Brilliant (11 page)

She couldn't move. Her foot was caught in something.

She called out.

“Here!”

But no one answered.

The others were lost or stuck, surrounded by things that they couldn't see. Some of them were so frightened and anxious, they couldn't remember why they were there. It was like waking up in a bad dream, instead of escaping from it. All of them, Gloria and Raymond too—even Ernie—had had this dream before, being trapped in a dark, cold jungle. But this wasn't a dream, and they weren't going to wake up. Because they were already awake.

The Dog howled now, and Gloria's question, “Why is he letting us chase him?” seemed to answer itself.

“It's a trap,” said Gloria.

But no one heard her.

Then she heard the voice.

“I'm not going to bite you,” said the voice.

It was the Dog. Gloria was sure of it, even though she couldn't see him.

“No,” said the voice, the Dog. “You're not worth biting.”

It was a horrible voice. It was low and sneering, and kind of wet. Gloria could feel it on her skin, her face and neck. She tried to rub it off.

“You're useless.”

The voice came with a stink.

“That's right,” said the voice. “That's how useless you are. That's what happens to everything around you. It all starts to rot.”

Gloria wanted to cry. She felt the Dog's fur now, against her face. It was rough, and wet.

“Useless,”
he whispered.

He was right up beside her. He was sliding, swimming around her. She couldn't hear the others now at all. It was quiet, silent, as if the Dog was whispering the same thing privately to all of them. She still couldn't see him.

But he was definitely there. She wasn't asleep.

“You're no good to anyone,” he said.

Gloria knew that wasn't true. But she
felt
like it was true. She was going to lie down on the cold ground.

“Good idea,” said the Dog.

She'd lie down and escape, close her eyes and drift away, home. She just had to lie down. She just had to close her eyes. She just had to forget.

“Excellent idea,” the Dog sneered.

She was bending down toward the ground.

“That's right.”

But then she had a different idea.

“Brilliant.”

She whispered it, and it produced a tiny, whispered light that was hardly there.

She heard a groan.

She said it again.

“Brilliant.”

Louder. The groan was farther away this time. The Dog was moving, slouching away. The stink was gone, and she could see the Dog in the new light. He was just a big dog, running away. From Gloria. And she knew the Dog was a liar. She wasn't useless.

“Brilliant!” she shouted. “Rayzer!”

“Here.”

“Shout
Brilliant
!”

“Brilliant!”

The trees were lovely. Then it was dark again.

“Hey, Ernie!” Gloria roared.

“. . . Wha'?”

Ernie sounded sad and three-quarters asleep.

“Shout
Brilliant
!”

“. . . Why, like?”

“Just do it!”

“. . . Okay. Brilliant, brilliant, bleedin' brilliant!”

The trees were lit and gorgeous, like in a film. Gloria could see the other kids now. Some of them were getting up off the ground. They all looked like they'd been asleep and stuck in a horrible nightmare that was still holding on to them.

“Everyone shout!” said Gloria. “Brilliant! Come on!”

“Brilliant,” said Paddy.

It felt good, hearing his own voice, knowing he was awake again, and safe.

Suzie yelled it, and laughed.

Raymond laughed too. He lifted his arms and thumped the air above him—“Yesss!”

They all walked side by side through the sparkling trees. They could hear the Dog charging away from their voices. They could hear his paws. And they could see him now too, through the trees.

The trees stopped being so thick and close together. They could see the sky, clouds rolling above them.

They came out of the trees. Gloria felt like she'd been in there, walking through the forest, for days. They all felt that way. They looked at one another, like people who hadn't met in ages.

They kept walking, till they were well clear of the trees and the damp cold that seemed to cling to them.

Then they stopped and gathered together.

“Is everyone here?” asked Raymond.

Most of them, the older ones, looked around.

“How can we tell?,” asked Paddy.

It was a good question. It wasn't a school outing or a group of friends on an adventure. They'd never met until just before they'd run into the park. Gloria looked around. She knew her brother, and Ernie. She knew Paddy's name, and Suzie's. She smiled at Suzie. But she knew no one else. So Paddy's question, “How can we tell?,” was a good one, and a bit horrible. They couldn't tell if anyone was missing.

“What'll we do, Rayzer?” Gloria asked.

“We'll count who's here,” said Raymond.

“Listen up,” he said to everybody. “Find out the name of whoever's beside you, and the next time we stop, make sure you can see them.”

“Good idea,” said Paddy.

They stood still while Raymond quickly counted. They watched through the darkness as the Black Dog ran toward the zoo. They asked one another their names—

“James.”

“Chantelle.”

“Suzie.”

“Cormac.”

“Ailish”

“Glenn”

“Mark.”

“Paula.”

“Conor.”

There were four Conors, and two Aislings, a Precious, a Sunday, three Hollys, and a Boris.

Raymond was finished.

“Forty-seven,” he said. “Everyone remember.”

“Forty-seven,” said Suzie.

“Forty-seven,” said Boris.

The Black Dog was nearly at the zoo wall.

“Is he getting bigger?”

“Think so . . . Don't know . . . Maybe.”

“Come on!”

“Hang on,” said Gloria. “Should we not check if there's anyone still, like, asleep in the trees?”

No one wanted to go back in there. But no one wanted to say no.

Then they heard a voice.

“It's fine.”

They couldn't see anyone, but the voice seemed to be coming from behind them, high up in the trees.

“You left no one behind.”

The voice was calm, and nice—a granddad's voice.

“Come on!”

They ran.

“There they go,” said the owl to his friend, the second owl.

“They listened to you that time,” said the second owl.

“Yes,” said the first owl.

“Do you think they'll make it?” the second owl asked.

“Well,” said the first owl. “They've got this far.”

“I'm impressed.”

“Me too.”

“So, who knows?” said the first owl. “They might just do it.”

“We're in trouble if they don't.”

“That's true,” said the first owl. “But look at them down there. They're brave.”

“Yes,” said the second owl. “They are.”

CHAPTER 9

T
hey watched the Black Dog jump
over the wall of the zoo. He seemed to be even bigger.

“Can we not just, like, go home?” asked the boy called Cormac.

“No,” said Raymond. “We have to stop him.”

“Yeah,” said Gloria—she was puffing a bit. “And now we know how to do it.”

“How?”

“With
Brilliant
.”

“Oh yeah.”

They were running into danger—they were running after it, chasing it. They all knew that. But running was easier than staying still, and no one wanted to be left behind—alone.

“Look it!” Ernie shouted.

“Deadly.”

There were more kids running toward them, from the other side of the park.

“Breakfast,” said Ernie.

“Shut up, Ernie,” said Gloria.

“Only messin',” said Ernie. “Rice Krispies'll do for me.”

“Come on!”

They all kept running toward the zoo.

But the zoo was shut. It was still dark, so everything was locked up and there was no one behind the glass where you paid to get in.

The walls were very high.

“He jumped over that,” said Chantelle. “I seen him.”

“All dogs can jump,” said Sunday.

“It's too high to climb over,” said Gloria. “What'll we do?”

Ernie shrugged. “Don't know.”

“The zoo will be open in a couple of hours,” said one of the Conors.

“We can wait,” the boy called Cormac suggested.

“No . . . way,” said a new girl, Alice.

She'd just arrived, and she was puffing a bit. She hadn't even stopped running when she spoke.

“There's no . . . way I'm . . . waiting.”

“Yeah,” said another kid, then another.

“We have to get the Dog, remember.”

“How, but?”

It was harder to stay brave when they were just standing there, and it was cold and dark. The bad dream with the Dog was still floating around their heads, whispering in their ears—“Useless!”

They kept staring at the wall. It seemed to be growing even higher.

But then Raymond spoke.

“Ernie.”

“Wha'?” said Ernie.

“Hold me,” said Raymond.

“Wha'?” said Ernie. “No way.”

“Go on,” said Raymond. “I'll climb on your shoulders.”

“No, you won't,” said Ernie.

“Listen,” said Raymond. “I go on your shoulders—”

Paddy was about to object. He wanted to be in on the plan as well. But then he heard Raymond.

“And Paddy can get up on my shoulders and all the others can climb up us onto the wall.”

“Cool.”

“Ah, great,” said Ernie. “And everyone here gets to stand on my head with their mucky feet.”

“Go on, Ernie,” said Gloria. “It's the only way.”

She loved the idea. She couldn't wait to see it happening.