‘It’s no problem,’ Gabriel said. ‘Where do you suppose Jess is?’
‘She texted me a bit ago to say she was at the Tin Can Alley game with her dad. You know he can never resist them.’
Jessica’s father was an ex-cricket player for the county. Every year Mr Banks would knock down every can in the stall with ease to claim the top prize, usually an oversized stuffed toy, which he would give to Jessica. In years gone by he would win three of the toys and give one to each of his children.
Gabriel said, ‘I thought you said you saw Jess’s mum and dad setting up a stall in the car-boot sale?’
‘Well, I may have been wrong. Nobody’s perfect,’ Ashley grinned mischievously as he and Gabriel slipped away from their parents.
Sure enough as the boys approached the stall, Mr Banks was beaming with pride and presenting his newly won trophy, a huge blue bear with a bright red nose, to his daughter. Jessica was trying desperately to hide her embarrassment behind a rather awkward smile. Sensing her mortification, Ashley seized on the opportunity to antagonise her further.
‘Wow, Mr Banks! That’s a really cool bear! You did it again!’
Jessica’s face contorted into a look of murderous fury, which given half a chance she would gladly have brought down upon Ashley at that very moment. Thomas Banks’ already broad smile stretched even further across his face and he puffed his chest out like an ostentatious bird of paradise flaunting its colourful feathers. A handsome man with flawlessly combed blonde hair and an athletic build despite being into his early fifties, Gabriel had always thought of him as a giant of a man. At well over six feet tall, he towered over Gabriel’s parents and Ashley’s as well. Of course in recent months, Gabriel had begun to catch up to Mr Banks in height and could now almost look eye-to-eye with him.
‘Well, I did have a few shaky moments back there,’ Mr Banks replied. ‘The old shoulder’s been giving me a bit of jip lately, you see. But I powered through for Jessica’s sake. I couldn’t let her down now, could I?’ He stared lovingly at his daughter, with his hand grasping her shoulder.
‘Thanks, dad,’ she said through gritted teeth, ‘I really appreciate it.’
‘Say, are you boys here alone?’ Mr Banks asked turning back towards them.
‘No, mum and dad are walking round the car-boot somewhere. Gabriel’s parents are with them too,’ Ashley said.
‘Oh great! I’ll go find them and say hello. Now Jess,’ he said turning back to her, ‘don’t you leave your mum alone all day on that cake stall of hers. We’ve all got to pitch in. I’ve won you that bear like you wanted, so it’s the least you can do.’ And with that he strode off.
‘Sure, dad, no problem, see you later!’ Jessica called after him before spinning round to glower at Ashley. ‘You’re dead!’
‘Why? What did I do? Leave off will ya?’ Ashley squawked as he tried to defend himself against blow after blow that Jessica rained down upon him with the stuffed blue bear.
‘Wow, Mr Banks! That’s a really cool bear, Mr Banks! You’re the best, Mr Banks!’ Jessica mimicked.
‘Oh come on, you love that your dad wins you one every year,’ Gabriel said.
‘Not when it’s been exactly the same one for the last three years! They could at least change the colour! And does it have to be so big? There’s barely enough space in my room for me now! My mum has even said repeatedly that we should give some away. But every time she does my dad chimes in that I love these stupid bears and we can’t do that to “poor little Jess” and obviously I can’t say anything because it would hurt my dad’s feelings...’
‘OK, OK! Calm down! Breathe, woman!’ Ashley said, the barrage of blows having ceased. ‘How about we go and check out some of those cakes your mum’s selling? Maybe she’ll even offer us a few free samples...’
‘Yeah, and maybe I can stash this annoying thing in the back of the car,’ Jessica added, motioning to the stuffed bear.
And off they went, blissfully unaware of the figure perched on top of the school science building, obscured from the view of the crowd below by the glare of the sun. The figure scoured the crowd for his target. With this amount of people it would be difficult to isolate his prey. Of course, he thought, he and his comrades had planned for that eventuality too. There was always a solution. It was simply a matter of adapting. Soon, he told himself, it will all be over.
***
An hour and a half later and the Fête was in full swing. Mrs Banks’ cakes had already sold out (as was expected) and Mrs Evans had lost at the raffle. Upon hearing the announcement, Mrs Evans had declared the whole game to be a fix and vowed that she would never again even step foot in Mr Kittling’s shop. Mr Evans had proceeded to massage the back of his neck quite feverishly during her outburst.
The mayor had delivered a short speech commending the organisation of the event and stating how it had become one of the town’s most eagerly anticipated events of the year. He gave his thanks for everyone in attendance and stated that with any luck, the following year would be even more successful. The mayor finished his speech with hope that everyone would enjoy the remainder of the day and by praising Mrs Banks’ cakes (of which he’d purchased three). As the mayor exited the stage, the brass band had recommenced their musical accompaniment and was still going strong, with no signs of stopping.
Whilst Gabriel, Jessica and Ashley perused the stalls, occasionally trying their hand at different games, their parents had retired to the tea stall, where chairs and tables had been fetched from inside the school canteen and laid out. Gabriel had thoroughly enjoyed the day; the sun was shining, the atmosphere was upbeat and jovial, he was hanging out with his two best friends in the world and to top it all off, not once had they run into-
‘Well lookee what we got ‘ere. If it ain’t Snow White and the two dorks!’
In unison the trio each let out a heavy sigh and turned to face the hateful Leon Grant.
‘What a coincidence,’ Ashley uttered under his breath, ‘Cos here comes the Troll from under the bridge!’
‘You wanna say that again, Ash-face?’
‘For goodness sake, Leon. Can you not give it a rest for one single, solitary day?’ Jessica scolded.
‘What’s the matter with you? Can’t fit your foot into the glass slipper? I’m just ‘ere to get my three wishes from Aladdin and his big, ugly genie,’ Grant mocked.
‘Oh, you’re a fine one to talk about being ugly,’ Ashley shot back.
‘And what’s that s’posed to mean ya snotty little grub?’ Grant said, stepping forward. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.
‘Would you like me to draw you a picture, Leon? It means when you look like you do, you shouldn’t be going around calling anyone else ugly!’ Gabriel said calmly stepping in between Grant and Ashley. Momentarily taken aback by Gabriel standing up to him for the first time ever, Grant took a step back. His stunned silence was short-lived however, as his resident troglodytes, Forshaw, Braithwaite and Driscal stepped forward, flexing their muscles and grinding their teeth threateningly.
‘Ooh, lookit the big man standin’ up for his boyfriend! What ya gonna do, huh? What ya gonna do?’
‘Absolutely nothing. Because you, Grant, are nothing but a waste of time and space. And I wouldn’t want to put my hands on you, for fear of catching something,’ Gabriel said, surprised at the words that were coming out of his mouth. For so long he had wanted to stand up to this wretched little thug. And now he was actually doing it!
‘THAT DOES IT! I WARNED YOU! YOU’RE DEAD!’ Grant roared and leapt at Gabriel, fists flailing.
Instinctively, Gabriel swiped his arm towards Grant in order to protect himself. Gabriel’s much larger arm struck Grant square in the chest and sent him tumbling backwards. He hit the dry earth hard and rolled over and over. Grant slid to a stop at the feet of Maureen Braithwaite who looked utterly bewildered by the sudden turn of events. With their similarly low intellect, Driscal and Forshaw wore an equally befuddled expression.
Barely hearing Grant’s ramblings, Gabriel was still in shock. Jessica and Ashley stood behind him, mouths agape, awestruck that their friend had just swatted away the toughest kid in school like a fly. Gabriel remained motionless, staring at his hand, vaguely aware that Grant and his cronies were descending upon him like a pack of rabid wolves, but completely unfazed by it. That had been so easy, Gabriel thought, barely any effort at all. Sure, Grant was significantly smaller, but-
He was wrenched suddenly from his thoughts by what sounded like a deafening clap of thunder.
Except it couldn’t have been thunder. The skies were clear, not a cloud in sight. The thunderous crash had been close, frighteningly close, and low to the ground, rocking the very earth beneath their feet. It was almost as though-
BOOM!
There was another.
That definitely wasn’t thunder. People everywhere were screaming in terror.
BOOM!
That was closer again, too close. This time it was clear where the sound had emanated from as a red and orange fireball exploded skyward from the main school building. Grant and his cronies took off running, not looking back once. However, their escape was promptly cut short. The gymnasium erupted in red hot fury, consuming Grant and his lackeys. The explosion rocked the ground beneath Gabriel and his friends, shaking them off their feet. Scorching shards of glass and fragments of brick, tile and mortar rained down on them. What was going on?
Picking himself up, Gabriel brushed the debris off of himself and glanced round. Chaos was rife. He had no time to even process witnessing the brutal demise of his tormentors; Jessica was knelt beside a limp and unconscious Ashley. She was covered in broken glass and had numerous cuts on her arms and legs. Blood was gushing down her face from a large gash on her forehead. The crimson liquid was pouring into her eyes, blinding her. She was crying hysterically.
‘Gabe what on earth is going on?’ she wailed. ‘Oh God, look at Ash... I think he’s... what if he’s...’
Gabriel knelt beside him and checked for signs of life. ‘No, he’s alive. He has a pulse, I think he must have just taken a blow to the head,’ he tried to assure her.
He quickly ran his hands over his friends head. There was a lump already forming on the back of Ashley’s head, blood soaking his hair. His friend was bleeding profusely. If Ashley didn’t receive medical attention soon, he would be in serious trouble.
Scores of people raced past them. Yet another thunderous explosion rocked the school grounds. The very same people who had just passed them were scattered through the air like confetti. Again Gabriel and Jessica were thrown to the floor with another blast. Again they were showered with rubble. Gabriel felt a searing pain in his right arm. A three-inch shard of blackened glass was sticking out of it. He pulled out the knife-like glass splinter and threw it aside screaming in pain as he did so. Jessica resumed cradling Ashley’s head.
‘Gabe what are we going to do? We can’t stay here!’
Gabriel reached into his pocket for his phone. He yelped and recoiled his hand instantly, shards of glass sticking out of his fingertips. Carefully he reached in again and slid it out. He took one look at the phone and then tossed it aside.
‘My screen’s smashed. How’s yours?’
Jessica reached into her bag, which miraculously was still slung over her shoulder.
‘It’s broken too,’ Jessica said, retrieving the phone from her bag and testing the power button.
‘What about Ashley’s?’
Jessica reached across Ashley’s prone form and tapped on the outside of his right trouser leg pocket. ‘It feels like it might be smashed too.’ She carefully slipped her hand into his pocket and slid out his phone. Shards of glass tinkled onto the floor. She raised the phone, tried the power and threw it aside. ‘Dead,’ she said.
‘Let’s get him under cover of those trees at least. You stay with him. I’ll go try and find help.’ Gabriel tried to hoist his friend but the pain in his arm was overwhelming. Between them they half-carried, half-dragged Ashley’s limp form to the nearby trees.
‘Stay here. I’ll be back,’ Gabriel commanded.
He set off sprinting as fast as he could but seconds later the ground underneath him erupted, hurling him upwards and sideways. The force of the explosion was so terrible that nearby trees were uprooted. Gabriel was tossed like a ragdoll through the air until his flight path was interrupted by the unforgiving trunk of an ancient oak. The force of the collision was so devastating that Gabriel felt as though he’d been broken in half. He lay on the ground for what seemed like an eternity. The world was spinning. In the distance people were screaming. Explosions went off one after another. The ground shuddered beneath him. The whole world was orange and red and superheated.
Smoke from the flames was thick and billowing all around him, making breathing difficult. Taking in short, shallow breaths he could feel the smoke burning his throat, stinging his lungs. It was all he could do to maintain consciousness.
Painfully rolling over onto his hands and knees, Gabriel felt like he had shattered his ribcage, the broken fragments of bone now rattling around inside of him. He looked back towards his fallen friends and felt his stomach drop. A huge blazing elm tree had crashed down between them and now blocked them from view. No, he prayed, please no, not like this.
‘JESS!’ he bellowed over the roar of the flames and between agonising coughing fits that pummelled his badly injured ribs, ‘JESS! ANSWER ME, PLEASE! JESS!’
‘Gabe?’ her voice was faint, drowned out by the unrelenting roar of the inferno. ‘Gabe, please find help, quick! The flames are all around us! I’m really scared! I can hardly breathe!’
‘JUST HOLD ON!’
He took off again, although this time much slower, his ribcage sent out shockwaves of pain with every lumbering step, his right arm felt numb. His head was swimming. Gabriel could sense himself becoming fainter, through loss of blood or stymied breathing he wasn’t sure, but he could not allow himself to succumb yet. He had to keep going.
Staggering across the school car park, now a battlefield of charred debris, soaring flames and broken bodies, Gabriel stumbled over something and almost took another tumble. It was the outstretched arm of Dr Warner. The doctor seemed to be reaching out to him, his eyes wide, mouth ajar, begging for help, but it was already too late. He had been crushed from the chest down by an overturned Volkswagen.
Gabriel remembered he had last seen his parents at the tea stall next to the school canteen. He had to make it there. They had to still be alive. Despite the calamity all around him, the thought of losing his parents was something he could not even begin to contemplate.
He struggled on. As Gabriel made his way past the fiery shell of the school library, searing hot, orange fingers burst through the remaining windows and thrashed at him menacingly. Through the smoke up ahead three figures came into view.
It was Mr Tickerby and his two young sons, Michael and Philip. Mr Tickerby had moved onto Rosewood Close several years before and had been friendly with the Millars ever since. As long as Gabriel had known the family, he had never heard any mention of the boys’ mother. Mr Tickerby was an older father, well into his fifties when the first of his sons had been born but he led his sons now with the strength and vigour of a man many years his junior.
‘Gabriel Millar, is that you, son?’ the old man said as he approached. ‘Thank heavens you’re alive! Let’s get you out of here whilst we still-’
The library building erupted in a maelstrom of blazing debris. Gabriel’s world spun over and over as he was catapulted with a sickening crunch through the chain-link fence of the adjacent tennis courts and slammed into the powdery red clay. This time the flames had caught him and now clung onto his tattered rags of clothes like a demonic parasite. He rolled over and over in the dirt until he ma
naged to choke the life out of the vicious orange and yellow monster. He let out a long sigh of relief despite his ribs screaming for him to stop. He clambered to his feet, wincing at the pain, then had a sudden gut-churning realisation that there was no longer any sign of the Tickerbys.
On the far side of the tennis courts, the fencing had been flattened under the weight of fallen rubble. Beyond lay the canteen and his salvation. He picked his way over the smouldering debris and stumbled around the corner of the canteen building. Somehow he imagined an oasis of calm and serenity; his parents sipping tea, nibbling on scones and gossiping freely with the Evanses and Bankses about the weather, holiday plans or the goings-on of Mrs Such-And-Such down the street. The scene that revealed itself was anything but.
Gabriel’s mother was sat in the dirt, barely managing to keep herself upright. Her normally highlighted hair was now crimson and stuck to her face; her once pristine blouse torn and blackened with soot and ash. His father, along with Mr and Mrs Banks and Mr Evans, was desperately trying to heave an enormous concrete block from off of Ashley’s mum. Mrs Evans looked hideously pale; one arm was pinned across her stomach under the block, blood was streaming down her legs which were both bent at horribly peculiar angles.
‘Gerald,’ she uttered weakly, ‘Gerald...’
In an instant despite his own injuries Mr Evans was at his wife’s side, cupping her free hand gently.
‘Janet, now just hold on, everything will be fine. You’ll see.’
‘No. You need to promise me... promise me you’ll take care of Ashley...’
‘I don’t need to promise you anything because we’ll both be able to-’
Mr Evans was cut off by a loud rumbling from overhead. The top floor of the four-storey science building, which stood next to the canteen, swayed, gave a final groan and tumbled down towards them.
‘NOOOOO!’ screamed Ashley’s father as he threw himself on top of his stricken wife. His screams were cut short as the couple were buried under tons of rubble.
Child of the Gryphon Page 5
