Read Online Brilliant by Roddy Doyle - Free Book Online Page B

breath and his paws on the road—just ahead.
    Gloria had a thought.
    â€œIs he letting us chase him?”
    Raymond had been thinking the same thing.
    â€œDon’t know,” he said. “Maybe.”
    â€œBut why?”
    â€œDon’t know.”
    â€œIt might be a trap,” said Ernie.
    â€œYeah,” said Raymond. “But what kind?”
    â€œThe usual,” said Ernie.
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œOne you get caught in.”
    But they kept running. Trap or no trap, they still had to catch the Black Dog.
    They could see the Phoenix Park ahead, and the shape of the trees. They were surprised, and pleased. It usually took ages to get this far in their dad’s car. But there it was, just ahead. The trees were a blacker shape against the black of the night sky.
    â€œWhat’s that noise?”
    They could hear other feet, other shoes hitting the ground, behind and nearly beside them—a few at first, then more. Gloria slowed down, so she could look.
    â€œWhat’s going on, Rayzer?”
    They began to see the other kids. They came running out of the dark. There were two of them, then four, eight—more.
    Boys and girls, brothers and sisters, like Gloria and Raymond, and others by themselves. No grown-ups. All kids—children.
    All of them were running.
    And Gloria knew: They were all chasing the Black Dog.

CHAPTER 8

    B ut the Dog was gone.
    â€œWhere is he?”
    They could still hear his paws slapping the ground, but they couldn’t see him.
    â€œWhere is he, Rayzer?”
    Raymond didn’t know.
    It was a shock—and frightening.
    They all slowed down. They couldn’t see anything, just the road and the traffic. There was nothing to follow. Running had stopped making sense.
    â€œI don’t like this,” said Gloria.
    Raymond agreed. “Yeah.”
    They’d been in control, following the Dog, trying to catch him. But they weren’t in control anymore.
    The Dog was.
    They were near town now, on the stretch of road that leddown to Heuston Station and the River Liffey. They all stood there looking at one another. It was hard to tell how many kids there were. Gloria was counting them. There were more than twenty, and she thought there were more behind the ones she could see.
    Gloria whispered to Raymond again.
    â€œDo they all know Uncle Ben?” she asked.
    â€œNo,” said Raymond. “No way. We’d know them if they did.”
    He looked worried.
    â€œWouldn’t we?”
    â€œI know!” said Gloria. “They all have uncles of their own.”
    â€œYeah,” said Raymond. “That makes sense.”
    Then they felt it—the cold. It was the cold they’d felt earlier, just after they’d left their house and recruited Ernie. It was the same sliding cold, the freezing, invisible animal. But it was even colder now, and harder. Gloria could feel it pushing against her legs. Everyone felt it. The cold was telling them which way to look, which way to go—pushing them.
    They all started to run, as if they were obeying an order. They turned left, off the main road, and went over a bridge. They were crossing the Liffey, but they didn’t stop to look. Phoenix Park was right in front of them, like a cliff of huge trees rising out of the ground as they got nearer. There was another road running beside the park, and a junction. They could go left or right.
    They all slowed down. They hesitated.
    â€œWhich way now?”
    â€œWhere’s the Dog gone?”
    Gloria heard a voice: “Left.”
    They started to run again. They all turned left, all obeying the voice. Gloria had definitely heard it. She was sure it had been a woman’s voice, the kind of voice a nice teacher would have had.
    But there was no woman there. She looked back as she ran, but all she saw was a cat, a black one. It was sitting on a pillar, and it was looking at Gloria.
    But it was only a cat.
    She kept