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R ob drove them into town. Simon, smirking, sat in the back and when Rob’s hand sneaked over to hold Rose’s, he poked her in the shoulder.

Yet it wasn’t flirtation but comfort. Rob’s hand was as tense as hers. She could feel the perspiration on her own palms and the heavy thud, thud of her heart.

‘She’s hardly eaten anything all day,’ Simon said, patting his pockets and pulling out a memory stick and his notes. ‘I hope her stomach doesn’t rumble through my meaningful silences.’

‘What meaningful silences?’ Rose forced out. ‘I didn’t know you knew how to be meaningful.’

‘It’ll be meaningful when I tell the whole town I’m a werewolf.’

Rob slowed, Rose turned and opened her mouth.

‘I’m joking,’ said Simon. ‘Calm down, or you’ll bust something. Although you’ve told half the world anyway.’

‘Two people, Simon, two. Rob and Sam.’

‘Thought you were going to tell the vicar as well.’

‘Not in the end.’

‘That’s a relief, she might have turned up with bell, book and candle. Although a few candles might be romantic…’

He smirked again, shot a glance at Rob and started flicking through his notes. Rose wished she could kick him and then the feeling of disquiet returned.

‘You said there’s a projector?’ Simon went on.

‘Yes, all mod cons.’

‘Thought Emmeline didn’t approve of mod cons.’

‘Mmm. Well obviously she does when it comes to spreading the word about the Guild.’

‘I’ll be the most exciting thing they’ve had for years. Shame Sam won’t be there to hear me. ’

Rose leaned round again and said. ‘She is. She changed her mind.’

‘Aha! Rehearsing my talk must have done the trick. Or it was just my animal magnetism? Nice to know I’ve still got the touch.’

‘Did it seem like she was succumbing to your overwhelming machismo?’

‘She looked as if she thought I’d crawled out from under a rock but was quite sweet in a moronic sort of way.’

‘Well she’s not wrong,’ said Rose, ‘but about the talk, there’s still time to tell them you can’t go.’

‘No there isn’t. I can’t let them down. All those old biddies have been looking forward to it for a month.’

‘They’re not just old biddies.’

‘Anyway, what’s the alternative?’

‘Rob and I could put on some sort of concert.’

‘Yawn.’

They pulled up to the hall and got out of the car.

Even though they were early, half the town appeared to be there, fidgeting in a queue going through the door.

Simon frowned. Rose slipped her arm through his.

His face was set into the lazy smile he put on when he was slightly bored but prepared to engage, but under his arm, she could feel his heartbeat.

It startled her and she concentrated. It was arhythmic.

She swallowed. Looking up at him in the twilight, she could see the grey hairs had increased and the stubble of his beard was showing, even though he had shaved less than an hour ago.

The hand he had raised to rub his jaw was surely not normally that narrow, its nails so dark.

He moved the hand in a half wave, and she turned to see Andrew entering the hall.

He’d come back early even though the transformation wasn’t due till Saturday.

‘Rose,’ Simon said, drawing her to one side. ‘Rose, tomorrow, I’m going back with Andrew. Things are happening too fast.’

‘I can see. Why don’t you go now? I can make excuses for you.’

‘You’ve been making excuses for me all our lives, Posie. This might be my last chance to give a talk. Had to be to a bunch of weirdos in a damp hall in the middle of nowhere didn’t it? Wasn’t how I envisaged my swan song.’

She gave him a little shake. ‘It won’t be your last talk, don’t be stupid. Even if Andrew can’t… can’t slow things down… if you follow the same pattern, you’ll be all right for quite a while. He said so.’

‘Months, Rose, months. With the window of normality getting smaller and smaller.’

‘Don’t say that.’

‘Come on: smile. Don’t let us down now. We’re indestructible you and me. I always had the wild ideas and you covered up the evidence when it went wrong. Don’t you remember?’

Rose choked and said nothing.

‘So now maybe it’s your turn to be in the limelight.’

‘I couldn’t fill it as well as you, my head’s not so big.’

‘Attagirl. Anyway, the point is, when Sky comes back, can you tell her…’

‘Ah! There you are Mr Henderson, we were getting worried,’ Emmeline bustled forward through the queue and led him away from Rose.

Rob came over. ‘Is he OK?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘This is such a bad idea. I can’t even say why, but it is.’

‘Yes, I know. Come on, let’s go in.’

They found Sam and Andrew near the front, behind Guild royalty, and sat down.

Simon was on stage, checking the equipment.

Behind them, the hall was starting to fill.

Rose turned to scan the faces. The toddler mothers were there and the book club.

She gave a half wave to Imogen but she must have mistaken the direction of Imogen’s stare, because she didn’t respond.

A straggle of men were scattered about with their wives and girlfriends.

Iseult was in the front row and there was no sign of Tony.

The tall man limped in, the one she kept treading on.

His limp was getting a little better. He was dressed for a wet walk with dogs, wearing a long coat and a slouch hat, which he didn’t remove.

He caught her eyes and then blinking, looked forwards.

Lena waved frantically from the doorway but settled mid way down with Craig.

Alicia came and sat across the aisle from the tall man.

She acknowledged Rose with a small nod but no smile and sat upright.

The weather had turned again as it often does in September and the evening was warm. The full hall was hot already and there was some kind of tussle going on at the entrance until it was decided to leave the doors open.

The meeting started. The usual domestics: this way for the exits, that way for the toilets, if there’s an emergency … please turn off your mobiles, no photography, no smoking etc etc.

‘This talk is highly unsuitable for children,’ announced Emmeline.

Rose frowned. There was nothing in the fake draft she’d been given that would suggest this. And surely even the real thing would be family friendly. Simon knew how to work audiences.

She looked at Simon. He appeared startled and went to say something. Emmeline, without turning, held up her hand. ‘So if anyone is under eighteen, they should leave now.’

There was a little scraping of chairs, muttering and pattering feet, then silence again.

‘Thank you,’ said Emmeline, ‘now as you should know, we always have a varied programme to suit all interests, but I’m especially pleased to introduce Mr Simon Henderson, who is going to tell us all about what it’s like to live as an animal.’

A light laugh went round the room, as if the majority of the audience wanted to take a bad joke in the spirit in which it was intended. The front row remained still.

‘Here you are now, Mr Henderson,’ she went on, ‘some water and what-not, if you need refreshment during your talk,’ she indicated a small tray and continued, ‘Now, show us what you’re really made of.’

She left the stage to sit beside Iseult.

Simon glanced at the tray, gave a tiny frown, then turned on both his microphone and a wide smile.

‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It seems as if there may have been some confusion. I’d like to reassure anyone faint-hearted that this talk contains nothing more unpleasant than you’d see in one of my TV programmes.

‘First of all, I’d just like to say how grateful I am to the good people of this town who have made me and my sister welcome since we moved here in July.

It has been a wonderful place to recuperate and I hope that for many years…

’ He stopped and started again, ‘As you know, I’m a wildlife presenter and have been lucky enough to travel the world and see up close the most beautiful creatures and habitats.

It’s a shame there are no children here because I’d like to encourage them.

I went to an ordinary state school. Sometimes I worked hard, sometimes I didn’t.

Then I went to university and studied zoology.

That’s where it all started. I got an opportunity and I took it, and I got the support when I needed it.

’ He glanced down at Rose, as if seeing her for the first time and saluted her.

She smiled. ‘OK,’ Simon continued. ‘Enough about me, let’s take a tour of the world… ’

The photographs were beautiful. So many were David’s.

Rose could tell his style a mile away. There were vistas and terrains, rain-forests, deserts, meadowland.

In wildernesses, horsemen stood with eagles, looking like centaurs.

Small creatures peeked from under leaves, huge predators lounged or stalked.

Simon explained with facts and anecdotes, little gems of information few people knew. The audience exclaimed and laughed, he encouraged questions and answered them, everything under control and calm.

Rose looked at the back of Emmeline’s head. She was motionless. Simon talked about what it was like on a shoot and named the crew, drawing each character from fixer to producer.

There were other photographs, not professional, snapshots of the crew at rest; in hammocks or tents, slapping mosquitoes, throwing snowballs, playing pranks on each other. He talked about David and what a team they’d been.

And suddenly there was David, relaxing in his own habitat, squinting through an eye-piece, checking the back of a camera, issuing instructions, laughing, video-calling Rose.

Rob reached over and squeezed her hand. After a second, she squeezed back, wiping a tear away with the other hand.

Simon smiled down at her and winked but rubbed the corner of his eye. She smiled and mouthed ‘thank you.’

He went back into the main talk, a preview of the upcoming show.

There was a tremor in his voice, he took a sip of water and started again.

Rob leant forward and reached across Rose to get Andrew’s attention. Rose followed his pointing finger. Simon was tiring, his was wobbling on his feet.

The next slides were of Denmark, the wildernesses, the forests. They showed the research which had gone in before they’d even made the film, the changing seasons: snow, thaw, summer, autumn, snow.

Rose tensed. Simon was starting to transform, just tiny signs, tiny. Only she could see them. It was too early, this shouldn’t happen for two more days at least. He would be all right if they got him out when the break came. They could say he had been taken ill. It would be true.

He took another sip of water and moved onto the next slide. It was the pack, ranged across a mountain side, the world below them and then another of them resting in the shade. There was Sky.. .

Simon stopped talking and stared at the screen. But Emmeline didn’t. She’d turned. Rose followed her gaze. Emmeline was looking to the back of the hall, where the tall man stood. He nodded, reached inside his long coat and raised a rifle.

‘No!’ Rose stood but it was too late. The shot rang out across the room and Simon staggered back.

He was still standing, hand raised to his shoulder, blood running through his fingers.

People were trying to get to the tall man but other people were in the way, Imogen, Hester, people Rose didn’t recognise.

The man’s arm was still raised.

‘Get down, Simon!’ Rose shouted then something ran up the aisle towards him, something flew through the air and knocked Simon down just as the second shot was fired.

There was silence.

‘Oh God, oh please God! No!’ Rose pushed past Rob and pulled herself onto the stage. She could not reach Simon, a wolf lay across him, panting, blood ran from its flank.

It turned blue eyes onto Rose and transformed into Sky second by second until she lay, beautiful and still on Simon’s chest. Blood was pouring.

She reached for Rose and Rose put her arms around her, holding her, hugging her.

Other hands were trying to stem the bleeding, other hands were trying to lift Sky from Simon.

Sky whispered. ‘I loved him, but it was …’ and the tall man pulled Rose away, gun still in his hands and he stroked Sky’s hair and said ‘forgive me, forgive me, it was you I wanted to protect.’

Sky’s hand dropped back and she sighed, her form second by second reverting into that of a wolf, blood matting her fur as it trickled more slowly until her blue eyes glazed.

‘Forgive me, sister,’ said the man. ‘I did not want him to tempt you into the wrong world.’

And another shot rang out.