Author: Colin Garrow
Date: 2017-04-21 00:00:00+00:00
Description: A murder in Nightmare Alley. A missing boy. A demon on the loose. On the hunt for the elusive Jimmy Brick, 12-year-old Jeff and his pal Suzi find more than they bargained for at Harry McSpawn's pool hall. But it's a mysterious business card that gets Jeff wondering what it is that Jimmy has got himself into. Haunted by a series of nightmares, Jeff sets out to discover exactly what's going on in Skeleton Cove, and why the long-dead Nathaniel Darke is still exerting his malevolent influence over the town. THE DEMON OF DEVILGATE DRIVE is book #1 in this scary adventure series. If you like Goosebu
Publisher: Createspace

The Demon of Devilgate Drive

By Colin Garrow

Distributed by Amazon

Copyright 2017 Colin Garrow

Amazon Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

for Calum

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

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One

Jimmy Brick wasn't like other kids.

For a start, he didn't go to school, or at least, not often enough to be considered a regular attendee. Our English teacher used to say Jimmy Brick was a very bad egg (whatever that meant), and would come to no good. On the days Jimmy didn't turn up for school, Mr Taylor would sigh heavily, tuck the register under one arm and trudge off to the headmaster's office to report yet another absent child.

Don't get me wrong - most of the kids who should've been there, were there, it was only Jimmy who went missing on a regular basis. But let's be honest - he wasn't really missing. Mr Taylor (and everyone else for that matter), knew exactly where Jimmy Brick would be - down at Harry McSpawn's pool hall on Nightmare Alley.

Okay, I know what you're thinking - there isn't really a street called Nightmare Alley. But actually, there is. And that's one of the funny things about this town - nothing's the way you expect it to be, and it isn't only the street names that're weird. But I guess you'll realise that before much longer.

Normally when Mr Taylor gets back from reporting Jimmy for being absent, he'll launch into some story about the perils of wilful children. And there'll always be one of those morals at the end of it, intended to inspire in us the errors of rebellious attitudes - like if you're stupid enough to take a long walk off a short pier, you'll get wet, and so on.

But on this particular day, the one I'm telling you about, it was different.

I was sitting next to Idle Billy as usual, just in front of Fat Bob and Davey Spitt, and as we were in the middle of double-geometry, I was bored before the lesson even started. Having already used up half an hour drawing a tolerable sketch of Harriet Slackbottom in the back of my exercise book, I'd moved on to passing notes across the aisle to Suzi Q. Suzi winked at me and slipped the latest missive under her jotter.

Me and her passed notes to each other all the time and I'm sure Mr Taylor knew about it, but usually he didn't take any notice. And it wasn't as if our notes said anything bad, like 'show us your knickers' or anything like that. In this case, I was reminding Suzi about coming over to mine for tea. Which I didn't really need to do, cos she only lives two minutes down the road from me and we nearly always walk home together.

So I was a bit surprised when Mr Taylor blew a total fuse.

'Jefferson Starship!' he bellowed. 'What in Damnation's Almighty Universe are you up to now?'

I bit my lip. Mr Taylor only called me Jefferson Starship when he was really mad about something.

'Nothin sir.'

He glared at me and I tried to stare at the bridge of his nose the way Dad had told me to do, so it would seem like I was gazing steadily into his eyes. But then I got distracted by the glare from his bald head and before I knew it, my eyes were all over the place, a circumstance that was bound to make me look suspicious.

In three long strides, he was standing over me, hand outstretched. 'Give.'

I looked up at him, all innocence. 'What, Sir?'

He blew out his cheeks and made that Baaaaah sound he always does when he's annoyed. He glared down at me, then swivelling his head, turned to Suzi.

'Miss Charlton?'

I'd been giving Suzi lessons in the art of deception, instructing her on how to appear innocent of all charges, but Suzi hadn't quite got the hang of it yet and consequently her pale blue eyes flicked straight to the exercise book on the desk in front of her.

Taylor grabbed the book and extracted my note. 'Ah. The guilty are undone. Mwah, hah hah.' (He always said Mwah, hah hah when he thought he'd got the upper hand). Then turning back to me, he crooked a finger in a come-hither motion.

I followed him out into the corridor amid muttered jeers of You're dead! and Jeffy's a gonner.

Closing the classroom door, Mr Taylor let out one of his longest sighs ever. I could smell coffee on his breath and a hint of the peppermints he'd sucked after having a crafty cigarette outside the school gates.

Keeping his gaze on me, he unfolded the note then lowered his eyes for a second to read it.

'Hmm. Hardly a literary masterpiece, Mr Starkey.'

I shrugged.

He sniffed and handed the note back to me. 'Sorry about the subterfuge, Jeff, but I need you to do something for me.'

I glanced at the door and caught sight of Fat Bob's grinning visage through one of the lower panes. When I looked back, there was a hint of desperation in my teacher's face I hadn't seen before.

Inwardly, I groaned. 'Again?'

'Headmaster's going mental. I don't know what else to do.' He inclined his head to one side in a way that reminded me of a puppy hoping for a treat. 'He's acting like it's all my fault. I mean, how can it be my fault - I'm only a sodding teacher?'

'I'll talk to Jimmy if you like,' I said, 'but it won't make any difference.' I shook my head. 'It'd take somethin bigger than both of us to get him back into school.'

He laid a hand on my shoulder. 'Thanks Jeff, and...' Lowering his voice, he leaned forward. 'And don't tell your mother, eh?'

After school, I made a dash for the gates. Suzi was already there, tapping her foot in mock annoyance.

'Where were you?' she said. 'I've been here half an hour.'

'I've told you a million times, stop exaggerating.'

She laughed, even though she'd heard it on four hundred and twenty previous occasions.

As usual, she slipped her hand in mine and as usual, I shook it off until we were out of sight of the gates and the hordes of kids pouring out behind us. We turned left and headed down the lane that led to the beach, knowing almost everyone else would be going in the opposite direction.

Living on this side of town made it easier to avoid the others and their snidey comments. Besides, walking home was one of the few times me and Suzi got the chance to have a proper chat without grown-ups being around. The only problem was it meant walking past Haggerty's Park, and at this time of year when the nights were drawing in, the place gave me the jitters.

'So what was all that about?'

'I'm sure you can guess,' I said, taking her hand.

'Jimmy Brick?'

I glanced behind to check we were alone. 'I said I'd speak to him.'

'Why? Taylor should do it. He's the teacher.'

'I know, but it's not his fault - it's that new head. Cracking the whip, by the sounds of it.'

'Serves him right - shouldn't be a teacher if he can't control the class. And that new bloke...' She blew a raspberry. 'Grumpy git told me off the other day for not wearing a regulation head band. Tch.'

I wasn't going to argue with her - when Suzi got on her high horse about something, it was best to shut up. We walked in silence for a while then she said, 'So are we going to see Jimmy, then?'

I made a face. 'Nah. We've got the whole weekend to do that. And anyway, Give us A Quizzing Clue's on tonight. We can watch it after tea.'

Suzi stopped walking and gave me one of those looks. The ones that confirm I've been busted.

'Aw come on, Suzi,' I said, waving my hands around as if that would somehow make a difference. 'We'll be better off going tomorrow. When it's light.'

She nodded sagely. 'I know what this is about - you don't want to walk through Haggerty's Park in the dark.' She grinned in that sly way she has. 'Not scared, are you?'

'Course not, but you know what happened last time?'

She stared hard at me for a long moment, her eyes fixed on mine. 'It wasn't me that ran away.'

'Well, no, but...'

'But nothing, if we cut through the Park it'll only take ten minutes to get to Jimmy's and we can be back at yours in time for tea. So what's the problem?'

She was right about it being me who ran away last time, but that was only because of the thing at the edge of the cemetery - the thing I'd imagined was floating above the ground and silently gliding towards us (as any ghost worth its salt would be bound to do). I'd like to think that deep down I'd known it was an old pair of overalls hanging from a tree. But it was dark.

'You were scared as well,' I said, trying to save face.

'You're flippin' right I was - because you left me standin' there in the middle of the cemetery like an idiot. Anyway, that's not the point.'

Five minutes later, we'd clambered up the steep incline and over the wall on the east side of Haggerty's Park. I'd always thought it strange the cemetery was so high up - if Skeleton Cove had been a mining town, this would have been the slag heap, rising above the community like a forlorn reminder of its past. I preferred to think of it as the ruins of a some sort of medieval fortress, where pagan chieftains carried out ancient rites.

Normally, we'd be able to see all the way down to the beach from up here, but even though it wasn't totally dark yet, there was a gloom hanging over the place that made me feel uneasy. Just like in those old horror films, a low mist slithered over the ground as we dropped down onto the grass. I took a deep breath and told myself there was nothing to be scared of - that I was only nervous at the thought of all the dead folk poking their bony fingers through the earth and reaching up towards us, ready to drag our young bodies down into the –.

'Jeff!'

I jumped at the sound of her voice, then gave her a playful punch. 'Don't do that - I nearly filled my pants.'

Suzi giggled and took off across the grass towards the central path that ran between the two main sections of gravestones.

We reached the other side without incident and clambered over the wall.

'There you are - what did I tell you?' said Suzi.

'Whatever,' I said, and crossed over Stranger's Lane to the junction of Lonely Walk Road. 'Come on then, if you're coming.'

Jimmy Brick lived halfway along in a house that stood by itself. On this side of the street, all the houses had long front gardens, whereas the ones on the other side were bounded by high walls and wooden gates. Jimmy used to say that was because the posh people over there didn't want the scroungers from over here looking into their living room windows and watching them eat their posh food.

I stopped at number 15 and walked up the overgrown path, kicking aside the occasional tree branch or dustbin lid. Suzi stayed behind me while I banged on the door.

The woman who answered looked a bit peculiar, then I realised it was Mrs Brick with her hair in curlers and a cucumber face-mask on. She looked at us, sniffed and pulled her bathrobe around herself. 'Yeh? Whatcha want?'

'Is Jimmy in?' I said.

She sniffed again and shook her head. 'Course not, he's at school.' She jerked her head at Suzi. 'Where you two should be an'all.'

I glanced back at Suzi and pulled a face, then assuming my bog-standard 'serious' look, I said, 'School's over Mrs Brick. Didn't you know?'

Her mouth dropped open and the cigarette perched on her bottom lip dropped to the ground. She muttered something I couldn't hear, then shrugged. 'Be on his way home then, won't he?'

'I expect so.'

'Bleedin better be, or he'll get what's comin to him and that's a fact.'

I could tell from the way Suzi was digging her fingernails into my hand that she was irritated. Any minute now, she'd come out with some snarky comment we'd both regret. I squeezed her hand and hoped she'd get the message.

The woman was still staring at me. She raised an eyebrow. 'That it?'

I nodded and she slammed the door shut.

'Cripes,' whispered Suzi, 'what a cow! Looks like her face fell off and somebody stuck it back on with sellotape.'

Giving her a push, I started back up the path. 'Good thing this is Friday, then.'

'Why?' she asked when we were back on the pavement. 'What happens on a Friday?'

'She puts her teeth back in.'

Suzi thumped me. 'So what now?'

I looked at my watch. 'Haven't time to go anywhere else. We'll have to look for him tomorrow.'

I ignored my friend's pained expression and turned towards home, as the rain began to fall.

Give us a Quizzing Clue had just started as me and Suzi slid our dirty plates into the kitchen sink.

'Thanks Mrs Starkey, that was fab.'

My mum patted Suzi's arm. 'You're welcome, love. Now why don't you go and watch your programme while Jeff does the washing up for me?'

'You what?' I said, astonished.

She waved the tea towel at me and winked. 'Go on, then. But mind I'll expect your bedroom tidied up this weekend.'

The jaunty theme music was fading away as we flopped down onto the sofa in the living room. On any other day, while the host - Frank Davidson - introduced the contestants, we'd do the voices and come up with silly names and occupations for them.

'The name's Arnold Flange,' I said in a Yorkshire accent. 'An this is me wife, Petticoat Flange.'

I laughed, but Suzi didn't seem to be listening. She was staring out of the window, chewing her bottom lip the way she always did when she was thinking.

'Flange,' I said again. 'Arnold Flange.'

'You think he's still out there?'

I turned to follow her gaze, but it was proper dark now and we couldn't see a thing. 'I dunno. Who?'

'Jimmy, of course.'

'Nah. Be down at the pool hall, I expect.'

She shook her head. 'It shuts at six.'

I glanced at the telly. Frank had finished his bit of banter and was getting ready to ask the first question. 'Then he'll be away home, won't he.'

She rolled her eyes. 'You've seen his mother - if that was your house would you be going home tonight?'

I suppressed a sigh and shuffled round to face the TV again. 'Come on, look, they're starting.' I could feel Suzi's eyes boring into me. Gazing straight ahead, I tried to concentrate on the quiz. I held out as long as I could, but knew it would only be a matter of time, so finally, I gave in. 'What d'you want to do?'

'We'll have to go down there. To Nightmare Alley.'

Two

'Keep to the main road, mind,' warned Mum as we let ourselves out the front door. It was sensible advice, especially on a Friday night, although as Suzi's house was just up the next road and round the corner, we could hardly get lost. In any case, me and Suzi weren't going to her house - we had things to do and sticking to the road wasn't one of them.

It was pitch black outside. This was one of the few occasions I'd have been happy to see a full moon, but if there'd been one that night, it was doing a great job of hiding behind the clouds.

At the end of my street, we turned right and headed for the line of shops that ran alongside the ruins of Fat Moe's, which had burned down the previous winter. At this time of night there'd only be a couple of places open. The welcoming lights of The Cod Piece and Tuck Inn made me feel a little less nervous about where we were going. Still, the neon signs wouldn't light our way for long and soon we were round the corner and into Crucifixion Close.

From here we had two choices - going left led to Jimmy's house; right would take us to Nightmare Alley. I looked at Suzi. 'Which way?'

'I really don't think he'll be at home, but I suppose we should check, just in case.'

That's what I wanted to hear, even though I had to agree it was unlikely Jimmy would have gone home - at least not while that fierce mother of his was up and about.

Suzi grabbed my hand, squeezing my fingers rather more eagerly than I'd have liked. I noticed a couple of the streetlights were out, making the Close a lot darker than usual. Pulling Suzi across to the other side, I stayed nearest the lamps that were still working.

It took us five minutes more to reach Jimmy's house.

Apart from a single light bulb burning in the kitchen, the place was in darkness. We made our way up the garden path as before, taking care not to trip over any of the rubbish littering the path.

At the door, we moved to the side and worked our way along to the window at the corner. Though the night was quiet, there was the faint hum of music coming from somewhere.

I knew from the last time I'd been in Jimmy's house that the small round window on the corner was the pantry. I remembered there was no door on it, so we should be able to see through the pantry into the kitchen itself.

Keeping low, I raised my head to look inside. Sure enough, the pantry door still hadn't been replaced and I could see Mrs Brick sitting at the kitchen table swathed in clouds of cigarette smoke. There was a bottle of some amber-coloured liquid on the table and a glass next to it, half-full of the same stuff. An old transistor radio sat on a grotty-looking Welsh dresser, churning out dirge-like rock music.

The kitchen was a long room that took up the whole of that side of the house. Mrs Brick had her back to us, staring out the back window. She was still wearing that shabby bathrobe, though it looked like she'd removed the slime from her face. I pulled at Suzi's arm and told her to have a look.

'What d'you think?' I whispered.

'Smoking and drinking. Tch. Well, he's not in there. Could be in bed?'

I shook my head. 'Doubt it. Not if his ma's still awake.'

'We should check though, eh?'

There'd be no point traipsing over to the pool hall if Jimmy was in his bed, so the smart thing to do would be to make sure he wasn't.

'Okay. Come on.' I led the way round to the back of the house until we were directly underneath Jimmy's bedroom window. 'Grab some pebbles.'

Scrambling around on the ground, we selected half a dozen small stones. Standing back from the house, we proceeded to throw them as softly as possible at the sash window above our heads.

The first few missed completely but Suzi had a good aim and managed to get five direct hits. The pinging noise against the glass would've been plenty loud enough to wake Jimmy if he was there.

We stood for a minute gazing upwards, but there were no signs of life.

'That's it, then,' I said. 'Nightmare Alley here we come.'

'Wait,' said Suzi. 'You're right. We should make sure.'

'Didn't we just do that?'

'No - he might be in another room. Or maybe his mother killed him and stuffed him in the freezer.'

'Of course, that'll be it,' I said, making no effort to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Suzi made a huffing noise. 'You're the one who didn't want to go to the pool hall, not me.'

I coughed. 'Yeah. Fine.' I stood for a moment pondering what to do, but Suzi wasn't waiting around.

'In here,' she hissed, pushing the back door open.

'Jeez, Suz, what you doing?'

'Quick, while the wifie's in the kitchen.'

I had no choice but to follow her. If we got caught, I could always plead insanity.

Suzi held up a hand, warning me to stay still. Then, she waved me on and I followed her through into the gloomy hallway. The kitchen door was partially open, a sliver of light creeping along the floor towards us.

Suzi turned round and held a finger to her lips, as if I needed telling. Moving forward, she placed one hand on the banister and swung slowly round onto the first step. There was a creak. We stopped dead and stared at the kitchen door, expecting it to fly open at any moment.

But it didn't.

Suzi was moving again, taking care to test each step before putting her full weight on it. It seemed to take an absolute age to reach the top of the stairs, but eventually we were there, standing on the landing in the moonlight.

Wait a minute - moonlight?

I turned to look out of the window next to me. Across the back garden, I could see over the hedge and the railway line rising up behind it. Beyond that, were the workmen. They were busy on the tracks, replacing the old rusty fence that ran right across from here to the railway bridge half a mile further down. But the point was, they couldn't do that sort of work in the dark, so they'd brought a massive pair of floodlights with them and it was these that were now lighting up not only the track, but Mrs Brick's entire back garden, and more to the point, beaming straight into her kitchen.

'Cripes.' The look of horror on Suzi's face told me she thought we'd definitely made an error of judgement. A door crashing open a second later confirmed it, when Mrs Brick stumbled into the hallway downstairs.

'What the bleedin hell is that?'

Me and Suzi stood stock still, aware that any movement on our part would alert the drunken woman to the fact we were standing on her landing, only a few feet above her head.

'Bleedin sods...' The thump of her feet on the bare floorboards told us Mrs Brick was heading for the back door. A second later, it squeaked open and a barrage of abuse erupted from her mouth.

Pushing Suzi away from the window, I peered through, making sure we couldn't be seen from outside. Across the gardens, one of the men on the railway was making rude signs at Mrs Brick.

More verbal abuse followed, then a loud bang and a thud, as the back door slammed shut.

We could do nothing but wait, and listen.

'She'll probably go back to the kitchen in a minute,' whispered Suzi in my ear. I nodded, but our hopes of salvation slipped away as the thump of Mrs Brick's feet started up the stairs.

Across the hallway, I could see straight into the main bedroom. It was empty. Next door was the bathroom. That door too stood wide open. Clearly, Jimmy wasn't occupying either one. Grabbing Suzi's hand, I walked as fast as I dared towards the only other door - Jimmy's bedroom. Luckily, it was unlocked and we slipped inside seconds before the Brick-Mother reached the top of the stairs.

'What now?' hissed Suzi.

My heart was banging like a drum and my legs shook so much I thought I might fall over. Leaning against the wall for support, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I noticed Jimmy's bed - his empty bed. At least now we knew he wasn't in the house.

'There!' Suzi pointed to the window. Piled beneath it was what looked like bed sheets tied together. Hurrying across the room, I pulled at the sheets and confirmed they were secure, with one end knotted around the leg of a particularly sturdy wooden chest.

'Give me a hand,' I said, pushing up the lower pane. 'It's our only chance.'

As the window squeaked upwards, I heard a toilet flush. 'Quick.' Throwing the end of the makeshift rope outside, I helped Suzi over the sill.

'You sure about this, Jeffy?'

'Course not,' I muttered, pushing her through the open window.

Suzi yelped and a second later, a shout came from the landing followed by Mrs Brick's thumping footsteps.

As I slithered out the window, I caught a glimpse of the bedroom door opening. Releasing my grip on the sheets, I slid down the wall to the ground.

By the time Mrs Brick poked her head out the window to scream abuse at us, we were already round the corner of the house.

'Let's not do that again,' I said, as we retraced our steps to Crucifixion Close. Making our way to the path that ran between the two gable ends, we hurried into the field leading to the market garden where I worked the occasional Saturday morning during summer. Now closed for the winter, the long lines of glasshouses shimmered eerily in the gloom.

Crossing to the edge of the field, I led Suzi to the top end of Wampire Way and down to the second opening on the right. This was Nightmare Alley, so called due to a long-standing electrical fault affecting the streetlights in this part of town. As a result, the Alley was almost in total darkness, only the pool hall's flashing sign, pumping out a dull green glow, gave any indication of where the entrance was.

I pulled out my torch and lit the way down the narrow lane til we reached the door.

'It's still lit up,' said Suzi, gazing at the neon lamp.

'That doesn't mean anything,' I said. 'Harry often leaves it on all night, so's the drunks can find their way past in the dark.'

I tried the handle, but of course it was locked. 'Have to go in the side door.' Backing up, I peered along the narrow passage on the left side of the building. It was even darker than the Alley. I began to wish Suzi was one of those girls who'd be happy watching telly on a Friday night.

Keeping tight hold of her hand, I started down the cobbled path towards what I hoped would be an unlocked door. Me and Jimmy had used the side entrance loads of times in the days when we were still running errands for Harry McSpawn. That was before Harry got into trouble with the police and all the sensible parents banned their kids from coming anywhere near the place. Needless to say, Jimmy's parents weren't amongst them.

The batteries in my torch were running low so the beam didn't help much. Feeling the way by running my fingers along the cold wall, I eventually came to the wooden frame that marked the edge of the door.

'Here,' I said, handing Suzi the torch. 'Hold this.' Grasping the doorknob, I gave it a twist. 'Tch, locked.'

'What now?' Suzi sounded less sure of herself and kept glancing over her shoulder, but I knew it'd do no good to suggest turning round and going home. Sliding my fingers around the doorframe along the top edge, I found what I was looking for - the spare key.

Fitting it into the lock, I turned it and the door creaked open.

Stepping inside, I felt around for the light switch. Finding the cold metallic box, I flicked the switch. Nothing happened.

'Bulb must've gone,' I said.

'Great.' Suzi's breath was warm against my neck and her free hand gripped my jacket. 'Here.' Holding up the torch, there was enough light to see the double doors in front of us. I tried the handle and it opened into the main hall.

I knew there were twelve pool tables in the hall and each one had a rectangular shaded lamp dangling above it, throwing an orangey blush over each individual table. Tonight though, only one lamp glowed, providing adequate illumination for the particular table that stood directly underneath. Unfortunately, the contents of the green baize was something other than a selection of pool balls.

'Oh, cripes,' muttered Suzi.

It was Harry. And he was looking a bit dead.

Three

Suzi grabbed my arm. 'D'you think he's...?'

I stepped forward and crossed the short distance between us and the pool table. Harry was on his back, staring upwards with wide eyes and an expression that could have been surprise. His mouth hung open like he'd been about to say something important.

'Take his pulse,' said Suzi, coming up behind me.

Swallowing hard, I moved sideways to where Harry's left arm hung limply over the edge of the table. I looked at his hand. The skin was dark red, as if all the blood had drained to that part of his body. Holding my breath, I took Harry's wrist between my thumb and forefinger and lifted his arm onto the table. The limb was cold and heavier than I expected. What you might call a dead weight.

'Don't think there's any point.'

Suzi's hand went to her mouth. 'Oh God. What'll we do?'

'There's a phone in the office over there.' I nodded towards a door in the far corner of the hall. 'Better call the police.'

She hesitated, bit her lip, then held out her hand for the torch. 'What're you going to do?'

'What all good detectives do - check his pockets.' I waited til Suzi had disappeared into the office, then gingerly patted Harry's trouser pockets. They were empty, as were the ones in the tartan-patterned waistcoat that didn't quite cover his huge belly.

Then I noticed Harry's other hand - it was clenched into a fist, as if he was holding onto something. I could see what looked like a piece of paper peeking out from between his fingers. Walking around to the other side of the table, I lifted his cold hand and prised the fingers open. A crumpled white card fell out onto the table. It was about the size of one of the business cards my dad used to keep pinned to a corkboard in the kitchen at home.

Picking it up, I turned it over. One side was blank, but the other showed a chilling image - the silhouette of a skull, with the words Blood and Bone, Then You're Gone printed underneath. There was something familiar about the design, but my head was too full of other stuff to work out where I'd seen it before. I slipped the card into Harry's waistcoat pocket, then walking round to see if Suzi was still in the office, I bumped Harry's arm, causing it to drop back over the edge of the table. And that's when I heard it:

'L-e-a-v-e...'

Slowly, I swivelled my head towards Harry's face. His mouth still hung open like before, but something had changed. Then I realised his head had flopped to one side - Harry was no longer staring at the ceiling - he was staring at me.

'Arrghh!'

Sergeant Bill Potter sniffed and rubbed a hand across his mouth. 'Aye, well. Probably just one of those whasnames. You know? Last breath sort of thing. Bit of a nudge and...' He gave Harry's torso a tentative poke with his finger and sure enough, a low 'Pffuufff' came from the dead man's still-open mouth.

I was sitting on one of the pool tables several yards away - a position I'd occupied for the last ten minutes while we waited for one half of the Skeleton Cove police force to arrive. 'Thought he'd come back to life or summat,' I said, glancing at Suzi who was holding my hand.

'In my experience,' said the sergeant, 'once they're dead, they're dead. Anyway,' he continued, patting me on the shoulder, 'We'd better be getting you two reprobates back home.' He looked at his watch. 'Soon as the whasname team turn up.'

'You going to tell my mum?'

'Course I'm going to bleedin tell her.' He gave me a stern look, but quickly turned it into a grin. 'Don't worry - I'll keep it light. Don't want your ma having nightmares - or you two, for that matter.'

'So is this a murder investigation, then?' I said.

He glanced at Harry and whistled through his teeth. 'Nah, probably his heart. But I'll tell ye's summat - I hope I die in my bed, not like this with my eyes wide open.' He glanced around the room. 'You've not been upstairs?'

'No.'

He nodded. 'Good. Stay here. And don't kill anyone.'

Potter trudged off to the stairs at the bottom of the hall. When he'd gone, I turned to Suzi. 'Harry said something.'

She gave me what I interpreted as a 'kindly' smile. 'No, it was just like Sergeant Potter explained - a last breath sort of thing.'

I shook my head. 'He definitely spoke.'

'I think you're just –'

'Suzi! He spoke to me, alright?'

She moved back as if I'd offended her. 'Okay, don't lose your rag.' She coughed and folded her arms. 'Come on then - what exactly did he say?'

'He told me to leave.'

Suzi studied the floor. 'I think we should talk about this tomorrow.'

'Yeah, I suppose,' I muttered. Then, 'Cripes - we forgot about Jimmy.'

'Should we tell Sergeant Potter?'

I could hear the policeman's heavy tread descending the stairs. 'No. He thinks we were here to see Harry. Anyway, it'll only get Jimmy in trouble if we drag him into it.'

'But what if he's already in trouble?'

I sighed. 'No, you're right - we should talk about this tomorrow.'

Leaning over the banister, I could hear Sergeant Potter telling mum for the second time that we definitely weren't in any bother and in fact we'd both been very sensible to call the police when we did.

Mum said she wished Dad were here cos he'd know what to do, and how being a single parent was hard enough without things like this happening. Potter said that was nonsense and that Suzi's parents had made a right fuss about it and it all got a bit heated and in the end he'd had to tell them to calm down because after all me and Suzi hadn't actually done anything wrong. His voice went quieter then and I imagined him leaning across the kitchen table and resting his big hand on Mum's arm. He said Mum was a strong, confident woman and that half the mothers in town couldn't have dealt with a situation like this with even an ounce of the self-control and strength of will that she had.

It sounded like he was laying it on a bit thick, but I could tell Mum was embarrassed because I heard her push her chair back and start clearing their coffee cups away. She said he should get off home to his wife cos she'd be wondering where he'd got to.

After the back door closed, I listened to see if Mum would come upstairs, but it all went quiet. She must've stood by the door for a few minutes, maybe thinking about things. It was a long time before I heard her footsteps go back into the kitchen.

I went back to bed and lay down, gazing up at the silvery stars me and Dad had painted on the ceiling. I wondered what Harry had been looking at when he died. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been pleasant.

I turned off my bedside light and snuggled under the duvet, but it was a long time before I closed my eyes.

A noise.

No, not an actual sound, more of a...what?

It was a long few seconds before it occurred to me that this wasn't a dream and that I'd woken up again. I blinked. The room was dark. I couldn't make out the stars shimmering on the ceiling so the streetlight outside must have gone off. That meant it had to be after two o'clock in the morning.

There it was again. An almost imperceptible groan. No, that wasn't it, more like a... No, that's stupid.

I shook myself properly awake, but the room was too dark to see anything. Even the usually faint outline around the window where the curtains didn't quite block out the light, had merged into the gloom.

Again - that sound. But this time I didn't just hear it - I felt it. A cold, foul-smelling out-breath, as if someone, or something, was lying next to me, wafting its fetid breath against my face.

Forcing my eyes wide open, I tried to turn my head, but it wouldn't move, as if some weird energy had enveloped me, pinning me to the bed. Swallowing hard, I pushed down with my left arm, compelling my head and shoulders to work. In excruciating slow motion, like some rusted cog in a worn-out machine, my eyes turned towards the thing next to me.

I don't remember screaming, but whatever noise I made brought Mum into my bedroom in a state of panic. Suddenly all the lights were on and I was wrapped up in her arms, her soothing voice calming me with assurances that it was 'just a nightmare'.

But I wasn't convinced and wouldn't let Mum go to bed until she agreed to let me spend the rest of the night downstairs on the sofa.

The next morning, I had breakfast before going back up to my bedroom. Opening the curtains, I took a moment to look around. The room appeared (and felt), the same as it always did - bright and airy. There were no signs that anything had been disturbed. Stretching out on my bed, I jiggled round into the position I'd last been in when I turned to face the...well, the whatever-it-was that had invaded my sleep.

Directly opposite me, and right in my line of sight, was one of my favourite movie posters - Nosferatu, starring Max Schreck as the vampire. Admittedly, the actor's face wasn't exactly a skull, but maybe in my befuddled brain I'd caught a glimpse of the poster and thought it was real?

It was definitely a better explanation than the one I'd believed a few hours earlier, that what I'd seen was the skull portrayed on the business card I found in Harry's pocket. And anyway, that was stupid. It was just an image, not even a photo but an artist's impression of a skull.

Looking at the poster now, I chuckled to myself. It was obvious - I'd had a shock (seeing Harry's body and all), so it was hardly surprising with that stuff going round in my head. And as for thinking there'd actually been someone in bed with me - hah! What an idiot.

Standing up, I straightened out the bedclothes. Then, catching sight of something odd, I peeled the blankets back, revealing a wide stain down one side of the bottom sheet.

At first I thought maybe I'd thrown up and hadn't realised, or that I'd literally done a poo in the bed and spread it around, but no. This wasn't the result of normal bodily functions.

Hauling the blankets right off the bed, I stared at the image. Because that's what it was - embedded in the fabric of the bed sheet was what looked like the outline of a person... No, not a person, a representation of Some Thing, the whatever-it-was that had lain in my bed next to me, the Thing that had breathed on me and had told me for the second time, to leave.

And that's when I threw up.

'It sounds a bit farfetched, that's all.' Suzi swung her legs idly and gazed at me sideways.

I jumped down from the wall and turned to face her. 'You'd believe me if you'd seen the sheet.'

She gave me a sceptical look. 'Don't suppose you took a picture of it?'

'I would've done, but by the time I'd had a shower and cleaned myself up an found my camera, Mum had stripped my bed and bunged everything in the washer.'

'Convenient.'

'No, it's not bleedin convenient, it's –'

'I just mean,' she interrupted, 'it's convenient for whatever was in your bed.'

I pulled a face. 'It's fine, I don't expect you to believe me.'

'I do believe you,' she said. Sliding down off the wall, she brushed a hand down her jeans. 'It's just a bit...'

'Yeah. I know.' I looked up and saw Suzi's mum watching us through the living room window. I gave her a wave.

'Don't do that - she'll only give you more cake.'

'I don't mind,' I said.

'You will if you end up like Fat Bob.'

I frowned. 'That's not this fault. Being fat. It's his ma - she can't cook. He ends up with fish and chips most nights.' I nodded towards Mrs Charlton who'd turned her attention back to cleaning the windows. 'You're lucky, you've got nice parents.' Suzi went quiet at that, so I changed the subject. 'Anyway, are we going to head round to Jimmy's?'

'Think we should? What if Mrs Brick remembers us?'

'She couldn't have seen us. And it was dark.' I shrugged. 'Okay?'

'Okay.'

By the time we got to Jimmy's house we'd agreed that if he wasn't home, we'd go and see Sergeant Potter and tell him Jimmy was missing. However, when we turned into Lonely Walk Road, the police were already there.

Four

Constable Stewart was standing in the garden of Jimmy's house talking to the woman from next door. As me and Suzi reached the garden gate, the officer nodded towards us.

'Don't tell me - you've not had enough excitement for one weekend and you'd like to volunteer for extra duties?'

I rolled my eyes at Suzi. 'Ignore her, she's my dad's sister.'

'Oh,' said Suzi. 'Hello. Jeff never mentioned you.'

'Yes I did,' I retorted. 'And if you'd listened, you'd know Maggie's just moved here from The Smoke.'

'Well, I'm Suzi,' said Suzi, 'and I'm his best mate.'

'Pleased to me you, best mate.' Maggie grinned at her, but turning to me, the smile dropped away. 'You're in bother, you are.' She glanced back towards the house. 'You'd better wait here.'

'Why does he want to see me?' I said.

She gave me a hard stare. 'Both of you, actually. And I think you know why.' She headed back to the house and disappeared inside.

'That's torn it,' I said. 'Maybe Old Ma Brick did see us after all?'

We spent an anxious few minutes waiting for Maggie to come back. When she did, Sergeant Potter was right behind her.

'It's alright, lad, you're not in too much trouble, but I've a few questions for the pair of ye.' He strode off to the police car - a light blue Austin with a wobbly sign on top.

'Come on, then,' said Maggie, giving me a gentle shove. 'We haven't got all day.'

Me and Suzi had been in a police car once before and that had been only a few hours ago. I hoped it wasn't going to become a habit.

'D'you think they'll arrest us,' whispered Suzi as the car pulled away from the kerb.

'Don't be daft. We haven't done anything, have we?' Nevertheless, I wasn't looking forward to whatever it was the sergeant had to say.

Skeleton Cove Police Station was not a big place. The front door opened into the reception area, which also served as the waiting room. Mrs Delacroix, who did all the secretarial-type stuff (because Sergeant Potter couldn't type), was sitting behind her desk. Her eyes lit up on seeing me and she gave me a huge smile.

'Oh-oh-oh, what has happened? I 'ope this does not mean more paperwork for me, young man?' She winked at me the way she always did, and I felt myself redden. Mrs Delacroix was French and looked like that move star Sophia Loren (who isn't French, but you get the idea).

I coughed and mumbled something about helping the police with their inquiries, then turned away and made on I was studying the wanted posters on the wall.

Suzi poked me in the ribs. 'Who's that?' she whispered. 'Your girlfriend?'

I glared at her.

Potter exchanged a few words with the secretary then led us through to a small room at the back of the building. This was where they did all their interviews, as well as being a sort of broom cupboard where anything that wasn't important was stored. The burly sergeant squeezed past the mop and bucket and a pile of cardboard boxes and settled himself behind the table. He pointed at the only other chair.

'You'll have to fight for it.'

I let Suzi sit down while I took up a position beside her, so I could lean against the wall in a nonchalant fashion.

'Right,' said Potter, flicking open his notebook. 'Mrs Brick tells me you two helped her son Jimmy escape from his bedroom last night.' His head swivelled between us. 'Is that right?'

'Well,' I started, but Suzi gave me one of her shut-your-face looks, so I did.

'She's lying.'

The sergeant propped up his chin with one hand and looked at her. 'Go on.'

'That's it,' said Suzi.

Potter stared at her for a long moment, but Suzi simply stared back. Eventually he turned to me. 'You told me you'd gone to the pool hall to see Harry about a part time job.' His tongue slid along his lower lip and his eyes never left mine. 'But that's not quite true, is it?'

I swallowed hard. 'Well,' I said again.

'Because that place shuts at six,' he went on, 'and I know for a fact Harry was due to meet a couple of pals at The Skull and Crossbones public house at six-thirty.'

'Oh,' I said. 'Was he?'

'He was. So what I'm wantin to know is why you were really there and what it had to do with Jimmy Brick.'

I glanced at Suzi. She gave me a look that said On your head be it!

So I took a deep breath and started to talk.

Half an hour and two cups of coffee later, we walked out of the police station, across the road and down the slope to the sea wall. Leaning against the concrete barrier next to Suzi, I risked a quick glance and saw her clenched jaw and the firm line of her mouth. She wasn't happy. Eventually she spoke:

'You shouldn't have told him about the skull.'

I shrugged in a non-committal way. 'Doesn't matter - he probably didn't believe me anyway.'

She whirled round and thumped my shoulder. 'Course he didn't, ye daftie.'

'How d'you know?'

Suzi made a humphing sound. 'Flippin obvious.' She glared at me for an absolute age, then her shoulders dropped and she half smiled. 'Jeff, how's a fully grown, fatbellied policeman going to believe you when even your best mate thinks you're talkin drivel?'

I glowered at her. 'That's not what you said. You said –'

'I'm your mate. I was worried about you so I said what you needed to hear.'

I threw my hands up in the air. 'What for? How's that going to help? I thought I was going mad before - now I'm bleedin sure I am.' Sticking my hands in my pockets, I turned away from her in disgust, though mainly so she wouldn't see my bottom lip trembling.

Her hand touched my arm. I shook it off and walked over to the paint-peeled sign advising bathers not to go in the water. Taking out my penknife, I stuck it into the wood and made on I was doing something interesting.

'Jeff?' Her voice was softer now. 'I just didn't want you thinking...you know?'

'Oh yeah?' I spun round, waving the knife in her face. 'Thinking I was a bleedin moron? Eh?'

I'd never seen Suzi move so fast before - her left hand came up and grabbed my wrist, while her other hand grasped the knife by the handle and threw it in a long arc over the wall.

'What the heck you do that for?' I wailed. 'My dad gave me that knife...' I pulled my hand free of her grip, braced one foot against the wooden sign and hoisted myself up onto the wall. The tide was coming in, but I could see the red handle of my prized possession lying between the rocks at the water's edge a good thirty feet beyond the wall.

'Jeff - hang on...'

But I was already over the top, racing over the sand and rocks towards the water. Jumping over a rivulet, I stopped at the spot where I thought the knife had landed, but it wasn't there. I bent down, my eyes scouring the rocks, throwing aside the smaller ones.

'See what you've done?' I yelled. 'It's gone now - you've lost it...' I fell onto my knees, oblivious to the seawater seeping through my jeans. Peering at the ground, I leaned forward, studying the area, but the knife was gone.

Behind me, Suzi jumped down off the wall. I heard her shuffling around in the sand. Then there was silence. I could tell she was standing beside me but I wasn't going to look. No way. She'd lost my flippin knife and that was totally the worst thing she could've done.

She slid into my peripheral vision. I turned my head the other way. She moved closer.

I felt her crouch down beside me. 'Here.' A hand reached out.

'Go away.'

'Here.' Her voice was insistent. I moved my head an inch, then another. The knife was in her hand, good as new.

I wiped a sleeve across my face and without looking at her, took back my knife. 'Ta.'

Suzi gave me a mock punch. 'Ye wally.'

I sniffed and slipped her a sideways glance. 'Yeah. Sorry, it's just...'

'I know. It's fine.' She stood up and gave me a minute to pull myself together. Then, 'So what now?'

I gazed at the incoming tide. 'We have to go back to Jimmy's house.'

'You're joking? What for?'

Getting to my feet, I brushed the sand off my jeans. 'Cos I've just remembered where I've seen that skull before.'

Obviously, we weren't going to be able to do anything during the day, so we walked back to Suzi's and had lunch. Suzi's mum wasn't quite as pleased to see me as usual, so I had to do a bit of bowing and scraping to get back into her good books.

'Would you like to come to the pictures with us, Mrs Charlton?' I said, hoping my voice didn't sound too bogus. 'It's Revenge of the Sludge Monster. I bet you'd enjoy it.'

Mrs Charlton looked up from her knitting. 'Just make sure you get Suzi back here in decent time,' she said. 'We don't want a repetition of last night, do we?'

'No,' I said, shaking my head in an unequivocal way.

We still had a few hours to kill so we scuttled up to Suzi's bedroom and pretended to listen to records while planning our mission. Jimmy's dad worked as a long-distance lorry driver and wasn't at home very often. His mother didn't work but spent at least part of every day at Benny's Bingo Emporium. The only problem would be if she didn't go out, and given that her son was missing, it'd be perfectly normal for her to want to stay at home in case there was any news. Luckily for us, Jimmy's mother wasn't perfectly normal.

We went back to my house for tea and left just after six on the pretext of going to the movies. Waiting at the end of Lonely Walk Road, it was already dark and colder than I'd have liked. Checking my watch, I was glad to see it was almost six-thirty. If Mrs Brick was going out, it had to be soon. With any luck, she'd be getting ready to go and would appear at her front door in the next few minutes.

'What are we waiting for?' said Suzi.

I peered round the corner. 'I told you - the car's still there. Mrs Brick always goes to bingo with that wifie from along the road, cos she's the only one with transport.'

'Oh, yeah.'

'As soon as they've gone, we'll get to work.'

Suzi shook her head slowly. 'I'm not sure about this Jeff. Maybe it's not such a good idea. If we're caught again, we'll get in a heap of bother.'

'What? You're the one who wanted to break into the house in the first place.'

'Yeah, well...I've thought about it since then.'

'Look, if you don't want to come with me, that's fine. I'll do it myself.' I leaned round the corner again. 'This is the only way we're going to find what we're looking for.'

Suzi sighed loudly, but didn't offer any further objections.

A few minutes later, the woman from along the road appeared on the path. She jumped into her car and reversed down the road. Outside Mrs Brick's house, the woman peeped her horn. Me and Suzi watched the front door expectantly. After a minute, the neighbour peeped her horn again.

That's when the door opened. Mrs Brick didn't have her coat on. My heart sank. She wasn't going out after all.

But then she waved to her neighbour and shouted something. Going back in the house she reappeared with her hat and coat and ran up the path to the car.

'Right,' I muttered as the car sped off up the road. 'Let's go.'

Five

It would've been too much to expect that she'd leave the back door open again, but we checked just the same.

'Try the windows on that side,' I said. 'I'll do these ones.'

Like most of the houses in Skeleton Cove, this one had sash-type windows. If we couldn't find one that was open, I reckoned a bit of pressure might bust the latch. Even so, I hoped we could get inside without breaking anything.

It didn't take long to discover we were out of luck this time. We stood for a moment considering the options.

'You're a good climber, ' Suzi said. 'Maybe you could shimmy up the wall?'

'I'm not flippin Batman,' I said, though another thought occurred to me. 'Round here...'

Standing underneath the bathroom window, I pointed up at the waste pipe. It looked good and solid and had a sort of branch pipe off to the right that led under the bathroom window. 'Just like a tree, eh?'

'Yeah, and easy to fall out of too,' muttered Suzi.

'Got any other ideas?' She hadn't. 'Thought not. Give me a leg up.'

Suzi cupped her hands. I planted one foot on my makeshift ladder and hauled myself up, gently placing my other foot on her right shoulder.

'Cripes, Jeff,' she moaned. 'Take it easy.'

But I'd already grasped the offshooting pipe, which allowed me to scramble up as far as the bathroom windowsill. A minute later, I had one foot resting on a sticky-out brick and the other nestling in the joint where the offshoot met the main pipe.

'Can you reach it?'

I looked down. The window hadn't seemed so high when I was on the ground, but now it looked pretty dangerous. 'Hang on, I'll give it a try.'

Keeping one hand on the wastepipe, I stretched up to the window and gave it a push. Nothing. Shuffling along a little further, I tried again and this time there was movement. A few more heaves and the lower section of the window slid upwards. It was only a few inches but it allowed me to get a hand underneath and push it all the way open.

It took a lot of shoogling around to get my arms and chest through the window, but once I'd got over the half-way point, the weight of my body carried me over the sill. Unfortunately, I hadn't bargained with the window being right over the basin, and I caught my belt buckle on the taps. It took a bit of too-ing an fro-ing to pull it free, but finally I got it loose, slid over the sink and tumbled in a heap onto the floor.

The room was dark, though I could easily make out the door. Out on the landing I stopped and listened for a moment, but there was no sound except Suzi's insistent calling to Hurry up.

I ran downstairs and unlocked the back door, letting my pal into the house. Then we hurried back up to Jimmy's bedroom.

'Okay, so what exactly are we looking for?' Suzi was jiggling up and down and I could tell she was nervous. (Either that or she needed a wee).

'A tee-shirt with a skull on it.' I went to the window and opened the curtains as far as they would go. The room was dark, but we couldn't take the chance of switching the light on.

I began pulling drawers open while Suzi looked in the wardrobe. I was taken aback at how few clothes Jimmy had, though if his mum spent all her money at the bingo it was hardly surprising.

'Nothing in here,' said Suzi. 'What about under the bed?'

'Sure, give it a go.' I finished with the drawers and checked underneath, as well as in Jimmy's bedside cabinet, but all I found were back-copies of Scare-Your-Pants-Off Monthly and Frightey Night Features.

I stood up and looked around. There didn't seem to be anywhere else it could be.

Suzi shook her head. 'Nothing under here.' Then she brightened up. 'The washing!'

'What?'

She rolled her eyes. 'It'll be in the dirty washing pile.'

'Nah, can't be - Jimmy only ever wears that tee-shirt when his ma's not around. He'd never let her see it.'

Suzi made a face. 'Why not?'

'Cos of where he got it from.'

She threw her hands up in annoyance. 'Which is...?'

I frowned. 'That's the trouble - I can't exactly remember. But I think he said it was one of those fan-festival things for people who love horror comics and movies. You know, like that Monster Mash thing we went to last year?'

'Oh, yeah.' She nodded. 'But why wouldn't he put it to the wash?'

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. 'Jimmy doesn't get any pocket money so he can't tell his ma he bought it, can he?'

'I thought he did little jobs and stuff for Harry? Doesn't he get paid for that?'

'Course he does, silly, but his mother doesn't know about it so he has to keep quiet.'

'Sounds like his mum's even worse than I thought.'

'She is, believe me. Anyway, if it's not here, we're stuck.' I gazed around the room again but there wasn't anywhere else a tee-shirt could be hidden.

'Maybe he was wearing it?' said Suzi.

'Maybe.' I was studying the carpet and noticed a rather nasty Dandelion and Burdock stain that had started to go mouldy. Then I thought of something. 'Quick, give me a hand.'

I moved to the side of the room and stood on the linoleum, signalling for Suzi to do the same, then we rolled up the carpet. We'd only pushed it a couple of feet when I found Jimmy's hiding place - underneath the rug lay a couple of sheets of newspaper. I guessed from the size it must've come from one of those free papers that got shoved through the doors of every householder in Skeleton Cove once a week, whether they wanted it or not. Pulling at the edge, I lifted it up. Sandwiched between two sheets of newspaper was the tee-shirt.

We wasted no time getting out the house and didn't stop running until we reached Crucifixion Close.

'Let's have a look at it, then,' said Suzi, panting from her exertions.

I pulled the rolled-up shirt from inside my jacket. Standing under one of the streetlights, I held it up. The main image was just how I remembered it - a scary-looking skull with blood dripping from the eyeholes and rotten teeth in its grinning mouth.

'Cool,' said Suzi. 'In a gross sort of way.'

I studied the image for some clue to where Jimmy might have bought it, but there was nothing obvious. Just the legend underneath the skull that said:

Blood and Bone, Then You're Gone

'Give it here,' said Suzi. 'My eyesight's better than yours.'

Holding the shirt up to her face, she peered at the fabric, studying every inch of the image. 'Wait...' Stretching the shirt widthways, she held it out to me. 'There - that wavy line underneath.'

I looked at what I'd thought was a scroll under the legend, but now I could see it was made up of words.

'Too small. What's it say?'

She pointed out the individual words. 'From the Machinations of Demonic Devilry. Then something I can't make out, then...printed at Skins and Bones, Devilgate Drive, Skeleton Cove.' She looked at me. 'Where's Devilgate Drive?'

I shrugged. 'Never heard of it. But Skins and Bones sound like it might be the name of a shop.'

'We need a map, then,' said Suzi. 'Or a phone book.'

I grinned. 'Or...someone who's lived in Skeleton Cove a long, long time. Come on - we've got to go the pictures.'

'To see the movie?'

'No, to find a really old man.'

Revenge of the Sludge Monster should have been a popular movie, but the heating system in the ancient Skeleton Cove Film Theatre was like the rest of the building - outdated. The place had been popular in the Sixties and had garnered a whole new audience after Art Deco cinemas came back into fashion when I was small. Now though, most cinemagoers preferred one of the multi-screen Picture Palaces in the next town, to a sorry-looking place like this. Consequently, it was only die-hard film fans who braved the non-existent heating and threadbare seats - especially during the winter months. And those who did turn up, tended to wear big coats and woolly hats.

Peggy the usherette sold us two tickets for the Circle and pointed out in a monotone voice that we'd missed half the movie but could still buy popcorn if we wanted. I thanked her and said we weren't hungry, then grabbing Suzi's hand, hurried up the winding staircase to the double doors that led into the cinema.

Even though the movie was a good one, it was a different feature of the cinema that interested me. Dragging Suzi along the passage, I pushed through a door at the end marked 'No Admittance'. It led to a short staircase. Climbing to the upper level, I stopped at the small door and peered though the circular window.

'He's here. Come on.' Pushing open the door, I coughed politely. The room reverberated with the clattering spools of the projector, as well as a spookily echoing soundtrack coming from the speakers in the cinema several feet below. The gray-haired man standing by the projector glanced round. On seeing me, his face darkened:

'Ye dae realise ye've missed half the film, laddie?' Then he grinned and shook my hand.

'This is Suzi,' I said. 'Suzi, this is Mr McTaggart, the projectionist.'

'Always happy tae meet a pal o' Jeff's,' he said, shaking her hand warmly. 'Though I'd be happier if the pair of yous were down below watchin Revenge of the Sludge Monster. It's a guid one, ye ken?'

'I know it's good,' I said, 'but we're not here to see the film, Mr McTaggart.'

'Ye're not?'

'No, we wanted to ask you about a place called Devilgate Drive.' I watched his face carefully.

'Hmmm,' he said, rubbing his bristly chin. 'Devilgate Drive, eh? That's a place I've no heard of for a lang lang time.' He held up a finger. 'Just a wee minute.' Then turning his attention back to the huge projector behind him, he put his eye to the square window that looked out onto the cinema screen. With his other hand resting on a lever at the side of the machine, he counted, 'One, two and...' With a deft movement, he flicked the lever over and I saw the third spool of film spring into life.

'There ye go, we'll be fine for twenty minutes or so now.'

'So have you heard of it?'

The old man peered at Suzi. 'Oh, Aye, I've heard of it alright.' He rubbed his chin again and looked up at the ceiling. 'Let me see...somethin like...Ribtickler Grove. Or Backbone Place...' His face creased up in thought. 'Carcass Close, maybe?' He shook his head. 'Nope. Cannae bring it to mind. Though I'll ken what it is when I see it.'

'It's not called Devilgate Drive, then?' I said.

'No, laddie. They changed it years back after that awfa business wi' Nathaniel Darke.'

I looked at Suzi. She shrugged.

'Before your time,' he went on. 'The Darke family were a strange bunch right enough - Darke by name an dark by nature, so I heard.' He screwed up his eyes. 'Nathaniel, if I remember right, he took over the family's construction business, but it didnae go well. Ran it into the ground, he did - literally. After he disappeared, they bulldozed the place ye're speakin about. Flat as a pancake. Council built somethin else instead.'

Pulling out the T-shirt, I held it up for him. 'It says on here that this was printed in Devilgate Drive. How can that be if it isn't there anymore?'

Mr McTaggart studied the shirt. 'Cannae rightly say, son, but it's maybe just someone that wants folk tae think it still exists, or wants a spooky name for an address.' He made a face. 'Probably one of those marketing ploys, ken?'

I nodded, though I didn't really understand. 'So, if we wanted to go there...to the estate where Devilgate Drive used to be, how would we find it?'

'I ken whit I'd do,' he said. 'Ask a postman.'

Suzi tugged my sleeve. 'But they still might not know exactly where Devilgate Drive was,' she said.

Mr McTaggart made a clucking noise with his tongue. 'Aye, I comprehend the problem.' Then he grinned. 'Yous need to ask someone that has access to old maps. Go an see Mrs Leggart.'

Six

By the time I got home, the late news was on telly. I sat down next to Mum as a reporter started talking about developments in the Harry McSpawn case.

'Do they know who did it?' I said.

'They're saying it might have been a heart attack.'

'Didn't look like that to me.'

Mum shushed me and leaned forward. The reporter was saying what a quiet town Skeleton Cove was but how the community had been shattered by the death of local businessman Harold McSpawn. The camera panned across the outskirts of the town, showing the lighthouse and the famous 'pirates' cave, before skimming through a sort of montage of scenes of the town: Haggarty Park, the pool hall, the blackened ruins of Fat Moe's. Then we were back with the reporter, closing in on his face as he finished his spiel. When the picture flashed back to the studio, the newscaster added that a young boy - James Brick - had also gone missing in Skeleton Cove, but police didn't think there was any connection.

When the programme moved on to other news, Mum turned the sound down and looked at me.

'What?'

'You don't know anything else about this, do you?' Her eyes looked a bit funny, like she'd been crying.

'No, just what Sergeant Potter said.'

She nodded slowly. 'Suzi's mum came round earlier.'

'Oh?' I swallowed hard and rubbed my nose. I didn't think I'd done anything to worry about, but me and Mum didn't always agree on what was important and what wasn't.

'I think she just wanted a chat.' Mum put a hand out and stroked the side of my face. 'You know I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you...' Her eyes glistened and I thought she might cry.

'I know, and I'll be careful. I promise.'

'That's what your dad used to say.'

We sat quietly for a few more minutes, then Mum turned the sound back up on the telly to hear the weather report. I said I was going to bed.

My bedroom looked fine. Mum had washed the sheets and replaced them on my bed. They smelled clean, though there was a feint, barely discernible whiff of decay - as if whatever it was that'd stained the bedding still lingered. It reminded me of what Mr McTaggart had said about Devilgate Drive being bulldozed. Something terrible must have happened there for them to flatten the place like that. And who on earth was Nathaniel Darke?

I got into my pyjamas and went to the toilet. Then I rooted out one of my old Action Man figures from the toy box in the cupboard and jammed his foot under the door to keep it open. I left the bedside light on as well. Just in case.

When I woke up, I had the feeling something was wrong. It was still quite dark, just like the previous night, but there was something else. I blinked a few times and looked around.

The bedside light was out and the door was shut.

I sat up and gripped the sides of my bed. This wasn't going to happen again. Not tonight. I wasn't going to let it. This was my bedroom and...

No, relax, everything's fine. I glanced at the poster of Nosferatu on the wall. There was nothing scary about it, not really. And of course the light was off and the door shut - Mum would have done that when she came up to bed. That's what she always did.

But...that poster. There was something odd about it. I stared at the actor's features, trying to work out what had changed. Then I realised - it wasn't the poster that was different, it was the room. The room was lighter than the night before, almost as if a full moon had come to a halt right beside our house and was beaming its rays in through the curtains.

I jumped out of bed and grabbed hold of the curtains, then with a sharp tug, pulled them back. There was a face at the window. Or to be precise, what was left of a face. A skull, in fact. A skull with bright, burning eyes of fire.

For what seemed like the longest moment ever, I was completely unable to breathe, as if my lungs had suddenly ceased to function. It was only when the skull's mouth dropped open and spoke to me that I regained the ability to breathe, and more importantly, to create sound.

And this time I did scream. Loudly.

When Mum had finally calmed me down, she explained that there was a full moon  (she'd heard it on the weather report), so it must have been the bright light that frightened me. She said if we looked out the window it would still be there. And it was - a huge pale orb. Apparently, it was a rare occurrence in Skeleton Cove for the moon to be so close and so bright.

Even so, she couldn't explain how I'd seen a hooded figure and the face of a dead man (or woman) at my window. It must have been another nightmare.

After a cup of hot milk, I made myself comfortable on the sofa and Mum promised she wouldn't turn out the lights again.

But I didn't sleep any more that night.

The next day was Sunday so I guessed there wasn't much me and Suzi could do in terms of our investigation. I went round to hers and told her about my 'nightmare'. This time she was more sympathetic. But there was a good reason for that.

'It happened to me, too.'

'What? You saw a skull?'

She shook her head. 'No. But I heard something in the middle of the night.'

'A voice?'

'I think so. I woke up about two o'clock and it felt like there was something in my bed.' She licked her lips. 'When I turned to look, there was nothing there, but that's when I heard it.'

Now she had my full attention. 'What'd it say?'

'I'm not sure. It sounded like, leave here, or leave me.' She shrugged. 'But I might've imagined it.'

I was desperate to believe her, to know she'd experienced what I'd experienced. Though that was hardly fair, since the whole thing had scared the pants off me, and I definitely didn't want Suzi to feel like that. But I did want her to appreciate what had happened to me.

'Maybe it was cos of all that stuff going round in your head, you know, what I told you and everything. Not the sort of thing you want to be thinking about when you're trying to get to sleep.' I smiled, hoping she'd believe me. 'Anyway, one of us has to stay sane.'

'What we going to do, then?' she said.

'Dunno. We don't know where that place is so we can't really do anything until tomorrow.'

We were sitting on her front wall as usual, watching one of Suzi's neighbours burn a pile of garden rubbish. From here, if I leaned forward and twisted round, I could look along the street and almost see into our kitchen window. If Dangerous Dan hadn't built a garage on the side of his house, I'd have had a clear view of Mum doing the washing up.

'What're you looking at?' said Suzi.

'Nothing.'

'Yeah, you are.'

'Alright, I am. But it's pointless telling you, cos it's boring.'

'Oh.' She was quiet for a moment, then, 'Well I'm bored anyway so you may as well tell me.'

It was one of the things I liked about Suzi - I could talk to her about anything, and she always pretended to be interested. Even when she wasn't. So I told her about Dangerous Dan and the garage and how if it wasn't there I'd be able to see Mum doing the washing up, and so on and so on.

Suzi laughed. 'I don't suppose Mr Dangerfield was thinking about that when he built the garage.'

'No, probably not.'

'I like how you always give people nicknames.'

'No, that's his name. I mean, his name's Reginald Dangerfield, but they used to call him Dangerous Dan cos he isn't.'

'Isn't what? That doesn't make sense.'

'Yeah it does - look,' I said. 'It's like one of those thingummys...antithesis.' She gave me a blank look, so I went on. 'Sort of like the opposite. They call him Dangerous Dan because he isn't dangerous.'

'Oh.' She frowned. 'But why would he be dangerous?'

I performed a mega sigh. 'Cos when he was a taxi driver he used to drive everywhere at 28 miles an hour.' I made a tah-dah gesture. 'Therefore, not dangerous.'

'He was a taxi driver?'

She was beginning to annoy me. 'Yes!'

'So why don't we ask him?'

'Ask him what?'

'How to get to Devilgate Drive, of course.'

I had to admit I was a bit miffed not to have thought of it first, but Suzi was always quicker than me at picking up on stuff.

We walked down the street to the corner and crossed to Mr Dangerfield's house. I could see him standing at the kitchen window with his wife. He was helping her wash the dishes. They both had big smiles on their faces. It reminded me of how my dad used to help around the house.

It was Mrs Dangerfield who answered the door. She was holding an apron in one hand. I guessed she'd taken it off to come to the door.

'Hello?'

'Oh, hi Mrs D.'

'Hi yourself,' she said, giving me a suspicious look. 'Not Bob-a-Job week, is it?'

I shook my head. 'No, and anyway, I'm not in the scouts. We just wanted a word with your husband.'

She folded her arms and looked as if she might be ready to stand there all day. 'Is that right? Well, it's funny, but I know all of Reg's mates, and I've never known him to hang around with you two.' She inclined her head and stared at me. 'You're Elaine Starkey's lad, aren't you?'

I nodded.

Mrs Dangerfield looked at Suzi. 'I know you, too - not leading you astray, is he?'

Suzi moved her head from side to side. 'I'm not easily led.'

'Well, you'd better come in.' She stood aside and we trooped into the hall.

In the kitchen, Mr Dangerfield was wiping his hands on a tea towel. 'What's this,' he said, 'a delegation?'

'Well,' I said, glancing at Suzi for support. 'We were wondering if we could ask you about when you were a taxi driver.'

Mrs Dangerfield patted her husband on the arm. 'Don't forget, that film you want to watch is on shortly.' She picked up a pile of ironing and went into the front room.

The old man pulled out a chair and sat down. 'Haven't done that for a while, you know? Taxi driving.'

'Oh, we know,' I said. 'I bet you went all over the place, eh?'

He grinned. 'Oh aye, used to know Skeleton Cove like the back of me hand. Not so much now though - place has changed a lot over the years.'

'That's why we thought you might be able to help,' I said. 'We wanted to ask if you ever went to a place called Devilgate Drive.'

You'd have thought I'd slapped him right across the face. His mouth dropped open and he went dead pale, as if someone had turned on a tap in his foot and drained all the blood away. He stood up and pushed his chair back under the table.

'I've nothing to say about that.' He waved a shaky finger at me. 'And you shouldn't even be thinking about going up there. No telling what might happen.'

'We can't go up there,' put in Suzi. 'We don't know where it is.'

Mr Dangerfield shook his head. 'Then that's where you ought to leave it. There's nowt but trouble to be had from sticking your noses in Nathaniel Darke's business.'

Me and Suzi looked at each other. Mr Dangerfield seemed to realise he'd said something significant. He moved forward and started pushing us towards the front door.

'Like I said, there's nowt good'll come of going up there. Believe me - I know.'

I turned and looked at him. There was real fear in his face - fear like I'd experienced myself, but much worse. 'But Mr Dangerfield...'

'Now come on, you two,' said his wife, herding us out the door. 'I'm not having Reg upset. Not with his heart the way it is. Go on, get off the pair of you.'

I stopped at the door. 'I'm sorry Mrs D, we were just trying to find out stuff...'

'I'm sure you were, pet, but you'll have to be finding it out from someone else.'

As she closed the door, I caught the look on her face. It wasn't fear like I'd seen in her husband's eyes, but she was definitely scared.

Back outside, we retreated to the corner and sat on the wall.

'What the heck happened there?' said Suzi.

'Dunno. He looked terrified.'

She nodded. 'And her. Like they've seen something really bad.'

I looked back at the house. 'I think we've opened one big bag of worms.'

Seven

When I got home, Mr Taylor was sitting at our kitchen table drinking tea and eating a slice of Mum's lemon sponge.

'Ohg, heb-bo,' he mumbled through a mouthful of cake. 'Been out, eh?'

'Obviously,' I said, less than impressed. I looked at Mum. She coughed and pushed her tea plate, and the half-eaten slice of cake, away from her, as if she hadn't really been enjoying it.

'George was just...' She waved a hand in the air. 'Just popped in, didn't you, George?' She turned her head so I wouldn't see the sharp look she gave him, but I saw it anyway.

I'd never heard anyone call him George before. Course, I knew he had a first name, just hadn't known what it was. And that he was friendly with Mum was hardly front page news either, but he'd never been round the house before. At least, not when I was there.

'What's for tea?' I said, avoiding Mr Taylor's (George's), eye.

Mum seemed to brighten up at the prospect of changing the subject. 'Do your favourite if you like, love?' She was looking right at me and I saw her skin had a pinkish glow to it, the way it did when she'd been laughing a lot, like when me and her used to watch Barry Bell and the Bell's Angels on telly.

'Fine.' I looked at the intruder. 'Staying for tea, are you? George?'

'Jeff...' Mum started to get up.

I went to the freezer and yanked the door open. A half-opened pack of Captain Cockeyed's Fishy Fingers peeked out from under a bag of crinkle-cut chips. I didn't relish the prospect of hanging around while Mum cooked them, so I shut the freezer and swivelled round. 'There aren't any.'

'Aren't there? Oh...' She started towards the freezer, then changed her mind and went to the back door, rooting around in her coat pocket for her purse. 'Must've left it in my bag.' She glanced at Mr Taylor then hurried through to the living room.

I leaned awkwardly against the corner of the fridge, trying to look indifferent and hoping our visitor wouldn't expect me to entertain him. But Mr Taylor had other ideas.

Clearing his throat, he slid round in his chair. 'Not had any luck finding Jimmy, then?'

'No,' I said.

He nodded slowly and looked away. Then, 'We should probably leave it to the police anyway...'

'Yes,' I said.

'What I mean is,' he went on, 'I don't want you going looking for him...you know, on your own. It's too dangerous.'

'No.'

He gave me a funny look, but before I could say anything more, Mum came back in carrying her purse.

She pulled out a pound note and forced a smile. 'Here you are Jeff, away and get yourself some fish and chips.' She held her hand out. 'Special treat.'

I wanted to say something about Fat Bob's mother giving him fish and chips for tea every night, but I couldn't work out how to say it without having to explain what I meant. And anyway, I didn't want Mum thinking Fat Bob's parents didn't look after him properly.

So I just took the money. 'Thanks.'

I went to the door, then had an idea. 'Remember I'm staying at Suzi's tonight?'

Mum looked at George, then at me. There was an odd expression on her face, like relief or something. 'Tonight? Well, alright, pet. But don't forget to take your school things an that.'

'I won't.'

A minute later, I was out the door and free. At least, I would be if Suzi's parents didn't object.

I stopped off at The Cod Piece on the way and got a portion of chips with gravy. The rest of the money went into my secret stash in my school bag. I hung about outside Fat Moe's until I'd finished the chips then legged it down to Suzi's house.

Mr Charlton inclined his head and raised one eyebrow. 'Our Suz didn't mention it...' He looked over his shoulder.

'We planned it ages ago,' I said, nodding.

'I see. And your ma's fine with that, is she?'

I nodded again and made a mental note to stop nodding. 'I've got my school stuff an everything.'

He stepped back from the door and waved me inside. 'Go on, then, you know where she is.'

I ran up the stairs to the back of the house and knocked on Suzi's door.

To her credit, she did a great impression of not looking at all surprised. I told her about Mr Taylor being at ours and she asked lots of relevant questions, like: did I think there was something going on? Had he been to ours before? Did my Mum like him?

We talked a bit about our plans for the next day then went downstairs to watch The Golden Pie Pot Shot with Suzi's mum and dad. The four of us sat there in silence and even though there were some funny bits, like where the host Marshall Meringue dropped a pie and got steak and kidney all down his trousers, nobody laughed.

When the programme finished, Mr Charlton went out to 'do things' in his workshop and Suzi's mum said she was going to walk down to the phone box to call Uncle Joe, adding that she expected we'd be in bed by the time she got back.

When they'd both gone, Suzi turned the volume down. I asked her if there was anything wrong.

She sucked in her lower lip and chewed on it for a minute. 'Think they're worried. You know what grown-ups are like?'

'My mum's the same.'

We sat for a few moments ruminating on the difficulties of having parents, then Suzi got up to turn the TV off.

'Hang on,' I said, leaning forward. 'What's that?'

The local news had come on and the presenter, Johnnie Barnesworth, was on the telephone. That sort of thing didn't often happen, so it must be an important news flash.

Suzi turned the sound up and sat back down. 'What's going on?'

A photograph of a boy had flashed up behind the presenter. The kid's face looked familiar, though for a minute I couldn't think who he was.

'That's Neville Mole,' said Suzi, staring at the image. 'He's in the year below us.'

I shushed her to be quiet, but now she'd said his name, I recognised him. Listening to the report it seemed Neville hadn't come home the night before and the police weren't ruling out that there might be a link to Jimmy Brick's disappearance.

'Crumbs,' I muttered.

The news finished and the adverts came on. Suzi turned the TV off.

'It has to be connected.'

I nodded. 'But how?'

We chatted about it for a while but couldn't think of any reason Jimmy would have teamed up with Neville - they didn't even like each other. So there had to be another explanation, one that included both of them.

Suzi yawned and I realised it was getting late.

'So where am I going to sleep?'

She rubbed her chin exaggeratedly. 'Let's see...there's the coal shed, or my dad's workshop, or...'

I punched her shoulder and tried to laugh, but there was a sort of tension between us that I hadn't felt before. I said, 'It is alright, isn't it? Me sleeping over?'

'Course. It's just...you know. We're not kids anymore. I mean, we are, but...' She jumped up. 'I'll get one of the sleeping bags out and you can have a couple of blankets.' She leaned back on the sofa and looked at me, her expression unreadable.

'What?'

'You don't think that...thing might come back?'

'Well, if it does, at least there's two of us.'

She forced a smile, but I could tell she wasn't convinced.

I'd expected to be shunted away in the box room next to the toilet, but Suzi said I could sleep on her bedroom floor, so long as we left the door open. That way her parents wouldn't get uppity about it.

We got snuggled up - her in bed and me in the opposite corner by the wardrobe. We chatted about this and that for a while, then shortly after ten o'clock she switched off her bedside lamp. The light on the landing was still on, granting us a comforting sliver of light across the carpet.

As I didn't feel the least bit sleepy, I made up my mind to stay awake as long as possible, partly in case anything untoward occurred. Gazing up at the ceiling, I listened to the sounds of the night - the occasional drunkard singing his way past the house, to Mr Giblet's new puppy howling forlornly in the next street, and to Suzi's breathing as it slowed into a steady rhythm. After about twenty minutes, I could feel my eyelids drooping a little and even though I still wasn't tired, I knew you didn't need to have your eyes open to stay awake, so I thought I'd shut them, just for a few seconds...

I couldn't tell how long I'd been asleep, but the first thing that entered my head when I opened my eyes, was the notion that I'd forgotten something: of course - I'd meant to check if there were streetlights outside Suzi's bedroom window. In any case, it was irrelevant now, but it meant I couldn't be sure if the darkness was due to it being after two o'clock in the morning (when the Council switched off the lights), or if there were some other, more sinister reason for the shroud of gloom that greeted me. Suzi was snoring quietly, but there was no other sound.

The light in the hall was off, but that was to be expected. Nevertheless, I'd have preferred to see  something, even a strip of yellow across the middle of the room.

Then I realised there was something on the carpet, exactly where the beam of light had been. Through the gloom, I couldn't tell what it was, and for a moment I wondered if the hall light had somehow left an impression of itself on the carpet.

But that was silly, and besides, if such a thing were possible, I'd have read about it in Weird Scientific Facts Monthly.

Then I remembered I still had my torch in my jeans pocket. Fumbling around in the sleeping bag, I managed to turn it the right way around and find the switch. Placing one hand over the glass, I flicked it on. The light made a pinkish glow in the palm of my hand.

Slowly, I eased my hand away, allowing the meagre beam to light up the patch of carpet nearest my sleeping bag. It was hard to tell in the artificial light whether there was something on the carpet or not. Shuffling round, I rolled closer and held the beam a few inches above the floor. This time, there was definitely a difference in the colour - the section nearest me was the usual shade of dark blue, but next to it the fibres were much darker, as if someone had spilt paint, or some thick liquid across it.

'What're you doing?'

'Jeez!' I jumped back against the wardrobe. 'You nearly gave me a fart attack.'

Hearing her giggle, I lifted my hand. The dull glow from the torch slid across the floor, and moving upwards, caught something in its beam. As the light hit the figure on the end of Suzi's bed, it wasn't only me who screamed.

Mr and Mrs Charlton weren't impressed at being woken up in the middle of the night, but at least they could see the funny side.

Suzi's mum coaxed the cat out from under the bed where it had disappeared a few moments before. 'Come on, puss, come on...'

The creature slunk out of the room, giving me a wide berth.

'I dare say she won't be snuggling up on your bed again for a while,' said Mr Charlton.

When her parents had gone back to their own room, me and Suzi exchanged sheepish smiles.

'Sorry,' I said. 'Didn't know you even had a cat.'

'She's a stray. Only started coming into the house a few days ago.' She giggled. 'I bet she won't be back for a while.' She leaned over to switch the bedside light off again.

'Hang on...'

Suzi frowned. 'What now?'

The section of carpet I'd been looking at before caught my attention again. I'd been right about one thing - there was a darker section across the middle of the floor. 'What's that?'

'What's what?' She got out of bed and came over to where I lay.

'Move back a bit,' I said, waving a hand at her. 'Look at this...' I pointed to the outline. It wasn't as obvious now but there was a definite mark of some sort.

Suzi moved around and peered at the image. 'Weird. It wasn't there before.'

Getting out of my sleeping bag, I stood up and looked down at the shape, then walking over to the window, crouched down and studied the image. From this angle it was easy to see what it was. Like lettering on a road, it only made sense when viewed from a low angle. The elongated image was one I'd seen before. 'Know what I think?'

But Suzi had already worked it out. Her mouth was a tight line, her eyes fixed on the floor. She gave a small nod. 'It's in the shape of a...' She shivered. 'A skull.'

Without another word, I followed her downstairs, she carrying blankets, me lugging my sleeping bag. Suzi made herself comfortable on the living room sofa, while I curled up on her dad's favourite fireside chair, near the still-glowing embers in the grate.

We left a lamp on in the corner, but if was a long time before either of us fell asleep.

Eight

The next day was Monday, and I had to hang around for ages while everyone else in the Charlton family used the bathroom. Next, I checked through my school bag and took out my prized knife. There was no way I wanted to get caught with it at school, so I slipped it into Suzi's bedside cabinet.

At the breakfast table, Mr Charlton patted me on the head as if I were a pet dog, then his wife made me toast and marmalade and gave me a huge mug of MilkyChocShake. I sorted out my school things, then Suzi's mum made sure we were both clean and tidy before allowing us to leave for school.

I waited until we were out of sight of the house before going over our plans again. Since we couldn't very well skip school without anyone noticing, we'd have to make good use of our time, and the only way to do that was to go to the library during our lunch break. Normally, this would have meant going hungry, but I still had money left from buying chips the night before, so we got a bottle of Tizer and a few packets of crisps at the corner shop.

In assembly, we had to sing the usual boring hymns, then the new headmaster droned on about how it was imperative children kept themselves safe and how we should always tell someone where we were going. The likes of James Brick and now Neville Mole, he said, were prime examples of rebelliousness and if the pair of them turned up dead, they would only have themselves to blame.

There was a murmur of disapproval around the hall, including a few of the teachers, but Mr Nash shushed the interruptions and continued his lecture about disobedience and how it contributed to the overall malaise he'd noticed among the pupils of Skeleton Cove School.

The rest of the morning dragged by. We had double English followed by history with Mrs Grant, subjects I generally enjoyed (especially history), but today it was impossible to concentrate. Even the bloody exploits of the Militia during the Un-Civil War couldn't draw my attention away from the more appealing topic of Devilgate Drive.

At twelve o'clock, we poured out of the classroom with everyone else, then I waited for Suzi while she 'powdered her nose', before heading for the main entrance. We'd have to be back in school in forty-five minutes otherwise we risked getting caught by Beaky Beaumont and threatened with detention. With a ten-minute walk to the library, I reckoned it'd be pushing our luck to get there, find the information we needed and get back to school before the afternoon bell. Unfortunately, Mr Beaumont was already on duty at the gates, brandishing a clipboard and taking note of anyone who left the premises. If he took our names, he'd be more likely to check up on us coming back, so I made a decision.

'The bike sheds, then through the gardens,' I said, pulling Suzi away from the path.

She nodded. 'Yeah, should be quicker, but we'll have to be sure and come back the same way.'

'Don't matter. So long as we're not late.'

Leaving the school premises from behind the bike sheds wasn't one of my favourite routes, as it was the first place teachers checked when looking for absent kids. However, it was the only place in the school where you could climb unseen over the fence. It led straight into Bonefield Gardens, one of the more modern estates in Skeleton Cove. Going this way also knocked a good five minutes off our walk into town.

The Skeleton Cove Library was next to the Council Offices, where baldy-headed men and scraggy-looking women made decisions about stuff like town planning and housing. My mum said some of the people who worked there were corrupt and renowned for taking backhanders, but I could never understand why anyone would want to work there anyway - the windows were filthy, with green moss growing up the walls, and whenever anyone opened the front door, a cloud of cigarette smoke floated out. Even if the staff did get backhanders, I definitely wouldn't be applying for a job there when I left school.

The library was different - it was clean and warm and the librarians were always smiling (in a please-be-quiet sort of way). The red-headed woman on the desk had a plastic badge on her cardigan declaring her to be Mrs P Leggart - Head Lib. She smiled at Suzi, but gave me a hard stare.

'Haven't seen you for a while, Jeffrey. No school today?'

'Oh, er...' I started.

'We're doing research,' said Suzi, taking over. 'A project about the changing geographical face of Skeleton Cove.'

The woman raised her eyebrows. 'That sounds interesting.' She held out a hand and wiggled her fingers in the direction of a room at the far end of the library. 'Best start in there. Town Records and Local History - that's what you'll be wanting. Though they're all reference books, so you'll not be able to take them home, alright?'

We both nodded and followed the direction of her fingers.

'Crumbs,' said Suzi, gazing at the vast array of books. 'Where do we start?'

I studied the headings on the shelves, but there was nothing that said 'Maps Showing Devilgate Drive'. 'Dunno. Let's do a quick scan and see if there's anything obvious. You start over there.'

So we began at opposite ends of the largest section under the general heading of Local History, pulling books out, checking the titles and sliding them back in again, as quickly as possible. After a few minutes Mrs Leggart appeared.

'Need any help, loves?'

'Well, actually...' I started, but again Suzi interrupted.

'We're fine, thanks.' She grinned at the woman until the librarian went back to her desk.

'She could've helped us,' I hissed.

'And what if we told her about Devilgate Drive and she reacted the same way as Mr Dangerfield?'

I sniffed. 'Oh, yeah.'

We resumed our search and within ten minutes had identified half a dozen books that looked useful. Spreading our finds on the table in the middle of the room, we flicked through them one at a time. Two were mostly about the distant past and focused on pirates and smuggling. Another one, a large dusty volume, had some interesting maps in it, but again didn't tell us anything useful.

Finally, we came to the last one. It was called A Plan of Communication Between the New and the Old Town of Skeleton Cove; Boyd, Thomas; Stringer & Minchin, Palladian; 1909. I'd noticed it contained several maps when I first looked at it, but none of the layouts were familiar.

'Look in the index,' suggested Suzi.

I did, and found a list of maps and dates. Flicking through to one dated about thirty years previously, I smoothed a hand across the double-page spread.

'What we need is a 'You Are Here' thing,' I muttered, scanning the cluttered maze of miniature streets and symbols.

'There,' said Suzi, tapping a finger on the left hand page. 'That's the coastline. We can work our way up from there.'

'Hang on,' I said. 'Be easier if we had a map with a list of street names.'

Suzi leaned forward. 'Wait - what's this?' With her fingernail, she picked at the crease in the centre of the book, then pulled at what appeared to be a loose page. The centre section opened outwards revealing a larger version of the same map. 'Voila!'

'Brilliant. Here we are...' I scanned the list of street names and areas, printed in tiny writing on the right side of the larger map. 'Devilgate...Devilgate...there!'

'43 N, 35 P. A grid reference.'

Suzi slid her fingers along the two lines to where they met. 'That's it - Devilgate Drive.'

I stared at it. 'Next to the school? That can't be right.'

Suzi fished around in her bag and pulled out a magnifying glass. Screwing up her eyes, she squinted through the device. 'It's the school alright, same shape it is now, so that makes it easier. Look, this must be the housing estate your pal at the picture house was talking about.' She pointed at the first street. 'Devilgate Crescent, then Devilgate Lane, then...' Her finger traced a line along the boundary of the school. 'That's weird. It just stops.' She looked again, then, 'No, there it is - Devilgate Drive.' She looked up. 'Must've built it in two halves, like an L shape sort of thing.' She looked back at the map. 'Oh.'

'What?'

'It doesn't make sense - how could they have built new houses there?'

I leaned over the book. 'No, you're right - it's where Bonefield Gardens is now. That must have been the new estate Mr McTaggart was talking about.'

But Suzi was shaking her head. 'Can't be.' She turned the book around. 'Look where the road is - Bonefield Gardens would've been built here, on the other side, next to where the bike sheds are, where Devilgate Lane is, see? But Devilgate Drive is right the way over here.'

I stared at where she was pointing. The map showed that Devilgate Drive ran straight through the centre of Haggerty's Park.

'Crikey,' I said. 'Right in the middle of the cemetery.'

Walking back to school, neither of us spoke for a long time. We drank the pop and ate our salt and vinegar crisps in silence, each of us mulling over our discovery.

'Your pal must've been wrong,' said Suzi eventually.

'About what?'

'He talked like Devilgate Drive was knocked down and rebuilt as the new estate, but it can't have been.'

I shrugged. 'Maybe the town planners changed their minds and made it into a graveyard instead?'

'That can't be right,' she said. 'My great-grandmother's buried in there - and she's been dead for ages.'

'I dunno, Mr McTaggart's old, but he's not daft. If he says that's where it was, then that's where it was. Maybe we're missing something...'

'You know what we forgot to do?' said Suzi. 'We should've looked up that bloke he mentioned - the one with the construction business.'

'Nathaniel Darke?' I sighed, annoyed with myself that I'd forgotten.

We'd reached Bonefield Gardens. Making our way between the houses, we hurried down the snicket to where the edge of the estate met the back fence of the school. I checked my watch - it was 12:46. We were late.

Leaning against the fence, I linked my fingers and waited while Suzi clambered over me, then bracing one foot against the fence post, heaved myself up.

Suzi was waiting on the other side, but she wasn't alone.

'Ah, Mr Starkey, good of you to join us.' Beaky Beaumont stretched his mouth into the shape of a smile. In one hand he held a clipboard. The other gripped Suzi's arm. I could tell he was hurting her by the grimace on her face.

Dropping onto the muddy path, I brushed myself down and waited for the reprisals.

'How very odd,' the teacher said, glancing at his clipboard. 'On my oath, I could have sworn myself blind I had not encountered you two individuals leaving the school premises, and yet, here you are.'

'We took a short cut,' I said, 'so we wouldn't be late coming back.'

'But you are late, aren't you?' He let go Suzi's arm and wrote on his clipboard. 'I shall expect you after school in my room, where you shall stay until I am satisfied a modicum of accountability has seeped deeply enough into your twin beings to caution you from embarking on such a foolhardy undertaking again.'

Beaumont always talked like that, as if he'd walked straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Sometimes he even looked like a Dickensian character, with high boots and a long black cloak. Today, however, he was wearing his normal gray suit.

I nodded to show we understood, then followed Suzi along the path behind the bike sheds and back to our class. It'd been a long time since either of us had been thrown in detention and I wasn't looking forward to it. And we still had to face Mr Taylor.

The lesson had already started when we arrived. Mr Taylor was saying something about coming up with ideas for stories. He stopped talking when I pushed open the door.

'And here is a perfect example.' He pointed at us and indicated we should stand at the front of the class. I shuffled towards his desk and turned to face the grinning faces of my friends. Suzi stood beside me, her fingers twitching in annoyance.

'Now, clearly,' Mr Taylor continued, 'these two individuals are somewhat tardy in their arrival, so what, I might ask, from a fiction point of view, might have kept them from their normal punctuality?'

Several hands went up, followed by suggestions as to what the latecomers might have been up to, most of which centred on bodily functions and banana skins. Eventually, Mr Taylor allowed us to take our seats while he resumed the lesson. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident.

Which is just as well, because it would be a long time before me and Suzi saw our classmates, or our families again.

Nine

As most of our friends were escaping to freedom via the school gates, me and Suzi took a slow wander over to Room 4B. It was in the old grammar school part of the building and one of three classrooms on this side of the quadrangle. There were another nine rooms on the other three sides, each with a corridor looking out onto the square of perfect lawn. During the day, it was easy to see a teacher approaching along one of the other corridors, but now, with most of the lights off, we had to rely on our hearing to warn us of Beaky Beaumont's approach.

Leaning against the doorpost, I peered through the half-glazed door of Beaky's lair. Through the windows at the other side of the room, I could see the dwindling hordes of kids as they left the school grounds behind. Most of them would be home within minutes, sitting watching telly or stuffing their faces with cake and pop. If we had a telephone at home, I could've called Mum to tell her I'd be late. But we didn't, and in any case, kids were only allowed to use the phone in the staff room in an emergency. And I didn't think detention was ever likely to fall into that category.

I couldn't remember having to stay behind in school when it was so quiet. Normally there'd be extra-curricular activities going on, like the Drama Group or the Debating Society. Today, though, there was only the occasional slam of a door, the click of a lock or the clack-slap of a sash window as Crosby the caretaker began his routine of checking, shutting and locking up for the day.

An odd silence fell on the building. I looked at Suzi. She seemed remarkably calm, considering we were about to spend the next couple of hours dancing to the tune of Beaky Beaumont. Detention (according to him), was a period of not less than one hour and not more than two, where the individuals concerned would be expected to show, or at least, pretend to show, enough remorse and regret to fulfil Beaky's criteria. Of course, only Beaky himself knew what that criteria was and according to those unfortunate individuals who'd suffered the humiliation of detention at his hands, it was different every time.

'That's him,' said Suzi, nodding towards the double doors at the other end of the corridor. The familiar snap of metal on parquet flooring echoed from somewhere in the adjoining middle section of the school. You could always tell when one of the male teachers was approaching from a distance, because they all wore big heavy shoes with segs hammered into the toe and heel sections. If you were lucky enough to hear two or more teachers walking along together, the clackety-clack of their footsteps sounded like a bizarre dance troupe performing something from Fred and Red's Toe-Tipping Tap routine (Sunday night telly - 7:00pm).

Today, though, it was only one teacher.

Beaky Beaumont barged through the double doors, eyes fixed on me, feet clattering along towards us in a rhythm that seemed to chant: say-good-bye, say-good-bye.

'Ah, the prisoners are at the gate, how lovely.' His thin mouth stretched into that smile again, and he opened the classroom door. 'In.'

We shuffled inside and waited by his desk, while Beaumont took some papers out of his briefcase.

'Now, unfortunately, I have to supervise another group of degenerates over in the new building, so when I have assigned your tasks, I expect you to commence them directly. I shall return at some future point, when you will present your completed assignments, and all being in order, you will then be allowed to leave. Clear?'

We both nodded, though I hadn't a clue what he was talking about, and from Suzi's expression, she hadn't either.

Beaumont sorted through his pile of papers and handed each of us a typed sheet and several blank sheets. 'Find a desk - not next to each other - and begin.'

A minute later, he was gone, the clackety-clack of his shoes echoing down the corridor.

I waited for the thud of the double doors before getting up and sitting next to Suzi.

'What's yours say?'

She shook her head in disgust. 'Write out five million times I must not waste my life hanging around with that reprobate Jeffrey Starkey. What's yours?'

'The same, except with your name instead of mine. I mean, five million times? What's he think we are?'

'It's cos he knows we can't possibly finish it before he comes back.'

'Yeah, then he can throw us in detention again tomorrow.'

We sat for a few minutes in silence, staring at our assignments. Then a noise from the corridor prompted me to skip back to me own seat.

A moment later, a face appeared at the door, a wide pink nose and a pair of bushy eyebrows pressed up against the glass. The door opened and the caretaker popped his head in.

'Aye-aye, what's goin on 'ere?' He grinned and stepped into the room.

'Detention,' I said, gloomily.

Crosby made a mock 'sad' face, then laughed. 'Never mind, could be worse.'

'Hardly,' said Suzi. 'It's Beaky Beau...I mean, Mr Beaumont's class. We'll be here til midnight.'

The old man frowned. 'Beaumont? Nah, he's gone.'

I glanced at Suzi, wondering if this was one of the caretaker's jokes. 'Gone where?'

'Home, prob'ly.' He wandered over to where I was sitting and held out his hand. 'Let's 'ave a gander.'

I gave him the sheet with my 'assignment' on.

'Oh, my. Sly sod.' He crumpled up the sheet and threw it over his shoulder. 'Been pullin that trick for years. Surprised yous didn't know about it.'

'What trick?' I said.

'Calls you in for detention, checks your names off in the register, checks his own name off as being here til gone half five, then does a quick-one up the road, leavin you two muttonheads sitting 'ere like Mr and Mrs Twit.'

'No, he's a teacher. He can't go off and leave us. Can he?'

Mr Crosby's face was serious. 'He can, an he does. Anyhow, yous can't say 'ere, I'm lockin up.'

Me and Suzi looked at each other.

'Go on,' Crosby said. 'I'm not muckin about - you'll 'ave to go.'

We didn't need to be told again. We were down the stairs and out the main doors in a flash. However, I wasn't totally convinced we'd got away scot-free, so we did a quick check round the side of the building, and sure enough, Beaumont's car had gone.

'What a git,' I said. 'Shouldn't be allowed.'

Suzi grabbed my arm. 'Hey, we can go and look at Haggerty's Park now.'

'It's dark.'

'Not as dark as it would've been if we'd had to stay in Beaumont's class for two hours.'

I had to admit this was true. 'Alright, but let's leave our bags here. We can stick them in one of the lockers.'

We hurried round to the main toilet block where the janitor's office was. It would be the last building to be locked up, so should still be open. Finding an empty locker, I stuffed our bags inside, but not before taking out my torch and one of Suzi's precious notebooks (in case we uncovered important evidence). Then we headed out the main gates and down towards the Park.

The sky wasn't as cloudy as the last time we were there, but I could already feel a familiar knotty sensation in my gut as we clambered over the wall into the cemetery.

'So where do we start?' I said.

Suzi pulled a notebook out of her coat pocket. 'According to my rough sketches, Devilgate Drive was the street nearest the school, so it must have been somewhere over there.' She waved a finger, indicating a vague area between the top end of Haggerty's Park and further down where the ground sloped away towards the beach.

We crossed to the main footpath that ran down the middle, then turned right. The gravestones in this part of the cemetery were older than those further down.

'Where's your great-grandma buried?'

Suzi looked around, getting her bearings, then strode off across a grassy path. I followed her, gazing at the variety of headstones - some were decorated with fantastically ornate carvings that had crumbled over time. Others had a simpler more modern style, but were equally as neglected, moss and weeds making it difficult to read the inscriptions. Many didn't even appear to mark an actual grave, but looked as if they'd simply been dropped in random areas. A few had been erected properly, in straight lines, but most were a far cry from the well-kept plots and trimmed hedges of Tranwell Cemetery in the next town. That's where my Uncle Frank was buried, and though I hadn't liked him much when he was alive, at least his grave was tidy.

'Here,' said Suzi, halting next to a huge gothic memorial. I peered at the writing but it was hard to see in the dark. The only bit that was clear was the date: 1897.

'That's that, then,' I said. 'There couldn't have been a street in the same place. Unless the graves were moved here after they knocked the houses down.'

Suzi gave me a pitying look. 'That only happens in horror movies.'

'Not necessarily,' I said. 'Anyway, it was just an idea.' I moved back towards the main path and continued along for a few yards. The graves in this section did seem to be strangely haphazard, with some plonked right in the middle of paths, others almost buried beneath overhanging branches of nearby trees.

Suzi came up behind me and took my hand. 'What you looking at?'

'Dunno, really. I'm surprised people let it get so...messy, you know? Like they didn't care about their relatives.'

'They are dead, though.'

'Yeah, but...' I shook my head. 'When me and Mum visit my uncle's grave, there's always loads of other people around, putting flowers down and stuff. But here...' I waved a hand uselessly.

'Yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, it's getting dark. We should go.'

'You're the one that wanted to come here,' I chided. 'Let's just have a look up this way.' Holding my torch out in front of me, I set off across a particularly overgrown section, where broken tombs and odd bits of stone littered the ground.

Beyond the apparent rubble were a couple of trees, but something underneath one of them caught my eye. Avoiding the jumble of stones, I picked my way across the grass for a closer look. Whatever it was had long since succumbed to weeds and wild grasses. Pulling at a clump of dandelions, I cleared the debris to one side and shone the fading light of my torch over the sign underneath. A length of rusted metal showed part of what looked like a letter, or maybe a word - perhaps a V and an I...? Rubbing one hand though the dirt along the top of the sign, it became obvious what the first word was. Grabbing a clump of grass, I wiped it along the length of the street name, revealing more of the lettering beneath.

'What is it?' There was a hint of alarm in Suzi's voice, as if she already knew the answer to her question.

'Give me a hand,' I said, scraping away the remaining moss and weeds from the top of the wrought iron sign.

Stepping back, I shone the torch along the wording. 'That doesn't make sense. How can...?'

There was no getting away from it - the lettering was rusted and worn, but the name was clear: Devilgate Drive.

What was less clear was why the arrow etched on the end of the sign pointed not to where the street would have been, but down, towards the ground.

'Could be wonky?'

I looked at Suzi and shook my head. 'The sign's level. But the arrow isn't. According to that, Devilgate Drive is underneath the graveyard.'

Suzi stood with hands on hips, shaking her head. 'It can't be. It just can't.'

'But why would the sign point downwards?'

She pulled her coat around herself and fastened the buttons. 'I think we should go.'

The wind had picked up and was doing a good job of making scary sound effects, howling across the cemetery. The sky was much darker too, as if it had suddenly dropped on us like a huge black blanket, making the whole place appear very different.

'Yeah, maybe you're right.' I took her hand and made to move back to the central path, but Suzi was standing stock still, staring straight ahead.

Following her gaze I could see nothing but darkness, trees and more darkness. 'What?' It came out sounding husky.

'There's someone there, near the wall.' Her voice was so quiet, for about half a second I thought Suzi was taking the Mickey, but then I saw what she was looking at. Between two large and particularly wonky gravestones a few yards from where we stood, was the shape of a man.

Ten

Whatever this man wanted, I wasn't interested. Grabbing Suzi's hand, I ran, dragging her along behind me. We hit the main path and pelted towards one of the narrower paths that crossed it. Veering right, I could see the wall in front of me. If we could get there before whoever was after us, we might have a chance.

'I...can...hear...him,' hissed Suzi in my ear, her voice a series of grunts. 'He's...'

'I know!' Reaching the wall, I grabbed hold of her waist, hoisting her upwards like a rag doll and pushing her onto and over the wall. A second later, I was astride the top, the rough stone digging into my thighs. Peering through the gloom, I caught sight of our pursuer. He was still a few yards behind and struggling to keep up. Swinging my leg over, I dropped down onto the other side, where Suzi was waiting, eyes wide and panting.

'Quick,' she yelled. I needed no encouragement and we ran across the street and into Lonely Walk Road, where at least some of the streetlights were working.

Halfway along, we stopped and looked back. There was no sign of the man, or anyone else for that matter.

'Think we lost him.' I straightened up, still breathing hard.

Suzi grabbed my arm. 'Wait - what's that?' She was staring down the lane, her head inclined to one side, listening.

There was a grinding of gears and the twin headlights of a car came tearing around the corner. The vehicle accelerated rapidly, veering towards the pavement as if the driver was drunk - or trying to mow us down.

'In here,' I said, pulling Suzi into the nearest garden. We hurtled up the path and were almost at the front door before I realised it was Jimmy Brick's house. 'Oh, cripes.'

'This way,' said Suzi, running around the corner of the house. I pelted after her, across the back garden and up the slope to the railway line. At the top we scrambled through the weeds and up onto the tracks.

I pointed to the right. 'The bridge.' Suzi nodded and we ran along the edge of the line towards the railway bridge. I could feel a pain in my side but knew we had to keep going. If we could get to the bridge, we could climb down onto the wooden joists that extended along the floor right through the insides of the structure. No grown-up in their right mind would follow us.

Feeling in my pocket for the torch, I realised with horror that it was gone. I skidded to a halt and frantically searched my pockets, but it was useless.

'Come on,' shouted Suzi. I caught up after her, cursing my stupidity.

Ahead, I could see the black outline of the railway bridge against the sky. Once we made it onto the bridge itself, it was only twenty yards or so to the hatch that led to the interior. Course, I'd only ever done this in daytime before, and without my torch we might easily miss our footing and fall straight down into the river below. I decided not to think about it.

As we ran onto the bridge, I became aware of how precarious our escape was - and how dangerous. There was only one railway track across the river so the bridge was barely three yards wide, a fact that didn't matter during daylight hours, but in the dark it was impossible to see exactly where the handrail was. Then I remembered something else. The handrail wasn't there anymore - the railway workers we'd seen the other night had been in the process of replacing it. After removing the old rusted one, they hadn't got around to fitting the new one.

Feet sliding on the gravel, I stumbled to a halt, my head filled with visions of the pair of us flying straight over the side of the bridge and plummeting into the cold dark river fifty feet below. 'Wait!' I shouted.

Suzi collided into me. 'What now?'

Looking back down the track, I watched for any sign of our pursuer. For a moment, I thought he'd given up, but then a shape emerged from the bushes and began running along the line towards us.

'Come on, but be careful.' Holding onto Suzi, I walked as slowly as I dared along the middle of the track til we got to the hatchway. It was open. Crouching down beside it, I pointed into the hatch. 'Get down the ladder, but when you reach the bottom, don't move.'

She nodded and slid over the side. Glancing back, I saw the man had made it to the edge of the bridge. We didn't have much time. Sliding myself over the ledge, I fumbled for the ladder, struggling to get a foothold on the top rung. Then clambering down, I thumped onto the planking at the bottom. Suzi was waiting, hanging onto the ladder.

'Straight ahead?' she asked, gazing at the black metal panels that now surrounded us.

'Right,' I said, taking her hand. 'Walk exactly where I walk and don't look down.' I started forward along the first section of walkway. We were in a steel tunnel that ran the whole length of the bridge. Every fifteen or so feet was a sort of junction where the main supports where located. Each one had an opening that led into the joining bit, then another opening into the next long section. With only three thick planks running down the centre of each section, we'd have to take the greatest care, because on either side there was nothing - just fresh air. If either of us lost our footing, we'd drop straight through into the river.

'I can't see,' whispered Suzi, a shudder in her voice.

'Don't worry, 'I said. 'I won't let you fall. Just stay exactly behind me.'

As my eyes adapted to the darkness, I could make out the outline of the planking.

Moving forward, I stretched one hand out to the side so I could feel where we were in the tunnel. As long as we stayed in the middle, we'd be fine.

It took a minute to negotiate the first of the junctions, but as we stepped out onto the next section, I told Suzi to stop. Turning round carefully, I peered back through the tunnel. For a moment, there was no sound, just the wind howling through the girders. Then there was a thump. And another. Then a thumpety-thump.

Suzi squeezed my hand. 'Is that what I think it is?'

I nodded. 'A train.' I pushed her gently towards the junction we'd just come through and guided her hand to one of the metal supports. 'Hold on to this.'

'Why?'

I coughed and strived to keep my voice steady. 'The bridge shakes when trains go over.'

Her eyes went like saucers. 'You mean it could shake us out?'

'No, it's just a precaution.' I was glad she couldn't see the doubt in my face.

The thumpety-thumps were getting closer and louder. The timbers beneath our feet began to shudder. Then the whole bridge juddered, the weight of the steam engine above us shaking the structure as if it were a baby's rattle. I held onto Suzi with one hand and the bridge with the other. The pounding above our heads was deafening. The planks shuddered so much my feet were moving by themselves! Any minute now they might slide off and we'd both drop off the bridge like a dog shaking out flies.

Closing my eyes, I willed the train to complete its journey. It seemed an age before the noise began to abate. The vibrations gradually subsided and the thumpety-thumps diminished, like one of my Manic Sabbath records playing to fade. A few seconds later, all was silent again.

'Is this what you call a good night out?' said Suzi.

We looked at each other and laughed.

And then I heard it - footsteps.

'Oh, I don't believe it - he's still there.' Taking her hand, I resumed our escape through the bridge, this time moving faster.

We negotiated our way through the remaining nine sections of the bridge, panting heavily, until the second ladder was just in front of us. If we could get back up onto the track there was a chance we'd be able to fasten the exit hatch so whoever was tailing us would be trapped underneath.

Scrambling upwards, I heaved myself out onto the railway line, then reaching down, helped Suzi up. As soon as she was clear, I pushed the cover back over the hole. Feeling my way around the edge, I let out a low moan. There was no lock - just a simple clasp that slotted over a metal loop.

'Find a bit of wood, metal, anything...' But it was too dark to see and I could already hear the thud of footsteps below us.

Jumping up, we ran towards the end of the bridge and scrambled down the grassy bank. A rough footpath led down to the riverside, but it would've been too obvious to follow it, so we pushed our way into some bushes near the path.

Seconds later, a brawny figure appeared at the side of the track and half ran, half slid down the gravelly trail, past our hiding place.

I counted to ten before checking to see if he'd gone. Sure enough, the man was standing at the riverside underneath the bridge, looking this way and that. Turning right would take him towards the wider part of the river where it opened out into the bay. The other way led back to town. After a moment, he headed off in the direction of the old footbridge that would take him back up towards Haggerty's Park.

'Has he gone?' said Suzi, peering over my shoulder.

'Yes, but I think we should follow him.'

Her mouth dropped open. 'You're joking? What the heck for?'

'To find out who he is, obviously.'

Holding out her hand, she looked at her watch, waving it this way and that to catch the light. 'I dunno - it's well after five now. We should get home.'

She was right, but I didn't want to give up the chance of discovering who our pursuer was. 'Okay, but let's follow him back over the river, and see which way he goes.'

Suzi agreed, so long as we kept our distance.

At the bottom of the path, we hurried along the side of the river, taking care to stay in the shadows of the trees by the riverbank. I could see the outline of the footbridge in the distance. The path curved around in a sort of S shape, so for a few seconds the man was out of sight. But he'd soon reach the footbridge and in doing so, would have to walk underneath the lamps that stood like sentries at either end. With any luck, we'd get a look at his face.

As we drew nearer, the man emerged out of the darkness. As he passed under the first lamp, he pulled his hat further down over his face, making it impossible to even guess at his features.

We waited in the shadows until he reached the other side. Again, he was careful to avoid the light and slipped away towards the main road.

'He's going the other way.'

I nodded, knowing we'd never be able to follow him on the road because of the streetlights. He'd be sure to spot us. 'Never mind, it was worth a try.'

We crossed the bridge and set off across the waste ground that would take us back to Lonely Walk Road.

At the junction of Scarecrow Street, we hurried past The Stabb Inn and then across into Lonely Walk Road. It was as we passed Jimmy Brick's garden gate that I remembered the car.

Grabbing Suzi's arm, I stopped abruptly.

Suzi turned towards me, and as she did so, the black sedan parked across the road flashed its headlights on and a dark figure climbed out of the driver's side door.

'Run!' I shouted, but we were too late. The man who'd come up behind us grabbed our arms and twisted them behind our backs as if he did this sort of thing all the time.

Without a word, we were bundled into the back of the car and pushed onto the floor, where strong hands held us down. The engine roared into life and the car hurtled away.

Eleven

Suzi's face was next to mine and I could feel her breath on my cheek. She was breathing in short panicky bursts and I knew she was really scared.

'Don't worry,' I whispered, 'it'll be fine.'

Something hit the back of my head and a voice rasped out, 'Shut your face, kid, or you'll get it.'

I needed to concentrate on something to take my mind off how frightened I was. What would Dick Barton do in this situation? Of course - it was obvious. Focusing on the movement of the car I realised we had turned right at the end of Lonely Walk Road and then a sharp left. That had to be Bloodletter's Lane, which went round in a semicircle and came out near the brickworks. If we then turned right we'd be heading back into town and it would be easy to work out where we were going, but if we went the other way, along the maze of lanes that crisscrossed the old fishermen's cottages near the bay, it'd be much more difficult.

As it turned out, it didn't matter either way. As the car hurtled along Bloodletter's Lane, I noticed an odd, chemical smell. A moment later, someone clamped a wet cloth over my face. Struggling against the fumes, I tried to shake the hand away but it was no use. I remember being aware of the car turning left, then everything went black.

Something poked me in the ribs. I blinked and tried to lift my head.

'Jeff,' hissed a familiar voice.

Forcing my eyes open, I tried to turn towards her, but something held my arms fast. 'What...?'

'Jeff.' Suzi's voice was low, close to my ear.

Sitting up, I forced my eyelids open. Directly in front of me was an open door and a reddish glow that seemed to be coming from another room. 'Where are we?'

Suzi looked remarkably cheerful. She gave a shrug, or as much of one as she could manage in her captive state. We were tied to two chairs that had thoughtfully been placed next to each other.

'What happened?' I said.

'Chloroform, I expect,' said Suzi, keeping one eye on the open door. 'They obviously didn't want us to see where we were going.' She twisted towards me. 'You okay?'

I nodded and took a minute to study our surroundings. Apart from the chairs and a pile of rubbish in one corner, the room was empty. There were no carpets and the walls were bare, the plaster cracked and falling away in places. There was a smell too - like mould or wet wool.

The doorway opposite my chair led into a passage, which looked equally neglected, but I couldn't see anything of the room beyond. A man's voice was saying something about the time, then another voice replied, but too quietly to hear what they were saying.

'How long you been awake?' I said.

'A few minutes, that's all.' She bit her lip and a crease slid along her forehead. 'I think they're waiting for someone.'

I swallowed hard. 'What sort of someone?'

'Dunno. But I heard one of them say He'll be angry with us.' She licked her lips. 'Thing is, the one that said that...he sounded scared.'

'Scared of what?'

'Well, not us, obviously.'

I looked around the room again. 'We have to escape.'

'There's something else,' she said. 'Listen.'

I turned my head, trying to pick up whatever it was she'd heard. Our captors were still talking in low tones next door, but there was nothing else. Then I heard it, so faintly I wondered if I imagined it. Moving my head slowly to try and home in on the sound...there! A low shmmaar...shmmaar... 'The sea?'

She nodded. 'But it's a long way off, maybe half a mile.'

I digested this information. 'So we could be in one of the old fishermen's cottages?'

'No, they're right on the shore. Must be further back.' She made a tutting noise. 'Course, we could be fifty miles away from Skeleton Cove, so...'

She was right. Being near the sea didn't mean we were anywhere near home.

Looking down at my bonds, I surveyed the way the ropes were wrapped around us. Like Suzi's, my feet had been tied together and lashed to the chair legs. My hands too were tightly bound. But my chest and arms suggested a possible escape - the ropes used were really long and our captors had simply wound them round and round our chests, binding us to the backs of our chairs.

Leaning forward as far as possible (about an inch), I tested the bonds for leeway. There was some give in them, though not much. Pushing back, I jiggled around. Without being able to see how my hands were tied, I couldn't be sure, but it felt as if they weren't fastened to the chair. Pushing backwards and upwards, I endeavoured to stand up. Amazingly, the ropes slid upwards and away from the chair.

Suzi's eyes went wide. 'Wow - how'd you do that?'

I was now half-standing, half-sitting, with the middle part of my back level with the top of the chair. What I really needed was my prized knife, but being a sensible person (yeah, right), I'd left it at Suzi's house. So, what else could I use to loosen the ropes?

'Where d'you think you're going, then?'

I started at the voice and dropped back onto the chair. The man in the doorway was wearing a balaclava hat. It covered his whole face expect for his eyes. He leaned against the doorpost. I could tell from his tone that he was smiling.

'I wouldn't bother, lad, when the Master gets here, it won't matter if you're tied up or not.'

I glared at him. 'Oh yeah? And who's the Master when he's at home?'

The man chuckled, then straightened up and his voice changed. 'Never mind who he is. All yous need to know is that he's coming and when he gets here you won't have to worry about nothing ever again.' He turned round and went out.

I glanced at Suzi. Her mouth was clamped tight and I could see she was close to tears.

'Right,' I said, and forcing myself back and upwards, I heaved against the ropes. Sitting back down, I did it again, then again, until with one final effort I was suddenly free from the back of the chair. It was an easy matter then to wriggle out of the ropes around my chest, though my hands and feet were still tied fast.

Able to turn round now, I faced away from Suzi and held my wrists our towards her.

'What am I supposed to do?' she hissed. 'Bite through them?'

'How should I know,' I said. 'We've got to do something!'

It took a lot of shoogling around to get my hands high enough so Suzi could get at my bonds with her teeth, but eventually I could feel her pulling at the knots. After a few minutes, the ropes became slack and I was able to wriggle out of them.

It took a while longer to unfasten my feet, then I crossed to the pile of rubbish in the corner and rooted through it. There was nothing of any use, only a few bits of wood and a couple of broken brackets. I picked one of them up and examined it. It had snapped in two, leaving the broken end jagged. Crawling back to Suzi, I used my new gadget to saw through her bonds. It wasn't as effective as a hacksaw, but a lot better than nothing. As soon as she was free, I jumped up and hugged her. It was only then I noticed her mouth was bleeding.

'Sorry,' I murmured. 'That must have hurt.'

She nodded, dabbing at her lips. 'If there's any more rope-eating to be done, it'll be your turn.'

I pushed the bracket into my pocket and looked at the door. 'What now? Make a run for it?'

Suzi grabbed my hand. 'I've an awful feeling it'll be a waste of time, but we have to try.'

Walking slowly across the floor, I peered around the open doorway. The passage beyond was empty. Halfway along was another door, also partly open. There was no talking now, but another sound came to my ears. I whispered to Suzi, 'They've got the telly on.'

Moving forward, I kept tight hold of her hand, taking small steps over the bare floorboards. As we reached the door, I could see part of a sofa. It was facing away from us and though the room wasn't well lit, I could plainly see the backs of two heads. They appeared to be watching the shimmering light of the TV in the corner of the room.

I was about to walk past the doorway when I heard my name:

'Jeffrey?'

I almost fell over in fright. The voice was deep and gravelly, as if the person speaking had a mouthful of damp pebbles. I stared at Suzi, but she could only stare back.

'Why don't you. Come and. Join us, Jeffrey?' said the voice. 'And bring your. Friend.'

I wanted to turn and run but my feet wouldn't move. Twisting round I saw the stairs ahead of us and in a flash knew why there were no windows - we'd been in the basement.

'There's no escape, Jeffrey. The doors are locked. Why don't you come in? And introduce yourselves?' The voice sounded friendly, as if it wanted us to have fun, join in the party, etc.

Suzi pulled at my hand. Her eyes were wide and her mouth seemed to be moving, but there was no sound coming out. She was as helpless as I was.

Staring at my feet, I willed them to move. And then they did, but in the wrong direction - we were walking to the open door, towards the voice, and there was nothing either of us could do about it.

I stared at the bare floorboards as we shuffled into the room, the glow from the TV set in the corner throwing reddish beams over us. Reaching the edge of the sofa, I could see two figures sitting on the sofa. Neither of them was moving. For a moment I thought they might be unconscious - overpowered by some weird alien force, the same force that was dragging us towards the eerie red light. But then my head turned towards the image in the corner.

'All the way, come on, come on...'

Able to look up now, I saw the face on the screen. It was the same image I'd seen in my bedroom, and the one at my window, only now it was all too lifelike. Hearing Suzi gasp, I gripped her hand tighter. I wanted to shout out, 'Who are you?' but my mouth refused to work and all I could do was obey the voice.

The figure looking out at us from the TV had a skull for a face, its body shrouded in what looked like a monk's robe, the hood hanging down but not quite covering the creature's eyes.

My feet were still moving as if by remote control, transporting me, crablike, to stand in front of the sofa. My head was fixed on the screen but I found I was able to glance sideways at Suzi. Her eyes were staring at me, her mouth open.

'And now...' said the voice, prompting both of us to turn our attention back to the screen, 'you must...' There was a hissing noise and the picture flickered. The skull continued to speak but now the words were nothing but a mass of crackling and static, the image becoming fuzzy and distorted. A moment later, it went off altogether.

'Oh!' Suzi jumped, jerking away from me and I sensed a kind of electric shock as the force holding me dropped away, leaving me free to move.

Stumbling backwards, I stood on the toes of one of our captors. For the first time since we had entered the room, I turned to look at them. The one nearest me with his wide shoulders and bulky frame, was easily recognizable as the man who had chased us, but I was shocked to see that the other one was a young man, his blond hair cropped close to his head. He didn't look much older than me.

More importantly though, both had the same wide-eyed expression we'd seen on Harry McSpawn's face a few days earlier. And both, quite obviously, were dead.

Twelve

I looked back at the TV but the picture was blank and the sound had dropped to a low hum as the valves buzzed in the back of the set. For a moment, the only thought in my head was the mystery of how Skull-Man had been able to appear on the telly, but Suzi had other ideas.

'Come on,' she shrieked, grabbing at my jacket. 'Let's go.'

As I turned to follow her, I saw the dull, dead faces of our former captors. Beside the older man was a small black box with an aerial sticking out the top - a two-way radio. Thinking it might come in handy, I was about to pick it up, but Suzi gave me a sharp tug and dragged me out the door.

Back in the passage, we took to the stairs, flicking at the light switches as we went. One of them came on and gave us enough light to see our way to the ground floor. At the top were two more doors, one of them clearly leading to the room directly above the one we'd just vacated.

'That way,' I muttered, heading for the other door.

Pushing through, I was glad to find we'd made the right decision. The door opened into a kitchen, directly opposite the back door. Grasping the brass knob, I twisted it both ways, but it was locked.

'Use the key,' Suzi hissed, pushing me aside. Twisting the offending item, she yanked the door open and pushed me through it.

A wave of cold air rushed over me, but I didn't wait to enjoy the fresh aroma of freedom. Outside, an untended garden and rickety fence suggested the place was unoccupied, though it occurred to me that they must've had the electricity supply switched on, otherwise the TV wouldn't have worked.

At the garden gate, we headed left along a grassy path. The sky was still dark but there was a glow on the horizon, granting us enough light to see where we were going. Ahead lay a farm track that ran past the front of the house. I looked both ways, but there was nothing familiar. We had to find out where we were.

'Hey,' said Suzi, pulling my arm. 'Listen.'

I stood still. The sound we'd heard in the cellar was louder now and seemed to be coming from directly in front of us. 'The sea,' I said. 'There.'

We hurried across the track and climbed over a fence, leading us into a field. Luckily, the brown earth was hard, and we hurried to the other side where a shabby-looking hedge obscured whatever lay beyond.

Forcing our way through the spiky growth, we emerged on the other side.

'I know where we are,' said Suzi.

I nodded. 'Me too.'

Hurrying towards the cliff, I urged Suzi to slow down, lest the pair of us went sailing over the edge in our haste. Standing at the top, we looked down at the ancient community below - a dozen stone cottages, a few still showing signs of the whitewash that had once adorned them all, were built into the hillside. A century before, these ancient dwellings had provided shelter for what had been a thriving fishing industry. Now most were deserted, their roof beams having long since collapsed, leaving only ruins.

One cottage, however, appeared to be intact and the whitewash had recently been repainted. Unusually, the house also had smoke curling up from the chimney.

The route down to the beach took us further along the cliff edge and it was several minutes later when we reached the house. There was no garden as such, only an array of crates, fishing nets and other odds and ends that I guessed had washed up on the shore.

I glanced at Suzi for reassurance. She nodded eagerly and I banged on the door.

At first there was no reply, then a voice told us to 'Come on in, won't ye?'

I turned the wooden handle and went inside. The door opened into a square room, its bare walls covered with the same white paint as the outside. The front of the cottage faced the sea and its one small window let in a miniscule amount of light. Still, there was a pleasant glow about the place.

'Born in a barn, were ye?' said the old man crouching beside the fire.

'Sorry,' I muttered, and closed the door firmly. We stood for a moment, waiting for the owner to say something else. When he didn't, I stepped forward. 'Can you help us, please?'

The man kneeling in front of the fire eased another log into the flames and threw on a handful of coal. Then, shrugging the blanket off his shoulders, got to his feet. As he turned to face us, I had the curious sensation of watching a series of repeated movements in slow motion, as if every time his face almost came into view, it flicked back to the beginning, replaying those few seconds over and over.

When I heard Suzi's voice, it seemed to come from far away, instead of right next to me. Swivelling my head towards her, I had the same feeling of repeating my movements continually until finally I was able to look at her. Her mouth was definitely moving but the sounds barely registered. I watched, dazed, as her lips continued to operate in perfect silence.

Another sound came to my ears and I felt my head moving back to the old man. With the blanket now on the floor, I could see he was wearing some sort of tunic, but it wasn't until his hands moved upwards and grasped the hood, that I realised I'd seen the same outfit only minutes earlier. He was dressed like the creature on the TV.

Blinking rapidly, I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion. Then I heard Suzi's voice again, as clear as a ship's bell.

'...in this kind of cellar and they kept us there for ages and...'

Sliding my eyes sideways, I watched my friend as she told the story, her words registering in my head, but only in a crude way, as if I hadn't learned how to interpret what she was saying.

Then suddenly, the fogginess dropped away and I saw the old man, heard his voice, felt the heat from the fire.

'But look at me,' he said, 'leavin the pair of yous standin there like a couple of waifs. Won't the two of yous take a seat?' He waved a hand at two chairs on the other side of the fireplace. I waited for Suzi to sit down before pulling up the other one next to her. Her face looked normal, with no sign of confusion. Maybe it was just me? Perhaps I'd experienced some sort of delayed shock and it'd messed with my thinking processes? Whatever it was, everything seemed fine now.

The man was talking to me. I forced myself to concentrate and nodded as if I'd been listening the whole time.

'And this skull thing...you saw it too, eh?'

I nodded again. 'Yes, and it was...' About to say something relating to the man's mode of dress, I decided against it. 'Strange, that's all,' I said.

'Yeah, he was wearing this weird outfit, like monks wear,' blurted out Suzi. She waved a hand at the old man's clothing. 'A bit like yours, actually. She glanced at me then, but the coincidence seemed to have passed her by.

'Oh aye, this thing,' said the man, pulling at his robe. 'Washed up on the beach, like most of the stuff in here.' He looked around the room, apparently reminding himself of all the objects he'd collected.

Feeling that it was the polite thing to do, I looked around, nodding appreciatively at the array of ornaments and other brick-a-brac that decorated the shelves. In one corner was a bookcase made out of a beer barrel. In another, stood an old fashioned willow lobster pot with a spider plant growing out of it. As I moved my gaze back towards our host, I caught sight of the pile of books behind the old man, and the gray and black plastic box that was half-hidden behind them. A rubber cable came out of the back of it, leading to a pair of metal clamps where it was attached to a car battery on the floor.

'You've got a telly,' I said.

'Oh aye.' He shook his head. 'No power down 'ere, of course. Decoration, that's all.' He reached up, took down a clay pipe from the mantle shelf, and set about stuffing it with tobacco. But I'd seen the look on his face as he turned away. And I knew we were in trouble.

'Anyway, we should be off,' I said, getting to my feet.

Suzi looked up at me. 'What?'

'We need to go,' I said giving her what I thought was a meaningful look.

'Oh, right.' She frowned, but stood up and smiled at the old man.

He didn't smile back. Instead, he let out a long sigh - a sigh that seemed to emerge from somewhere deep within him.

I pushed Suzi towards the door, but escape wasn't to be so easy.

'Couldn't let it go, could you, Jeffrey?'

I froze, my eyes fixed on the man's face.

He put the clay pipe down and reached across to small object by his side. Lifting it to his face, he flicked a switch. 'They're here.'

The confusion dropped on me once again, pinning me to the spot. Unable to move, I tried to look at Suzi but even my eyes were fixed in position. All I could see was the old man. As I stared at his face, my eyelids grew heavy and blackness descended.

Thirteen

I blinked and opened my eyes. Or at least tried to, but there was nothing to see. Something close to my face blocked my vision - a hood, maybe? No, wrapped around my head was some sort of fabric, like a bandage, pulled tight across my face. A strange musky smell hit my nose. I sniffed, striving to work out what it was.

For a moment, I thought I must be in hospital, but no hospital ever smelled like this - the stench got worse, assaulting my nostrils as if I were lying on a bed of rotten vegetables. And it was cold, too, though I could tell from the vague sounds around me that this wasn't outside.

I blinked again and for the first time realised I was standing up, or more precisely, leaning against a hard surface. I might have been perfectly comfortable, if it wasn't for the fact I was completely unable to move. And that's when I panicked.

Trouble is, trying to panic when you can't move a muscle is pretty hard. I could feel my heart banging away in my chest and it was getting difficult to breathe. I'd heard about people having panic attacks and I definitely didn't like the sound of one of those. Keep calm, Jeff, I told myself - stay still, breathe slowly, take time to assess the situation.

Yeah, right.

Something moved next to me. A mumble.

'Suzi?' I said. Or would have done if I'd been able to speak. What came out was, 'Suuuph...'

A similarly retarded answer replied. It was Suzi alright, and she was very close to me, perhaps only a few inches away. If only I could see!

She grunted and nudged my shoulder. I nudged her back. It was only then that I began to concentrate on what I could, and could not do.

Thinking about it logically, I started with my head. It wouldn't move, not enough to be of any use, that is. So, focusing on my shoulders, I gave my right one a wiggle. It moved, though not much. I tried the left one - same thing. The thing to do in these situations (I told myself), was to visualise it as if I were looking at it from the outside. I remembered Mr Taylor telling us about meditation, how some individuals could somehow make themselves have an out-of-body-experience. I didn't think there was much chance of that, but it was worth a try.

Focusing on my arms, I imagined I was looking at myself from a few feet away. Then I concentrated on moving one arm at a time. Both arms were tight against my body but it was only then I realised whatever it was I was tied up with, had been wrapped around my whole body.

Oh, cripes. We'd been mummified!

The panic started again but I got a handle on it and managed to slow my breathing down. It all made sense - we were swathed in bandages or cloth of some kind so we couldn't move. Whoever did this wanted us out the way. Let's face it, people don't get mummified when they're going out to a party. In fact, they don't get mummified when they're alive.

I had to move my hands. If I could get a finger or a couple of fingers into my jeans pocket, there was a chance. My hands were already in position over the pockets, but they were too far down. I'd need to slide them upwards towards the opening. Wiggling the fingers of my right hand, I manoeuvred them around, shoogling my arm this way and that until I could feel the flap of the pocket. Sliding a finger in, I could feel the broken bracket. The bandages were still tight, but after a few minutes, I was able to slide the tool upwards. It was hard going, and I kept catching my fingers on the sharp edge. Eventually, with my hand turned outwards, the edge of the bracket was against the fabric.

I began sawing.

It was a little while later before I could feel any progress, and even then, I hadn't made much impression on the tough material. It seemed that I'd managed to cut through a couple of strips but they were obviously overlapped by several more strips. It would take hours to get free.

And that's when they came for us.

The first voice was that of the old man in the cottage.

'Time to go,' he rasped, and I heard him clump across the floor. Suzi let out a moan and I sensed he'd picked her up. A moment later, two strong hands grasped my waist and I felt myself tipped upwards and thrown over someone's shoulder.

Something hit my head as we were carried along. I heard the scraping of boots on wood, then we were outside, cold air finding its way to my face. I had the sense that it was dark, which might have meant we'd been asleep all day.

I heard a muffled yelp and a thump, then my captor lowered me onto a hard edge, like a bench. Someone pushed me onto my back, then rolled me over a few times. Suzi was moaning next to me and I shuffled towards the sounds so she would at least know I was there.

A gruff voice shouted, 'Cover 'em up,' and a heavy sheet landed on top of us. From the weight of it I reckoned it must be a tarpaulin, like the ones Jimmy Brick's dad used to tie stuff onto the back of his lorry.

There was a clank of metal on metal and a thud. Then again - a clank and a thud. There was something strangely familiar about the sound, but for a moment, I struggled to work out where I'd heard it before. Then an engine rattled into life - rumbling and sputtering as if it was old and past its best. And that's when I knew. On Saturday mornings, the rag and bone men came along our street, collecting rubbish and old furniture. They had a big old lorry and would throw stuff in the back, stacking things up where necessary, or pushing them to one side. And when they'd finished, they'd flip the tailgate back up, locking each side into place with a metal pin attached to a short chain.

The noise of the engine, however, was different, so I knew we weren't in the back of the rag and bone lorry. The vehicle jerked and moved forward, throwing us across the floor. As it picked up speed I could hear the driver changing through the gears. The truck had to be on a road, or more likely, a rough track, as we were lurching around from side to side, not chugging along smoothly like we'd be doing if it was a proper road.

Had there been a road near the old man's cottage? The only one I could think of was the farm track nearby, but if it was that one we'd have had to be carried from the cottage all the way up to the top, so they must have already taken us back to the other house. Or somewhere else entirely.

The rotten-vegetable smell from earlier had gone but it'd been replaced with a different one - the fumes from the engine crept over me, making me gag. If we were left here too long, we'd die. I had to do something.

I was lying on my back and still had the broken bracket in my hand, though my arm had slid round so it was almost behind me. Wriggling up onto my left side, I worked my hand back and forth until it was roughly in the same position as before. I could feel the piece of rough fabric I'd already cut. If I could cut through the other layers, it might be possible to get my hand free.

'Nnggh,' said a voice next to me. I felt a lurch in my stomach - though I didn't have a clue what she was trying to say, Suzi sounded distressed. I wished I could tell her my plan, but all I could do was keep working away with the bracket.

The lorry's engine whined and dropped down a gear. We must be going uphill. If we were still in the area around Skeleton Cove, the only hills were near the beach, where all of the roads curved up towards the town. Still sawing away at the tough fabric, I tried to imagine where we might be headed. If they were taking us into town, they must have a hideout, a warehouse maybe, somewhere they could lock us in. But that didn't make sense - if they wanted us out of action, they'd already achieved that by tying us up with these bandages. No, there must be another reason.

The piece of fabric I'd been working on gave way and my fingers poked though. At last! Pushing the bracket back into my pocket, I pulled at my bindings and immediately felt something give way. Seconds later my hand was free and able to grab at the bandages higher up. Scrabbling around for anything that might be loose, my fingers found a knot. Even though I'd never been in the scouts, I could tell this was a reef knot. Feeling my way around it, I pushed one of the free ends back through the loop and a moment later, the thing fell away.

Grasping one of the now loose ends, I pulled at it, and the bandages around my stomach loosened a little more. Taking my time, I wriggled around, pulling and undoing my ties.

It felt like an absolute age, but could only have been a few minutes before my right arm was free. After that if was easy and I pulled the rest of the bandages away from my body and head.

As soon as I'd got rid of the ones around my face, I could see. Throwing the tarpaulin to one side, I sat up. Sure enough, we were in the back of a grotty-looking truck, Suzi lying beside me. My feet were still tied but leaning over, I unfastened three of the knots around her tummy and neck and in a flash, her arms were free, clawing at her bonds like a mad thing.

'Jeez,' she gasped, who are they?'

I followed her gaze. In my haste to set her free, I hadn't noticed there were two other 'mummies' in the lorry with us. They lay on the floor near the back of the truck by the tailgate. Both were much bigger than us and it was pretty obvious who they were.

I looked at Suzi. 'The ones in the house?'

She nodded slowly. 'At least they are dead...'

We hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened before, but it seemed likely the two grown-ups had suffered the same fate as Harry McSpawn.

Suzi shuddered. 'Can we get out of here now, please?'

Above the tailgate, a length of tarpaulin hung down, shutting out the night sky. Fastened at one corner but not the other, it would be an easy matter to climb over the tailgate and jump off the lorry. Crawling to where the material flapped in the wind, I peered out.

'We're on the Bonefield Gardens estate,' I said. 'Looks like they're headed for the school.'

Suzi sat up quickly. 'Or the cemetery.' A hand went to her mouth and she pointed at the two bodies. 'They're going to bury us in Haggerty's Park.'

Fourteen

Thinking back, that moment of realisation would've been the perfect time to clamber over the tailgate and jump off the lorry.

But we didn't do that. Instead, we sat there staring at each other, trying to comprehend the horror of what was about to happen.

As if on cue, the lorry screeched to a halt.

'Quick, we have to –'

Suzi slapped a hand over my mouth and shook her head, urging me to keep quiet. Grabbing the tarpaulin, she dragged it towards us. In an instant, I understood her plan. We'd cover ourselves up as before so the bad guys wouldn't realise we were free. With any luck, they'd take the other two corpses first, giving us time to make our escape.

The cab doors banged shut and an unknown number of feet walked round to the back of the lorry. Two men were talking - did that mean there were only two? I hoped so. They were discussing how to do it.

'We'll 'ave ter use the barrow,' said one.

'Can't - I didn't bring it.'

'Aw, you stupid git, now we'll 'ave ter carry em one at a time, over the bleedin wall, right the way across the bleedin cemetery in the bleedin dark.'

The other man said he wasn't a stupid git and anyway the wheel on the barrow was squeaky and would've made too much noise.

They quarrelled for another minute or two, then there was a thud as the tailgate dropped open. I held my breath, praying they'd take the adults first. If either of the men pulled back the tarpaulin, we'd be in big trouble.

Luckily, they did exactly what Suzi guessed they'd do. There was a scraping sound as they hauled one of the mummies along the floor, then the men took turns to curse each other at the weight of it.

Lifting my head as much as I dared, I pulled the tarpaulin aside and peered out, following the direction of the voices. It sounded like they'd walked back around towards the front of the lorry. Pushing the heavy sheet back, I nudged Suzi. 'Time to go.'

As quietly as possible, we lowered ourselves down over the edge and onto the ground. I crept to the side of the lorry and slid sideways just enough to watch the proceedings.

The men had balanced the first body on top of the wall and were endeavouring, with quite a bit of toing and froing, to manhandle it over the top. I waited until they'd both climbed over before signalling to Suzi that we should move.

'Wait,' she hissed. 'Shouldn't we see where they go, first?'

'Why?'

'So we can tell the police, of course.'

She was right. No-one would ever believe our story unless we could prove it. We'd have to see where they buried the bodies. Keeping a close eye on the villains' progress, I ran over to the wall. It was hard to see in the dark but it looked like the men had made it as far as the central path.

'Where are they taking it?' said Suzi, crouching beside me.

'Not sure. But if they're actually going to bury it, there has to be a grave.'

She nodded. 'And they don't have shovels so it must already be there.'

'Let's climb over,' I said. 'We can circle round from the top end, so they don't see us.'

And that's what we did. Staying in the shadow of the wall, we circled round until we were close enough to see what the men were doing. Crouching behind a clump of bushes, we watched as the body was lowered to the ground a few feet away from a mound of earth. They straightened up, rubbed their backs and had a bit of a moan about it being hard work, before picking up their load again.

'Can you still see them,' said Suzi, looking over my shoulder.

'No. We'll have to get closer.' I moved to the other side of the bushes and crept forward, with Suzi hanging onto my jacket. Now we were only a few feet away - too close for my liking, but so long as we didn't make any noise, they'd never know we were there.

As we watched, they picked up the mummified corpse and lowered it into the hole. There was a dull thud as they let it drop the last few feet. The taller of the two men took out a torch and placed it on the ground so it shone a beam across the open grave. Then, picking something up from the ground beside the hole, he threw a few shovelfuls of earth over the corpse.

'One down,' he muttered. Then dropping the shovel, he pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit up. He took his time, leaning against the tree, blowing out a long plume of smoke. The other man stuck his hands in his pockets.

'What're they doing?' whispered Suzi in my ear.

'Having a rest, maybe? I dunno.'

The man with the cigarette walked around the grave, then turned and headed straight towards our hiding place. Tensing, I made ready to grab Suzi and run like blazes, but the man did a U-turn and plonked himself down on a tree stump.

'Should've been 'ere by now,' he grumbled.

I looked at Suzi. They were expecting someone else - but who? The people in the cellar had said they were waiting for someone else too, and look what happened to them! Peering at the darkened graveyard around us, my eyes searched the gloom for signs of anyone approaching. We'd seen no other vehicles, but that didn't mean anything - whoever they were expecting might easily arrive on foot.

And that's when I heard it.

Directly behind us a twig snapped. The man on the tree stump jumped up and peered over our heads into the darkness. Me and Suzi crouched down as far as we could without actually merging into the earth.

There was someone, or something, standing behind us. How far away was difficult to tell and I daren't chance taking a proper look - if I raised my head, the thing (whatever it was), would see me for sure. We had to sit tight and keep down.

Suzi mouthed, 'I want to go home,' her eyes fixed on the dark figure walking towards us.

'Over 'ere, Sir,' said one of the men, moving forward. His boots clomped through the grass within a few inches of our hiding place. Then he stopped and shuffled his feet. I turned my head slowly and saw the man's left leg. It was shaking - from fear or irritation, I couldn't tell.

'We got em,' said the shaky-legged man. 'Just threw the first one in.' He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. His words sounded odd - the gruff villain of earlier had gone and there was a strain in his voice, the same thing I'd noticed when we'd asked Mr Dangerfield about Devilgate Drive. Maybe this man was expecting some sort of punishment?

The dark figure hadn't moved. Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the shape.

The man next to me had stepped in front of us, so now I couldn't see the newcomer. But I heard him.

'Fetch. The. Others.'

The voice was low, but seemed to vibrate right through me, hammering at my ribcage as if it were a xylophone. Suzi gasped and clamped a hand over her own mouth. I looked up, but there was no sign anyone had noticed.

Shaky-Leg Man gave a little bow, like a servant, and ran off back towards the lorry, his partner hurrying after him.

As I watched, the thing in front of us dropped its head and stared straight at me, unseen eyes burning into my face.

'Y-o-u...' A claw-like hand swung upwards, elongated fingers curling into a fist, one solitary digit pointing directly at me.

'Y-o-u...' it said again, the word reverberating through my chest, making my bones ache.

Suzi jumped up. 'Leave us alone.'

The thing growled like something feral. It shook its head, and the hood that had concealed its face dropped back, revealing two red eyes.

I swallowed hard. It was the Skull Man. And since there were no superheroes on hand to save us, there was only one thing to do.

But Suzi hadn't finished her rant. 'Why don't you go and scare someone your own size?'

Carefully, I took hold of her shoulders and stepped in front of her. If we were about to get eaten or exterminated by this beast, at least I could die knowing I'd tried to protect my best friend. Keeping the creature in sight, I sidestepped the tree and walked slowly backwards, pushing Suzi towards the open grave. If I could somehow trip the creature up and push it into the hole, we might have a chance. Either that, or we'd end up right where they'd wanted us in the first place - dead and buried.

What happened next is a blur - the thing in front of us moved, or appeared to move and was instantly twice the size it had been. Had it leaped closer or simply grown in size? If there'd been time to think about it, I'd have done the sensible thing and shone my torch in its eyes, before running like blazes back down the path.

But I didn't have my torch. Instead, dragging Suzi along with me, I ran straight past the grave and into the trees. A shout from our left told me the two men had realised what was happening and were running towards us. We had to hide, and quickly. Pushing through a clump of bushes, I heard Suzi yelp. Spinning round, I grabbed the branch that'd caught her sleeve and yanked it free. Breaking through onto a stretch of open ground, we ran hell for leather. We had to reach the trees.

A fleeting thought occurred to me as I caught sight of a handful of random letters. The last time we were here, we hadn't explored the area around the rusty sign. If we had, we'd have seen the hole.

As the earth fell away beneath us, I heard Suzi scream.

Fifteen

I landed with a thud, the wind knocked out of me. A second later, Suzi crashed down on top of me.

For a few long moments, we could do nothing but gasp for breath. As we lay there panting, I stared upwards, searching for signs of our pursuers. There was nothing to see but a pale circle of night sky far above. Though I was grateful there were no hideous creatures or villains clambering down after us, it was a little disconcerting to learn they'd apparently lost interest. Closer to hand, a light source cast a muted glow bright enough to see what we had landed on.

'Straw,' I muttered, grasping a handful. A tang of something earthy wafted across my face. I sniffed.

'Smells like a farmyard,' said Suzi scrambling to her feet. 'Except without the farm.'

Standing, I brushed myself down and took in our surroundings. We appeared to be in a huge fireplace - the type I'd seen in medieval castles. The fireplace opened up into a room that might have been a kitchen at some point in time. The walls were bare, the stonework dusty and worn, like it'd been there for hundreds of years. Though the light was dim, I could see a half-open door at the other side of the room.

Loose bundles of straw covered the ground where we'd landed. It was perhaps two feet deep and had clearly been there for a while. There were signs of leftover food too, and a general smell of mustiness about the place.

Looking across to where the light was coming from, I could see an old wooden door standing partially open, allowing a narrow shaft of light to fall across the ground. A scratching noise above us prompted me to peer upwards towards the hole we'd fallen through, but it was no longer there, as if someone had rolled a boulder over it, ensuring we could never return.

Getting up, I crossed to the door and looked out. A wide stone-flagged passageway disappeared into the distance. On one side stood a metal brazier stuffed with burning wood and rags, the flickering orangey glow illuminating the immediate area.

'Come on,' I murmured, taking Suzi's hand.

Stepping through the door, we paused. Apart from the little we could see from the glow of the fire, it was hard to make out anything, but I guessed there had to be other rooms leading off the passage.

Moving towards the fire, I noticed a faded nameplate on the wall above, telling us we were in Devilgate Passage.

'This is crazy,' said Suzi. I felt her shudder as she gazed up at the sign. 'What does it mean?'

Turning to look again at the fire, I sensed movement somewhere up ahead. Nudging Suzi, I nodded towards where I thought the figure had been. 'Someone's there.'

'Don't suppose it occurred to you to pick up that bloke's torch?'

'Nope. Did it occur to you?' She shook her head. 'Anyway, I've got a better idea.' Approaching the brazier, I took one of the burning sticks and prodded around in the embers until I managed to wrap a couple of bits of cloth around the end. It wasn't much like the flaming torches you see in old adventure movies, but it was better than nothing.

Heading along the passage, I held the light in front of us, concentrating my gaze on the dark shape lolloping along a few yards ahead.

'You do realise we might be chasing a monster?' said Suzi.

'What's the most memorable thing about Jimmy Brick?'

Suzi made a face. 'You mean apart from that he's hardly ever at school?'

'Yes, apart from that.' I stopped and looked at her.

'Well,' she dropped her head and thought for a moment. 'He has a limp. From the time he fell off the roof of the pool hall.'

'Exactly.' I looked back at the distant figure ahead of us. 'I think that's him.'

'So why doesn't he stop and say hello?' I couldn't tell from her tone if she was being sarcastic.

I set off again, Suzi following close behind.

'And what about the weirdo in the cemetery? Where's he gone?'

'I really don't know, Suzi, but if that's Jimmy up there, he might be able to tell us what the heck's going on.'

'If it's Jimmy, why's he running away?' But she grunted a petulant agreement nevertheless.

We'd reached the end of the passage and our target seemed to have vanished. I stopped at a sort of junction and looked around. Running off in different directions were three more passageways. The one directly in front of us was by far the darkest. 'Let's go this way,' I said, pointing towards the left hand passage. I was still pondering on my decision when Suzi tapped me on the shoulder. 'What?'

'We've got company.'

Swivelling my head, I followed her gaze. The Creature/Monster/Weirdo from the cemetery was coming towards us from the opposite direction.

'Oh, pants...' I muttered. Glancing around, I caught sight of the person I'd assumed was Jimmy Brick. He seemed to be waiting for us. Grabbing Suzi's hand, I hurried after him.

The one I'd thought might be Jimmy didn't move, but stood watching as we approached. As we came closer, I heard the thud of footsteps behind us. Whirling round, the taller of the two figures was almost upon us. He stopped suddenly and held out a hand. There were now only a few yards between us. I tried to pull Suzi away, but my feet refused to move. If only I had a weapon of some sort. Then I remembered the flaming torch. The burning rags had almost burned out, but I still had the stick. Throwing my arm back, I prepared to thrust it in the face of our attacker.

'Don't do that, mate,' said the monster.

I dropped the stick. 'Mr Taylor?'

The man in the black robe threw back his hood. 'Yes, and no, actually.'

Suzi let out a low moan. 'You're bleedin joking?'

Mr Taylor gave her a hard stare. 'Language, Miss Charlton.' He waved a hand towards the smaller hooded figure. 'Perhaps we should go inside?'

He pushed past and led the way to another door. We followed him into a small room with a table and a few dusty-looking stools. Mr Taylor lit a paraffin lamp and placed it in the centre of the table. The boy had already sat down and thrown back his hood. It wasn't Jimmy.

'Do we know you?' said Suzi.

The boy looked at the floor and muttered, 'Neville. Neville Mole.'

'They were talking about you on the news,' I said.

Mr Taylor waved his arms. 'Alright, alright, we can get to that later. For now, we've got other things to discuss.'

When we'd taken our seats, Mr Taylor clasped his hands in front of him and looked at us. 'I'd like to say I'm happy to see you, but I'm not.'

I shrugged. 'Thanks.'

'What I mean, is,' he went on, 'like you, I ended up here by accident. As far as I can ascertain, there's no way out.'

A crease slid along Suzi's brow. 'Can't we just climb back up through the hole?'

'It's a chimney, actually, and yes, you'd think so, but it's too wide. Maybe if we had a ladder or some means of making one, but there's nothing here, only bits of old furniture. Most of it rotten with woodworm.'

'How come you're here?' I said.

He smiled ruefully. 'I was searching the cemetery for signs of Devilgate Drive and someone pushed me.'

Me and Suzi exchanged glances. 'You were searching for Devilgate Drive too?'

He nodded. Slipping a hand inside his robe, he held out a card. It read:

Mysteries Incorporated

No Mystery Too Small

'It's a sort of hobby of mine,' he explained, 'but what I really want to know, is how you two got here, and what you know about all this.'

We took turns relating our adventures, from finding Harry McSpawn's body to almost getting buried alive.

When we'd finished, Mr Taylor nodded slowly, his face creased in thought. Eventually, he said, 'I got you into this - it's my fault. I wanted you to find Jimmy Brick to prove he wasn't involved.'

Suzi leaned forward. 'Involved in what?'

His fingers tapped the table. 'I knew Jimmy had one of the tee-shirts - I saw him wearing it at a Monster Mash Convention a few weeks ago. Trouble is, we hadn't realised how important the tee-shirts were.'

'I think you'd better explain,' I said.

'You know about Nathaniel Darke?'

'We've heard of him.'

'Well, our group believe he's a Demon.'

Suzi coughed. 'A demon. And what's one of those?'

'I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true. Darke had dabbled in the black arts for years and when his firm got a contract to build a new estate, he had very specific ideas on its design. At first, he built Devilgate Crescent and Devilgate Lane, and at that point, he stuck to the plans, but when he began work on Devilgate Drive, the local authorities demanded the site be demolished.'

'Why?' I said.

'Because,' said Mr Taylor with a grim face, 'he built it in the shape of a skull.'

'Wow,' I said. 'Cool.'

He laughed. 'Maybe it's cool to you two, but a hundred years ago it was seen as sacrilegious. The whole town turned against him. In fact, they hounded him into his grave, quite literally.'

'He is dead, though?' said Suzi.

Mr Taylor took a long breath and let it out slowly. 'He should be.'

'Hang on,' I said. 'When you say they hounded him into his grave...'

'You like horror movies, don't you, Jeff?' I nodded. 'Well, it was a bit like one of those old films, where the villagers chase the monster out of town and he falls over a cliff or gets burned in a fire.' He paused. 'One night in 1881, when Nathaniel Darke was finishing off some paperwork in his office, he heard voices outside. When he went to the window, the townsfolk were marching up the road holding burning brands. Before he could do anything, they'd set fire to his house. He was able to escape, but they chased him to the building site. When they were sure he was inside, they boarded up the windows and doors. Using soil and rubble transported from Darke's other building sites, they buried Devilgate Drive, making it into an artificial hill. It was renamed Haggerty's Park, and as the town was in need of a cemetery...' He shook his head. 'Nathaniel Darke was never seen again.'

'Cripes.' Suzi shivered, then sat up straight. 'Wait - are we...?'

He nodded. 'We are inside Devilgate Drive.'

We sat in silence for a moment, then I said, 'Hang on, how d'you know all this?'

Mr Taylor cleared his throat. 'Because I intend to put things right, to force Skeleton Cove to recognise the genius known as Nathaniel Darke.'

'Er...' I began.

'You see,' he continued, 'George Taylor is Nathaniel Darke's great, great, grandson.' He paused, then, 'I, on the other hand, am the real thing...' His smile faded and as we watched, Mr Taylor's face fell away, revealing the skull underneath. His eyes turned red and his mouth dropped open. Somewhere deep inside my brain I was aware of being totally unable to move.

Sixteen

Cool dank air wafted over my face.

The notion of being propelled backwards floated into my head. I blinked and tried to focus. In front of me, the wall slid towards the floor. I blinked again and tried to shake my head, but my head said no. As my senses gradually returned, I realised I was lying on a trolley, travelling along a wide stone passageway. The wall I'd thought to be sliding downwards, was in fact the ceiling.

'He's waking up, Master,' said a voice.

Something prevented me from lifting my head - a strap or belt held it fast to the cart. My hands too, were fastened at my sides and I could hear the clatter of metal wheels on the stone floor.

'What...?' I tried.

The boy I knew as Neville Mole leaned over me, his blackened teeth grinning like some hideous gargoyle. 'Wouldn't say nuffin if I was you, or you'll get it for sure.' He grinned again and slithered out of sight.

This was bad. Very bad. Whatever they had in store for me, maybe I was better off not knowing. But whatever it was, it would be happening to Suzi too. Where was she? I tried again to lift my head, but it was no use. Focusing instead on what I could hear, I endeavoured to separate out the various sounds - the clattering of the wheels, the wheezing of my childlike captor and the two sets of thumping footsteps. That's it - there was another cart following us. It had to be Suzi.

I can't say this information made me feel better, but knowing she was close by calmed my nerves, if only temporarily. All I had to do was get hold of the knife I'd stashed in my pocket for just such an occasion, cut my bonds, grab Suzi and shimmy up the non-existent ladder inside the chimney to safety. Oh, and roll away the massive boulder that was blocking the hole.

Except I couldn't do any of that because I'd left my knife at Suzi's house.

A feeling of deja vu crept over me. All we needed to complete this total mess was to be trussed up like mummies and thrown into an open grave. Again.

A sudden jolt interrupted my fantasy as the trolley came to a halt. We banged through a door and into a darker room. Two pairs of hands shoogled me onto a stone slab. I realised the thing I was tied to wasn't a trolley after all, but a sort of wooden frame - I'd been stretched across it like a spider's web, and like an unlucky fly, I was well and truly caught.

There was movement close by and I heard a Suzi-like grunt. The two sets of footsteps receded and a door slammed thud. When I was sure they'd gone, I said, 'Suz? That you?'

'Course it's me - didn't think I'd leave you here to die a horrible death all by yourself, did you?' She laughed, harshly, her voice choked with tears.

'Can you move?'

She moaned. 'Don't think so. You?'

I tested each limb in turn - left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. Nothing. Then I had a thought. 'Hey, are you tied to a wooden frame?'

She was silent for a moment, then, 'Yeah, think so.'

'Me too. But I reckon the frames aren't fastened to the tables.'

'How does that help?'

She was right. Even if we could manoeuvre ourselves off these slabs, we'd still be tied up. But as it was pretty unlikely some superhero was going to fly in and rescue us, we had to give it a go. If only because I was getting really bored with being tied up by a bunch of demonic villains.

I did a mental checklist and worked out that my head, hands, feet and ankles were attached to the frame. Maybe I could shuffle my way off the slab? Pressing down with hands and feet, I found I could lift my bottom an inch or two off the stone surface and move it a couple of inches to one side. I did this again, then again, until I could feel the edge of the table under my right thigh. With a little more shoogling, I could probably tip myself and the wooden frame over the edge. The problem was, if I landed face down, I'd be snookered.

'I'm going to try something,' I said, in what I hoped was a reassuring voice. Moving another inch to the side, I felt the edge of the table digging into my leg. Just a little more and I'd be over. Giving it one last go, I felt myself tipping and a second later, I was standing upright, gazing down at Suzi.

'Wow,' she said, swivelling her eyes towards me. 'You did it.'

'Now I just need to...' Pushing my bottom away from the edge of the table I was leaning on, I tilted forward, then thumped backwards. Another go, and this time I fell forwards and crashed against the slab holding Suzi.

'Hi,' I said. Now I was standing over her, the base of my frame wedged diagonally against the base of my slab, while my stomach rested against Suzi's slab.

'Is that better?' she said.

I gave her my most hopeful smile. 'Hang on.' Stretching myself as low as possible within the frame, I jumped, or as near as I could get to a jump, upwards, and found I was able to move sideways, towards Suzi's head. After several minutes of similar moves, my left hand was level with her left hand. All I had to do now was unfasten her bonds.

My fingers grappled with the ropes, but I could only just reach the knot so it was difficult to do very much. However, after a few goes, I managed to loosen it enough for Suzi to move her hand closer to my fingers. In another few minutes, I got her hand free.

I watched her reach over and undo the knots in her right wrist, then she undid the strap across her forehead.

It took another few minutes to unfasten my bonds. As I straightened up, I heard a noise. 'They're coming back. Hide.'

Suzi looked around the room. 'Where?'

At the other side of the room was a long cupboard with two doors on it. Pulling open the nearest one, it was the obvious place for two children to hide. Pushing the door almost closed, I grabbed Suzi's arm. 'Behind here. Quick.'

We'd barely squeezed into position when the door opened, prompting us to press ourselves as close to the wall as possible.

There was a shout and a hooded figure moved towards the cupboard. As he did so, I swung around between him and the edge of the door, then out into the passageway, pulling Suzi behind me.

Another shout came from the room, but it was the black-toothed boy in front of us who looked most surprised. Throwing up his hands as if to stop us, he let out a yell, but I barged straight into him, knocking him sideways.

Pelting down the passage, there was no time to stop and get our bearings - we could be anywhere in this maze of corridors. Arriving at a junction of yet more passages, I turned left for no other reason than there were flaming torches lighting the way.

There was a door at the end standing ajar. Since we had no time to discuss the merits of entering a room unannounced, I barged right in. We were in the kitchen again.

'Oh, great,' I muttered.

'Wait,' said Suzi, staring at the massive fireplace. 'It's not the same.'

'What isn't?'

'There's no straw. It's a different room.'

I followed her gaze. She was right, though I couldn't see how that information would help us. There was still a massive fireplace with a massive chimney above it...

Ducking under the lintel, I looked up. Sure enough there was a light at the top, but this time it wasn't darkness, but daylight. There was enough light so see the sides of the chimney and a few feet up from where I stood, I could clearly see footholds carved into the sides of the brickwork.

'Come on - it's a ladder.' Standing with my back against the wall, I cupped my hands. Suzi wasted no time and plonked her foot in, stretching up to the first step. As soon as she was a few feet up, I moved to the other side of the fireplace and took a running jump, generating enough momentum to grab the lowest of the footholds. For a second, I hung there a few feet off the ground, then swinging my other hand up, grasped at a ledge and heaved. Scrabbling with my boots against the stonework, I thought for one horrible moment I wasn't going to make it, but then my left foot slid into a crevice and I was climbing upwards after Suzi.

Below us, a cry of anguish echoed up the chimney. Looking down, I could make out a face peering up at me, but couldn't tell who it belonged to. I stared at the face, terrified some unearthly power would reach up and haul me back down to God knows where. But nothing happened.

It was a long climb to the top and we both had to stop several times for breath. With the light above us growing brighter all the time, we had plenty motivation to carry on. Eventually I could make out the detail of the bricks around the edge of the chimney. Suzi heaved herself over the rim and as she disappeared from view, I heard her gasp with relief.

There were only a few more feet now and though I was struggling to keep going, I began to imagine sitting down at the kitchen table at home, tucking into a plate of Captain Cockeyed's Fishy Fingers. As I reached up and grasped the rim of the chimney, a hand clutched my wrist. The shock caused me to lose my footing and I slid a few inches back down, my free hand flailing around. A moment later, another arm reached down and I was hauled out into the daylight.

Tumbling onto the grass, it was a moment before I was able to look up at my saviour. When I did, I was in for a shock. It was Mr Taylor.

Suzi was leaning against a tree, staring at him, her eyes wide, her mouth open. Jumping up, I slid my arm around her and turned to face him.

'Leave us alone, you –'

'Now lad, now lad,' said a familiar voice.

I whirled round to see Sergeant Potter standing behind me, hands on hips. He laughed.

'Get him away from us,' I yelled.

Potter stepped forward. He glanced at Mr Taylor and gave him one of those 'here-we-go' looks, as if me and Suzi were just two stupid kids.

'We've had half the town out lookin fer yous two. What the bleedin heck yer been doing?'

My eyes flicked between him and Taylor, but I stayed where I was, holding Suzi close.

Potter frowned. 'What? Nowt to say for yourselves? Right then, better get yous down the station. Cocoa and biscuits'll be the order of the day, eh? Then you can tell us all about it.'

I allowed the sergeant to guide us across the lower end of the cemetery and through the gate to the waiting police car. Maggie Stewart was waiting by the car and gave us both a hug, though she didn't say anything.

The journey to the police station seemed to take ages and I spent most of it looking out the back window at Mr Taylor's Morris Marina. Whatever story he'd told Potter, I was going to make sure the police heard the true version of events.

But then, what was the true version? That me and Suzi had been held captive by a bunch of villains? That we'd been kidnapped, locked in a cellar, seen a demon on the telly and found two of the baddies dead? We could tell how we'd run to a fisherman's cottage for help, but he'd turned out to be one of the demon's cronies. And how they'd wrapped us up like a pair of mummies, intending to bury us in the cemetery. And then...

It was hardly a believable story. In fact it was exactly the sort of tale I used to read in my horror comics, like Dawn of the Dreary Dead, or The Fiend of the Fell, or...

I looked at Suzi but she was fast asleep, her head lolling on my shoulder.

Seventeen

Mrs Delacroix fussed around us, providing warm blankets and hot tea. She said Maggie had gone to let our parents know we were safe and that the sergeant would drop us off at home as soon as he'd had a chat.

Huh - a chat? I could imagine exactly how that was going to go. We'd tell him what had happened, how we'd been mummified and almost buried alive and how Mr Taylor was a demon. Then everyone would have a good laugh and say things like, 'Tch - kids, eh?' Or maybe not - maybe they'd write us off as a couple of troublemakers, or throw us in the detention centre for young offenders at Northfield.

I sipped my tea and looked at Suzi. I could tell from her face she was thinking the same as me. Whatever we said was going to sound like rubbish. She leaned against me and slipped her fingers through mine.

'We have to tell the truth, even if they don't believe us.'

I nodded, but I wasn't convinced.

To give him his due, Sergeant Potter listened to us while we told our tale. He nodded or frowned occasionally and sometimes jotted down a note in his little black book, but other than that, he didn't interrupt.

'Hmm,' he said, when Suzi told how we'd climbed up the chimney. He looked at her, then at me. He looked at his notebook and flicked back through the pages. Then he drained his coffee cup and put it down carefully on the table. Eventually he spoke.

'I'm not going ter say I believe all this guff about demons and whatnot, cos I don't, but I will say this - I've heard stories about Nathaniel Darke and his carryings on. I've also heard tales of underground passages and such like underneath the cemetery, so...' He chewed his lip and made tutting noises. 'However, all this Mr-Taylor-is-a-demon rubbish, well. Got to admit, it's a bit far-fetched, eh?'

'We knew you wouldn't believe us,' I said.

'Look, son,' he said in a quieter voice. 'I've known George Taylor a long time. If he was a demon, I think I'd have noticed.'

'No you wouldn't,' I said, leaning forward. 'We didn't notice until today and anyway, you weren't there...'

He held up a hand. 'Now just hang on. I said I didn't believe he was a demon but I'm prepared to admit that you might - I say might - have seen someone who looks like him and that this same someone might have been involved in kidnapping the pair of yous.'

'It was him,' said Suzi, squeezing my hand. 'And his face fell off. That doesn't happen to normal people, does it?'

Sergeant Potter chuckled. 'No, I must admit, it doesn't.' He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. 'I think the best thing you two can do is leave this to us. If there's a crime been committed, we'll find the culprits.'

Which, to my ears, sounded exactly like, 'Sorry but we don't believe you.'

Potter sighed. 'Right, we'd better get you home.'

In the back of the police car, I began to wish I'd had time to talk over everything with Suzi. Potter would drop her off first, then me, and I wouldn't see her again until school tomorrow. That's assuming Mum would even let me out of the house alone.

By the time we got to my house, Maggie was just leaving. She gave me a hug and told me to sleep well. Inside, it was almost teatime and Mum had a hot meal waiting. She held me tightly for a long time before finally allowing me to sit down at the kitchen table.

'I thought...' She waved her hand in front of her face and dabbed at her eyes. 'Don't you ever do anything like that again.' Her voice was calm but I could tell she was dead serious and I felt bad that she'd been worrying about me. Which made my decision to shimmy down the drainpipe after she'd gone to bed, all the more difficult.

Before going to bed, I pretended to go for a glass of water from the kitchen. There was something I needed if my plan was to work. I made a big thing of saying goodnight to Mum, then went up to the bathroom. After cleaning my teeth, I gave my face a good wash with cold water, hoping it would help keep me awake. Then it was simply a case of pacing around my bedroom as quietly as possible, counting the minutes until I heard Mum's footsteps on the stairs. When she came out of the bathroom, I jumped into bed and switched out my light just as she opened my bedroom door. Closing it quietly, she went to her own room and I waited for the telltale click of the door and the squeaking of the springs in her mattress as she got into bed.

I resumed my pacing around the room, going over everything that had happened since we left school on Friday. There was plenty to think about and I still didn't really know if my plan made any sense. If I was wrong, we'd be no further forward but if I was right... I put that thought out of my head.

Half an hour later, I risked opening my window.

An icy wind bit into my face as I clambered down the drainpipe. I wished I'd brought a jacket, but I'd had to leave it hanging on the hook in the hall in case Mum got suspicious. With two jumpers and a woolly hat, I'd have to keep moving to stay warm.

The streetlights were still on, so I kept in the shadows as much as possible until I got to Suzi's house. I hadn't been able to tell her my plan, but I reckoned she'd be expecting me.

Looking up at her bedroom window, the house was in darkness. Maybe I'd misjudged things and she'd gone to bed? Or if I woke her, she might tell me to go home and stop being silly. Whatever. I had to try.

The first bit of grit I threw up at her window got a result. The light flickered on and a second later, Suzi was leaning over the windowsill.

'What took you so long?' she said, grinning.

I waited for her to climb down then pulled her into the shadows behind her dad's shed.

'We're going to Mr Taylor's house.'

Suzi's jaw hit the ground. 'You're flippin jokin?'

I shook my head. 'If he's really the demon we have to find proof.'

'True, but we don't even know where he lives.'

I waggled a finger at her. 'That's why we have to check the records.'

That familiar little crease crept across Suzi's forehead. 'Which records, exactly?'

The school was in darkness, which is just as well, because if it hadn't been I might have had second thoughts. Making our way past the old Grammar School buildings, we headed for the new block where the offices were. Of course, I had no idea where they kept files about teachers, or even if such things existed, but it made sense that someone in the school would have to have Taylor's address.

Hurrying down the path between the assembly hall and the main entrance, I peered through the window next to the door. There was nothing of any interest other than an empty hallway, so I turned my attention to the front door and gave it a push (just in case some fool had left it open), but it was firmly locked. Never mind, it was time to get out my secret weapon.

'Captain Cockeyed's Fishy Fingers?' said Suzi. 'What you plannin to do with that?'

I held up the section of cardboard I'd torn off the fish fingers packet. 'Saw this trick on an episode of The Rude Intruder the other week.' Tearing the piece of cardboard into a more manageable size, I stepped up to the door. Sliding my device into the crack between the door and its frame, I was pleased to find it was a perfect fit. However, the method used my TV spy-hero Tony Hamboni, didn't work as well as I'd expected. In fact, the piece of card simply crumbled as soon as I put any pressure on it.

'Great,' I muttered, throwing the useless thing to the ground.

Suzi patted my shoulder. 'Never mind - would've been fab if it'd worked.' She walked away and picked something up from the edge of the flowerbed that ran around the front of the offices. 'Let's try this instead.' And with that, she threw a stone through the window.

The crash was so loud I jumped back in fright. 'Flippin heck, Suz, what'd you do that for?'

'Need to get inside, don't we?' She stepped up to the window and gingerly picked the broken pieces of glass out of the frame, then slipping an arm through the hole, reached round to the door handle. There was a click and the door swung open. 'Voila.'

In the entrance hall, I kicked the shards of glass to one side and looked around. The headmaster's study was only accessible through the secretary's office. A panel on the right hand wall had a sliding window hatch where Mrs Hunter would appear to answer inquiries from pupils. Usually, kids only got invited into the office if it was something really important.

I tried the door. Locked. I gave the hatch a nudge. Nothing.

Suzi had picked up the stone from the floor. She gave me a wink.

'No, don't do that,' I said. 'One broken window's enough.' I nipped back outside and picked up the piece of cardboard. Sliding it inside the overlapping bit of the hatch, I gave it a push and the clip holding the hatch shut, dropped off. I looked at Suzi. 'Voila.'

It was an easy matter to slide the hatch along and scramble through the gap. Suzi clambered through after me and I switched on the lamp next to Mrs Hunter's desk. We began pulling open drawers - I started with the desk while Suzi looked through piles of folders on a coffee table. Luckily, the drawers were all unlocked, but it was mostly pens and paperclips, along with some personal 'feminine' items that made me blush. I closed the drawers and glanced round the office, my gaze falling on a filing cabinet tucked away in the corner. Pulling open the top drawer, I flicked through the various folders and files. Most were to do with the building regulations, and stuff, so I moved to the next drawer.

These ones were in alphabetical order and started with Mr Archbold and Mrs Ball. My fingers skimmed over the tops of the folders to 'T'. 'Bingo,' I muttered, pulling out Mr Taylor's file.

Spreading it out on the desk, we opened the file. There on the first page was Mr Taylor's address: 34 Screamer's Way, Skeleton Cove.

I found a bit of scrap paper and scribbled down the details, before shoving the folder back into place. As I pushed the drawer closed, Suzi grabbed my hand.

'Wait, while we're here, why don't we...' She wiggled her eyebrows and I knew immediately what she meant.

Pulling the drawer open again, I took out the files for our least favourite teachers - Mr Crackling, Mr Worsted-Major, Mrs Klomp and Mr Schreader. And of course, Mr Beaumont.

We spent the next few minutes going through the files, but there was nothing interesting in any of them. Until I opened Beaky Beaumont's. Inside were all the usual personal details, but there was also a large brown envelope marked

Ministry of Protection

'Ooh,' murmured Suzi. 'That's interesting.'

I undid the metal fastener and pulled out the single sheet of paper.

Eighteen

Back outside, we retraced out steps, turning right through the main gates. Mr Taylor's house was in the old part of Skeleton Cove where ship owners had built their houses in the days when the area had been a bustling port, trading goods with the West Indies and Africa. I couldn't imagine how a teacher could afford to live in one of those houses, unless he was doing something he shouldn't be doing.

'What we gonna do when we get there,' said Suzi, trotting along beside me. 'What if he's in bed? What if we're totally wrong about him?'

'And what if we're not?' I retorted. 'Anyway, if he's a demon he won't be in bed. He'll be casting spells and stuff.'

'Is that what demon's do, then?' she said, with a giggle.

I stopped. 'You didn't think it was funny when we were lying on those flippin slabs, did you? Or when they were planning to throw us in a grave.'

She coughed. 'No, course not. I wish we had a better plan, that's all.'

I sighed and stared at the ground. 'I don't know. It's all getting a bit complicated.' I looked at her. 'We need to find evidence. Something that'll persuade Sergeant Potter that Taylor's one of the villains.'

She patted my arm. 'Or one of the demons.'

Screamer's Way was a long road on the edge of town. As we turned the corner, I felt a shudder in my stomach. If I was right about any of this we could find ourselves in a lot of bother. We'd already discussed calling the police and decided against it, but now I was beginning to think it'd be a good idea - even if it got us into trouble.

'There's a phone box back there,' I said. 'I'm going to call the station.' Suzi nodded and I headed across the junction. It wasn't exactly an emergency, so I fished out a 2-pence piece and pushed it into the slot. After several rings I was about to hang up when a man's voice answered. I pushed button A.

'Is that the police station?' I said. He said it was. I asked if Sergeant Potter were there. He said no. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I wasn't interested in playing guessing games - I only wanted to get my message across.

'What'd they say? asked Suzi.

I shook my head. 'Dunno. It was odd. This bloke answered and asked me to verify my whereabouts.' I looked at her. 'But he never asked who I was. Anyway, he said he'd pass the message on.'

The house was at the end of a long road, overlooking the cliffs at one side of the bay. It was a big place with a well-kept lawn at the front and space for parking round the back. It seemed odd that a man who drove a Morris Marina would live in such an expensive house.

Creeping up the lawn, we ran over to the big bay window and peered in. The curtains were drawn and there were no lights on. But then, it was after midnight, so if Mr Taylor were a perfectly normal sort of bloke, he'd be in bed like every other perfectly normal bloke. If he wasn't, then...

'Come on,' I hissed. 'Round the back.'

The drive was gravel and we had to keep well into the side to avoid crunching through it and making loads of noise. Reaching the corner, I popped my head round. At first it seemed like this part of the house was dark too, then I noticed a dim glow in the window furthest away from us.

Sneaking past the first window and the back door, we stayed in the shadows close to the house. Reaching our target, I signalled Suzi to keep down. Ducking my head, I got on all fours and crawled along under the windowsill. Like the one at the front, this was a bay window and again the curtains were drawn. However, a chink of light showed at one side where the curtains hadn't been pulled right across, leaving a small triangle of glass that gave a clear view into the room.

Raising my head, I risked a look inside.

'Oh, God...'

Suzi crouched beside me. 'What is it?'

I shuffled out of the way so she could have a look, then watched her face as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She blinked, then sat down heavily on the ground, her back against the wall. 'What...?'

Resuming my place at the window, I stared at the scene in front of us, hoping that somehow I'd imagined what was happening inside. But no, it was true - Mr Taylor was sitting at a table, dressed in the suit he wore for school and with a drink in his hand. Opposite him sat another man, a man who looked exactly like Mr Taylor. Except this one was wearing a monk's robe.

I could see their mouths moving but the glass was too thick to hear anything. 'We've got to get inside,' I whispered.

Suzi's face was a picture. 'Are you crazy?'

'Probably, but how else are we going to find out what they're talking about?'

She shook her head slowly.

I sat there for a moment, wondering if I was being stupid. Maybe we should call the police back and tell them there were two identical men in Mr Taylor's house and that one of them was in fancy dress? Of course, they'd be sure to believe that.

I had to get inside. At least if I could listen to their conversation it might answer a few questions. Crawling along to the back door, I gave the handle a gentle wiggle, but it was locked. We'd have to find another way in. Looking up, I saw there was a waste pipe like the one at Mrs Brick's house. One of the windows on either side would probably be the bathroom. I glanced over at Suzi. 'You stay here if you want, but I'm going up the pipe.'

Suzi rubbed a hand over her face. 'I must be mad.' She sighed and got to her feet, carefully avoiding the windowpane we'd been looking through.

The pipe was a lot easier to climb than I'd thought. It was wider than the one at the Brick residence and because this house was built from stone, it had lots of handy ledges to use as footholds.

It was probably expecting too much for the bathroom window to be open, and after a few minutes of tugging and pushing, I gave up and shimmied back down the pipe.

'What now?' said Suzi.

'Let's try the other windows,' I said, and set off around the other side of the house. On this side, there were only two possibilities - the nearest was a small square window with a wire mesh cover instead of glass. My grandmother's house had one just like it that was used as a sort of air vent for the pantry. It'd also be easier to get through a bit of mesh than glass. Directly above where I stood, was a normal-sized window. There weren't any drainpipes on this side so there was no way to get to it.

Suzi took the opportunity to look around the garden for anything that might be useful.

Turning back to the pantry window, I gave the mesh a tentative push. It wobbled a little and I could see it was held in place by a series of metal tacks around the edge.

'Try this,' said Suzi handing me a stick.

'Thanks.' Wedging one end under the lower edge, I levered the stick up and down, gradually sliding it further under the mesh covering. Then, bracing the stick against the window frame, I pulled outwards, ripping the mesh away.

I repeated the operation further up and was soon able to fold the metal back over, leaving a clear space to climb through.

Suzi found a garden seat and heaved it across the lawn to where I was standing. 'There you go,' she said, with a flourish.

Climbing on top, I squeezed through the gap and down onto the workbench that stood under the window. It was a very dark room and it took me a minute for my eyes to adjust. Suzi followed, clambering in after me. One either side of the pantry were shelves laden with food. A few feet away was the way out.

I tried the handle. It turned easily and I gave the door a gentle push. The pantry opened into the kitchen, where several bottles of wine and a few empty glasses stood on a table. Unwashed plates and dishes were piled up in the sink and a silver platter lay on the draining board next to them. There must have been a party here recently, I thought, gazing around.

Suzi touched my arm and pointed to the door at the other side of the kitchen. From its location, I reckoned it would open out into a main passage that ran from the front door to the back, giving us two possible escape routes.

Easing the door open, I peeked out. Sure enough, we were in a darkened corridor, with a door directly opposite and another one further along. The one straight across must be where the Taylor Twins were. I paused and listened. I could hear Mr Taylor's voice clearly, saying something about the necessary tools for the job. A deeper voice, that reminded me of the creature we'd seen earlier, grumbled a reply but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

Creeping across the hall, I signalled for Suzi to follow. When we were both stood next to the door, I moved a little closer, resting my ear against the cold wood. For a moment, I couldn't hear anything, then an uncomfortably recurrent feeling began to wash over me. I felt my legs stiffen and my chest tighten. My head refused to move and with a growing sense of dread, I swivelled my eyes towards Suzi. If my intention had been to warn her, I wasted my time - she already knew. Her eyes were wide and I could hear her breathing coming in short, sharp rasps.

As the living room door swung open, Suzi took in a lungful of air. She was standing in a position that gave her a clear view of the inside of the room. I swivelled my gaze back and met the eyes of Mr Taylor.

'The proverbial bad penny, Mr Starkey,' he said, giving me a hard stare.

Over his shoulder, I could see the other Mr Taylor - the one with the monk's robe and the deep gravelly voice. But he wasn't the only one in the room. Sitting at either side of the window were two more people - Mr Dangerfield the old taxi driver and our favourite police officer - Sergeant Potter.

Nineteen

Taylor stepped to one side as the man in the robe moved forward. Raising one hand, he paused as if waiting for something. It was more than a little disturbing to be staring into the face of my teacher knowing he couldn't possibly be my teacher. As I watched, his face fell away like a layer of rotten skin and dropped to the floor. At the same moment, his outstretched hand distorted into claw-like fingers, reaching out towards me. But it was his face that commanded my attention. The red eyes shone and his skull glowed white as his mouth opened and a deep growl filled the air.

The claw hand twitched and I sensed my chest relaxing. I could move again. But my feet had a mind of their own and I felt myself gliding through the open door. I could feel, rather than hear, Suzi moving in close behind me. When the pair of us were in the centre of the room, two chairs were placed behind us and we found ourselves sitting down meekly like a couple of radio-controlled automatons.

Able to move my head, I glanced at Mr Dangerfield. Tied to his chair with a length of clothesline, he looked like he'd seen a ghost - his face was ashen and his false teeth jiggled around in his mouth as if they might fall out in fright at any moment.

Sergeant Potter on the other hand, appeared calm and thoughtful. It was obvious he wasn't being held against his will. He was one of them.

It was Potter who spoke first.

'Couldn't leave it alone, could you? I gave you every opportunity to stay out of it - even went to the trouble of hiring two goons to pretend to kidnap you, but no. You had to keep at it. How the heck you managed to avoid being buried alive, I'll never know.' He laughed cruelly. 'But you won't avoid it next time. And it'll be me that has to come up with an explanation for your poor mother, and her barely a year without your dad. How's she going to cope when we tell her the awful news about her only son? Aye, should've left it alone.'

I looked at Taylor (the one without the skull-face). 'So you are a demon, then?'

He waved a hand at Potter and Skull Man. 'We're all demons in one way or another, Jeff.' He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back and forth in front of us. 'I asked you to do one simple thing - to find Jimmy Brick. And what'd you do? The pair of you take yourselves down to Nightmare Alley and find a body.'

He was right in front of me now. Leaning forward so our noses were almost touching, he hissed, 'Harry McSpawn poked his nose in and got what he deserved. If you two heroes hadn't turned up he'd have been discovered by Constable Stewart when she did her rounds the next morning. Heart attack, case closed, end of story.' He closed his eyes for a moment, then, 'That, my dear boy, is what should have happened.'

I felt a surge of anger course through me. 'Then why the bleedin heck did you send us to look for Jimmy?'

'He's got a point,' muttered Sergeant Potter. 'Would've saved us a lot of clarting about if you'd kept your trap shut.'

Taylor glared at him. 'You were the one who thought Jimmy Brick would drop us all in it. If Jeff had found him, we could've got the tee-shirt back and nobody would've been any the wiser.'

I glanced at Suzi, then looked at Taylor. 'What have the tee-shirts got to do with it?'

Taylor turned towards Mr Dangerfield. 'Tell him, Reggie.'

Mr Dangerfield was shaking so much he could hardly speak. His lips moved but no sound came out. He coughed and tried again. 'It was just a little side-line, that's all. Selling a few cheap shirts. We didn't know they was knocked-off, did we?' He stared at me, his lower lip trembling. 'Me an the wife, we're pensioners. Just tryin to make ends meet, that's all. An it was young Jimmy that told us about that convention thingy - he saw the shirts when he was helping me with the garden. Said they'd go down a treat with horror fans.' He looked up at Taylor. 'That's why I gave him one of the shirts for nothing.'

Taylor walked over to the window and leaned against the sill. 'Yes, well it's all academic now, isn't it?'

'Enough!' The voice was so loud I felt the floor shake.

The demon moved across the room and stood in front of Mr Dangerfield. Lifting his claw hand, he pointed a long sinewy finger at the man's face. Immediately, Mr Dangerfield began to quiver uncontrollably, his chair jiggling around, the legs banging on the floor. A second later, his head fell forward and he was silent.

Lifting both hands as if he were about to conduct a rousing symphony, the demon shuddered and grew several inches, the top of his head almost touching the ceiling.

'Wait,' shouted Mr Taylor. 'Not here, we'll take them to Haggerty's Park.'

The hooded one whirled round, his eyes on fire. 'Haaargh...'

The finger was pointing at Mr Taylor. The teacher's face began to shake and he stumbled backwards against the wall. A second later, his whole body seemed to glow as if a fire was raging inside his chest. There was a gurgling noise and Mr Taylor dropped to the ground. Or rather, what was left of him did.

Suzi screamed. I gulped and Sergeant Potter jumped up.

'What the bleedin hell you doing?' He strode forward but the demon lashed out, throwing him against the wall.

'Finish it. Now.' The voice was so loud I thought my eardrums would shatter. Clamping my eyes shut, I waited for whatever vile terror was about to be unleashed upon us.

But nothing happened.

I opened my eyes. Suzi was staring at Potter, who was clinging to the wall like his life depended on it. The demon was nowhere to be seen.

A squelching sound was coming from the squidgy mess on the floor that had recently been Mr Taylor. I blinked. The mess was moving. A second later, the whole lot flew into the air and the teacher appeared in front of us as good as new.

He gave himself a shake and brushed a hand down his jacket. 'You know,' he said, matter-of-factly, 'I really wish he wouldn't do that.'

At which point, I fainted.

When I came to, we were in the back of the lorry again. Thankfully, we weren't tied up this time but I soon realised why - my arms and legs were numb, as if I'd been given some sort of anaesthetic. I glanced at Suzi who was sitting next to me.

'Here's another fine mess,' she muttered.

'Shut your face.' I looked up. The old man from the cottage was sitting opposite us, filling his pipe with tobacco. 'We've had about enough trouble from yous two.' Lighting his pipe, he took a few puffs then got up and stumbled to the little hatch in the back of the driver's cab. I couldn't hear what he was saying but I was pretty sure he wasn't singing our praises.

I leaned closer to Suzi. 'Why are the tee-shirts so important?'

She shivered. 'I don't think we're going to find out now.'

The old man was still talking to the driver. I looked around the truck. There was nothing nearby of any use, though as we couldn't move our arms or legs, it hardly mattered.

A few minutes later, the truck slowed and came to a juddering halt. The old man came over and grabbed my shoulders, hoisting me up. The two men who'd been in the truck the last time appeared at the tailgate and manhandled me onto the ground. Then they got Suzi and sat us together, leaning against one of the tyres.

'Let's not muck it up this time, eh?' said one of them. Kneeling down the two men slid a hand under each of Suzi's armpits, then lifting her up, dragged her towards the cemetery wall.

The old man with the beard stared down at me. 'Bet youn wish yous had kept your noses out now, eh?' He chuckled and stuck his pipe in his mouth. 'Kids. Tch.'

I ignored him and concentrated on my legs. I might have been imagining it, but it felt as though there were some feeling coming back into them. If we could get ourselves moving before they threw us in the grave, we might have a chance, though I had to admit, we'd probably used up all our good luck already.

The other two men came back and picked me up. They carried me to the wall and pushed me over roughly, then picked me up again on the other side and dragged me towards the place where the open grave was.

The feeling in my legs was definitely returning, but would it be soon enough to do me any good? Somehow I doubted it.

When we got to the graveside, Suzi was lying on her back. She gazed up at me as the men sat me down and leant me against a tree trunk. I looked up at the man nearest me. His face was creased up, like he was worried. I wondered if he was having second thoughts.

'Going to kill us, now, are you?' I said in the bravest voice I could muster. 'Throw a load of soil over us and leave us to suffocate, is that it?'

'Shut your face,' said the man, but I could see he was thinking about it. The other one gave him a thump and told him to stop fraternizing with the prisoners.

'Come on then, get it over with, then we can all go home.' The man stared down at me. 'Well, not you two, obviously.'

Picking Suzi up, they lowered her down into the hole, then grabbed hold of me and pushed me in after her. We were lying side by side on the cold earth, the narrow muddy walls of the grave pushing us together. I reached out for her hand. 'Don't worry, Suz, something'll turn up.' I tried to smile but could only manage a grimace.

Suzi was crying now and I shuffled towards her. There was enough feeling in my arms and legs to move around but not enough to climb out of the hole. And anyway, the villains would only push us back down.

A clod of earth dropped onto my legs. Then another. Within a few minutes, both our legs were covered. A shovelful landed on my chest, the dirt going into my mouth. This was it - we really were going to be buried alive.

Then it stopped.

Someone shouted and I could hear people running around above us. I looked at Suzi. 'The cavalry?'

'Not before time,' she said. She blinked rapidly, tears streamed down her face.

Twenty

Maggie Stewart leaned against the reception desk, her arms folded. 'Want another cup?'

I shook my head. Never had hot chocolate taste so good. I glanced at Suzi. Her face was muddy from clambering out of the grave, but she smiled nevertheless.

The two young police officers who'd helped rescue us came back into the room.

'The van's coming from Northfield to pick that lot up, so we'll hang around til that's done.'

'Thanks Bob,' she said. 'Couldn't have done it without you.'

The other man laughed. 'We don't mind - never see any action over there. Nice to get to grips with the bad guys for a change.'

Maggie nodded. 'Well, some of them, anyway.'

The two officers went out the front to wait for the police van.

Maggie leaned forward. 'Questions?'

I drained my cup and pushed it onto the table. 'What about the demon?'

She gave me a sceptical look. 'I doubt he's an actual demon, Jeff...'

'He flippin well is!'

Suzi nodded. 'He made Mr Dangerfield go to sleep and did something to Mr Taylor that sort of killed him then brought him back to life.'

Maggie coughed. 'Well, I'll admit there's a few things we don't understand about this case, but it's in the hands of the Ministry of Protection now, so...'

I sat up straight. 'You mean Mr Beaumont?'

'Yes. It was Mr Beaumont who answered the phone when you called earlier. It seems he and Mrs Hunter have been working undercover at the school for a few years, trying to infiltrate the demon hoard. But as I say, I don't really believe in all that. More likely it's just a gang of villains.'

'But it happened, Maggie,' I said. 'Just like we told you.'

'Perhaps.'

'And Jimmy Brick, what about him?' said Suzi.

'We found Jimmy a few days ago. He'd admitted himself to hospital on Saturday under a false name. Seems he'd been wearing the Devilgate Drive tee-shirt and it had infected him.'

'But he didn't have his tee-shirt,' I said. 'We did.'

'It was a different one - the chemicals hadn't been added when Mr Dangerfield gave him the first one. Jimmy found where Taylor and the others had hidden the rest of the shirts and thought he'd help himself. You didn't look upstairs in the pool hall, did you?'

'No. Potter did.'

'Ah. I imagine he found Jimmy lying on the floor, wearing one of the infected shirts. Jimmy must have realised Mr Dangerfield had stolen some of them. Maybe he thought one more going missing wouldn't be noticed. Anyway, Potter left him there to die, but Jimmy managed to get himself to hospital. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be alive now.'

'But what did they want the tee-shirts for?' said Suzi.

Maggie gave me one of her serious looks. 'They were laced with some sort of chemical that renders the wearer incapable of movement, and eventually, kills them. Presumably, Nathaniel Darke's great, great, grandson, or George Taylor as we now know him, wanted revenge on the town for what they did to his ancestor.'

'But how would he do that?' I said.

Maggie took a breath. 'By killing all the children. There's a horror movie convention this Saturday at the Town Hall. It's my guess they intended to distribute the shirts there.'

'Crumbs,' I muttered.

'The other thing,' added Maggie, staring at the floor, 'is Neville Mole.'

'Is he alright?' I said.

She inclined her head to one side. 'He'll be undergoing psychiatric assessment. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon.'

'But why didn't they bury him too?' said Suzi.

Maggie licked her lips. 'He's Mr Taylor's son.' She half smiled. 'A chip off the old block, perhaps.'

Suzi took my hand. 'Lucky escape, eh?'

I nodded.

'Right,' said Maggie. 'Time to go home.'

It was weird being at school the next day. It was like everyone suddenly wanted to be our friends. Mr Beaumont took over Mr Taylor's classes and kept giving me and Suzi sly winks. I was dying to ask him about the Ministry of Protection, but I reckoned it would all be top secret.

Jimmy Brick wouldn't return to school for a couple of weeks, by which time it'd be his turn to get all the attention, so me and Suzi made the most of being 'famous' while it lasted. It seemed as if we'd been away for ages, but nothing much had changed - we still got a load of homework to do and we'd still be walking home past Haggerty's Park. The only difference was now we wouldn't be taking short-cuts across the cemetery, though we did stop and watch as the Council diggers filled in the chimneys. If anyone were still alive inside Devilgate Drive, they wouldn't be coming out again.

All in all, it was just another day in Skeleton Cove.

###

I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please take a few moments to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads - it doesn't have to be much, just a few lines about why you liked (or didn't like) the book.

Book #2 in ‘The Skeleton Cove Horror’ series will be available in summer 2017. Also, if you sign up for my mailing list, you'll get access to free stories, new chapters and information about my other writing activities. You'll also be one of the first to be notified when new books are published (details below).

Sincerely,

Colin Garrow

Books by this Author

Books for Children

The Demon of Devilgate Drive

The Architect’s Apprentice

Mortlake

The Devil’s Porridge Gang

The Hounds of Hellerby Hall

The House That Wasn't There

Books for Adults

Death on a Dirty Afternoon

How the World Turns (and Other Stories)

Girlfriend Interrupted (and Other Fictions)

The Watson Letters Vol 1: Something Wicker This Way Comes

The Watson Letters Vol 2: Not the 39 Steps

Stage Plays

Love Song in Sixteen Bars

Towards the Inevitability of Catastrophe

The Body in the Bag

Non-Fiction

Writing: Ideas and Inspirations (or How to Make Things Up)

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About the Author

Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including: taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. All Colin's books are available as eBooks and most are out in paperback, too. His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Word Bohemia, Every Day Fiction, The Grind, A3 Review, 1,000 Words, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. He currently lives in a humble cottage in North East Scotland where he writes novels, stories, poems and the occasional song.