wasnât there. She wasnât right beside him asking if he was all right. Turning, he saw confusion, people running and calling out and the wreckage of a car. There was a group gathered around someone lying in the road.
For a long, awful moment, Fish understood that his mother might be dead. Around him the world went grey and cold as the blood drained from his face. He struggled not to pass out and had to crouch down against the bakery wall, his head bent forward until the darkness passed.
Now the wail of sirens filled the morning. Anambulance and two police cars glided to a halt. Uniformed men and medics scrambled out. Some ran to the woman and others to the car, where the shaken driver was trapped inside his crumpled vehicle, amazed that he was still alive. A policeman began talking into his radio.
Crouched against the wall of the bakery, Fish watched, his heart hammering and his mind in turmoil. The grey clouds had passed and now his blood sped around his body crazily, pounding in his head and making him feel hot and clammy. He wanted to run out, calling for his mother, but years of coping with a world that no one else could see had made him careful.
By now, Susan was being lifted on to a stretcher. Fish was sure that in the muddle of people nobody would pay much attention to a small boy mingling with the onlookers, so he took a deep breath, stood up and walked calmly out into the busy crowd. He pulled on the arm of one of the ambulance men, the one standing slightly back from the two handling the stretcher. The man looked round, then down. Fish could see himself reflected in tiny detail in the manâs eyes. Just a kid with white-blond hair and eyes the colour of hazelnuts, drowning in a T-shirt far too big for him.
âIs the lady going to be OK?â he asked.
The ambulance man smiled. âI reckon so, kid. She needs some care and attention right now, so weâre taking her to the hospital at Blackheath, but my guess is sheâll be fine.â
Fish nodded, as relief rushed through him in a tidal wave. His mother was going to be all right.
âDid you see anything?â asked the ambulance man. There was a shout and he looked away for a moment. When he looked back Fish had disappeared.
14
EXTRA-SPECIAL VISION
Perched on top of the cafe, Grimshaw flipped his tail irritably as feelings of confusion and anger fought for possession inside him. Not a single one of the possible futures that he had seen when arranging the Junk Event had shown the boy bending down to pick up a coin.
In doing so, the boy had set off a chain of events that had led to Susan Jones diving across the road to be mown down by a car! It was fortunate that the car had only caught her a broadside blow instead of hitting her head-on. Otherwise Grimshaw would have killed his main target before he had finished the loved ones! The thought made him go hot and cold all over.
And then there was the issue of the boy himself. It was incredible, but Fish Jones was clearly gifted with extra-special vision. He had seen Grimshaw plain as day, there was no doubt about that. Grimshaw wondered briefly if it was the extra-special vision that had caused Fish Jones to survive, but dismissed the idea. Extra-special vision was not responsible for the sudden appearance of a coin where no coin had been before.
He sat for a while, turning it all over in his mind, but could come up with nothing to explain what had happened. The only possible answer was that he had missed a potential future, overlooked it somehow. It didnât seem very likely, but what else could it be? He groaned wearily. He was never going to hear the end of this one.
âGET YOUR SCRAWNY RUMP BACK HERE AT ONCE!â screamed the voice of Lampwick in his head, right on cue. âI WANT A REPORT, AND IT HAD BETTER BE GOOD!â
Grimshaw closed his eyes briefly, but there was no point trying to resist. Already, he could feel the command taking hold, making him shiver and
For a long, awful moment, Fish understood that his mother might be dead. Around him the world went grey and cold as the blood drained from his face. He struggled not to pass out and had to crouch down against the bakery wall, his head bent forward until the darkness passed.
Now the wail of sirens filled the morning. Anambulance and two police cars glided to a halt. Uniformed men and medics scrambled out. Some ran to the woman and others to the car, where the shaken driver was trapped inside his crumpled vehicle, amazed that he was still alive. A policeman began talking into his radio.
Crouched against the wall of the bakery, Fish watched, his heart hammering and his mind in turmoil. The grey clouds had passed and now his blood sped around his body crazily, pounding in his head and making him feel hot and clammy. He wanted to run out, calling for his mother, but years of coping with a world that no one else could see had made him careful.
By now, Susan was being lifted on to a stretcher. Fish was sure that in the muddle of people nobody would pay much attention to a small boy mingling with the onlookers, so he took a deep breath, stood up and walked calmly out into the busy crowd. He pulled on the arm of one of the ambulance men, the one standing slightly back from the two handling the stretcher. The man looked round, then down. Fish could see himself reflected in tiny detail in the manâs eyes. Just a kid with white-blond hair and eyes the colour of hazelnuts, drowning in a T-shirt far too big for him.
âIs the lady going to be OK?â he asked.
The ambulance man smiled. âI reckon so, kid. She needs some care and attention right now, so weâre taking her to the hospital at Blackheath, but my guess is sheâll be fine.â
Fish nodded, as relief rushed through him in a tidal wave. His mother was going to be all right.
âDid you see anything?â asked the ambulance man. There was a shout and he looked away for a moment. When he looked back Fish had disappeared.
14
EXTRA-SPECIAL VISION
Perched on top of the cafe, Grimshaw flipped his tail irritably as feelings of confusion and anger fought for possession inside him. Not a single one of the possible futures that he had seen when arranging the Junk Event had shown the boy bending down to pick up a coin.
In doing so, the boy had set off a chain of events that had led to Susan Jones diving across the road to be mown down by a car! It was fortunate that the car had only caught her a broadside blow instead of hitting her head-on. Otherwise Grimshaw would have killed his main target before he had finished the loved ones! The thought made him go hot and cold all over.
And then there was the issue of the boy himself. It was incredible, but Fish Jones was clearly gifted with extra-special vision. He had seen Grimshaw plain as day, there was no doubt about that. Grimshaw wondered briefly if it was the extra-special vision that had caused Fish Jones to survive, but dismissed the idea. Extra-special vision was not responsible for the sudden appearance of a coin where no coin had been before.
He sat for a while, turning it all over in his mind, but could come up with nothing to explain what had happened. The only possible answer was that he had missed a potential future, overlooked it somehow. It didnât seem very likely, but what else could it be? He groaned wearily. He was never going to hear the end of this one.
âGET YOUR SCRAWNY RUMP BACK HERE AT ONCE!â screamed the voice of Lampwick in his head, right on cue. âI WANT A REPORT, AND IT HAD BETTER BE GOOD!â
Grimshaw closed his eyes briefly, but there was no point trying to resist. Already, he could feel the command taking hold, making him shiver and
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