tent, dragging Billy behind him through the ashes beside the
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stones. With not a word, he bent and went into the tent, pulled the
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boy behind him. The flap slipped down and closed.</p>
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<p>"What's he doing?" Tom asked. He had woken with a start, digging
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an elbow into Danny's back and the sudden flare of pain had almost
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brought a blurting yell that was only just swallowed back.</p>
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<p>Billy whimpered again. The tent was just along dark oblong
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against the deeper dark of the hollow. Only the front was visible.
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There was a knock and a vibration as something jarred against the
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upright pole. The man said something low, and Billy wailed. It was
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just a soft sound, but it was a wail. None of them had heard him
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make that sound before.</p>
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<p>"What is it?" Tom wanted to know. He was pulling against the
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wire and it gave his voice a strange, tight quality that would
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otherwise have been funny and now just sounded strangled.</p>
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<p>"Just take it off," the man said, now quite clear.</p>
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<p>"Dirty bastard," Doug hissed. "He's touching him."</p>
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<p>They couldn't know that for sure. Billy made that little
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childlike noise again, the way a kid will when it's forced to do
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something it doesn't want to do. It reminded Tom of his little
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sister Maureen. She hadn't liked the taste of the medicine and
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she'd shaken her head, moaning like that, trying to let it dribble
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out of her mouth. He jerked against the wire, suddenly tense and
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shaking.</p>
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<p>"He's touching him," Doug repeated. He's a dirty
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<em>bastard!</em>" In the light of the fire his face was twisted
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into a snarl that managed to convey disgust, anger and horror. They
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all knew that anyway, from what had happened to Mole Hopkirk, from
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the awful damage whispered in the classrooms and street corners,
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not quite fully understood by boys just on the cusp of
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comprehension.</p>
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<p>The man said something else, almost in a whisper, almost
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wheedling and Billy began to cry. It was soft enough, but it was a
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desolate sound. Doug made a little growling sound in the back of
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his throat, probably unaware that he made any noise at all. There
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was nothing any of them could do. The wire held them by their
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necks, like tethered animals.</p>
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<p>"What for?" Danny asked stupidly. He knew, albeit vaguely, about
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queers, the kind of people who wanted to touch boys and stick their
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dicks in their backsides although he didn't quite understand why
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they would want to do so.</p>
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<p>"Because he's a fuckin' dirty homeo <em>bastard</em>," Doug
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grated.</p>
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<p>Over in the tent the sounds stopped and Doug froze. Corky had
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his head cocked to the side, just listening, sitting completely
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motionless. Tom was trembling quite violently now, though the night
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wasn't cold. Danny's back was throbbing again and the skin felt
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tight and strained, as if it might suddenly split into cracks and
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fissures.</p>
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<p>"No," Billy said in a small, pleading voice, not at all like his
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robust, bragging cockiness that aggravated all of them most of the
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time.</p>
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<p>"It's all right." Soothing, strangely more frightening than
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ever.</p>
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<p>"No but..." Billy's voice rising in panic.</p>
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<p>"Shut up boy." There was a thud which could have been a fist on
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a face, or a head hitting turf. Billy grunted, much the same way
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Doug had done when he'd been knocked to the ground by the gun butt
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He cried out and the man snarled something incomprehensible. Fabric
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ripped. At first Danny thought it was the scrape of a zip
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unfastened violently, then he saw the pale hand gripping the fabric
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of the tent at the ragged edge where he'd cut the canvas to crawl
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through. The canvas ripped further and the opening yawned blackly
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before the hand was suddenly whipped away and the two edges sprung
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back together again.</p>
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<p>Billy screamed. Corky jerked forward and was pulled back,
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gasping, hands up to protect his neck.</p>
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<p>"Jesus," he gasped.</p>
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<p>The man grunted, a sound like a beast in the dark and Billy
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screamed again, high and girlish and sharp as glass, a dreadful
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sound that cut into the still air. The man grunted again, deep and
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hoarse, a guttural wordless groan of effort.</p>
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<p>"He's killing him," Tom cried, voice on the verge of cracking
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into tears.</p>
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<p>"Bastard," Doug said. He was quivering like a bowstring, his
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long arms out in front of him, hands curled into impotent, bony
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fists.</p>
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<p>Billy could cry all he wanted. He could scream for help and
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screech and howl, but nobody would hear him. Up here, this far from
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town, nothing could be heard. Here in the cleft of the valley so
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far up beyond the Barwoods, the clatter of the trains, or the
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clanking of the steam hammer down at Castlebank shipyard, or the
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screech of hot metal in the old forge, none of the noises of town
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penetrated this far. The screams of a hurt boy wouldn't carry much
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into the dark of the trees before it was smothered by the shadows
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and the leaves. From a few hundred yards down in the forest, it
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would just sound like an injured fox.</p>
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<p>The sounds he made were dreadful, harsh and frantic, cutting
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right into the others, punctuated only by the mindless sounds of
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the man in the shadow of the tent.</p>
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<p>"Stop it!" Tom whinnied. "Stop it stop it <em>stop it!</em>" he
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had his eyes tight closed and his hands up at his ears, knuckled
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right into them to cut out the awful sounds. Gentle Tom who hadn't
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wanted this adventure, who had wanted to stay at home and try to
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get by, and find some accommodation with his aching loss. He'd
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stood and put his hand on Corky's shoulder on the night everything
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was blowing apart and had somehow managed to keep the bonds from
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breaking, but he could not cope with any more of this. Tears were
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squeezing out between screwed up lids and catching the red of the
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fire and the white of the moon. For that moment, he had lost his
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fear for himself. He just wanted Billy to stop crying and to stop
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hurting.</p>
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<p>The grunting sound was coming faster and Danny could visualise
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the old boar at McFall's farm, a great heavy brute with mean eyes
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and slanted teeth that could cut through an ash sapling in one
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snap. Other farmers would put it to their sows and half the time it
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would try to hook them with its tusks, gouging thin slashes up
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their flanks. Then it would mount them quickly and it would grunt
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and snort, dribbling snot from it's snout and saliva from its oddly
|
|
grinning jaws. Danny had seen it get ready, with its long spiral
|
|
dick punching in and out, twisting like a vicious corkscrew. In his
|
|
mind's eye, he imagined the crazy man on top of Billy, just like
|
|
the pig and despite having seen the crazy stranger's penis swing
|
|
like a club, he imagined the corkscrew boring in to flesh and
|
|
blood, ripping and rending. He shivered and his own sphincter
|
|
puckered and tightened of its own volition.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Billy screamed again and the grunts and porcine snorts were
|
|
coming faster. The noise was getting louder too. Danny wanted to
|
|
shut it out and began to raise his own hands up when he felt a tug
|
|
on the wire, hard enough to pull it firmly against the skin of his
|
|
neck. He twisted round, wincing against the sudden flare between
|
|
his shoulderblades and stopped dead.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Corky had arched his neck out of the loop, pushing so far
|
|
forward that the fencing wire was biting into the skin just inside
|
|
the collar of his shirt. Danny could see the white line where the
|
|
wire was dug right in. Corky's body was twisted and his hands were
|
|
pulling at the wire to let him get his jaw down to the braided
|
|
piece that connected him to Danny. His face was screwed up into a
|
|
grimace of concentration that looked like pain and <em>was</em>
|
|
pain as far as Danny could tell. His teeth were flashing in the
|
|
moonlight.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The tug came again, a metallic thrumming sound that sent a
|
|
vibration across the wire to Danny's own neck. Danny had to twist
|
|
almost as uncomfortably to see what was going on and even then it
|
|
took several seconds for it to dawn on him.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Corky was trying to gnaw through the wire.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Danny could hear the grind of teeth on metal, a dreadful
|
|
scraping sound that was like fingernails on a blackboard, chalk on
|
|
glass. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in
|
|
unison. Corky's eyes were closed and his teeth were gritted on the
|
|
wire and he was working the metal back and forth, desperately
|
|
trying to chew his way through the tough steel. The sight of it
|
|
made Danny quail. It was as much animal as the grunting pig sounds
|
|
from inside the tent, and the awful mindless screech of pain from
|
|
Billy.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>It was like a rabbit caught in a snare, or a fox caught in a gin
|
|
trap. They could gnaw their way through their own foot, biting
|
|
through fur and skin and gristle and bone to get free, no matter
|
|
what the cost. Danny could hear the thrumming of the wire every
|
|
time Corky's teeth slipped off the thin brain and the jarring clash
|
|
of his teeth as they ground together.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If Corky was desperate enough to try to gnaw his way through the
|
|
wire, then he must be really frantic, Danny realised. The thought
|
|
of such desperation brought a sudden surge of black fear that
|
|
swamped him to numbed stillness.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Tom was shuddering now, making little jerky movements while he
|
|
cried silently. Doug was snuffling and rocking back and forth to
|
|
the extent that the wire noose would let him. Danny sat still and
|
|
thought about what Corky was doing and what the man was doing and
|
|
he wished he could close his eyes and make it all go away. A
|
|
deadly, lethargic tiredness was dragging over him, brought on by
|
|
the brutal attack of freezing terror. For a moment the sounds faded
|
|
down to hardly anything and the light of the fire diminished. All
|
|
he could feel, for a while, was the thrumming of the wire as Corky
|
|
tried to bite his way free.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>After a while all the sounds stopped. Corky slumped back,
|
|
exhausted with the effort. His neck audibly creaked and he moved
|
|
his shoulders up and down to get the cramp out of them.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Billy started to sob. The loud and frenzied pain-scream had
|
|
faded now to a shuddering, liquid moan inside the tent, a desolate,
|
|
lost sob of profound despair and hurt that was as bad as the shrill
|
|
cry of pain. The man spoke, now soothing again, that creepy, oily
|
|
sound they'd heard before the dreadful grunting. Doug was still
|
|
rocking, like an animal in a cage, needing to move.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The tent rustled. Some scuffling sounds followed and the man
|
|
came out again and went towards the fire. He was naked from the
|
|
waist up. His skin glowed red in the firelight and he looked up,
|
|
like some primitive savage, at the moon now half-way across the
|
|
black sky. Danny expected him to howl at it, but he said nothing at
|
|
all. He looked at the moon for a long while, then ambled across to
|
|
the lower rocks, opened his trousers and sent out a crescent of
|
|
piss that glittered in the moonlight. After a while he came back
|
|
towards the tent. He stopped close by and looked over at them.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Peaceful night," he said, quite solemnly, with no hint of a
|
|
grin or a mad smile. He bent down and went back into the tent.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Billy was sobbing softly. The night noises, silenced by his
|
|
screams, had started up again in the trees and on the moor where
|
|
the curlew piped its lonely notes. The night wore on and the fire
|
|
began to fade as Billy's snuffling tapered to silence. The moon
|
|
crossed further and the fire-glare died to a warm glow, dopplering
|
|
down through the levels of red while the logs settled as they
|
|
turned to ash.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>After a while Tom snuggled back into Danny's side again and Doug
|
|
crouched with his head rested in his hands, dozing lightly. Corky
|
|
arched his neck again, pulling at the wire, and started to gnaw
|
|
once more.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"You'll never get through it," Danny whispered.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"No such thing as never," Corky pulled back from the wire,
|
|
breathing heavily with the effort. His opened and closed his mouth
|
|
several times, easing the straining muscles.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Not in one night," Danny said. "You'll need a week. Can't you
|
|
reach the knife."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Corky shook his head. "No. It's too far. And we don't have a
|
|
week. We've got to get out of here. He's hurt us all, but I think
|
|
he'll get worse. He's waiting for something."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"What?"</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Christ knows," Corky said. "Full moon or something. He's a
|
|
bloody vampire or a werewolf. He's off his head."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"But you'll never get through that tonight," Danny said,
|
|
unhelpfully.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"You got a better idea?" Corky's hiss sounded hard and
|
|
angry.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Danny shook his head. Corky's eyes gleamed, almost ferociously.
|
|
"Me neither. Wish I had. I should have stabbed him today. I could
|
|
have. I could maybe have hit him with it. Stuck it in his throat if
|
|
I'd thrown it."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"You can't throw for peanuts," Danny said and a strange, panicky
|
|
little laugh tried to bubble up inside him. "You're as bad as
|
|
Phil."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Thought you were a goner today Dan, honest to God." Corky
|
|
changed the subject, giving Danny a quick and almost desperate
|
|
grin. "Scared me to death when you came off that slope. Thought you
|
|
were dead for sure. I couldn't believe it when you hit the water,
|
|
and then I couldn't believe it even more when you weren't plugged
|
|
full of lead."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Me too," Danny agreed. In his mind the world still whirled as
|
|
he fell. On his back, the pain pulsed, not hot, but steady and
|
|
warm.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"And I thought <em>I</em> was dead today. Jesus, I really
|
|
did."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Me too," Danny repeated. "Scared the shite out of me."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"I never knew it wasn't loaded. It was all happening. He was
|
|
drowning Billy and I just got angry and I couldn't stop myself and
|
|
then when he pointed the gun at me, I don't know what happened. I
|
|
just stayed angry and I wasn't going to let him know I was
|
|
scared."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Weren't you? I was really shitting myself."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Honest to god Danny, I don't remember. I was looking him in his
|
|
eye and right up the end of that gun with the other and I heard it
|
|
go off. Like <em>boom.</em> It hit eyebone and I thought it had
|
|
fired and that was it. I just fell down dead. I couldn't believe it
|
|
when I opened my eyes and saw Doug's over there. The sun was
|
|
shining through his ears and it was kind of funny looking. I must
|
|
have fainted I suppose. I never fainted before. It's not all that
|
|
bad."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>He paused for a moment, looked up at the moon, then turned to
|
|
Danny.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"It was Doug that saved me. If it wasn't for him, I'd be a
|
|
goner, or you would be. If he hadn't got that other cartridge and
|
|
slung it in the water, you'd have had both barrels, or I'd have had
|
|
it in the head. That took guts, real guts."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Danny was picturing Corky snatching up the knife to challenge
|
|
the crazy man, sweeping it in front of him as he approached, not
|
|
flinching at all. He was thinking about the look in his eye as the
|
|
gun barrel trailed up to the other one, unblinking, not giving an
|
|
inch.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Not as much as you," he said vehemently. "I hope I never see
|
|
anything like that as long as I live. I couldn't even speak, I was
|
|
so scared. Weren't you frightened?"</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Course I was, but it was really weird. I thought that was it
|
|
for me. I really did, and I went all sort of cold, like numb, you
|
|
know? Everything was really slow. His eyes were twitching away, and
|
|
I thought, 'This is it Corky' and you'll never believe it, but you
|
|
know Cuchullain. The hero? I thought about him and what he'd do,
|
|
and I thought I'm not going to let him see I'm feart."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"You really thought that?"</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"I think so. But maybe I dreamed it when I fell down. I just
|
|
remember looking into his eye and everything was frozen cold. But I
|
|
know something now."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"What's that?"</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"If I get out of here, I'm never going to be scared of anything
|
|
again in my life. Not Phil, not my old man. Nobody and nothing. If
|
|
I can beat him, I can beat <em>anything</em>."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Hells flaming bells, Corky," Danny said, feeling the mad ripple
|
|
of laughter trying to erupt again, "I never thought you were scared
|
|
of anybody anyway."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Shows you what a good actor I am, don't it?"</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>He smiled quickly, suddenly boyish for that one moment, then he
|
|
arched his neck to get his teeth to the wire. He started to gnaw
|
|
again, making that awful grinding sound. After a while he had to
|
|
lean back and take a break from the exertion.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Dan," he said, easing his jaw once more, and panting heavily.
|
|
"I didn't mean just me. Getting out of here, that is. We'll make
|
|
it, honest we will. Bet you any money. You and me, we got a
|
|
miracle, so we did. We're still alive when the both of us should be
|
|
dead, so I know for sure we'll get another chance."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>He looked over again, and any boyish grin was gone. "But it has
|
|
to be tonight, because he won't give us another chance after
|
|
this."</p>
|
|
</div>
|
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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