Aliens in Godzone

by Cotterell, Genesis

  Curtis was alone again and had to decide what to do next. The truth was that although Sly believed Lion Chrys-Morngel was responsible for the deaths of his ex-girlfriend at Massacre Bay and Roscoe Chamonix at Moa Bay, Curtis felt uneasy.

  He was tempted to drive down to The Deer’s Antlers and have a chat to Harry, whose company he enjoyed. Instead he opened his notebook and began to go through the notes he had taken. It was no use going to the Human police and asking if they had any information on the Moa Bay crash site - they had long ago washed their hands of the matter and relegated Roscoe’s death to the probable accident file. Besides, he was Ryxin, and they never pursued Ryxin deaths unless there was a definite Human suspect. Even then they were reluctant to delve more than skin-deep into any such crime and rarely shared any information across the species.

  After half an hour of indecision and blankness he found himself thinking once again of 17. If only he could find out her new name. If he could, then most likely he could make up some sort of story and get in to see her. He liked to think that she had only reneged on their plan to get away from Xlesky Street because of the bullies she was working for. But he couldn’t be sure. That was the problem. He wasn’t certain about anything.

  He thought about Marzy and her new baby son, Sam. Seeing her yesterday had made him sick with grief and the thought of Marzy, Vogx and Sam all together dug deep into his heart. He got up and began to pace around the house.

  In the room where Janux had been sleeping he stood trying to visualise her beautiful face. Whenever he looked at Janux he felt had known her for a long time. She seemed so familiar and right. He opened the wardrobe. There were no clothes hanging there. He looked in the drawers and they were empty. He wasn’t surprised.

  Without bothering to lock up the house, he climbed into his car and sped off. He was going to Seal Bay, where he hoped to find solace at The Deer’s Antlers. The animal was back, gnawing at his insides. It’s all right, he told it. I’m going to feed you soon and you will go to sleep. Just wait.

  Baxy was sitting at the bar when he entered, looking thick-set and strong. Curtis knew that in order to get a drink he must go and stand next to him since he was talking to Harry.

  “Gidday, mate, how are yuh?” Harry said as soon as he saw him.

  “Good, thanks, mate. The usual.”

  Harry slammed a fresh pack of cigarettes and lighter down in front of Curtis and began pouring him his usual whiskey. “There yuh go. Get that down yuh.”

  Baxy was drinking a pint of beer and didn’t look up. He had on a sleeveless shirt and Curtis couldn’t help but notice his broad shoulders and upper arms, rippling with muscles.

  Harry turned his attention back to Baxy. “So you’re gunna make a bit o’ money eh?”

  “Won’t be that easy, mate. Guys just clam up when ya mention it, eh?”

  “Maybe our mate, Curtis here, can find out. Whaddya reckon?”

  Curtis lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Then he drank half his first glass of whiskey. Already he began to feel his emotional pain begin to wilt a little. “Reckon about what?”

  Baxy put his beer down. “The Master’s put up a reward. He wants to know who done away with his half-brother, don’t he? Roscoe Chamonix.”

  Both men were now looking at Curtis.

  “I thought he died from an accident.” Curtis finished off his glass.

  Baxy took a long swallow of his beer. “No, it weren’t like that. Someone wanted him out of the way. That person don’t know yet how they will end the last hours of their miserable life.”

  “So you have some idea who did it then, brother?” Curtis decided to try befriending him.

  “If I did I’d be a wealthy man. Gis another, will yuh, Harry?”

  In a split second another pint was set down in front of Baxy. Curtis sensed a twitchy nervousness in Harry. Or was it fear?

  “So why is the Master offering a reward now?” Curtis lit another cigarette as he watched Harry pouring him a refill.

  “Some guy told him they saw a person standing on the edge of the cliff. Anyway, you guys, I’m on guard duty so I gotta go.”

  “Have another one, brother. My shout,” Curtis said, hoping Baxy would stay and tell him more.

  “Next time, brother. I’ll be in trouble if the lady gets away or starts to think she’s a free woman. Know what I’m saying? My job is round the clock, mate. The Master don’t want his wife getting ideas, brother, but I’m the one who has to watch her every move.”

  “What about now? Who’s looking after her now?” Curtis was feeling a little concerned about Mistle’s treatment at the hands of these thugs.

  “No one, mate, ha ha. Had to lock her up for a coupla hours, brother, so I could come down here. The Master don’t know, ha ha.”

  They watched him leave, weaving his way out between the unoccupied tables and chairs.

  “Tell me what yuh up to?” Harry said, coming over to Curtis. “I’m glad he’s gone, that one. Anyone who works fuh Sly Onyx has gotta be jus like him. I don’t trust any of ’em.”

  “It’s okay. Most of those guys are scared themselves, mate, scared of Sly Onyx. He wields a ton of power and they know it.”

  “I thought they was all mates - yuh know?”

  “It only goes so far. They can turn on each other, just like they do to anyone. In the end they must obey Sly Onyx. That’s the Ryxin pecking order.”

  “What about this guy, Roscoe? He used to come in here, yuh know.”

  Curtis finished his second whiskey and Harry picked up the empty glass and took it away to be refilled.

  “There yuh go. Hey, yuh lookin’ a bit better now,” Harry said.

  “Yeah, feeling good now, mate. Hey, Harry, do you recall if Roscoe Chamonix came to the pub round about the time just before he died?” Curtis hurriedly downed his third glass of whiskey.

  “Not that day, mate. But I reckon he was here a coupla days before. He used to come in early in the week after he’d got his honey orders worked out. Then on the Wednesday he’d deliver them, eh? He had a regular pattern yuh know?”

  “Yeah, so I’ve heard. I’d best be off, got a lot to do.”

  “Be seein’ yuh then,” Harry said. “Yuh be careful now, yuh hear?”

  Curtis staggered out the door and began driving home. He thought about Janux, 17, Mistle and Roscoe. Why would anyone want Roscoe dead? There had to be a reason, a motive held strongly enough by someone to make sure Roscoe was permanently put away. If only he could talk to Janux.

  He had to get home and drink more whiskey. It was imperative now that his demons were threatening to occupy his mind for the rest of the day. Then as he passed the turn-off to Ngahere Road he decided to go down there. Maybe Sly was still out and he could talk to Mistle.

  There were no cars outside the house. So Baxy didn’t return here straight away as he’d said he would. Curtis walked around the house and saw that one of the windows was broken. It was obviously a bedroom.

  He peered inside. “Anyone there?” he called. The room looked untidy and was obviously empty. He knew he had to act fast before either Baxy or Sly showed up.

  Taking care to avoid the shards of glass, he climbed in through the broken window and looked around. If this was Mistle’s room, she’d obviously escaped. As if to confirm his suspicions he saw a doll on the floor - headless just like the one that he and Janux had seen in the Stellica homestead.

  He knew instinctively where Mistle would have gone, and raced to his car and drove fast round to the eastern side of the island. At last he reached Moa Bay and began to climb down the steep track to the beach below. Sure enough, she was there in the place where she must’ve come to meet Lion numerous times.

  “Mr Clever McCoy, isn’t it?” she said as he approached.

  “Are you all right?” Curtis said. “I wanted to find out if you were okay when I went to the house.”

  “I had to leave, don’t I?” she said, beginning to cry.

  “I’m not here to take y
ou back,” he said. “I want to help you.”

  “They’s comin’ for me, don’t it?” She looked past him to the cliff-top.

  Curtis did the same and saw two figures at the top of the cliff. “Tell me if you know what happened to Roscoe. Please.”

  She hesitated. He could see fear in her eyes. “I wanted a baby,” she sobbed.

  “Yes, I know. Is that why you’re scared - because you know and they don’t want you to tell anyone?”

  She turned and began to run down the beach. Curtis raced after her. “Or are you afraid of what your punishment will be for Mrs Duxton’s murder?”

  She kept running, sobbing now. Curtis caught up with her and grabbed her pack to stop her. It came off and fell to the sand, disgorging its contents.

  “I had to do it, don’t I? They was keeping me like a slave.”

  “Sit here and tell me what you know, Mistle. You don’t need to be afraid. Whoever killed Roscoe will be caught and punished. Roscoe was the Master’s half-brother, but I know you already know that.”

  “I don’ know about it then, isn’t it?” she said, beginning to grab her things and put them back into the pack. One item was a multicoloured beanie. Curtis looked at the hat and wondered why it was there. It wasn’t a cold day.

  Then he remembered what Siegfried had said weeks ago about the person he’d seen at the top of the cliff on the day Roscoe died. Whoever it was had been wearing a brightly coloured beanie. He felt a chill go through him. There was also a small book, tattered and worn, that had landed by his right foot. He picked it up.

  “That’s my bible, don’t it? They gave it to me when I was five years old and was sent over on the ferry to live with Ma and Pa Stellica. They said my new parents would teach me to read it so that I would know how to serve them every day, don’t it. Take a look if youse want.”

  Curtis opened the book. On the first page was written, ‘SERVANT’S HANDBOOK’ and when he turned the page he read:

  TEN STEPS WHICH SERVANTS MUST OBEY.

  (You came from a number. You are a number.)

  The ten steps were then set out:

  1) You were born to serve. You must bow to your Masters and to anyone who is above you in rank.

  2) Not to bow means you see yourself as an equal and this is wrong behaviour.

  3) Your behaviour will be monitored and if you do not please your Masters or anyone above you in rank then they have the right to take away some or all of your privileges.

  4) These may be reinstated if your behaviour improves.

  5) You must always attend to the needs of those you serve before yourself.

  6) A servant must be grateful for all they are given.

  7) A servant must always eat and drink only after those she serves.

  8) A servant must always be clean and look neat and tidy.

  9) A servant always gets up first in the morning and goes to sleep after she has attended to all the needs of those she serves.

  10) A servant can be dismissed at any time without explanation.

  More proof of the terrible way these children were treated. They were made to feel like the lowest people on Earth. He watched as Mistle stuffed the coloured beanie back into her pack and passed her the Servant’s Handbook.

  “You were there that day, weren’t you?” His eyes bored into her, trying to force her to look at him. Instead she looked out to sea where seagulls were squawking as they swooped and dived into the water. “Tell me about that day here at Moa Bay. Was Lion here? Did he meet you here that day?”

  “Lion never came. He said he would, doesn’t it? I was alone. Then I saw Roscoe - just there, don’t it? He were havin’ lunch, like always.”

  Curtis found he was holding his breath. He looked behind him, expecting to see the two men running towards them, but the beach was empty. He tried to think clearly about what he already knew. Mistle used to come here and meet up with Lion. Maybe Roscoe saw them together and they were afraid he’d tell Sly about them.

  “So what happened when you saw Roscoe? Did you talk to him?”

  “I did it for us, don’t it? Me and Lion. Lion and me was going to make a baby, don’t he?”

  “And Roscoe was going to spoil it for you by telling the Master.” Curtis checked the beach again, but there was still no one coming.

  “The Master tol’ me that Roscoe knew about the breeding programme, isn’t it? The Master was very angry about Roscoe tellin’ everyone at the pub when he got drunk, don’t he? He don’ want the island people to suspect anything. He say they stupid.”

  “But what about you and Lion trying to make a baby? Was Roscoe going to tell the Master when he got drunk?”

  “The Master, he was havin’ young Ryxin women in our house, don’t he? He bring them home and I have to make them food and drinks. Then they go to a special room and stay there all night with my husband, isn’t it? After that sometimes they comes back a lot. Always I have to make them food and drinks, don’t I? They laugh, isn’t it? They laugh at me, and one told me I had to bow when I gave her the tray of food. She was in the Master’s bed and she made me bow. If I don’t she will tell the Master and I will be taken away to another place. That’s why I must obey the Master. If I doesn’t, he says I will have to live somewhere else. I told him to please let me have a baby. He says I have to stay the way I am. He told me I was born to serve, isn’t it?”

  “And now he has Zady living in the house. That must be bad for you.”

  “I can make Zady go away, don’t I? I know how to make that happen. Just like the other one, isn’t it? After she made me bow and laughed at me she never came back to the house. The Master was worried, don’t he? I made sure that woman never came back, don’t I?”

  “You mean Lion’s ex-girlfriend - the one whose car crashed and she died at Massacre Bay?”

  Mistle smiled. “Yeah. She stayed in the special room with The Master. She came every week and I had to make her meals, don’t I? Then she told me she was going to get pregnant so I fixed her car, don’t I? She never came here again and I was happy, isn’t it?”

  Curtis saw her face light up as she told him what had happened. Her eyes sparkled and she looked ecstatically happy and even more beautiful.

  “What about Ma and Pa Stellica? They died in a fire at your home, didn’t they? How did that happen?”

  “They taught me to read the Servant’s Handbook, isn’t it? That’s the first book I learnt to read, and then every morning I had to read out the Ten Steps in front of them, don’t I? They tol’ me that I must obey Step 9 every day: A servant always gets up first in the morning and goes to sleep after she has attended to all the needs of those she serves. They gave me a big alarm clock that went off at five every morning. Then I had to get up and go and cook them some breakfast, isn’t it? They liked to have eggs and bacon mostly. Sometimes it was sausages and eggs. Afterwards I was allowed to eat some porridge. Then I had to help them get dressed and iron their clothes very nicely, isn’t it? No creases at all were allowed, don’t it? When I turned fifteen I made sure they wasn’t going to get no more cooked breakfasts or clean, ironed clothes, don’t I?”

  “You had just turned fifteen?” Curtis said, baffled by the seeming importance of this.

  “I found the letter, don’t I? About what they was going to do when I was fifteen, isn’t it? They was going to get two thousand dollars if they sent me away for five years. And a new servant, don’t it? They was going to send me over to the mainland, isn’t they? That’s what the letter says, don’t they? I was scared, isn’t it?”

  Then Mistle laughed. “I felt very happy that day after they drank the special tea. They made some funny noises and called for me to come, isn’t it? But I said no, I am too busy.” She giggled then and looked into the distance with a smile as if relishing the memory of what must have been Ma and Pa Stellica’s last minutes of life.

  “I stood by their bed and read out the Ten Steps from the Servants Handbook. Ma made a funny gurgling noise, isn’t it? I s
miled at her to show I understood. Pa was already asleep from the special tea I gave them, don’t he? He always liked a large cup, you see, so I made his more special and he gurgled twice then went to sleep. I looked at Ma as she kept making that funny sound. She was looking at me, isn’t she? Then I read out what was written in the cover of the Servant’s Handbook. It was written specially for me, isn’t it? Your mother was known as No: 6. That means that you, child No: 19, were born to serve. After that I stoked up the fire real hot so they could keep nice and warm, isn’t it? I did that always in the winter. Ma was still looking at me and I smiled at her and straightened the bedclothes don’t I? Her face was a funny blue colour but I told her not to worry, she would be all right. Then the bedclothes accidentally fell in the flames, isn’t it? I had to run outside, don’t I? That was a happy, happy day.”

  Curtis listened tensely to her gleeful account of the last few hours of Ma and Pa Stellica’s life. But he also understood why Mistle could be cold-blooded enough to murder them. After all, she was known first and foremost as a number and then a servant. “And Roscoe?”

  “Roscoe was a nice man, isn’t it? He let me into his van while he had lunch. We listened to the radio, don’t it?”

  “So why did you kill him?”

  “He was a threat to us. Me and Lion and the Master. I had to please the Master in every way - that was my job. Every time Roscoe went to the pub and got drunk he started talking about the Ryxin breeding programme. There coulda been Humans there. The Master tol’ me he wasn’t happy, don’t he? And there was Lion. He loved me and was going to make me pregnant. He told me that every time, don’t he? Only we had to wait until the contraceptive injection wore off, isn’t it? Every year I had to have one. There was about three months to go before I could get pregnant, don’t I?” She smiled again with a dreamy look on her face as if recalling what she had shared with Lion.