The Fearful by Keith Gray Page B

brainwashing again.
    He hurried past the end of the jetty, skirting round the practice dinghy, not looking at them.
    Jenny and the two students were at the foot of the second, further jetty, where maybe as many as a dozen small motorboats were tied up. Tim wanted his sister to see him, wanted her to be as impressed with his defiance as he had been with hers. He waved at them.
    They didn’t see him at first. They seemed to be having too much fun to notice him. Gully was wearing a life jacket and his hair was already sticking up in wet spikes, as though he’d only just jumped off the jet-ski that was beached on the shore close by. He threw back his head as he laughed loudly at some great joke or other his friend had come out with, and Tim was eager to be involved. He reckoned they’d be trying every trick they knew to persuade Jenny into having a go on the back of the jet-ski. But she was shaking he head, holding up her hands in a warding-off gesture. No. She was probably telling them she’d never go out on the water.
    Tim was thinking,
I’ll have a go
. He glanced back yet again at Mourn Home to make sure there was no onewatching.
Ask me. I don’t care. I’ll have a go
, he boasted to himself.
    The squealing of one of the young kids caught his attention, although he couldn’t see exactly which orange and yellow life jacket was making the fuss. An instructor shouted for everyone to concentrate, be sensible. It didn’t look as though anybody had fallen in – just over-excitement. And Tim hoped the adults were as in control as they thought they were.
    As he turned back to the second jetty he saw Gully suddenly reach out and grab his sister. Jenny tried to push him away. But then Scott also had a hand on her arm. Tim heard her shout and swear and knew she wasn’t having fun any more. The students overpowered her, pinned her arms by her sides, dragged her onto the wooden jetty and out over the water.
    â€˜Hey!’ he called, forgetting instantly about the young kids. ‘Leave her alone.’ He hurried towards them. He didn’t run; he didn’t think they’d actually throw her in. No way would they go that far.
    Jenny was arguing and struggling. They jostled her along the jetty between the motorboats moored on either side. Tim still didn’t quite run. He thought the students were just acting up, teasing her, and he didn’t want to look like an over-protective brother – or worse, a foolish killjoy. He reached the foot of the jetty himself and saw that they had her teetering over the very end. He heard Scott say something about monsters and the Mourn, taunting her, holding her so her toes literally dangled in thin air.
    Gully said, ‘Come on the jet-ski with me or we’ll chuck you in.’
    Tim started out over the water himself, annoyed at their spitefulness, yet still not believing they were doing any more than winding her up. ‘Leave her alone. You’re not funny.’
    Gully finally noticed him and said something to Scott that Tim couldn’t quite catch. Scott glanced back over his shoulder, saw Tim jogging along the jetty towards them, grinned and winked. Quickly, roughly, he tipped Jenny backwards into his arms, holding her off-balance by the wrists. Gully went for her ankles. She struggled and one of her trainers popped off, but he still managed to sweep her up off her feet. Under different circumstance they could have been friends about to give her the ‘bumps’ on her birthday. But it had clearly long stopped being a game for Jenny.
    She bucked and shrieked. Too late Tim heard her real fear.
    â€˜
Don’t!
’ He raced towards them. ‘
No!
’
    But on the count of three they threw her over the edge.
    â€˜Jenny!’
    His immediate impulse was to catch her and he leaped forward, but it was a vain hope. She twisted in the air like a cat, as though she was going to land on all fours. And she fell out of sight