But he didn't hear a" or he didn't want to hear. I had to cast around for a crutch of some kind. It wasn't easy in the dark; eventually I came up with an old piece of fence-post, which I leaned on as I picked my way between all the clumps of garbage.

When I caught up with Sergio, he was tugging fruitlessly at one of the van doors.

*It's bloody locked,' he muttered, before whirling around and shrieking at Reuben, * It's bloody locked! Where are the keys? '

Reuben stood in a golden patch of light that was spilling through a kitchen window. Above him arched a glistening canopy of stars. Beyond him, in the middle distance, I could see a pair of headlights.

They were growing larger and larger.

Reuben hissed something under his breath. Then he whirled around, plunging a hand into his pocket. His other hand was still wrapped around the pistol.

*Is it a" is it that third guy?' I quavered. *The one from Broken Hill?'

*I dunno.' He pulled out his keys and hurried towards the van. I stepped aside so he could unlock it.

*Are we leaving?' Sergio exclaimed. When no one answered, he said, *Who has Danny's rifle? Where is it now?'

*Here.' Reuben yanked open the driver's door. *Get in.'

*Are we making a run for it? Are you gunna drive?' Sergio was becoming more and more shrill. *I'm not getting in if you're not!'

*Just do it, will you?' Reuben ordered.

*No! I won't! We'll be sitting ducks in there!' Sergio shook him off, stumbling backwards. Meanwhile, I was watching the car as it bounced towards us. It was low to the ground. It had rectangular headlights. It seemed to be a dark reddish colour. And the softly illuminated numberplate read . . .

*Hey!' I squeaked. *Hang on! That's our car!'

*What?' Reuben froze.

*That's Mum! In our car! It must be!'

It was. By that time I could see her face a" a pale, narrow blur behind the windscreen a" and I hobbled forward to greet her. You can imagine how happy I was. I forgot everything else: Danny, Gary, my foot, my empty stomach, Reuben's insane jabbering about vampires a" everything. All I wanted to do was crawl into our car and drive straight home.

*Dammit,' Reuben muttered. *I can't let her see me. Not yet.'

He must have slunk away, behind the house. I'm not sure, because I wasn't looking. My attention was fixed on Mum's car, which had braked near the front veranda. The engine stopped but the headlights stayed on. The driver's door popped open.

*Mum?' I said, picking up my pace a bit.

* Toby? ' She emerged from behind the wheel, her eyes round with horror. *Oh my God! What happened?'

*Huh?' For a second I didn't understand. Then I realised that she was staring at my foot. It was spotlit by the headlight beams. *Oh. Right. This,' I mumbled, stopping to glance down.

*And your head!' she squealed. *And your wrist! What happened to your wrist?'

I didn't know where to begin. With the overturned truck, perhaps? With Danny's assault? With the dog bite? All kinds of thoughts and images rushed into my brain as she threw her arms around me; I still hadn't settled on a good starting point when Nina's grandmother climbed out of the front passenger seat.

*Where's Nina?' she croaked, then erupted into a fit of coughing: hack-hack-hack. If it hadn't been for the cough, I might not have recognised her at first a" not without her cigarette. Even her steel-wool hair was engulfed in one of those old-lady scarves that you see on the Queen, sometimes. She also looked older than she had before, all creased and stiff and colourless.

Mum looked pretty bad too. She was wearing trackies, for one thing. And she didn't have any makeup on.

*Nina's inside,' I confessed. *Buta"'

*She's here? Nina's here?' Mum broke in.

*Yeah.' I took a deep breath. *There's a whole bunch of people here. That's what I have to tell you. It's a long story . . .'

Estelle, however, wouldn't let me finish. *Who's this?' she squawked, nodding at Sergio. *I don't think I've met him , have I?'

*That's Sergio. He's a" we're a"' I didn't know how to put it. Did Mum know the truth or not? Had Estelle filled her in, yet?

*Let's go,' Sergio said abruptly. * Now . Come on.' He was dancing from foot to foot, as if he needed to empty his bladder. I understood how he felt, but I also realised that Mum wouldn't be going anywhere unless I provided her with an explanation.

So I opened my mouth to give her one a" just as somebody roared like a wounded buffalo inside the house.

Mum gasped. *What on earth . . .?' she said, pulling away to listen. A muffled crash made her cover her mouth in alarm.

That's when I decided not to waste time explaining things. Not yet, at least. Not until we were well on our way. *We should go. Right now,' I urged.

*Not without Nina,' Estelle insisted. She slammed the car door behind her, then trudged towards the house in what looked like a pair of orthopaedic sandals. She was wearing something that could have been a nurse's uniform.

*I wouldn't go in there if I were you,' Sergio warned. It sounded so much like a threat that I quickly tried to clarify the situation.

*It's not safe,' I said. *There's a guy in there a" Danny a" who's had a bit of a meltdown.'

*You mean Danny Ruiz?' Estelle didn't seem especially concerned. As she waved a dismissive hand, I suddenly remembered that she knew all about Danny. *So what's new?' she said. *He's always having meltdowns.'

*Yeah, but he's really mad this time.' I couldn't stress this enough. *It's because Barry McKinnon's in there, and Danny doesn't like him.'

*Because Barry bit his neck,' Sergio added.

Estelle stopped in her tracks.

*He what ?' she cried, in a strangled voice. *Oh, Christ , no!'

*What on earth are you talking about?' Mum sounded frantic. She flinched as another distant, animal roar split the night air. *Isn't Barry Nina's uncle?'

Bang! The front door flew open. Danny Ruiz stood there, silhouetted against the light in the hallway. * a-a-a-u-u-gh! ' he bellowed.

Then he lurched onto the veranda, still clutching his neck.

*Get in the car,' Estelle snapped. She beat a hasty retreat, waddling back towards the seat she'd just vacated. But the rest of us were rooted to the spot.

*Who a" whoa"' Mum stammered.

*That's him,' I said. *That's Danny Ruiz.'

* O-o-o-a-a-a-gh! ' More bellowing. Danny kept losing his balance; he swayed and stumbled on his way down the veranda steps.

That's when I realised that he was twitching like someone with epilepsy.

*Let's a" let's get in the car,' I croaked. Mum didn't argue. She grabbed my elbow, supporting me as I hopped along.

Sergio was ahead of us; he reached the car before we did, plunging into the back seat like a rat into a drainpipe. I was crawling in beside him when Reuben charged out of the house, waving Danny's rifle.

*Oh my God!' Mum shrieked. *He's got a gun!' Then she dropped her keys.

I don't think she recognised Reuben at first. She was too busy scrabbling around in the driver's footwell. As for Reuben, I doubt he even noticed her. His attention was fixed on Danny, who was struggling to his feet again.

*For God's sake, Rowena, will you close the door ?' Estelle said fiercely.

Mum did as she was told, groping around for her keys with one hand while she pulled her door shut with the other. Whomp! *Oh my God,' she kept whimpering. *Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God . . .'

*What's wrong with Danny?' Sergio's voice was high and frantic, like a police siren. *Is he bleeding to death?'

*No,' Estelle replied. By this time Danny's dogs had surged onto the front veranda. But they were strangely subdued. Instead of running to join him, they hung back, looking disoriented.

Reuben ignored them. He advanced towards Danny, adjusting his grip on the rifle.

*For Chrissake,' Estelle hissed, before lowering her window a few centimetres. * Reuben! ' she squawked. * Get back inside! '

Danny heard her. He must have, because he turned his head. He even took a step in our direction.

Something was wrong, though. His leg buckled. He fell to one knee.

Estelle quickly wound up her window again, coughing like a machine gun.

*I don't get it,' Sergio whined. *Where's the doctor? Why doesn't he do something?' At that very instant, Dr Plackett emerged from the house. He was wearing his sunglasses, and he seemed to be arguing with Reuben.

*Where the hell is Nina?' growled Estelle.

Suddenly the engine roared. Mum had found her keys, at long last. She released the handbrake, craning around to check that nothing was behind her. Then she reached out to change gears.

*No!' Estelle yanked at the handbrake. *Not yet.'

* What are you doing? ' Mum screamed.

*Wait. Just wait.'

* Let go! '

Next thing I knew, Mum and Estelle were wrestling for control of the handbrake. I couldn't believe it. Outside, Danny was flat on his stomach, groaning and shuddering. Reuben was edging towards him, rifle raised. Dr Plackett was trying to grab Reuben's arm, without success; Reuben repeatedly shook him off.

*Nina's in there!' Estelle snapped. *We can't go without Nina!'

*He's got a gun , can't you see? ' Mum shouted back.

*Yeah, but he won't use it,' Estelle insisted. *Not on us.'

*How do you know?'

*He won't, Mum.' I could be sure of that, at least. *It's okay. Swear to God.'

*It's not Reuben we should be worrying about,' Estelle confirmed, before she dissolved into another fit of coughing.

Mum caught her breath. Her head swivelled. She stared through the windscreen.

*Reuben?' she echoed. *Is that a" is that Reuben Schneider? '

*Muma"'

*Oh, my God! It is him! It's that lunatic!'

*Mum, listena"'

*It's all a plot! We've been kidnapped!' Mum rounded on Estelle. *You bitch! '

She launched herself at Nina's grandmother, who raised her arms in self-defence. If I hadn't intervened, God knows what would have happened.

*Mum, don't!' I thrust myself between the front seats, before Mum could do any serious damage. *Stop it!'

* Get out! Get out of this car! ' she screamed at Estelle, past my left ear.

*Mum, listen! Someone else tried to kidnap me! Reuben was the one who stopped them!' I appealed to Sergio. *Isn't that right? Isn't that what happened?'

*Yeah,' Sergio agreed, in a distracted sort of way. He was watching events unfold outside the car, where Reuben and the doctor were yelling at each other.

*And the rest of them too. They came here to help,' I went on, desperately trying to explain. *Reuben and Nina and Dr Placketta"'

*Toby, this is all a conspiracy!' Mum cut me off. Her voice cracked on a sob as she fumbled for the handbrake. Her eyes were glazed with panic and she was trembling all over. *We've got to get out of here, now!' she ranted. *We've got to get away from these people!'

*Mum, you're not listening ! Will you listen to me?' I gave her a shake, which surprised her so much that she seemed to snap out of her mad fit. She blinked, gasped, and shut up. *What Reuben told us is true. Okay? He wasn't lying. I'm a werewolf, Mum.'

*Oh, Toby !' she wailed.

*Just let me finisha"'

*You've been brainwashed!'

*I have not !' She was making me mad. *Do you think I'm stupid? Is that what you think?' Before she could answer, I ploughed on. *We're werewolves, Mum. Me and Sergio. And Reuben. And Danny. I swear to God, we're all werewolves.'

*Not Danny,' Estelle interrupted. *Not anymore.'

I was so intent on convincing Mum that I didn't really absorb this comment. Not for a second or two, anyway. Sergio was the one who reacted first.

*Whaddaya mean?' he asked Estelle. *Whaddaya mean, Danny's not a werewolf anymore? Of course he is! How could he not be?'

*Because Barry bit him,' Estelle rejoined. She spoke in a kind of hoarse, flat, weary drawl, rubbing her wrist where Mum had scratched it. *Once you get bitten by a vampire, you're a vampire. Full stop.'