Xinder Rises Read online

  ‘How did you manage to serve all that in ten minutes?’ Sas said, as she squeezed a few more cups into the overflowing bin bag. ‘We’ve made a killing.’

  Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. With no rain appearing so far, perhaps Wynn-Garry was right. Maybe the cloud would break later that afternoon. From inside the van, she looked out over the scene. The crowd was still three or four deep the entire way around the pitch, and she could just make out the steep rise of the bank on the far side that led up to the village.

  The floodlights shone down, giving the players a strange, quadruple shadow. If it hadn’t been nearly midday, there would have been no reason to suspect that they weren’t playing a night match.

  ‘Olivia,’ she called out. ‘Get a place left of the halfway line. I’ll join you in a minute. I’m going to cash up.’

  The feeling of dread that Sas had experienced before was building again. The vast black cloud seemed to be growing even thicker, and sinking even lower in the sky.

  She knew she should get out of there and run to higher ground, but she was too swallowed up by the drama, and swept away by the skill of Anika Delaux.

  A heavy challenge sent Anika flying. The crowd swayed, and spilled onto the pitch.

  The noise levels increased.

  ‘That was late. Too damn late,’ Olivia shouted, peeling off her scarf.

  ‘Careful, Olivia. Watch it,’ Sas said, firmly. ‘You mustn’t. You’ll get expelled. I promised—’

  ‘It was deliberate and dirty—’

  ‘NO, Olivia!’ Sas snapped. ‘Bite your tongue.’

  ‘But they’re targeting Anika exactly as Fitzpatrick said they would. They’re going to kick her out of the game!’

  Sas closed her eyes. Great, just what she needed! Still ten minutes to go, and Olivia sizzling like a firework.

  ‘What was that noise?’ Olivia said.

  ‘That gargantuan thing up there?’

  ‘Th ... thunder?’ Olivia said, momentarily removing her eyes from the action.

  Sas nodded.

  Several members of the crowd started to leave, while others gestured upwards.

  This is it, Sas thought. This is where it starts, exactly as I saw in my nightmare. It even feels the same too. I’ve got to tell Olivia. I’ve got to tell her NOW.

  A ghastly feeling of panic swept over her.

  They should stop the game. Get everyone away.

  Sas’s thoughts were interrupted as Anika stole the ball and sprinted down the field.

  Anika skipped inside one tackle, then dummied inside looking for support.

  The crowd roared, but, from nowhere, a couple of Newton boys smashed into her from opposite angles. All three lay on the ground as the ball was kicked away by another Newton player.

  Play continued, but it was a poor decision.

  ‘Yellow card,’ yelled a senior boy. ‘C’mon ref!’

  The atmosphere flipped. Suddenly, late tackles flew in and players were being kicked indiscriminately out of eyeshot of the referee.

  One of the Newton strikers stole into the penalty area, as a massive crash of thunder reverberated around them. At that exact moment, little Jimmy Nugent, running back, tapped the forward’s foot and the player fell face-first onto the turf.

  The whistle shrilled and the ball was placed on the spot.

  ‘I don’t believe it!’ Sas said, quietly, ‘the end of Anika’s dream.’ She turned. ‘Olivia, what on earth are you doing?’

  Olivia was scribbling furiously in her notebook. ‘Just watch for me a minute. You know, commentate, like on telly.’

  She didn’t need to. The groan told her everything.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘The ball trickled past Danny. All he had to do was put his foot out. Two-all.

  ‘He is absolutely useless sometimes,’ she said.

  ‘Well, he’s only in the team because no-one else would do it.’

  ‘And to keep Ani company, though, to be fair, he has improved, ’ Olivia said as she thrust the paper into Sas’s overcoat pocket. ‘Ye of little faith, Sas Smith,’ she said. ‘You’ll see, she’ll score again.’

  Another roll of thunder boomed and cracked. More spectators started running away.

  Sas’s stomach lurched. It was now or never.

  ‘Olivia, we’ve got to get out of here, now. I mean it. But listen to me first. There’s something important I’ve got to share—’

  ‘Please, Sas. Just shut up!’ Olivia snapped. ‘Get the ball to Ani Delaux,’ she screamed. ‘Give it to Anika!’ Olivia turned to Sas. ‘Listen, hon, tell me whatever is so damn important at the end, OK. There’s less than five minutes to go and it’s two-all in the most important match of my brother and sister’s life. Can you please just give it a break for five minutes? Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking.’

  With that, Olivia sidled out onto the pitch, ran down the touchline, and dived in among the spectators further down.

  Fitzpatrick

  Fitzpatrick reeled, wondering if he should play dead.

  ‘Believe me, it is excellent news that you’ve arrived on time.’ The old man moved almost directly above him, his face covered by the scarf and hat. ‘I sense that you have brought my coat back. Well done. Did the old man recognise it?’

  Fitzpatrick simply didn’t know what to say. His voice stammered as a chill swept through him.

  ‘Are you ready to join me, Danny Delaux?’

  Fitzpatrick’s skin crawled.

  He needed more time. ‘Join you?’ Fitzpatrick stammered, scuffling backwards, trying to keep his face hidden. ‘Can you remind me again? I was shattered last night.’

  The ghost hesitated. ‘Well, let me put it this way. I’ve got what you want.’

  Fitzpatrick shivered. What I want? ‘What do you mean?’

  The old man moved to one side and appeared to look up towards the sky. ‘Why, me, of course.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘Yes, me,’ said the ghost. ‘You see, I’m the only one here who can help you escape from this place. You have only about fifteen minutes in your time to decide.’

  Fitzpatrick’s brain went a little fuzzy. Bile swilled in his mouth. Fifteen minutes? In your time? Decide what? Fitzpatrick stole a look down the alley.

  He needed to get away, fast.

  The old man sensed his unease. ‘You see, in a short time the skies will open and it will rain for forty days and nights in a way you cannot even begin to imagine—’

  Fitzpatrick looked confused. ‘Forty days and nights?’

  ‘Yes. That’s what I said, forty days and nights—’

  ‘Forty days and nights—?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘What, like in Noah’s Ark with the animals—?’

  ‘STOP repeating what I say and listen!’ the old man spat. The words seemed to smack Fitzpatrick around the face. He cowered.

  ‘I can assure you that in a short while,’ the old man said, bearing down on him, ‘all of this – everything here, everything you see – will be destroyed.’

  ‘Danny,’ the ghost continued, his voice mellow once more, ‘there will be nothing left. You see, boy, there is a shift happening, a shift in time, a shift in the way of the universe. It is happening right here, right now. The wheels are turning and they cannot be reversed.’

  Danny

  Danny stomped around the penalty area, his face burning with shame at the unsaved goal.

  For some reason, just before the Newton player stepped up to hit the penalty, it had come to him. The person he’d seen way up on the steps heading into the alley was Fitzpatrick. It could only have been Fitzpatrick. For a start, his hair was a complete giveaway, and he was wearing the ghost’s long coat, which made him look like a monk.

  All he could think of was running up there to find out what the hell Fitzpatrick was up to.

  If Xinder was there, and Fitzpatrick had gone to find him, would Xinder know the difference between them? Would he care?

  Then, in the nex
t instance, the ball had trickled past him into the goal.

  Danny kicked the base of the post. The more he thought about Fitzpatrick and the ghost, the more certain he became that he was right.

  All I ever do is look on hopelessly, he thought. When will I stop being so pathetic?

  A slow-burning fury moved through his body, an anger borne of frustration and annoyance. It began to build up in him like a glowing light, as if he were being charged up like a battery.

  Danny was about to kick short from the goal kick, but, from out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anika in yards of space on the halfway line, catching her breath after the last attack. It was worth a try. He pushed the ball ahead, ran up, and thumped it hard. The ball rose high into the air.

  Anika saw it, her eyes never leaving the ball. She took it down in her stride and, with a burst of speed, tore past one player then another. She then stopped so suddenly that another player over-ran, and she side-stepped one more player who fell over. The crowd roared.

  ‘… She will, she will – ROCK YOU!’

  Anika side-stepped again and, with an injection of pace, flew towards the penalty area with real menace. Four Newton players lay sprawled on the floor, leaving only one more to beat.

  ‘Go on Anika, you can do it,’ Danny screamed.

  Danny watched as the remaining defender was sold a beautiful dummy, which Anika seemed to do with such ease that it was laughable. As she pushed the ball past him and effortlessly made her way around, he slid out a leg and tripped her up quite deliberately. Anika stumbled and fell but she wasn’t giving up. She crawled towards the ball and then, even as she lay on the ground with the ball wedged between her knees, she managed to keep moving.

  But a warning cry went up as three Newton players and the goalkeeper converged on Anika. It felt as if Anika had fallen into a trap as the Newton boys cocked their legs and kicked out, striking more of Anika than the ball, kicking her again and again in a kind of frenzy.

  Still, she refused to give the ball up.

  The crowd swayed and screamed before falling silent.

  They could quite clearly see Anika’s face contorting in pain as the assault rained down on her.

  10

  Sas, Thursday

  For the first time in her life, Sas could feel a sensation of utter panic building up in her veins like one of her bubbling chemistry experiments. A series of flashes filled the sky, mirroring the extraordinary scenes on the pitch. Lightning fizzed then crackled. For a brief moment, it formed a picture of a boy in the sky.

  Sas gasped. A boy?

  A thunderclap smashed overhead so loudly that the crowd cried out. Shrieks and screams filled the football field.

  Sas fell to her knees, barely able to think, her body shaking. No! It can’t be! It’s not possible. It’s ... it’s ... Fitzpatrick’s face! The lightning was Fitzpatrick’s face super-imposed in the cloud. How was it possible?

  She looked around. Where was Olivia? She couldn’t have gone already. Sas followed the eyes of the crowd.

  Olivia was striding towards the pitch.

  ‘NO! OLIVIA, STOP!’

  There was no reaction from Olivia.

  Without thinking, Sas took off after her. ‘Olivia, LISTEN!’ she yelled as she ran. ‘It’s you!’

  She ran on further.

  ‘The dream is about your family, the Delauxs.’ She sensed Olivia slowing down.

  ‘You must ALL survive until sunset and find a cave. Do you understand?’ She took a deep breath.

  ‘SUNSET. YOU MUST STAY ALIVE.’

  Her voice was petering out as she realised she was screaming herself hoarse. She sucked her breath in again.

  ‘Find clues in your house, Appleside Farm. You must find the clues.’

  Sas coughed and then repeated the last part, adding,

  ‘GET HOME! NOW!’

  She noted some of the crowd staring at her as if she was a madwoman. But she didn’t care, not one little bit.

  Danny

  Danny couldn’t believe it.

  First Sas screaming at Olivia, and now this! Where was the referee?

  He thumped the goalpost, shook his head, and looked up. The giant, angry bruise of a cloud stretched above him like a monstrous airship. It sagged so low in the sky that he felt he could jump up and burst it as easily as pricking a balloon.

  The heady smell of damp filled his nostrils as another crack of thunder escaped. Danny felt his blood boiling inside him. Now, five Newton players surrounded Anika. She managed to stand, but one of them pushed her over.

  That was the final straw. Anger flooded through him. No one, Danny seethed, does that to my sister.

  He tore down the pitch, the crowd baying and shouting. The referee was desperately trying to separate the players, but everyone was fighting.

  ‘NO! Don’t retaliate, Danny—’ he could hear someone yelling. It was too late, though. Hell had broken loose.

  One of the Newton boys was holding Anika’s hair and leering at her, screaming in her face. Danny grabbed him by the collar and threw him away, the boy sailing through the air and landing in a heap on the ground. Danny punched another boy hard on the nose. He thought he heard crunching sounds, then found himself receiving blows although he couldn’t feel them.

  Blood coursed through his body. He felt strong and powerful. Invincible.

  A couple of Newton boys jumped him but he picked one up with one hand and tossed him over his shoulder. The other boy he wrestled to the ground until the boy under him squirrelled away. Then he found another hitting Jimmy Nugent. He smashed the boy hard in the stomach and tossed him to the side like a piece of litter.

  The whistle shrilled again and again.

  Finally, a sharp, stern voice rose up out of the melee. It was Olivia. Danny could see her marching towards them. Oh no!

  Danny looked around. Three Newton boys and the referee stared at him with their eyes wide open. Was it in fear?

  This was a sensation he’d never really experienced before.

  Danny wiped his brow and allowed himself a smile. It felt strangely good.

  Wynn-Garry

  ‘Sir,’ a small boy said, running up to him. ‘Sir. What shall we do?’

  Wynn-Garry smiled, badly. ‘I’ve been assured that there won’t be any rainfall until this afternoon,’ he said. ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine.’

  ‘But, Sir. Look. I don’t think it’s safe.’

  Wynn-Garry stared up at the throbbing deep bruise that filled the sky to the horizon. His heartbeat quickened.

  ‘If you’re worried, Stanwick, make your way indoors. Are your parents around?’

  ‘No, Sir. They’re coming to the music concert this afternoon.’

  ‘Then I suggest you go to the library and find a good book. How does that sound?’

  Stanwick ran back to his friends, and together they scampered over to the old buildings with the tower.

  Wynn-Garry’s knees were shaking. In fact, now that he noticed, his entire body shook, as if he’d been swimming in a cold sea. Nerves about the match, probably.

  At the back of his mind he wondered about Olivia. I mean, really? Bah! It wasn’t going to happen.

  This was a small lightning storm with a bit of thunder. It would probably pass them by, or they’d have a bit of heavy rain, but nothing like the deluge she was suggesting. That sort of thing never happened here in good old North Yorkshire.

  A crack of lightning fizzed above. He noticed how the crowd were dispersing. How students flicked their eyes towards him.

  ‘Come on Sutton!’ he yelled. ‘Jolly good play, Allen. Give it to Ani.’ He clapped his hands as the play moved from one end of the pitch to the other, Anika narrowly missing to the right of the goal.

  BOOM!

  Wynn-Garry felt the ground shake.

  ‘Sir—’

  ‘The team need your support,’ the headmaster said, loudly.

  Suddenly he noticed how the players were almost attacking each other.

&nbs
p; Oh Lord.

  Moving quickly, he headed down the touchline.

  ‘Coach,’ he shouted.

  The coach swivelled on his heels and ran towards him. ‘For goodness’ sake, watch out for Olivia Delaux. If anything happens to Ani—’

  They watched as the Newton boys set upon her.

  ‘Goodness. I’m quite tempted to get stuck in myself,’ the headmaster said.

  ‘Best you don’t, Headmaster,’ Coach said.

  They both stared at the scene, their mouths open.

  ’Should we call it off?’ Coach asked.

  ‘No, no. It’s nearly over—’

  ‘Who’s that, yelling?’ Coach said.

  ‘Well I never. That’s Sas, isn’t it? Whatever is she going on about?’ Wynn-Garry said.

  ‘No idea. Something about it being their fault?’

  ‘Whose fault?’ the headmaster queried.

  ‘The Delaux’s. If you ask me, I think they’ve all gone mad. Oh no, is that Danny? It’s not poss—’

  ‘Lord above. He’s beating them up! What has the world come to,’ the headmaster said. ‘Steel, Coach. Look! There! Olivia’s on the march. Be good fellows and grab her before this melee gets completely out of hand!’

  Xinder

  ‘Now, look here,’ Fitzpatrick said, ‘you need help.’ He felt a slither of confidence returning.

  ‘Look at me, Danny,’ the ghost said. ‘You see that thing there—’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ Fitzpatrick said. ‘A large, dark cloud. Big deal. Excuse me, freak, but I’m outta here—’

  ‘No – you – are – not,’ the old man said, spitting each word out so severely that Fitzpatrick fell to the ground.

  ‘Out of all the people on this puny planet, I’ve selected you. So be grateful, boy, because I’m giving you the chance to save your life. There is no other way for you.’

  Fitzpatrick squealed, and looked down the passage. What was holding him back? Why didn’t he go for it? Why didn’t he say that he wasn’t Danny? He felt oddly dizzy, as if a force was holding him against his will.