Evil Star

remembered the moment when he'd woken up to find Pedro stealing his watch. He had recognized him there and then. But in all the confusion of what was happening, he had thought back only as far as the traffic lights, on the way from the airport. He thought that was when he'd seen Pedro for the first time. But of course he'd been aware of him for many years before that.
    Pedro was one of the five. Matt could imagine Susan Ashwood saying the words. She would be delighted. Was it a coincidence that Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star Matt had stepped off a plane in a coun-try of twenty million people and Pedro had been almost the first person he'd met? No . . . not at all. There were no coincidences. It was meant to happen. That was what the blind medium would have said.
    So was Richard meant to be kidnapped? Was Matt meant to be beaten up at the hotel? Did Matt have any con-trol over what was happening or was he simply being pushed around by forces that he couldn't see and which were way outside his own comprehension?
    And if so, where were they taking him? What did they have in mind?
    There were a thousand questions Matt wanted to ask and he didn't have answers to any of them. But he took some comfort in the thought that somehow he and Pedro had found each other. Now there were two of them, and that meant that the other three might not be far behind.
    Pedro won the game. Matt saw him laugh delightedly and scoop up his dice. He wished his new companion spoke even a smattering of English. How were they supposed to fight a war together when they couldn't even talk?
    The game was over. The smaller children were already asleep and now the others drew up their blankets and joined them. In England, going to bed had always been a routine of getting changed, washing, brushing teeth, and all the rest of it. Here it was very matter-of-fact and hap-pened very quickly. The evening just stopped. Everyone took his place, huddled together around the single, empty bed, and soon the whole floor was a sea of blankets that rose and fell while the candles spluttered, throwing strange shadows across the wall.
    Matt couldn't sleep, still trapped in the wrong time zone. The room was much too warm with so many people in it, and there was a mosquito droning around his ear. He hadn't gotten used to the smell, Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star either, even though he was now part of it. He hadn't bathed for forty-eight hours and he could feel the grime clinging to him all over. He thought about Richard. Sebastian assumed he was probably dead but Matt wouldn't even consider the possibility. He wondered how the two of them had allowed themselves to walk into all this and whether they would ever see each other again.
    About an hour later, Sebastian came in. Matt saw, to his dismay, that the man was quite drunk. He staggered over to his bed and collapsed onto it without removing any of his clothes . . . not even his shoes.
    Within seconds he was fast asleep and snoring.
    It took Matt much longer. Half the night seemed to slip by before his eyelids finally closed — much to his relief. Because this time he knew exactly where he was and he wasn't afraid to be there. He was with Pedro on the beach. The boat was moored just behind them, waiting to take them away.
    "Matteo," Pedro said.
    "I'm glad to see you, Pedro."
    "Yeah. Me, too. I suppose . .."
    And here was the strange thing: Matt was speaking in English; Pedro was speaking in Spanish. And yet somehow the words were changing in midair so that both boys under-stood each other perfectly. Did this island exist only in a dream? Matt had always thought so. But now that there were two of them, sharing the sand, the sea, the boat, and all the rest of it, and he wasn't so sure. Part of him was aware that even as he stood here facing Pedro, the two of them were also lying just a meter apart in Poison Town. Perhaps this was why they were now finally able to talk to each other — they knew each other now.

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star
    "I don't get any of this," Pedro began.
    "You're one of the five," Matt said.
    "Yes. I know. I've been hearing that all my life, but I don't know what it means. Do you?"
    "Some of it. There are five of us. . . ."
    "I've seen the others. Over there." Pedro pointed, but there was no sign of the two boys and the girl on the mainland.
    "We're gatekeepers."
    "What gate?"
    "It's a long story, Pedro."
    "We've got all night."
    Matt