Dark Horizons

by Dan Smith

  I dressed and went out into the clearing but the place was quiet and there was no sign of her. There were a few people sitting at the table, eating breakfast. Matt and Jason together as always, Alban and Evie sitting close.

  I went over to the lean-to kitchen where Helena and Freia were preparing food. Helena in a vest top and a short skirt, nothing on her feet. Freia’s masculine frame draped in baggy shorts and an ill-fitting T-shirt.

  ‘Where is everyone?’ I asked.

  Helena looked up and smiled. ‘Hi, Alex.’ She straightened, used both hands to brush her hair behind her ears.

  ‘A few went out,’ Freia said without looking at me. She was on her haunches by the fire, stirring a pot of something that smelled good.

  ‘Out?’

  ‘Hm. For supplies. Parapat probably. Or Samosir.’ She wiped her forearm across her nose.

  ‘And Domino went, too?’ I asked, feeling a little angry. Domino knew I wanted to go to Parapat. I’d been living in borrowed clothes for three days. I wore borrowed flip-flops on my feet and drew a borrowed razor across my face. My whole life was borrowed. I wanted to buy a watch, too. It was hard to keep track of time up here – no real sense of it other than day and night.

  ‘I saw her go,’ said Helena. ‘She was with Kurt.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Freia looked up at me, seeing my expression. ‘They’ll be back this evening. Maybe tomorrow morning.’

  ‘Tomorrow? ’

  ‘Sure,’ Freia shrugged. ‘Sometimes it takes longer.’ She rested the spoon on a plate beside the pot and wiped her large hands on a cloth as she stood up. I hadn’t really noticed until now that she was taller than me. Wider, too, her large breasts heavy beneath the loose material of her T-shirt.

  ‘What does?’ I asked. ‘What takes longer?’

  Freia shrugged again. ‘Whatever it is they need to do.’ She put the cloth on the table. ‘I’m sure you’ll find something to do while she’s gone, though. Someone else to talk to.’ She flicked a quick glance at Helena. ‘But I’m going for a mandi, so it’s not going to be me. You want to talk to me, you’ll have to come to the waterfall.’

  Freia stalked away, her large feet wrapped in leather sandals. I watched her go, saw her stop and turn to us. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘Helena talks about you a lot. How you saved her. That kind of thing can … how you say … put the cat in with the birds.’

  ‘Pigeons,’ I heard myself say.

  ‘Exactly,’ Freia replied. ‘Pigeons. And Michael’s quite a cat.’ She raised a hand and left us.

  When I looked back at Helena, I could see she was blushing. A tint of red around her cheekbones that contrasted with her pale skin and dark hair. It looked good on her.

  ‘So,’ I said. ‘They left this morning?’

  ‘Early.’ Helena didn’t look at me. Instead, she twisted round to see the table where the others were sitting. ‘Alban,’ she raised her voice, ‘it’s your turn to clean this place up, you lazy sod.’

  Alban smiled and leaned back. ‘Nah, it’s Evie’s turn,’ he said with a light accent. ‘I already did it a couple of days ago.’

  ‘Fuckin’ liar.’ Evie slapped Alban’s shoulder, making him laugh, saying, ‘All right, all right, I’ll do it in a minute.’

  ‘And you really don’t know when Domino’ll be back?’ I asked Helena.

  She shook her head.

  ‘So why wouldn’t she tell me she was going? I could’ve gone with her.’ It should have been me instead of Kurt.

  ‘Maybe you’re not ready yet,’ she said, taking an interest in something behind me.

  ‘Not ready? What do you mean, not ready?’

  But Helena didn’t have the chance to reply because Michael’s voice was in my ear. ‘Not ready for anything, pasty boy.’

  Surprised, I turned to look at him. ‘Michael. I was just saying I wanted to go somewhere. You know, Parapat maybe.’

  ‘Why d’you want to go there when you’ve got all this?’ He spread his arms wide. ‘There’s nowhere better.’ In one fist he gripped a long-handled axe, the blade almost black apart from the edge, which had a freshly ground gleam. In the other hand, he carried a two-man saw.

  ‘There’s some things I wanted to get,’ I told him.

  ‘Don’t you have everything you need? Clothes, food, company?’

  Yeah, but—’

  ‘Can you do anything other than jump off cliffs?’ he asked, putting his arm around my shoulder, letting the saw hang down my chest. ‘And, by the way, I hope you’re not chatting up my girl,’ he said, lifting the teeth towards my throat.

  ‘Eh? No, I was—’

  ‘Just kidding with you, Alex. You English have no sense of humour, you know that?’ He put the axe into my hand and stood back. ‘So, are you good at anything other than jumping off cliffs?’

  ‘I don’t know. I suppose I can do one or two things.’

  ‘You can swing an axe, though, right?’

  ‘Sure. I think so.’

  ‘Oh, you think so? Well, then now’s the time to find out. Let’s go get some exercise.’

  Michael strode away towards the line of trees in the direction of the waterfall, expecting me to follow.

  Behind us I heard Alban asking if we needed some help, but Helena’s voice told him to get on with cleaning the kitchen, then she came after us, her footfalls light, Michael asking, ‘You coming too? Great.’

  We waited while she slipped on a pair of light plimsolls, then we traced the path towards the bluff for a good two hundred yards before veering off the track into the denser trees. Michael wandered for a while, stopping from time to time, studying trunks, testing their width, leaning back to check their height, until eventually he tapped one with his knuckles and said, ‘Perfect. Time for you to do your stuff, Alex.’

  ‘You want me to cut it down?’

  ‘About here.’ He drew a parang from the wooden sheath that hung from his shoulder by a loop of twine and swung it into the soft wood about three feet from the ground. The blade connected with a dull but satisfying thud, biting a good inch into the tree.

  ‘OK.’ I moved forward to tug it out. I handed it to Michael and readied the axe. ‘Stand clear.’

  Helena and Michael watched for a while as I made a deep enough cut for the three of us to put our strength behind it and push the tree down. I felt a vague ache in my shoulder as I worked, but I ignored it and enjoyed the labour. There was sweat running down my back by the time I was finished and the physical exercise was like a purging tonic. All thoughts of leaving the community were vaporised.

  The tree came down with a crash that satisfied all the fantasies of my boyhood games. Insects, pine needles and narrow cones rained down on us.

  ‘So what’s it for?’ I stood back to inspect the fallen tree.

  ‘Renovating the kitchen.’

  ‘Make it bigger?’ I flicked a bug from my arm, dusted the back of my neck.

  ‘Bigger and better. Onwards and upwards.’

  ‘OK, well, give me a minute and I’ll do the branches.’

  ‘Let me,’ said Helena, tying back her hair into a stumpy ponytail. Some strands were too short and she pushed them behind her ears before coming close to me. She took the axe from my hands, allowing her fingers to touch mine, before she turned and went to the felled tree.

  Helena’s build was slight, her arms sinewy, her legs slender. She didn’t look suited for physical work like this, but I was surprised by her strength and stamina. She went straight to the tree, raising the axe and working her way along its length, removing the branches. Some she took with one clean heft, others with repeated blows.

  When she stopped to stretch her back, her vest top was soaked with sweat and her face was flushed. She leaned on the axe handle, immersed in what she was doing, and it was hard to believe she was the same person who’d struggled in the water on my first night.

  ‘Beautiful,’ said Michael beside me.

  ‘Yeah,’ I replied without thinking. But as soon
as I realised I’d said it, I turned to look at Michael, who was staring at me. ‘But she’s not Domino.’

  Michael raised his eyebrows.

  ‘No, I didn’t mean … Oh shit, you know what I meant.’

  Michael grinned and punched my upper arm harder than necessary. ‘Course I know what you meant.’

  Helena glanced over at us. ‘You two having a nice time?’

  ‘Sure am,’ said Michael. ‘You?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘You need any help yet?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ she replied. ‘Not yet.’ And with that, she raised the axe and began cutting again.

  As the blade continued to swing, so Michael began to grow restless, finding a low sturdy branch and jumping up to hang from it. He pulled himself up, raising his chin to the bark. ‘Gotta keep fit,’ he said, lowering himself and repeating the movement. ‘Stay in shape. You should try it. Get some muscles on you. Domino would love it.’

  I wished he wasn’t there and I tried to think of a reply, but Helena broke the moment by shouting and jumping back from the tree, saying, ‘Snake.’

  Michael dropped from the branch he was using and took up his machete, hurrying over to where Helena was standing. A bright green snake, no thicker than two of my fingers together, and about eighteen inches long, was uncoiling itself from one of the half-stripped limbs. It was impossible to tell what its tiny black eyes were looking at, but it was clear that it was in a hurry to escape from us as its impossible body relaxed, released and headed for the safety of the undergrowth.

  Michael stepped after it, raising his parang.

  ‘No,’ I said, making him turn his head to look at me. ‘Don’t kill it.’

  When he turned back, the snake was gone. He stared at the spot where it had been, letting his arm drop before he looked at me again. ‘Why not?’

  ‘Why would you want to kill it?’ I asked.

  ‘Because it was there.’ Michael looked confused. ‘What?’ He glanced at Helena for support. ‘You’d kill it, right?’

  ‘Actually, no, I don’t think I would.’

  ‘You wouldn’t kill it?’ Talking to me again. ‘It’s a snake, Alex. What if it bit you? What if it bit Helena? Or Domino?’

  ‘Why would it do that?’ I said.

  He watched us, studying us like we’d spoken a language he didn’t understand, then he walked over to Helena and grabbed the axe. ‘You people.’ He went to the felled tree and vented his frustration on the remaining branches.

  Once the tree was stripped, we used the saw to cut it into two logs and we carried them back to the clearing, laying them beside the kitchen.

  ‘Another one of those should be enough,’ Michael said as we put down the second log. ‘We’ll go back out after lunch.’

  Lunch was nai tumur, another variation of fish and rice. This time the mujahir fish was boiled with a spicy saffron sauce and it tasted good, especially after the physical work.

  There were several of us at the table, all of us eating our food with spoons, scooping it off tin plates.

  ‘So, Alex, you had the shits yet, man?’ said Matt, looking up from his food.

  ‘Do we have to talk about this now?’ Alban put down his spoon in disgust.

  ‘Just wondered,’ said Matt, slurring his words a little.

  ‘Must have a strong stomach,’ said Jason. ‘Mr “haven’t you got anything higher”.’

  ‘Well, if you get ’em, just you remember to starve those mothers out,’ said Matt. ‘That’s what Kurt told me. Rice, water, tea. Nothing else. And definitely no fruit.’

  ‘Can we please finish eating?’ Alban said from across the table.

  ‘He needs to know,’ Jason backed up his friend, trying to look sincere, but it was hard to take him seriously. He was stoned, his pupils dilated, his hair held back with a tortoiseshell Alice band.

  ‘So what do you guys do if you get ill?’ I asked. ‘You go find a doctor?’

  ‘We don’t get ill,’ said Michael.

  ‘We got our own doctor,’ added Jason.

  ‘You mean Kurt?’ I asked. ‘What kind of doctor is he?’

  ‘The almost kind of doctor,’ Matt said. ‘Dropped out of med school.’

  ‘Dropped out? He do something wrong?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Matt waved his hands at me. ‘He liked to cut people up. Like Doctor Frankenstein or something.’

  I noticed Michael stop eating and look up to stare at Matt.

  ‘Nah, did he fuck,’ said Jason. ‘He finished. He’s a fuckin’ doctor.’

  ‘No way, dude,’ Matt replied. ‘He’s not old enough.’ ‘I’m telling you, the man finished med school. Came out here, found this place and decided to stay. He’s, like, a hippy doctor, man.’

  ‘Whatever,’ said Michael, pushing his plate away. ‘Come on, Alex, we got more work to do.’

  I shovelled in the last of my food and drained my cup before sliding out from the table.

  ‘You coming?’ I asked Helena.

  She thought about it, looking up at Michael, then shook her head. ‘Not this time,’ she said. ‘I got other things to do.’

  Back out on the path, I asked about Kurt, saying, ‘So what’s the deal, then? Is he a doctor or not?’

  Michael pretended not to hear, so I asked him again, making him stop. ‘He’s doctor enough for me.’

  I put my hands up and told him I didn’t mean to cause offence. He seemed to relent a little at my submissive gesture and he allowed his chest to deflate, letting out a long sigh. ‘He dropped out. Least that’s what he told me. And if that’s not what happened, then I guess he had his reasons for telling it to me that way.’

  ‘And he came here?’

  ‘After he met me.’ Michael started walking again, keeping his pace slow. ‘In Bali. We travelled a few weeks, but he didn’t find what he was looking for. Didn’t like the buzz, the people. He liked the quiet adventure, so we came looking for something else. Found this place.’

  ‘The two of you?’

  ‘Just us,’ Michael said, veering off the path, looking for the spot where we’d left the tools. ‘We stayed, set the place up, made a few contacts.’

  ‘Like Alim?’

  ‘Alim?’ Michael looked back at me. ‘How d’you … Oh yeah, I forgot you saw him the other night. And Domino took you to his place, right?’

  ‘Hm.’ I remembered the exhilarating night in the woods, running from whoever would give chase. The morning after, with Domino, on the hill overlooking the lake.

  ‘Only it wasn’t Alim back then,’ he said. ‘Hendrik was the one in charge. Alim just worked for him. Then Alim introduced him to Danuri.’

  We came to the place where we’d cut down the tree and Michael handed me the axe, telling me I could do the next one if I wanted.

  I took the axe. ‘Danuri. He’s the one who came here with Alim, right? The other night? He seems like a tough guy.’

  ‘Yeah, sure, he’s a tough guy when he’s flashing the hardware around. Take the gun away, though, and he’s nothing but a …’ Michael shook his head. ‘Hendrik I could get along with, but this guy Danuri? He likes to be the one in charge.’

  ‘In charge of what? He make you pay more, or—’

  ‘Or never you mind right now,’ he replied. ‘Let’s find a tree.’

  We headed deeper into the forest until we found one similar in size to the last one, and I set about cutting it down.

  ‘So who was the first to come?’ I asked, taking a rest. ‘I mean, after you and Kurt.’

  ‘Domino. Kurt brought Domino in.’

  I nodded, thinking it confirmed what I already suspected. Domino and Kurt had once been together. ‘He cares about her,’ I said.

  ‘You better believe it, white boy.’ He raised his eyebrows at me. ‘Hurt her and you’ll be hurting bad yourself.’

  I half smiled, unsure if he was joking, then took up the axe again. ‘Anyone ever leave?’ I asked.

  ‘Why would anyone want to do that?’

&
nbsp; ‘Domino mentioned someone. Some guy who left without telling anyone. Disappeared.’

  His face fell. ‘She told you about Sully?’

  ‘Sully?’ I asked. ‘His name was Sully?’

  Michael shrugged and stared. ‘Yeah. Maybe.’

  I waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. Instead, he found a sturdy branch and started with the pull-ups again. I watched him for a second, then lifted the axe over my shoulder. I took a last look at Michael, then swung at the tree.

  The blade bit hard.

  21

  By the time Michael and I brought the next two logs from the forest, it was growing dark and some of the others had returned, bringing with them sacks of rice and sweet potatoes.

  Morgan and Chris, whom I’d met on my first day but hardly spoken to since, were in the clearing, starting a fire. Their sacks were stacked by the entrance to the permanently locked longhouse. There were others there, too, setting the table, preparing food, playing cards, football, but there was no sign of either Domino or Kurt.

  ‘Shit,’ Michael said as we dropped the last log. ‘Something else for me to do.’ He straightened up, looking across at the sacks, then at Morgan. ‘You refilled the containers?’

  ‘Sure did,’ Morgan said as she rotated one of the three rings that pierced her lower lip. I wondered what the local people in the village made of her, with all that metal in her face. She said something to Chris, then stood and came over. ‘Everything’s topped up. You want a hand storing the rest of it?’

  Michael nodded. ‘Let’s get it done.’

  The pair of them headed over to the longhouse, Michael slipping a key from his pocket and climbing the ladder to open up before coming back down to carry the sacks into the forbidden darkness.

  ‘So that’s like a store?’ I said, going over to where Jason and Matt were kicking a football between them.

  ‘Something like that,’ Matt said, flicking the ball up, bouncing it on his knee, then passing it over to Jason, who headed it to me.

  I fumbled the ball, ran over to the edge of the clearing to retrieve it. ‘So why’s it locked?’ I asked, coming back with the ball at my feet. ‘You guys can’t be trusted, is that it? You eat all the food?’