The Considine Curse (13 page)

‘Open the door,’ says Freddie.

‘Go away,’ I say. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’

‘I’m hardly going to attack you here, in my home,’ he says.

He’s such an amazing-looking creature that I understand why Father Gowlett described my grandma as beautiful. Part of me wants to reach out and touch him, to check that he is real. I slide the door open. The icy night air makes me shiver.

Freddie grins, displaying his long white teeth. ‘On Friday afternoon you had no idea this was possible,’ he says. ‘You lived in the same boring world as everyone else. But Friday night your world got bigger, didn’t it? I’ve known about this since I was five years old, but you . . . You must be questioning everything you thought you knew. And you’re telling me you’re happy to turn your back on it all and go back to sleep like all these other humans?’ He turns his head and motions to the rest of the city.

‘How long have you been working on that speech then?’ I ask.

Again, the grin. ‘About an hour. How was it?’

‘Great. I’m not going.’

Freddie stretches his legs and arches his back. In the moonlight I can see not just the hair that covers his body but the curves of his muscles, his strong legs and powerful shoulders.

‘Why not?’ he says.

‘I don’t trust you. If you kill me, you can become the pack leader.’

Freddie steps down and brings his face closer to mine. Even as a wolf, there is an attractive symmetry to his features.

‘If I had wanted to kill you, I’d have done it when you were sitting in that tree,’ he says.

I suddenly realise his are the same eyes that I saw a few nights ago, up on the hill.

‘That was you?’

‘Yes, and if I wanted you to come to any harm I’d have howled and brought the others. But I didn’t want you involved . . .’

‘What’s changed?’

‘Now you are involved. And don’t you want to find out more? You won’t get many more chances. You’ve only got a few days left here before you fly back home to Australia. And even if Oberon and Elspeth did come I would protect you. You’d be safe.’

It isn’t that Freddie’s words are so persuasive that they stop me being scared, but my thirst to learn more about this world is strong and Freddie’s words convince me it’s safe to go. And that’s all they need to do.

‘Hold on.’ I go back into the room and pull on my coat and boots then return to the balcony.

Freddie jumps down to the roof below and without another thought I climb over the railing and follow him.

I land heavily and for a moment I feel that same confusion as when I awake from sleepwalking. The Mariel that jumped feels like a different person to the one who landed. I straighten up and look back.

‘There’s only one way back in and that’s to follow me,’ says Freddie, his eyes glowing red. He runs along the roof and disappears off the end. The next roof we land on slopes and we have to keep moving to avoid falling. There are another couple of easy jumps before we reach a fire escape that takes us down to the ground.

‘This is a mistake,’ I say. ‘I want to go back now.’

Freddie lifts his head to reveal a set of keys hanging around his neck. ‘Unless you’ve got your own set then you have two choices. Come with me or sit here and wait for me to return, hoping that Oberon and Elspeth aren’t out tonight.’

He turns his back and walks along the pavement, his tail swishing casually behind him. After a moment’s consideration I go after him.

‘Come on, we’re going this way,’ he says.

We go down a dark overgrown path. We step out on to the canal towpath where the still water reflects the moon. We both stop to look at it. ‘How does the moon affect you?’ I ask.

‘We’re most powerful when it’s full but as our power grows so does the wolf’s voice.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘When the moon is full, we are more wolf than human. It’s when we’re most careless. That’s why in the stories they say we only change once a month. It’s the time we’re most likely to get seen.’

‘But you don’t seem any different to me.’

‘Being the wolf doesn’t change who you are. Oberon is as greedy a wolf as he is a human, Elspeth was born crazy and I’m just as much fun whatever.’

‘So what does the voice say?’

He turns to look at me, the red of his eyes like blood. ‘It tells us to
kill kill kill
,’ he says. He laughs. ‘But don’t worry, we can control what we kill. I’m not going to hurt you.’

Freddie stops and sniffs the air. ‘There are people up there.’

‘I can’t see anyone,’ I reply.

‘I can smell the flesh of two food sources on the water around the next bend so that’s either two humans on a boat or two very large ducks.’ He grins at me then adds, ‘I can’t be seen.’ He disappears into the undergrowth. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be right next to you.’

I turn the corner and see a longboat on the canal. There is light coming from it and two male voices. I feel more vulnerable on my own. The men sound drunk. They are sitting on top of the boat in deckchairs. There are two pinpricks of light from the cigarettes they’re smoking.

I speed up but one of them notices me. ‘Hello.’

I keep walking.

‘Nice evening for a stroll,’ says the other.

I don’t look at them as I pass.

‘Hey, don’t be unfriendly now,’ says one. ‘Why not stop for a beer?’

Both of them slur their words.

‘We only want a little chat.’

Behind me, I hear them both jump off the boat and follow.

‘Out late on your lonesome, aren’t you?’ says one.

‘I’m walking my dog. Leave me alone.’

My heart pounds.

One of the men gets in front of me and blocks my way.

The other is behind me. ‘What dog?’ he says. ‘I don’t see any dog. Here doggy dog.’

‘He’s in the bushes,’ I say.

The man pulls out a silver lighter, flicks it open, mocking me by pretending to use it to look. Suddenly there’s a throaty growl and he flies into the water. Freddie is so fast I barely see him move. There is a second splash as the other man is pushed into the canal.

‘Come on,’ Freddie whispers.

I run after him. The fear I feel explodes from me as laughter. Freddie allows me to catch up. I see he’s holding the man’s silver lighter between his jaws.

‘What is it about silver?’ I ask.

‘Silver calls to us,’ he replies. ‘I don’t know why, something about the way it shines in the moonlight. If you were a wolf, your instinct would to be to tear it from me.’

‘But aren’t you afraid of the others?’

‘No, none of the others would dare to attack me.’

‘Someone attacked Grandma,’ I say.

‘Ma’wolf was old. She had grown weak. Even the youngest amongst us could have killed her.’

‘Is that who did it? Elspeth?’

‘Maybe. She’s crazy enough. Or maybe it was Oberon. It could have been any of us. Personally I reckon it was Gerald. I don’t think he ever forgave her for coaxing him in the first place.’

‘Coaxing,’ I repeat. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It’s how we become wolves. The wolf is coaxed out of us with five bites. Gerald was on his own with Ma’wolf for two years before she made him help her coax Oberon, then me and Amelia a year later. We all took part in Lily’s coaxing but she refused to bite when Elspeth’s turn came.’

‘Doesn’t it hurt?’

‘It hurts a lot at the time, yes. It would kill a human.’

‘How old were you when she did it?’

‘Wolf children can be coaxed as soon as they can crawl but Grandma waited until each of us was five so we were able to control it.’

‘That’s terrible.’

‘It depends on your point of view. For me, it’s an opportunity. How many people get to see a whole other side of life, to run wild at night, to feel the satisfaction of a clean kill?’

I follow Freddie up a path surrounded by trees, making it darker. ‘So you don’t care who killed Grandma?’

‘The pack must protect itself.’

The path takes us to a wire fence, behind which are three small wooden huts, each with a ramp leading up to a tiny door.

‘What are they?’ I ask.

‘Chicken coops.’

‘You’re going to kill a chicken?’ I say, disgusted.

‘No. We wait here. You’ll see.’ Freddie crouches down and I step back into the shadows.

‘I still don’t understand how the gene is passed down,’ I say.

‘Well, take me for example. Say I was to have a daughter, she would be a carrier and any of her children would have the gene. But if I had a son, the gene wouldn’t be passed on.’

‘And would you do that to a little baby? Will you coax Madeleine?’

‘Not until she’s old enough,’ says Freddie. ‘But Oberon wants to do it much sooner and we’ll have to follow him if he becomes leader.’

‘How do you become leader?’

‘The wolf with the most kills of the highest value.’

‘And is that Oberon?’

‘At the moment.’ Freddie turns his head. ‘Ah look, right on time.’

‘Who?’

‘Over there.’

A brown fox prowls across the yard. Its eyes are focused on the chicken coops.

‘In five seconds time, not-so-Fantastic Mr Fox here is going to break into those huts and slaughter every chicken inside. There are twelve chickens in each hut and Foxy only needs one for tea but he’ll kill every single one because killing is in his nature. Providing he can do it before the farmer comes with his shotgun he’ll kill three dozen chickens tonight.’

The thought of it horrifies me. ‘Can’t you scare him away, stop him doing it?’ I say.

Freddie winks at me. ‘Yep.’ He takes two steps back and leaps over the fence. The fox turns to see the source of the noise but Freddie is already upon him. I hear a crunch and a snap before Freddie turns around, holding the limp, lifeless fox between his teeth. He walks back up to the fence and drops the fox at my feet. There’s a moment’s silence. The chickens have slept through the threat. ‘You did it because you wanted to kill,’ I say, unable to bring myself to look at the fox.

‘Needed to kill,’ corrects Freddie. ‘Just like Mr Fox, I needed to do it. Unlike him I could control what I killed. I killed one fox efficiently and painlessly and saved thirty-six harmless, innocent chickens.’

Chapter 16

A Knife in the Hand

When we finally get back to the flat, I go to bed for another night of half sleep. My body feels dirty. I can smell wolf and dead fox on my skin. The smell makes me feel sick. Every time I close my eyes I can see Freddie landing on the fox and I can hear the snap of its neck. I am woken by the sound of Mum’s laughter. I get up and dress. I step out of my room to find her and Freddie sitting at the breakfast bar.

‘Morning, Mariel,’ she says, wiping the tears from her eyes. ‘Freddie’s been telling me what you got up to last night.’

I catch his eye.

‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ says Mum, ‘encouraging him to make fun of people like that.’

She is talking about the game in the restaurant. It crosses my mind to tell her the truth, but what would I say?
And did he tell you about turning into a werewolf and killing a fox?
She would think I had lost it. Freddie seems so normal, charming Mum, making her giggle so I smile and pour myself some cereal.

‘I told Rob we’d help with the party preparations,’ says Mum.

‘What party?’ I ask.

‘We’re having a family get-together on the roof. Remember?’

‘Won’t that be cold?’ I say.

‘Outdoor heaters,’ says Freddie. ‘There’s a sound system up there too.’

Mum says, ‘It’ll be nice to see the whole family again before we return home, won’t it, Mariel?’

I don’t reply.

‘Can you believe it’s been a week since the funeral?’ asks Uncle Robson.

‘Is it Monday already?’ says Mum. ‘Doesn’t school start today?’

‘It’s an INSET day,’ says Freddie.

Uncle Robson nods and says, ‘Yes, but you do have homework that needs doing for tomorrow.’

‘I need to entertain Mariel!’ protests Freddie.

‘I’m sure Mariel can keep herself entertained,’ says Uncle Robson firmly.

‘Can I email my friends?’ I ask. ‘I said I’d tell them what it’s like in England.’

‘Sure. You can use my study,’ says Uncle Robson.

The study and computer are state of the art just like the rest of the flat. I sit down on the plush swivel chair and log into my email account. There are two emails from friends. Reading what they have been up to makes me feel homesick. I look out of the window at the cold English sky. Both my friends want to know how it is here. I hit the reply button and sit staring at the blinking cursor wondering what to say. But I feel so detached from my life back home that it’s like I don’t even know how to write to my friends so I click away from the email and find a search engine instead. I type in ‘cycles of the moon’ and find a calendar showing the shape of the moon each night. I look up the date Grandma’s body was found. The night before it shows a perfect circle. Grandma died on the night the moon was full and when my cousins were strongest and wildest. I close the page, delete my search history and go to the kitchen to help Mum.