‘I’m going,’ I gasped, ‘to barbecue you … the … next … chance … I … get.’
Hester smiled. ‘She’s fine.’
I finally brought my breathing under control and pulled out my phone. There was no signal. Great.
Otis wrung his hands. ‘You shouldn’t have run away, Daisy.You should have waited for the police. As soon as you explained what happened, they’d have looked for Gordon to make sure he’s okay.’
Gordon. My body shook. If Athair did anything to hurt him, anything at all… ‘I panicked,’ I said. Even to my own ears it sounded like a lame excuse.
I stood up and pushed away the sweat-soaked curls that were plastered to my forehead. There was a large egg-shaped bruise on my temple where the frying pan had hit me. ‘That woman was terrified, and she wasn’t going to listen to anything we said. She needed us to leave as quickly as possible.’
‘Why is it night time again?’ Hester asked. ‘Why did we suddenly appear in a random stranger’s house? Why did that stupid skull do all that weird spinning stuff? Why did Athair show up? Why?—?’
I held up my hands to stop the tirade of questions. ‘I don’t know. I don’t have any answers.’
‘What happened to Hugo?’ Otis asked.
‘I don’t know that either.’ I looked at the tenement buildings around us; we were definitely still in Edinburgh. ‘But I think I know where we are. I’ve made deliveries to this street before. Let’s go to the Royal Elvish Institute. With any luck, Hugo will be waiting for us there, and Gordon will be receiving medical attention.’
‘And Athair?’ Hester raised a sceptical eyebrow.
I didn’t answer but Otis did. ‘Hopefully he’ll have fucked off back to his cumbubbling hole.’ Hester and I both stared at him. ‘What? Do you disagree?’
Not for a second. I grinned faintly and pointed down the street. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘It’s this way.’
A car drove past, a belch of smoke burping from its exhaust and ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ by Big Mountain blaring out of thespeakers. I frowned then looked at the other cars parked in the street. ‘What is it, Daisy?’ Hester asked.
Despite my burning cheeks, there was a sudden chill in my bones. ‘Nothing.’
She jabbed me. ‘You’re lying.’
Yes. Yes, I was.
I spotted a dim glow coming from a newsagent’s shop a few yards away. ‘Let’s go there first.’
‘Why?’
I wouldn’t say what I was thinking until I was sure. I looked at my phone again: still no signal. I swallowed hard. The tinnitus had faded, but my fingers were trembling enough to make my phone shake. ‘Humour me,’ I said.
Hester brightened. ‘What do you call a man with a spade in his head?’
‘Idiot! That’s not what Daisy meant.’ Otis glared at her, then added, ‘Well?’
She sniffed sullenly. ‘Well, what?’
‘Whatdoyou call a man with a spade in his head?’
Hester folded her arms. ‘Not telling you now.’
‘Tell me!’
She sighed. ‘Doug.’
Otis stared at her. ‘I don’t get it. How is that funny?’
I’d already stopped listening. I put my phone away, checked Gladys again and started to jog towards the small shop.
A wire mesh covered the glass door. When I peered through it, I saw a man leaning over the counter with a pen in his hand. Excellent. As I went in, he jerked upright and reached for something beneath the counter. Then he checked my face and relaxed.
