The Swarm Descends. Jacob Grey

do you miss school?” Caw asked.

      “Er … sure,” said Selina. “Well, I miss my friends.”

      “How long have you been away from home?”

      He checked her expression to make sure he wasn’t being too nosey, but she looked fine.

      “A couple of months,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be gone this long, really. I just wanted to be on my own for a while at first, but then … well, I found I quite liked it.”

      Caw paused at the edge of a building, peering into the road below. He came this way because most of the shops were boarded up and the streetlights were never switched on, but there were still cars about, and a few people.

      “So how’ve you got by?” he said. “For food and stuff like that?”

      “It’s been hard at times,” she replied. “I begged a bit in the city, did some things I shouldn’t.”

      “What do you mean?” asked Caw, nervously.

      “Oh, nothing too bad,” she said. “I learnt how to survive, that’s all.”

      Caw was glad to let the subject drop. “We have to climb down here,” he said. “There’s a network of alleys that leads to the river – that’s where the restaurant is.” He pointed to a drainpipe. “You OK with that?”

      Selina nodded. She touched his arm. “Wait, Caw – I want to ask you something.”

      “Yes?”

      She paused. “Tell me if it’s none of my business, but … you said that house was yours. Where are your parents?”

      “Dead,” Caw replied. “A long time ago.”

      “Oh,” said Selina. “I’m sorry.” Again, she didn’t pursue it.

      “That’s all right,” said Caw, shrugging. “What about your folks? Why’d you run away?”

      Selina’s mouth twisted a little. “My dad walked out before I was born,” she said. “Mum and I have never really got along. She’s got a really important job. Works ridiculous hours. Probably hasn’t even noticed I’m gone.” She smiled. Unconvincingly, Caw thought.

      “Do you think you’ll ever go back?” he asked.

      Selina lowered herself over the edge of the building, gripping the drainpipe in both hands.

      “I don’t know,” she said.

      She slid down quickly, and Caw followed.

      Struggling to keep up? said Shimmer, tip-toeing along the parapet of the building.

      “A bit,” Caw muttered, as he landed beside Selina.

      “D’you always talk to yourself?” she asked.

      Caw pasted on a grin. “Sometimes – sorry.”

      Soon they reached the river, where the giant wharves stood like hulking silhouettes. Caw had never liked the Blackwater. Perhaps it was simply because he couldn’t swim, but there was something about the impenetrable darkness of the water too, like a black abyss. Crumb told him it was so dirty that if you drank a single mouthful, you’d die within a day. He said there were stories in the Blackstone Herald about people falling in and never being seen again. Caw didn’t doubt it. He remembered Miss Wallace giving him a book once about a creature with a woman’s body and a fish’s tail that lived in the river. The water had looked blue though, rather than black and full of filth. As they walked the deserted path that ran alongside the river, he wondered if there were ferals who could talk to fish.

      “You OK?” asked Selina.

      Caw nodded. She was at his side, looking at him curiously.

      There were boats of various sizes moored up – most looked completely abandoned, like floating carcasses butting up against the dockside. Some had names like Fair Maiden, or The Floating Rose, which seemed completely at odds with their peeling paint, or the years’ worth of weed growing up their battered hulls.

      One boat, in better repair than most, was unmarked. It had a slightly sunken cabin positioned in the middle of the craft and through a glass window Caw saw a cabin piled with crates and boxes.

      “Maybe we’ll find something in there,” said Selina, pointing.

      Caw looked up and down the bank nervously. He couldn’t see anyone – the nearest bridge was some distance away, where cars trailed across like streaks of light.

      “I don’t know,” he said. “Isn’t that stealing?”

      Selina shrugged. “I guess so. Seriously, have you never taken anything before?”

      Caw blushed. “Yes,” he said. When he’d been younger and more desperate. Clothes off people’s washing lines, bread from an open truck. But this seemed different. He had other ways to survive.

      Selina reached into her pocket and took out something glinting on a leather strap. Caw’s eyes widened and he felt automatically inside his coat. “My watch! How did you –”

      Selina gave a crooked grin. “Up there on the roof, when I touched your arm.”

      Caw was impressed, and a tiny bit annoyed. “I didn’t even feel it,” he said.

      “Well, that’s all I meant when I said I’ve learnt to survive,” she said. “I never took anything off people who’d really suffer.” She handed Caw back the watch and he tucked it deep inside his coat pocket.

      “Come on,” urged Selina. “No one will notice – we won’t take much. Plus we don’t have to go all the way into the city.”

      She was right, sort of, thought Caw. But it still didn’t feel good. He looked around again and saw the three crows had alighted nearby on another boat’s roof. Caw knew they would side with Selina. Crows didn’t have a lot of time for the finer points of human morals. He wondered what Lydia would say though.

      “There’s no one around,” said Selina, obviously mistaking his gaze for fear. “It’s safe.”

      She jumped on the boat, and Caw followed her. It rocked slightly under his weight. Selina went to the padlocked cabin door and took something out of her pocket, her tongue held between her teeth in concentration as she worked at the padlock.

      “What’s that?” he said.

      “Swiss army knife,” said Selina. “Never leave home without it.” With a click, the lock cracked open. She grinned and began to unloop a chain from the door handle. The sound was deafening against the river’s silence. “How d’you think I got through your back door?”

      “Maybe we shouldn’t …” said Caw.

      “Chill out,” said Selina, heading inside. Caw shot a glance around, just in case, then crept after her. She was already crouched beside one of the boxes, using another of the knife’s tools to prise open the lids. She strained for a second, and it popped open. Caw saw stacks of tins inside.

      “Urgh! Mushroom soup,” said Selina. She moved on to the next. “That’s more like it!” she said. “Biscuits!” She stood up and tossed two packets to Caw. He caught them clumsily and put them in his inside pocket. At least they would make the crows happy.

      “Hey, look what I found!” said Selina. She was kneeling over a crate containing some sort of round fruit. She tossed one to Caw.

      He caught it, and sank his teeth into the flesh. Juice exploded in his mouth.

      “Wow!” he said. “What is it?”

      Selina snorted through her nose. “You’ve never had a peach before?”

      Caw shook his head, taking another bite. “This is the best thing I’ve ever—”

      A crow’s shriek