20 Years Later (26 page)

“Why did the Red Lady send David with you today?” Zane asked.

Erin shrugged. “She told him to come with us when she knew it was a meeting about finding Lyssa. I suppose he's one of the best archers we have. Only Dad is better than him.”

“But Luthor doesn't like him, does he?” Titus asked.

Erin shook her head. “They hate each other.”

Titus scowled. “We don't need any more problems.”

“Don't worry about them,” she replied. “They can still work together. They go on the big hunts and help each other when they have to. It's only the first hunt of the season that
really sets them off.”

“We have to find a way to convince Jay to work with them,” Titus said. “Every day that this stupid gang rubbish goes on is another day that Lyssa is trapped.”

Erin didn't seem to like that, but before she could reply they all heard Luthor calling her name from the other side of the square. “I have to go,” she whispered. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

The next morning, the children were skinning rabbits that had been snared during the night as Luthor supervised and Miri worked in the garden nearby. Erin finished the task first and laughed at Zane's ineptitude, but it didn't dent the grin on his face.

“It's only a rabbit, Zane,” Erin poked him in the ribs. “You look like you caught your first deer.”

“I can't wait to take my first quarter of a catch to the Red Lady,” he chirped.

“A quarter of that tiny thing?” Luthor bellowed with laughter. “They would shoot you at the gates before letting you take that scrap to the Red Lady.”

Zane's shoulders sagged as he looked at the rabbit, noticing how thin it was for the first time. His despondency only made Luthor laugh more.

Miri appeared at Zane's shoulder, peered over to look at the haul. “Rabbit stew tonight, Zane,” she said cheerily, kissing him on the cheek. “Well done.”

Zane recovered some of his dignity and returned to the task, speculating about the stew, when a loud clanging noise interrupted him.

It was the Boys' alarm, the loudest and most urgent kind, indicating a Gardner attack. Just like every other time, Miri scooped her tools into her skirt and began to hurry towards the house, only pausing to grab Zane's wet hand as she passed.

Zane allowed himself to be pulled along until they reached the front door, then he stopped. Miri looked at him with confusion when he wouldn't let her pull him into the house.

“Zane! Quickly, come on!” she said urgently, dropping the tools onto the floor and beckoning to Titus and Erin to follow her inside.

Zane shook his head as the alarm grew louder and more insistent. “No, Mum … it's not right, I made an oath.”

White-lipped, she pulled him again with her shaking hand. “Come inside now, Zane, it's not safe.”

He shook his head more firmly and broke away from her. “I'm sorry, Mum, I need to be there … I may be able to save some of the Boys and I might get there too late if I hide now.”

“No, Zane, don't!” she cried desperately as he ran off, clutching at her stomach as if it were being torn from her.

Titus watched him go. He thought a moment, looked at Miri, then back at Zane again. “Wait, I'll come with you!” he called and sprinted after him.

Miri began to cry with worry as Luthor walked away to his house on the opposite side of the square, not even taking a moment to reassure the distraught woman.

“Erin, come on,” he shouted, turning when he realised that she hadn't followed him. Erin stood her ground, the rhythmic clamour of the alarm growing all the more urgent. Luthor jabbed a finger down at the path by his side. “Come. Here. Now.” His voice was quiet and controlled, his eyes glinting like polished blades.

Erin looked at him, then up the road, catching a last glimpse of Titus and Zane as they left the square.

“It is not your fight, Erin,” he growled. “You're wearing the Red–you must not interfere. You have no choice.”

Her jaw tightened. “Yes I do,” she said through gritted teeth and turned to sprint after her friends, drawing the dagger from her hip as she did so.

Erin soon caught up with Titus and Zane, and they entered Jay's square without interference; no Boy was stationed on that edge of the territory. They stopped as they looked down at the barricade across Montague Street, all three momentarily paralysed by the sight of the vicious fighting between the Boys and the Gardners.

Erin recovered her wits the fastest, her keen eyes scanning the men clambering over the top of the barricade as missiles of glass, bricks, and chunks of scrap metal rained down on them from Boys stationed in the upper storeys of the buildings on either side.

Zane's attention was purely focused on the injured, both Bloomsbury Boy and Gardner. His gaze briefly fixed on Len, who had been cut deeply across the chest by the swing of a Gardner's knife. Then it flicked to the attacker in the instant after he'd been hit on the head by a brick. His vision sharpened to focus in on the splitting skin and the hot blood rushing out from the wound as the man tumbled backwards, dropping the knife coated in Len's blood. In the next moment, he saw Dev cry out as he was knocked off by his opponent, a huge Gardner who had managed to get to the top of the pile of junk. Zane watched his friend land heavily and knew immediately that his head had struck the ground hard enough to knock him out, but not kill him.

Three Gardners were still on their feet and two dead bodies were slumped over the top of the barricade, but Zane had a feeling that more were dying slowly and painfully on the other side. Five Boys lay dead but he couldn't see who they were.

A cluster of the older Boys were at the foot of the blockade, desperately hurling missiles at the large man climbing over the top. It was the one who had struck Dev, now clambering down towards them.

Jay was fighting the other two men on the barricade alone, both blades out and holding his own impressively. He fought like one who had been born to do so, moving fluidly and gracefully, each parry quickly converted into a vicious attack. He yelled and swore at his opponents as he battled them, cursing their names, their leader, their mother, a torrent of abuse that was as fast as his knives.

One of the Gardners lost his footing, less sure on his feet than Jay, who rapidly exploited it to plunge a knife deep in the man's chest. As he cried out, a cheer erupted from the younger Boys higher up at the sides, and their efforts increased with renewed enthusiasm.

Zane rushed forward towards Len, who had fallen and was trying desperately to crawl away, one hand clasped over his chest, blood seeping between his fingers.

Erin hurried after Zane protectively while Titus hung back. Len had managed to put a few metres between himself and the worst of the fighting but then collapsed as Zane dropped to his knees next to him, rolling the Boy onto his back and tearing the Boy's shirt open to expose the wound. Erin planted herself between the rest of the fighting and Zane as he placed both hands either side of the deep gash and stared at it, willing it to close.

Jay was the only one left on the barricade that could fight up close, Mark and Grame long gone. Getting tired, Jay was finding it difficult to despatch his opponent and was helpless as the third Gardner, the one who'd hit Dev, managed to jump down into the square, firmly in Jay's territory.

The man, dressed smartly in his incongruous black suit, gave a yell of triumph. The Boys nearby backed away, frightened by his bulk. Smudge threw a brick that hit the man's chest but it only seemed to inflame him more. He grabbed the nearest Boy and lifted him into the air by his neck. As the Boy squealed in terror, kicking his thin legs desperately, the Gardner smashed
him into the wall, and after an awful crack, the child's head lolled to the side, bloodied and lifeless.

The remaining Boys scattered and the Gardner sneered at their fear, searching for his next victim only to look straight into Erin's eyes. There was a flash of recognition.

“Erin!” he yelled over the din, looking down at the girl who held her knife tightly in front of her. “I thought I could smell girl.” The foul man licked his lips, narrowing his dark, bulbous eyes that bulged over heavy bags beneath them.

“Stay away from me, Doug!” she yelled back.

He drew his knife, grinning at her. “Girly wants to play hard to catch,” he leered. “I want some of what Harry had. It'll make Jonathan jealous!”

Erin readied herself. She leapt back when he swung the knife towards her, but she knew that he was toying with her, as she'd seen him fight before. Two more Gardners risked a look over the top of the barricade, having heard Doug shout her name, but were repelled by the Boys stationed at the windows on either side of the barricade, determined not to let another Gardner into the square.

Doug lunged for her again, and she darted to the side, trying to catch his arm with her knife as she did so but failing. He laughed and then saw Zane a few paces away, kneeling over the bleeding Boy.

Erin followed his eyes and hurried to put herself back between her friend and the attacker.

Doug drew his lips back, revealing his yellow teeth in the closest approximation to a smile that he could manage. “Does Girly have a friend?” he taunted, moving round and forcing her to move too in an effort to keep Zane behind her. “Would Girly cry if he died first?”

Erin's hand twitched as she struggled not to be baited by him. Helpless to act, Titus could only watch, silently willing her to be strong.

Doug was about to move towards Zane when he stopped and scratched the top of his head in irritation. He stepped closer to Erin and Zane, adjusting his grip on the knife in such a way that suggested he was no longer playing.

In the background, there was another cheer from the Boys as Jay's opponent fell. Doug lunged at Erin, who curved her body to the side, but not far enough. The blade sliced into her shirt and then a red stain began to spread through the linen. She drew in a sharp breath but stayed on guard, helped by the adrenaline surging through her. Zane seemed oblivious to the threat, entirely focused on saving the Boy in his care.

Doug chuckled and then licked her blood from the blade with his long, fat tongue, staring at her as he did so. He was about to lunge again when he scratched his head once more, this time to such an extent that Erin seized the opportunity to make a swipe at him that cut a button off his jacket cuff and nicked his hand.

“Bad girl!” he yelled and tried hard to concentrate more on her, but was still clearly distracted.

Neither of them had noticed Titus moving around the Gardner in a wide arc to position himself behind him. He was staring at Doug's head whilst wriggling his right index finger in front of him as if he were tickling a kitten. Every time he did it, Doug scratched at his head, becoming more furious at the itch.

“With the Red Bitch now?” he jeered. “How'd you make them take you in?”

“Shut up, Doug,” Erin spat hatefully.

“Forget about your mother did they? Do your new friends know about her? She loves it with us now you're gone, she loves it.”

Tears welled in Erin's eyes as she struggled to contain her rage. “Shut up!” she yelled, only encouraging him now he could see where the raw nerve was.

“Harry says she's lots of fun to spend time with,” he jeered. “He likes it when they're quiet.”

An animalistic roar leapt from Erin's throat and she dived for the Gardner. It would have been suicide, but at that moment Doug's attention snapped to his left even though nothing was there. Titus stood a few metres behind him, all of his attention focused on the man's head, making a flicking motion with his fingers as beads of sweat crept down his forehead.

Erin's blade plunged into Doug's lower chest and he bellowed, swiping her away from him as if she were made of rags. She landed several feet away with a loud thud and skidded back into a lamppost, the linen of her shirt being torn by the asphalt raking against her. But she was still so enraged that she barely noticed, her eyes rapidly fixing back on the Gardner as she scrabbled to her feet and lurched back towards him, her knife and hand glazed with his blood.

Doug had sagged onto his knees, an awful ashen pallor stealing the colour from his face. He spluttered and specks of blood appeared on his lips.

Erin was oblivious to the attention this was now being given by the rest of the Bloomsbury Boys, all other opponents having been repelled or despatched by Jay. He now stood halfway down the barricade, watching the scene unfold with disbelief, as did Zane, who had healed Len as best he could.

“Bitch,” Doug gasped, readying himself for Erin's next assault as she sprinted towards him, screaming, now totally out of control.

“I'll kill you!” she screeched, “All of you!”

Seeing the wild hatred in her eyes prompted Doug to try to get to his feet, but he couldn't muster the strength as his injury stole breath from him. Instead, he raised his knife to aim at her as she hurtled thoughtlessly towards him, her own dagger held high.

Titus gasped, his face contorting with an incredible amount of effort as he made a motion akin to moving something aside in front of him. Doug's knife hand moved correspondingly, as if he were adjusting his aim at the last moment before release.

The blade flipped over and over in the air, slamming into Erin's shoulder, wide of her heart. Titus crumpled to the floor, his legs buckling beneath him, looking utterly exhausted.

Erin cried out, her steps slowed to a stop as her own knife clattered to the floor. But she was so driven by her fury that she didn't collapse–she simply swayed slightly on her feet, the hilt of Doug's blade held sickeningly still in her flesh.

Doug's eyes widened as she held his gaze, other Boys now moving closer but keeping a distance between themselves and the Gardner.

“Kill him!” Jay yelled from the barricade, thrilled by what he saw, and in moments all of the other Boys joined him with their steady chant. “Kill him, kill him!”