Part 4 (2/2)

'I can't.'

'You're different from the rest. You haven't gone crazy like them.'

'Maybea bettera uh, if I had.' Wild l.u.s.ts blazed through her. A rat scampered up the banking. Catch it! Don't bother killing it first. Devour it alivea 'Start drinking. If you don't it'll be too late. You lose self-control.'

'No. I'm not drinking out of a filthy puddle!'

'Your choice.' He backed away along the path, his hands held out at either side. 'Don't say I never tried to save you.'

The instant her will power collapsed she didn't so much get down on to her knees as attack the puddle. She hurled herself at it and began drinking. When the palms of her hands couldn't contain enough water she buried her face in it and sucked it straight into her mouth. What she thought would have been cold and bitter turned out to be warm and satisfying. As long as she drank, that is. The moment she stopped the hunger pangs slammed through her with so much force she gasped. So she relentlessly gulped down the water. This came from the estuary; it wasn't freshwater but partly saline. It was that saltiness that made the flavour so irresistible. The minerals in that blend of river and ocean had a pleasing tang. In her mind's eye she saw that solution of salt.w.a.ter spread through her veins to damp down those fires of rapacious hunger.

Carter crouched beside her. 'It's working, isn't it?' Quickly, he scooped handfuls of water to his own mouth. 'Every few hours you'll need to come back here and drink.'

Panting from the exertion of devouring pint after pint of water, she gasped, 'Why this stuff? Why does it work when eating mud doesn't?'

'If you fill your belly with water it tricks the mind into believing you've eaten. Mud only makes you sick.'

April sucked each finger in turn where the water had soaked them. 'It's the salt.' Her eyes fixed on those pools of estuary water left by the tide. 'If you drink straight from the river it doesn't have the same effect, does it?'

'No. Always stick with the tidal pools.'

'The liquid begins to evaporate leaving the salt behind. These are more intensely salinea' She paused. 'But why do we have a craving for salt?'

'We crave something that contains salt,' he told her.

'What's that?'

'It'll come to you.' As he stood up he continued licking his fingers. 'Come on.'

'Where now?'

'I want to show you something.'

'A boat would be nicea and food.'

'I've got neither. We're marooned here.'

'Mr and Mrs Robinson Crusoe.'

'Hey, you made a joke.' He smiled revealing the gold-tipped teeth. 'That proves you must be feeling better, yeah?'

'I'm wandering round a desert island in a torn dress, wearing one sandal; I've eaten mud and watched a man torn to pieces. I feel downright tickety-boo.'

He stopped and looked her in the eye. 'In my book that's feeling better. You're a million times better than those animals back there on the beach. They'll be sat chewing on that guy's face. Not that it'll help them. By morning they'll have gone mad with hunger and thrown themselves back into the river.'

'Why not show them your magic cure?'

'The tidal pools? They wouldn't listen. They've all disintegrated up here.' He tapped his head. 'I call them Berserkers. We're the only ones who are still functioning mentally.'

She became wary. 'So there'll just be me and you on the island?'

'Not quite. I'll introduce you to the rest of our family.'

'Family? I've no plans to stay here.'

'Okay.' He shrugged. 'But how are you going to leave?'

Once more April Connor found herself following this man, Carter Vaughn, through the clumps of willows.

'Best make it quick,' he told her. 'The sun will be rising soon.'

'Thank G.o.d. This has to be the longest night of my life.'

'Trust me, you won't like suns.h.i.+ne anymore.'

'Why?'

'Feel your hair,' Carter said.

'Uh. Yuk.'

'Sticky, isn't it?'

'It feelsa disgusting. I must have got something on it. Oil or tar.'

He shook his head. 'Mine's sticky too. We all have sticky hair.'

'I'll wash it in the river.'

'It won't do any good. It stays sticky, like you've rubbed syrup into it.'

'Why?'

'Because we've changed. I'm not the same Carter Vaughn anymore. You're not the same April Connor.'

'Oh, I'll be me again, once I get away from this island.'

'Okay, just you wait and see. Then you'll believe me.'

Carter made his way up a slight incline into a clump of thick bushes; he was hurrying as if time was running out.

April called after him, 'So, what's all this about sticky hair and not liking sunlight anymore? What's it all mean?'

He didn't look back. 'Hurry up. Before it starts to get light.'

So, what could she do? The man knew enough to stop her going crazy when the hunger pangs started. Maybe he had other information that would be useful. She plunged into the bushes after him. A bird screeched at being disturbed. Dark shapes flitted by her feet as rats fleda or were they circling behind her, ready to sink their incisors into her bare heels?

<script>