She glanced secretively at Laura who was slumped silently, half-turned to look out of the passenger window. Ruth was surprised to see she wasn't taking it well at all. Her face was white and strained, turned even ghostlier by the bleached blondeness of her hair, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. A tremor ran through her body and Ruth noticed she had her hands tucked between her thighs to stop them shaking.
'We're going to get out of this,' Ruth said supportively.
'Sorry, you must be thinking I care about your opinions,' Laura replied without turning her head.
Ruth returned her attention to the dark road ahead; if Laura felt she was better internalising her fears, there was no point wasting her breath.
Two miles further on, Laura broke her silence. 'What's going to happen now?'
'We meet up with Church-'
'We're not going to meet up with Church, you stupid bitch. It was a suicide run. You know that.'
Ruth did know it, but she hadn't allowed herself to think about it. Now the idea that Church might be dead made her feel like she had a cold, hard rock lying on her chest. 'There still might be a chance. He said it himself: these days we live in a world where anything can happen.'
There was a hopeful hush and then Laura said, 'Okay. But say he doesn't make it back. What then?'
'Then we carry on with what we have to do. Find the remaining talismans-'
'Smart plan. Except for one thing. Church took the Wayfinder with him when he left. It was stuffed in his jacket.'
Ruth dropped her head briefly in despair. She couldn't believe how stupid they'd been. Without the lantern, they'd never find the talismans. And without the talismans, everything was lost.
'So we better hope he does get back to us,' Laura said emotionlessly.
For ten minutes they drove in silence, wondering how the fate of the world had come to be placed on their shoulders, filled with despair at the mess they had made of it, when Ruth said suddenly, 'I feel strange.'
'You've only just noticed?'
Ruth focused on the unnerving sensation which seemed to be buzzing underneath her skin. A second later she saw something red glowing nearby and froze in fear, instantly thinking it was the eye of some lurking beast. When she realised it was a vehicle's rear light she laughed nervously at how the mundane was now the last thing she considered.
A large white Transit van was pulled up on to the verge. One of the rear lights was broken and it seemed to have a flat; someone was hunkering down trying to change the wheel by torchlight in the driving rain.
Ruth's heart told her to stop to help, but her head warned her it was too much of a risk. But as she drove by, the buzzing under her skin grew unbearable, as if an infestation of insects were burrowing there; she could tell from Laura's sudden jerk and expression of discomfort that she was feeling it too. Then, without warning, the lights went off. Ruth slammed on the brakes, her heart pounding.
'What's going on?' Laura hissed fearfully.
The lights came on after a long beat, but just as Ruth was about to engage the gears once more, they flashed off and on five times in quick succession.
'The electrics are going crazy,' Laura said. 'Just drive. We can't risk sitting here. Or maybe I should get out and paint red and white circles on the roof?'
Something nagged at Ruth's mind. The headlights were fine now. She glanced in the rearview mirror to see whoever had been changing the tire was now standing in the road, silhouetted against the van's lights, staring at them. All she could tell was that it was a man. She listened to the rhythmic clack of the windscreen wipers, hit the accelerator, but the car didn't move.
'Come on,' Laura said anxiously. 'You're too young to have Alzheimer's.'
'No,' Ruth said thoughtfully. 'There are new rules now. We have to start operating by them.'
'What do you mean?' Laura glanced over her shoulder to see if the van's driver was approaching. 'He's just standing there,' she said with obvious relief.
'Instinct. Coincidence,' Ruth continued. 'We have to listen to things talking to us.'
'What kind of things?'
'Unseen things.' She caught her breath, hoping she was right. 'That strange sensation we both felt-that was our instinct telling us to be aware, not to miss something important. And the lights. One long flash, five short. Not an accident. A message.'
'A message,' Laura repeated with a sneer. 'The car's talking to us. Shall we give it a name?'
'Not the car. Life. The world. Whatever makes all this tick. The player behind the scenes.' Thunder rumbled ominously and lightning danced across the horizon in a breathtaking light show that beat anything created by technology. This time Laura stared at her curiously, without mocking. 'There are supposed to be five of us who make a stand,' Ruth continued. 'Five who become one, something greater than the sum of the parts.' She turned to look at the figure in the road who was stock-still despite the storm, staring at their car.
Laura followed her gaze. 'Or he might just spout hair and fangs and tear us apart the moment we get out of the car.'
Ruth shivered; Laura had instantly lanced the doubts she had tried to put to one side. Every rational thought told her not to get out of the car; it was hard to fight years of conditioning for something so intangible as a whim.
'So do you have enough faith in yourself?' Laura said. 'Or is there still some sense in your head?'
'Look at him-he feels it too,' Ruth said, trying to convince herself.
'Or else he just smells meat.'
'Stop it.' Ruth rested her hand on the gear stick, tightened her grip.Just drive, she told herself. Don't be crazy. Laura's right you can't risk everything on a notion.
She glanced back once more, then turned quickly and flung open the door. Laura's protests were lost as she threw herself out into the wind and rain, shielding her eyes with her arm. She took a few steps to the rear of the car. The man still wasn't moving.
'Do you need any help?' she called out.
In the long moment when she thought he wasn't going to answer, the anxiety returned in force. But just as she was on the verge of leaping back in the car and driving off, he called out, 'Please.'
Ruth steeled herself and walked forward as confidently as she could manage. With the storm raging around her, it was difficult to see or hear any warning signs; she would be close enough to grab by the time she knew if she had made the right decision.
Gradually his features coalesced out of the stark shadows and light thrown by the headlights. He was Asian, about 5 ft 10 ins, with shoulder-length black hair plastered to his head by the rain. As she closed on him, Ruth guessed he was probably of Indian blood; he had the most beautiful face she had seen on any man. His bone- structure was so finely cut, his eyes so wide and dark, his lips so full, that there was a hint of androgyny. When she was near enough he unveiled a smile of perfect white teeth which was so open she instantly felt at ease.
'Thank you,' he said in a soft, tranquil voice. 'On a night like this I would not expect anyone to stop to help.' He took her hand in both of his in greeting, as if she were a long lost friend; his fingers were long, slim and warm. 'My name is Shavi.'
Ruth introduced herself and Laura, who had just climbed out of the car, casting a suspicious glance in their direction. 'Let's get this tire changed before we all catch pneumonia.'
As they eased the wheel off the axle, Ruth asked him what he was doing driving across the bleak moor in a terrible storm at that time of night. 'Searching,' he said enigmatically. There was a glimmer in his eye that made Ruth feel he knew everything going through her head.
Laura peered over their shoulders, her arms folded. 'So are you one of us?' she said bluntly.
Shavi flashed her another smile and Ruth was surprised to see a faint warm response on Laura's face. 'Perhaps,' he said.
'You're not going to wear out that word, are you?'
'What caused the broken light and the flat?' Ruth asked.
Shavi grunted as the wheel came free and rolled to one side. 'Something came across the road in front of me, fast, just a shadow. At first it was on four legs, then two, then four again. You know?' Anyone else wouldn't have understood the meaning of the question, but Ruth nodded; they had all seen the strange shapes lurking off in the dark country night. 'I felt the van hit it, but there was no body, no blood. Perhaps it was thrown off the road.'
