Darkness fell and no police came, Annie spent the time putting new glass in Paul's window and picking up the broken pieces, so . 72 that when they came they would see nothing suspicious. Unless they look under the lawnmower, thought Paul. But why would they do that? Before she left, Paul asked her to bring him some paper so that he could continue writing the book while she was away. He needed the drug of writing. She shook her head regretfully. 'I can't do that, Paul. I'd have to leave the light on down here and someone might see the light through the windows. And if I give you a torch or a candle you might try to shine it through the windows.' He thought of being left alone down here in the cellar in the dark, and his skin felt cold. He thought of the rats hiding in their holes in the walls, waiting for darkness so that they could come out. He wondered whether they could smell his fear. 'Don't leave me in the dark, Annie. The rats.' 'I have to. Don't be such a baby. I've got to go now. If you need an injection, push the syringe into your leg. Don't worry about the rats, Paul. They'll probably recognize that you're a rat too.' She laughed at her joke and continued laughing all the way up the stairs. When she closed the door to the kitchen it became totally black. He could hear her drive away. He imagined that she was still laughing. In the darkness his imagination soon began to play games with his mind. He imagined that the young policeman came to life in the barn and crawled up to the house; he imagined that he came through the wall into the cellar. He felt one of the policeman's cold, dead fingers touch his cheek - but it was only a large spider and Paul realized that he had been dreaming. His legs were painful now and he gave himself an injection. Then he fell properly asleep, and, when he woke up, the dull light of early morning was filling the cellar. He saw a huge rat sitting in the plate of food which Annie had left, eating cheese. He screamed and the rat ran away. He took some Novril and looked round the cellar. He saw the 73 Suddenly on idea burst into his mind like a bright light. He looked at the idea from all directions and it still seemed sweet. barbecue stove with all its tools and equipment, and remembered burning Fast Cars . . . and suddenly an idea burst into his mind like a bright light. He looked at the idea from all directions and it still seemed sweet. At last he had a plan which might be successful. He fell asleep again with a smile on his face, dreaming about the next pages he would write. Annie came back in the middle of the afternoon. She was silent, but seemed tired rather than depressed. Paul asked her if everything had gone all right and she nodded. 'Do you want another injection, Paul?' she asked. 'Your legs must be hurting a lot by now.' It was true. The damp had made his legs hurt terribly, but he wanted her out of the cellar as quickly as possible, so he told net he was OK. When he got on to her back for the ride up the stairs he had to bite his lips to stop himself shouting in pain. At the bottom of the stairs she paused, and he hoped . . . prayed . . . that she would not notice the missing can of barbecue fuel; he had pushed it down the back of his trousers. She didn't seem to notice anything. When he was back in his room he said, 'I think I would like that injection now, Annie.' She looked at his face, which was covered in sweat from the pain, and then nodded. As soon as she left the room to fetch the medicine he pushed the small, flat fuel can under the mattress. He hadn't hidden anything there since the knife, so he didn't expect her suddenly to look there. Anyway, he wasn't planning to leave it there for long. After she had given him the injection she said she was going to sleep. 'If a car comes I'll hear it,' she said. 'I'll leave your wheelchair next to your bed so that you can get up and work if you want to.' 'I probably will, later,' he said. 'There isn't much time now, is there, Annie?' 'No, there isn't, Paul. I'm glad you understand that.' 'Annie,' he said innocently. 'Since I'm getting to the end of the book, I wonder if you'd do something for me.' 75 'What?' 'Please don't read any more. When I've finished it all, then you can read all the last chapters. Will you do that? It'll make it more exciting for you.' 'Yes, thank you, Paul. Yes, I'll do that.' Four hours later she was still asleep. He had heard her go to bed upstairs at four o'clock and had heard nothing since then. He felt safe. He got into his wheelchair as quietly as possible and rolled himself over to his table by the window. Not long ago he had discovered a loose board in the floor. Under the board was a narrow space. The space was just big enough for the can of fuel. Paul sighed in relief when the board was back in postion. He gently blew the dust back over the board so that it looked the same as ail the surrounding boards. He wrote some pages of the book and then went back to bed and slept peacefully.