by Riva, Aline
“Be a good boy and don't touch anything!” she told Archie as she knocked on the door that said Closed, then gave it a push and it swung open.
She walked into a large room with light décor and mirrors behind a curved bar. The theme was all pale walls and chrome and the place was spotless, the mirrors were shining, the bar was recently cleaned. Archie ran across the carpet to the other end of the room, where he patted the padded seating.
“Soft!” he said, and toddled off to pat other seats.
Carla set the folded curtains down on a table, they would go along the wall that faced the street, they were black would look perfect in this place. The fruit machine was switched on, the pinball machine was lit up. The TV stood dark, as all TVs had since the outbreak. Life was not quite back to normal yet. She looked about the empty room.
“Hello?” she called out.
Charlie came out from a room at the back of the bar. And as the glamorous woman who looked nothing like the scientist she was met the man in the tweed suit who looked more like an ageing punk rocker than the husband of the late Lord Featherstone, they looked at each other and smiled.
“Is Charlie Featherstone about?” she asked.
“I most certainly am, princess!” he said warmly, and she indicated to the curtains on the bar.
“Carol asked me to bring them over- she's working today...You're Charlie Featherstone? I'm Carla Reynolds.”
He walked over to join her.
“I suspect I'm not quite as you imagined, hardly an aristocrat. Nice to meet you at last.”
They shook hands. Then as a bouncing sound was heard, she looked across the room to see Archie standing on the plush seating jumping up and down.
“Archie, don't do that!” she called, then she turned back to see Charlie was staring at her son as he jumped down, then toddled over quickly, waving his flippers as he ran.
“Hello friend!” he said brightly as he stood there smiling up at Charlie.
Charlie hesitated for a moment and then as he spoke, his voice was choked with emotion as he saw the way the small round child opened and close his tapered hands as he looked up at him.
“Hello to you too, friend,” he said as he blinked away tears, “My name is Charlie. Nice to meet you.”
“Archie likes it here, seats good for bouncing!” Archie declared.
“You can jump on my seats if it makes you happy,” he said kindly, and Archie gave him a broad smile and toddled off, climbed on to a seat that ran along the back of the bar, and started to jump again.
“I'm sorry about this, he likes to play,” Carla said, “In case you're wondering, Archie was born with birth defects, he's a little delayed with his learning too, but he's bright in his own way. He won't wreck the place...I hope!” she laughed nervously.
“He's welcome here and he can do what he likes as long as he's happy, he's a lovely little lad,”Charlie said warmly, “And I heard about you, Carla - used to work at Marshcast, Joy told me all about it. We owe you a great deal for helping to create the Evolved. As for the rest, we know that was sabotage. Not your fault. I expect when the town opens up they'll come looking for you, they'll need you back on the project now the Evolved are here.”
She looked worried as she thought about it.
“I know that,” she told him, “I hope they don't come looking for me. They will have plenty of other scientists, I don't want to be found. I just want to be with Archie now, have a normal life, raising my son. I can't take any more time away from him, not after years on the project, then the terrible journey to get here and find him. I never want to be away from him again.”
Charlie paused for thought.
“I'm sure it wont be too hard to hide you,” he said to her, and then he smiled, “I'm opening this place up next week. Ever worked behind a bar?”
She looked at him in confusion.
“I'm a scientist, Charlie!”
“Then it shouldn't take you too long to learn,” he replied, “It might be the best thing you ever did, because I just got a little plan form in my head that might just help you and Archie.”
“What is it?” she said as he smiled and she did too.
“Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight,” he told her knowingly as he winked.
“Tell me more about this plan,” she replied, and he led her over to a table and they sat down and he explained everything.
They talked for hours. Not just about his plan, but about his life running a bar in Wickstall, then about how he had met Bradley. And despite all that had happened in the past year, neither he nor Carla spoke of the loss or the horror or the sadness, instead they talked about life and happy memories of past times, and hopes for the future. And they laughed, too. The fact that a friendship had just struck up was undeniable. While Archie sat on the carpet eating crisps and drinking lemonade from a paper cup he felt content, listening to Mummy and Charlie talking and hearing Mummy laugh when Charlie said funny things. Mummy hadn't laughed like that for a long time, and it made Archie smile, too.
Charlie paused their conversation more than once to make tea and bring it out to the bar, and while they sat there with a third cup of tea in front of them, Charlie gave a sigh as he thought back to the past. Then he looked across the room, fondly smiling as he watched Archie rolling on the carpet, then he scrambled up to the padded seating again, patting it with his tapered hands. Charlie looked back at Carla with a fond look in his eyes, a look that was tinged with sadness as he began to speak.
“Your little boy reminds me of someone. Anthony. Me and Bradley's Anthony.”
“I didn't know you had a son,” Carla replied.
“I didn't, not officially, not in those days,” Charlie told her as they sat in the empty pub and the lights glowed on the pinball machine nearby, “You see, the world was different then. Not so enlightened as it is now. So instead of Bradley and his partner adopting a child, it had to be lonely but kind and generous Lord Featherstone, opening up his lavish home to give a child a better life, becoming a single father, that was how the agency saw it. We didn't care what child we adopted, we just wanted to be parents...” he paused, feeling an ache in his heart as he recalled it like yesterday, “It was Brad who did the adoption related stuff, I had to sit back and wait, to the agency I was just his best friend who shared his manor house. Someone to go clay pigeon shooting with on the weekend...Then Bradley told me, he'd heard about this little boy called Anthony. He said his heart went out to him and he had to adopt him, he wanted him to have a good life...” he paused, fighting back tears, “He was a lovely little boy. But he had a lot of health problems. We were told he wouldn't live past the age of seven... but he was nine...” his voice broke up as he blinked away tears, “He was nine when he died. We were both with him, I was holding him when he took his last breath... he had hands a bit like your Archie...I hope Archie's okay, he seems lively?”
She reached over the table, closing her hand over Charlie's, nodding as her eyes filled with tears too.
“Archie's fine. He's a healthy little boy. And he is lively, he's always up to mischief!”
“I'm so glad to hear it!” Charlie told her warmly as he smiled, then as she let go of his hand, he turned his thoughts to all he had heard from Carol.
“I'm so sorry to hear about Brett, what he did. Carol told me all about it. Thank goodness Alex and Mickey were there to stop him,” he paused, frowning as he thought about something else that he was sure she was not aware of, “I've not been back in town long, but I've heard a rumour about Mickey... Mickey Silk, is it?”
She nodded.
“What about Mickey?”
“I heard he was a wanted man before the outbreak. Brett opened his mouth to a few people, talking about Mickey and guns...It seems he resented him for taking his power away, personally I think he did a good job of it, Brett was a cold hearted bastard, he never should have had so much control around here... But he did tell a few people that Mickey was someone big in gun running. Befor
e I ran a bar, I mixed in all kinds of circles back in the day, and I know of the Deering family... not in a fond way, either.”
She looked at him in surprise.
“You had gangland connections?”
“Many years ago. How do you think I got the money to move to Wickstall and buy a bar?” he chuckled, then his expression became serious once more, “Tell Mickey to come in and see me. If I can help him, I will.”
“I'll do that, thanks,” she said, “Joy mentioned he's worried about the police coming into town, he's high profile around here and it won't be hard to find him.”
“I'm sure there's a way,” Charlie said, and then he looked to the bar, “Fancy learning how to pull a pint?” he asked her, “Because if you want to stay in this town with Archie and have a quiet life, we need to start hiding you.”
She smiled, now fully aware of the plan.
“Yes, we do,” she replied, “Hiding me in the best place possible - in plain sight...”
Chapter 6
When Mickey had got the message that evening to go over to the bar and have a chat with Charlie Featherstone, he had felt confused as he borrowed River's car and made the journey to the edge of the barrier, where the bar was closed but the lights glowed within. He didn't know how Charlie could help him, but Carla seemed very sure about this...Charlie heard him knock and invited him in, then closed the door, locked it behind them and led him across the empty bar to a table where he was drinking tea and paused to fetch another cup that was on the bar, and he took it over to Mickey, set it down in front of him and then began to speak.
“It seems Brett shot his mouth off about Mickey Silk and guns before he was locked up,” he said, “And that information will get to the police when they arrive... I know the name Silk is linked to Deering. I used to move in all manner of shady circles as a young man and as time has passed by, my ear has stayed close to the ground...”
Mickey closed his eyes as he gave a heavy sigh, dreading what would come next...Had he worked for the Deerings? He met his gaze once more.
“Look, if this is about a gangland grudge, yes, I smuggled guns for my sister Flora -”
“And someone had John Deering murdered.”
Mickey swallowed hard. He looked across the table at Charlie, who looked very much as if he could still fit in with those shady circles. He didn't look like a man who had spent his life with his aristocrat partner, he looked like he had gangland connections, it was in his voice, in his eyes, in the way the light caught on a small scar on his cheek.
“Fora asked me to arrange the hit because she wanted to take over the business. There was a lot of money at stake. And she screwed me over.”
Charlie had sensed it, that dread he had seen in Mickey's eyes, and he explained at once.
“My Uncle was involved in a lot of shady stuff. He was a good bloke, but he moved in gangland circles - and he was killed back in '74 by Derek Deering - John's father. And I'm looking at the man who killed his son...” he paused to sip his tea and set it down again, “So thank you for that, and putting balances of justice aside, I know you do a great job running this town. You also helped to remove Brett Norton from power, and you helped save Carla when he attacked her. There are so many reasons to help you, Mickey. That's why I'm going to make sure that when the cops come calling, you're safe. That's an offer, if you're willing to give up what ever is left for you out there when the banks are up and running again. I'm assuming your plan is to grab the money and take Joy and your little girl and go on the run?”
“It was all I had, that was the plan,” Mickey admitted.
“Well,” Charlie said, “It's like this: How much money do you have stashed away in most likely multiple bank accounts and probably not on British shores?”
Mickey gave a heavy sigh.
“It runs into millions.”
Charlie didn't react on hearing the sum. His gaze was fixed intently on Mickey as he spoke again.
“You have two choices. You can sit tight and wait for the money as the police close in, then go on the run and hope for the best - or I can help you. But if I help you, it means you have to forget about that money. Leave it there, leave it alone, walk away from it. Are Joy and Angel worth more to you than a pile of cash, Mickey?”
He drew in a slow breath.
“I'm choosing my family.”
Charlie smiled.
“Then all you have to do is trust me,” he said, “Because I have outside information.”
Mickey stared at him.
“Word from outside? How?”
“I'm right next to the barrier that overlooks the heart of town. They're clearing away the zombies, cleaning up the streets - the army are out there, getting the town ready for when the barriers come down. I went to the edge and got chatting to one of the soldiers, I gave him a brandy on his break because it was getting cold. He told me the cities are recovering. In some areas the zombies have been gone since the end of summer. London's becoming functional again. It's the towns further out, like this place, that have taken longer to get to - but the world will soon be up and running. Limited TV broadcasts are back by December. Phones will be working again by the end of the month. Ports are reopening for import and export, it's all happening out there. And then he told me about the computer systems. There was a huge power outage that affected police records. Millions of people were wiped off file, no finger prints, no photos, nothing. And they can't get it back. The only way the police can find you Mickey, is by word of mouth. And they will look, but trust me, they won't find you.”
“What are you planning?” he asked.
Charlie got up from his seat, then he took away the empty cups.
“Don't worry about that,” he told him, “Just trust me. I'll let you know when the time comes.”
He set the cups on the bar and then as Mickey got up stiffly, he looked gratefully at Charlie.
“I have no idea how you can help me, but thank you. It is appreciated. And I hope when the time comes, you do have a plan.”
“Don't worry,” Charlie told him again as he led him to the door, “All you have to do is be in the right place at the right time, leave the rest to me. It's best if you don't know the details. You'll understand when the time comes. Now get home to Joy and Angel, go and spend some time with that lovely family of yours.”
As they reached the door, Mickey looked at him in confusion.
“What is this plan?”
“Not set up yet,” was all Charlie said, then he told him to have a good evening, and Mickey left the bar and headed back to the car feeling curious but also optimistic: Finally it seemed someone had a plan, and even though he was yet to find out the details it gave him hope, something he had been losing sight of until now. Maybe there was a way out of this mess after all...
Poppy, Sage and Bess were walking along the sea wall together, they were off to the pier, where Bess was planning to spend a few hours fishing.
“It's strange down there,” Sage remarked as they looked over the sea wall at the sand and the seaweed and the placid turn of tide to shore, “No zombies, living or dead. Nothing...”
“It takes some getting used to,” Bess agreed, “I know we have to surrender the weapons soon but I don't feel ready to do that,” then she smiled, shaking her head.
“What?” Sage asked.
Amusement danced in her eyes as Bess spoke again.
“I sound like you when you used to think every noise was a zombie creeping up behind you! I don't know why, I just feel weird about handing in my guns. Maybe it's because it's so final, it's over, no zombies, no guns needed.”
“And that's a good thing,” Sage replied as she put her arm around her and they walked on together as Poppy ran on ahead, smiling as she looked to calm seas and empty beaches. Patrols were still about, but there had been nothing wash up for days now. Poppy stopped and turned back, looking to Sage and Bess.
“Do you think next summer, we can spend time on the beach like we used to?”
/> Sage smiled, recalling how they went to the coast every summer in the old days. Now they lived on the coast, and could visit the beach any time they liked.
“Yes,” Sage agreed, “Definitely next year.”
“Yay!” Poppy yelled, “Normal Summer next year!”
Then she ran on ahead towards the pier as Bess and Sage exchanged a glance, both sharing the same hope that normal life would be returning fast, and that some day soon these past hard, awful twelve months would be no more than a distant memory.
The days were passing by fast. Soon it was just over a week until the gates opened up and Wickstall became part of the free world once more. Alex had started to spend more and more time at the flat that overlooked the sea where Alice lived a short distance from the promenade. They were close neighbours to Bess and Sage, and it was good to know they all planned to stay around in this town when normal life resumed. After Mickey had brought home the good news about the phones, River was in the habit of checking the house phone every day, and her mobile phone was charged up, but so far she had no signal. Chris had cautiously reminded her, she couldn't be sure her parents were still alive, but she remained optimistic.