Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan Read Free Book Online Page B

“Hey, that was the girl I was talking about, by the way. When you saw me this morning.”
    “What?” he said.
    “This morning. When you rode past?”
    “Yeah. Near the lake . . . ?”
    “Yeah. I was with Lexi. The swimmer I was talking about.”
    He pulled at a tangled thread of his yellow hair and frowned. “A girl? I didn’t see a girl, man,” he said.
    “She was right next to me,” I said.
    “Sure, man,” he said slowly. “Whatever you say.”
    The frown never left his face.

Dad went down to the on-site pub, the Red Lion, and I sneaked off to meet Lexi at eight. The cinder paths smelled of fresh rain, and the air was as clean as steel; the sky was a dark blue. She was waiting by a tree, her legs crossed, hair slick, hands in her lap. I dropped the bike and walked over to her. She noticed that I was limping. “What happened?” she said.
    “Nothing. I think I must have pulled a muscle while I was swimming.”
    “You’ll want to be in shape for what we’re about to do. It requires peak physical condition,” she said.
    “Well, that shouldn’t be a problem, then,” I said, patting my belly.
    She took me by the arms. “You have good solid shoulders, Daniel. That’s what you need. Now, give me a backy.”
    While I stood astride the bike, she sat on the seat with her legs out to the sides, and I pedaled off in the sprint position. “Where are we going?” I asked.
    “Other side of the lake. We’re going round in a big circle.”
    “Like history,” I said.
    The dynamo clicked, and the light flickered on the ditches and wooden fence rails. She told me to slow down when we reached a group of family residences. This was the area where big families stayed, and it was dominated by rows of tall terraced houses. It looked like one of those new housing estates and reminded me that there was a world outside.
    “Leave the bike in the bushes,” Lexi whispered.
    I did as I was told. “What are we doing? I’m not robbing anyone,” I said.
    “Wait,” she said.
    We crept through long grass to the fence of the first back garden. Just a normal paneled fence. The wood was damp from the rain and warm from the sun that had followed the storm. The houses were on a downward slope, so you could see bits of the other gardens, and the fences like a line of dominoes. Some people had hung out their swimming towels on the washing lines.
    Lexi put her foot on the ledge of one of the fence panels and her hands on the top of the fence, her fingers flickering to avoid splinters. One of her fingernails was black, and blood rose around its edges. She put her head down and rocked.
    “What are we
doing
?” I said.
    “Follow me,” she said. “And whatever you do, don’t think.”
    She pulled herself up and over the fence, and I heard her running across the first garden. She was on top of the second fence before I had overcome my shock. I tried to haul myself up, but I was too heavy for a standing start. I took a few paces back and ran at the fence, jumped, grappled, and I was over. Four chairs stood in the garden, a sopping magazine on the table. I paused for a moment and then started running for the next fence, propelled by fear and joy.
    It was an incredible feeling, and something I will always remember. I could feel the adrenaline roaring inside of me and the hushed glide of the air against my skin. At first, I just concentrated on her back and tried to forget the fact that there were people in those houses to my left. But soon I relaxed into it. My senses were heightened. I felt the wet squeaks of the long grass beneath my feet as I slipped and slid like a newborn deer. The fourth garden smelled of bins; the fifth smelled of detergent from the towels they’d forgot to take off the line. Lexi tried to sabotage me, back-heeling a tricycle into my path and spinning another washing line so that the towels clattered into my face. She ran in absolute silence, but I could see her shoulders trembling from laughter.
    Me, I