But Judy texts back in seconds, clearly awake too. OK. No more news. C still critical. Critical, thinks Ruth, but still alive. Thanks be to the goddess. Despite spending years attending church with her parents, she doesn抰 know how to pray but she sends out a message to the wakening world, the waving grass, the swirling seabirds. Please save Cathbad.
Nelson, too, wakes early. His bed is bigger and more comfortable than Ruth抯， but he hasn抰 slept well since he抯 been home. He misses sharing a bed with Ruth, he misses seeing Katie at breakfast, he even misses the yowls of the demon cat on the landing. He reaches for his phone. Six thirty. He can hear the radio playing softly in Laura抯 room. She doesn抰 sleep well either. Not for the first time, he wishes that Bruno were there. His primal needs ?food and walking ?would stop him thinking about Cathbad. Can it really be the end? Surely Cathbad is indestructible.
Nelson gets up and puts on his dressing gown. It抯 a Dad garment, bought by his daughters, with his initials on the pocket. Not something he would like Ruth to see. He puts on his slippers and pads downstairs. Once again, he imagines that he can hear Bruno beside him, panting gently, his tail battering Nelson抯 legs. Black Shuck again? Or a message from Cathbad the shape-shifter? Nelson is making tea when he sees that he has a message from Ruth.
Heard from Judy. No change.
慣hank Christ for that,?says Nelson, aloud. 慦here there抯 life there抯 hope.?He imagines the ghost dog wagging its tail.
Kate emerges at nine looking, for a scary second, like a mini teenager.
慔ow抯 Uncle Cathbad??she says. She hasn抰 called him Uncle for years. Cathbad isn抰 Kate抯 uncle but he is her godfather ?through the pagan ceremony and in the eyes of the Catholic church ?and she loves him.
慔e抯 still very ill,?says Ruth, 慴ut the doctors and nurses are looking after him. Judy says he抯 got a lovely nurse called Abbas.?
慦e should pray for Uncle Cathbad,?says Kate. Ruth wonders again where Kate is getting this religious stuff from. 慖 like Bible stories,?she抎 said the other day. Ruth feels out of her depth although this would be familiar ground for Nelson. Last night he mentioned that he was praying to some entity called St Carlo, apparently on the advice of his mum. Ruth is always worried when Nelson takes his mother抯 advice. But, then again, what harm can praying do?
慙et抯 pray silently for Cathbad,?says Ruth. 慉nd we抣l pray that Zoe gets home safely.?
慖f Zoe doesn抰 come back,?says Kate, 慶an we adopt Derek??
Nelson has asked both Tanya and Tony to come in today. They have a lot to do, after all. Joe McMahon, Eileen Gribbon and Zoe Hilton are all still on the missing list. Then there抯 the witness who saw a 慴earded chap?visiting Samantha Wilson. Was this Joe McMahon? Nelson doesn抰 know but he would like to speak to the missing student as soon as possible.
Tony is in the kitchen and offers to make Nelson a cup of coffee. Nelson says yes although he knows he抣l be buzzing after three teas. Still, the day he goes caffeine free will be the day they nail down his coffin lid.
慛o Leah today??says Nelson.
慖 haven抰 seen her,?says Tony. 慡ugar??
慛o thanks.?Michelle made him give up last year.
Tanya floats in carrying her own box of special tea bags. 慣his one抯 called health and well-being.?She waves a purple sachet at them.
慏on抰 know why the government bothers with all those health experts,?says Nelson. 慡end them a box and Covid will be finished. No more hands, face, space and all that bollocks.?This reminds him that he really shouldn抰 be in the small kitchen with two other people.
慚eeting in the incident room,?he says and goes to open some windows.
Tanya says that she抯 contacted Eileen抯 mother. 慡he hasn抰 heard from Eileen in about a week. She didn抰 seem worried though.?
慡ome people don抰 deserve to be parents,?says Nelson.
慍ould Eileen and Joe be together??asks Tony. 慣hey抮e in the same year at uni after all.?