Dunno. He wont tell.
Ouster was he?
Just a bloke. We all just blokes an poor uns when the crows been peckin.
Efia look at the heave lad. Nuthin in his face, no thinks, just a hole for eatin an spittin.
What they kill him for, say Becca.
Heave bloke shrug an drop his broom. We use to find em dead an left for crits, he say. Now its carvin after an takin bits away. Have to hate deep for that. You muck about the husk after you eat a hazenut?
What for, say Becca.
What for an all?
Not enuf killin a bloke, Malk say. Kill the corse after. Take his head an no spook follow.
You know bout killin lad?
More an you.
Rightyer. We kill only whats good for eatin. An men aint too good for that.
What you kill, say Nathin.
What we need an the heave give us.
Heave dont give nuthin. Its just dumb desert.
Dont talk like that lad. Heaves like a dump for yer bad stuff. Walk it for days an you leave yer sickness there. Heave take yer rage an sorrow. Feed you too so longs you respect it. My boy here set a trap an ask the hare to give itself.
Trappin, say Malk. Aint no magic in that. Dont take respect to catch bunnies.
Well an it work for us, say the bloke. You see what happen to they as live elseways.
Efia step between Malk an the bloke. See the anger in Malks eyes, in Nathins grip on his sharpstick. Best cool things. We dont mean no bad, she say. Just tryin to get on our way.
I aint stoppin yer, say the bloke. The heave lad snuff an wipe snot on his arm.
Efia say, You live here?
Well not here, say the bloke. Not just here. All over. Bad Shot Heaves our home an we make our livin by it.
Same as us, say Becca.
Oh no. You kids what I call bingers. Just the first birds. I know drought. I know starvin what it make men do. Soon the steds ul empty grain stores gone an folks ul flock to the heave an strip it clean. All the wild grub my boy an me live by.
It aint just for you, say Nathin.
Not sayin so just sayin. Years back last once the rains fail thousands cross this land. Like ghosts. Women could as easy be men. Children like walkin corses. Dont understand the heave dont care for it cos hunger gnaw they bellies. Dint know brains in the belly did you? So it is when hungers bad enuf.
Howd you know for show famine come?
The heave bloke look at Nathin like hes sweatin piss. Howd you know you breathin?
Be dead else.
Sure as breathin famines comin. An everythin that follow.
Thats why we goin, say Becca.
Goin where sister?
Becca, say Malk, you shut yer gob.
West Cunny. Theres water there an rain in winter. Becca look fire at Malk. We aint first to think on it, she say.
Well well, say heave bloke. Malk scowl at this well well, seemin to say, What well? Might as well have a plan as not. Good luck to you kids. An now, say the bloke, we biddy good night. Nuthin to swap nuthin to say but fairy well.
Dowd Aban Becca ready to go at this but Efia cry out, Malk no!
The shout dont stop Malk Rona Nathin from jabbin they sharpsticks near the heave blokes throat. His boy seein this leap an gibber till Nathin clout him cross the face an he fall gainst the hut.
Not so fast, Malk say to the bloke who want to help his boy. Aint gonna shift us an we got empty guts to fill.
Meats all gone, the heave bloke say. We got some locust flour is all.
Well an thats a start, say Malk, an better manners.
Malk, say Efia, put the spear down.
Shut it, say Malk. Becca go in take a look what grub you can find.
Efia turn to Aban Dowd whiles Becca nod an stoop into the huts dark innards. It aint right, say Efia. Not shoppin off poor folk. But Dowd turn away, kick stone into the lands blue shadows. Aban fight a knot in his throat, his fists clench an his eyes keep off Efias like a stingin winds gainst him. Hungry, he say.
What?
We hungry an sleepy we got no other way.
Bollocks, say Efia. Bollocks.
Got these, say Becca comin out of the hut with sacks of flour in her hands. Theres honey too.
Biddy sit, say Malk to the heave bloke an he do like hes told, holdin the boy to his chest. Malk swallow hard an look at the sky like he sniff or taste the night comin. Since you so good an friendy I reckon we gonna stay over. Cook us some locust cakes an make us easy. Nathin. Tie em up.
No need, say the heave bloke. We aint gonna fight you.
Too right, say Malk. Do it.
Group watch, no thinks nor words sayin, as Nathin find twine in the hut an bind up the wrists of the bloke an his son. Not too tight, say Efia but Nathin ignore her an the boy cry as his twine bite.
Please, say the heave bloke. Dont hurt the boy.
Whats he to you, say Nathin.
Look you stay an take our flour but he aint no use to you an no problem neither.
Efia snatch Abans blade an go to cut the boys bonds but Nathin get in her way till Malk say, Rightyer.
Rightyer what, say Nathin.
Cut him loose, say Malk. One wrong move from him tho an its worse than rope he get.
Nathin try to take the blade off Efia but she do the freein like she cant trust him to do it right. Nathin look fire at Efia an when Malk aint seein at Malk. The heave bloke fix his boy, speak cool words to him in a private sort of talk till the boys calmer.
Whats that, say Malk, ouster words?
Nope, say heave bloke. Hes native.
Not right is he?
Not for you maybe. Right enuf for me an the life we got.
Backways I reckon, say Rona.
Hes simple is all. Simple an good.
As night fall the group rest an fix up some grub. Malk risk a fire an theres flour an honey for porridge. The heave bloke tie up outsight the hut watch Aban Dowd Becca bring firewood. Not that, he say. Dowd look at him. Deadwoods no good. Sand in pores slow the fire. Still make do an all. Use what you got.
Malk leavin the hut hear this. Aint got, he say, much of nuthin here.
Heave bloke look at Malk, suck his lip. Depend how you look it.
Look it with eyes man.
Eyes only the gate to seein. Some blokes dont even need em. See with they feelin. Here. Heave bloke clap a hand to his heart.
Malk snort like sands in his face. Some blokes dont need arses, he say. Shit here. An he point his gob with his thumb.
Most of the group laugh at this cept Malk who tell the joke an Efia who sees Malks thinkin. This poxy bloke seem to make the land work for him. Hes wise to it, for all his spooky talk. Worth milkin if we stuck on the heave for long.
Malk bide his time till its night an we sittin well fed by the embers. Then with the bloke an his boy gnawin scraps he turn to em.
So, he say, tell us. Whats the trick for shoppin this bush? How we stay on it if drought an famines come?
The blokes eyes shrink in the fire glow. Enuf light by the moon to see his scraggy hair, like its thorns an furze. Limbs dry an tough like they made of gumwood. The heave bloke seem to churn over Malks ask. Wrong way, he say, an a burr catch in his throat. Malk look at Rona an say, Give him yer jercan.
What? No.
Give it, say Malk an Rona hand the captive her water. He drink just a gulp an nod his thanks. Pass it to the boy.
You got it the wrong way, say the heave bloke. This land aint for shoppin. You dont fight or steal from it. The heave own us it feed us cos we know how to ask it.
Bollocks, say Nathin.
Aint bollocks I see it. Folk as dont know the heaves only fit for corses. Land feed you or you feed it. Aint no middle way.
Then what, say Nathin, the fucks the right way?
Respecks a start. Then lookin close up. Learn its ways.
Such as?
Well animal tracks. You thirsty you follow em an you find a waterhole. You got to learn yer patc
h see. Leave stones in yewka trees to mind you where water lie. Dig for it by trees as prosper in the Dry. Look in the trunks an hollows. If theres rainwater suck it up with a stem or make a sponge of dry grass.
Fine, say Dowd. But without a well you wont go far.
You manage what you got. If on the move dont drink keep walkin till thirst eat you till it rip yer gut an brain. Then drink as much as you can much as you need. Think better after. Speak better walk safer. Make nuther nightfall.
We know all this, say Aban.
But you traipsin in daytime. That dont make sense. Move slow an easy. Dont be dancin like atters in the midday sun. Surest way an cook yer brains. Listen you go slow an shady. When its hottest stir nuthin but yer shadow. Leave off sweat till sunset.
What if you aint got time for goin slow? This Rona say, the fierce look gone out of her face like shes speakin to an elder. Dangers after us we best get shiftin.
Well then, say the bloke, go nights.
Aint long enuf, say Malk. Its summer innit.
For crysake go nights when you can. The bloke see Nathin shake a cramp out his legs. An take salt, he say.
Salt?
Need salt same as water.
Eat salt, say Malk, an waters all you want after.
Right but what leak out in the hot aint just water but salt also. You carry salt its less weary you get an they cramps wont come so often. The heave blokes off now, he tell us how to clean cuts, how to sleep good an scape gettin sick. Leave yer waste far from where you kip, he say. You got swats for flies what bout mozzy nets?
Where we get mozzy nets?
Trade or nab em. Dont reckon thats a trouble for you lot.
Next he tell us how to get chiggers out of our skin before they lay eggs. What plants to press gainst sores from scabby mites. To catch hoppers you form a circle an close it till you drive em on a bed of coals. Eat em roasty then. Or nab locusts when they dim with the evening cool. The group listen an learn till it get so the boy lose some of his fear an sit next to Efia. The heave blokes not so easy tho. He look at these kids holdin him captive. Turn his thinks over in his head till he say, What you runnin from friends?
We aint yer friends, say Malk. An you know what from.
Thats not how you come to be as one tho is it? What you scapin from sister? The bloke ask this of Becca like he smell shes the weakest. She look fraid at Malk for his gree or sayso. He shake his head an Becca say nuthin. But Efia speak.
What yer reckon, she say. Usual shit. For us its marryin an birthin till we bust. Aint gonna live like that.
Theres worse fates, say the heave bloke lookin Efia straight in the eye. The world bein harsh an toothsome. Some reckon love for shades a fair trade.
Yeah I hear that. Mostly blokes as say it.
So you girls scapin one thing what bout you four lads?
How bout you stop askin questions, say Malk. How bout you keep that nose in its own shit eh?
The group an bloke go quiet after this. Rona yawn an set off others yawnin. Abans eyelids cant stop droopin. The last snaps of the ashes an the moons sinkin. Till soft as leaves fallin the bloke whisper, How you kids mean to get west?
We started, say Dowd, on the old road.
Which one?
Davys Way, say Rona.
Oh ah. Run out dunnit, say the bloke. It aint done for tho. Davys Way start again a few miles west of here. All the way to Silster then. Ole Roamin town that. Very ole.
Whats Roamin, say Becca.
Roamins what this land were long ago.
Like we roamin?
Dont ask me. All I know is Davys Way dont finish here. But its not safe long it. Best stay hid. What the heaves for an dont we know it.
How about trade, say Dowd.
Round these parts? Heave bloke rub his face. Dont think on trade no more. Crowstorm. Fansted Riches. We went that way half moon back.
What you find?
Corses. Only fruit as grow in season.
Efia nod at this. We see stedders, she say. Park up in grounds this big manshun.
Rightyer, say heave bloke. Militias bin busy.
Jorjes Army?
Dunno. They carry guns. Strong stuff gainst hoofer sticks an stones.
But the army, say Becca, dont it help the steds?
Help itself lass. Worse things get the better for some. Reckon the bones you see belong to a regular. Thats what they do to boys as dont follow orders.
They kill they own?
Keep the others nasty yeah.
What, say Nathin. They bones we sees some junta bloke? Why they take his ears?
Maybe not the same folk as kill him.
An you reckon, say Efia, they do that cos he say no to fightin?
Could be.
Nathin scoff at this. An he hate fightin so much why start?
Cos he aint got nuthin to lose.
Every blokes got his life to lose, say Aban.
Plus whats pricier than life, say Efia. It come out of her without her plannin an everyone stare at her in the moon glow.
Pricier than life an whats that then, say Malk.
Just sayin, say Efia. Lifes not all a bloke can lose. But her words dont click with others an the nabber move on. Slowly the group break up for sleep. Malk Rona in the hut, Nathin outsight with the guidin stick an Becca at his feet. The heave bloke say no, but they tie up the boy case he get ideas when alls sleepin.
Efia Aban curl up near the ashes. Dowd furthest off on first watch. Fixin to wake Efia when its her turn.
Efia feel a hand on her shoulder. She wake to the dark loomin of Dowds head. At first shes fraid but, Shush, he say, please. I must tell you something.
You OK?
I must tell you something. You will understand.
What? Dowd what you done? Seein his fear of others hearin, Efia take his hand an lead him like a ma her son some way into the night.
Whats yer trouble?
Its nothing bad for you I swear. Efia, he say an for a scary sec she think he might say words she cant stand from him, cant stand from any bloke cept maybe one an that she cant say even to herself. But Dowd aint struck like she reckon. In starlight and moonlight she make out tears on his cheeks.
Hey what is it?
That time I told you about the island. The island in the river where they kept me prisoner.
Yeah?
I said to you the man I escaped with gave me fish. Bad fish to eat remember? I said Ned gave me this rotty fish.
So what?
It was a lie. I ate no fish. There was none to eat not even rotted. Oh god.
You dont have to say it.
Efia –
Dont tell me!
I ate what they gave me. I was so hungry. So hungry and I wanted to live. I thought like Malk says whats pricier than life so I put it in my mouth I chewed it.
Efia clap her fingers on his lips, cos he close to wakin the group hes so loud. Under her skin he go quiet an she let out his breath like a moth from her grasp.
Why tell me?
Because the words push at my teeth at my tongue like if I dont speak I will sick them up.
But you dint kill to eat did you?
I took what he gave me.
An cos of that you here now. Our friend.
I have no friends.
Yeah you do. Me Aban Becca.
Not Malk.
An tho it aint for me to say its like yer speakin it undone the bad of it. You rid of the bad an you done good.
But if the Law sees me. You heard what the preacher man said. The Law sees into us.
I dont reckon the Law do you? Dowd stare at Efia like hes never had this think. Leastways the Law aint what I look to.
But things turn Efia. Deeds turn on the doer.
An you say you sorry an dont do it no more its done an the world let you be.
But I dream about it all the time.
A dreams like smoke. You wake up an the fires out.
He say nuthin to this, just stand in the hush of the heave lo
okin at Efia. He reach up an touch the hand shes put on his chest. Thank you, he say. You see what the others cannot.
What?
You see outside them.
Efia drop her head an take her hand from under Dowds. Shush now, she say. Say nuthin more of this.
Yes.
You sleep an I watch.
Thank you.
Dowd walk off an lie down in the shadows. The night do its low creepin over the land an after Efias watch its Abans turn an he see the day hatch its birds an light show in the east. Aban look back to check on the group an he see the empty space where the heave bloke ought to be. Fast as can be we up an Nathins cursin, Fuckin fucker, an Malk lookin grim at the cut-up twine.
The boy, say Efia. Maybe he dunnit?
How, say Nathin. I bind him up tight.
Not tight enuf, say Becca.
I reckon we go after em. Bring em back.
What for, say Aban. Whats the point?
Might tell on us, say Nathin.
I say they run cos they fraid is all. Same as we would. Malk, say Efia, what you reckon?
Malk chew on this an go to Nathin, take the guidin stick off him. He look deep at the woods dark grain. Aban find Efias eyes. She see him thinkin but no picture of it find her brain.
Dayup soon, say Malk. Nuther hotten. Best be off.
13
Blueface
It was like a dream, one of those labyrinths of haste and obstruction, with a gibbering horror fast on his heels. A wolf, or something like a wolf, was howling in the distance. He could hear faintly the shouts of men. He let the boy steer and pull him; he had little will of his own, only deep reserves of pain and humiliation to meet the branches that slashed his face. Trees threw up their black obstacles; the ground buckled and rolled at his bloodless feet. Perhaps this was planned for him, a travesty of escape, and at any moment the boy would lead him to the teeth of a trap, or into the darkest swale and let go of his hand, leaving him blind and breathless for the sport of his enemies.
The boy stopped and Marcus was forced to do likewise. They listened for sounds of pursuit. It could only be the druid, and he could not run, surely, with that blasted leg.
They were off again, the boy railing at their pace and pulling him till his shoulder sang in its socket. He meant to oblige, and tried to think sense into his obtuse and doltish limbs. They ran and kinked and stumbled in the dark. All the while death owned him. He was death’s slave.
The Devil's Highway Page 13