Mind Blind by Lari Don Read Free Book Online Page B

have sensed my confrontation with Roy. Or maybe he’d heard Roy hit the ground like a tree trunk.
    I could see him now, running to block my way out. And he was nearer the clubhouse, so I wasn’t going to get off this golf course unless I knocked him out of the way first.
    I’d already tried to cheat my way out. Now I’d better start fighting dirty.
    I stopped running towards the exit and started running straight at Kerr.
    This might seem either brave or stupid. But getting a thumping from Kerr would be better than getting a thumping from Daniel, who fights to hurt rather than simply to win. Also there was an even chance I might beat Kerr.
    So I ran straight at him.
    He stopped beside two elderly ladies in beige trousers and grabbed a club out of one of their trolleys.
    The women shrieked. That would bring the rest of the family.
    Kerr was standing between me and the exit, and between me and the rest of the women’s clubs. In the dojo, he and I were well matched. But now he had a weapon and I had nothing.
    Kerr was laid back, grinning at me, hefting the club in his hand. He just had to stop me getting to the exit before Daniel and his team got here.
    I slumped and let him drive me back a couple of steps. I was stumbling backwards, carefully feeling almost defeated,but also trying to circle nearer to the clubhouse exit.
    Kerr laughed. “I’m not that daft, Bain.”
    Let’s see if you are, I thought as briefly as I could. He swung the club at my head. I ducked to the side and he swung again. Now he was driving me away from the clubhouse, towards the 18 th hole.
    A couple of men in pink diamonds and yellow stripes yelled from a distance, “Get off the fairway! It’s dangerous!” He swung again. I ducked again. Closer to the hole, closer to the flag.
    “Calm down, Kerr. We’re attracting attention.” I didn’t say too much, because he reads by voice rather than touch. As I spoke, I thought of the golfers looking at us, the golf balls aimed at us. I needed him to believe I didn’t want to be going in this direction. He swung again and I ducked away.
    He was herding me. I’d better resist. I jinked one way, then tried to run the other way.
    Kerr lashed out. He’d sensed I was planning something, so he anticipated the change of direction and caught me on the shoulder.
    Shit! That
hurt
.
    But at least he thought the swerve was what I’d been planning.
    And suddenly I was running, away from Kerr and his golf club, towards the 18 th hole. I needed him to chase me towards this boring bit of golf course, so as I ran I concentrated on feeling fear, pain, defeat, not on what I was running towards.
    I reached the flag poking out of the wee round hole. I grabbed the flagpole and ran round it, hand high on the pole, like using the banister to swing yourself round the bottom of the stairs.
    Then I yanked the flag out of the ground.
    And aimed it at Kerr.
    His surprise was almost comical. He hadn’t seen a weapon when I was running towards the flag, he’d just seen a bit ofgolf landscape.
    He was already skidding to a halt on the grass. Shame. I’d hoped he would run straight onto the flag, like a jousting knight onto a lance.
    Now we were squaring up to each other. He had a puny little golf club and I had a nice long flagpole.
    I jabbed the pole at his chest and he danced out of reach.
    He was still confident, because even though my flag would probably beat his club in the end, that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was speed. If I didn’t get past him to the exit in the next minute, I wouldn’t beat him at all.
    Because I could sense the rest of them, closing in. Roy resigned. Daniel angry. The uncles still watching from a distance.
    All Kerr needed to do was to keep me here.
    He slashed out at the flag, hoping to break it. But I whirled the pole out of the way of his swing, brought it right over his head and cracked it into his left shoulder.
    We were both hyped now. This wasn’t a training bout. We were really