Page 16 of Skulk of Foxes
Finn walked around the bar towards her. ‘I’ll take you home to get some. We can return later.’ He shot me a look. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I appreciate what you said to that lot.’
I sniffed. ‘I didn’t do it for you.’
His response was quiet. ‘That’s why I’m saying thank you.’ Without looking at me again, he helped Julie to her feet and the pair of them walked out.
Somewhat nervously, Timmons edged forward. ‘I’d like to stay and help, if that’s alright. Admittedly I might not be a lot of help, but I’d like to try.’ He bit his lip and flicked me a nervy look. ‘Someone once told me I should stand up for myself.’
I beamed at him. ‘Me, right? It was me? I think it was me.’ I looked at the others. ‘It was me.’
‘What about him?’ Jodie’s voice was quiet. ‘What about Opulus?’
He remained sunk on the chair I’d given him. Truthfully, he appeared all but comatose.
Morgan frowned. ‘Leave him be. He’ll come round when he wants to. Just give him some time. At least here we can keep an eye on him to make sure he’s alright.’
Opulus groaned slightly and lifted his head. His eyes shone with unshed tears. ‘I’m fine,’ he said. He clearly wasn’t. ‘I’ll get myself some water in a minute. I just need…’ He choked, unable to finish.
We all nodded. That was the thing about grief – everyone had experienced it in one form or another. Even if I didn’t remember my own moments of true grieving, some part of me recognised the sensation. Everyone dealt with it differently. Opulus didn’t want to be alone but he didn’t want to participate either. That was wholly understandable. To prove I could continue to be a lovely empathetic faery, I reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
‘Getting rid of the others wasn’t just about preventing constant in-fighting and backstabbing,’ Morgan said. ‘It was also about trust. I know I can trust everyone in this room with my life.’ It felt like my heart was going to burst. Finally. Finally he really trusted me. ‘Not just you, Maddy, so stop with the cheesy grin.’
I didn’t stop. Why would I?
‘Maybe,’ Morgan continued quietly, ‘you should give one of us the sphere to look after. Carrying it just makes you a target.’
‘I don’t have it.’ At his look, I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m telling the truth! You just said you trusted me with your life so at least trust me in this! I gave the sphere to a cleaner.’
‘You did what?’ Jodie asked with palpable disbelief.
I sighed and explained what had happened. ‘It seemed the best thing to do at the time. I wasn’t going to get away with the sphere in my possession. And I wasn’t expecting the heavens to start attacking the earth in order to help out little ol’ me. I simply used my inherent genius. I know the woman’s name and the company she works for her. The sphere is safe for now. We’ll have to find her and retrieve it soon but I reckon we have some breathing space.’
‘That was a smart move,’ Morgan said.
I stuck my tongue out at Jodie. ‘See?’
She tutted. ‘Speaking of the heavens attacking,’ she said, changing the subject, ‘what the fuck was all that? Was it because of you? Or was it something Rubus did?’
I held up my palms. ‘Nothing to do with me.’
‘Nothing to do with Rubus either,’ Morgan said grimly. ‘He was more terrified than the rest of us.’
‘The rats recognised him as a kindred spirit,’ I said. ‘Like is drawn to like.’ I pointed at the television. ‘It wasn’t just a localised thing. Turn on the sound. What’s happening?’
Jodie glanced at Morgan as if she needed his permission to up the volume. He gave her a brief nod. The man certainly liked to run a tight ship; perhaps he had more in common with his brother than he realised. My mouth flattened. Perhaps we all did in our own ways.
The newscaster’s voice filled the room, booming out into every nook and cranny. ‘For those of you just joining us, there have been numerous reports from all over the city of Manchester of serious disturbances. In Fallowfields, concerns have been raised by eyewitness who spoke of dozens of foxes running down the streets. In Rusholme, several passers-by managed to get footage of what appears to be a pink elephant causing considerable damage.’
The screen changed, flicking to what was indeed an elephant bursting out of the front window of a small Victorian terrace house. My jaw dropped. Talk about the elephant in the room.
‘That’s impossible,’ Jodie breathed.
Vandrake rubbed his eyes. ‘I’ve seen a pink elephant before.’
We all ripped our gaze away from the screen to stare at him. Even Opulus jerked his head round. When Vandrake realised he was the centre of attention, his cheeks stained red and he looked down. ‘I’m fairly certain it was a hallucination,’ he muttered. ‘It made itself a cup of tea and sat down in my favourite armchair.’
Uh … okay then.
‘Here with us,’ the newscaster continued, ‘is Fred Bellows from the Meteorological Office. Fred, can you explain any of this?’
