by Rinelle Grey
He was incredibly relieved, three streets over, to find houses with the doors and windows intact. The thing hadn’t been here. He jiggled one of the door handles, but it was locked.
Folly picked up a rock and smashed out a nearby window.
“Hey!” Kerit protested involuntarily.
Ignoring him, she slipped into the house and opened the door.
Kerit stepped inside, shaking his head.
“What? It’s not like anyone lives here.”
“True,” Kerit agreed. He stared around the room for a minute. The cool air inside was blessedly silent. And normal. Even the thought that the family who once lived in this house was long dead wasn’t enough to freak him out. Not now.
Folly threw herself down onto the couch, leaned back in it, her arms resting along the back, and stared at him. “So, what now?”
Kerit paused to peer out the window, but nothing moved in the dust. His first instinct, which was to suggest that they return to the shuttle, he immediately dismissed. Folly’s father was still somewhere in this city, and he could be oblivious to the danger. They had to find him, and urgently.
“If only I had my radio. We need to find your father quickly and get everyone out of here.”
Folly opened her mouth, then shut it again. She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “We need to head to the ship building yards then.”
Kerit glanced out the window, then sighed. “We’re not going anywhere until this storm blows over. We could get turned around in this dust, and be heading in completely the wrong direction. We might as well get comfortable.”
Folly sighed as well, then she grinned and jumped up. “Are you hungry? I’ll see what’s in the kitchen.”
His stomach rumbling reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since before he started his climb, several hours ago. Strange. Usually the only thing that distracted him enough to forget about eating was surfing. He would have liked to help her search the cupboards, but he had a few things he wanted to take care of while she was busy. He followed her into the kitchen, and looked around briefly, but it all looked quiet. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Folly waved distractedly at him, her head buried in a cupboard.
Momentarily distracted by the sight of her butt in the air, Kerit forgot what he had been planning to do. He shook his head. Not the time to be attracted to her. Right now, he was more concerned with his ability to protect her.
A quick check of the rest of the house revealed that it was secure, with no sign that whatever had damaged the last house had been here. Kerit checked the rooms a second time, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. Unsurprisingly, there were no guns. Not that he’d ever used one. He found a large, heavy, metal torch in one of the cupboards and added it to his backpack.
But nothing else even remotely weapon like, until he checked under the double bed upstairs and found a baseball bat. It didn’t seem like much against something with giant claws, but anything was better than nothing.
It was getting darker now, even though it was the middle of the day and despite the fact that the windows were closed, some dust made it in through the cracks. He headed back to the kitchen, following the savoury smell of… was that meat pie? His stomach rumbled.
Folly stood near the bench, doing something he couldn’t see, the little furry white creature sitting on her shoulder, and her hair shining in the light of half a dozen candles. More candles covered the table, surprisingly free of dust, in the middle of the room. She’d even managed to find some clean plates and cutlery.
She turned and smiled. “Sit down, this will just be a minute.”
He didn’t need to be asked twice. He took a seat on one side of the table, and waited eagerly.
Putting a plate on the bench, Folly tapped it, and the little creature scurried down her arm. It looked at her once, its head tilted to one side. “Go on,” she encouraged, and it began to eat, making strange little grunting sounds. Kerit found it hard to tear his eyes away. What was it?
Folly brought over a tin, slipped a slice of pie onto his plate, then a similarly sized piece onto the other one, drawing his attention back to the table.
“Is that… tinned pie?” He’d never seen such a thing. He had no idea it existed.
A grin broke out on her face. “It is. It’s one of my favourite finds. You don’t see them too often.”
Steam rose off the plate, tempting him to dig in. And Kerit was never one to deny temptation. “It looks great.” He scooped up a mouthful with the fork. It well and truly lived up to its smell. He began to eat eagerly, before a thought occurred to him. “How did you heat it up?”
“I brought a camping stove and a small gas cylinder with me. It won’t last long, but having a warm meal when you’re away from home is one of those comforts I’m not willing to give up.”
A girl after his own heart. A warm, tasty meal made up for a lot of discomforts. Kerit smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.”
She stared at him for so long that he began to wonder if he had pie on his nose. “What?” he asked.
“It’s just… aren’t you worried about eating food that’s been sitting in this house for twenty years?”
Kerit realised that she hadn’t even begun eating off her own plate. He stared at the pie. It tasted fine. “Should I be?”
“No. I checked the tin, and there was no damage. It’s just that no one else will eat the tinned food I bring back. They’re all certain it’s going to kill them because it has to be out of date.”
Was that all? Kerit grinned. “I always figured taste was a more reliable indicator than use by dates. They’re more suggestions than rules. And anyway, canned food is pretty indestructible. Isn’t that why people keep it for emergencies?”
“Yeah, that’s what I reckon. You’re the first I’ve found that agreed with me though.”
His eyes met hers, and it suddenly occurred to him how intimate the scene was. She stared back at him silently, the candlelight reflected in her eyes. They were probably the only people within miles.
Except for her father. And whatever creature had destroyed those houses.
Suddenly the situation was far less romantic. “We’ll stay here until this storm passes, then we need to get moving again,” he said, and as though his words had broken the mood, she looked back down at her meal and began to eat, nodding.
Kerit felt a little sad at the change. The silence stretched out between them, and he couldn’t think of anything to say to break it.
She finished up her pie and dumped her plate, and the one the creature had licked clean, in the sink unwashed, then began to blow out the candles one by one. The little furry creature ran up her arm to sit on her shoulder again.
Kerit picked his plate up and stared at it. Something in him rebelled at the thought of not washing the dishes. Why was that? It wasn’t like anyone lived here, or would use these dishes ever again.
Folly leaned against the door jam, arms crossed, watching him, a half amused smile twisting her face. “You’re feeling the urge to wash up, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he admitted sheepishly. “Probably silly, right?”
She shrugged. “I had the same thing when I first started exploring. I even washed them a couple of times. But when you have to carry all your water with you, it seems a waste to use it to clean things that no one will ever see again.”
Her comment removed the last concerns he had about leaving the dirty dishes. “No point in wasting water,” he agreed, dumping his dishes next to hers. Doubly so with all the extra he was drinking in this heat.
He picked up the last lit candle and followed her into the living room, picking up the baseball bat that he’d left near his backpack, just outside the door. Folly eyed it, then him, but said nothing. Kerit put the candle down in the middle of the room, then crossed to the front window and pulled the lace curtain aside just a little. He stared out at the street, but aside from the distant howl of the wind, all seemed quiet and still.
; Inside the house, it was almost too quiet. He was so used to the bustle of a crowded city, that it hadn’t been hard to transfer to a crowded transport ship. The crying of the babies had bothered him less than this silence did. The only thing he could hear was the in and out of Folly’s breathing. Followed by a very loud burp.
Kerit turned around, staring at Folly before it hit him how rude it was.
She laughed. “Don’t blame me, it was Chicken.” She patted the little creature sitting on her knee, its fluffy tail wrapped over its nose. It made gentle snoring noises, and it was hard to believe it had been the origin of the loud noise.
Not that Kerit was going to argue. Instead he asked, “Chicken?”
He didn’t know much about animals, especially not farm animals, but when they had picked up the settler’s livestock from Zerris, he’d had his first encounter with chickens. And he knew for a fact that they looked nothing like the little animal on Folly’s lap.
“Yeah.” She laughed again. “Named for her personality. She’s scared of everything and not afraid to show it. She spends most of her time hiding. And eating.”
The eating he’d seen. Maybe the burp wasn’t such a surprise after all.
“What sort of animal is she? I’ve never seen anything quite like her before?”
“She’s a skuttle. They’re native to this planet. To the caves actually.”
Kerit frowned. Bats lived in caves. And glow-worms and stuff. He’d never heard of a cute furry creature that lived in a cave. Not that he had any idea of where they did live, so what did he know?
“Do you think she’d let me pat her?”
“You can try, but I doubt it. Chicken, remember?”
He grinned. Part of him wanted to prove that the little animal would like him, as though it would prove something about him. But the bigger part suspected that Folly was right. “I’ll give her a little longer to warm up to me,” he said. “So if she’s so scared, how did you end up with her?”
Folly tickled Chicken behind her big pointy ears. “She was running away from some other skuttles that were chasing her, and she ran right up my leg. The others were too scared to follow, so I guess she decided it was safer to stay with me.”
“Sounds like she knows a good thing when she’s onto it. Why were they chasing her though?”
“She’s different, an albino, that’s why she’s all white with red eyes. Usually skuttles are kind of a reddish brown. Animals don’t cope well when someone’s different. If I hadn’t helped her, she probably wouldn’t have survived too long.” Folly’s voice was quiet. “Not that much different from humans, when it comes down to it.”
Her words brought her earlier comments to mind, about people thinking she and her father were weird. Kerit felt there was a story there, but he didn’t quite know how to ask. So instead he said, “I always wanted a pet when I was a kid, but my mum was allergic so we couldn’t have one. By the time I’d grown up and moved out of home, I was too busy, and I thought it would be unfair to keep one.”
Folly nodded understanding. “What do you do?” she asked. “’Cause I know you’re not a spaceship pilot.”
Kerit laughed. “Far from it. That was always my brother’s dream. He was good at it too. But me, I’m just a surfer.” This was an easier topic. Safer.
“Surfer?”
“Yeah, I have, like, this board…” He’d never realised this would be so hard to explain. “And I ride on the waves…” He trailed off. She’d probably never seen a wave.
“Have you ever seen any dolphins? They’re on Urslat, right? Is that where you’re from? Is your board sort of like a boat?”
Kerit grinned. He put the baseball bat down on the chair next to him, and leaned forwards. “Dolphins, yes. One rescued me from a shark once.” He ticked her questions off on his fingers as he answered them. “Yes, I’m from Urslat, and no, my board is nothing like a boat. It’s flat and not much bigger than I am. It’s far better than a boat. You’re closer to the sea and can really feel it.”
“That sounds nice,” her voice sounded wistful. “You must miss it.”
Kerit tried to shrug. He planned a speech about how being in the shuttle out in space was a little the same, but the words wouldn’t make it out of his mouth.
The truth was, he did miss it. It had been three weeks and four days since he’d last been on the waves, and at this rate, it would be at least that long until he was out there again. That was even supposing there were any decent waves here on Semala.
Even if there were, there would be no more tournaments. No more sponsorship. No more making his living from what he loved doing.
He’d given all that up to follow his family all this way.
Folly was watching him, so he searched for something to say—anything to avoid telling her that he hadn’t been able to bear being left alone without his family back on Urslat.
“It is nice. I’ll show you,” he promised. “As soon as the planet is terraformed and it’s safe to be outside in the sun, I’ll teach you to surf.”
She was completely silent for a minute, and Kerit felt his face burning. That sounded very presumptuous. She was probably thinking that Urslat sounded nice, not surfing.
“I’d like that,” she said simply.
It took a moment for her words to sink in. Then, her simple acceptance took his breath away. Before she could change her mind, he said, “It’s a date.”
There was another long silence. “I don’t do dates.” Her voice was flat. Had he misread her?
“That’s good, because I don’t either,” he said quickly. “Not that sort of date anyway. I’ve had bad experiences.”
She gave a laugh. “So have I. So it’s a non-date then?”
“A non-date it is,” Kerit agreed.
Then he had no idea what to say. He hadn’t actually intended to ask her out, not even on a ‘non-date’. But he didn’t regret it. Pity it would have to wait until they got out of here and the terraforming was complete. But it wouldn’t take long. Once this storm passed, they’d find her father, and get back to his shuttle.
His sadness about all he’d left behind faded. The silence stretched out again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable this time.
At least, not until it was broken by the sound of smashing glass. Kerit’s heart hammered in his chest. He reached for the baseball bat, his hand shaking.
Chapter 6
“Is that…?” Folly’s whisper was loud to his panicked ears.
“Shhh,” he returned, even though surely nothing could hear them over the loud crashes.
Folly tucked Chicken into her pocket, rose silently and crossed to the window. Lifting the curtain just enough to peer out, she said, “I can’t see anything.”
Kerit came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. Dust blew furiously down the street, obscuring even the buildings on the opposite side of the street. The sounds continued intermittently, a little muffled. The creature was probably inside one of the houses. He put a hand on Folly’s shoulder, needing the connection, and she put hers over his for just a moment.
“Maybe it won’t come this far,” she said.
“I hope not.” He said the words more to give her comfort than anything else. Every single house in the last few streets had been broken into and ransacked. There was no reason to believe this street would be any different.
His mind worked feverishly. How could they escape? Was it better to go now, or wait and get a chance to find out what they were up against?
Shadowy movement in the doorway of the house next to them caught his eye.
Folly’s indrawn breath mirrored his.
The creature was a little taller than he was, standing on two legs, the sharp bends in them indicating it could probably outrun them. Not that it would need to, because it sprouted two arching wings on its shoulders. It was hard to make out much more than the general shape through the dust, but the dark colouring to it indicated that it had some sort of armour, though it was hard to tell whether it was nat
ural or not.
This time, it roared before smashing the window of the next house.
“We need to get out of here,” Kerit said his voice low.
The creature turned its head in their direction.
Surely it couldn’t have heard them from that distance? And over the sound of smashing glass too.
Kerit’s hand tightened on Folly’s shoulder. Neither of them moved, though if the creature’s hearing was that good, it could probably hear his heart thumping. Kerit couldn’t believe he was hoping it would go back to smashing the windows.
It didn’t.
Instead, it spread its wings, flapping them slightly, lifting it just off the ground. Then it glided over the small dividing fence to where they were. Kerit held his breath, not daring to move. Was its eyesight as good as its hearing? He didn’t really want to find out.
It hovered in front of the house, tilting its head from one side to the other.
Close up, it was even more frightening than it had been from a distance. The black feathered wings spanned over twice its height, making it look even more threatening. Layered armour, it had to be natural, reminiscent of a beetle, covered every part of its body, and huge claws sprouted from behind its wrist.
Kerit swallowed, but even that didn’t help his dry mouth. The baseball bat was heavy in his hand. As if it would be any use against a creature like that. He might as well hit it with a twig.
He wanted to pull Folly away from the window, out of sight, but the sound and movement could tip the creature off. For now, it was just hovering in front of the house, staring at each window in turn with its dark, beady eyes.
A loud, drawn out roar split the silence. The glass in the window shook.
In sharp contrast, Kerit heard a small spitting sound from Folly’s direction, followed by a strong smell of acid.
What was that? Was there another creature inside? There was something familiar about the scent though. He’d smelt it before, on the mountain, when Folly had crashed into him. Either it was her scent, or… Chicken!