Rupert and Willow squealed, troubled by the gulls’ cries. Everyone took cover just in case the pigs were distressed by something other than the birds. Just in time, they managed to hide in a wooded area and avoided being found by a gang of wasters who had come out of their camp to find out what was causing all the noise. Seeing the cowphant, they gave chase, hoping to catch it for a meal. Indigo was then banned from going anywhere near a cowphant and was told most sternly that he should turn his waistcoat inside out and try and blend in a bit more with the surroundings. Travelling by daylight was treacherous enough without Indigo causing such a disturbance.
Kayleb, Rowan, Cornwall and Indigo walked many miles that day and as the sun was beginning to set, they made a decision to stop and rest for the night. A river ran nearby and the water flowed at quite a pace. The sound of the water rushing by broke the silence. The grass by the river was very long and if they all kept down low, they were almost undetectable.
Kayleb wandered down to the river with the bucket to get some water for everybody. Rupert and Willow found a place to drink and gulped greedily at the water’s edge. Kayleb waited for them to finish and then, after dipping in a tester strip, decided it was safe to drink. He kneeled down on the bank. It was a good job all his emergency kit was in sealed plastic bags; otherwise it would have all been ruined when he had jumped into the lake. That episode seemed like a long time ago and he shuddered as he remembered almost drowning. He filled the bucket and, looking down-river, he wondered where the river might take them if they built a boat. He had always wanted to build one but the rivers in London were tiny. Even the Thames, the largest of them all, was only ankle-deep. The sea was probably the place to have a boat but you had to own a share in seawater to be able to use it for leisure and Kayleb’s mentors were not in that league. Only the pop stars and actors had boats but they needed armed guards to protect them when they were at sea, as there they were outside London’s anti-terrorist shield.
Kayleb filled the bucket, removed his sandals and dipped his feet into the swirling water. His feet were sore from walking, the current was strong and the power of the water hitting his feet was remarkable.
The sun was sliding down behind the hill. It was as red as blood and Kayleb could almost see it moving. Transfixed, Kayleb watched it until there was only a small slither left. It was beautiful and he felt sad. He wished his mentor Helen could see this. He wondered if she was still alive. He sat quietly for a while and did not hear Cornwall approach.
‘I was worried. I was wondering where you were. The others are eating mushrooms. Do you want one?’ She handed him a hot mushroom and then sat down next to him.
‘I was just thinking,’ Kayleb said at length. ‘Why do I always feel different to everybody else? Look at Rowan. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got the perfect set of mentors at home. He’s good at everything and he’ll probably be brilliant at whatever job he gets, get the perfect companion, be given a boat and own a huge great chunk of the sea. Why do I know I’ll end up doing a mindless job and never quite finding the right path? I’m surprised I’ve made it this far. I recently came that close to becoming a dried-up prune at the bottom of a well!’
Cornwall looked at Kayleb. His forehead had furrows running across it and his eyes looked distressed. She wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about but she guessed he was displeased with himself. It was difficult to tell someone not to whine.
‘I guess you will always be a prune then,’ she said, her green eyes catching the last rays of the sunlight.
Kayleb couldn’t help smiling. He had sounded like a spoilt child.
‘I know! I’m just finding it hard-going at the moment. I really want to get back home and see Helen. I just hope it’s not too late. We’ve walked miles and I guess we’ve got miles to go. I will be so thankful when we reach the sea. That surely has to be the finishing post. They can’t expect us to try and get across the Channel.’
Cornwall looked thoughtfully at Kayleb. He was so physically weak and vulnerable. Without her there, she wasn’t sure whether he would get through his task. If he got back to London, she was sure that he would be welcomed back with open arms. For her, however, it might be a different story. Cornwall leant over and touched Kayleb’s hand.
‘Come on,’ she whispered. ‘The others will worry if we don’t go back.’
Kayleb stood up and wondered whether he had been wrong about her. Why had she been so mischievous when he first met her? His hand still tingled where she had touched it. He found that odd.
Kayleb and Cornwall took the water back to the others and finished off the mushrooms and they all discussed who would take turns to stand watch while everyone slept. It was decided that Rowan would watch first as he felt less tired than the others and everyone else found a place to sleep.
The only visitors in the night were a frog and mosquitoes, which seemed to be in abundance because of the river and the warm night.
The morning came and nearly everyone had been severely bitten. Indigo had fared by far the worst and counted one hundred and two mosquito bites. Cornwall only had one bite and she was surprised as she claimed she had never been bitten before. Cornwall knew what weeds to pick and encouraged everyone to rub the leaves into the welts to ease the itching and discomfort but she could do nothing for Indigo’s appearance. His face was badly swollen and his armpits were painful. He looked quite comical, almost ape-like, and it was difficult to keep a straight face. Indigo tried to be brave as Cornwall applied the green goo, only occasionally moaning if she rubbed it in too hard. She had ground up the weeds on a rock with another stone and he was quite surprised that the concoction did actually take away the itchiness and sting.
8
Crossing the river was a treacherous business as the current tugged and teased at their feet making everyone unbalanced. The water waited like a hungry wolf, snapping at their heels, eager to consume those that had become complacent and stumbled.
The pigs had to be carried across the river and they were not happy about it. Rupert squealed relentlessly and Willow wriggled and fought Rowan, threatening to topple him over at any moment. Rowan struggled across with gritted teeth and was much relieved to reach the opposite bank. To impress everybody, he had taken most of the pig’s weight. Now his muscles throbbed and he found it hard to disguise the discomfort he felt.
The river crossing was exhausting and it was a while before everyone got their breath back. Rowan watched Rupert and Willow weaving their way along the bank, sniffing at this and that and then arguing with themselves over which direction to go. It seemed to Rowan that each of the pigs’ heads always wanted to go a separate way. He imagined what it would be like to have two heads and not be able to choose the path you wanted to travel along. The only time they were in perfect agreement was when danger loomed. At that moment, the pigs stopped in their tracks and squealed danger in a low growl.
‘Quick!’ whispered Rowan urgently. ‘Hide!’
This was easier said than done as ground cover was scarce. They decided to see what cover lay at the top of the bank and as they approached the brow, they could hear men shouting in the distance. Fortunately, the bank concealed them and they were able to observe the plateau below unseen.
‘What do you think is happening, Rowan?’ asked Kayleb quietly, as he lay next to him. ‘They’re not after us. They seem to be trying to pull something out of those woods over there.’
‘Look at them! I’ve never seen men that tall.’
The open land below them was lined by a wooded area and to their left was a fort held together by patches of metal, cloth and animal skin. A large number of men were pulling several crudely made wooden carts out of the woodland. They were cumbersome and it took eight men a great deal of effort, despite the men’s size, to drag the contraptions out into the clearing. Finally, ten carts were heaved out of the woods. The men themselves were huge, were dressed in animal skins and looked like giants. They were twice the height of a normal man.
&nbs
p; Indigo was shocked and couldn’t believe his eyes.
‘Tell me I’m seeing things! They’re enormous! That’s it, I’m off. I’m history!’
‘It’s all right. I think those carts are some sort of catapult and they’re pointed at that fort, not at us,’ Kayleb said reassuringly.
‘They’re going to attack that fort.’
‘They’re Long Men,’ said Cornwall. ‘I’ve heard the Leaders talk about them. They drink from contaminated water and it makes them grow.’
Kayleb eyed the river suspiciously. He had drunk quite a lot of water that morning and his whole body ached. Was it all the walking, or was the water starting to take effect and his limbs were about to stretch to twice their length? His thoughts were disturbed as one of the older ones among the men let out a blood-curdling scream. Immediately, large boulders were loaded into the arms of the catapult and a lever was released. The boulders hurled through the air. Some hit the flimsy shell of the fort and some fell short. Surprisingly, the ones that hit did little damage, which enraged the attackers and further boulders were loaded and fired.
‘They’re not doing very well,’ said Indigo calmly. ‘There’s no sign of action from the fort. Perhaps they’re used to being attacked and just sit back and watch a film while it’s all going on. The fort reminds me of a pair of trousers. Why don’t they just walk up to the fort and tear it down with their hands; they’d make a better job of things.’
‘I think we’d better go up-river and try and sneak behind the fort before we’re spotted and they turn on us,’ said Kayleb as the Long Man leader barked out another order.
Rupert was standing on the bank behind Cornwall and, frightened by a battle cry, suddenly charged up the side of the bank, tearing past Cornwall and flew over the top of the bank. She tried to grab his ear but it was too late – he had hurtled down onto the plateau. Rupert, seeing the Long Men and their catapults, careered around the plateau panic-stricken. He tried to dodge a flurry of rocks but a large one caught him on his side. Rupert fell to the ground and writhed around in pain. He tried to get up but collapsed onto the grass and laid there motionless, blood trickling down his side.
Cornwall was about to go after him but was held back by Indigo.
‘It’s no good. They’ll get you if you go to him. He won’t have survived, that boulder was massive.’
‘But ...’ Tears welled up in Cornwall’s eyes.
‘I know, I know.’ Indigo held her for a while and she cried bitterly.
Kayleb, who had been holding his breath for the whole episode, exhaled and looked across to Indigo and Cornwall. He felt her pain. He felt like that when he thought of Helen dying. He wondered if the blood they’d taken from him had given them any clues to why he didn’t have the AIDS virus. Could he help to cure Helen? He felt anger coursing through his veins. Why had he been sent on this task when he could possibly save Helen’s life? Deep down, he had the feeling that London wasn’t really bothered whether Helen lived or died. She had been a waster and shouldn’t by rights have any help to keep her alive. What chance did Cornwall have if she had AIDS? Would they help her, or would they cast her back into the wilderness to die? No, neither Helen nor Cornwall should be allowed to die; it was inhumane. He looked at Indigo. Why was Indigo holding Cornwall? It should have been him comforting her.
Willow grunted anxiously and trotted up and down the river bank, trying to work out what had happened to Rupert. Rowan was becoming alarmed by this and feared that she, too, might bolt over the ridge, so he picked up the rope and tied it gently around her two heads. The others scuttled back down the ridge and started to walk up-river away from the fort and the pointless battle cries. Kayleb wondered why the Long Men were so angry. Did they blame the occupants of the fort for contaminating the water? He wanted to know who was in the fort. Could they help them all get back to London? Obviously they were of greater intelligence than the Long Men as the cladding on the fort, although rudimentary, was very effective. They were still quite close to the fort; maybe they could get in.
‘Wait,’ called Kayleb. ‘Stop, I think we should try and get into the fort and see if we can get help. They might take pity on us.’
‘Or kill us!’ exclaimed Rowan bluntly. ‘The only people that live out here are wasters. I would say that the fort will be full of them, with their own ideas on how to treat taskers. I think we’re safest just making our own way, don’t you?’
‘I think we should give the fort a miss, too,’ replied Indigo.
‘Rowan’s right. There’s only nutters out here. Do you know,’ said Indigo, ‘we have been walking and walking and I have seen no roads, cars, proper houses or pubs. What I’d give for a glass of wine. Where has everything gone? Everywhere, life is just grass and bushes. It’s all getting very dull,’ sighed Indigo.
Rowan pretended he was busy with Willow. He had only just started twenty-first-century history and he didn’t have an answer to Indigo’s question. He didn’t want to look stupid, especially in front of Cornwall. Kayleb spoke, much to Rowan’s relief and then annoyance.
‘I guess,’ said Kayleb, pulling at a piece of grass as he walked.
‘Cars and lorries were banned because we ran out of materials to build them and travel from one city was stopped because of terrorism and the Curfew Law. The roads out here in the wasteland have just crumbled away but in London there are roads for military traffic and for the trams to take people to work.’
‘How do you get food or do business or go on holiday?’ asked
Indigo, sounding frustrated by Kayleb’s matter-of-fact attitude.
‘You can’t seriously expect me to believe that you come from another age? Surely you know the answers to all these questions?’ Kayleb’s patience was waning. He felt they had all been humouring Indigo’s eccentricities too much. He still felt that getting into the fort was more important than answering stupid questions. Their lives were at stake. ‘Actually it’s not just wasters and wild beasts. There’s meant to be groups of aliens out here as well,’ continued Kayleb, hoping that Indigo’s curiosity had been satisfied.
Indigo looked crestfallen. He felt like an alien himself; it was so difficult to catch up with everything that had gone on since 2010. How many years had he travelled, one hundred ... two hundred ... a thousand? They were not prepared to accept that he had time-travelled, yet they were quite open to the idea of aliens living on Earth.
‘Look, I’m an alien. I know nothing about your planet, so humour me!’ said Indigo. ‘I might be able to help us all, if I know a bit more about how things work around here. I am friendly, and won’t harm you. I need to get to London as much as you do and I am sorry I ask so many questions but it will help if I know more.’
Rowan and Kayleb eyed Indigo with suspicion; they didn’t know what to think. Things were hard enough without having to trust an alien but it had to be said that Indigo had not put a foot wrong, except for the cowphant escapade.
‘OK,’ said Kayleb slowly, ‘I will explain.’
‘You can speak a little faster! I’m not stupid! I’ve managed up to now,’ exclaimed Indigo.
Kayleb continued. ‘We have to grow our own food in greenhouses on the roofs of our buildings and in every available patch of ground that isn’t built on. Each roof will provide enough fruit and vegetables to supply each family living in the block for the year. They’re productive all year as wind turbine and solar-powered heaters help them grow in the winter. Our waste products are processed in our homes and fed to the plants.
‘Meat and fish is produced humanely in free-range warehouses within London and is rationed. Most people prefer not to eat meat now because it has been genetically modified. There is some evidence that it affects our food chain as more babies are being born with two heads, despite being produced in a laboratory. They have to be born as termination has been banned. We used to be able to catch birds for meat, but this too has been banned as too many people were catching them rather than buying meat from authorities. Clothes and
toiletries and food we can’t grow are rationed and are provided free but are limited as everything is recycled. What else do you want to know? Oh yes, business is done with webcams on computers, money is exchanged on the internet and there are no holidays but we all have a three-day weekend? If we need an adventure then we go to an ICE centre, that is, an Interactive Cyber Experience Centre where you can be plugged into anything you fancy once you turn sixteen. I like the ICE skateboard championship and Rowan likes white-water rafting. Mentors and their children like watching their digiscreens or going for walks at weekends and a lot of time is spent tending the crops. All children go to nursery and school all day as both their mentors work and children play outdoors in the evening and make up their own games and then everyone has to be inside by 9 p.m. when the curfew starts. Only those doing shift work are allowed to be out.’
Rowan looked up embarrassed, Kayleb had mentioned his ICE white-water rafting experience he had used as a cover story when they were in the cave to explain why he had woken up hugging a pig. Cornwall seemed to know what he was thinking and started to cry again over her loss of Rupert.
‘But what about the space aliens, what about them?’ asked Indigo.
Kayleb looked puzzled. Hadn’t Indigo just said that he was an alien? He decided to answer him nonetheless. ‘They, as you probably know, appeared many years ago, claiming that they had previously sent down Jesus to try and organise us. Apparently we were a population experiment that had got out of hand and he was sent down to try and sort us out. He didn’t do a bad job and Christianity kept us going for a while. Things went wrong again. I think the increase of terrorism was the turning point. First the Twin Towers, then the Houses of Parliament, Sydney Opera House and, worst of all, the whole of Washington, and then everyone was at war with each other. We were obviously a civilisation in decline. Fortunately, we discovered how to create a shield over our country that protects us from aircraft or any terrorist entering. The shield is like a force field no solid object can get through, only air; it has saved all our lives many times and our lives have all improved. All civilised cities have a shield too.’
3004 Page 5