Perigord

by Marc Lindsay

  “You’re an asshole and you don’t know anything,” she said shrilly, before turning and running off.

  “Selene, wait!” Jason called out.

  “Leave me alone,” She yelled back. Jason stood and watched her disappear from view.

  Chapter 15

  Jason lay on his bed, his headphones on, listening to Radiohead. A pile of books lay at his side. So far everything he had read had turned up empty. Admittedly his heart wasn’t in it tonight, all he could think of was Selene’s face, both furious and sad. Jason decided to take a break from his solitude and grab a snack down stairs. He slumped into a recliner clutching a bowl of cereal. His mum was curled up on the couch reading a cheesy romance novel. The TV was on but the volume turned down. Jason was slurping noisily on his cereal unaware his mother had put down her book and was now observing him, a frown creasing her brow. After a moment Helen cleared her throat.

  “As much as I enjoy spending time with my favourite son, could you be any louder, it’s quite distracting,” Helen said slightly annoyed. Jason smiled sheepishly.

  “I’m your favourite,” he replied. Helen groaned and threw a pillow at him which he easily swatted mid-air.

  “If you keep up that noise I may have to reconsider that choice,” Helen said with a smirk.

  “Harsh but fair,” Jason replied.

  Just then something caught Jason’s eye on the TV.

  “Mum, can you turn up the volume?” Helen flipped the remote and the sound came to life. A pretty brunette newsreader was standing outside the Perigord Museum, illuminated by the camera crew and a flashing red light in the distance. The bottom of the screen read, ‘Late Breaking News’.

  “This is Athena Roberts reporting outside Perigord Museum where local police and security are investigating the break in of one of its exhibits, the works of its Founding Father, Heinrich Perigord. The works are made up of dozens of painted canvases that have been donated by various residents to coincide with Perigord’s upcoming Harvest Festival in two weeks’ time. As far as sources have confirmed, nothing has been taken, but many of the canvases have been roughly cut from their frames and littered throughout the exhibit”.

  Just then Sheriff Rope exited the building with one of his deputies, the reporter Athena Roberts trotted over to him in her high heels.

  “Sheriff, Sheriff Rope, can you tell us what leads you might have in this destructive crime tonight?” Sheriff Rope put on his best media face but it was clear he was highly uncomfortable in front of the camera.

  “At the moment we have no identity into the perpetrators of this crime or their intentions” he said woodenly. Athena nodded.

  “Is it true only Heinrich’s works were vandalised?”

  “Yes at present it appears only his paintings were the target,” the Sheriff said.

  “Will this impact on the Harvest festival?” Athena added, the Sheriff shook his head. “Absolutely not, now if you’ll excuse me Ms Roberts, I have a long night ahead” Sheriff Rope disappeared off camera.

  “Well as you can see this has been a dark night in our great town’s history. I’m Athena Roberts keeping you informed as events transpire”

  Helen switched off the TV.

  “Who would have thought it?” Helen said surprised.

  “Totally. A population of just over three thousand and they have their own news crew!” Jason replied gobsmacked. Helen threw another pillow at him. This time it connected.

  “I meant the vandalism, smart ass,” Helen said. Jason tossed the pillow aside.

  “It’s hardly breaking news,” he conceded.

  “For a small town it is. Besides, it looks as if the Sheriff has a handle on it,” Helen said optimistically.

  “He’s a dick,” Jason muttered to himself, rolling his eyes.

  “What was that?” Helen asked.

  “Oh nothing,” Jason shot back. “Listen, can I get some advice?”

  “Sure sweetheart,” Helen replied, giving Jason her full attention. He sat up suddenly all serious.

  “I had an argument with Selene today,” he said regretfully.

  “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything, well at least not intentionally,” Jason said as Helen looked on dubiously.

  Jason relayed the events of the afternoon, everything except the run in with the Sheriff and his son; he figured she didn’t need to worry, at least not yet anyway. When he was done he stood up and looked at her thoughtfully.

  “Well what do you think?” He asked tentatively. Helen sat there a moment mulling it over before responding.

  “I think first up you should of minded your own business,” Helen said frankly. Jason exhaled sharply. “But I don’t think you’ve done any permanent damage, once she calms down she’ll see that too,” Helen said. “You think?” Jason asked. Helen nodded.

  “You just have to give her time and space, and if she’s half the young woman I think she is, she’ll come around, you’ll see,” Helen said gently.

  “Thanks mum” Jason replied, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I think I’ll turn in now, night,” he said, relief now evident on his face.

  “Goodnight I’ll see you in the morning,” Helen said as Jason left the room. Helen returned to her book.

  Jason awoke with a start, another bad dream waking him from his slumber. He looked about his room slightly disorientated in the darkness, his breathing hard and fast. Once he realised where he was, he relaxed with a sigh, slumping back to his pillow. He looked across at the night stand. His alarm clock’s florescent face flashed 12:03. Jason stared at the ceiling for a while realising two things, sleep wasn’t going to happen any time soon and his stomach wasn’t going to stop grumbling either.

  Jason pushed the fridge door shut with his foot, his arms laden with food. He carefully balanced everything over to the kitchen bench and started preparing an epic sized sandwich. Slicing the leftover meat on the cutting board he heard a banging sound coming from down the hall. Carefully placing the knife down, he suddenly heard further commotion and reconsidered picking the knife back up. He ventured quietly down to investigate the disturbance. Jason stealthily made his way through the dark, the sounds of books being thrown clearly coming from the study. As he approached, he could just make out the muffled voices of at least two individuals and the strafing light of a torch bouncing off the walls.

  Jason stopped and propped near the entrance to the study, his eyesight becoming attuned to the darkness. He strained to hear any information he might glean from inside the room, unsure of how many might currently be in the house. He was afraid of others that might do his mum harm. Just then a gruff voice spoke up, one with an accent.

  “Goddamn it, that door must be here somewhere.” This was followed by a second voice, low and predatory.

  “Shut up brother and keep looking.” More smashing sounds were made by the dark figures within. Creeping forward he attempted to gain a better view of the situation when one of the floor boards beneath him creaked. Any other time the noise would have been ignored as nothing, but tonight it might as well have been a gunshot, the sound carrying through the house. ‘Shit Jason thought’, as movement and noise inside the study ceased. He stood flat against the wall, then decided he better act on it.

  “I can hear you in there, I’m gunna give you thirty seconds to leave, then I’m gunna take that option from the table,” Jason growled. He was starting to shake with fear, hoping like hell they took his threat seriously, afraid of what they might do if they didn’t. There was no movement from within the study. “One, two, three,” Jason called out and was greeted with silence. “Four, I’ve called the cops, they are on their way, five, six,” Jason was struggling to keep his voice from wavering. He forced himself to take a step forward. “Seven, eight, nine, I’m armed and will use it if I have to,” Jason took another step, the silence crystal clear.

  “Ten, eleven, twelve, I’m not messing around,” Jason took another step, then felt a presence from beh
ind. He whirled around, too late, as a crushing blow clipped him just above his temple. He crumpled to the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. He struggled in the dark to see whom his assailant was, but it was all a blur. Two figures emerged from the study and joined the third standing above Jason.

  “It’s just a boy,” one of the figures said.

  “Do you think he called the police?” The other figure let out a low laugh.

  “I’m pretty sure the cops aren’t coming,” he replied.

  “Yeah of course,” the second figure said.

  “Did you find it?” The third figure asked.

  “No, there’s nothing here,” the first figure said.

  “Are you sure?” the third asked with full authority.

  “Of course, we looked everywhere,” the first figure replied quickly.

  “Hello. Jason,” A voice called from the top of the stairs. All three figures froze. “Jason is that you?” the voice called again, a tinge of fear creeping into it.

  “It’s the kid’s mum,” the second figure said.

  “Mum, don’t come down,” Jason called out weakly. The third figure knelt above Jason.

  “Tonight’s your lucky night kid,” the third figure said quietly in what Jason now realised was a Russian accent. The figure raised a small baton then brought it down in one quick movement, knocking him out cold.

  Chapter 16

  The first thing Jason thought as he tried unsuccessfully to sit up was, ‘My head is going to explode’ he closed his eyes and settled back. He felt a hand on his chest.

  “Sweetheart, don’t try to move, the doctor said you should rest,” Helen said quietly. Jason opened his eyes and tried to focus. After several further attempts he could see his mother sitting next to him as he lay in bed, only this wasn’t his bed or his room. The pale green walls and white bed sheets could only belong in a hospital.

  “What happened?” Jason croaked. Helen’s face was pale and her eyes red. “There was an intruder,” she said, “and you must have stumbled across him,” Helen continued, her voice cracking with emotion. It all started coming back to Jason. The midnight snack, the intruders, the pain, his mum, Jason sat up, wincing at the pain in his head.

  “Are you alright?” Jason asked his mum. She smiled and nodded.

  “I’m fine,” Helen replied, as a nurse walked in.

  “Ah you’re awake,” the nurse commented, making her way to Jason’s side. “My name is April. I just need to conduct a couple of quick checks,” she said with a smile.

  “Do whatever you need to,” Helen said quickly. April pulled a small pen light from her pocket.

  “Look straight ahead please,” she instructed, then took turns shining it into each eye, checking his pupil response.

  “Fantastic,” April commented. She attached the sphygometer to Jason’s arm, checking his blood pressure.

  “How are you feeling?” April asked.

  “Apart from a splitting headache, good” Jason replied. April readjusted the meter then rechecked his blood pressure.

  “Strange,” she muttered.

  “Is everything okay?” Helen asked looking concerned. April snatched the chart from the end of Jason’s bed flipping through previous notes then updating it herself. April turned and faced Helen.

  “It’s nothing but a simple machine malfunction. Jason’s blood pressure is high. I wouldn’t be concerned though, I’m sure he’s fine, it’s just procedure anyway,” April said reassuringly. Helen looked relieved.

  “The doctor will want to see you both later in the morning, get some rest, the both of you,” April smiled, then departed.

  Jason slumped back in his bed.

  “So how did I get here?” Jason asked. Helen let out a deep breath.

  “I heard a commotion downstairs, I tried calling out to you and after a minute I heard running footsteps, then the front door open and slam shut,” Helen said, her face ashen as she recalled the events.

  “Did you see them?” Jason replied. Helen shook her head.

  “Them, no, the Sheriff said there was only one,” Helen said.

  “What would the Sheriff know?” Jason said, clearly annoyed at the mention of Perigord’s chief law enforcer.

  “Well after I found you lying there I was hysterical. Before I could even call, the Sheriff arrived, apparently one of our neighbours had heard something and called the police. He was patrolling the area and he saw a figure running across our yard. It was blind luck he had said. On investigation he found us and called for an ambulance, I don’t know what I would have done,” Helen replied, clearly shaken. Jason attempted to sit up, his cheeks flushed red.

  “He’s wrong, there were at least three of them, two in the study and the one that knocked me out,” Jason replied.

  “Honey I don’t doubt what you think you saw, but it was dark and you were under stress, not to mention the blow to your head. Any of these things could cloud your judgement,” Helen said.

  “No,” Jason barked, “some things are still pretty clear, for example I could hear them talking,” he said heatedly.

  “What did they say” Helen asked.

  “They were looking for something,” Jason said, his brow furrowed.

  “What do you think they were looking for sweetheart?” Helen replied perplexed.

  “I don’t know mum,” Jason said, frustration in his voice. Helen rubbed his arm reassuringly.

  “Try and get some rest like the nurse suggested,” Helen said quietly. Jason sighed and slumped back into his bed.

  Helen walked into Jason’s room carrying a tray of food.

  “Give the books a rest for a while,” Helen said. Jason glanced up from the top of his book upon seeing her enter the room.

  “Mum I’m feeling fine, really,” Jason said, slightly embarrassed by the fuss. Helen neatly placed the tray on his lap.

  “The doctor said you should take it easy,” she replied, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

  “Mum you shouldn’t have,” Jason drawled as he looked at the feast his mother had laid out before him.

  “It’s the least I can do for my little hero,” Helen said proudly.

  “Aw mum,” Jason replied blushing. Just then the front doorbell sounded. “Eat up and I’ll go see who it is,” Helen said as she walked from the room.

  Tucking into his lunch, he couldn’t believe how hungry he felt. Halfway through his mother reappeared, a huge smile plastered across her face.

  “You have a visitor,” Helen said. Before he could respond, Selene edged into the room. She stood a little awkwardly at the end of Jason’s bed, a coy smile on her face.

  “I have to head down stairs, I’ll leave you two alone,” Helen announced, then departed without another word.

  “Hey,” Jason said.

  “Hey,” Selene replied back as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and took a seat on Jason’s bed. Jason moved his food tray to the side, and looked long and hard at Selene.

  “I’m really sorry for what I said the other day, I had no right to butt in.” He was halfway through his apology when Selene started to giggle. He looked confused by her response.

  “Did I just say something funny?” he said a little indignant. Selene smiled “No, you just have a milk moustache is all.” Jason blushed and wiped his lip with the back of his hand.

  “So much for trying to be all cool and heartfelt,” Jason said with mock regret.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong Jason, you touched a nerve and I overreacted. I felt terrible last night, and worse this morning when I heard what had happened,” Selene said, exhaling loudly. There was a tangible silence in the room for a few seconds, then Jason cleared his throat.

  “So we’re good now, right,” he asked, Selene laughed and threw her arms around his neck.

  “Yes of course you loon,” she said. Jason was a little surprised for a moment, then he returned her hug, a huge smile plastered on his face.

  Jason and Selene sat at the end of
Uncle Plato’s huge timber table; a large sprawl of books lay before them.

  “So you have no idea what they were looking for?” Selene asked.

  “No, whatever it was they seemed adamant that it was in the study,” Jason replied.

  “Didn’t you have a good look in there when you were unpacking?”

  “I had a bit of a look, yes. A good look would have taken a month. It’s quite big and packed with books,” Jason said. Selene pointed to the cross around Jason’s neck.

  “From what you’ve already told me finding that cross was a bit of a fluke, but maybe there’s other treasures hidden away in there too,” Selene stated.

  Jason leaned across the table and started to flick through the books, eventually finding the one he sought, holding it up for Selene to see. “Keys an Encyclopaedia, you’ve lost me,’ Selene said puzzled. Jason placed the book down.

  “Ms Jax dropped this in with the books we got out yesterday, she knew when she saw my cross,” Jason said. Selene’s eyes went wide in understanding.

  “You think the cross is a key?” Jason touched the tip of his nose.

  “Bingo”.

  Jason and Selene quickly made their way to the study.

  “Where do we begin?” Selene asked.

  “I have no idea,” Jason replied looking around the room.

  “Where did you find the cross?” Selene asked. Jason thought for a second then pointed to a section of books on a shelf.

  “There, I suppose we have to start somewhere,” he replied.

  Piles of literature lay upon the ground as Selene and Jason worked tirelessly, removing more books and inspecting the shelves behind. They had been working solid for hours and had only managed a small section of the study, when Helen appeared at the study door. She looked about perplexed.

  “What exactly are you two doing?” she asked. Both Jason and Selene stopped and gave Helen a guilty look.

  “It’s um… well, we…” Jason looked at Selene for help.

  “We’re doing some research Ms Page,” Selene said. Helen looked about then let out a sigh.