what to do.
'Wake up,' Laura said. 'It's deserted. Looting is an option.'
'That's just what I'd expect from someone with your easy morals,' Ruth snapped. 'It's still stealing.'
Veitch emerged from a health food store chewing on a cheese and onion pastie. 'It's still fresh,' he said. 'Wherever they've gone, it's only just happened.'
Shavi looked up and down the street, noting the open doors. 'If they were evacuated, they would have locked up at least.'
Despite Ruth's initial opposition, they agreed to take some of the fresh food which would spoil quickly. Veitch and Laura picked up a couple of bags and headed into the health food store, the baker's and the butcher's with what Ruth noted as undue glee.
'Least you won't need your gun this time,' she said sourly to Veitch as he passed.
Church and Shavi left her with Tom while they explored further up the street. Church had quickly learned to value the Asian's quick insight and measured views; Shavi's obvious intelligence and ability to keep a cool head under pressure made Church feel some of the weight had been taken off his shoulders.
'What do you think, then?' Church turned and looked back down the length of the High Street and beyond to the dangerous face of nature rising up in thickly wooded hills all around.
'I think everything out there is getting braver. Villages, small towns … they do not seem concerned by them any more. The problem is, the enemy is not one group-it is a complete existence that is so alien to us any contact is destructive.'
'So can we hold back the new Dark Age?'
'This is a world of the subconscious, of nightmares and shadows. Those things are always more powerful than their opposites.'
'So we're wasting our time?'
'We are doing the best we can.' Shavi smiled wanly.
They were both suddenly alerted by a faint sound which seemed to emanate from a tiny cobbled alley which ran at breathtaking steepness upwards between two shops; it sounded like a firecracker in the silence.
'What was that?' Church asked.
They both moved forward to the foot of the alley. At the top they could see a parked car, a house, blue sky; no movement. Church put one foot on the cobbles, but Shavi placed a restraining hand on his arm. They stood motionless for a minute until they heard the noise again; the inhuman sound was like an insectile chittering laid over the cry of a baby. A second later a grey shape flitted across the other end of the alleyway, too quick to make out its true form.
'We should get out of here,' Church said.
Another movement; there seemed to be more than one of them.
They sprinted back down the High Street, where Ruth was leaning against the wing of a car. She caught their expressions and asked what was wrong.
'Where are the others?' Church snapped.
'The criminal fraternity are back in the health food store. Tom's gone into that clothing store.' She pointed across the street. 'Are you going to tell me what's happening? Is there something here?' She jumped off the car, glancing around anxiously.
'You two get Veitch and Laura and head back to the van. I'll find Tom.' He sprinted into the clothing store, past racks of waterproofs and outdoor wear. Tom was in the back, trying on a pair of walking boots.
'Come on,' Church said. 'We don't have time for that. Bring them with you if you want.'
Tom stood up instantly at the insistence in Church's voice. 'Fomorii?'
'I don't think so.'
Tom didn't need any more prompting. He hurried behind Church to the entrance, but as they stepped out into the street they both saw movement at the top end of the High Street: fleeting shapes that looked almost ghostly flashed back and forth across the road.
'You're the expert,' Church said. 'What are they?'
Tom stared for a second, then shook his head. 'I have no idea. The twilight lands were filled with all manner of things. I had more to do than study them all.'
As they ran across the road, movement erupted in the shops all around. The shapes seemed to be emerging from the backrooms as if they had awakened from their rest in the shadowy interiors and were now intent on seeking out the trespassers on their property. Church caught a glimpse of green eyes and gnashing teeth. A sudden wash of fear spurred him on.
With Tom close behind, he ran down the side road to where Shavi had the van warmed up and waiting. They piled in the back and the van took off with a screech of tires, going the wrong way through the one-way system.
'Changed your mind about sticking to routine, I see,' Veitch said to Shavi. The Asian smiled tightly.
As they careered out of town, Church, Tom and Ruth glanced back through the rear windows to see the High Street now swarming with the grey shapes in a manner that reminded them of a disturbed ant hill. It was a scene that filled them all with the utmost terror.
'Where do you think the residents have gone?' Ruth asked feebly.
Church and Tom took up their seats without answering. The atmosphere had become even more dark and oppressive.
When eventually they reached Carmarthen, they were relieved to see the town buzzing as if nothing were wrong. 'It shows the size of habitation that is safe,' Shavi noted. They followed the Wayfinder along the side of the river and then on the main dual carriageway to the coast, through green fields, past caravan parks, and by 4 p.m. they had reached the palm trees that marked the entrance to the holiday resort of Tenby.
The mediaeval walled town lay perched on cliffs of brown shale and hard grey limestone, offering panoramic views along the rugged Pembrokeshire coastline. Amongst its twisty-turny streets, pastel-painted bed and breakfasts slumbered beneath a powder-blue sky in which seagulls soared and turned lazily. Looking up, Ruth also fleetingly spotted her owl companion skimming the ancient tiled rooftops, although she found it hard to believe it had followed the van from Glastonbury, or even that it had got out of Tir n'a n'Og unseen.
The streets were too small to negotiate effectively in the van, so they parked at the South Beach and returned through the five arches that formed a gateway in the soaring stone walls. Veitch and Shavi carried the talisman crate between them while Church went in front with the Wayfinder held within the fold of his jacket where it couldn't be seen by passers-by. It took them down Tudor Square, bustling despite the unseasonal time of year, and along a winding road to a picturesque harbour where rows of boats bobbed gently on the outgoing tide. At the harbour wall, Church halted, puzzled. The lantern's flame seemed to be pointing out to sea.
After a brief discussion, Veitch set off to scout the area, returning only five minutes later to herd them along a path past a tiny, white-walled museum to a bandstand on the headland overlooking the beach and the brilliant blue sea.
'There,' he said. Basking in the sun in the bay was a large island.
Caldey Island was home to an order of Cistercian monks. Regular boat trips were despatched from the mainland several times a day so tourists could experience the isolation-and contribute to the monastery's upkeep- but they had missed the last boat of the afternoon. Their only option seemed to be to find somewhere to hole up until morning and hope they could stay safe through the night.
They checked into one of the pretty bed and breakfasts in the backstreets of the old town, not too far from the front, relishing the opportunity to have a shower and sleep in a bed for a change. After an early dinner, Tom retired to his room where he agreed to oversee the talismans, although he wouldn't go near the crate. The others opted to look around the town while daylight was still with them. Church took the opportunity to steer Veitch away for a heart-toheart, leaving Shavi, Ruth and Laura to pick their way through the streets dominated by pristine ice cream parlours and restaurants. After all they had witnessed, the place seemed uncommonly happy, untouched by the dark shadow that had fallen across the land. It both raised their spirits and made them feel uncomfortable, for they knew it couldn't last.
'I can't believe we've got this far.' Church closed his eyes so he could appreciate the early evening sun on his face as he inhaled the salty aroma of the sea caught in the cooling breeze. There on the beach, he could almost forget everything. The sensations reminded him of childhood holidays before the burdens of responsibility had been
