The Kirkfallen Stopwatch

by J. A. Henderson

  “Yeah?” Emily stepped forward and tugged at his unkempt, greying locks. “Well you need a haircut.”

  “Then cut it. And I’ve got dye in the cottage.”

  “You’ve got what?”

  “I’m a con man and a wanted killer. I’ve lost count of the number of colours my hair’s gone through.”

  Emily looked at the pile of ash on the floor.

  “All these years I thought you killed Louise. And your own mom too.” She sat on the packing case beside him. “Not that I’ll ever forgive you for the sins you have committed. But I should have known you wouldn’t do something like that.”

  “Emily, you don’t have to come with me.”

  “Yes I do. You know I do.”

  “Then let’s get ready.” Dan stood up and held out his hand. Emily waited a few seconds then let her husband pull her to her feet.

  “You look pretty good yourself,” she said, looking him in the eye.

  “Then make me better. Dan Walton has made too many mistakes in his life to keep living.”

  He set his jaw in a determined line.

  “But a lot of people are gonna be sorry they crossed swords with D.B. Salty.”

  Operation Louise

  The first pheromone ever identified (in 1956) was a powerful sex attractant for silkworm moths named Bombykol. A team of German researchers worked 20 years to isolate it, removing glands at the tip of the abdomen of 500,000 female moths.

  It has been calculated that if a single female moth were to release all the Bombykol in her sac all at once, she could theoretically attract a trillion males in that instant.

  49

  Kirkfallen Island

  By the time Colin and Apathy paddled to the shore, the Lillian Gish II had turned and was heading back to Scotland. Their dinghy was met by a line of dour faced men and women who silently pulled it out of the surf. Edward Stapleton reached out and helped Colin and Apathy from the tiny craft, skipping back from the jerky seaweed laden froth. Behind him stood three teenagers – two boys and a girl.

  Apathy smiled shyly at them and they stared back with unconcealed fascination. The teenager realised they’d never seen a girl who wasn’t raised on the island.

  “Good to see you again Colin,” Edward said curtly, sounding anything but pleased. “We need to talk.”

  He turned to Gene, Poppy and Millar.

  “You going to stand there like a bunch of hillbillies or would you like to introduce yourselves to our guest?”

  “Hi. I’m Poppy.” The girl stepped forward elbowing Gene and Millar out of her way. What’s your name?”

  “Apathy Walton.”

  “Cool,” Millar chimed in. “You wanna see our gang hut?”

  “Eh… OK.” Apathy smiled him. She rarely met anyone who didn’t laugh at her name the first time they heard it. “I’d like that.”

  “I’m Gene Stapleton.” A handsome boy with a fringe of straight black hair stepped forward, formal and well mannered, hand outstretched. “Welcome to Fallen.”

  Apathy smiled again, and shook the boy’s hand. For some reason she was reluctant to let go.

  “I’m delighted to meet you.”

  “The gang hut will have to wait.” Edward cut short the introductions. “Apathy, you’ll be billeted at a place called MacLellan Base. A Colonel Naish will be here soon and she’ll want to give you some tests. Poppy, you escort her. Take a tractor.”

  “A tractor?” Poppy patted her bobbed hair daintily. “That’s not very ladylike.”

  “I’m asking you to drive it, not push it. Wentworth? You go with them in the second tractor. Put a trailer on the back and take eight men. I want the base… eh… spick and span for our visitors.”

  “You got it.”

  Poppy beckoned to Apathy and she followed the girl, turning to wave to Colin as she left.

  “What’s the status with the land buggies?” Edward turned to Geoff Ainsworth, lurking behind his shoulder.

  “Two hidden. One spare.”

  “Get on up to MacLellan Base with Wentworth and load the weapons onto the spare. Bring them back and hide them in the crofts.”

  “You really are expecting trouble.”

  “I’ve been expecting trouble for over a decade.”

  Edward steered his old friend away from the welcoming party.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” He glanced at Apathy, being led to the tractors by Poppy. “You and I know that girl isn’t your daughter. So who is she?”

  “She’s my niece.” Colin watched Poppy and Apathy climb into a nearby tractor. It jolted twice then chugged forward catapulting gobs of earth into the air. “I told Naish I wanted two other people flown here as well, and she agreed.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “It’s my brother, Dan Salty, and his wife, Emily. The army has been after Dan for years, though he’s kept his mouth shut the whole time. At my insistence, by the way.”

  “So why bring them here? Why now?”

  “Because here they’re no threat to the army.” Colin watched the rumbling vehicles vanish into a dip. “Dan and Emily have been on the run for most of their lives and it has to stop.”

  He took in the simple crofts dotting the green hill beyond the shore. Smoke curled from some of the chimneys.

  “I’d like them to have a proper home, where they’re not looking over their shoulder every day.”

  “The girl is his daughter, am I right?”

  “Yes. And she’s hot - with the wrong kind of pheromone. Once she reaches the Maclellan base, make sure you have her quarantined right away.”

  “What the hell have you brought down on us?” Edward snapped. “Christ, you couldn’t have picked a worse time to turn up.”

  “I’d no choice,” Colin replied sadly. “See, I had to warn you about…”

  Sonja Watt came pounding across the field.

  “Sonar’s picked up incoming helicopters,” she panted. “God, I’m out of shape.”

  She didn’t seem out of shape to Colin. Years of farm labour had toned her body to the point where she resembled an Olympian athlete.

  “You have sonar?”

  “Well… duh.” Sonja sneered. “We used to be the Stopwatch Unit. The old radio mast on top of MacLellan Base was easy to repair and we can build an early warning system out of tin foil and bubble gum.”

  She turned to Edward.

  “And it picked up a lot of helicopters.”

  “How many?”

  “Seven”

  “Are you sure?”

  “No,” Sonja snorted. “The operator stopped counting after five and made a guess.”

  “Seven helicopters are bad?” Colin asked uncertainly.

  “Only one type of helicopter flies in formation. The kind that carry troops.” Edward pulled the walkie talkie from his belt and waved a finger at Colin. “I’m afraid your little trick has really put the wind up the powers that be.”

  He held the device to his ear.

  “Mr Ainsworth. We have seven troop carrying birds approaching Fallen. I repeat, seven. Over.”

  “Then you were right.” Even over the air, Geoff Ainsworth sounded suitably alarmed. “Sounds more like an invasion than a visit.”

  “We knew they were coming, now the Orbisons are dead. Colin’s arrival just speeded them up.”

  Colin shifted his feet uncomfortably. Who were the Orbisons? He silently cursed the army for getting here so fast. He had expected at least a day on Kirkfallen to get the lie of the land.

  “Listen, Eddie, he said. “I got to tell you something…”

  “It’ll have to wait.” Edward motioned for Sonja to go back to the village. “Gather up all the children and put them in the barn.”

  “I’m on it, Sir. And welcome home Colin. I think.”

  Then she was off and running.

  “She called me Sir.” Edward looked unaccountably pleased. “Been a while since I heard that.”

  “You’re putting the children in
a barn?” Behind Colin, Sonja Watt had already reached the village.

  “Yeah, well the Hilton was all out of rooms.” Edward pointed to a large wooden building on the eastern perimeter of Kirkfallen, visible over the thatched roofs. “The storage barn is the biggest building on the island and it’s out of sight from the place we call Reardon flats. That’s the obvious place for helicopters that size to land.”

  The walkie-talkie crackled to life again.

  “We’re rounding up the kids now.” It was an islander named Doug McCombie. “Have them in the shed in a few minutes. How close are the choppers?”

  “About the same.” Edward put a hand on his hips and his whole bearing changed. “Mr Ainsworth? You still listening?”

  The walkie talkie fizzled into life again.

  “Here, Sir.”

  “Go to Code Red. Hopefully our ruse will work. If not, I’ll give the order to begin Operation Louise.”

  “Understood. Over and out.”

  Edward put the device away.

  “Louise was my daughter’s name,” Colin was taken aback. “I called her after my mother.”

  “I know. It’s kind of a reminder.”

  “Of what?”

  “We watched those kids grow up, Col. They’re our only kin and they’re better people than us.”

  Edward swept a hand round, indicating his village.

  “Now think about this. What if they take one, put it into a foreign country and don’t get the result they expected?”

  “They’ll be pretty furious.”

  “Damned right. And the rest of them will be considered useless. Worse, they’ll be a liability.”

  “And I stuck Apathy right in the middle of it.” Colin said listlessly.

  “The odds are well and truly stacked against us but we’re the Stopwatch Unit and not to be underestimated.”

  Edward tapped the weapon at his side.

  “Operation Louise means we fight to keep them alive.”

  Apathy let the breeze blow through her hair. The sea grass waved and the air had a fresh, biting tang. The tractor throbbed beneath her and seagulls screamed and whirled around her until she felt she was in the centre of some great natural engine.

  “This place is wonderful!”

  “Of course it is.” Poppy was hunched over the wheel. She glanced bashfully at her companion. “You’re very pretty.”

  “Me?” Apathy ran a hand through her dishevelled hair. “Thank you.”

  “So? What’s it like out in the world?

  “It’s frightening.” The answer came out before the teenager had time to think

  “Really?”

  “There’s lots of good stuff too.” Apathy considered what she’d just said, before deciding her companion deserved the truth. “But mostly it’s frightening.”

  “I’m not worried.” Poppy threaded thick fingers through her own short locks, in an unconscious imitation of her companion’s gesture. “I’m going to get to the real world soon. Then on to Hollywood.”

  “I’ve always wanted to visit there myself.”

  “No. I’m going to be famous.” There was no trace of irony in Poppy’s voice. “I’m a very fine actress and I’ll do all my own stunts.”

  “Good for you.”

  “I know I’m not thin.” Poppy thought about the films she had seen. “But neither was Mae West and she was a big star.”

  “Mae who?”

  “I guess you’re not a movie buff like me.”

  “I don’t go to the pictures all that often.”

  “You’ve been in a cinema!”

  “Eh… A few times.”

  “Well, I’m going to Hollywood. The boys just don’t understand.” Poppy changed gear and the tractor lurched forwards. “But now I have a girl to talk to. A girlfriend!”

  She gave a huge grin.

  “You can show me how to do makeup and stuff. Make me look pretty too.”

  “I will if you teach me how to drive a tractor.”

  “You got it. Should I grow my hair?”

  Apathy regarded Poppy’s manly bob.

  “No… em… short hair is in right now.”

  “Great. See. I knew you’d help me!”

  She pounded the steering wheel with a beefy hand.

  “Now I have a new friend and a makeup artist! When this is all over, I’m going to be in the movies.”

  “When what’s all over?”

  “I can’t say too much.” Poppy gave Apathy a sly wink. “But soon it won’t matter what I look like. Everyone will love me anyway. They might even build a monument right here, to show where I lived. It’ll say Poppy Ainsworth: Star. Nothing too fancy.”

  She spun the wheel to avoid a large rock.

  “But, yeah. A monument with my name on it.”

  50

  Kirkfallen Island.

  The helicopters settled, like giant bluebottles, onto Reardon Flats, north of the village - disgorging a mass of camouflaged troops. Now the copters were guarded by a ring of soldiers carrying assault rifles. The rest of the force had bivouacked outside the village, though a detachment had alighted early and were stationed at Jackson Head near the Fence.

  Colonel Naish had made the information hut her HQ. She looked at her watch nervously.

  “Commander Stapleton will be here in a few minutes,” Poppy’s mother said.

  Alison Ainsworth had been assigned as Naish’s escort and now stood to attention beside the window - ramrod straight - every inch a soldier.

  “He’s worried about the impact of so many strangers on the children, so he’s taking… precautions.”

  “Yes. I didn’t actually see any kids.” A short balding man in a Brigadier’s uniform was browsing through the books on the shelves.

  “That’s one of the precautions, Sir.”

  “I’m rather keen to meet this Commander Stapleton.” The Colonel shut a volume of Shakespeare’s Sonnets and a puff of dust wafted into his face. Naish looked at her watch again, perspiration shining on her forehead.

  A tense group stood outside the information hut.

  “You ready?” Edward gave Colin a nudge. Stapleton was wearing full battle dress. Beside him was Sonja Watt, also in uniform. Her boots were polished and her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

  “I think so.”

  Edward leaned forward so his lips were inches from Colin’s ear.

  “I’m about to lie through my teeth. And whatever I say, you go along with it. Do not contradict me under any circumstances.”

  “No problem. You’re the one with the gun.”

  “Good man.” Edward wiped sweating palms down the back of his trousers and adjusted his tunic. He hadn’t worn this outfit for fourteen years and it didn’t seem to sit right on his body anymore.

  “Gene!” He called out. “We’re ready.”

  Gene Stapleton appeared from around the side of the hut. He looked terrified.

  “It’s fine boy. It’ll be OK.” Edward licked his fingers and parted his son’s hair. “Just tell them the truth. The people in there are mean and ruthless and they’ll know if you’re lying. Remember that.”

  “I will dad. But I don’t understand why they want to talk to me.”

  “You don’t have to. It’s called following orders. Welcome to army life.”

  Edward straightened his shoulders.

  “Let’s do this.”

  They entered the information hut with their Commander in the lead. The soldier in Edward took in his surroundings immediately. Alison Ainsworth at the window. A man with the rank of Brigadier by the bookshelf. Three armed soldiers against the far wall. Another by the door. Colonel Naish in the centre of the room.

  The Brigadier saluted. Edward and Sonja returned the gesture with perfect fluidity. Colin and Gene bunched behind them, awed by the situation.

  “Stand easy Commander Stapleton. My name is Brigadier Potter and I have a few questions.”

  “Sir. Yes Sir.” Edward relaxed slightly. But only slightly. />
  “Where are the children, Commander?”

  “The youngsters have no experience of outsiders, Sir, especially armed ones. Nor do they have any idea they are part of a military operation. I thought it best that they be kept out of the way until you and I had talked.”

  “Understandable, if a little too cautious.” The Colonel turned to Naish. “This is the boy?”

  “Gene Stapleton, yes.”

  “Come and sit.” Colonel Potter indicated a seat next to him.

  Glancing at his father, Gene moved over and sat down. Edward didn’t look back.

  “Tell me what happened last week. The day the Orbisons died.”

  “I was out at Pittenhall ridge, drawing birds.” Despite his obvious trepidation, Gene’s voice was calm and clear. “I was near the Fence. I know I’m not allowed there but it’s the only place that I can draw…”

  “Just the bare bones of the story will do.” The Brigadier smiled at him but there was no kindness in his eyes.

  “I saw the Orbisons walking hand in hand away from the place.” Gene shot another look at his father but Edward was still staring impassively ahead.

  “And then?” Potter put his hands on the desk in front of Gene and stared into the teenager’s eyes.

  “I don’t know. I came over all sick and dizzy and think I must have fallen asleep.”

  Gene was obviously desperate to please, but there wasn’t much else he could say.

  “When I woke up the Orbisons were gone.”

  “Thank you, son. You can leave.”

  Gene scooted out of the door in obvious relief.

  “We found the Orbisons on the rocks at the bottom of Pittenhall Ridge,” Edward said, once the teenager had left. “Looked like they threw each other off.”

  “So they went mad.” The Colonel concluded. “Due to the boy’s pheromone release, we assume.”

  “As far as I can ascertain.”

  “Why didn’t the infection spread?”

  “Pittenhall Ridge is next to Jackson Head,” Edward replied. “It’s bound to have absorbed the insecticide we use there. There wasn’t enough of a concentration of ants or people for the outburst to reach the rest of the island’s children.”