Chapter 4

I felt warm sunlight hit my eyes, and saw its glow through my eyelids. It was the morning after, and the cold, lifeless feeling that had crept inside me showed no signs of releasing its grip. I opened my eyes, squinting in the brightness, and sat up in bed.

Last night… had I really seen what I'd seen? Had it been real, or was it all just a dream? I rubbed my eyes, and looked across my room. The piles of tapes that me and Eddie had trawled through were still strewn around the floor.

Eddie, I thought. I wonder what he thinks…

When I'd… seen what I'd seen last night, there was a long moment when I couldn't think of anything. My body wouldn't move, and Eddie must have sensed something was wrong. He asked me about it, which shook me out of my daze a little, but I snapped at him and told him to leave. I didn't know what he'd seen – he'd been looking at the screen, same as me, but whether he realised what we were seeing was another question.

As I got ready for school my mind raced – what would I say to him when I saw him? Should I tell him the truth? When we'd set out to try and figure out who the Batman was, I never dreamed that we would actually succeed. Now the knowledge had started to eat away at me.

No… I couldn't tell anyone, I knew that. All I needed was a little time to figure things out. There had to be something I could do with this knowledge, even as dangerous as I knew it was.

I tip-toed down the stairs, hoping to sneak out of the house before my dad knew I was awake. I'd heard him come home a few hours ago – I hadn't gotten much sleep. I wasn't as angry as him as I was before, but I didn't want the hassle of trying to talk to him when there was so much already going on in my head.

Unfortunately, he was already down there waiting for me. Hell, I doubt he'd even managed to stagger up to bed since he'd come home. I heard his voice mumble my name, and when I turned around I saw him slouched on the couch, like he always was, bottle in hand. I moved towards him a little, stepping over the coat and shoes that he'd left in the middle of the doorway.

I stopped just inside the living room, and I stood with my arms folded. I hated even looking at him when he was in that kind of state. Believe it or not, when he and my mom were together he was a really good dad. I mean, sure, he was away a lot because of his work, but when he was around he was always taking us out and we were… happy.

A lot of things had changed, though. Mom and him split up, and he ended up in this house on his own… and then she died, and he was suddenly lumbered with me. I think, that morning, staring at his drunken, half-awake figure was the first time I'd realised that he'd lost just as much as I had. And I felt… sorry for him. It was a sign that I was finally starting to grow up a little, and start thinking of things outside my own head.

I walked over to him and picked up the chair cushion which had fallen to the floor beside his feet. I gently lifted up his head and slid the pillow beneath it before turning to leave for school. Before I go to the door, I once again heard my father mumble my name.

"Timothy…" he said. "Sit down, son… I… need to…" His words trailed off. He was clearly in no state to talk.

"I know, dad", I said softly. "We'll talk later. After school".

My words fell on deaf ears. He had fallen asleep.

That morning was as cold as any I can remember. The walk to school took twice as long as usual because of the treacherous ice that covered the pavements. Every breath sent white steam shooting out of my mouth, and I had my coat hunched up as far as it would go. Still, I couldn't stop myself from shivering.

It was so cold outside that it was actually a relief when I finally got to school, even though I knew I'd be spending the next six hours bored out of my mind.

The school was a new building, but it still looked worn down. I guess there wasn't enough money flying around for its maintenance, or even to keep it clean. The walls were covered with grime, and there was more than one boarded up window. But at least the heaters worked.

As I approached the school gate I saw Josie stood waiting. I assumed she was waiting for Eddie, but I went over to her anyway, smiling. The smile faded, though, as I got closer and saw her face. Her eyes were wide and red. She looked like something horrible had happened to her.

"Hey", I said. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes flicked towards me, and then, suddenly, she threw herself forward and wrapped her hands around my neck, hugging me. We spent a few moments like that, in silence.

When she finally released her grip and moved away, I saw that she had started crying.

"Tim", she sniffed. "Me and Eddie broke up".

"What?" I said, surprised. Josie and Eddie had been together for almost a year. I had started to think that they would be forever. The idea that they would break up had seemed ludicrous to me just the day before. "Why? What happened?"

"I don't…" Josie said through the tears. "Can we just… not talk about it, please? Can we just go inside?" She was pleading with me, and I made me uncomfortable. Something else was going on, that much was obvious. But it didn't look like I was going to find out what from her. I nodded.

The smallest of smiles spread across her lips, and she wrapped her arm around mine. We walked inside together.

That day at school seemed like the longest day ever. Eddie wasn't there, which worried me. Whenever he'd had a day off school before he always told me why, but that day there was nothing.

I don't remember a single word that was said to me that day, by the teachers or my friends, save for my conversation with Josie. I was in a daze, thinking about not just Eddie but… what I'd learned the night before. I needed Eddie. He was the only person I could talk to about what I'd learned, and about what I was thinking. But would he even want to listen to me after he'd broken up with Josie?

As soon as school had ended I ran all the way to the orphanage. I ran straight around to the window at the back, hoping that Eddie was just sleeping. I looked through, but the room inside was empty. The front door was locked – as it always was – so I slammed my fists down hard over and over again.

Eventually, I heard the sound of the locks clicking open, and the door slowly crept open. It was the matron – the old battle-axe who was in charge of the place. She must have been six feet tall, and just as wide. But she wasn't fat – she was built like a truck. I guess she had to be tough to be able to handle an orphanage full of angry teenagers.

"What on Earth do you think you are doing, young man?" she said. Her voice was deep, and she spoke as though she came from a posh background. I knew that Eddie hated her – he'd told me enough times – and now I could see why. She was talking down her nose at me, as though I was nothing. It grated, but I wasn't there to argue with this woman.

"Sorry", I said, still breathless from running there. "Is Eddie in there? Please? It's important that I talk to him".

Her face contorted in a frown, and she sighed. "No", she said. "He isn't here. But he left something for you. At least, assuming you are Timmy. I wouldn't know, since you haven't introduced yourself".

A message, I thought. Why wouldn't he just come and meet me somewhere? I nodded. "Sorry, ma'am", I mumbled. "I'm Timmy".

She disappeared from the doorway for about a minute – long enough that I started to doubt whether she was coming back. When she finally did return, she was carrying an envelope, which she handed to me.

I looked at it for a few moments, not understanding. Then I mumbled a 'thank you' and walked away.

When I was out of view of the orphanage I stopped and ripped open the envelope. Inside it was a single small piece of paper with a message written on it.

I frowned as I read the words.

'The first is a person who lives in disguise who deals in secrets and tells nothing but lies.

Then think of a letter that's last to mend the middle of middle and end of end.

Now think of a sound which is often heard in search of every unknown word.

Put it together and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?'

A riddle. Why would Eddie leave me a riddle as a message? None of this was making sense. If he wanted me to find him, then why not just tell me where he was? Why play games?

I sighed deeply. OK, I thought. A riddle. That's OK.

It was a tough one, though. I needed to think about each part separately.

The first is a person who lives in disguise who deals in secrets and tells nothing but lies…

Lives in disguise and deals in secrets… For some reason, the answer to this came into my head as scenes from one of those crappy secret agent TV shows where the main character dresses up in a different disguise in each episode. The answer was a spy.

Then think of a letter that's last to mend the middle of middle and end of end…

This part was easy. Too similar to the riddle that Eddie had asked me a couple of days ago in school. The answer was the letter D.

Now think of a sound which is often heard in search of every unknown word…

I smiled at this part. My mind was filled with the dozens of times our teachers as school had picked on a kid in class at random and asked them to answer a question. Whoever they picked, the same sound always escaped their lips before they tried to answer. Errrr…

OK… so that was the three parts figured out. It was time for the last part.

Put it together and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?'

Put them together… simple enough. And then it suddenly clicked in my head, and I knew where I was meant to go.

Spy

D

Errr

…

Spider.