7

Mr Armitage reached the front door before realising that the knock had been at the back. It was Mrs Careen. They sat down together at the table under his canopy by the pond.

"Don't ask me to talk about it just yet," he said. "Let me tell you and the police together, hey, Ellen."

He left the back door ajar so he could hear the police whenever they arrived. He had heard their sirens over at the boys and reckoned they'd be here in a moment once they'd cordoned their perimeters. They didn't end up saying Mrs Careen could listen in on what had happened, but they were simply delaying the inevitable. The two of them had told each other nearly every aspect of their lives since they were eight years old. Well, Mrs Careen had at least.

Mr Armitage took them through his day, and a little before. Told them what he could of the tales the boys had told him. How they had assumed Ella had left late yesterday. How she'd attacked the father verbally and physically in recent weeks. He told them how he'd heard Calum, and the state he'd found him in, and of what he'd seen in the bloody diamond - what they'd all seen. Then he told them the worst of it - that Ella had taken Conor - and God knows what state they'd find him in.

Mr Armitage stepped into the bedroom. Calum sat up in bed, quiet. Mr Armitage took the chair beside him. Somehow, he looked well rested. He had foreseen some torture to mark the boys' jagged return to reality. But he seemed quite fine. He simply asked where he was. Mr Armitage explained that he was at his house and that he was welcome to stay, making no mention of his having been appointed next of kin. They were quiet for a while, then the great man rose and asked the boy if he wanted to come downstairs for some cedar tea. The lad agreed. A police officer asked questions from the chair where Conor had been sitting just hours earlier, and he recounted events much as Mr Armitage had. But he left aside the details of the sea-snake that had gobbled up the entire earth. He made no mention of how it had swallowed the sea and lapped up all the stars and left the night sky barren. They’d never believe him. The officer rose. Calum turned sharply to Mr Armitage.

"Wait, where is Conor?"