For a moment, Mariam was completely dumbstruck.  “What?”

“If you go to the police, I’ll just say you did it,” said Gavin.

If Mariam had been thinking clearly, she’d probably have decided that this was an empty threat.  She’d probably have considered that she had an alibi for last night, and Gavin didn’t.  She’d probably have considered that Gavin had more of a motive than she did, and that the murder weapon, whatever and wherever it was, probably had his fingerprints all over it.  But she didn’t have time to think about any of that until later.  Right now, the only thing on her mind was sheer, boiling-hot rage.

I was going to help you, you ungrateful little twat!

She thought she saw something change in his face, as if he’d heard the words that had just come out of his mouth and realised how they sounded.  She didn’t have much time to notice it, though.  There was a pile of books on the nearest surface, big hardbacks that you could use to crush insects, and with one long arc of her arm Mariam swept them up and hurled them at Gavin’s chest.  It didn’t knock him to his knees like she’d hoped, but it did make him stumble back a couple of steps so she could push past him and run out into the maze of bookshelves.

She ran, zig-zagging through the shop so she’d be harder to catch, dodging the little dips in the floor, jumping over the unexpected steps that came out of nowhere, but Gavin wasn’t trying to catch up with her at all.  He must have run in a straight line, because as soon as Mariam was within sight of the front door, she saw him standing there.  She shrunk back behind the shelves, hoping he hadn’t spotted her.

He flicked the latch closed so that no more customers could get in, then turned around and held something in the air.  “Mariam!” he called out, “I’ve got my dad’s lighter!”  His hands shook as he held it, but he managed to press the button and summon up a tiny, two-second flame.  Even that was far too much of a risk in a building full of dry paper and dead ends, though, so Mariam stepped out to face him. Maybe she could talk some sense into him after all.

“What do you want, Gavin?”  Her voice came out calmer than she’d expected.  A low, grumbly, I’m-sick-of-this kind of voice, as if he was a small kid throwing a hissy-fit instead of a teenager threatening to burn down a shop.

“I told you,” he said, and she could tell he was clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering, “I want to go away and start over.  Somewhere else.”

“And you’re going to start your new life by burning your only friend to death?”

“Shut up!” he screamed, eyes screwed up tight, “Shut up!”

“Why did you think any of this was a good idea, Gavin?  You could have…”

He lunged at her.  Despite herself, she took a step back- Gavin might not have been the most physically intimidating person, but if he could break his father’s neck then he could probably do some serious damage to her as well.  But before she knew what had happened, her foot missed the ground and she tipped all the way over, falling and hitting her elbow on the floor.  She’d tripped over one of those unexpected steps.

Gavin saw what happened and tried to keep his balance, but he was leaning too far forward to do it.  He stumbled and threw out a hand, landing on top of Mariam’s legs.  The lighter, still flickering, fell sideways, into the nearest bookshelf.

For a moment, they both stared, mesmerised, as the books began to glow and darken, consumed by the flames.

Mariam was the first to snap out of it.  She shoved Gavin away, got to her feet, and ran.  She was going in the opposite direction to the door, but as long as it got her away from the fire, that was OK.  She could circle round and get to it that way.  This place was a bloody maze, but she’d been working here for five months.  She knew her way around.

*

Mariam ended up making that anonymous phone call after all.  She told the fire brigade that she’d seen smoke coming out of Swordpoint Books just off the High Street, and it looked pretty bad.  She hadn’t bothered to say any more than that- Gavin would have to explain it when they got there.  She hadn’t seen him come out, but she’d left the front door open for him.  He’d be fine.

She left the phonebox as soon as she’d hung up, just in case they did manage to trace it and sent someone along to catch the caller in the act.  From here, it was just a short walk to her house.  Her clothes still smelt of smoke, but her parents would still be at work and her siblings never noticed much.  When word got around about the fire at Swordpoint Books, she’d just say it had started after she left.  It was past closing time anyway.

Mariam hoped the fire brigade would assume that Mr Bridger had died in the fire.  She might not have liked Gavin much anymore, but… well, everyone deserved a new start.  As long as he didn’t try to drag her name into this, she’d keep quiet about it.

Swordpoint Books had been like nowhere else on Earth.  When you thought about it, that was probably a good thing.

The End