by Mike Mignola
He smiled a little at that. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
His words gave Liz a sudden hollow feeling in her stomach. “Oh?”
“Yeah, I . . . er . . . I think I’m gonna duck out for a while. Take a break.”
“You mean you’re not coming back with us?” Liz said, trying not to sound disappointed.
“Not just yet. I’ll get a later flight. Coupla weeks, maybe.”
“Where will you go?” Liz asked.
“Somewhere peaceful. The Cotswolds, maybe. I got friends there.”
“The Finches?”
He nodded.
Liz put a hand on his arm. “We’ll miss you,” she said.
Hellboy looked embarrassed, awkward. “Yeah.”
Abe had sat through the exchange silently. Now he said, “I think it’s a good idea. Do you want us to let Tom know where you are?”
“Uh-uh,” Hellboy said, shaking his head. “In fact . . .” He delved into the pocket of his duster and pulled out his satellite phone. “Take this back for me, willya?”
Liz took it off him almost reluctantly. “You won’t stay away long, I hope.”
Hellboy chuckled. “Nah, just when you least expect it, I’ll turn up again like the proverbial bad penny. Always have, always will.”
Then the laughter faded. His voice became gruff, somber.
“After all,” he added, “what else can I do?”
MARK MORRIS became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further thirteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Mr Bad Face, Fiddleback, and Nowhere Near an Angel. His short stories, novellas, articles, and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award. His latest novels are Doctor Who: Forever Autumn, which was voted best Doctor Who book of 2007 by readers of Doctor Who magazine, and The Deluge, published by Leisure Books in the U.S. Forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains and another book in the immensely popular Doctor Who series, Ghosts of India.