Boy Caesar (31 page)

They weren’t that far from the boundary road and, despite the hard work involved in supporting Antonio, he was certain they would get there. If anything, Antonio seemed more responsive now and their progress a little more fluent. Jim could hear traffic on the other side of the trees and knew that a whole different world existed once they came off the Heath. Masako was right, he told himself; the place felt as though an electromagnetic field was drawing those who came here to its centre, like aircraft disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle.

‘We need to get you dressed,’ Jim said to Antonio as they paused again beneath the trees. They sat him down, stripped him of his toga and managed somehow to get his clothes on.

‘No taxi will stop for us with you looking like that,’ Jim said, as Antonio allowed himself to be dressed. As an afterthought he took the toga and spiked it on a bush, hoping the garment would surprise someone out walking their dog in the early morning. If the place had a bad name, then he would add to it by leaving behind this mischievous pointer to the night’s sexual activities.

He froze, hearing someone coming towards them on the path, but the figure kept a wide berth and headed off in the direction of the woods. He could see headlights now and hear a steady stream of cars burning along the road’s hard shoulder. His ankle hurt from having twisted it in a ditch, but that was something he would attend to later when there was time.

As they came out through the trees, the moon had risen, and its light hit them full on. Antonio was able to walk by himself now, and the three of them stood back, all focused on a particular moment in time, through a shared vision. The light was momentarily dazzling, before heavy clouds obscured the view.

They came off the Heath and, taking advantage of a pause in
traffic, crossed over the road to the other side. Jim looked at Masako for a sign that the spell had been broken. Already he felt lighter and freer, as though Slut no longer had the power to draw him into his circle. For the moment he stood there, waiting for a taxi with its orange light to materialize out of the dark, grind to an abrupt halt and, headed their way, take them the one route home.

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First published in Great Britain 2004 by

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© Jeremy Reed 2004

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