Part 25 (2/2)

'I didn't mean it,' he gasped between sobs. 'I was going to go for help but I couldn't. The cow was in the road, heaving about the place. The stupid cow!'

Tess rested a hand on Martin's shoulder, frustrated by her helplessness in the face of his pain.

'I didn't mean to kill him, Tess.'

'You didn't kill him. It was an accident.'

'I did. I did kill him. I wished he was dead and he died. I killed him.'

He broke down again and Tess fell silent, knowing that words were useless.

Jeff Maloney was glued to the spot, torn between concern for the boy's distress and the urgent desire to search for his bird.

'Has there been some sort of an accident?' he said to Tess, quietly. She shook her head.

As Jeff lingered, still unsure what to do, two of his colleagues from the zoo ran up. They had been following the light of his torch for some time. Their arrival solved his dilemma.

'The bird is around here somewhere,' he said. 'I saw it come down. Will you keep on searching?' He nodded towards Martin and Tess. 'I'm not sure what's going on here, but I want to get this lot home.'

The others agreed and Jeff approached the huddled figures on the ground. His voice was friendly and rea.s.suring.

'You're all right now. Tell me where you live and I'll drive you home. My car's parked on the road just back there.'

As Jeff spoke, Martin became silent and tense beneath Tess's hand. It was one thing to reveal his pain to her, but quite another to be caught, vulnerable, in front of a stranger. Before Tess knew what was happening he was on his feet.

'Leave me alone,' he yelled at Jeff. Then he raced away between the trees.

Tess set off in pursuit. There was barely light to see by, but she could just make out Martin's slight figure weaving through the tree trunks. He was fast, but as Tess ran after him she knew that she was, too. It was as though the resolution of that dreadful conflict had made energy available to her that she hadn't known she possessed. And every ounce of it had to be used in making sure she didn't lose her friend in the darkness. Because he was a friend, now. She had held her own ground, pulled the opposing forces together instead of allowing them to pull her apart, and in doing so she had not only made herself whole, but the others as well. Kevin, she knew, could look after himself, but she wasn't so sure about Martin; not now that his defences were down and he was exposed to all that old pain. He had closed off his feelings when his father was killed, safe within the vampire's cold sh.e.l.l. But now he would have to experience all that shock and fear and sorrow as though the accident had just happened. He was in danger, not only from the stress itself but from the possibility of reverting to the familiar protection of the vampire existence. It was vital that Tess should stay with him.

Ahead of her, he dodged left and right around a tree stump, heading for open ground. With renewed confidence, Tess made straight for the stump, certain that she could jump it and gain ground. She timed her run perfectly and jumped well clear of the decaying wood, but as she landed, her feet went from under her and she came down hard, flat on her back.

The wind was knocked right out of her and for a few moments she found herself gazing at the blank face of the starless sky, wondering if her end had come. Then, just as it seemed she could hold on no longer, her chest relaxed and she pulled in a long, cool breath.

'Are you all right?' It was Kevin, leaning over her, his face filled with concern. He must have been right behind her. She tried to smile but there were more urgent priorities and for another minute she had to gasp for air, until her breath caught up with itself.

Kevin looked out across the park, but it was already too late. By the time Tess recovered sufficiently to sit up, Martin was long gone into the darkness.

'I landed on something,' said Tess, still panting. 'It slid along the ground and I skidded.'

Kevin kicked around in the gra.s.s, then bent and picked something up: a flat disc the size of a dinner plate. Tess reached out and took it from him.

'My frisbee!' she said. 'My useless, flaming frisbee.'

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

IT WAS TEN PAST eleven, according to Tess's wrist.w.a.tch, and the first rain was just starting to dampen the breeze. Kevin reached out a hand and helped Tess to her feet. It was the first chance she'd had to get a good look at him and she found herself grinning with delight.

'You haven't changed a bit,' she said, tugging at the lapel of his faded khaki jacket.

'Not on the outside, maybe,' he said, tossing back his long, wispy fringe with a familiar shake of the head. 'But I've changed an awful lot on the inside.'

He looked around him and, from the expression of wonderment on his face, he might have been standing at the foot of the Himalayas. 'I never thought it could happen. I wanted it to ... you've no idea ... but I never dreamt it could.'

'It probably wouldn't if it hadn't been for Martin.'

'I suppose so. There had to be an opposite. But if it hadn't been for you ...'

Tess shuddered, remembering more than she wanted to about the battle that had been waged inside her mind. Whatever else might happen to her in life, she didn't want to go through that again.

'We shouldn't stand around, though,' she said. 'It mightn't be over yet.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's Martin's fifteenth birthday tomorrow. There's no guaranteeing that he'll stay the way he is now. It might all be too much for him; he might decide to become a vampire in spite of everything that's happened. And if he does ...'

'If he does, what?'

'Come on. I'll tell you as we go.'

Tess looked around to get her bearings, then they set off, walking as fast as they could in the direction of Phibsboro. Here and there, torches flashed among the trees and desolate voices drifted on the wind as the zoo staff continued to hunt for the phoenix.

'Tough on them,' said Tess, but Kevin just laughed until he choked. By the time he had recovered his composure they had reached the city streets and, as they walked along, Tess told the whole story and explained about the vampire's method of spreading its influence.

'So you see,' she concluded, 'if he does become a vampire, then I will, too, when I'm dead.'

'You could still opt for the phoenix.'

'I might, if it came with recommendations. But you don't seem to have any regrets about being human again.'

'No, I don't,' said Kevin. 'The phoenix was glorious. I don't have to tell you-you know how it feels. But it was too ... I don't know how to describe it. Too perfect, or too high and mighty or something. Too lonely.'

There was an awkward silence as they both became aware of the personal meaning in his words. Kevin coloured with embarra.s.sment, but made no attempt to retract what he had said. They had missed each other more than either of them cared to admit, yet neither was prepared to reveal their fondness. In the end, Kevin changed the subject.

'So, if he does go vampire, we'll only have one option, won't we?'

That word 'we' was one of the finest sounds that Tess had ever heard. She realised how lonely she, too, had been over the past months.

'What's that?' she said.

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