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‘Have you got anything that would fit in my bag?’
‘Hmm.’ Rodeo Dave looked around and tapped his chin. ‘What about this one?’
He slid a book that was almost perfectly cubical from an upper shelf and handed it to Jack. The letters on the cover had faded to illegibility, but when he opened it, Jack saw the usual list of words and definitions in tiny print.
‘I think that’ll do the trick,’ he said. ‘Right, Jaide?’
‘Perfect. How much is it?’
‘For you? Nothing. That book’s been sitting there as long as the shop. You’re doing me a favour taking it off my hands. I can use the space.’
‘Really? Thanks.’
‘Don’t mention it. Would you like to join me for lunch? I was just about to eat.’
‘Well, we should really –’
‘That would be great,’ said Jack, whose stomach would brook no further delay. ‘We have sandwiches.’
‘So do I! Pull up a chair and I’ll get you a drink. I presume you like lemonade?’
The three of them gathered round the counter and unwrapped their lunches. Susan had packed for the twins before she left, stocking their lunch boxes with extra treats that Grandma X never included. Jack ate the treats first before moving on to his more serious sandwich. Rodeo Dave had a round, brown roll that stank of pickles, which he ate in small measured bites in order to keep the crumbs out of his moustache.
‘I was talking to your grandmother the other day,’ he said. ‘She tells me you’re settling in fine now, after a bit of a rough start.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Jaide.
Surely Grandma X wouldn’t have told him about The Evil?
‘The storm, school being closed – all that. Worse even than the winter of ’72, and that’s saying something. Quite a welcome Portland has given you.’ He winked and leaned in closer. ‘And now there’s all this talk of the monster. You must think us completely cracked.’
‘Well,’ said Jack, ‘we did just bump into the postwoman . . .’
‘Did you now?’ Rodeo Dave rocked back in his chair and laughed. ‘Well, don’t let our Hilma bother you. That’s Hilma von Klippert, if you please. She’s been delivering the post as long as that dictionary’s been on my shelf and she’s seen a thing or two, without a doubt.’
‘She said she knew Dad.’
‘She did. They were even an item once,’ he said, then screwed up an eye and tilted his head to one side. ‘Or was that Sal Govey? I forget now.’
Jaide couldn’t imagine their father ever being interested in anyone like Hilma von Klippert – or vice versa.
‘Did her sister really see the monster?’ Jaide asked.
‘What do you think?’
She shook her head.
‘Right. And no one else around here seems to have seen it either. If it’s not their sister, it’s their father or their best friend or a cousin.’ He grinned, exposing yellow-tinged teeth. ‘I have a friend in Camfferman Crescent who says it’s a giant snake, a boa constrictor that escaped from the Rourke Estate menagerie, which has grown long and fat on missing pets and sheep. He’s never seen it himself. He just knows someone who swears she did, and barely escaped with her life. See what I mean?’
‘Couldn’t there be something to it though?’ asked Jaide. ‘If everyone says the same thing, maybe there’s a little bit of truth behind it.’
‘Where there’s smoke there’s fire?’ Rodeo Dave shrugged. ‘If that’s the case, why does the monster always look different? Maybe it’s the other way round.’
‘Where there’s fire there’s smoke?’ Jack scratched his head. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Beats me, but it’s worth thinking about.’ Rodeo Dave folded up the greaseproof paper his sandwich had been wrapped in and wiped the crumbs off his desk. ‘I suppose I’d better be getting back to work . . .’
Jaide looked around her. The shop was as empty as it had been when they walked in.
‘Give Kleo a pat for us,’ said Jack, who still felt bad about making her look small in the eyes of the other cats.
‘I will, whenever she turns up.’
They hurried back to school, the dictionary a dead weight in Jaide’s backpack. The end-of-lunch tune sounded just as they propped their bikes up in the rack and fastened the locks. Tara was waiting for them at their table.
‘Where did you go?’ she asked. ‘It’s really boring here without you.’
Jack explained about going home for lunch while Jaide got stuck into deciphering the article.
‘It must be great living so close to school,’ Tara said, propping her chin on one hand and sighing dramatically. ‘You can be home in no time at all. I have to wait around for Dad, and then drive all the way to Scarborough. Or get the train, if it’s running.’
Jack felt uncomfortable, sensing that she was fishing for an invitation. That would be impossible, he knew, until the business with the monster was sorted out. Not to mention her father.
‘It’s pretty bad actually,’ he said. ‘Every time we go anywhere, we pass the school. It’s like it’s following us.’
‘Now that would be weird.’ Tara smiled. ‘Ringing its prayer bells and playing its crazy tunes . . .’
Tara finished the portrait of Rennie and together they worked on the background, before finally all the pictures were gathered up by Mr Carver and put in an envelope.
‘I’ll make sure her family gets these later,’ he said with one hand on his heart. ‘They’ll be thrilled.’
‘She doesn’t have any family,’ Miralda said. ‘Don’t you know that? She was an only child and her ex-husband left ages ago. That’s why her story was so tragic apparently.’
‘Her parents then –’
‘Dead for years.’
‘Oh.’
‘What a waste of time!’ groaned Kyle. ‘I used my best black marker too.’
‘Well, it’s the thought that counts,’ said Mr Carver, rather unconvincingly. ‘And it doesn’t hurt for you to be rem
inded that everyone is important, even if they live alone –’
‘And no one knows anything about them.’ Miralda smirked.
‘I think it’s sad,’ said Tara. ‘And you should too. I can’t think of anything worse than being forgotten.’
Every head turned to face her.
‘What’s your name, again?’ asked Kyle.
‘Har har.’ Tara wasn’t fazed at all. ‘Remind me not to forget your amazing sense of humour.’
‘Students, students.’ Mr Carver raised his hands for calm. ‘Let’s observe a minute’s silence for Rennie, and then we’ll get on with your education.’
‘Do we have to?’ asked Kyle.
‘What’s one minute out of your life, Kyle? You’ll have plenty left over.’
‘I meant getting on with my education.’
Mr Carver looked weary, but he did eventually manage to calm the class down. A fragile silence fell, in which Jack clearly heard cars driving by down Main Street, the whoosh of a fishing boat’s bilge pump and the barking of a distant dog. He thought about Rennie and wondered what happened to someone who died while possessed by The Evil. Were they themselves at the end, or were they so completely absorbed that they never knew what happened? Rennie had gone back to herself at least once; he had seen her eyes change back to normal when Jaide had whacked her over the head with a silver tray. Could she have gone permanently back to normal if she hadn’t fallen off the lighthouse and drowned?
He snuck a quick glance at his watch. Surely it had been a minute already. It felt like more than five . . .
‘Got it!’
The sudden cry made the entire classroom jump.
‘Jaide – shhhh!’
She looked up from the dictionary with innocent alarm. She’d been so engrossed in the puzzle of the Compendium article that she hadn’t noticed how quiet it had become.
‘Sorry, Mr Carver. What are we doing?’
‘That’s Heath, and . . . oh, never mind. The moment has passed. Free drawing for an hour, children. Try creating something your parents would like to see, in appreciation for everything they’ve done for you. Remember, they won’t be here forever.’
