The Village King (4 page)

T
hey
moved down
to the
pier. An older stone jetty led from the shore into the sea beside them. Seaweed
reached out from low tide and covered half of it. The pier they were on was
crumbling concrete but it was safe enough. It took them out to the jetty which
could be found by going through an open gate and down a wooden ramp to tidal
pontoons. Empty basket creels lay stacked and drying at the end. There were no
boats.

Karen stepped up to the water and
looked in. Alana let go of her hand and allowed her to lie on the wooden
surface and run her hand through the cold water. Stephen sat down on the edge
and tapped the soles of his boats in the sea. Alana tucked hair behind her ears
and joined him.

Gary and Phil had disappeared
again and walked along in front of the East Warehouse. It was about 100 meters
long and had been painted “Glen Craobhmore” in large letters to be seen from
the sea.

“I can’t remember the last time I
saw a boat,” said Alana.

Stephen kept looking out to sea.
He liked it there. It was quiet and today was perfect, despite the cool early autumn
air. “What do you miss the most?” he asked her.

She stroked Karen’s back, almost
ready to grab her coat if the girl began to slip into the water. She shook her
head and gave a down-turned smile. “Nothing. We’re free now, you know?
Everything that happened has finished. We can do anything now.”

She looked straight at him. He
felt like she was telling him that she didn’t want to share anything of her
true self and that she didn’t want to know his story either. But it was like
she was telling him something else, too. He started to think about her back on
the mattress then he thought of Ellen. She was like Ellen.

He jumped up and startled Karen.
Alana breathed in and followed, dragging the girl. “We can come back later.”

As they headed up the jetty a
small man walked towards them with a pole over his shoulder. He smiled when he
saw Stephen. “I heard you were back.”

“Hey, Frank,” said Stephen and
they shook hands. He introduced the girls.

“I’ve heard all about you,” said
Frank. He leaned down towards Karen. “I’ll teach to fish if you like.”

Karen turned her nose up at him,
despite his friendliness. Frank swallowed. Stephen said, “Catch one for me,
Frank.”

“I’ll see what I can do, lad.
I’ll see what I can do.” Frank gave them a cheery single wave then went off to
the end of the pontoons. He called back, “Do you think it will rain?”

“You’ll be fine,” Stephen shouted
back.

He led them on the road through
the warehouses. All were locked, like the distillery, but a few of the doors
had bullet holes in them. “Rory from back there controls the keys to this place.
But he pisses himself when Morgan’s unit arrive and he lets them take as much
as they like.”

“Soldiers,” Alana spat. “They
must have made a dent in the inventory.”

They met up with Gary and Phil
who’d been like two small boys playing on the beach. All five climbed the road
which swept them back to the cattle-grid and the wash-houses.

T
heir
evening meal
was a
large tin of hot dogs followed by a can of sliced-peaches. Their mouths watered
at the smell when Stephen opened the afters. He held it in the middle of them
and they all crowded round, looking at the golden fruit swimming in syrup. He
handed it to Gary on his left. Gary smelled the contents then passed it to Phil
to do the same. Stephen smiled encouragement at him so Phil did as Gary had
done, smelled the contents and passed it to Alana.

Once they’d all done that, Karen
handed it back to Stephen. He met Alana’s gaze. “Ladies first?”

Alana smiled broadly. “Youngest
to oldest.”

Gary nodded agreement. Stephen
held out the can. Karen reached in with her spoon and fished out a slice. She
sniffed it then nibbled a piece. She smiled coyly at Alana then disappeared
from the group and nibbled at the morsel. Phil and Gary took a slice before
Stephen lifted one out. He passed the can to Alana. “Youngest to oldest.”

Phil and Gary sniggered into
their spoon. Alana lifted a slice out. “Cheeky.”

They finished the tin and sat
back against the walls, happy and full. Karen curled up under the blanket and
dozed off. In silence, they sat and watched the fire crackle. Stephen and Gary
had spoken privately earlier, so he spoke up. “I’ve been thinking about your
idea.”

Alana toyed with her spoon. The
handle had been warped and bent. She ran her fingers across it. “Really?”

Gary repositioned his feet and
stared at the floor. Stephen went on. “There’s a place where there are more
un-disturbed tins than even three of us can carry.”

“Where?” Alana asked quickly.

“So you can creep out at night?”
said Gary.

“And you catch me in there? Don’t
be stupid.” Her voice was filled with contempt.

“You wouldn’t find it even if we
told you,” Stephen went on, lowering his voice. Alana watched him carefully.
“Gary and me will go. The three of you will stay here.”

“No way,” Alana said. She glanced
at Phil, who sat quietly next to Gary.

“You’ll keep an eye on this
place, and on each other. No-one gets in here. You make sure of that.”

Gary added, “And if you mess with
our stuff, we’ll be back. You couldn’t run off.”

“Do you think?” Alana leaned
forward provocatively. “Five years I’ve made it before I bumped into you.”

Stephen leaned over and spoke as
icily as he could. “But this is the first winter you’ve got the chance to be
safe.”

Alana sighed. “Okay. What about
this? Gary and Phil stay. We go to the site.”

Stephen didn’t need to look to
Gary. “No deal. This is the deal. Nothing else. We go. The location stays
secret-”

“Secret.” She shook her head

“-until we can trust you. There
will be other runs.”

She nodded, still thinking. She
turned to Phil and pointed. “But you look at either of us the wrong way,
sunshine, and I’ll rip your head off.” She sighed out her anger and turned to
Stephen. “When?”

“We stock up on wood tomorrow, then
we go.” Stephen looked around for agreement. No-one argued.

I
n the
morning
, Stephen
took Phil and Gary down to the barber’s. He had given them a can each but Jeff
had accepted Stephen’s first offer of one tin of stew for the haircuts and
shaves. Gary’s hair was already pretty close cropped despite Jeff only being
able to use scissors but both Stephen and Phil had long hair and unruly beards.
They sat at the window while Gary had his hair cut first.

When Jeff had finished, Gary
rubbed his nearly bald head. Stephen laughed. “It’s right into the wood, son.”

Jeff used an open razor to shave
Gary. When he was done, Phil quietly asked for the same look. It took ages but
when Jeff had finished, Phil looked like a boy again. Gary slapped him on the
head. Phil recoiled but he smiled slyly.

After Stephen’s hair cut and
beard trim, he thanked Jeff and left him to sweep up the mounds of hair on the
floor. Sheepishly, Phil reached into his coat and pulled out the small tin of
beans Stephen had given him. He nodded once to Jeff and put it on the counter
next to the front door. Jeff looked open mouthed at it.

“What did you do that for?” Gary
shoved Phil on the shoulder. They walked back up the street towards the
wash-houses.

“He did a good job,” Phil
shrugged.

Stephen stopped Phil. He rubbed
his trimmed beard, little more than stubble, and said, “Every tin we have helps
us through the winter.”

Phil nodded his head lower.
Stephen clasped him behind the head. They resumed their walk.

As they approached the wash-houses, they could see
some activity. The kids from the village were kicking a ball about in front of
the hall. Seven of them, they had a range of ages, all under twelve. Stephen
could tell they were interested in Karen but the girl leaned against the wall,
watching them quietly.

Further on, Alana was draping wet
blankets on the wall, careful they didn’t drop down the cliff beyond. She did a
double take when she saw the three of them. “That’s better. Was that so
difficult?”

Stephen and Gary laughed. Phil
shrunk a bit. Stephen said, “Are these my blankets?”

“They were disgusting. You’ve got
running water, you know” she said. Gary laughed. Straight faced, she said to
him, “I doubt yours are much better.” Gary stopped laughing and made a wry
smile at Stephen. But she softened suddenly, “If you bring me your clothes I’ll
do them too. You got a change?”

Stephen looked at the three of them
through her eyes. They were just as bad as the blankets. “We should match our
new haircuts.”

He went to walk by her, but she
placed a hand on his chest. “Not in there. I’m going to sweep it out. You can
get washed in Gary’s.”

Stephen smiled at her on one side
of his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

The children’s ball rolled down
and rested at Karen’s bare feet. She just looked at it.

S
tephen
led them
out of the
village. He ignored Gareth and Bet to take a line straight from the cattle
grid. Leaving Gareth’s gate to their left, they stepped onto the grass and
headed towards the forest. Gary was left sitting on his folding chair outside
the wash-houses. Stephen had intended on taking just Phil but Alana had
insisted. She “wanted to see the forest.” Karen, of course, loped after them in
her oversize boots.

Phil was dressed in identical
fatigues to Gary but he needed the hood up on his coat to keep off the morning
cold. The two of them looked like new recruits to the cadets. Stephen realised
he felt good to be dressed in his own clean clothes; having had them washed and
dried by Alana. They followed a slight depression in the grass which had once
been a track, now overgrown.

An hour later, they arrived at
the edge of the forest, next to the Margaretvale River. They all shouldered off
their bags and packs. Evidence of the forest having been worked was all around
them. Trees had been felled, leaving a ragged edge to a planned forest. Stephen
said to Karen, “Can you look for twigs and small branches that are on the ground?”

Without directly agreeing, Karen
started hunting around. She found a few small branches and began to gather them
up. Stephen said to Alana, “Watch the tree line.” She set her jaw, nodded, and
began to help Karen.

Stephen fetched a small axe he
had in his backpack and he gave it to Phil to start chopping at a short tree.
The boy made short work of it and it soon tumbled over. He stepped back, and
wiped sweat from his brow and undid his coat. Stephen took over and began to
hack at the branches with the axe.

“Stephen.” Alana had kept her
voice low and calm but he knew straight away that he was to look up.

A group of five people emerged
from the trees. Their clothes were ragged and their faces were blackened by
soot and grime. They moved slowly, curious at their visitors, but they didn’t
venture far, keeping the trees to their backs. Stephen could see the group was
made up of two men and three women. One of the men was older and stood slightly
in front of the others. Stephen stood up and he felt Phil lining up behind him.
Karen ducked behind Alana’s legs while Alana reached towards her pistol, her
hand hovering ready to draw.

The group of people stopped, and
the older man shouted, “Who are you people?”

“We’re from the village,” said
Stephen. He’d had this conversation before with people in the forest. “We’re
here for wood.”

The older man stepped away from
the group. The others did not move. “These are our trees. The wood, the food,
the animals in the trees are ours.”

Stephen looked over to Alana,
saying quietly, “This is normal. Relax.” She looked back at the group of
people, an evil look in her eyes. Stephen called out, “We don’t need much.
We’ll be gone soon.”

The older man closed the gap but
he kept about ten paces between them. “You people from the village, with your
houses and your new clothes, are not welcome here.”

Stephen kept his eye on the man
but he imagined how they looked to this man from the forest. In their clean
garments and barbered hair they must have looked soft to these people. He said,
simply, “Alana.”

At his prompt, Alana drew the
Glock. She pulled back the slide to ready a shot and held out the pistol with
her left hand cupped under her right.

A small smile crept onto the
older man’s face. “I am Joseph,” he said. “Remember my name.”

Joseph backed off and he and his
people melted into the forest. They never came back the rest of the time
Stephen’s group gathered wood, but he imagined their eyes watching them from
the gloom.