Page 51

I t was dusk now. The sky was dark grey like fur. There would be no moon tonight and the stars were behind thick cloud. The rain lashed down and the wipers squeaked across the windscreen.

Sky felt her heart-rate increase as they neared the town, but Rose was right.

It was virtually empty. Only a few main buildings were lit up and a few people scurried from car to shop, cast into flashes of colour in the headlights or doorways.

The big building was lit from top to bottom but people were inside, warm and dry.

The streets, slick with rain, were black rivers with spots of orange where street lamps pooled their light.

Beyond the town a little stone building mantled the stone slabs that stuck up from the ground and turned its back on the forest.

Sky wondered where the pack was and lifted her head as she and Rose got out of the car and ran up the slippery stone path to the church doorway.

She could sense them, not far away, tracking her.

Rain trickled onto her face and Rose fussed over her in the doorway, helping her with her coat and wiping the hair from her eyes.

The building was not like a house or a shop.

The light was very low, flickering in small groups of white objects scattered in the shadows.

There was a smell of cold and wood and stone and decay, not unlike the forest. There were only a few people there, sitting on the smooth hard wood.

Ahead of them, on a slow flight of steps and backed by a window of shaded colours, a woman stood on her own and faced them.

Sky and Rose sat towards the back, holding hands.

Outside, the wind and rain battered the glass.

Inside, words and words, soft and calm, words and words.

The woman spoke in a different way to normal, although the language was the same.

It was as if she was repeating something.

The words felt well used somehow, comfortable.

The woman spoke of hoping, not fearing, trusting. Night waiting for morning.

Beside her, Rose was crying without making a sound. Looking forward but seeing nothing. Sky could smell the salt tears.

At the word “peace”, Rose stood and they tiptoed out into the wild darkness.