by Vance Huxley
“I’m not following waving anything into dark places.”
“I’ll tell them to pull out all the light bulbs so it’s all dark. Most have dressed down to lull you blokes into a sense of security, because this is their chance. We won’t know if someone stays out all night.” Liz grinned at the puzzlement on Harold’s face. “We shuffled everyone around so one girl house is sprout free tomorrow. Casper is a nice type but he has some gross habits, and Brussel sprouts on his Christmas dinner is one. I’ve thrown him and a few more out. The sprout perverts next door have made room for them and we’ve let fellow sufferers come to stay until Boxing Day.” Liz beamed. “That means if someone doesn’t come home?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
Harold looked around the dancers and under the bits of tinsel most were dressed relatively soberly, relative to Halloween anyway. Though Sal wore something red, plunging and backless, while Suzie had found a traditional little black dress. Emmy had gone for white again, but a longish flared skirt that she twirled now and then just to tease the blokes. Holly wore a modest pleated skirt, pink of course, and a simple white blouse with a big Kiss Me Slow badge so they weren’t very well disguised. Harold’s eyes stopped at Celine, in her long white evening gown again, because Celine stood alone. “Where’s Alicia?”
“She can’t face it, the dance and pretending to smile. Celine really wants to push past the rape and move on so she’s here, but Alicia is just sinking deeper into depression.” Liz sighed. “We can’t even diagnose her, let alone treat whatever the problem is. Well, we think we know the problem, and its fear. She keeps thinking the bastards are coming over the wall or through the doors again. Her Mum died in the estate car.” The car had been riddled with bullets trying to escape as a mob overran their block of flats.
“Are you sure she’ll be all right?” Harold considered going to find out because several blokes in the Army had got depressed and one ate a bullet.
“Alicia is getting by, but she’d be better if we could move a bloke in as a guard. A bloke because she doesn’t rate women guards regardless of the evidence.” Liz banged on Harold’s chest with a fist, gently. “We can’t put someone like you in there because Celine would have a breakdown. Casper offered but Celine nearly passed out at the thought and he’s gay.” Liz stepped back as the music ended. “Hard luck, your dance is over and you missed your chance again.”
Harold never got the chance to reply. “Goody. My turn.” Emmy put her mouth near Harold’s ear. “Have you worked out who donated the stocking yet, or do you want to do the Prince Charming thing? Bring it round to the girl’s club and you can try it on us all one at a time.” They swung away into a waltz, near enough. “Though it’ll have to be one a night, because if you’re fitting a stocking I’m not letting you get away until morning.”
“Naughty. Remember I’m a bad boy and might take you up on that.” Harold did his best with a twirl and didn’t step on Emmy’s feet. “I haven’t got the stocking with me.”
“Hey, that’s real smooth. Though I was hoping for a slow dance.” She put her lips next to his ear. “Or the last one. That could turn into stocking trying, because half a hint and someone will find one.”
Harold chuckled. “I’m running away to hide before the last dance.”
“Ooh, where are you hiding?”
Harold laughed. “Hiding means I don’t tell you, idiot.”
“You could tell just one of us and find out if she turns up. Liz says you’ve got a favourite but she’s not telling.” Emmy pursed her lips. “So we’re all going to keep testing until we find out who.”
“She won’t tell me who it is either, which makes it a bit awkward.” The music stopped and Emmy moved off to be quickly claimed by Curtis. Harold smiled because the gardener could manage a slow dance with his home-made crutch, or he could the way Emmy kept in one place. In the next room Seth did his best to monopolise Berry but she kept dancing with other blokes now and then. Though when she came for her Harold dance, Berry confessed she just wanted to wind Seth up. Then she gave Seth a Berrying for dancing with Liz.
“Hey, you were dancing with Harold.”
“Are you arguing?” Berry raised a hand again.
“No, but now the first one needs kissing better, and my arm?” Seth smiled hopefully and pointed at the arm hit by a crossbow bolt only a month ago.
“Oy, are you playing fast and loose with my daughter?” Nigel, Berry’s Dad, stood right behind Seth so the wounded man couldn’t see the big smile. The rest of those nearby were soon smiling as well until Berry rescued a spluttering Seth and took him off to dance.
Harold had a lovely evening, despite the succession of hints about the last dance and the expected results of Christmas kissing. The usual suspects had something planned and Suzie at least had joined them this time. Who the victim or victims would be wasn’t clear and several single men were being wound up, though Harold’s next partner had no plans for getting too near any man. “I’m going early Harold. I’m sorry, I can’t do the last dance thing, any dance really.” Celine shrugged.
“Don’t apologise, Celine. Next time maybe. After all it would be a waste not to show that dress off a few times a year.” Harold smiled. “Happy Christmas.”
“And you Harold.” Celine set off for the door, speaking to a couple of people on the way, while Sal seized Harold.
“My turn now or it will be once the tune starts. A slow dance regardless of the music.” Sal giggled. “Now I’ll find out what those hugs feel like on skin.” She would, because the dress only had a back over her ass, and Harold wasn’t holding that. Actually, if Sal wasn’t so full-on, and it was a bit more private? The continuous close dancing definitely seemed to be having an effect on Harold. Sal had snuggled in and complained for about the fourth time that Harold hadn’t got a proper grip, when the door flew open and a distraught Celine dashed in.
“It’s Alicia! Patricia, quick, it’s Alicia. She’s tried to kill herself.” Even as Harold headed for the door Barry moved past, catching up with Patricia as she went out of the door.
* * *
They found Alicia laid at the bottom of the stairs in a pool of vomit. Barry turned her and then Patricia quickly checked for injuries but if she’d fallen, Alicia hadn’t obviously hurt herself. Harold gave Barry a hand to carry Alicia round to Patricia’s house, the hospital in effect. Then the men were expelled while Patricia and a couple of other women set into trying to save the young woman. When the pair arrived back at Alicia’s home four others were busy cleaning up the mess and spraying to cover the smell of vomit.
“If she hadn’t taken the tablets and booze this would have worked. She passed out or tripped and fell before getting the noose on.” Barry took down the rope tied to the upstairs banister and trailing over the edge and inspected the loop. “She’s not made a proper noose but it would have tightened.” Barry moved closer to Harold and lowered his voice. “That would have been a hard death, I’ve seen it happen. What was bothering her?”
“Being unprotected. She keeps expecting the worst.” Harold explained as best he could, and about Celine.
“Why don’t they split up?” Barry shrugged. “Alicia could move in with someone different, maybe a couple?”
“The pair of them have sort of bonded in a partners in misery sort of way. No, not misery, more like fear, they’re both frightened of something.” Harold shrugged as well. “Maybe we can get another woman to move in but that doesn’t help Alicia.”
“My lasses could move in, and I’ll visit a lot? If I’m bothering Celine I’ll go home, but the rest of the time I’ll be here?” Barry laughed and indicated himself. “Despite the black hair and shaved chin everyone knows I’m here with my grandkids and past all that.” Doll’s blonde hair had been dyed light brown and Matti’s dark red tresses were more like ginger now so the whole family were disguised.
“Bring your axe to reassure her.” Harold looked at the rope. “But make sure Alicia doesn’t get hold of it.”
<
br /> Harold went back to the hospital, and Patricia invited him in. “We were in time, Harold, and that Barry is brilliant. He had her into recovery position in seconds. Alicia must have taken too many too quickly, because she brought up whole tablets.” Harold could smell vomit but Alicia looked clean and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. “I’ve been rationing her sleeping tablets, but I reckon she found some more while scavenging.” Patricia gave a wan smile. “On the other hand, your long-range scavenging trips brought in the shot that saved her. Your midnight raiders brought a lot of things that didn’t appeal to yobs but will save lives, I hope.” The last remnants of her smile died. “I’m working half blind here, Harold.”
“You’re performing miracles. There’s people walking around today who’d be dead without you.” Harold tried for a confident smile. “Don’t you start getting down. I swear your smile works better than the medicine.”
“We’re all getting down because it’s sinking in. This is it. We survived, and the reward is to live in the zoo with the animals loose outside our cage.” Patricia glanced at her phone. “I can’t even get to the internet for advice now the phones have shut down, if the internet even exists anymore.”
“We’ll keep bringing in books. Hilda says she always fancied being a librarian so her house is the library now and Faith, Toby’s mum, is moving in to help her. I’ll ask them to let you know if any of what we bring is a medical book.” Harold wasn’t hopeful, unless one of the houses they were looting belonged to a doctor.
“Any help would be brilliant. Those men in the tanks saved up to ten people with the antibiotics and the other medical supplies, though some folk will never be right because I can’t do the doctoring bit properly for the bones and tendons.” Patricia produced another sad smile. “And we can’t even pass a message to thank the soldiers or they’ll be in trouble. How screwed up is that?”
They sat and talked about how screwed up things were while Alicia slept, proper sleep as near as Patricia could tell. By the time Harold came back past the house used for dancing, everyone had gone home leaving the place silent and dark. He trudged home with a few flakes of snow falling, which at any other time would have been a reason to celebrate. Snow at Christmas, the TV would have gone barmy about that any other year. Harold went in and took off his coat, opened the door into the lounge, and two arms went round him.
“Thank the gods you’re back.” Harold held onto a sobbing Sharyn. He knew there’d been offers to babysit, but Sharyn had refused and seemed content to stay home. “I’ve been sitting here thinking, what do I do tomorrow?” More tears poured out and Harold patted her back and made sympathetic noises. There was nothing he could actually say. “Daisy will ask about Daddy, I know she will.”
“He’s in the special place made of love.” That was what Daisy had come up with, after a long talk about the first deaths here. “She drew a picture, we did, and it’s on her bedroom wall with Gabriela’s and the others.”
“But it’s Christmas. That’s different.”
“No, we’ll just tell her Daddy needs tinsel in his picture.” Harold couldn’t do this stuff; this needed a few of the girl club but not this time. Sharyn didn’t need to hear about Alicia just now.
“Oh, er, should I? Can I do anything?” Hazel came in behind Harold. She’d been at Betty’s, playing computer games with Alfie and possibly Veronica, the other young teen.
“You’d better go to bed or Santa won’t leave presents.” Harold gave her a sort of smile over Sharyn’s head, and Hazel rolled her eyes in reply and went upstairs.
“What about Hazel?” Sharyn looked up, tears still streaming. “She’s…”
“Shush.” Harold’s finger went onto her lips and he spoke very quietly. “Hazel doesn’t need to hear you talking about her dad being dead or where her mum might be.”
“Oh.” Sharyn’s face crumpled again. “I can’t think straight.” Her head went back on to Harold’s shoulder. “I miss Freddy.” Eventually the storm subsided and Sharyn went to bed, which left Harold to make up reloads and clean guns and generally knacker himself so he could sleep through his own dark thoughts.
* * *
Santa left Christmas presents on the doorstep, presents that were precious to those who parted with them. A selection of containers each held little portions of drinking chocolate or cocoa powder, each with a little message. Every one threatened that the giver would demand personal compensation from Soldier Boy, and although not one put a name on their present all the tracks in the light snow led back to the girl club houses.
Daisy asked about Daddy, and Harold took her up to her bedroom where they put tinsel on the picture of Daddy’s special place so he could celebrate as well. Then they put a bit of tinsel on the other pictures of special places and moved them together so Gabriela and Toby and the rest could have a Christmas party. Though before that Daisy squealed and laughed and had a proper five year old Christmas with chocolate milk cereal. Harold had brought Christmas paper back on his forays, and wrapped an impressive array of colouring books and another plastic horse, a black one this time. Daisy didn’t seem to mind some of the books being partly completed.
Wills played quietly, a serious almost-three year old who smiled but didn’t squeal and run about. He spent most of the time on his hands and knees playing with a big plastic lorry, and ignored the other presents. About right for him, according to Sharyn. Wills would get to the rest once the novelty wore off. Sharyn feigned shock that Harold actually remembered her favourite perfume even if the bottle wasn’t full and left the tears, because Freddy wouldn’t smell it, until the kids were in bed.
Hazel looked pleased with a computer game, one that Alfie must have found and saved as a gift, and the clothes and presents from others. Pleased but not happy, and she spent much of the day quietly reading. Daisy dragged each of the adults, and Hazel, out of their thoughts so they could play or draw, and probably kept Christmas alive in one house at least. Christmas dragged by slowly and very quietly, with even the girl club subdued. The TV played old Christmas tunes and reran some very old Christmas films, mouthed platitudes, and there was no King’s or Queen’s speech.
Boxing Day brought more of the same, and Casper came to see Harold the following morning. “We’ve got to do something Harold.” He sighed. “I’m as bad as the rest. We’re all looking ahead and the view is crap.”
“I’ll take you on a raid into the city, to find that gay gang and a boyfriend?” Harold had half considered that, because he did feel that dragging Casper out to the edge of the city meant the bloke had no chance of finding anyone for his mistletoe.
“No you prat, though I did miss the parties. I meant something to give everyone a lift.” Casper frowned. “A bit of a laugh.”
“Like Halloween and Guy Fawkes?” Harold thought hard. “Snow Fawkes since we’ve got some?” The light snow on Christmas Eve had been followed by a proper covering.
“Make a New Year or Christmas Guy, snowman? Give prizes?” Casper’s smile faded. “No, most people won’t care about any prize we can come up with.”
“We need Liz.”
* * *
“Fat lot of good you are as a leader. I distinctly put blacksmith on my list and look, no blacksmith.” Liz sniggered. “Though Jon got a Christmas stocking filler he didn’t expect. That’s if Sal wore stockings.”
“Sal and Jon?”
“She said something about one hero being as good as another at Christmas, and she’d seen one that wouldn’t run away.” Liz sniggered again. “Jon didn’t try. Two slow dances and most of his brain was mush before she dragged him out of the door.” Then she frowned. “Most of the rest called off their plans after hearing about Alicia. We’ve got to find a way to help that lass because Patricia hasn’t got many of those magic injections.”
“Barry says if she’d skipped the tablets the rope might have worked. Ah. He had a suggestion. If Matti and Doll move in that won’t upset Celine, and he’ll visit a lot.
” Harold watched as Casper and Liz thought it through.
“That only works if Matti and Doll swear off blokes. If they bring one back, Celine will have heart failure.” Casper frowned. “Matti won’t take anyone home just now because whatever happened put her off men for a bit.”
“From the finger marks on her arms it got a bit too close before grandad bashed the bastard on the head.” Liz grinned. “Doll livened up a few of the eligible men though. She’d got you on her list, Harold, but nearer to the last dance. Wearing a denim miniskirt in this weather? That girl has dedication, possibly as much as Holly at Halloween. Though her boots are nice and I might borrow them if a blacksmith turns up. I reckon living with grandad might be cramping that one’s style but they won’t leave him living all alone.”
“So you’ll ask them about a move?” Harold smiled. “Barry suggested it so maybe he wants a bit of peace.”
“That could work, and Louise is still on her own so I’ll see if she’ll move in. A sort of mini girl club. Cheering the rest up, including the girl club, will take a bit of doing. The women, or the girl club, will go for fancy dress if the prize is worth it?” Liz eyed up Harold.
“Not a chance. There’s only one of me and anyway some of that lot weren’t eyeing me up. You’ll need more prizes.” He grinned. “There’ll be a good few blokes willing to offer their bodies in a good cause.”
“Got it!” Casper grinned. “Two competitions and only couples are exempt. Everyone else has to take part.”
“Except babysitters. What competitions?”