by Haywood, RR
‘What?’
‘I’m lost.’
‘Want me to organise?’
‘Yes please.’
‘Sure?’ She asks with an evil smile, ‘to the fort is me, you, Dave, Marcy, Nick and Charlie. Everyone else is staying here.’
‘Got it, everyone happy?’ I ask.
‘Joan,’ Paula says, ‘I think we’d prefer to stay outside the fort tonight. Are those houses still habitable?’
‘Why don’t you want to stay in the fort?’ Joan asks as though the very notion is highly offensive.
‘Cos it’s a death filled hole of cu…’
‘Simon.’
‘Sorry, Dave.’
‘We will stay close to our vehicles,’ Paula says, ‘and we have a horse so it makes more logistical sense for us to stay this side. That and of course some of my boys detest every brick that place is built from and they have lost too many people they love within those walls so yes, we’ll be staying this side tonight.’
‘That’s fine,’ Pea says quickly, ‘we’ll get one of the houses ready for you.’
‘Two please,’ Cookey says.
‘One,’ Paula says firmly.
‘No but me and Charlie will be like neighbours and you can come round for a cup of salt or something…’
‘Cup of sugar dickhead,’ Blowers says.
‘Or…I know! The ladies can be in one house and I’ll be like calling round for a cup of sugar and Charlie will be like oh he’s so hunky and fit and er…hunky and I’ll be like...’
‘You said hunky twice,’ Blowers points out.
‘Fuck off,’ Cookey replies, ‘so can we have two…’
‘One house, please,’ Paula says.
‘Cookey,’ Charlie says once she’s stopped laughing, ‘can you take care of Jess for me?’
‘Sure,’ he says, ‘what do I do?’
‘I’ll show him,’ Roy says.
‘You know about horses?’ I ask him.
‘No but I watched Charlie. The feed is ready in that bag in my van right?’
‘Yes it is, third of a bucket with some water. She’ll need a rub down.’
‘Leave it with me, Charlie,’ Cookey says so seriously that just makes her start laughing again, ‘what? I’m like proper serious now.’
‘Right, we’ll head over before Nick starts swimming,’ I say.
‘Tell your missus thanks for the Lucozade,’ Blowers says.
‘Yeah say thanks,’ Mo adds.
‘She ain’t my missus,’ Nick says.
‘Ah Nicholas,’ Cookey says, ‘you do make me laugh.’
‘Twat,’ Nick says walking off with us down the beach.
‘Say hi to Lilly for us,’ Cookey shouts.
‘I will fucktard,’ Nick shouts back giving him the finger.
‘Miss you Charlie…’
‘Miss you too, Cookey,’ she shouts back.
‘Ah she loves me,’ Cookey sighs, ‘hope Dave doesn’t cut her head off…’
‘Two months brew duty, Alex.’
‘Yes, Dave. Sorry, Dave.’
‘Mr Howie,’ Pea runs after us, a look of consternation on her face.
‘What’s up?’ I ask as nick wades out to pull a boat in closer to the shore.
‘Er,’ she stops and seems unsure of what she was going to say, ‘it’s just…well…Lilly has…’
‘What?’ Paula asks.
‘She’s got bruises,’ Pea says quietly as I stiffen, ‘but it has been resolved, just…well maybe don’t react but let her tell you what happened.’
‘Has anyone hurt her?’ Paula asks.
‘A lot happened,’ Pea says, ‘Lilly got us through it. This…’ she waves round to the shore, ‘all of this is because of Lilly…everything is because of Lilly…’
‘Keep hold of Nick when we get there,’ Paula whispers to me.
‘I won’t be able to hold him back,’ I say with a glance to Nick clambering into the boat to start the engine, ‘I wouldn’t anyway…I’ll help him if anyone has…’
‘Mr Howie, please just let Lilly explain,’ Pea says, ‘we’re on the right track now…doing the right thing for the right reasons,’ she nods at me as the words sink in.
‘Okay,’ I say hesitantly.
‘Lilly did it for her brother and for the children, well for everyone really but we know, I mean Sam and me and Joan probably too, well we know she also did it for you…she said you saved Billy and told us what Nick did for her. The right thing for the right reasons. Everyone says that now. Everyone here knows that. They were worried about you coming back because Lani turned and after what Maddox made them think but Lilly told them that what you have she has because she’d been with Nick…’
‘They haven’t had sex,’ Paula says.
‘No, we know that but Lilly told everyone she had so they’d believe you weren’t dangerous…they all saw what Lilly did that night and…well, everyone figured if Lilly was okay then you lot must be okay. She said the fort had to stay open for people to come and she told them what you were doing out there to keep the things away from us. She said you had to have a place to come back to…a home…’
‘Ready,’ Nick shouts, eager to be off.
‘Okay,’ I say to Pea, ‘thanks for telling us.’
‘Thanks,’ Paula says.
‘Anything else we need to know?’ Marcy asks as we turn away.
‘Lilly will tell you the rest,’ Pea says and smiles, ‘she’s been so strong but, but well, I think she’s a bit nervous at seeing you all again, especially Nick.’
‘Please!’ Nick calls out.
‘Coming, mate. Cheers, Pea.’
We head down and clamber into the boat as Nick itches to pull the vessel back so we can be off.
‘Say something,’ Marcy tells me softly, ‘so he doesn’t react.’
‘No,’ Paula says shaking her head, ‘let it be, Nick’s a good lad.’
‘He’ll go nuts,’ Marcy says as Dave sits dead centre with his hands gripping the seat under his arse. ‘What would Roy do if he saw you with bruises?’ Marcy asks Paula then looks at me, ‘and if someone hurt me?’ she asks.
‘Yeah,’ I reply, ‘good point.’
‘Look at Cookey when we got into that street…he was going fucking bananas to get to Charlie,’ Marcy says, ‘he would have taken them down on his own. Nick’s too dangerous to risk him losing it.’
‘Was he?’ Charlie asks in surprise.
‘Okay okay,’ I stand up as Nick opens the throttle a bit more and make my way to the outboard at the back, ‘Nick.’
‘Boss,’ he says, ‘what’s up?’
‘Listen to me.’
‘What?’ He snaps, his eyes full of worry.
‘Listen and take it in, okay?’
He nods, his jaw set and his eyes going hard.
‘Pea said Lilly has got bruises…listen…she didn’t say why or how but that it’s resolved. Okay? She said to listen to what she has to say.’
‘I’ll fucking…’
‘I know you will and I’ll be next to you while you do it and the lads will be bringing boats over to join us but Nick? We’re going to listen to Lilly before we react okay?’
‘Listen to Howie, Nick,’ Marcy says, coming down to sit next to him, ‘I promise, if anyone has hurt her we’ll deal with them.’
‘Okay,’ he says tightly.
‘Nick,’ I say to make sure he’s listening, ‘Pea said Lilly has done all of this…everyone here is saying they have to do the right thing for the right reasons…’
‘Fuck,’ Nick says, his eyes flicking from me to the way ahead.
‘Nick,’ Marcy says, reaching out to rest a hand on his arm, ‘she also said Lilly has told everyone you had sex…’
‘We didn’t…’
‘I know,’ Marcy says, ‘they were worried about us coming back so Lilly told everyone that what we have she must have…’
‘WELCOME BACK MR HOWIE,’ a man shouts as we go past a boat heading towards the shore.
/>
‘Cheers mate,’ I shout back.
‘Oh right,’ he says and blinks, ‘fuck…we did kiss so…’
‘Well there you go then,’ Marcy says, ‘you’ve shared bodily fluids but please, Nick. Don’t react or do anything until after we’ve spoken to Lilly.’
‘Okay,’ he says and blows air out through his cheeks.
Marcy smiles and leans closer, ‘Pea also said she was nervous about seeing you again…’
‘Nervous?’ Nick asks.
‘That’s lady code for excited,’ she winks.
‘Yeah?’
‘It is,’ Paula calls out with a smile.
‘Okay, cheers, Mr Howie,’ Nick says, his own nerves kicking in, ‘so like…I’ll watch you yeah? If they done something bad then…’
‘Then we’ll go for it,’ I say to him, ‘but it sounds like Lilly has got everything under control.’
‘Okay.’
‘WELCOME HOME!’
‘Thanks,’ Paula shouts to the boats pulling away from the small beach outside the fort.
Nick guides the boat so the front bumps the beach then twists a lever and pulls the outboard over so the propeller is out of the water. Charlie goes first, jumping deftly onto the beach and holding the front as the rest of us pile off.
‘Welcome back,’ someone says from between piles of clothes, food and bedding stacked on the beach.
‘Cheers,’ I call out.
The scene here is pretty much the same as the other side. Boats pulling up to disgorge contents that get stacked, sorted and then carried through the gates by people either pushing barrows or scooping armfuls up at a time.
Everyone smiles and nods at us. Some greet verbally and wave. I slip back a bit to stay by Nick’s side and let Marcy, Paula and Charlie smile and return the greetings.
We go through the gates into the middle section that has been kept clear. A man standing by the inner gate makes a show of pointing the rifle down and away as we draw close.
‘Welcome back,’ he says politely. An older man, maybe late fifties but his bearing is ex-military. Sometime ago I would guess judging by the weight carried round his mid-section. It’s reassuring though and he looks competent.
‘Seen that,’ Paula says pointing to a large piece of paper nailed to the gate.
Do the right things for the right reasons
‘Didn’t you start that one off?’ Marcy asks with a wry smile.
‘Yeah,’ I say with a bemused smile, ‘I think I did.’
We go through the gates into a new world and what we saw outside is nothing compared to inside and we come to a stop to stare in wonder.
The whole place is a hive of activity. All the debris and broken shit from the middle has been taken away and the first thing that stands out is the cleanliness. It’s chaotic but within that chaos there is clearly order. Like walking from a quiet house straight into the middle of a bustling High Street or town centre.
On the far side up from the vehicle ramp are big canvass and thick material marquee style tents. Open sided with the material rolled up and tied ready to be dropped down. Inside are the children and I forgot just how many we had here.
Clusters of quiet children sitting cross legged or lying back on bean bags to hear the story being read by an old man sitting on a chair with a big book open on his lap. More children lying on their bellies drawing in colouring books, playing with Lego and building blocks and brightly coloured plastic toys with more adults walking through carrying wet wipes and bottles of water. Outside the tents in a sectioned off area is a child size slide with the end in a paddling pool filled from a hose stretched back to the wall. Children taking it in turns to slide down and cry out as they splash and play. On the other side of that another two old men play cricket with a group of boys, using a mini cricket bat and stumps and a tennis ball that gets whacked too hard and has to be chased as the men encourage them to run and catch it.
Ahead in the middle is where most of the noise is coming from. The sound of wood being sawed by hand, hammers and things being knocked into line. Men and women working in shorts and shirt sleeves working on the start of a wooden framed structure over the foundations where the visitor centre was. Tools hanging from belts, men in caps and women in sunhats. Planks of wood already cut and ready to be used. Sheets of ply-board being measured and marked in pencil where the cuts should go. Boxes of nails and screws on a small table filled with coffee mugs and bottles of drinks. I’m not a builder and couldn’t put a flat pack wardrobe together without fucking up but even I can see they’ve got more timber, sheets of wood and material than they’ll need and I guess they’re prepping up for something else to be built after whatever that construction is has been finished.
I look round the walls to see every door to every room within those walls is open and outside each are bed frames and bedding, chairs and boxes being sorted with candles, lamps and shelves ready to be put up.
A man on a step ladder works to screw a bracket onto the outside of the wall just down from the old armoury and I watch as he hangs a lantern from the bracket and climbs down to nod in satisfaction before moving down to do the next one.
Another small cluster of people work over open fires and pots and pans filling the air with the smells of food being cooked. Tables stacked with packets and tins of food being carried from the stores. Men and women smiling red faced and chatting as they stir pans and stack plates and cups.
At the far side the rear door stands open with a woman walking through holding a number of freshly caught fish in one hand that catches the eyes of those working on the structure who call out with low cheers as the woman proudly grins and calls back.
The whole thing is beautiful and idyllic, like something from the cover of a Jehovah Witness magazine. A vision of a utopian future.
We left a fort covered on bodies and the smouldering remains of fires burning out to fill the whole of the place with a stink of burning flesh and chemicals. Lani’s body in the old armoury and the hospital being filled with the screaming and dying. Now there are no bodies. No corpses rotting anywhere. Nothing is broken or fucked up and there are no armed guards inside either. Just the chap at the inner gate and what looks like another one at the closed doors of the new armoury storage area. No kids with guns. No surly faced crews dressed in black.
Instead I see people stopping work to stand and drink bottled water and chat as they wipe the sweat from their faces. I even hear laughter. Actual laughter. We laugh all the time but mainly in response to Cookey keeping our spirits up when it feels like the whole world is against us but this laughter is the sound of normal people sharing banter and jokes.
Then they see us. A woman on top of a ladder fixing a length of wood looks over and calls out to everyone else who stop and turn. Men that were bent over sawing at pieces of timber stand upright and shield their eyes. People who were chatting turn and stare. The people cooking food stop stirring pans and opening tins as that word spreads. The old man reading from the book looks over and all the children look to see what he’s looking at. The kids playing cricket stand still. The old chap on the step ladder stands holding the next bracket ready to go up and lifts a hand.
‘Welcome home,’ he calls and sets a chain reaction off of voices calling and arms lifting, people whistling, cheering and grinning. Women nudging each other and nodding at us.
‘WELCOME BACK!’
‘YOU’RE BACK THEN.’
‘HELLO!’
We hear our names being said. Mr Howie. Marcy. Paula. Nick. Dave.
‘WHERE’S EVERYONE ELSE?’ A woman shouts from the cooking area, her voice worried that ripples out to bring the cheers down.
‘Where’s Clarence?’
‘I can’t see Cookey and Blowers…’
‘Mo Mo’s not with ‘em…’
‘ON THE SHORE,’ Marcy shouts back, ‘THEY’RE ALL FINE.’
‘THANK GOD,’ the woman bellows making the sign of the cross on her chest, ‘YOU’RE ALL SAFE?’
> ‘WE ARE,’ Marcy calls out, ‘THANK YOU.’
‘Ah sod this,’ the woman shakes her head and drops the wooden spoon to stride out from the fires towards us with her head shaking side to side. Others start after her. Men and women who stop work to start walking and jogging over. The woman is a big lady, wide hips and a jowly face flushed red from being so near the fires. An apron tied round her mid-section with a tea towel tucked hanging from the straps but she moves quickly and closes that distance towards me with the utter intent telegraphed that I am about to get very seriously hugged.
‘Safe, Dave,’ Marcy says quickly.
‘Safe,’ Paula says at the same time, moving discretely in front of Dave.
I get hugged. I get bear hugged and squashed into bosoms and smell the earthy scents of wood fire and smoke and food. I get squeezed and clasped by big arms that hold me close and truth be told it’s fucking wonderful. Absolutely wonderful and I can’t help but laugh as she releases me and grabs Marcy next.
‘Welcome home, love,’ the woman mutters, her eyes wet from tears.
‘Mr Howie, welcome back, Sir.’
‘Eh?’ I turn round to see a man holding his hand out beaming at me, ‘cheers,’ I take his hand which pumps mine.
‘Clarence it’s Paula, you receiving me?’
‘Yup, have you been taken hostage yet? Do you require rescue now or can we have a coffee first?’
‘Come over, you’ve got to see this.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Very. Get over here…it’s incredible. Come quickly.’
‘On our way.’
We can’t move or break out We’re engulfed on all sides by people surrounding us with grinning faces and eyes that fill with tears. Men shake my hand. Women hug me and kiss my cheeks and hold me out at arm’s length to tut at the bruises on my face that makes them show sad faces as they pull me back to be hugged again. I see Marcy being swarmed as men go shy and blush from that smile she gives and women shaking their heads at just how beautiful she is. Charlie is blown away. Literally shocked to the core as she repeats her name over and over and gets the biggest hug of all from the cook woman crying at the cut on her face and the chunk missing from her ear.
‘I hope’s you gave ‘em what for….I really do,’ the woman huffs and puffs and shakes her head then pulls Charlie in for another hug.