The Fearful by Keith Gray Read Free Book Online Page A

his nose and mouth were slick with blood. He let Mr Cropper lead him away but his stare told Tim this wasn’t the end – far from it. Tim watched them go, slowly rubbing at his tender elbow, and knew that his life had just taken a scary turn for the worse. Roddy had always been an annoyance, a pain in the arse; now he was an enemy.
    â€˜Are you okay?’ Jenny asked. Then: ‘You shouldn’t have taken his list. You know what he’s like.’
    Tim could feel the adrenaline still coursing through him;his legs felt shaky with it. ‘Yeah? And what was I meant to do instead?’ He was nervous about what had happened, about how Roddy was going to react. It made him angry, so he took it out on her. ‘He wasn’t calling you
Monster Girl,
was he? No one ever does, do they? No one says anything to you.’
    â€˜I used to get called it.’
    Tim didn’t reply. He just let the ‘used to’ hang in the chilly morning air between them.
    They’d always been close – they were twins, it was impossible for them not to be. But when they were younger they’d found themselves isolated from a lot of the other children because of their father and what he did. If they hadn’t been friends with each other then they might not have been friends with anyone.
    Although Jenny was managing to grow up that bit more easily than Tim – or so it seemed from his point of view. While he was inheriting their father’s life and duty, she’d made new friends, she was doing well at school, was making her way in the world. And Tim did his level best not to resent her.
    â€˜He was getting at me too. Vic Stones’s hotel affects the whole family.’
    â€˜I know that, don’t I? I’m not stupid.’ He slung his bag over his shoulder.
    â€˜Where are you going?’
    â€˜As far away from Roddy Morgan as I can get.’
    Sarah was hesitant. ‘We’ll come with you.’ She looked pale with what she’d just witnessed.
    But Tim shook his head. He strode away, trying to ignore the shaking in his legs.
    Life was getting far too difficult. He had too much to think about and he couldn’t focus on all of it at the same time. His head was stuffed full with things he had to give attention to, and remember, and concentrate on.
    He had to keep his dad happy; he had to prepare for his birthday; he had to pretend with Sarah; he was going to get done for not finishing his homework; and now he was on the run from Roddy Morgan. It was like trying to juggle too many balls, and sooner or later one was going to fall. He just wasn’t clever enough to keep them all in the air at the same time.
    The morning dragged. His elbow ached surprisingly painfully and flowered into a dark bruise. There was a small part of him that was kind of proud of what he’d done and he naively wondered if people might see him in a slightly different light because of it. Maybe give him a hint of credibility. Perhaps make them think twice before having a go next time?
    He avoided both Jenny and Sarah at break (Roddy Morgan too, obviously) by staying inside to make a half-hearted stab at his homework, but couldn’t concentrate properly. It wasn’t just because of those balls he was trying to juggle in his head, but also the feeling that something had changed today. He’d known his family were outsiders, but he’d never understood quite how despised they were by the likes of Roddy Morgan. And ‘despised’ was the only word he could come up with.He remembered feeling that hot hatred on the back of his neck as Roddy had shouted at him. He tried to get his head around the fact that it was because of the Mourn – a legend; a story.
    By lunch he was beginning to panic about still not having finished his homework. He ate quickly and alone in the dining hall, wanting to get to the library as soon as possible. English was the first lesson of the afternoon and he