The child’s entire body had seized up tight. Then he’d slowly walked away through the trees. Victor would have needed all the sensitivity of a concrete block to miss the fact that something had gone badly wrong with him. He’d gone after the boy, calling his name. When he touched one of Archer’s narrow shoulders the boy had dropped down in a faint. As Victor picked up the boy, marvelling at how light he was, he noticed the dead stare of the eyes. Immediately, he returned to his sister’s farm at a run. At that moment he believed the boy would die in his arms. Yet the jog of being carried revived him. ‘Put me down,’ Archer insisted. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get you indoors, then we can get someone to look at you.’ ‘Put me down.’ The voice rose. ‘Let me walk.’ Victor gently set him down. ‘What happened back there?’ ‘Nothing.’ ‘You might be coming down with a bug.’ ‘I’m not. I’m fine.’ Before Victor could say anything else the boy raced across the field to join the other children at the barn, where they still tucked into snacks.
