“Oh. Lovely. Should I be worried that you’re an expert on instruments of torture?”
“No. I know a little.”
“How little?”
“There was something called the heretic’s fork used during the Spanish Inquisition. It was a double-ended two-pronged fork held by a leather strap around the victim’s neck. One end ofthe fork went under the chin. The other against the breastbone. No talking or sleeping or you’d impale yourself. Then there’s the knee splitter…”
“Er…”
Tal registered that he’d said too much. “You started it.”
“Yes, but you picked it up and ran with it.”
“Sorry.”
They were both battling the deep snow. If the lights weren’t a safe haven, they’d be in trouble. Another hundred metres and even the chatterbox at his side had stopped talking. They were both breathing heavily. Tal concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and that wasn’t easy when his feet had turned into blocks of ice, and then there was that strange tightness in his skull that didn’t seem to be lessening. It worried him. Maybe he’d been more badly hurt than he’d thought.
The snow was still falling, thick flakes tumbling from the sky. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen snowfall like this in the UK. They were completely plastered from head to foot, walking snowmen. Without Corey’s hat, Tal would have been even colder. It kept his ears warm. But his trousers below his coat were wet through. So was his coat. Corey was worse off than him in trainers and jeans. Wet denim was uncomfortable and would be making him feel colder. His jacket was fashionable rather than practical.
They should have stayed next to the car.That was the advice always given, wasn’t it? Stay with your vehicle.Oh God, I’m so tired and I hurt. I can’t…
Tal’s feet stopped moving. “I just need to rest for a moment.”
“When we get there. No stopping.”
“One minute.”
“No,” Corey snapped. “Not even ten seconds. You can’t stop. It’ll be harder to get going again. You’ll sit down, then lie down,you might take your clothes off and there are no sheep around, and I’m not strong enough to drag you anywhere now. Keep walking.”
Corey was bossier than Tal had thought he would be, though he was right. The temptation to sit down was strong, but if he did, he might not get up again. His concerns about their survival were mounting. What if these lights they were heading for were just a security feature around a battlefield monument or an unoccupied industrial site surrounded by a high fence and barbed wire? What if there was nowhere to shelter?
He kept putting one foot in front of the other.
“Should we have stayed with the vehicles?” Corey asked. “Stayed warm by yours then sat in the remains of my car once yours had stopped burning? Found another way to cover the windscreen? Cuddled up to each other? Shared body heat? I could have gone looking for a sheep if you weren’t warm enough.”
Tal was too tired to answer.
“Wouldn’t have kept us safe from a Yeti, though,” Corey mumbled.
Did he really say that? “Yeti?”
“I used to have bad dreams about them when I was a kid. If it snowed, even a little bit, I panicked.”
“I’ll protect you if we see a Yeti.”
“Ooh. Now I almost hope we see one so I can watch you in action.”
Tal chuckled.
“I asked you before, but will your friends worry if you don’t turn up tonight? Might they call the police if they can’t get hold of you? Maybe come looking for you?”
“Where?”
“That’s true.”
“They’re due to arrive at Cowdley after me.” Tal wished he wasn’t lying.
“Right. So we need to keep going. Just imagine a hot shower and a warm bed. Well, maybe not a shower if we see the wordBatesanywhere. But somewhere warm. Whoever the light belongs to should have a phone signal so we can call the police, right?”
