Page 50 of Dauntless
“For you, you bloody idiot!”
“For me?”Eddie’s jaw dropped.“What sort of message?”He tugged his beanie off and jammed it in his pocket.“I don’t speakflag, Joe!”
I hurried down the rest of the steps and at last joined Eddie at the base of the central mast.“Your movements are not understood.You are running intodanger.”
Eddie wrinkled his nose.“What are you talking about?”
I grabbed him by the shoulders.I didn’t know whether I wanted to kiss him or throttle him.“Wherewereyou last night?”
“In like, some bushes?”Eddie shrugged.“Near a beach?It was fucking cold, that’s all I know.There was a goat.”
“Did you hear the bells yesterday?”
“Oh, yeah,” Eddie said.“For Sunday church, right?”
“We don’t have church services here, Eddie!Jesus Christ!”Throttle him.I definitely wanted to throttle him.
“Well how was I supposed to know that?”Eddie demanded.“What were the bells for then?”
“Someone killed John Coldwell, and the entire fucking island thinks it was you!”
The colour drained from Eddie’s face.“What?”
“John Coldwell is dead,” I said.“And everyone thinks you did it.”
“Who—” The word was lost in a huff of breath.Eddie swallowed.“He’sdead?”
“The police are coming.I know you didn’t hurt him, so we just need you to stay put somewhere safe until the police get here, okay?And we can get everything sorted out then.”
“Joe.”Eddie clutched the sleeve of my coat.“I saw him yesterday.He was fine.I mean, he was horrible, but he was fine.Why would… why would someone kill him?Oh god.”He tightened his grip on my sleeve.“I’m going to be Wicker Manned on this island, aren’t I?”
“That’s not a thing, Eddie.”I released his shoulder and cupped the side of his face.“The police will be here soon.You’ll be okay.”
“Okay,” Eddie said, his eyes wide.“But people think I killed him?Seriously?”
“Because of the diary.And because you were the last person to see him.”
Eddie’s brow creased.“But I wasn’t the last person to see him.When I was leaving the museum I saw?—”
Behind him, the door to the lighthouse opened.
“Hello, Mr.Hawthorne,” Short Clarry said, stepping inside.“Nice to see you again.”
And he pointed a gun at us.
Chapter 14
EDDIE
My blood ran cold as Joe stepped in front of me.
“Oh, don’t do that, Red Joe,” Short Clarry said.“This isn’t about you.”
Joe stared down the narrow barrel of the revolver.“Where’d you get that?”
“This old thing?It was my grandfather’s.He was issued it in the war.It’s an Enfield No.2.A collector’s piece by now, probably.”His mouth turned down at the corners.“John Coldwell could have put it in his museum.”
I dug my fingers into the back of Joe’s coat.
