Twenty
Herbert had fallen into an endless depth of unconsciousness across his bedroom floor soon after he had arrived home, his last clear thought being that Chris had not said goodbye to them. Benjamin was parking the craft inside the barn and Derek watched him, confused by their sudden spectacular return and the solemn tone thereafter. Before he had gone for the stairs with a fistful of painkillers in his hand, Herbert had offered his uncle something of an explanation.
‘Derek . . . I destroyed a lot of acid tonight, I’m sorry. See you in the morning.’ With that, he left Derek and Benjamin without a word to say between them until Benjamin finished locking the barn doors and went for the kitchen.
‘Did something go wrong, Ben?’ Derek asked. ‘I see you got a tow back.’
‘Did it go wrong?’
