Thomas exhaled from his nose, then grabbed Scott’s offered hand.
It was the most relaxed game of hot and cold Scott had ever played.
Thomas no longer seemed too fussed about finding his missing eye. They didn’t speak but admired the plants, flowers, herbs, vegetables, the immaculate patterns in the gravel, the perfectly shaped hedges and the ponds with the koi carp.
Tim gave Scott a thumbs-up from a distance.
“It’s beautiful,” Thomas whispered, coming to a stop. “But I’d give it all up for the chance to go back in time.” He turned to the mansion. “I wouldn’t have ended up here. I would probably be a vet, with my arm up some cow’s arse and shit all down me, but I’d be happy with that.”
“What happened?” Scott darted looks around them. “How did you end up here?”
Thomas shook his head. “Will you take me to the eyeball now?”
Scott slumped. “Sure.”
He led the way to the fountain where Scott had first seen Thomas after four months, where he’d locked on to his snake eyes again.
“It’s here,” Scott said, peering into the water.
No snake eyeball looked back at him.
“I mean…itwashere.”
“Scott…” Thomas hissed.
“I’m not messing about.” He lowered himself to his knees and swished his hand through the water. “I swear this is where I hid it.”
“Oh dear,” Tim said, shaking his head. He came close, took off his hat and held it to his chest. “Have you lost something?”
“Thomas’s eye,” Scott replied.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh –”
“Enough,” Thomas interrupted. “You clearly know something about it.”
“Susan was in there earlier, took a right interest in something.”
“Susan…” Scott got back to his feet. “You mean the swan with the bionic beak?”
“The very one.” Tim pointed into the distance. “She flew off with something about forty minutes ago. Couldn’t tell what it was. Looked kind of green. She’ll take it to her nest, over by the wildlife pond.”
“Scott…” Thomas hissed again.
Scott held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll go get it.”
“You can’t let him go on his own,” Tim said, crowding Thomas.
“Scott will be fine.”
“Susan has young signets. Her and her mate will be aggressive.”
“Thanks for the concern.” Scott smiled. “But they’re only birds.”
“Only birds,” Tim scoffed. “The female will break your arms, and the male will break your legs, and while you’re lying there helpless, the signets will chow down on a different kind ofball.”
“How aggressive are these things?” Scott asked Thomas.
Tim replied for him. “Highly.”
