The broken end of Haight’s sword was deeply embedded between his ribs. Blood bubbled out from around it as he breathed.

‘Should we pull it out?’ said Amy.

‘No.’ Zoltan opened his eyes, the whites as scarlet as the blood that trickled from his chest. ‘Leave it.’

He looked at James.

‘Always getting into trouble, James…’

‘Don’t try and speak,’ said James, ripping the sleeve off his shirt to make a bandage. Zoltan clutched at his arm.

‘Please,’ he said, ‘I don’t want to die here. Get me back to my boat. Please, let me die at sea…’

30

30

Just a Boy

The sun beat down on to the tiny boat as it skimmed over the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean. James had his hand on the tiller and his eyes fixed on the horizon as it see-sawed up and down. His throat was dry and his lips were cracked and burnt. Amy was worse, her pale skin, softened by days spent locked in her dark cell, was red and peeling. The wind was with them, but the boat made slow progress.

Zoltan was lying in the bottom, shivering. A thin line of blood ran from his lips down his chin and his eyes were cloudy. The noise of the blood bubbling in his lungs was horrible. He mumbled something in Hungarian and Amy bent down close to listen.

‘What did you say?’

Zoltan blinked. ‘I thought you were my anyám,’ he said. ‘My mother.’

‘No,’ said Amy. ‘I’m not.’

‘I thought I was at home,’ said Zoltan, his voice very faint as if it was coming from far away. ‘The sea… It was a sea of grass. You would like my home, Amy. The Great Plain goes on forever. In the winter it is frozen, and in the summer it bakes. We had a farm, in the middle of nothing. There were long-horned cattle in the fields, geese in the yard and round the house some mulberry trees. And that was all. Wherever you looked there was nothing else to see, just cattle and grass. That was my world. That was the whole world. I should have stayed at home.’

‘You can go home again,’ said Amy.

‘No. I cannot. I am drowning,’ said Zoltan, with some effort. ‘I am drowning in my own blood.’ He gripped Amy’s shirt with his good hand. ‘I always knew that you would drown me,’ he said. ‘I should have left you where I found you.’

‘You’ll be all right,’ said Amy and Zoltan laughed, then choked and spat a mouthful of clotted blood on to the deck.

‘I will not be all right,’ he said and sobbed. ‘I wish I was home. I wish I was in my mother’s arms…’ He stopped and James saw that he was crying.

Amy took hold of him. ‘You’ll be all right,’ she said again and James wondered which one of them was hugging the other.