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dragged him to his feet. Headlights washed over the alley, throwing huge black shadows on the walls to loom menacingly above them.
    “We need to get out of here. Right now,” Maggie said.
    The engine revved behind them as they fled, the noise seemingly chasing them down the alleyway. It was only when they reached the main street that the noise started to lessen.
    “Where are we going?” Dave asked.
    “Anywhere that’s not here,” Maggie replied.
    Behind them the wind dropped as quickly as it had come and the garbage fell in a heap to the ground. The alleyway fell silent except for the hum of an idling engine.

June 11 th

    The cop looked at Dave and raised an eyebrow.
    “If you’re planning on trying for an insanity plea,” he said. “You’ll need to come up with something a bit more creative.”
    Just as Dave was about to reply an engine revved nearby. Dave jumped and started to rise, thinking of heading for the door.
    “Sit down, lad,” the cop said. “You’re not going anywhere until I can make some sense of all of this.”
    Dave sat still, listening. There was no repeat of the engine noise. He allowed himself to relax slightly, and laughed bitterly.
    “It’s sense that you want, is it? I think you’re going to be sorely disappointed. It’s all downhill from here. Things got seriously weird almost as soon as we got to Maggie’s place.”

June 10th

    They finally caught a cab four blocks away from Dave’s place. For almost half an hour they’d jumped at every shadow, cringed at every engine noise. Even after they were inside the cab, Dave didn’t feel safe; the shadows seemed to gather and creep around him, and he was sure if he just listened hard enough that he would hear the whistling and roaring of the wind.
    Maggie kept hold of his hand throughout the ten minute cab ride to her place, and after she let go to pay the driver, he quickly grabbed hold again as they walked up the short driveway to her house.
    “I need to get my key,” she said. “So you’ll have to let go. But I promise you, we can hold hands as much as you like once we get inside.”
    She smiled, but Dave couldn’t muster one in return. He was thinking of booze again. An ocean of the stuff, enough so that he could lose himself.
    And the Cosmos can go to hell.
    Maggie showed Dave through the front door, along a hallway and into a room full of New-Age paraphernalia; every available space was filled with crystals, dream-catchers, scented candles, and incense.
    This time Dave managed a smile.
    “Don’t tell me. Your parents lived in a camper van and your real name is Galadriel Moonchild?”
    Maggie grinned in return.
    “Actually, my dad was an accountant. But we don’t have time for Ask the Family . Phone Jane and Jim. Get them over here.”
    She gathered crystals from a display cupboard while Dave stood in the center of the room, bemused.
    “It’s going on midnight. They’ll be in bed.”
    “Then wake them. In case you haven’t noticed, we are in serious trouble here, Dave.”
    “I don’t understand,” Dave said. His mind was full of the sound of a revving engine, the dazzle of headlights that appeared out of nowhere. He wondered whether the drinking had finally caught up with him.
    Maybe this is what they mean by ‘delirium tremens’.
    Maggie pointed him to where her phone sat on a table by the sofa.
    “I’ll try to explain if I get a chance,” she said. “But I’m going to be busy for a few minutes. Just make the fucking call, Dave.”
    Dave moved to the phone. He paused before dialing.
    “What do I tell them?”
    An engine noise filled the room and Maggie stiffened, but it was just a car passing in the road outside.
    “Tell them anything you like. As long as it gets them here fast.”
    Dave dialed the number from memory. Jane answered on the second ring.
    “Sorry, Jane. It’s me,” Dave said.
    “Do you know what time it is?” she said. She sounded bleary, barely awake. Dave heard Jim shout, as if in the