“Jacques Merouac.”Merou, dressed in shirt and jeans a littletoo large for him, still gracious as a prince at an ambassadorialreception, held out a hand.“Pleased to meet you, Mr...”
“Fuck.Is this the copper you were talking about,Prid?”
Merouchuckled.“Quite the opposite.Fellow villain, if you like.I’lltake that nice lump of resin off your hands—all of it, not half.For forty.”
Bazgrabbed his goods off the table.He began to back off, eyes fixedon Merou.“Is this some kind of bloody sting?I know my rights, youknow.There’s such a thing as entrapment.”
“All right, all right.Fifty.Hand it over, Baz.I’m not acopper, and you’ve got to pay your debts.”
Anysecond now the horn would roar again.Priddy tried to brace againstit, to throw a net of comprehension over the scene in the room.Merou was feeling in the pockets of his jeans.“I seem to be a bitshort,” he said, and then as the blare shook the tower once more,held one hand up, snapping his fingers.He opened his palm like aflower.Sitting on the flat of it was an apple, pink and gold, justlike the one he’d given to Priddy for breakfast.“Ah.Here yougo.”
Bazsnatched the fruit greedily.He tossed the foil package at Merou,who caught it deftly.“There better not be any fucking funnybusiness going on,” he growled at Priddy, retreating towards thedoor.“I’ve been in this game a long time.Nobody gets one over onme.”
He fled.In the silence before that next blast, Priddylistened to his biker boots clattering down the stairs.He wonderedhow he’d react when he discovered he was clutching apomme de merinstead of afifty-pound note.“So, what?”he said hoarsely to Merou, who wassniffing appreciatively at his purchase.“You’re a magician now, aswell as a...a monster?And a mermaid?”
“Sorry I had to dash off the other day.Did you get mynote?”
“Yeah.The missus and kids.You have awife, Merou?Children?”
“Not in any sense that need ever concern you.Why am I amonster?”
Not worried about the mermaid part, then.“You don’t have a boat called the Lyonesse.”
“Ah.No, I don’t.But if I did own something so utterly alienand useless to my kind, I’d probably call her that, in honour of myhome.”He put out a hand, eyes kindling with the concernedaffection Priddy recognised but couldn’t remember deserving.“What’s the matter?Did you hear something bad aboutme?”
“What happened to the crew of theSweet Rose?Did you...”The questionin Priddy’s throat was ridiculous, but so was everything else goingon in this strange night, whose fog had suddenly cleared toglimmering stars, silencing the horn.“Did you eatthem?”
“Oh, good grief.What have you been watching?”
“The She Creature,” Priddy saidhonestly.“She made the people take her out to sea so she couldfeed them to her daughters.All except the girl.She liked thegirl.”
“It’s a very good film.Based on inaccurate research, ofcourse.Eating people’s not practicable these days.”
“Did you punch my dad in the face at RosewarneCove?”
“I did do that, yes.You have to agree he had itcoming.”
All Priddy wanted was to throw himself across the room andinto Merou’s arms.He didn’t care if he’d eaten the crew oftheSweet Roseornot.Instead he wiped away the tears that had risen and spilleddown his cheeks unnoticed.“Those clothes aren’t yours, are they?”he demanded roughly.“They don’t fit.”
“Well, there’s a limit to what you can get off a washing lineon a wet night in Hagerawl.And I saw you had a guest, so I didn’twant to show upexactlyas nature intended.Don’t worry, I’ll put themback!And, er...if the fate of theRosecrew’s of such concern to you, Ishould have news for you shortly.It all depends.”He smiled,tugging at the front of his gaudily patterned shirt.“I tell youwhat—these rags aren’t half as nice as yours.Can I have yourWeeverfish T-shirt back?”
Priddythrew it at him.He didn’t want Merou to see the mix of fear, joyand confusion making pea soup of his thought processes.Baz’s mugwas still on the table.Anxious to expunge all trace of him, Priddygrabbed that and his own and began to run water into thesink.
When heturned around—less than thirty seconds later—Merou was sprawled inthe armchair in front of the stove.He was wearing not onlyPriddy’s T-shirt but the jeans he’d borrowed before.From somewherehe’d acquired rolling papers and a box of matches, and had just litup what looked like the most majestic joint Priddy had ever seen.He met Priddy’s disbelieving stare.“Oops,” he said unrepentantly.“Couldn’t resist.You know how I said doing two-legged things wasnice when you haven’t been topside for a while?”
“Yeah.”Priddy managed to smooth the incredulity out of hisvoice.“I remember.”
“Well, lung stuff is nice too.Smelling the flowers.Smoking afatty.”He coughed, waved smoke away and reached to pick upPriddy’s medicine box, the one Kit had made and decorated for him.He shook it playfully, like a maraca gourd.“None for you, I’mafraid, not on top of this lot.”
Priddytook one deep breath and then another.They were meant to becalming, but only carried the pungent scent-symphony of the potinto his starving marrow.“What was that you were saying to Bazabout stumbling blocks?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I don’t expect anybody to wrap me in cotton wool.But is thatnot alittleinsensitive?Even for you?”
“Looks to me like you’ve wrapped yourself.Not in cottonwool—in this big tube of white stone.I bet you were surprised tosee Baz Dingwall here tonight.”
“Yeah.It’s part of why I came here—to get away from men likehim.Do youknowhim?”
