Dan and the Caverns of Bone by Thomas Taylor Page A

coat and drape it over her shoulders. Well, it’s what you do in moments like this, isn’t it? When there’s a shivering girl?
    Then I sit down next to her and tell her properly.
    â€˜He can’t rest easy, he can’t go on to the Hereafter while he thinks you’re in danger. But you’ll always be in danger down here while some madman is on the loose. The best thing you can do for Jojo is get back up to the squat and stay there till the police catch this nutter.’
    â€˜Nutter? What is “nutter”?’
    â€˜Psycho. Madman. Like a normal person, only insaner in the brainer.’
    â€˜You really think it is just a person dressed up? I almost hoped…’
    â€˜Trust me, Luci – I know it is. And I’m pretty sure I know who it is, too.’
    And I tell her my idea that the owners of Hotel Cafards are trying to drive Luci and her friends out of the squat with this whole sick stunt.
    â€˜The
porteur
?’ She looks doubtful. ‘Are you sure?’
    â€˜Yup. Well, mostly sure. It sort of looks like it might be him, all things considered. I think. Um…’
    â€˜I do not care who it is.’ Luci sets her head defiantly. ‘I just want Jojo to be at peace. I cannot leave him here, Dan, all alone.’
    All alone? I remember Brian and beckon him over from the shadows. Luci stands as he approaches, and brushes herself down. She looks good in the coat.
    â€˜Luci, this is the rest of the rescue party: Simon, who you met before but can’t see because… well, we’ve been through all that… and this is Brian, expert in paper aircraft and, er, mathematics. You’re in safe hands now.’
    Luci says, ‘
Salut
,’ to Bri and Bri manages to squeak back. He’s goggling at her, and I’m not surprised – despite the circs, she’s as stunning as ever. In a sad but Gothically beautiful sort of way, that is. I mean, she’s the only person I’ve ever seen who looks good in run mascara. And as for her slightly upturned nose…
    Concentrate, Dan, concentrate.
    â€˜Is it really true that the only way to help Jojo is for me to leave?’ She sniffs.
    I nod.
    â€˜Then let us go,’ she says.
    I glance at the ghost of Jojo and see that he’s understood. His face seems to brighten and a spectral wind blows through him, drying away some of the wetness his drowning has left.
    â€˜You should say goodbye now.’ I point to where Jojo’s ghost is. ‘When it happens, it can happen quite quickly.’
    Luci sniffs again but keeps her chin up. She turnsto her brother and holds up her hand as she did before. He reaches out.
    â€˜Um, what’s that noise?’ says Brian, at entirely the wrong moment.
    â€˜You asked that one already,’ I say. ‘Music, then running water, then girl, remember? Get with the programme, Bri.’
    â€˜No, that other noise. Listen.’
    I listen. And I hear it.
    Scrunch POCK, scrunch POCK…
    It’s the sound of someone walking on gravel and tapping the base of a long pole. It’s a sound we’ve heard before.
    â€˜Zooks, Daniel!’ Si projects his ghost light down the corridor, away from the river – down the way we came. The sound gets louder and louder until…
    â€¦we see him.
    Tall and hooded, he stands at the edge of our sight, robed in black and carrying a staff topped with a cruel steel blade. He stops and there’s a moment of terrifying silence before…
    POCK!
    â€¦he stamps his scythe on the ground and lifts his head. Beneath the shadow of the hood a mouth ofgleaming white teeth grins back at us, above a chin of yellowing bone.
    â€˜Across the river,’ I somehow manage to say. ‘Quick!’
    â€˜But we cannot.’ Luci clutches my arm. ‘The way through, beyond the party chamber, is blocked. The grilles have been locked by the police.’
    â€˜You mean…?’
    â€˜Yes.
He
is