Catherine Jinks TheRoad (94 page)

Still no reply.That wasn’t good.Alec got back in the car behind Noel, slamming the door shut. He was still cradling his hatchet.

‘What are we going to do?’ Linda whispered.

‘Wait,’ said Noel hoarsely.

‘Have you got –’

‘I’ve got the keys. They’re in the ignition.’

‘Should we turn off the headlights? What about the batteries? What if they run down?’

Noel hesitated. Behind him, Alec was thinking. Four shots fired – that meant there were two bullets left.

If
it was Del’s gun being used.

‘Alec?’ said Noel. ‘Should we try to save the batteries? Suppose they run down, and we can’t start the car . . .?’

‘Yeah,’ Alec replied. ‘Yeah, turn ’em off.’ But when the hard, bright glare was extinguished, and the darkness seemed to flow towards them, Alec began to have second thoughts. How were they going to protect themselves if they couldn’t see what was coming?

‘The torch,’ said Noel. ‘Can anyone spot the torch?’

It should have been visible, because the firelight was so dim and red by the time it reached the outer circle of trees. Alec, however, could discern no weaving white dot amidst the silent stands of eucalypts.

‘Why would they turn off the torch?’ he asked uneasily.