counter, almost as though he’d been hiding there. The shopkeeper’s dark hair spiralled wildly about his head. His abrupt appearance made Gwen jump involuntarily, which seemed to amuse him. He turned to face Rhys, and a look of recognition spread slowly across his face.
The shopkeeper’s mouth twisted into what might have been a smile or a grimace. The tiny teeth and a wide expanse of gum made him resemble some kind of pasty boxer. ‘Hullo,’ he said, ‘have you come back for your change, then?’
‘Oh, aye,’ Rhys laughed. ‘Left in a bit of a hurry.’ He offered his hand.
The shopkeeper started to fumble in his till.
‘No,’ laughed Rhys. ‘I was introducing myself, proper like. I’m Rhys, and this is Gwen.’
‘Dillon.’ The shopkeeper shook his hand, and sheepishly gave him another gummy smile. He ignored Gwen. ‘I remember. Gave me a tenner, for the MonstaQuest pack. Then hoofed it when the alarm went off. S’why I always take the money before I hand anything over.’
Rhys jerked his thumb in the direction of the main mall. ‘You didn’t evacuate with everyone else, then?’
‘So many false alarms these days,’ said Dillon dismissively. ‘But I might as well close up the place now. Sales have been rubbish. But this – busiest trading day of the week? It might put me out of business.’
Rhys looked surprised. ‘You said this MonstaQuest thing was really popular. Thought you must be coining it there, mate.’
‘Not me. Gareth’s the one making all the money on this. I’m just a niche supplier.’ He pronounced it to rhyme with ‘hitch’, and spat the word like it was a curse.
‘This is what we came to talk to you about,’ interrupted Gwen impatiently. She pushed a ‘Toothsome’ blister pack across the counter.
‘Seven ninety-nine,’ said the shopkeeper.
‘I thought you were closed?’ Gwen replied, irritated by the misunderstanding. ‘But I’m not buying.’ She was aware that Rhys was scowling sidelong at her. Well, what did he want? He’d be chatting with this guy all day and getting nowhere. ‘Where did these models come from?’
‘Who wants to know?’
‘Trading Standards.’
The shopkeeper’s lips set in a narrow line. ‘You can sod off then.’
Rhys blew out a sigh. ‘Nice one.’ It took Gwen a moment to spot that he was muttering at her. ‘Please, Dillon. We need your help.’
‘Oh, you’re Nice Cop, are you?’ The shopkeeper looked between them warily. ‘You don’t scare me.’ His till snapped shut with an emphatic bang. ‘Told you, we’re closed. You can see yourselves out.’ And with this, he was off to the rear of the shop, where he began to tidy up the papier-mache landscape.
Rhys put his hand on Gwen’s arm to stop her rushing after the thin man. He joined the shopkeeper at the diorama, and began to put model Weevils into a box while Dillon scooped up the scattered MonstaQuest cards from the painted surface. ‘Come on, mate. What harm can it do?’
‘What do you care?’ muttered Dillon
Gwen could hear in Rhys’s voice that he was struggling to keep calm. ‘What about this Gareth? Got an address for him? Where can we find this mate of yours?’
Dillon snatched a Weevil model from Rhys’s fingers. ‘He’s no mate of mine. Not any more!’ he shouted. Gwen was alarmed to see the tendons sticking out in the shopkeeper’s thin neck. MonstaQuest cards quivered in his fist – a couple of growling Weevils, and a fiery monster than looked as inflamed as Dillon’s veined forehead. ‘He talked me into setting all this up. Organised these table-top games. Such big plans we had. But when I tell him that the mall management have put the rent up, and I might have to close, what’s he do? Storms out, that’s what!’
Rhys gestured to calm the man down, but this just infuriated him more.
‘Left me holding the baby, good and proper! Niche supplier not good enough for him. He’s getting MonstaQuest into Wendleby’s. Right in the centre of town.’
Rhys gave Gwen a brief look of desperation. But Gwen wasn’t really looking at him now. She was staring at the cards in Dillon’s grip. There was a distinctive lick of fire from the flame monster. Dillon noticed where Gwen was focusing, and took a look himself. He squealed in surprise, and dropped the burning card onto the painted landscape.
It was as though he’d dropped a match onto petrol. With a whumph of ignition, a huge gout of flame spurted upwards from the landscape. All three leaped away from it as the intense heat seared them. This was no ordinary fire. It curled and twisted at the edges, until it defined a distinct humanoid outline. One arm reached out lazily, and a shelf of comic books burst spontaneously into flames.
Gwen’s first reaction was to pull out her handgun. Rhys goggled. ‘What the hell good is that?’ he yelled. ‘Dillon, where’s your fire extinguisher!’
Dillon seemed frozen in shock. Another shelf full of magazines exploded into orange and red and yellow. The whole of one side of the shop was ablaze.
Rhys pulled the shopkeeper away as the table containing the diorama collapsed. The fire creature stood tall in the middle of the conflagration, and reached out a scorching tendril towards them. Dillon covered his face in horror.
A cold dark hole seemed to open up in the centre of the fire creature’s torso. It folded its arms towards its body and bowed its head. Its furiously burning legs buckled, and the whole thing collapsed into a molten heap, scattering embers across the shop where they began fresh fires.
‘It’s gone!’ yelled Rhys.
‘But this fire hasn’t!’ called Gwen. ‘We have to get out of here!’
They dragged Dillon out through the shop exit. After a panicky search, they located the crank that would bring the shutter fully down. Rhys ran to a fire alarm and managed to break the glass on the second attempt. The all-too familiar wail of the alarm echoed throughout the abandoned mall.
The Halloween masks and fake cobweb in the display were ablaze now, the windows blackening and cracking. Sprinklers were making a futile attempt to contain the inferno, but it was already clear that the fire was uncontrollable.
They’d backed away as far as the dead escalators when Leonard’s Toys and Games blew out. Pea-sized chunks of window glass scattered across the area like a sudden shower. Within seconds, the pre-school store next door had caught alight.
Dillon sank to his haunches on the mall floor.
‘That fire-monster enough to scare you?’ Rhys asked him.
The shopkeeper began to sob. ‘No one will believe me,’ he wailed. ‘They’ll have me for arson.’
‘Nah,’ said Rhys. ‘Spark from the till, wasn’t it?’ He nudged Gwen’s elbow. ‘We only just got you out in time, didn’t we Gwen?’
‘That’s right.’ Gwen helped Dillon to stand and indicated their escape route down the stairs. ‘We’re your witnesses.’
The shopkeeper had an incredulous, eager look in his eyes.
‘Well, we could be,’ added Rhys as they ushered Dillon through the fire doors. ‘So long as we get this Gareth’s home address.’
TEN
Ianto Jones looked at the snake, and the snake looked back at Ianto. Its jaw opened lazily, only twenty centimetres from his nose as he squatted. He could feel the tension in his haunches. He was going to have to stand up. Would that alarm the snake?
‘
Ianto didn’t look away from the reptile poised in front of his face. He said calmly: ‘You’re making that up.’
‘That’s an inland taipan,’ continued Jack, his voice low and dangerous. ‘One bite contains enough venom to kill a hundred men.’ He considered this for a moment. ‘l dated a girl like that.’
