Dead Water by Tim O'Rourke Page A

he’s not too tightly wrapped.” Then, reaching into his
trouser pocket, he produced a bar of chocolate. “Go on, son, take
it. It’s a little treat. I’m sure your social worker won’t mind me
giving it to you. It is okay if I give him some chocolate, ain’t
it?” he said, glancing at Kiera.
    “ Sure,” Kiera smiled. “Take the chocolate from the nice
man, Gabe .”
    “ You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” I growled at her. Turning to
face the campsite owner, I added, “You can stick your chocolate bar
right up your fu...”
    “ We should be going,” Murphy suddenly cut in. “Gabriel is
starting to get upset again.”
    “ I think you’re right,” Kiera said, guiding me by the arm
towards the car. “Say goodbye to the nice man.”
    “ The nice man can go fu...” I started to say.
    “ Thank you for the use of your caravans,” Murphy said, cutting
over me and approaching the man. He took hold of his hand and
pumped it up and down.
    “ You’re welcome,” the owner said, glancing over Murphy’s
shoulder as Kiera shoved me onto the backseat of the car. “Perhaps
you could give this to him later, when he’s calmed down a
bit.”
    “ Sure,” Murphy smiled, taking the chocolate bar. “I’m sure
he’ll love it.”
    Turning,
Murphy made his way back to the car and climbed in. Kiera jumped in
next to him and slammed the door shut. Not wanting to waste another
minute, Murphy shoved the car into reverse and steered it back down
the lane and towards the road. The tyres crunched over the snow as
the car lurched left then right. The campsite owner watched us go,
then headed back towards the kiosk and the broken cigarette
machine.
    “ I s’pose you two think you’re funny?” I snapped, once we were
back on the road and heading away from the campsite.
    “ I’m sorry,” Kiera smiled, glancing back at me.
    “ It’s like being in the company of Laurel and freaking Hardy,”
I said.
    “ Oh quit your complaining,” Murphy grunted, tearing at the
chocolate bar wrapper with his teeth.
    “ Hey, that was meant for me,” I said, leaning forward in my
seat and trying to grab it from Murphy.
    “ It’s mine,” Murphy barked, shoving my hand away. “Besides, you
didn’t want it. If I remember rightly, you threatened to give that
poor guy some kind of rectal examination with it!”
    “ Whatever,” I said, slumping back into my seat, listening to
Murphy’s jaws chomp away at the chocolate.
    Kiera
looked at me, struggling hard not to laugh. “Oh come on, Mr.
Grouch,” she smiled. “I thought we were friends again?”
    “ We are,” I winked at her.
    “ Does that mean I’ve got to put up with you two wandering
around like a couple of loved-up teenagers again?” Murphy
groaned.
    “ I thought you’d be pleased for us,” I said.
    “ I am,” Murphy sighed, “But if you think I’m gonna put up with
you two listening to all that romantic crap on Kiera’s iPod, you’ve
got another think coming.”
    “ We don’t listen to romantic crap,” I snapped back at
him.
    “ Yeah, you do,” Murphy groaned. “So if you think I’m gonna
listen to hours and hours of freaking Barry Manilow while you two
sit and gaze into each other’s eyes, you can forget it.”
    “ I’ve never listened to Barry Manilow in my life...” I
started.
    “ Don’t you lie to me,” Murphy shot back, eyeing me in the
rearview mirror. “I caught you listening to that song once...what
was it called? How am I supposed to live
without you? That was it.”
    “ That’s sung by Michael Bolton, not Barry...” I
started.
    “ It’s all the same to me,” Murphy cut in. “And besides, how do
you know all this stuff? You’re meant to be some blood-sucking
creature from below ground. Instead, you spend your time wandering
around with your thumb up your arse, listening to songs written for
girls.”
    Kiera
started to laugh.
    “ What’s so funny?” I asked her with a frown.
    “ Nothing,” she said.
    And
although I knew it