#Rankin. 'Even dogs in the wild' Prologue

Eventually the passenger ejected the tape and tossed it on to the back seat.

   'That was the Associates (a Scottish rock act, formed in Dundee in 1979 by singer Billy Mackenzie),' the driver complained.

   'Well they can go associate (to connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else) somewhere else. Singer sounds like his balls have been trapped in a vice (a tool with two parts that can be moved together by tightening a screw so that an object can be held firmly between them while it is being worked on).'

   The driver thought about this for a moment, then smiled. 'Remember we did that to...what was his name again?'

   The passenger shrugged. 'He owed the boss money - that's what mattered.'

   'Wasn't a lot of money, was it?'

   'How much further?' The passenger peered (to look carefully through glasses, spectacles, binoculars etc.) through the windscreen.

   'Half a mile. These woods have seen action, eh?'

   The passenger made no comment. It was dark out there and they'd not encountered another car for the last five or so miles. Fife (a region of eastern Scotland between the Firth and Tay) countryside, inland from the coast, the fields shorn (shear verb, cutting and stabbing) and waiting winter.

A pig farm not too far away, one they'd used before.

   'What's the plan?' the driver asked.

   'Just the one shovel (a tool, consisting of a square metal blade attached to the handle used for moving loose material such as sand, coal or snow), so we toss to see who breaks sweat. Strip off his clothes, burn them later.'

   'He's only wearing pants and a vest.'

   'No tattoos or ring that I saw. Nothing we need to cut off.'

   'This is us here. The driver stopped the car, got out and opened a gate. A churned (to be agitated and not good for driving) track led into the forest. 'Hope we don't get stuck,' he said, getting back in. Then, seeing the look on the other man's face: 'Joke.'

   'Better be.'

   They drove slowly for a few hundred yards (unit of measurement, equal to three feet or approx. 91,4 centimeters) . 'There's a space here where I can turn,' the driver said.

Page 1.

   'This'll do, then.'

   'Recognize it?'

   The passenger shook his head. 'It's been a while.'

   'I think there's one buried somewhere in front of us, and another over to the left.'

   'Maybe try the other side of the track, in that case. Torch (a small light that is held in the hand and usually gets its power from batteries) in the glove box (a glove compartment in a car)?'

   'Fresh batteries, like you said.'

   The passenger checked. 'Right then.'

   The two men got out and stood for the best part of a minute, their eyes adjusting to the gloom (a situation in which it is nearly dark and difficult to see well), ears alert (a warning to be prepared to deal with something dangerous) for unusual sounds.

   'I'll pick the spot,' the passenger said, taking the torch with him as he headed off. The driver got a cigarette lit and opened the back door of the Mercedes. It was an old model, and the hinges (a piece of metal that fastens the edge of door, window, lid etc. and allows to open it or close) creaked (when a door creaks, it makes a long low sound when it moves or is moved).

He lifted the Associates cassette from the seat and slipped it into his jacket pocket, where it hit some coins. He'd be needing one of those for the

heads-or-tails (asked before you throw a coin into the air and want someone else to guess which side it will land on). Slamming (to move against a hard surface with force and usually a loud noise) the door shut, he moved to the boot (a trunk, a covered space at the back of a car, for storing things in) and opened it. The body was wrapped in a plain blue bed-sheet. Or it had been. The trip had loosened the makeshift (temporary and low quality, but used because of sudden need) shroud (a long loose peace of clothing that is used to wrap a dead body before it is buried). Bare feet, pale skinny legs, ribcage visible. The driver rested the shovel (a tool, consisting of a square metal blade attached to the handle used for moving loose material such as sand, coal or snow) against one of the tail lights, but it slid to the ground. Cursing, he bent over to retrieve (to find and bring back) it.

   Which was when the corpse burst into live, emerging from sheet and boot both, almost vaulting the driver as its feet hit the ground. The driver gasped (to take a short, quick breath through the mouth especially because of surprise, pain or shock), the cigarette flying from his mouth. He had one hand on the shovel's handle while he tried to haul himself upright with the other. The sheet was hanging over the lip (a part of an edge) of the boot, its occupant disappearing into the trees.

   'Paul!' the driver yelled (to shout something very loudly). 'Paul!'

   Torchlight preceded (to be or go before something) the man called Paul.

   'Hell's going on, Dave?' he shouted. The driver could only stretch out a shaking hand to point.

   'He's done a runner!'

   Paul scanned the empty boot. A hissing (to make a noise like a long S) sound from between his gritted (firmness, to press your top and bottom teeth together, often in anger) teeth.

   'After him then,' he said in a growl (to make a low, rough sound). 'Or it'll be someone else's turn to dig a hole for us.'

   'He came back from the dead,' Dave said, voice trembling.

   'Then we kill him again,' Paul stated, producing a knife from his inside pocket. 'Even slower than before…'

Page 2.