Nelson whistled. ‘He must: he’s too good to waste his talent.’

But then something changed. I could see it in the shift of expression on Zed’s face. His distant look faded, leaving him somehow more present, more like everyone else. His pitching went from remarkable to just very good. The next batter managed to hit him almost out of the diamond. The Wrickenridge students groaned.

‘He always does this,’ complained Zoe, ‘gets so far then backs away. He had Aspen beat and now

…!’

And now they were fighting back. Zed shrugged and relinquished the pitching spot to a team mate, leaving him the honour of finishing off Aspen.

He could have done it. I knew that in my bones.

Zed could have fried them but he chose to back off.

Like Zoe said, it was maddening.

‘Why does he do that?’ I wondered out loud.

‘Do what?’ Tina crumpled up the programme and chucked it in the bin. ‘Draw back from the kil you mean?’

I nodded.

‘He loses interest. Maybe his heart’s just not in it.

The teachers are always tel ing him he’s too arrogant to work on his inconsistency.’

‘Maybe.’

But I wasn’t so sure. He stil played wel , but I’m sure there was an extra edge he wasn’t showing anyone. He was purposely keeping his play slightly blunted. I wanted to know why.

Wrickenridge beat Aspen but the man of the match went to a player in the visiting side. Zed melted away into the crowd around the captains, not seeking any attention. He accepted an enthusiastic hug from Hannah of the long legs but swiftly detached and moved on to shake hands with the opposing team. I knew about playing just to be a part of something—

that was what an orchestra was about, not the individuals—but yet his unwil ingness to stand out struck me as odd. He could have been the soloist, but he settled for second fiddle.

‘Drive you home?’ offered Tina. ‘I’m giving Zoe and Nelson a lift.’

The others lived at the other end of town from me and she was always picking me up and dropping me off. And with only two seats, it was more than a squeeze—it was il egal. Besides, it might not do her any harm as she would drop Zoe first and then be alone with Nelson …

‘It’s OK. I’d like to walk. I’m going to pick up some groceries for Sal y.’

‘OK. See you tomorrow.’

The cars were queuing to get out of the car park. I stood back as the Aspen bus drew out, taking a wide swing to clear the corner. I then set off, leaving the crowds behind. The further I walked, the quieter it became. Mrs Hoffman scurried past, heading down the hil —Judge Merciless on a mission, shining slightly with a self-righteous blue. I rubbed my eyes and thankful y she went back to normal. She waved but fortunately was on the other side of the street so I did not have to stop and chat. Kingsley the mechanic drove by in his truck and tooted his horn.

In the store, Leanne, the sturdily built assistant who I had got to know over the past few weeks since the dil sauce episode, gril ed me for a replay of the match as she packed my shopping. It continual y surprised me how much local people cared about the fortunes of the school team. They treated it like Man U, not a bunch of teenage amateurs.

‘How you finding school?’ Leanne packed the eggs away careful y on top of the bag.

‘It’s good.’ I grabbed a new graphic novel from the rack and tossed it into the basket. My parents made a point of despising them, which was probably why I liked them so much.

‘I’ve been hearing nice things about you, Sky.

You’ve a reputation for being very sweet. Mrs Hoffman has taken quite a shine to you.’

Yeah, a blue shine according to my batty brain.

‘Oh, wel , she’s … she’s … ’

‘Unstoppable. Like a heat-seeking missile. But it’s better to be on her good side than her bad,’ Leanne said sagely then ushered me out. ‘You should head back before it gets dark, you hear?’

Shadows stretched across the road like big ink stains seeping into the ground. I felt cold in my light jacket and increased my pace. Wrickenridge was always vulnerable to the sudden changes of weather, the reality of life in the mountains. It was like living next door to our old neighbour in Richmond who had been a particularly cantankerous old man. I’d never known when his mood would change—one moment bathing me in grandfatherly sunny smiles, the next spitting out a hail of insults. Just now a light fal of sleet began to fal , splatting the pavement with coin-sized patches of slush, making it slippery underfoot.

As I turned down a quiet street, I heard someone approaching at a run behind me. It was probably just a jogger but stil I couldn’t help the nervous leap in my pulse. In London, I would have been real y worried; but Wrickenridge just didn’t feel the kind of place for a mugger to hang out. I clutched the handles of the shopping bag, planning to use it as a weapon just in case.

‘Sky!’ A hand landed on my shoulder. I swung the bag with a yelp—only to find Zed behind me. He caught the bag before it hit him.

‘You almost gave me a heart attack!’ I pressed my hand to my chest.

‘Sorry. I thought I told you that you should take care walking home alone after dark.’

‘You mean some boy might jump out and give me the scare of my life?’

He gave a flicker of a smile, reminding me of his alter ego, Wolfman. ‘You never know. Al kinds of odd people in the mountains.’

‘Wel , you’ve certainly proved your point.’

The smile became a grin. ‘Here, let me take that.’

He eased the bag from my fingers. ‘I’l walk you home.’

What was this? Had he had a character transplant? ‘No need.’

‘I want to.’

‘And you always get your way?’

‘Nearly always.’

We walked on for a little while. I cast around for safe topics but everything I thought of sounded lame.

I was uncomfortable in such close proximity to him after al my wild imaginings about him—I never knew if he was going to maul me or play nice.

He broke the silence first. ‘So when were you going to tel me you’re a savant?’

How’s that for a conversation stopper? ‘A what?’

He halted me under a street lamp. Flurries of sleet slid through the pool of light then winked out in the darkness. He turned up the col ar of my jacket.

‘You must realize how amazing it is.’ His eyes fixed on mine—their colour intriguing, unusual to one of his Hispanic appearance. I’d tag them as borderline between blue and green. The colour of the Eyrie River on a sunny day.

Stil , I couldn’t understand the expression they held now. ‘How amazing is what?’

He laughed; the sound rumbled deep in his chest.

‘I see. You’re punishing me for being a jackass. But you have to understand that I didn’t know it was you. I thought I was warning some ditzy stranger to prevent her being knifed.’

I pushed his hands off my col ar. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I had this premonition a few nights before we met at the ghost town—you get them too?’

This conversation was beyond weird. I shook my head.

‘You running down the street in the dark—a knife

—screams—blood. I had to warn you—just in case it would do any good.’

O-K. I thought I had problems but he was seriously disturbed. I had to get away from him. ‘Um … Zed, thanks for worrying about me but I’d better get back now.’

‘Yeah, as if that’s going to happen. Sky, you’re my soulfinder, my partner—you can’t just walk away from me.’

‘I can’t?’

‘You must have felt it too. I knew as soon as you answered me—it was like, I don’t know how to say this, like the fog lifting. I could real y see you.’ He ran a finger down my cheek. I shivered. ‘Do you know what the odds of us finding each other are?’

‘Whoa. Go back a little. Soulfinder?’