“Well, have you got any new electronic music in? You know the sort of stuff that I’m into… soft, gentle, ambient, ethereal…” asked Howard. Steve grinned, and patted Howard on his bony shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I know the sort of music that you like, Howard.” He said, smiling. “Come and have a look at this.” Steve suggested, and he led Howard towards a rack of cd’s with a label attached at the top that said ‘new releases’.

Steve pulled a cd from the rack. On the cover, was a photograph of a mountain. He passed the cd to Howard, who read from its cover.

“‘San Gorgonio… by X Radius Zero.’” Howard looked up at Steve. “Is it any good?” He asked.

“Well, it’s not really my cup of tea, but I think you’d like it.” Recommended Steve.

“Can I have a listen?” Requested Howard.

“Sure, sure.” Answered Steve. He took the cd from off Howard and walked over to a music player that was resting on the shop counter. Steve took a disc from the cd case, and put it in the player. A slow, hypnotic, muffled bass drum began to pulse from the speakers, followed by the sound of a gated synth.

“It sounds a bit ‘trance’.” Observed Howard. From the speakers came a gentle, lilting piano riff, mixed in with a deep, drawn out bass. “Ah, now, that sounds nice.” Smiled the teenager. At that point, two youths, roughly the same age as Howard, entered the music shop. Howard looked towards the doorway, recognising one of the boys instantly. He was a blonde lad of medium height, wearing a fake leather jacket. The youth looked at Howard and nodded, smirking. His name was Alex Crennell. Some years ago, Howard and Alex had been close friends, but this was no longer the case. In fact, Howard didn’t like Alex at all.

Alex Crennell nudged his friend, a spindly, spotty youth with greased-back dark hair and a pathetic bit of bum-fluff perched above his top lip. The second youth, whose name Howard didn’t know, looked over towards him. Alex Crennell and his friend began sniggering. Then they turned away from Howard and walked over to a shelf of cd’s.

“So, what do you think?” Asked Steve. Howard was suddenly confused.

“Eh? What do you mean?” He queried.

“The cd? X Radius Zero? Are you interested in it?” Steve wanted to know.

“Yeah, no… I mean yes. It sounds pretty good. I’ll take it, give it a whirl.” Howard responded. He looked back towards Alex Crennell and his friend, but they were busy sifting through cd’s, and didn’t appear to be taking any notice of him.

“Nice one, Howard. I thought you’d like it. Come on, let’s run it through the till for you.” Said Steve. He took the compact disc from out of the music player, and put it back in its case. Then Steve walked over to the till, with Howard following behind him.

Howard Trenton purchased the X Radius Zero cd, bid goodbye to Steve, and hurried out of the shop, eager not to have any dealings with Alex Crennell. To his relief, he wasn’t followed out of the music store. Howard headed back in the direction of the bus terminus. A number eight coach, from the village of Hoffen, was just pulling up at the small row of sheltered bus stops. Howard looked over at the bus as it came to a halt, and saw a familiar person getting off it. It was his cousin, Lucas’s wife, Kay; Howard shared a house with both of them. Another woman, much younger, in her early twenties, got off the bus, and began walking alongside Kay. Howard picked up his pace, quickly catching up with Kay and her mystery friend. He tapped Kay from behind, on her shoulder. She turned around, as did the other woman that she was with.

Kay smiled when she saw Howard.

“Oh, hello Howard.” She greeted him. Howard smiled.

“Hi Kay.” He replied. He looked at Kay’s mysterious friend and smiled. God, she’s beautiful, thought Howard, taking in the woman’s large brown eyes and flowing, auburn hair. “Hi.” He said to the young woman, who immediately smiled back at Howard.

“Howard, this is my sister, Mary. Mary, this is Lucas’s cousin, Howard. Howard shares the house with us, don’t you?” Said Kay.

“Yes, I do.” Replied Howard, his throat feeling suddenly dry.

“If it’s okay with you, Howard, then Mary is going to be stopping with us for a while too.” Announced Kay, unexpectedly.

“Oh… sure. Why?” Howard responded, slightly stumbling with his words.

“I’ve had a bit of a run-in with my landlord.” Advised Mary. “He’s a sleazy little shit-bag, always trying it on… I’ve had enough of it. I’ll be stopping at Kay and Lucas’s house until I can find a new place to rent out.” Howard looked down at a large suitcase that Mary was clutching.

“Ah, that explains why you’ve got some luggage with you.” He said.

“I haven’t really got much choice in leaving… I can’t stop in the flat, with that creep Barney Robbins sleazing around, for a moment longer.” Said Mary, more to herself than anyone else.

“So you’re okay with Mary moving in with us for a short while?” Asked Kay, for a second time.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine with me.” Howard smiled, before suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He gazed at Mary for a few moments, and his stomach knotted. It was exactly the same way that he felt when talking to Kate Williams at college.

Chapter Three

Anita Morley walked along Coldsleet promenade, holding the hand of her three and a half year-old son, Jack. Holding Jack's other hand was Howard Trenton.

"Are you ready to go up into the air again, Jack?" Asked Howard.

"Again! Jump please!" Said Jack, excitedly.

"What do you reckon, Mommy? Do you think Jack deserves to have another fly?" Howard asked Anita, winking at her.

"Absolutely." She replied.

"Okay then. One… two… three!" Howard counted down. On the announcement of the number three, Howard and Anita pulled Jack upwards. He squealed with delight, and then hovered in the air for a few moments, his little legs thrashing about excitedly. After his mom and Howard had eased Jack back down to the pavement, he asked if they could do it again.

"Maybe after we've had some lunch, eh Jack." Replied Anita. "You've spent more time airborne than actually walking, since we left the house."

"Promise after lunch, mommy? More jumps?" Said Jack.

"I think that we can definitely manage lots more jumps for Jack after we've eaten." Promised Howard. The little boy grinned, satisfied with Howard’s assurance.

"Do you fancy 'Lisa's Pantry'? Howard asked Anita.

"Anywhere's fine, Howard." She answered. Anita was a tall, bespectacled woman, aged twenty seven, with long, treacle-coloured hair that always appeared lank and greasy, even when it actually wasn't. Up until half a year ago, before her relationship had broken up, Anita and Jack had lived in the same road as Howard Trenton, but she had known him long before that, too; When she was a little girl, Anita and her parents had, for a while, lived next door to Loretta Trenton, Howard’s mother.

Anita, little Jack, and Howard approached a run-down cafeteria. The signage above the shop doorway had been deliberately vandalised, with some of the plastic lettering missing, so that it read, 'Lisa Panty'. Howard couldn't help but chuckle to himself at this, even though experience told him that, in all probability, it was the work of his old enemy, Alex Crennell, or, at the very least, one of his goons, such as Gary Ackley, or Rob Mills. Howard pushed at the door of the café, and held it open for Anita and Jack to go through. He followed them into the cafeteria, and the three of them sat down at a table in the corner. The proprietor, who, unsurprisingly, was called Lisa, came shuffling over to the trio.

"Morning Howard, Anita, Jack." She greeted them. Jack was the first to speak.