by J W Cotter
#18 Prepare dinner
We’ll be home by eight.
James was actually exhausted having just read the list, he was incredibly tempted to run back upstairs and hide underneath the covers but alas good sense prevailed and he made a small snack of chocolate cereal and orange juice before getting changed into old clothes, a pair of tattered jeans and a hooded sweater that would hide his white streak since he saw no need in gelling his hair at the moment.
It was almost one o’ clock before James knuckled down to the chores that seemed to have been accruing since the moment he decided to head for his grandmothers. He started outside because he only had a couple of hours before the sun would set seeing as the nights had begun to stretch. Grass first, then the weeds (he only accidently picked three flowers) and then the brushing. He wasn’t tired, not in the slightest and he almost felt that with the more he did the more energised he became. Lifting large buckets of water with one hand and carrying a large ladder with the other was a doddle, it was like he was carrying nothing at all. For once James rather liked this Malyn thing. The windows sparked as he balled up the old newspapers he used for shining them and placed them in their appropriate bin before standing back and glancing around at his work. Taking a deep breath he smiled and looked at his watch, it wasn’t even two; he did all of it in under an hour. It must be another Malyn attribute, great speed; he just hoped that nobody was watching. James picked up the ladder and carried into the garage while pushing the lawnmower and placing them back in their rightful places because if he didn’t there would be war, Jack always wanted things in their rightful place. Turning to lock the door he suddenly didn’t feel right, his head started to ache and immediately a sharp pain filled his body from his toes to the hair on his head. It was as if he was being sliced in two and the pain was so immense that tears poured down his face and within seconds James was on the cold concrete, unconscious.
A slight swaying rocked James to consciousness and as his eyes opened he saw a young man standing over him wielding a knife and straight away James scurried backwards until there was no more back. It was the man who stabbed him the first time he astral-projected. Trying to regain some composure, the supernaturally teleporting thing took a lot out of him; James clenched his fists as the knife got closer.
Suddenly a shrill sound filled the long narrow room and words screamed in a language James didn’t recognise caused the man to turn around with shouting a whining “Bunica!” before disappearing into the dark. James heard a hand forcefully slap a cheek and then nothing. Metal was what his back was resting on and he was almost certain he could hear waves crashing, putting that with the slight swaying he was certain he had wound up in a container on a ship. A light came on and sure enough James was in a container, a windowless contraption designed for objects not people. It was divided, there was a partition towards the other end and out from it came the old woman with the hump and a cane. She walked right up to James and stopped, her head barely reaching his chest. Looking directly at him it was like her eyes were stripping his soul; they didn’t blink nor give any indication of her purpose. Murmurs of disappointment flowed from her small mouth as did terrible breath which caused James to turn his head away. A thin bony hand took his cheek and forced it forwards again. “No fimished” she said with an aged voice that had obviously been subjected to years of smoke. English wasn’t her primary language and apparently it wasn’t her second or tertiary either. When she was finished looking in his eyes she started to feel his arms, squeezing the new muscles that formed. Those made her small mouth curl upwards, not a lot but some bit, the wrinkles in her face multiplied as she did. Moving her hand downwards she took hold of his wrist and pulled up the sleeve and seeing the tattoo her smile grew wider.
“Malyn, Malyn” she said gently slapping James’ face before slowly retreating away from him and disappearing behind the partition. Not sure quite what to do James rested against the metal and let the sounds of the waves crashing against the ship relax him, but he wasn’t relaxed for long.
The girl he had seen with the other two at the amusement park came out from behind the partition, she was just as stunning as he remembered and his heart started to flutter as his palms sweated. “You are the Malyn?” she asked even though the old woman confirmed it mere moments ago.
“Yes, yes I am but my name is James” he said outstretching his shaking hand and as it clasped hers he felt an immediate spark rush through his body, flushing his cheeks and weakening his knees.
“My name is Antanasia Grigorescu, but people call me Anta” she said smiling, her smile so bright it seemed to somewhat light up the dank container. James wasn’t sure if the same spark ripped through her but her actions told it didn’t. Not quite sure what to say and hoping that the dark part of the container he was in allowed his red cheeks to hide he awkwardly glanced at her and then the ceiling followed by an inspection of the floor. She wasn’t helping things either, she was just looking behind as if waiting for an order and sure enough the old woman barked something in a foreign language. “I’m sure this will not hurt!” she said slipping a small blade from behind her and quickly slit the palm of James. She was right it didn’t hurt but he was still annoyed and as the blood slowly trickled out she watched in disgust. “You’re not healing!”
“It takes a few moments” he replied and sure enough the wound started to heal and within a minute it was as if nothing happened. Laughing she walked away and disappeared behind the partition, somewhat irritated at being treated live livestock James followed and as he turned he saw the old woman drip some of his blood from the blade into a little steaming pot. “What are you doing?” James demanded to know but the tall lean one who stabbed him at the amusement park approached with anger in his eyes. James stood defiant in the small space and as the man walked the five feet to him the smell of B.O. intoxicated James to the point of nausea. Just as the two were about to come to blows, a bout that surely James would have won, the old woman clapped her hands in delight and shouted something. Suddenly the man had his arms around him hugging James and filling his nostrils with a smell so putrid he tried his best not to gag. Then Anta, she kissed him on the cheek and again his knees felt weak. “What happened?” he asked Anta.
“Bunica did a little potion to see if you are a good Malyn or evil one! She has come across both kinds and it seems you are good” Anta explained. James wasn’t quite sure how exactly the potion worked, he wasn’t necessarily good, he knew deep down he had a wicked side but perhaps it was so deep down the potion didn’t find it. “Now you can protect us from the evil Malyn and his monsters!” she said with worry in her voice and her brown eyes.
“Who, you mean Warren?” The old woman hissed at the mention of the name.
“Yes, him bin honting us for munts like us are dogs” the man finally spoke. He was just like Anta in almost every way, they’re skin was sallow and their eyes brown and both had black curls although hers were slightly longer. He was taller than her but not by much and his face was meaner than hers.
“Andrei is tired from running, as am I and so is Bunica” Anta said as she entwined her arm with Andrei. “He killed our entire clan, our parents, our siblings, our parent’s siblings and their children, he is a monster and we need help” she continued before kneeling down and wrapping her arm around the old woman who was now crying. “Our grandmother has buried six children and their spouses, nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson in the space of four months and she is tired” she said pulling a rather dirty looking tissue from her pocket and handing it to her grandmother.
“Why is he hunting you?” James asked knowing that he didn’t want to hear the answer.
“She won’t say, all she says is that she must keep us safe at any cost” Anta replied kissing her grandmother’s cheek.
“Don’t you think you should kind of get her to tell you why Warren is after your family?”
“I have tried but she is a
stubborn woman who has lost almost everyone she loves, explanations aren’t needed all that is required is forceful action, it is all she says when we ask” James looked at the old woman and she did look stubborn and capable of handling herself but if one looked long enough soon all you saw was an old woman with a cane. Suddenly voices filled James’ head; they sounded like Lue’s and Mikel’s. The familiar feeling of being pulled started in the pit of his stomach again and he was sure he was returning to Hamlet.
“Quick, I don’t have long, tell me where the ship is heading?” he demanded as Lue’s voice got louder in his head.
“Felixstowe” Anta said and as she did the ships horns blew out loudly.
“I think we’re nearly there, wait for me” James said and within seconds he had disappeared.
His head was a bit light and his eyes were slightly rolling around in their sockets when he realised where he was, home again outside the garage.
“He’s awake” a girl shouted and took James’ head into her lap. James realised this was the second time he was in two places at once and on both occasions Lue was there, although he was quite sure that it was merely a coincidence. As his eyes focused James could make out two others, Mikel was one and the other was the man from his birthday party, the one who had infiltrated his Grandmother’s house, Pip as far as he could remember.
“You were out for a while lad, anywhere nice?” Pip asked as he peered in the living room window.
“We’ve got to go, we’ve got to save them!” he replied sitting up quickly causing his head to stir and Lue to lose her balance.
“Save who?” she asked standing up and dusting down what little clothes she had.
“The ones from the first time, the boy and girl and the old woman” he explained as his feet steadied and he stood up.
“We must go, if you are being drawn to them then they must be saved, we’ll go immediately” Mikel announced as he came closer to the trio. James was a bit apprehensive, he wasn’t entirely sure about Mikel. To be truthful he wasn’t entirely sure about any of them but none of them gave off a strange vibe like Mikel but he was Ida’s right-hand man.
“I have to tell Ida, she made me promise to tell her the next time it happened” James suddenly remembered.
“I’ll phone her now, where are we going?” Mikel asked.
“They were on a ship, she said they were arriving at Felixstowe and I think they might be there by now” James answered.
“Right you lot get into the jeep” Mikel replied before walking to the gable of the house while the others made their way down the drive to the waiting range rover. It wasn’t the new type; it wasn’t even the model before that. It was old, almost twenty years old by the registration and the dark green colour was somewhat nauseating. Lue got into the front seat while Pip and James made their way to the back, the doors creaked as they opened them and the seats badly needed reupholstering. Patience was running thin as the three of them sat quietly for what seemed like an hour as they watched Mikel pace around the house at least five times talking passionately into the phone. Eventually the phone was placed back into the pocket and he made his way to the jeep.
“Everything okay?” Lue asked as Mikel put the key into the ignition and turned. The jeep stuttered for a few seconds before finally letting out a small bang and it started.
“Ya everything is fine, she wants us to go and get them before anyone else” Mikel replied as he checked his mirrors and put on his seatbelt.
“WAIT!” James suddenly shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Lue asked turning around.
“The list”
“What list?” Pip interjected.
“A list of chores, if I don’t do them they’d be no point in me coming home tonight!”
“Pip, do the list” Mikel ordered.
“What no way, why should I?” Mikel didn’t answer he just looked in the rear view mirror and as his emerald eyes narrowed Pip squirmed.
“Fine” he whined and got out of the jeep and slammed the door with such force James thought it would fall off at the first pothole.
“We’ll bring you back something nice” Lue cheerfully shouted as they drove slowly away down the narrow country road. Annoyed and utterly irritated Pip kicked some gravel before making his way into the house and readying himself for a less than thrilling afternoon.
Thrilling afternoons were not easily come by as James gathered first hand as the prospect of a daring high-speed drive through the countryside turned out to be more a Sunday spin and when James pointed out that they were just overtaken by a pensioner in a micro car Mikel just sniped and said he didn’t want to attract police attention. With no license and no identification and a minor in the back seat James understood his reasoning, although he couldn’t figure why they weren’t allowed to turn on the radio. Trees became walls and walls became buildings and then buildings turned to walls and walls turned to trees and that’s all James noticed as they drove along, that and the sun beginning to set. By the time they had arrived near the coast, darkness had fallen and the moon was high. Mikel parked at a distance and they all stared out over the water at the large port, it was huge with its own fire station and medical centre and police cars everywhere. Suddenly a loud booming sound caused them all to jump with fright as through the slight fog emerged a massive ship slowly easing itself along the port.
“Do you think that’s their ship?” Mikel asked as he watched the boat come to a slow stop and ropes being thrown from the deck.
“I don’t think so, when I was there it felt like the ship was docking, I think they’re here already” James replied looking further down and seeing thousands of containers stacked upon each other. It reminded him of when he was younger and would stack his Lego one on top of each other in rows except these were a lot larger than Lego.
“Well if they’re already in there, how are we going to get into them?” Lue pointed out as a flashing police car zoomed passed them in the direction of the main gates. Mikel looked at James and James looked at Lue, not one of them had thought that far ahead. Then there was a bang on the window and policeman stood there frowning at them.
“What’s going on here?” he asked loudly as Lue rolled down her window.
“Nothing Sir, we’re just lost” Lue replied, her voice softer than usual.
“Well you can’t be lost here, this is a very busy area you’ll need to turn around and head back two miles to the village, someone will help you find your way” he responded, bending slightly to get a better look at Mikel and James.
“Okay, we will” Lue said and just as she was about to roll up her window the policeman uttered the dreaded question.
“Can I see your license lad?” James’ heart sank, they had been caught and what’s worse is than they’d probably be taken to some police station and without doubt his father would be called and then life as he knew it wouldn’t be worth living. All of a sudden his thoughts turned to Pip and how his cleaning and cooking would have been for waste; his father was going to explode. Just as his head was reeling with the outcomes of the impending arrest Lue’s hand was on the policeman’s arm and James swore he saw a little red flash. Then suddenly he was walking away, the bright luminous jacket slowly heading towards the entrance.
“A little dash of love goes a long way” she smiled as she rolled up the window.
“What did you do?” James asked sitting forward between the two front seats.
“A little bit of Cupid magic, he’ll be fantasising about me for about an hour or two and then will remember nothing”
“That’s great but we still don’t have a way in” James replied.
“I’ve got an idea!” Mikel announced and jumped from the jeep and ran after the besotted bobby. Lue and James watched intently as Mikel came closer and then both shrieked when Mikel hit the bobby on the head hard and he fell to the ground. Slowly he dragged him back towards the jeep and taking off his lumino
us coat and identification badge he bundled the unconscious man into the ditch. Putting on the coat and making sure the badge was clearly visible he leaned in to the driver’s seat.
“Don’t be scared” he said looking at James and with those words James immediate reaction was of course to be scared, he even edged slightly backwards and sideward to Lue.
“I’m not going to hurt you!”
“Tell that to the policeman” James replied as he practically clung to the car door.
“Look I’m not, I’m just going to do something that you’re going to find strange, very strange” he said before turning away from him and facing the water.
“James I wouldn’t look if I were you, it’s not very nice” Lue said as she looked the other way. The screams bore themselves into James’ ears, they were of pure agony. The sounds of breaking bones followed and the sobs that came along with that ordeal and finally it stopped. Lue turned around as did James and there in front of them was the bobby, except it wasn’t, it was Mikel.
“What the bloody hell was that?” James asked as he got out of the jeep and looked at Mikel. He was exactly like the policeman, his features, his height his build his everything, except the eyes. “I’m not sure but I don’t think he had green eyes” he added as he looked closer.
“Well I’m good but I’m not perfect” Mikel started to explain. “I’m a shape shifter, but for as long as I’ve been shifting I’ve never been able to change my eye colour, these green eyes just won’t go away!” he said with a smile.
“It really is a remarkable ability, a painful one but remarkable all the same” Lue said as she joined the two of them on the side of the road. Cogs in his brain suddenly started to turn and with a horrible realisation, James felt sick.
“No no no, you were the one at my school, at the bank, you were with Warren as my old neighbour the one with the floral scarf you’re spying on me” James shouted as he backed away.
“Damn it James you’re paranoid” Mikel said turning his head away.
“James let it go, Mikel isn’t after you!” Lue said as she stood in front of James and placed her hands on his shoulders.
“She’s right James, sweet Mikel wasn’t after you, he wasn’t after anyone he was just a bumbling little idiot who by some joke of nature was able to alter his form, although not very well” the bobby started to say as Lue turned around confused. Then again the bones started to move slightly, the height lowered and the waist slimmed and before them stood a beautiful woman. Even in the dark of night her hair seemed to glow, its redness more like fire than hair and shimmering blue eyes replaced the green ones. Almost instinctively James placed himself between Lue and the woman.
“Who are you?” James asked keeping his distance.
“Ah is it time for introductions?” she laughed casually stepping slightly forward, James and Lue stepped back; they weren’t sure how much danger she posed. “Well my name is Cerise D’aragon, a descendant of the Red King and one of the prophesised Red Sisters, no need to introduce yourselves, I already know”
“Where’s Mikel?” Lue queried.
“Awh Mikel, well lets put it this way, I like to think of myself as unique and two simply isn’t unique” she replied smiling.
“So it was you at the school and the bank, spying on me? Why didn’t you let your muscle kill me?” James barked as he kept his distance.
“Well it wasn’t me at the school that in fact was Mikel but then he got a little suspicious. You see transmogrification causes a little ripple effect and apparently another shifter can sense it, so once he was on my trail I had to” she made a horrible noise and dragged her finger across her neck.
“You wagon!” Lue screamed and lunged for Cerise but James held her back.
“Feisty aren’t we” she laughed. “Anyway the reason I didn’t let Warren kill you was that I need you alive, well needed you alive. You’ve served your purpose” she finished and looked across the water towards the containers. “But I’ve got a few things to do so I’ll let you live, for now” she said as she took out a walkie-talkie from the coat pocket. James and Lue stared blankly at her.
“Control, this is Alex I’ve come across an abandoned jeep and I think there may be illegal immigrants in one of the containers, they’re papers and fake passports in the vehicle” she said in the policeman’s voice as she took out a large envelope from the driver door of the jeep and emptied it over the passenger seat. “Also I saw a male and a female leaving on foot heading your way, be watchful” she smiled at James and Lue.
“Right, I’m sending out another patrol, you head back to the station” the voice on the other side replied and then she switched off the walkie-talkie
“Well, as you lot say, tarrah!” and with that she was running up towards the main gates of the port and as she ran her hair shortened, her legs lengthened and she was the bobby again. James and Lue just stood by the water in silence trying to comprehend just what happened. It wasn’t until the sounds of police sirens and flashing blue lights being reflected on the trees did they spur into action.
“We’ve got to go” Lue said as she lifted herself into the jeep.
“We can’t, we’ve got to help them, we’ve come this far”
“James the police will be here in a seconds, there’s nothing we can do” she replied starting the engine.
“Can’t you pop us over there, like you do” he pleaded as the sirens got louder.
“It doesn’t work like that, I can’t take passengers”
“Fine, you go and look for them I’ll follow” he said taking off his shoes and throwing them into the trees.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“I’ll meet you over there” and with that James turned and dived into the cold sea and he was gone. Frustrated and with the headlights of an oncoming police car blinding her, Lue faded in a puff of red smoke and was gone.
In the midst of a metal jungle was where she landed and she had absolutely no idea what she was to do. Being a cupid was about love and happiness and all things cute and romantic, she wasn’t exactly the best to be searching a dock yard for three random people who arrived in a container from some random country.
“Night-time, murderous shape-shifter and no where to hide, this should end well” she whispered to herself as she slowly walked down one row of containers, there was no sign of anyone. A rattle erupted behind her and she turned to see two rats scurry out through a hole in one of the containers. Her heart was beating faster and she was cold, Lue couldn’t remember the last time she had been cold. “Yoo-hoo, anyone there” she whispered at a random container but there was no answer. She continued on another bit and did the same, but again there was no reply. A couple of more times she tried it and then someone answered.
“Who’s yoo-hooing?” the voice shouted. Lue forced herself against the metal and caught a glimpse of a security man at the top of the row, his torch shone down the middle, it swept to the left and by the time it swept to the right all that was there was a bit of red dust that was settling to the ground.
“That was close!” she said as she appeared deeper in the metal jungle on top of one of the containers.
“Maybe not close enough” a familiar voice said. Lue quickly turned and as she did her bow appeared in her hand, loaded and ready to shoot.
“Oh now you don’t want to do that dear do you, you might hit this poor little slip of a girl” Cerise said as her grip tightened around a young girl’s long hair.
“I’m a pretty good shot!” Lue replied as she pulled the string back and took aim at the pair.
“So is he!” Lue looked down and saw a monstrous looking young man, muscles bulging everywhere and utter anger in his face. In one hand he had an old woman, who Lue thought looked somewhat like Ida complete with a cane, while in the other hand was a rope.
“What’s he going to throw, a rope? I’m so scared” Lue laughed as she disappeared in a c
loud of red dust and reappeared behind Cerise.
“Those little tricks don’t interest me dear, all I want is this precious young woman” she said in a babying voice “and you can have the other two!”
“What two?” With that the large brute of a man pulled the rope gently, well his gently, and another young male rushed quickly along the hard ground.
“You see, you take those two and I’ll take her and we all go home happy” Cerise said as she threw the girl from the top of the container and she fell to the ground, hard.
“No chance!” Lue replied and again disappeared in a cloud of red dust and reappeared by the other warrior. Cerise must have jumped from the top as she was there between Lue and the others again.
“Well shoot me dear if you want but rest assured my companion here will take a lot more arrows to bring down than what you have in your little quiver!” Cerise smiled as she moved slightly towards Lue. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do, she never found herself in these kinds of circumstances. Lue was always the one beneath the Eiffel Tower as a man got to one knee to propose or huddled in a nightclub giving love a little nudge. This was all new to her, she wasn’t a warrior, she wasn’t a fighter yet she was standing strong, her arrow aimed perfectly at the neck of the person who earlier she thought was Mikel. Her eyes kept darting around the confined area hoping for some sign of James or even a police officer or dock worker, someone to disturb the showdown but there was not even a rustle. “Come on Lue we don’t have all night, some of us have homes to go to” Cerise said rolling her eyes and looking at a wrist that had no watch on it. Nervous and not quite sure what else to do she let an arrow fly but it didn’t work, somehow Cerise managed to grab it before it hit her neck.
“That’s impossible!” Lue said as she stared in astonishment.
“No dear that’s determination” she replied dropping the arrow to the ground while Lue loaded another into the bow. “Oh come on, we’re going to be doing this all night!” Cerise snapped as she stepped on the dropped arrow cracking it beneath her foot.
“Let’s see how you do with three?” Lue asked and as she pulled the string back, the arrow split into three separate ones. Cerise laughed, but it had a hint of trepidation. There was a moment of stillness as the two women eyed each other in a Western style showdown, but only one had a weapon. Cerise arched an eyebrow and readied herself, determined or not stopping three simultaneous arrows would be no easy feat. Suddenly an anchor fell from the top of the container and crushed Warren to the ground, knocking him unconscious and freeing the old woman and young man.
“Sorry!” James said unapologetically as he jumped from the top of the container dripping wet. Before she knew what she was doing Lue let the arrows fly and somewhat taken by surprise Cerise only managed to stop two, the third drove deep through her shoulder and out her back and into the wall of one of the containers pinning her to it.
“Well at least you stopped two!” Lue smiled as she walked passed the snared shape-shifter. James quickly helped both Andrei and Anta to their feet while Lue lent a shoulder to Bunica who was cursing and kicking the unconscious Warren until he gave a little stir and started to move slightly.
“Let’s get out of here!” James said and led the way while Cerise shouted after them.
“This isn’t over, she will be mine and there is nothing you can do to stop me” she shouted loudly but none of them replied.
“Do you hear me warrior?” she shouted again just as Lue and Bunica were rounding the corner to disappear. Then she whistled.
“Cupid, I’m going to watch Warren tear you limb from limb and feed you to the dogs” she seethed as she tried to pull the arrow out. Lue turned and with severe anger in her face she calmly walked back to the impaled woman pulling another arrow from her Quiver but didn’t load it.
“I’m not one for violence lady, but in your case I think I’ll make an exception” Lue said as she toyed with a new arrow in her hand. A look of panic came over Cerise and just as Lue was about to plunge the arrow into her belly a cloud of red dust appeared and she was gone, the arrow falling to the ground. At the top where Bunica was waiting the cupid reappeared. The old woman gave her a look of disappointment before they followed through the maze of containers, to where they did not know.
Up ahead the fog was after thickening and the water was making a soft noise as it rushed against the walls of the port. James, Anta and Andrei were standing on the dock looking out into the grey.
“What are we waiting for?” Lue asked as she and Bunica joined them.
“There was a boat here, a small one that could have taken us back to the jeep” James replied as he stared downwards where a rope lay unattached.
“Where is it now then?” Lue said as she too looked downwards. James shrugged. “That’s great, well come on then, let’s go look for another way back to the jeep”
“There is no other way, other than walking to the main exit and explaining ourselves to all the police officers and custom officers and sailors and workers and even possibly the navy” James ranted as he ran out of breath.
“Alright alright, keep your hair on we’ll find a way out of here!” Lue said trying to calm the warrior down. She turned to the old woman and bending slightly so she was on eye level and smiling widely she asked, “So dear, how is your breaststroke?” The old woman had no idea what Lue had asked but Anta did and promptly told the cupid that no way was Bunica strong enough to swim across to the jeep. “Well I’m out of ideas” she said and disappeared in a swirl of red dust. James’ eyes widened and his mouth unintentionally dropped open. He couldn’t believe it; she had just left him there with three refugees, a murderous warrior and a rather uppity shape-shifter. Deep breaths, deep breaths, he muttered to himself as he looked around the dock, the fog getting ever so closer. “Whoa, dusty!” Lue said as she reappeared shaking a small yellow bundle in her arms. James hugged her tightly.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” he said as he held her tightly.
“It’s just a silly inflatable life raft, it’s not a yacht!” she replied looking over his shoulder at the three who were staring right back rather confused, Anta was slightly red in the face at the sight.
“Wait, you didn’t think I left you did you?” she whispered in his ear. James nodded. “I wouldn’t do that, anyway couldn’t have, that little triple arrow trick really drained me, didn’t think I’d be able to pop into a couple of ships let alone pop back to Hamlet” she replied patting him on the back and separating. “Let’s just get out of here” she smiled. James again nodded this time wiping a couple of tears from his eyes, a warrior he may have been but he was still only sixteen and up to now an incredibly sheltered teen. “Right you lot, who wants to get out of here?” Lue asked as she turned the yellow bundle over in her hands searching for the instructions.
“I dink you poll a sting” Andrei said moving closer to Lue.
“A string is it? We’ll have to work on your English!” she replied turning the bundle over again and finding a red cord. She pulled it and the bundle exploded in a flash of yellow plastic. “Hmm, doesn’t look very comfy” Lue added as she looked at the raft.
“Doesn’t look very spacious either” Anta added.
“Never mind, we’ll all squeeze in someway” James said as he pushed the raft to the edge of the dock and with a slight kick it fell into the sea and started swaying slightly. “Okay, who’s first?” It was Anta, followed by Andrei who had Buncia on his back, her cane cover close to becoming a whip.
“Riteo my turn!” Lue chirped and she made her way onto the raft. “You were right it isn’t very spacious!” she said squirming around trying to get comfortable, her leather hot pants squeaking across the plastic. Last to join them was James and as he climbed down the water started to become more unsettled and the fog thickened. The five of them then sat in the raft. “What now then?” Lue asked as she looked across to James.
“I’ve got
an idea!” he said and grabbing the rope on the side of the raft he jumped into the sea and started to pull the raft through the waves towards the jeep.
“A warrior powered boat, now I’ve seen everything” Lue laughed as she watched James lug the raft along the water. It wasn’t exactly the furthest sea crossing and it wasn’t exactly the smoothest but nevertheless James managed the task and as he hauled himself upon the little embankment he hauled the raft up as far as he could. As they all disembarked Lue was the only one smiling, Bunica and her grandchildren were wet, cold and hurting from their encounter. “That was thrilling; when that big ship beeped its horn I thought we were all goners!” Lue laughed as she recalled the moment when they narrowly missed a massive shipping container coming into dock. Everyone who could understand what she said gave her a look of annoyance, even the two that couldn’t gave her a look of some sort of derision.
“Okay, well the hard part is over!” James said as helped Anta out onto the road where the others were already standing.
“I wouldn’t be so sure James” Lue said as she peered up and down the road, there was no sign of their means of travel.
“Ah no, where’s the bloody jeep?” he groaned as he went out into the middle of the road with his hands upon his head.
“Towed probably, those policemen must have taken it away” Lue answered.
“How are we going to get home, can you contact Ida, tell them to send someone?”
“Afraid not, don’t think I could even pop now! We can call them, Ida has a mobile, quick give me yours” James’ face reddened as he placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone, dripping wet. “Well that won’t work!”
“Not without a bag of rice anyway” James replied utterly ashamed.
“Never mind, it was only an idea. Next time before you go and do the brave thing, empty your pockets” she said before turning to the other three. “Anybody got a few pound on them?” she asked.
“What do you need money for?”
“There’s a bus stop down there” she replied.