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By Root 306 0

couple of nights. Wendacre’s Fields were a good hour’s walk from the farm, and Joshua wondered whether Pa was meeting Uncle Ake there, or whether he’d be picking him up in his truck. He hoped not – that would mean that they’d get there well before he would, and he might miss out on the fun. He remembered what Pa had said about the night beasts, and about what he’d heard on the news. There hadn’t been any sightings for a week or so, and they’d only been seen in the city. But they had to come from somewhere, Joshua had reasoned. Still, Pa had his gun, didn’t he? And Uncle Ake’d probably have his too. As long as he stayed close, he’d be fine.

Joshua’s thighs were aching by the time Pa started to slow down, and he was grateful to be able to pause for a few moments, catching his breath in big, damp lungfuls. In the inky silence, he could hear the trilling of insects, felt a few of them brush casually against him and move on. The Esperon wildlife –

apart from burrowbears – didn’t much like the taste of humans, but it never stopped them nipping. Joshua looked around: the farm was so far behind him that it was invisible in the dark. In all directions, everything was shades of black: the black of the sky, scattered with a few stars, and the blacker black of the ground and everything up to the vast horizon. Joshua tipped his head back and stared up at the stars, feeling momentarily dizzy. Which ones had other worlds around them, he wondered. Which ones had other human colonies?

Where were Bliss, and Heritage and Availon? He wondered if Earth’s sun 4

could be seen from here, but he didn’t think so. As he looked around for Pa, he heard the distant grumble of Uncle Ake’s truck, and saw a tiny spot of light from its only working headlamp, coming towards him. Well, towards Pa. He squatted down in the dark, even though he knew he’d never be seen, and watched as the light grew brighter – and then stopped. The sound of the truck door slamming closed rumbled across the open countryside like a gunshot, and Joshua supposed that maybe Pa had climbed in.

‘Pa!’ he shouted, jumping to his feet and running towards the light. ‘Pa! It’s me! Don’t go!’

Puffing and panting, Joshua arrived at the battered truck to find Pa and Uncle Ake leaning on the bonnet, illuminated creepily by the single headlamp.

For a moment, he wondered if Pa was going to be really really mad.

‘Josh!’ exclaimed Uncle Ake, stepping in front of the truck and peering at him. He turned to Pa, who was shaking his head. ‘What’s Josh doing here?’

‘Josh,’ said Pa in a low voice. ‘Go home. This is men’s work.’

‘I can’t go back, Pa,’ said Josh, trying his best to sound scared and upset.

Which wasn’t too difficult. ‘I’ll get lost. I was following you here – I don’t know which way’s back.’

‘Joshua,’ he said firmly. ‘Just turn around and go back. Now.’

He’d called him Joshua in that tone of voice, which was a sure sign. Joshua let his shoulders droop and turned, miserably.

‘Aw, come on Keef,’ he heard Uncle Ake say. ‘You can’t just let him walk back.’

‘He walked here, didn’t he?’ replied Pa, unrelenting.

‘Like he said, he followed you. Who’s he got to follow back?’ Uncle Ake paused and Joshua heard the sound of his father’s defeat, escaping in a long, weary sigh. ‘Besides,’ added Uncle Ake. ‘What if it’s true what they say about the night beasts? Wouldn’t want him –’

‘OK, OK,’ said Pa, sounding beaten. ‘But you stay in the truck, you hear?’

He squatted down beside Joshua and turned him round. Pa was in silhouette against the truck’s headlamp, but Joshua didn’t need light to be able to see the look on his face. ‘And if you ever do anything like this again. . . ’ His voice tailed off, letting the threat go unspoken.

‘Sorry, Pa,’ said Joshua meekly.

With another sigh, Pa stood up and put his hand on Joshua’s shoulder. Together they climbed into the truck alongside Uncle Ake and set off into the night.

The cab of the truck was filled with an odd, sour silence. Even Uncle Ake, normally chatty and affable, had fallen quiet. Joshua saw his uncle’s own rifle on the dashboard,