Gallows at Twilight Read Free Page A

bow. This bow.’
    ‘You’re kidding,’ Rachel laughed.
    Adam had puffed out his cheeks. ‘I’ve known stranger things.’
    Jake watched now as Rachel slid the arrow back into its quiver. She’d had only a few weeks to practise and yet she held the weapon with authority and poise. He wondered if this was really the result of the magical properties of the bow or of Rachel’s own natural marksmanship. He remembered that her father, Dr Saxby, was also a crack shot.
    Pandora high-fived Rachel and then turned to Adam. She tried to hide her emotions, but Jake knew her well enough now to read the concern in her face. She hugged her old friend, careful not to brush against his wounded shoulder.
    ‘How are you, sweetness?’
    ‘Good. I’m good, Pandora.’
    ‘You don’t look good. You look like an ol’ mule rode half to death and then rode the other half. You shouldn’t be here.’
    ‘Pandora, please.’ Adam inclined his head towards Jake.
    ‘You know something, Adam Harker? For a clever man you do a fine impression of the world’s biggest dumb-ass. The boy can see you ain’t up to this.’
    Jake felt the truth of Pandora’s words. Now forced to walk with the aid of a stick, his father looked like a man aged before his time. When Marcus Crowden had cast a hex at Jake, Adam had thrown himself into the path of the dark magic. Now his skin was creased like old paper and his eyes scored with deep lines. Pandora had been treating him with arcane remedies and her potions had succeeded in holding back the worst of the magic. Despite his father growing ever weaker, Jake remained confident that the resourceful Pandora would find a cure.
    ‘I told him to stay at home,’ Jake said, flanking Pandora.
    ‘Least someone in your screwy family has some sense, then.’
    ‘Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here,’ Adam snapped. ‘I’m not totally useless, you know. I might even be able to help.’
    Pandora rested her forehead against Adam’s.
    ‘You ain’t useless, friend of mine,’ she sighed. ‘You just ugly.’
    The joke cut through the tension and the four of them burst out laughing.
    A deep, rumbling grunt interrupted the hilarity.
    ‘You lot gonna stand there gabbin’ all night? My club’s itchin’ to bust some demon skull.’
    Pandora rolled her eyes.
    ‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Mr Brag Badderson.’
    The ground trembled as the creature stomped out of the shadows. Standing at a height of a little under ten feet, Brag Badderson towered over the company. His grey-green skin had the ridged texture of a tree trunk; a natural camouflage which might have accounted for the fact that they hadn’t noticed the giant earlier. His huge barrel chest heaved and the nostrils of his tiny, flattened nose sniffed the air. Aside from a pair of raggedy leather shorts, the monster was naked. Moss and lichen had grown in patches on his body and what looked like the remains of a bird’s nest clung to his right shoulder.
    ‘I sometimes fall asleep standin’ up,’ Brag explained, self-consciously brushing away the woven twigs. ‘Bloomin’ birds think I’m a cliff or summat.’
    ‘What is he?’ Rachel whispered.
    Brag cupped one of his tiny ears.
    ‘Eh? Speak up, girl! Wha’s she say, Pand?’
    ‘She was wondering what kind of creature you are, Brag!’
    To everyone’s surprise, Brag drew himself up to his full height, placed a three-fingered hand on his chest and began to sing in a deep, bass-baritone.
    ‘ They call me Troll—Gnawer of the Moon—Giant of the Gale-blasts—Curse of the rain-hall—Companion of the— ’
    ‘Yes, yes,’ Pandora groaned. ‘We’ve heard it all before.’
    ‘Eh? You wanna hear some more?’
    ‘I said—WE’VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE!’
    Brag picked at one of the tusk-like teeth that overhung his bottom lip.
    ‘Some folk got no culture,’ he grumbled.
    ‘Brag’s a forest troll,’ Pandora explained. ‘And, as you may have noticed, he’s as deaf as a post. He’s