‘
Nooo!
’ Gina screamed, filling the night with her chilling indignation. The two boats, Gina’s and the harbour master’s, were now some fifty metres from shore, both aflame. They seemed to be drawn toward each other, as if feeding some joint fury. Even if we could have reached them, it would have been useless by now. My heart sank even further.
‘There’s another boat on the island,’ I said, trying not to sound too defeated. ‘It’s Mather’s. I don’t know where it is, but I’m sure we can find it.’ I was panicking. I knew the tunnel might have been a better option, but if Mather was after us, he’d be coming from the direction of the forest.
‘This can’t be happening! I knew we should have come straight here. Look where your whole Doctor Dolittle talking-to-the-bloody-animals routine has got us!’
I had a horrible feeling that at any moment the terror, as though a monster itself, would consume us both.
‘All right, I’m sorry, let’s just try and make our way round the outside of the island. We’ll have to be careful – but I can’t think of any other way—’
Suddenly my words were cut off by the sound of laughter.
‘Oh dear, oh dear,’ Mather said, emerging from the cover of the tree-line behind us, where he’d been hiding. ‘What the devil are you to do now, Mr Reeves? You seem to be finding yourself in predicament . . . after predicament.’ He just stood grinning at us, his face and clothes filthy from the grime and gore he’d no doubt disturbed during his fall into the pit. The look of glee and childish mischief on his face made me furious.
I walked towards him, feeling the frustration within me turning to anger. In that instant I no longer cared about any knife he might be carrying. I meant to hurt him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
‘I’ve had enough! You hear me? Enough!’ I curled my hands into fists, ready to strike.
But as always, Mather’s confidence was justified. I don’t know where he’d been hiding it, but just then he raised a large shotgun and levelled it at me.
‘Please. Calm yourself. And I’d prefer you both to keep your distance, if you don’t mind.’
Gina and I exchanged glances. There seemed to be no way out of this living hell.
Mather marched us back through the trees to the clearing, then ordered us to stop. From where we stood we could see the left side of the house. Glass was twinkling on the ground in the light from Mather’s bedroom.
‘What happened to the window?’ He moved round to our left.
I smiled. ‘While the lovely Scarlet Lady was entertaining us, we had an unexpected visitor.’
Mather’s face twisted into a look of disgust. He grunted in disappointment. ‘Moth-eaten ratbag! I’ll throttle that mangy thing’s neck!’
‘If you’re referring to Mr Hopkins, he wasn’t the one who broke the window.’
Mather looked across at me. ‘Then who did?’
‘Who’s Mr Hopkins?’ Gina looked from me to Mather.
‘He’s a cat.’
‘Oh.’
‘Well? Who was it?’ Mather was getting angry now.
‘The dragonfly. He—’
‘Dragonfly? Pah! You’re lying.’
‘No I’m not. Go and see for yourself. Before we left, your precious Lady was fighting for her life.’
‘No!’
‘Yes,’ Gina replied.
Just then something flew out of the front door. It was smaller than before, and looked drained, deflated even. It flew straight at Mather, emitting an ear-piercing shriek.
Mather was stunned. His beautiful specimen had been badly, possibly fatally, wounded. He kept the shotgun pointed squarely at Gina and me, but his eyes were on the approaching insect.
‘Oh, my Lady,’ he said. ‘Whatever has happened?’
The genie! Tien Thai! He has come for me
.
‘No.’
Yes! It’s your fault for opening the tank. He wouldn’t have been able to get to me otherwise. Now you’re going to help me defeat him
.
The red monster hovered before Mather, studying his face, perhaps seeking answers.
‘But I don’t know if I can kill it. I—’
Your blood. I must have it now. It is the only way
.
I wondered then why she didn’t just take
my
blood. But if she thought she’d become a woman again by drinking my blood, perhaps this would make her vulnerable to the dragonfly.
‘No!’ Mather stepped back, visibly shaken, and aimed the shotgun at the insect.
What do you think you’re doing? Point that away from me, fool!
Somewhat reluctantly, Mather did as he was told.
I won’t hurt you. I’ll just take what I need to recover my strength
.
‘I don’t . . . I don’t want to.’
Don’t want to what?
‘I don’t want to give you my blood.’
What are you talking about? I told you, it won’t hurt. Now tie these two up while we deal with the dragonfly
.
‘Why can’t I kill them? It’s pointless to—’
You will not kill them!
‘What about the girl? Surely you don’t need her alive! Take
her
blood.’
I need him to be compliant. She needs to be unharmed – at least for now . .
.
This last remark stung, but it was hardly unexpected. I knew the Ganges Red would try to remove Gina at some point. I just hoped I’d be ready at the critical moment.
‘What’s going on?’
I had forgotten that Gina couldn’t hear the insect. ‘She wants his blood, so she can heal herself.’
Gina looked at Mather, then at the insect. Mather gave her a dirty look in return.
‘Right . . .’ Gina wasn’t accepting all I was telling her. Not that I was surprised. But she did seem to be playing along. After all, however surreal the situation, it would be obvious to anyone that something with serious consequences was about to take place.
‘Look, it’s not the pain I’m worried about,’ Mather said to the insect, a strange look on his face. ‘I just—’ He seemed threatened by the Ganges Red, perhaps for the first time.
I must have your blood. It is the only way for me to regain my strength and fight Tien Thai. Now put down that weapon and GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!
‘No!’ Mather remained defensive.
The insect was furious now. Gina took hold of my elbow and pulled softly, drawing me backwards with her, away from Mather.
‘Let me deal with the dragonfly,’ Mather said. ‘Then you can drain these two dry.’
No! If you don’t let me have your blood then I will take it by force – and then it really will hurt
.
‘No! You wouldn’t.’ Mather was losing control of the situation now, and he knew it. ‘Not after all I’ve done for you!’
You did all I told you to do, nothing more
.
‘But there has to be another—’
Just then I heard the mosquito utter a shrill cry. It must have been louder in Mather’s mind because he lowered the shotgun and raised his left hand to his forehead. He was clearly in great pain. ‘Stop! Stop! Why are you doing this to me?’ He seemed now to be on the verge of tears.
The mosquito didn’t relent; instead she continued her assault, clearly unwilling to end Mather’s suffering until he gave in to her thirsty demand. Then, to my surprise, the hand fell away from his head, and he once again held the gun up in both hands, levelling it straight at my chest. I heard Gina gasp. Perspiration was saturating Mather’s brow, his teeth were gritted and a barely audible whimpering could be heard, exposing the immense strain involved in fighting the insect’s will.
‘You!’ Mather was talking to me now. ‘This is all your fault! You should be long dead.’ I could see his finger tense over the trigger. My body was frozen in shock. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as I prepared for the inevitable impact.
Noooooooo! He’s mine!
The mosquito flew at Mather, diving straight into his hair, no doubt seeking his scalp so she could plunge her feeding tube in. Mather danced about, screaming and fired into the air, deafening us. He dropped the shotgun and started slapping at the insect with his hands.
‘We need to get away from here fast.’ Gina stared in sheer amazement at the spectacle taking place some metres away.
‘The tunnel,’ I replied. ‘I forgot about it. It’s our best chance.’
‘Tunnel?’
‘I think there might be a tunnel under the island. Soames showed me the entrance. I think . . . I think it’s the only chance we have.’
‘Who?’
‘I think it connects to the mainland somewhere.’
‘All right. How do we get there?’
‘There’s a trapdoor in the forest. I think I can remember the way there.’
Gina’s face fell. She didn’t like the prospect of running off into the darkness of the trees. But we hardly had a choice. We were about to move when Mather finally detached the insect from his head, scooped up the shotgun and ran towards the building, the incensed mosquito in close pursuit. He rushed inside and immediately closed and bolted the door behind him. The Ganges Red changed course, headed round the side of the house and flew in through the smashed bedroom window.
‘OK,’ I said to Gina, who now clung to my right arm for support. ‘Come on. Maybe they’ll kill each other, maybe not. If not, then one of them is going to come after us. And whichever one it is, they’ll want blood. Let’s go.’
I took her hand and led her to the path. Although it was dark, and much of the forest looked the same, I was pretty confident of finding my way to the hatch. Despite my tender ankle, we were able to make good progress. With the threat of murder still strong, maybe it’s little wonder that I was still able to move fast despite my injuries. We stopped just where the forest began. From somewhere behind us we heard more breaking glass. Gina pushed the branches away from her, allowing some to fly back and hit me in the face.
‘Ow!’
‘Oh, sorry.’ She stopped to let me move ahead and lead the way. I soon became worried that I was getting us lost.
‘Where now?’ Gina looked around, seeing nothing but unfamiliar forest. I was about to admit defeat, when through the trees to our left I spotted a familiar rise in the ground.
‘It should be straight ahead of us somewhere!’ We continued forward, and a couple of minutes later broke into the larger clearing, in the middle of which was the trapdoor. I knelt down with some discomfort and grabbed the rope handle.
‘Look,’ Gina said. I turned and saw she was pointing up into the night sky. There was a cloud of black smoke rising from the island and obscuring the pale moon above us. The research centre.
‘Clever,’ I said. ‘He gets you to take photographs for posterity, then burns the bodies.’
‘He hasn’t got the photos,’ she said, patting her camera. ‘I have.’
I gave her a grin. ‘Well, we can’t do anything with those until we get off the island.’ I hoisted up the trapdoor, Gina bending to help me. We threw it back flat against the ground, disturbing the leaves.
I took to the ladder, which had been crudely fashioned from logs, and descended carefully, mindful of my wounded ankle. The tunnel could only have been about seven feet high. I could have jumped down from the forest floor if I’d had two healthy ankles. Nevertheless, I dropped off the ladder onto a soft, almost spongy mud floor which, even in the gloom, I could see was peppered with dead leaves and the odd puddle. There was a bad smell of age and damp that meant the tunnel had been around for quite a while.
‘Pull the hatch down behind you,’ I called up to Gina.
‘OK.’ I heard her try to grab it and pull it down. After a few moments she gave up. ‘I can’t move it. It’s stuck.’
‘All right, leave it – we haven’t got time.’
Seconds later Gina dropped to the floor behind me with a splash. Complete darkness swallowed us up. She blinked at me.
‘Let’s go.’ I started down the tunnel. After only a few steps I stopped. It was pitch-black and I hated the idea of tripping over again. ‘I don’t suppose you brought a torch with you?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Gina replied.
‘Ah, hell.’
‘Sorry.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ Then I remembered. ‘Wait, your camera . . .’
‘What about it?’
‘The flash is working, isn’t it?’
‘Of course.’
‘Good, then we’ll use the flash to light the way.’
‘Good idea.’ She raised the camera and moved ahead of me.
Gina led the way, lighting up the tunnel each time the flash warmed up. We made good time, and before long emerged into a large round chamber. Gina’s flash was still working fine. I asked her to aim it at the walls. To my surprise, in the first flash I glimpsed what looked like a trapdoor. The flash went off again and we could both see that there was a hatch in the ceiling of the chamber over by the far wall, above a small set of steps that seemed to be hewn out of the natural rock.