Читать книгу Entanglement - Katy Mahood, Katy Mahood - Страница 17

The noise came from far up the high street, a deep thud that threw sound waves so powerful that they shifted a tide of air with them. Stella and John kept walking. Soon, there were sirens and pulsing blue lights, a glitter of broken glass flung out across the road and the burnt-out sockets of windows gaping. A small crowd had gathered, wordless, by the police tape and they stood to the side of a ruddy-faced man, grey hair greased back, who half-turned and gave the slightest nod before his eyes returned to the smoking carcass of the pub. Stella looked from the chaos to the faces of the people watching. On the other side of the cordon, a woman in dust-caked clothes was holding a lighter to a cigarette with shaking hands and Stella felt a sudden need to help. She stooped to duck beneath the tape but a heavy hand held her away.

‘Get back!’

The voice grew louder, ‘You all need to get back, go home and get indoors. Now!’

In a tangle of indignation and fear, Stella scowled at the policeman who looked hard back.

‘Leave now, miss – it’s not safe.’

She drew herself up and bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears that threatened to spill, speaking to John with her sharpest English accent. ‘John, we should go.’

He looked back at her, his face empty. For a second it was as though he didn’t know who she was.

Stella caught him by the wrist, her indignation dissolved. ‘John?’

He rubbed his eyes, swaying slightly. ‘Sorry, Stel, bit woozy. Yes, yes – let’s get back.’

Beyond the police tape, two firemen emerged from the black of the pub, a young man draped between them with blood on his face and vomit on his shirt, one leg dragging behind him. A few metres from the building they lowered him to the ground and put a rolled-up coat under his head. Stella’s red dress billowed in a gust of wind and she bent to smooth it. As she looked up, she met the gaze of the injured man. His dark hair was matted and his left eye was swollen, but his stare was so intense that for one uncanny moment she could have sworn he seemed to know her.