by Simon Clark
He cried out like he’d been kicked and scrambled back up the field to the convoy.
I ran along the river bank looking for mum and dad. They were gone. This time it hadn’t been a dream – they were real. It would’ve been better if they’d jumped up and down screaming they wanted to kill me. They hadn’t. They just seemed like my down-to-earth parents who’d heard some exciting news. Like the time they burst into the house to tell us that they’d won the TV in the prize draw.
Were they mad? Were they sane? I did not know.
Dave found me sitting on the bank, flicking pebbles into the water.
‘You okay, Nick?’
‘Yeah, so-so.’
‘I heard that you’ve seen your parents … Are you sure it’s them?’
‘Positive.’
‘You gave Curt a scare, you know? He’s blabbing his eyes out.’ Dave’s smile was kind; he squatted beside me and began flicking stones too. He talked in a matter-of-fact way for a while; he told me how he’d returned home after the camping weekend to find his two brothers dead in bed. There was no self-pity.
I hated myself for hating him.
‘Curt said there were some Creosotes down the road.’
Dave smiled. ‘Curt’s a jittery so-and-so. There’s about ten a good two miles away. We’ve plenty of time. Anyway, I like it here. It’s relaxing, sitting by water. Did I ever tell you I once hooked a pike in this river? The thing was the size of a whale. It pulled me in head first. I never did land the thing. It bent the hook out straight as a nail and disappeared.’ We laughed and talked some more, then we collected the buckets and walked back to the convoy.
Ten minutes later the convoy was back on the road again.
We drove on through the countryside and I knew before long I would meet my parents again. The question of whether they were sane or not would be answered then … if they tried to kill me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A Mexican Stand-Off
That afternoon it began to rain hard. The convoy lumbered northwards along twisting country lanes. At three, we pulled off into a roadside picnic area for a rest-break. Under the iffy shelter of some trees we set up the camping stoves.
I went to check on the truck – the hose now sealed with hardboiled egg was holding – then I looked at the mini-bus. The plug had fouled again. I cleaned the thing the best I could. As I worked I thought about my parents. Something had happened to them. What, I didn’t know – but they thought it was something marvellous. And I thought about Slatter’s mad father, obsessively hunting his own son.
Dave strode busily by. ‘When you’ve finished, Nick, grab yourself a coffee and something to eat. We’re moving on in five minutes.’
‘Dave. I don’t think this mini-bus is going to hold out much longer. The plug’s fouling every – Dave … Dave!’
He was gone. In his head was his task agenda. The mini-bus came way down the list.
As I walked back through the rain to get my coffee, I saw Sarah confronting Slatter. My heart sank: more shit was about ready to hit the fan.
‘What’s bothering you, Slatter?’ I asked calmly.
‘I just thought I’d get these so I could see you better.’
‘Slatter. Give Vicki her glasses back.’
‘I always thought you looked like shit, Aten. I just thought I’d take a look through these to make sure … Ah … Yeah. You look like shit all right.’
Sarah said gently. ‘Please, Tug. Give them back to Vicki. She can’t see without them.’
Big mistake. Never try and appeal to Slatter’s good side. He hasn’t got one. And if you admit what he’s doing is going to hurt more than he thought – well, that’s bleeding Christmas come early for the bastard.
‘Piss off, blondie. I need ’em now.’ He leered through his tattoos. ‘Or are you going to ask lover boy to take ’em off me?’
‘Come on, Slatter. The convoy’s ready to pull out.’
As soon as the others in the convoy saw what was coming they packed up ultra-quick and locked themselves safely into the vehicles.
We stood like that in the rain. Waiting for someone to do something. I hoped Slatter would get wet and cold enough to simply quit this line of action and get in the back of his truck. He waited, staring me out through the tattooed bluebirds.
Dave’s bus sounded its horn then pulled out, the rest of the vehicles following. We were left behind with the Shogun.
‘Come on,’ said Sarah to Vicki. ‘Get in the car.’
Anne was already in the back seat. As Sarah sat in the front passenger seat I whispered, ‘When you see me run, get behind the wheel and drive as fast as you can.’
‘No, Nick. Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it.’
‘Look, Slatter just wants the excuse for a fight. He’ll not rest until he’s pulped my face. What we’ll do is this. I’m going to grab the glasses and leg it for that field there.’ I looked in the direction of a ploughed field that resembled six acres of wet chocolate. ‘Slatter’ll chase me. You see where the road forks off to the right across the top of the field? Wait for me there. I reckon I can run faster than Slatter. Once I’m in the car we’ll rejoin the convoy.’
‘You can’t leave Slatter. He’ll die out here by himself.’
‘Will he buggery. He’ll survive. Only he won’t be plaguing us any longer – that’s all that matters.’
‘Nick …’
‘Shush, I’ll see you later.’ I walked back the fifteen paces toward Slatter.
‘Last chance, Slatter. Give me the glasses.’
‘You know, these glasses are starting to piss me off. I’m going to smash them to shit if you don’t take them. Here.’ He held them out in his great tattooed paw. As he did so, he circled round until he was between me and the car. He’d guessed I’d planned to grab the glasses and run back to the car and leave him here. As it was he put himself just where I wanted him. Now I was nearer to the field I intended to cut across.
‘Would you have really set fire to your father, Slatter?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Why?’
‘Why not?’
‘Do you think he’s still following you?’
He made an animal grunt that I guess meant yes.
‘I saw my parents, you know. They’re following me too.’
‘Then they’ll be fucking ape shit as well. This is the one time in my life I’m going to do you a favour, Aten. My advice is kill them the first chance you get. Or they’ll kill you.’
‘Why should I wait for them to do it? You want to kill me, don’t you?’
‘Nah … I just want to pretty your face up a bit.’
‘Why? Why have you spent your life hating me?’
‘Because—’
GOTCHA!
I whipped the glasses and ran. He was ready for me to run to the car. The idiot didn’t know what hit him when I ran in the other direction, vaulted the fence and ran up the ploughed field, the glasses in my hand.
‘You’re dead, Aten!’
He ran after me.
It was tough work. The wet soil stuck to my shoes until I was running with a great clump of mud at the end of each leg.
Halfway across the field I was panting, my leg muscles ached, rain and sweat blinded me. I could hear the thump of Slatter’s pit boots behind me. Looking to my left, I saw the Shogun speeding up the lane to the top of the field.
Another sixty seconds and Slatter would be all alone. Waiting for daddy to call … Ha-Ha! I felt a delirious rush of energy. Slatter’s history!
I heaved on across the slop, mud squelching around my feet, water soaking me through – this was bloody murder – but it would be worth it.
It all turned to shit when I felt the bang on the back of my head. I went face down into the mud.
Slatter reached down and pulled the glasses out of my hand.
‘You say that brat with the pigtails can’t see without these, Aten?’
‘She needs them. Look, just give them back,
and we—’
He bent over me so I could see, then he snapped the arms off. ‘Bastard glasses.’ He threw the spectacle arms back over his shoulder.
‘Oh, shit, Slatter. There’s no need to do that. Damn …’
Watching my face for the reaction, he calmly snapped the glasses so the lenses were separated. He threw them, too. Then he raised his boot above my face like he was going to step on an ant.
I don’t remember any more.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sex
First my lips split apart. Next, my eye cracked open. I was dead meat, lying in darkness.
I rocked my head to the left. My neck hurt.
With an effort I cracked open the other eye. I gently fingered each eye in turn. They were puffed and coated in crispy crumbs of something that might have been blood. My face felt stiff and swollen.
I remembered Slatter and the ploughed field. Where I was now God only knew.
As I lay there trying to get my brain firing on all four cylinders light exploded into the room.
‘So … You’re awake at long last.’
I recognised Sarah’s voice.
‘Yeah … But feeling half dead.’
‘You’re lucky not to be a hundred percent dead … If you have any more bright ideas like that, I’ll stamp on your head myself.’
‘Is that what he did?’ My eyes focused enough to let me see Sarah nodding. She sat on the edge of my bed.
‘Dave reckons the only thing that saved you was the soil was so soft he stamped your stupid head right into it.’
‘Are we at the hotel?’
‘No such luck. It took me half an hour to drag you across to the car. Then Dave came back for us. He’d found this motel so we’re stopping here the night. We’ve been here …’ She looked at her watch, her blonde hair falling over her face. ‘Five hours.’
‘Where’s Slatter?’
‘He took off on foot back the way we came.’
‘He’ll come back … Christ, it’s the first time I’ve been in a bed for … Hell, I can’t remember how long since.’
Sarah lit a candle. I saw her concerned eyes looking down at me. ‘He made a mess of your face, you know. It’s one big bruise.’
Then without warning, completely out of the gob-smacking blue, she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.
‘You’re a fool,’ she said stroking my hair. ‘But I’m a bigger fool. I’ve got a soft spot for you, Nick Aten. Now … You stay there and I’ll get you some soup. Chicken okay?’
‘Fine, nurse.’
‘I’ll bring some bread, too … Don’t worry, you’ve still got all your teeth, so you can chew.’
By the time she got back with a tray I was pulling my shirt on.
‘Where you going?’
‘I need to look at the yellow mini-bus. I want to do a proper job of cleaning the plugs before we set off tomorrow.’
‘You’ll not get out of that bed, boyo.’ She pushed me back. ‘It’s nearly dark anyway. No … Stay where you are, Nick, or I’ll hide your jeans.’
Stiffly I slid back in, trying to hide the look of pain on my face.
‘It needs looking at. The engine’s a mess.’
‘You can see to it tomorrow. Dave has just told me he plans to stay here at least two nights. A lot of the kids are getting cranky. The shock of what happened to Rebecca and the two sisters is beginning to tell. He’s already had to bring back one boy who decided to go it alone on his bike.’
Sarah fed me the soup. I looked up at her face, just getting a different kind of nourishment from watching her blue eyes. We talked for a good hour before she kissed me goodnight and blew out the candle.
I wished she hadn’t gone. It would have felt good to hold another human being.
* * *
The next day.
The plug came out as tarred up as before. I used a nail to gouge away the worst of the burnt-on oil. As I worked on the mini-bus’s engine beneath a dripping tree Dave loped up.
‘Nick, are you sure you feel fit enough to do that?’
‘It needs sorting. The cylinder’s not firing.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Sore. Has Slatter come back?’
‘No. We haven’t seen him since it happened.’
‘Slatter’ll have satisfied his inner craving now he’s pulped me. He’ll probably be quiet for a day or two.’
‘If he doesn’t show by eight tomorrow we’ll go without him anyway.’
‘How long to the hotel now?’
‘If we get a clear run, perhaps four or five hours. Once there we can rest and take stock.’
‘Do you think we’ll make a go of it at the hotel?’
‘I don’t see why not. If we can cultivate some fields with corn and vegetables, and there’s bound to be sheep and—’
‘No. I don’t just mean food.’ I leaned back, wiping my hands on a rag. ‘That will probably be the least of our problems. Even if Family Creosote leave us alone we’re still going to run into trouble.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean who’s going to be boss? Who’s going to tell us what to do – then make sure we do it?’
‘For a while the Steering Committee will run things then we’ll hold a free election to determine the membership of the next Committee.’
I laughed. It hurt my face – but I laughed so loudly David Middleton, Jesus’s little sunbeam, looked startled.
‘Look, Dave, a lot of these kids aren’t reasonable or sensible human beings. Did you know that? They’re not like the nice kids you take on these Church youth weekends. Most are, but a lot are vicious little bastards.’
‘We’re in a mess, Nick. They’ll see the dangers and the need to pull together, behave responsibly and—’
‘Will they shit. They’re quiet now because a bunch of them are in shock. But they’re starting to come out of it. You can see it with your own eyes. I remember Curt from school. He’s been in trouble with the police, he gets into fights in clubs – correction, he waits until there’s a fight, then he kicks whoever’s on the floor. The girl with red hair who’s always complaining – she’s been busted for selling drugs. Like you, I went to school and kept my eyes open. You know as well as I do some kids are bullies, some steal, some use threats and violence to exploit ones younger or weaker than themselves.’
‘So, what are you saying?’
‘That you are going to have to wave a big stick, Dave, if you hope to get some of these kids to do what they are told.’
Dave shook his head, sad that I was talking that way. ‘I agree some of these people are rough diamonds, but I believe they haven’t been given a real chance in life. We will reason with them and give them a sense of responsibility.’
My head ached when I shook it and I went back to work on the mini-bus.
The room felt cold after two days’ rain. I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the framed print of sunflowers on the wall. The TV sat dead in the corner. Even if we had electricity I was sure there’d be nothing but static on the thing now.
They say you don’t miss something until you lose it. How bloody true. What I wouldn’t give to watch some old film. Maybe something like It’s a Wonderful Life that I’d seen a million times before. Familiarity’s reassuring.
I was ready to snuff the candle when the tap came on the door.
It opened. ‘Hi, how you feeling?’
‘Fine, Sarah, thanks. I’m just wondering whether to watch the in-house movie or the World Wrestling Summer Slam Spectacular.’
She stepped in, looking cute in a towelling robe. She’d brushed her long hair down over one shoulder, so it covered one breast.
Suddenly awkward, we said nothing for a moment until she held out a can. ‘I found some beer in the back of the car.’
‘Thanks. Just what the doctor ordered.’
‘You’re quite privileged, you know. You’re the only one with your own room. Even Martin’s having to share with Dave.
I’m sharing with Anne and Vicki and two other girls. It’s cramped.’
‘Sit down.’ I smiled. ‘I’m rattling around in this place like a pea in a packing case.’
We opened our beers and sat again feeling awkward.
‘Nick,’ she suddenly sounded brisk. ‘I’ve been thinking. Life is going to be difficult, in fact it’s going to be a battle to survive. People are going to start acting like animals to get what they want. I can see a time when there will be no pleases or thank-yous. Those tough enough are going to just take what they want – food, clothes … anything.’
‘What are you saying, Sarah?’
‘I’m saying, Nick … God, I wish there was an easier way … What I am saying is, soon girls may not have the right to say no, so …’ She took a huge breath. ‘So, I want you to be the first one.’
We looked at one another: her eyes searched my face, reading what she saw there.
I leaned forward to kiss her gently on the lips, my ears rang, and I felt a light burn inside me.
She smelt clean, a faint perfumed smell with something musky beneath.
Her arms came up around my head and she pulled my face to hers harder now. The pains went from my face and neck and I only felt the whisper of her hair on my bare arms and the pressure of her lips.
I felt her hunger. When I slipped my hand inside her dressing gown, I felt the beat of her heart as much as her breast beneath my fingers.
As we kissed she slipped off the dressing gown and all I knew was the heat of her body. Time meant nothing as we kissed on the bed, but still I found myself holding back until she whispered, ‘I’m ready now. Do it … I want you to do it.’
I was nervous, afraid to hurt her. But apart from a gasp she did not cry out. She only held me tightly until it was over.
An hour later I felt her hands touching me again. This time she made love to me as much as I made love to her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Return of the Beast
The convoy left the hotel by eight. Sarah and her sisters rode in the Shogun with me. Vicki wore the glasses that Sarah had done her best to repair with sticking plaster, but she could only wear them for short periods before they began to irritate her.