‘Ah well. Best get on with having our sandwiches and lets have a nice tea and cake, then we will clear all this off and lay out what we have on the table,’ Wee Renee said resignedly, instantly tucking into an egg and cress sandwich.
They ate their sandwiches and talked about other matters like the snow and Christmas. To be exact, what was the right time to put up your Christmas Tree. This was the one matter Wee Renee and Pat disagreed about. Pat said the 21st December, whilst Wee Renee had already had hers up since the last Sunday in November. Trying to focus on the normality of life whilst they ate, so it would not put them off their food.
‘I like this, on these sandwiches here, Pat,’ said Bob, ‘What is it?’
‘Braun,’ she said pointedly.
‘What’s that?’ Sue and Wee Renee looked at each other and Sue quickly shook her head vigorously.
‘It’s a type of wee Pate, you know. Like beef paste,’ said Renee changing the subject. ‘You’re a good boy. Wee Renee has bought you a treat. I’ll let you have it, if you eat all your Pate sandwiches,’ she laughed gently. Sue glared at the others and they carried on eating their sandwiches. Everyone, afterwards avoiding the braun apart from Bob and Pat.
Wee Renee had bought Bob a king size Yorkie bar and she dropped it into the hood of his sweatshirt as she walked past to go to the toilet, feeling sorry that a lad of his age should have this burden on his shoulders. On the other hand, she also thought that it would be the making of him. She was pleased that her two daughters were both in Scotland and were well away from all this.
They finished their meal and the women picked up the empties and gathered all uneaten food. There was more uneaten food than eaten by far and whether this was because Pat had been too overgenerous or whether they didn't really have appetites, they didn't know. But there were plates and plates full of food left which Sue put clingfilm back over and put in the fridge.
‘So,’ Gary said, ‘let's get out all our stuff.' There was five minutes of clattering, banging and thumping, whilst people laid out what they had brought in front of them. Some people only had one thing. Some people had many. Gary looked at what was on the table, then around at the group.
Tony waited until the end, then with a flourish got out his gun and gently put it on the table. It was an old handgun, blackish and battered.
‘It’s an old Enfield? Can I take a look at it?’ asked Freddie.
‘Yes, yes. Take a good look at the beauty.’
Freddie picked it up and looked at it through the bottom part of his glasses. He stroked the barrel and looked at all the nicks in the metal.
‘It’s an old war hero, this. Who’s was it?’
‘My grandad’s, he told them he had lost it. He thought the family might need it at some point. I don’t think he realised how much we would. Just seventy years in the future.’
‘Can I look at it, Dad.’ Asked Bob.
‘No!’ said Sue.
‘I think we should carry as much as we can and share stuff,’ Gary said as he looked around at peoples piles, ‘What in God's name is that?’ He pointed towards something in Pat’s pile.
‘It’s a Walker's toffee hammer that I got one Christmas. I thought if I had used up everything, then it is better than nothing.’
‘I might disagree with that, Pat,’ he replied, bemused.
‘Look, if I put a lot of force behind it, I could probably crack open the odd skull or two.’ She picked it up and swung it down hard. It whistled through the air. ‘Or at least an eye socket.’ He watched her in full flight.
‘There is no arguing with the fact that you could do that Pat, so fair enough.’
‘Never mind you questioning her about that, which I agree, is a bit pathetic. What's that thing there?’ Danny pointed to a kind of knife-like hook that was not that large, in front of Gary, in his pile.
‘Ha ha! That is my secret weapon. It is my weed whacker.'
'What do you use that for?’ asked Bob.
‘You know the block paving, like what is on your mum and dad's drive? This will get all the weeds out from in between them, in the summertime. You have to have one in your arsenal when you are going out to do a bit of gardening. I just thought the hook part would be quite useful.’
‘I know where you're going with that. Great minds think alike,’ Wee Renee said shrilly. They looked at her pile but she did not have a weed whacker on there.
‘What are you talking about,’ asked Tony. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a cheese knife, with a wooden handle, which she slapped on the table.
‘This will be great. I have been thinking along the same lines as Gary. Look at the hook on this. Plunge it in and rip out their gizzards. Or you could stick it into their eyes and pluck them out, dangling down on their cords, that should do it.’
‘There are no words, are there!’ Freddie laughed. Mildly shocked, but also amused at the vivid picture Wee Renee was painting.
‘But it’s a cheese knife!’ exclaimed Andy ‘It’s a bloody cheese knife!’
‘Yes,’ said Wee Renee, ‘and I might have you know that this has cut some very hard cheeses in the past. Don't you worry about this!’
‘I thought I was shitting it before,’ said Andy, ‘but now obviously I feel fine, when I know I am behind you two. One with a toffee hammer and one with a cheese knife. You do know what we are dealing with don't you?’ He was starting to sound a slightly hysterical. ‘These aren’t some little fairies or people with a strong opinion. These are monsters, you know. Great big tall monsters, who want to eat us!’
‘Andy, don't you worry. I was just trying to think out of the box. And they aren’t any taller now they are dead, than they were alive.’ said Wee Renee. Andy looked back at her. She could tell he wasn’t convinced. ‘I also have this. She fiddled in her backpack, chuckling.
‘I had forgotten about this.’ She carried on looking.
‘I know what you're on about, Rene,' Pat said and she looked at Andy, ‘You'll like this.’
Then, Wee Renee pursed her lips. Suddenly, and with a great deal of force, she pulled it out. It clattered down on the table.
‘A machete!’ Andy shouted. ‘So you remembered the cheese knife but you didn’t remember the machete?’
‘Well, Gary reminded me about the cheese knife, or else I would have probably forgotten about that as well.’
‘So we are okay as long as we keep shouting out your different weapons, eh Wee Renee and you can keep remembering where you put them,’ Danny laughed, ‘Other than that you will sit there with your cornet in your hand, thinking what should I do?'
‘You just wait until you are my age, you cheeky monkey,’ she said, ‘You know I am constantly having a senior moment and Pat is worse than me!’
‘Speak for yourself,’ said Pat lightheartedly, ‘I am fine and everything I have brought I have remembered to take out and put on this bloody table. You will be pleased to hear that me and Rene had another lovely sleepover, and we peeled another load of fresh garlic. So that is in the string bags, as usual.’
‘Okay, so can we share all this stuff out?’ Gary picked up about five things from his pile of about twenty weapons. ‘There is plenty there for other people if they haven't got much stuff so let's make use of it all. It is no use being here left in the band room.’
‘Yes, but we do have to think about how we are going to conceal all this,’ said Sue, ‘I mean we can't just go sitting there, playing O’ Come All Ye Faithful, whilst being tooled up with machetes and guns. I mean it’s not exactly a festive look.'
‘We can take as much as we like really,’ Bob said thoughtfully, ‘We can put it behind the drum kit.'
‘Yes and the timps,' said Laura, ‘We could have Gary's big holdall full of stuff.
‘Yeah, we'll rush behind the percussion, get the weapons and that's where we'll make a stand,' Danny said happily.
‘We can always have a few wee things on us to defend ourselves,' Wee Renee said, ‘Bob, I have s
een you eyeing my cheese knife, you can have this you know, if you want it.’
‘Are you sure?’ He said, obviously impressed by the capabilities of the cheese knife, as she had described it.
‘Oh aye. I have got plenty of stuff.’ She handed over the knife. He took it and looked at it appraisingly.
‘This is great. I fancy taking a few gizzards out, as you say. Get them back for Ian. Is that what was dangling out of him?’
Sue thought she would change the subject. ‘I think we should aim to get there at about threeish at the latest because of it going dark,’ said Sue, ‘With all these weapons and the instruments we might have to make two journeys, although I’m hoping not. Is that timing okay with you all?’ They nodded. ‘Gary, please try and come before dark. I will be so worried until you get there.’
'That is not a problem for me,’ said Gary, ‘I am hoping for just half an hour on each of these jobs. What doesn't get done, I will have to leave. It is too important to be off the streets before dark. Don't worry I will be standing side-by-side with you all tonight.’ He made his way out of the door and they all looked in down in silence at the table covered in weapons.
The Master was sitting in his house. He was excited about that night, knowing his preparations over the last few weeks would ensure that this would go along swimmingly. There was no way that having so many of his vampires inside the band, in the audience, and outside could fail. He would make sure that everything and everyone had a right good old Winter Feast. He was up early that day comparatively for a vampire at two in the afternoon, still daylight hours. The others would not be awake for a couple of hours but he was up and wanted to greet them all as they awoke. Michael had made sure that all the curtains were closed. Norman always got Michael to see to this, and he had done it every day, since he had asked him, to be fair. That at least, was something he was good for. He would only be making a brief visitation to the concert tonight. It would be festive to pick up just a few children for him, and Kate. Then they would be on their way back to The Grange, out of harm's way. He was sure that, even though they would be victorious tonight, there would be a few casualties and he was not prepared to sacrifice himself, or Kate for this. No use tempting fate.
24 - Concert
The band got there well before dark and they were setting up the percussion and the music stands. Mrs White arrived shortly after and Sue contemplated whether she should talk to her in confidence. She tossed it around in her head for half an hour, deciding that Mrs White, being a logical and intelligent woman, would not believe what she heard and would think Sue either mad or that it was a pile of mumbo jumbo.
There was an undressed Christmas Tree in the foyer which was brought in every year, from Ernie’s garden. He had potted it up five years ago, and had luckily driven it over the previous week. The band and Mrs White had brought Christmas decorations for the tree, the foyer and the main hall, to make it even more festive. Tony thought they shouldn't bother with this, as he wasn't interested in Christmas decorations anyway on a general day to day basis, and even more so this year. Sue had reminded him that they were fighting for their own lives, freedom and the right to behave like they wanted to. So they should carry on regardless and not let all this change things.
Gary arrived about five minutes before it went dark. He had indeed come straight from work and still was wearing his tool belt. He advised them that had been talking to the school caretaker who said that many of the kids were ill. Struck down with a mystery illness. The others were downhearted at this news and shook their heads.
‘Kids. Biting kids,’ said Sue quietly, ‘They are cowards. I can't believe it!’
‘I can't believe it either,’ Danny angrily announced, ‘Because this means we have a bigger job than we thought we had.’ Wee Renee shook her head, looking into his eyes. She knew what he was thinking.
‘Yes, it’s bad enough to try kill an adult that might be coming at you. But to kill a wee kiddie, that would be horrific!’ she uttered.
‘It doesn't bother me,’ said Bob matter-of-factly, ‘If they are kids or if they are adults they are just vampires and nothing else. The kid is gone from inside that thing. Don't forget that, or else you will be a goner. There will be a little ankle biter, biting your ankles.’ The group knew he was right and started to square this point to themselves. It was a sobering thought, but one that now he had brought up, might stop them from hesitating out of guilt and save their lives.
‘From the mouths of babes,’ Wee Renee said, ‘You are a very sensible lad.’ Sue and Tony were so proud of him.
They looked at Mrs White who was quite happily putting out song sheets for the Christmas Carols onto all the chairs and benches.
‘She must have some idea,’ said Laura, ‘I mean with all those kids off school, she lives in the village, she must know there is something wrong.’
‘Maybe she does, and is in denial,’ said Danny.
‘A bit like you then, before you saw Aidy and Ian,’ said Tony, ‘Until you see it with your own eyes, you don’t want to believe it. To believe it would mean, you are gullible or that nightmares are true and they are after you when you are awake. You have to deal with it. Mentally and physically. And you are putting it off until you really have no choice. Once you have made the full connection, well……it’s just something that you have to see for yourself, I think. And she hasn’t.’
At six o'clock they started to change into their band uniforms. Wee Renee gave them all a couple of cloves of garlic. A few of them had Christmas Tinsel around their heads and they put their cloves of garlic in those. They put one in their jacket pockets and their trouser pockets. They had taped some weapons underneath their chairs and some of them actually had them attached to their instruments. Pat had taped a large knife to the other side of her tenor horn so that nothing could be seen and a couple of all them managed to do this including Danny with his baritone. Gary stressed that they should have the blade facing downward in-case they got pushed from the back on to their own weapon. Wee Renee crossly fiddled with her cornet and a flick knife for at least ten minutes before giving up and putting it in her cleavage. Bob watched the whole of this scene wide-eyed. He thought she was great.
Soon the seats were all ready, and each person had one, which they had tooled up. Any remaining weapons, they put in Gary’s holdall, and hid it behind Laura’s first timpani. They had just put out the right number of seats for the players, there were no extras. Suddenly they heard the back door, which was the stage entrance, slam open. They all stopped breathing for a moment, silently listening. Hearts beating loudly.
‘Please tell me someone remembered to lock that back door,’ said Pat, through gritted teeth, ‘Perhaps something has dropped off a shelf.’ Laura hopefully uttered.
They all looked around at each other, hardly breathing, knowing it was the back door. Their worst fears were realised when the sounds of quite a few footsteps could be heard coming slowly up the stairs. Their eyes quickly moved around, Mrs White obliviously finished putting the last of the raffle prizes out and strode into one of the side rooms. The footsteps got louder. Liz could feel a scream rising in her throat.
Ernie stood at the front with Lynn at his side. ‘Isn't this a band concert? It doesn't look like a full band to me!’ He had the rest of the players behind him fully dressed in their uniforms with their instruments in their hands, looking at them all menacingly. ‘We've come to play,’ said Ernie cheerfully, ‘We’re all going to play together tonight.’
‘Yes,’ Lynn joined in beside him, ‘Get some more chairs. There is not enough for all of us. You are making us not feel welcome!’
They stared aghast. No one said a word apart from Gary.
‘Oh bollocks!’ he whispered, swallowing.
Jake and Vicky, Diane and Sophie, the two Woodalls, Vincent who was no longer wearing his dentures, Colin and Darren both smiled at them. Finally at the back, standing tall and proud, there was Keith and Stephen. Keith did indeed look ferocious. St
ephen finally had become a powerful predator, far from the cuddly, likeable man they had once known. Then there was one more set of footsteps coming up the stairs, one by one. Freddie feared so much that this would be Maurice and that he would have to fight and kill him. This was the worst case scenario for him. But it was not Maurice. It was Barry, who guiltily stood there on his own.
‘Sorry guys,’ he said to the group, walking round the side of the group of vampires and sitting down in one of the chairs for the audience, which were currently absent. An apologetic smile on his face. They were doomed.
‘Is that the full band?’ whispered Danny to Gary.
‘No, not everyone. As far as I can see there is still Mark and Maurice missing but that's about it,’ he replied to Danny. After a moment, he said, ‘Everyone stay on your chairs and just let them put their chairs in between us. Just move your chair out of the way.’ They all thumped their chairs along until there was enough space for each new player. As if this was a sign, the new group went to the back room to get chairs, to put in between.
‘Why don't they just storm us?' asked Laura.
'Because they are waiting for the big feast, aren’t they?’ answered Bob, ‘This isn't about just us. This is about the several hundred people that are coming to watch us. All the kids and parents they want to eat.’ Gary nodded. He spoke quietly but everyone heard.
‘Don't you move out of them chairs for anything. Say we are not going in the back room. They might turn us there and then. We won't walk out from the back when the audience is seated, we will just stay here and act like that is part of the performance. In fact get your carolling books out. We can start playing when the audience comes. Do not go into the back room, no matter who tries to make you.’
Woody walked around to the percussion section. It was a very tense atmosphere, that could be cut with a knife.
‘By all means go on the drum kit, if you like tonight, Woody,’ offered Bob, looking at Laura in wide-eyed terror. He glanced at Laura’s timps.
Sticky Valves: Book 1 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 21