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.What do I do now? he thought.‘You could start by giving back what you’ve stolen,’ came the sharp reply.The bracelet! Of course, she was after the bracelet.‘All right,’ he said aloud, ‘All right, I didn’t mean to take it.I just put it on.I was just looking at it, and then I forgot.You can have it back.I haven’t done any harm.’‘You have no idea how much harm you have done!’What did she mean? What harm? If only he could see her.‘You really don’t understand, do you.’ It was more of a statement than a question, but he answered it anyway.‘No, I don’t!’ He was tired.He was confused.‘Look around.Can you see me?’‘No,’ he said, ‘but it’s dark.’‘You can’t see me, because I’m not there.’Not there? What did she mean? He was talking to her, for goodness’ sake!‘Work it out for yourself.’It made no sense unless.the bracelets – she had one, he had one – they could connect – it was like telepathy.No.Impossible! But he was wearing one of the bracelets, maybe if she was wearing the other one then she could hear what he was thinking.‘Good.good,’ she mocked, ‘you’re not completely stupid.’Suddenly he felt annoyed.He pulled the bracelet off his arm and laid it carefully at his feet.There, now he could think in peace without her listening in.He waited to see if he were right.Yes, the voice was gone.He took his time deciding what he wanted to say.It gave him some satisfaction to know that he could cut her off.It was like hanging up the phone on an annoying caller.When he was ready, he picked up the bracelet and slid it back on to his left arm.Of course, he didn’t need to say anything out loud; all he needed to do was think.He understood that now.Tell me where to meet you, and I’ll bring you back the bracelet.He thought the words very clearly.‘No!’ There was an edge of panic to her reply and he couldn’t help glancing round, it seemed so loud, as though she had shouted in his ear.It was hard to believe all this was happening inside his head.‘No,’ her voice repeated, ‘you mustn’t, mustn’t, mustn’t come near me.Do you understand?’No, he thought back angrily, I don’t understand.‘Perhaps you are stupid after all.’I am trying to help, thought Zaki.‘Well, don’t.I will decide what to do, then I will let you know.’How?But instead of her reply, another voice broke in – a deep, unearthly growl, like the grinding of boulders upon boulders at the base of a slowly moving glacier, a voice that ground out the single word, a name – ‘Rhiannon!’ – and again, ‘Rhi-a-nn-o-n!’ If the dead could speak, this, surely, was how they would sound.A voice that made Zaki’s blood freeze and every hair on his body stand on end.Then the girl’s voice came again, full of fear and urgency, ‘Take off the bracelet! Take off the bracelet! Do it now!’Zaki did not wait to ask why.He never wanted to hear that terrible voice again.He tore the bracelet from his arm.His instinct was to fling it as far from him as possible, but he held it at arm’s length until his fear and panic had subsided, and then placed it on the ground between his feet.All he could hear was his own rapid breathing and the hammering of his heart.The voices were silent.Something had used him; something that spoke out of another time and place had used his mind to reach the girl, and whatever it was, she was very much afraid of it.Gingerly, he picked up the bracelet and put it in his pocket.He waited – there were no voices.It seemed he must be wearing the bracelet, and not simply carrying it, for the girl – Rhiannon – and her tormentor to have access to his mind.Zaki glanced around, his imagination conjuring monsters out of the dark shapes of the surrounding bushes.He was frozen to the spot, terror gnawing like a rat at his intestines.The street was still empty.He prayed someone would come.After what seemed hours, a car reversed out of a nearby driveway.Its headlights swept across Zaki as it turned and briefly illuminated the street ahead of him.There was the scrunch of footsteps on gravel as a man and woman came down the driveway to exchange goodbyes with the driver of the car.The sudden light, the sound of cheerful voices and the presence of other people going about their normal lives broke the spell and gave Zaki the courage to hurry towards the safe familiarity of home.The girl knew he had the bracelet; had she also noticed that one of the logbooks was missing? The logbook! Where was it? He had it when he left the boat shed, he was certain of that.He’d carried it as far as Grandad’s.Had he left in the cottage? No – he’d picked it up again.The car.He’d left it in the car.He’d have to telephone Grandad in the morning – ask him to look after the ‘school project’ and hope he didn’t take a closer look at it.gChapter 10Michael was quiet at breakfast and the silence continued during the walk to school.The air outside was cold and a pale sun shone through a fine white mist.This was not the heavy, wet sea fog that rolled up the estuary and over the town like a slow-motion wave in summer, fog with droplets so big you could see them blowing past your face; this was hazy autumn mist that smelt of wood smoke and damp leaves.With the chill from the air, a gentle sadness crept through Zaki’s body, and his muscles tightened, knowing that summer was over.Even the comforting warmth of the sun that reached down to him through the mist couldn’t banish the unhappy realisation that the outdoor life of the warmer months would soon be replaced by the indoor activities of winter.He envied his grandad whose link to the sea remained unbroken throughout the year; who woke every morning to a view of the estuary, walked down the steep steps, across the narrow lane and into his boat shed to spend every day building and repairing boats.* * *Zaki looked up at his brother walking beside him.Michael’s guitar was slung over his right shoulder and one strap of his rucksack over his left.‘You’ve brought your guitar,’ said Zaki, knowing he was stating the obvious but wanting, somehow, to get his brother talking.‘Yeah,’ said Michael.‘Are you rehearsing?’‘Yeah,’ said Michael.‘Got any gigs?’‘Yeah.’They walked on in silence.‘Where are you going to play? What’s the gig, I mean? asked Zaki in a last attempt to get his brother to open up.‘Hallowe’en,’ said Michael.‘At the school party?’‘Yeah,’ said Michael.‘Brilliant!’Michael added nothing further and Zaki couldn’t understand why his brother seemed so morose
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Tematy
IndexCidney Swanson [Saving Mars Saving Mars (epub)
Christine Wood [Life Plan 01] A Life Plan Without You (epub)
Cheryl McIntyre [Infinitely Infinitely (epub)
Clair Delaney [Coral 01] Coral (epub)
Christine Cody [Bloodlands 01 Bloodlands (epub)
Christina Ross [Unleash Me, A Unleash Me, Vol 3 (epub)
Christine Flynn [The Hunt for Once Upon a Christmas Eve (epub
Christian Fletcher [The Left Left on the Brink (epub)
Christopher G Nuttall [Royal The Royal Sorceress (epub)
Kate Harrison Plaza Dusz (2)