© J.P.Warner 2006
Read An Excerpt
Joe looked about in the faint light.
“Is this one they made earlier?” he said sarcastically as
he surveyed the line of crop circles they were standing right in the centre
of.
“I don’t know,” replied Em, “but whatever you
think of the people who make them, you have to admit, they’re pretty
cool to look at.”
“All I see is a load of good food ruined by mindless vandals,”
snapped Joe.
“It’s pretty neat work though,” went on Em, crouching
down by the corn at the edge of the nearest shape, and feeling a brief
sensation of relief as she sheltered from the cold wind.
As she began to stand up, though, her senses told her, all within a split
second, that something wasn’t right. First she turned her head slightly
and sniffed the air. Then she noticed an odd crackling sound and felt
a sudden rise in temperature on her face. The flicker of light from the
edge of the cornfield upwind and a glimpse of a tall, dark figure through
the heat haze put the last piece of the puzzle in place.
“Run!” she shouted, “Something’s wrong!”
“What?” asked Joe.
“A fire! There! Someone’s set the field alight!”
As Joe turned to look, the flames were already ripping across the crops,
flicked by the gathering breeze.
After a moment’s stunned immobility, his adrenalin kicked in and
he was soon keeping pace with Em as she sprinted through the corn. The
chill breeze at their backs now felt like a burning Saharan wind, the
smoke thickening and making them choke as they gulped in air to keep on
running.
“This way!” wheezed Joe, grabbing Em’s wrist and turning
at a right angle to their current direction. “We’ve got to
get out of the field!”
For a split second Em considered arguing but there was no time. The wind
was whipping the flames and the smoke ever nearer and the heat was so
intense that to stand still was impossible. She covered the side of her
head and face with her arm to protect them from the heat and charged after
Joe.