A Note of Madness by Tabitha Suzuma Read Free Book Online

You’re completely plastered!’
    ‘Seriously, don’t go,’ Flynn begged her. ‘I need you to help me with this.’
    ‘I’ll help you tomorrow, I promise. It’s superb, Flynn, but I’m
so tired
!’
    ‘Come running then.’
    ‘What?’
    Yes! He was suddenly overcome by a terrific urge to run through the empty park, over the damp grass, cloaked in a blanket of stars, the ground brushed silver by the moon.
    He crashed into the hall for his trainers. ‘Come on! Come on!’ he urged their blank faces. ‘The park is magical at night. You’ll feel as if you can fly!’
    ‘Flynn, it’s one o’clock in the morning and the park’s closed,’ Harry interjected. ‘I’m walking Jen to the night bus. You can’t go jogging at this time, you nutter.’
    ‘I can, I can, and you’re coming with me!’ He grabbed Harry’s sleeve and half dragged him into the hall. Harry tried to shake him off. ‘Get off, Flynn, stop being daft.’ But there was a serious edge to his voice.
    ‘Perhaps you should lock the door and take his keys,’ Jennah was saying. ‘He’ll fall flat on his face if he tries running now.’
    Flynn ignored them both and tied his trainers, grabbed his keys and stood up. ‘I’m off. Come on!’ He grabbed Jennah’s hand but she pulled him back.
    ‘Flynn, you’re drunk, silly. Bed’s a much better option, believe me.’
    He laughed at them both, pushed Harry off balance in order to reach the door and raced out into the street.
    The air was sharp and cold, the pavement glistening from the earlier rain. The faint swish of cars drifted over from Bayswater Road as he jogged towards it, pacing himself now, in the mood for a really long run. He would continue the opera when he got back. There was no need for him to sleep tonight. His mind was on fire and his body needed no rest. Energy filled him like a sharp, white light. He scaled the railings with ease and dropped down into the park with a gentle thud, the traffic behind him fading, replaced gradually by the steady thump of his trainers against the path. The grass was gleaming, wet and magical and shrouded in shadows. His heart soared with joy.
    ‘Flynn, stop!’
    ‘Flynn, wait up!’
    The voices drifted from a distance behind him and he slowed his pace a touch. Then he turned round to face them and jogged backwards, watching thememerge from the shadowy path. Harry was heaving, Jennah’s cheeks were flushed red.
    ‘Come on, slowcoaches!’ he yelled at them, and turned round again. But this time their footsteps did not follow him and so he turned and ran back to find them collapsed on a bench. ‘Come on!’ he urged, jogging around them in a wide arc.
    ‘Flynn, this is mad!’ Harry got up and tried to block his way but he dodged him easily, laughing. ‘You’re going to fall down in a minute and then you’ll feel sorry!’
    Jennah and Harry got up, hands dug deep into their pockets, looking cold and miserable, their eyes following him as he completed another lap of his circuit. Then their heads leaned together and they appeared to be in deep discussion. Snippets floated across to him over the grass.
    ‘I’ll walk you back to the main road and get you a cab,’ Harry was saying.
    ‘No! I don’t care about that. I just want to make sure you get him home OK.’
    ‘I will. He’ll run out of steam eventually. He’ll have to.’ Harry’s voice did not sound too certain.
    ‘I’m surprised he hasn’t fallen over yet.’
    A long silence. Then, ‘I’m not sure that he’s drunk,’ Harry said.
    ‘What?’
    ‘I only ever saw him drink one beer.’
    ‘He must have drunk more!’
    ‘No, seriously. There were three cans left in the fridge and we drank the other two.’
    ‘He must have been drinking something else.’
    ‘There’s no other booze in the flat.’
    Jennah’s voice sounded odd. ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘I don’t know. All I can say is that when Flynn’s pissed, he slurs his words and goes all sleepy.’
    ‘So what’s