The Grotesques (47 page)
Adam waded back in.
“Wait.”
He paused. “We have to get it. I don’t know how we’re going to destroy it, but if that dolphin takes it to sea, we don’t stand a chance of defeating the dragon.”
“How? Two bombs didn’t destroy it.”
“I don’t know.” He swam out.
Without thinking, she splashed after him, patting the water. The dolphin doubled back. Adam reached to secure the head. The dolphin butted it down and dived. It resurfaced behind Ella. She called, but it dribbled the head away, teasing. They looked at each other, frustrated.
“A-dam!” Sapphire humps were arcing through the water behind him.
“Get the head,” Adam said, swimming into the dragon’s path.
“Don’t do it, oh don’t,” Ella said.
He had already made up his mind. She turned to locate the dolphin, saw it angling for Adam, nosing the mummified head like a toy. She swam for it, yelling for someone to get some fish. The dolphin cut between the dragon and Adam, wriggled free of the head and stood on its tail. Its desperate clicking drew the attention of the dragon as it reared its vicious head. Adam thrashed out of the path of the dragon, which darted in for the chomp.
With a hefty tail stroke, the dolphin catapulted itself out of harm’s way. In its place, the dragon head bobbed out of the water. The dragon’s jaws clamped onto the head with a sickening crunch. A boom churned the water as the beast exploded into thousands of shimmering fragments. They faded into translucence and disappeared. Not a single solid remnant remained.
Ella stared at the empty space in front of them. The dragon head was nowhere to be seen. On dry land, Doer was yipping and dancing. She was panting, she realised, and not able to tread water much longer.
“Come on.”
The dolphin kept circling as they swam to shore.
“Thank you,” she said as it tail walked and squeaked its farewell.
“I thought you were goners when you fell,” Doer said, hugging them both and not even noticing how saturated he was becoming. “Thought the only way to give you a chance was to explode the bomb. It didn’t work but you’re here, you’re here.”
They finally convinced him they needed to get changed. As they unsuited and donned dry clothes, Ace swayed toward them, one foot dragging uselessly behind his sagging body. Doer ran to him and engulfed him in a bear hug.
“It left,” the boy said into Doer’s chest. “Couldn’t distract it.”
“You did great, son,” Doer said, a tear rolling down his cheek. He squeezed harder. The teenager, with no sign of self-consciousness, latched onto Doer like his life depended on it. “It’s gone,” Doer said. He lifted his head to the sky. “Did you hear that, Genord,” he called. “It’s gone. Destroyed. We won.”
His exultant shouts brought four figures out from among the flower beds in the park. Rob, Cecily, and Caroline pulled a dazed Bekka over the debris.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Rob said, giving her a hug. “Both of you.” He pulled away to eye a piece of wood washing up on the rocks at the end of the canal. “What’s that?”
Ella clambered down the bank to retrieve Romain’s simple wooden cross.
“I imagine if anyone believes us, that is going to be a very important relic. Perhaps we should rebuild the church and dedicate it to Saint Romain,” Adam said.
A mobile phone rang, its mundane sound an obscenity in the aftermath of destruction. Rob fished it out of one of the cabs.
“I think this is yours,” he said, passing the phone to Ella as Adam embraced his cousin.
“Good grief!” she exclaimed as she stared at the text message.
Awaiting feature article. Herald
. She thumbed onto a second message, from Phil.
Your butt in office now. Partnership for exclusive. Reputable redirection after dragon story.
That actually made her laugh.
And might
, she thought,
just be the better offer in present circumstances.
“We have news to spread,” she said with eyes only for Adam.
“I’m sure the police can handle it,” he replied, drawing close for a lingering kiss.
Out in the river, a dolphin with a notched dorsal fin leapt out of the water and somersaulted.
I would like to thank the numerous people who provided information on everything from police procedure to forensics to plants. Also, much thanks to Margaret Curelas at Tyche Books, for believing in this novel from the start.
Tia Reed loves nothing better than burying her nose in a story of her own making and cuddling her bossy cat. She takes every opportunity to do both when she is not teaching English as a second language. Her other hobbies often take a back seat but include trying to tame her beast of a garden, hiking and travel. The latter has thrown her many interesting, sometimes hair-raising, experiences which she loves twisting into stories. Born in Malta, she now lives in Adelaide, Australia.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One Adelaide. Present Day. 22nd October. Night.
Chapter Two 23rd October. Morning.
Chapter Three 23rd October. Afternoon.
Chapter Four 23rd October. Night.
Chapter Five 24th October. Morning.
Chapter Six 24th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Seven 24th October. Afternoon.
Chapter Eight 24th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Nine 24th October. Evening.
Chapter Ten 24th October. Night.
Chapter Eleven 26th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Twelve 27th October. Early Evening.
Chapter Thirteen 28th October. Morning.
Chapter Fourteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Fifteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Sixteen Rouen. 612 A.D.
Chapter Seventeen Adelaide. Present Day. 28th October. Night.
Chapter Eighteen 28th October. Night.
Chapter Nineteen 28th October. Midnight.
Chapter Twenty 29th October. Very Early Morning.
Chapter Twenty-one 29th October. Dawn.
Chapter Twenty-two 29th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Twenty-three 29th October. Late Morning.
Chapter Twenty-four 29th October. Midday.
Chapter Twenty-five 29th October. Early Afternoon.
Chapter Twenty-six 29th October. Evening.
Chapter Twenty-seven 29th October. Night.
Chapter Twenty-eight Rouen. 625 A.D.
Chapter Twenty-nine 30th October. Early Morning.
Chapter Thirty 30th October. Mid-morning.
Chapter Thirty-one 30th October. Late Afternoon.
Chapter Thirty-two 31st October. 2am.
Chapter Thirty-three 31st October. Morning.