*You take his feet,' I softly suggested, slinging the rifle over my shoulder. Sergio blinked. He glanced down at his pistol as I seized Gary under the armpits.

*Is the safety catch on?' I said, in a further attempt to distract and confuse. *You'd better put it on before you stick that thing in your pants.'

*I a" I dunno,' Sergio mumbled. *Where's the safety catch?'

*Don't ask me.'

Gary moaned again. His eyelids fluttered.

*We probably shouldn't be moving him,' I remarked. Being so close to Gary made my skin crawl. *He might have broken his back.'

*God, yes! Wouldn't that be good?' Sergio exclaimed, just a bit too loudly. Then he laid down the pistol and boltcutters, picking up Gary's ankles instead.

Grunting and heaving, I shuffled backwards through the door to Sergio's cell. For a small guy, Gary weighed an awful lot; I was gasping for breath by the time I reached the manacle and chain. As for Gary, he was groping around vaguely with one hand. When I let him slide to the floor, he said *Ow!' and opened his bleary eyes.

*Quick! Put that thing on him!' I was fumbling with my rifle. Sergio let go of one leg, which landed on the concrete with a lifeless kind of thump . He then manacled Gary's other leg, locking it into a thick band of steel.

*What the hell . . .?' Gary slurred. He gave me such a fright, I nearly dropped my gun.

*Shut up!' I yelped, waving it at him. *Don't move!'

*Wha . . .?'

*I'll get the other gun,' Sergio offered, before retreating into the stairwell. I backed right away from Gary, so that he couldn't make a grab for me. I still hadn't figured out where the safety catch was.

*For Chrissake!' Gary croaked. He'd obviously just realised what had happened. *Jesus . . .'

*Shut up!'

*Oh, Jesus.' He rattled his chain. The big red lump on his forehead was already turning purple. *I don't believe it. I don't bloody believe it . . .'

*You'd better believe it!' Sergio spluttered. Framed in the doorway, pointing a black automatic, he frightened the life out of me . (God knows how Gary must have felt.) *Turn over! Onto your stomach!' I told Gary, hoping that he would have the sense to obey. I wanted Sergio to think that ordering Gary around would be a lot more fun than shooting him.

But Gary didn't seem to hear.

*Oh, no,' he quavered. Staring down the barrel of Sergio's gun, he began to shake uncontrollably, as white as salt beneath his dark stubble. *Please . . . please don't . . .'

It was awful. Really awful. He thought that he was going to die.

*Not so funny now, is it?' Sergio barked, slowly advancing. *Not such a big joke now, eh?'

*Sergio! Hey!' Goddammit , I thought, because he wasn't listening to me. *Be cool, all right? Sergio!'

*Let's see you eat dirt on your knees!'

*Sergio!'

Click-click. He pulled the trigger. Twice. But nothing happened.

I nearly fainted.

*The safety's on, thickhead,' Danny drawled. He had appeared behind Sergio and was standing on the threshold, cradling his shotgun. *Here. Give it to me.'

In a dazed sort of fashion, Sergio passed him the pistol. I felt like vomiting. Gary was making the most dreadful noises; he had his head down and his hands up.

Danny slipped the pistol into his pocket.

*I didn't tell you to shoot the bastard, did I?' he growled. *Can't yiz understand plain English?' Upon receiving no answer from Sergio, he rounded on Gary. *Shut the hell up, or I'll shoot you meself!' he snapped. Then he clicked his tongue at Psycho, who had slipped into the room like a cold breeze.

Obediently, the dog padded over to where Gary was cowering.

*Okay a" see this dog? This dog is werewolf-trained,' Danny continued. He was still talking to Gary. *If you move, he'll rip your throat out. If you say one word , he'll rip your throat out. Got that?'

Gary nodded.

*Good.' With a sniff, Danny turned back to Sergio. *Now go and see if you can find any more padlocks.'

Sergio's jaw dropped. *Huh?' he said.

* Padlocks ,' Danny repeated testily. *Don'tcha know what a padlock is?'

*Yeah, buta"'

*I wanna lock both them gates. But I can't do it because I cut through the padlock on the gate next door.' As Sergio hesitated, Danny assured him, *I've checked upstairs. The coast is clear. Now get up there and find me another padlock.'

To my surprise, Sergio did as he was told. He trudged from the room looking sullen but resigned, while Danny headed for the alternative exit.

They seemed to have forgotten my existence.

*Wait!' I cried. *Hang on! Where are you going?'

*I'm gunna fetch poor Tyson,' Danny retorted. It took me a few seconds to work out that Tyson was the fourth dog a" the one we'd left at the pool.

*But what about me?' I asked weakly. *What should I do?'

*Stay right there,' he said. *Just gimme the keys and I'll be back in a tick.'

Watching him march away down the tunnel, I had to swallow a sob. My head was in a whirl. I wanted to run after Danny and keep on running until I'd left the tanks and the house and everyone in them far behind. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I couldn't believe that I was standing guard over a shackled prisoner, like some kind of Nazi.

In the silence, Psycho's throaty growl was clearly audible. So was the gurgle of Gary's ragged breathing. I knew that I should be watching him like a hawk, but I cringed at the prospect of catching his eye a" just in case he made me feel even worse about being an armed guard. So I kept my own eyes fixed firmly on the darkness at the end of the tunnel, praying that Danny would return soon.

I was worried about what Lincoln might be doing in the tank next door. I was worried about what Sergio might be doing upstairs. What if he found another gun while he was searching for a padlock? What if he came charging down here with a crossbow or a cattle prod or some other exotic weapon? How would I deal with that ?

Then suddenly, from the top of the staircase, his high-pitched voice reached my ears. And he didn't sound angry at all.

He sounded terrified.

*Toby! Quick! Come here!' he shouted. *It's a car! I can hear it! Someone's coming! '

T here was a kitchen at the top of the stairs. I don't know why I found that surprising, but I did. Even more surprising, however, was the pale morning light creeping through the windows, which were hung with the ugliest curtains I'd ever seen.

According to the clock on the wall, it was nearly half-past six.

*Listen!' Sergio was clutching the boltcutters. *Can you hear that?'

I listened. Through the ticking of the clock and the hum of the refrigerator, I could just make out the low-pitched drone of an engine.

*Where's it coming from?' I said.

*How the hell should I know?'

When I crossed the floor, my feet peeled off the sticky lino a" which was old and cracked and covered in grime (to match the cupboards). Spiderwebs fluttered from the ceiling. Dead flies littered every surface. The wallpaper was in shreds.

But someone had been using the kitchen; that much was obvious. Dirty dishes were strewn across the table and piled up around the sink. A plastic tidy bin was overflowing with beer cans. An electric fan whirred away in a corner.

Twitching aside one pineapple-print curtain, I peered out at the desolate scene beyond. It was worse than I'd expected. Red dirt and blue-grey scrub stretched out to the horizon, relieved here and there by small, spindly trees that cast very long shadows. There was a lot of rubbish scattered close to the house, including rolls of chicken wire, rusty petrol drums, and weathered bones. ( God , I thought, swallowing hard. Let's hope those bones aren't human. ) On the other side of a dilapidated fence stood Lincoln's empty grey sedan, which was covered in dust and squashed insects. It didn't look so sleek anymore.

*They're closing in!' Sergio squeaked. He was right; the purring noise was growing louder. But I still couldn't see the car that was approaching us.

*Can you spot it?' I asked, because Sergio was at the other window. He shook his head.

*No.'

*It's out the front,' I decided, rushing through the nearest exit into a long, dingy passage. This passage led straight to the front door, past several rooms furnished with old mattresses and soiled sheets. I caught a glimpse of pill bottles, underpants, and a discarded shoulder holster, but no phones. There were no phones anywhere. There weren't even any phone jacks.

There was no glass in the front door, either. It was a solid slab of wood. To get a view of the driveway, I had to peer between the slats of a dusty, broken blind that hung in the living room.

I could feel Sergio's hot breath on my cheek.

*There!' he exclaimed, pointing over my shoulder. *There it is!'

*Back off.' I could see the dust cloud hanging behind a distant vehicle. Both the vehicle and the cloud were moving along an unsealed road that passed the house. *Is that a van?' I said. *It looks like a van.'

*It is a van,' Sergio agreed. As the van slowed, he caught his breath. *It's coming here!'

*Of course.'

*Oh my God!'

*Stop shouting in my ear , will you?'

The blue van had turned off the road. Passing between two white-washed gateposts, it clunked over a cattle grid and crawled up the long driveway towards us.

*Shoot him when he gets out,' Sergio pleaded. I knew just how he felt. But I wasn't at all confident about discharging the rifle. I couldn't even be sure if the safety catch was off.

So I said, *Calm down.'

*He might have a gun, Toby!'

* Shut up! '

To my surprise, the van stopped in front of the house instead of parking round the side, next to Lincoln's sedan. I couldn't have been more than fifteen metres away from the driver as he cut his engine. But he was just a murky shadow behind tinted glass.

*You can do it from here!' Sergio whispered, nudging me. Just then the driver's door popped open.

Sergio grabbed my gun.

*Stop it!' I hissed.

*Do it now! Through the window!'

*Are you crazy?'

*He's right there, look!'

I looked. And I gasped.

*That's Reuben,' I said.

*What?'

*I know that guy.' My shoulders slumped. My knees sagged. It felt as if something inside my chest had unravelled. *He's a werewolf. He's the one that phoned Danny.'

* Hey, Danny! ' Reuben called, surveying the house through wraparound sunglasses. He stood with his hands on his hips, chewing gum and frowning. Instead of his usual overalls, he was dressed in jeans and a grey singlet.

He didn't seem to be armed.

*How does he know it's safe?' I muttered. *Who told him?'

Sergio didn't reply. He was too busy watching Reuben.

* Danny? ' Reuben shouted. * Are you there? ' When no one answered, he reached back into the truck and pulled out a big, heavy crowbar, before slamming the driver's door shut.

Then he crunched across the gravel in our direction.

*Wha-what's he doing?' Sergio stammered.

*He's coming inside.' It was time to make our presence known. There was no point skulking behind the venetian blind any longer.

As Reuben climbed the steps, I flung open the front door.

*Oh. Hi.' He stopped in his tracks.

*How did you know?' I asked.

*What?'

*How did you know the coast was clear? Who told you it was safe to come in?'