Star Drawn Saga (Book 2): Lost Among The Dead (27 page)

‘Dennis,’ said Emma, her expression as unreadable as stone.

‘What… what sort of habits?’ asked Mike, his curiosity piqued despite the tension that had descended on the table.

‘Well, he…’ Emma sighed.

‘He makes his own alcohol,’ Wendy suddenly chipped in, her eyes sparkling with mischief, ‘and he grows marijuana.’

‘Marijuana?’ asked Fran. ‘How on earth did he lay his hands on a marijuana plant?’

‘Bird seed,’ answered Emma. ‘Apparently it was quite common for them to have hemp seeds mixed in,’ she continued, with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘Who knew?’

‘Fucking Jimbo, knew alright,’ snorted Dennis, sucking the meat from a rabbit thigh bone. ‘Little Sod even went to the trouble of secretly working a patch in the dome, waited until the seedlings took hold and then replanted the ones he wanted.’

‘Sounds like this Jimmy’s quite resourceful,’ noted Sam, only half listening to the conversation as she watched Wendy rocking Poppy back and forth in her arms.

‘Sounds like Jimmy wanted to get high more like,’ chuckled Mike, looking at the faces round the table and slightly disappointed to find that only the Nash brothers had cracked a smile.

‘Anyway,’ Dennis continued, tossing the stripped bone down onto his plate, ‘talking of resources… apart from that very useful horse and cart of yours, what do you lot bring to this party? I mean, I’ve heard that you two can handle yourselves,’ he continued, nodding towards Tom and Kai, ‘but what about you three? There are no free rides here… everyone has to contribute here.’

‘One way or another,’ mumbled Wendy, her words barely audible from behind her long fringe as she looked down at the infant in her arms.

‘How many of the Dead do you deal with on a daily basis?’ asked Mike, his abrupt question somewhat out of the blue.

‘Erm… well, we clear the forest of about a couple of dozen or so each morning... sometimes a few more, sometimes less,’ said Dennis, unsure where the younger man’s point was going. ‘Why?’

‘And I’m willing to bet they mainly come in through the east side of the park, where the open woodland meets the main road…’ Mike continued, artfully setting the scene for a sales pitch that could see his family granted permanent safety within the tree house community. ‘Am I right?’

‘Yeah, so?’ asked Dennis, his eyes flitting briefly to Emma.

‘I can make you screens,’ he began, his hands moving in front of him as if he could make those around him picture the walls of interwoven sticks he could make. ‘Blocking off that whole side of the park… now, I’m not saying it’ll be a quick job and I’ll need some help but in the long run I can hide us from the Dead… and then when it’s done, unless they’re attracted by some noise or something, they’ll shamble right past us… none the wiser.’

‘And you can do this?’ asked Emma, unexpectedly very interested in the young father with the honey coloured beard and tattooed arms.

‘He can do it,’ said Tom, suddenly speaking on Mike’s behalf. ‘We’ve seen his work… you’d walk right past thinking it was just a hedge if you didn’t know what to look for… it’ll help keep the Dead away,’ he continued, his voice dropping to a murmured whisper as he tuned to look at Wendy, ‘it’ll help keep you safe.’

‘So that just leaves you?’ said Dennis, turning his attention on Fran; certain that Mike would be earning his keep for both himself and his family.

‘Fran and I c…come as a p…package,’ interrupted Kai, placing his hand over hers. ‘She goes, I go.’

‘Yeah, yeah, alright…calm down, Romeo,’ Dennis tutted, before turning his attention back to Fran. ‘So what’ve you got to offer?’

She was just about to speak when from the other end of the table Fran heard Brett mutter something under his breath to his brother; the resulting laughter leading her to assume it had been something quite predictably childish and crude.

‘I have martial arts training,’ she replied ignoring the Nash brothers, ‘to championship level,’ she quickly added, as a disinterested look started to settle on Dennis’s face. ‘I can teach you to disable the Dead. Teach you so you can do it safely with minimal risk and…’

‘Christ, girl! You think we’d have lasted this long if we couldn’t take care of ourselves?’ Dennis interrupted, with a derisive snort. ‘And if you’re such a shit-hot kung-fu master or whatever, then why’d you let the other two deal with Ray and his mates earlier… surely those wankers weren’t too much for you.’

‘Tom had insisted,’ she began, her eyes flicking to Tom; hopeful for a confirmation, ‘I’d been knocked out earlier in a fall… he thought it would be better if…’

Despite the nod of agreement from Tom, she could tell from the look on Dennis’s face that he had already dismissed her words as nothing more than an excuse.

‘Hey, believe me, even with a bruised back I can still knock you on your arse, no trouble!’ she blurted out before she could think of what she was saying; the flush of anger in Dennis’ eyes causing her to instantly regret her outburst. ‘Look…’ she quickly continued, hoping to calm the rising waters before she was washed away in a tsunami of the man’s anger, ‘don’t get me wrong, that wasn’t a challenge or anything stupid like that… I… I was just stating a fact, nothing more… Dennis, I get it, you’re in charge here,’ she added, pandering to the man’s machismo and authority; despite knowing that he was little more than a puppet whose strings were not so subtly controlled by Emma, ‘and you’re just trying to keep this place safe and productive… well, let me help you. I can fight… I can…’

‘I think we should let her stay,’ Emma suddenly interrupted, her fingers softly brushing against Dennis’s arm as she spoke, ‘for now at least… she can always …go… if she turns out to be a dead weight.’

‘Well, that’s… that’s all I’m asking for… a chance,’ nodded Fran, a little unsettled not only by Emma’s turn of phrase but by the way she said it.

‘Okay… so it looks like you’re all staying then,’ concluded Dennis, as if he truly had the final say in the matter. ‘Tomorrow you start earning your keep. Kai, you and Grant will be on patrol… help clear the Dead from the forest in the morning. Fran, Sam, you’re working in the dome with Natalie and Sid,’ he went on to say, nodding to each person in turn. ‘Mike, you’ll start on your screens… I’ll tell Jimmy to give you a hand collecting what you need… and Tom, you’re with me and Brett. We’re going to pay Ray a little return visit… put an end to this bullshit once and for all.’

***

‘Kai, I don’t know that I like Tom getting involved in this Ray business,’ commented Fran later that evening as the two of them lay in bed, bathed in the soft glow of a single solar panelled lamp; the sort that would once have been used to highlight a garden path. ‘I mean, what do we really know about what’s been going on here… like, who the fuck is this Ray bloke anyway… and why was he trying to kidnap Wendy?’

‘He u…used to live here… a few years ago,’ stated Kai, twisting to plump up the pillows behind his head. ‘He fell out w…with them… he didn’t like the way things were being r…run or something… w…well that’s what Dennis said w…when he was checking us for bites.’

‘But why try to take Wendy now?’ Fran repeated, moving up the bed to nestle her head against Kai’s chest. ‘Certainly not for her personality… girl’s a grade ‘A’ bitch if you ask me… so was it revenge, ransom, what?’

‘Does it m…matter?’ asked Kai, idly running his fingers through her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

‘Hmmm… I don’t know, I guess I…’ sighed Fran, the sound of tinkling bells drifting into the tree house suddenly halting her words. ‘What the…’ she mumbled, more to herself than to Kai as she pushed herself up from his embrace, got out of bed and cautiously walked over to the window to pull aside the curtain. ‘Did you hear that… bells or something?’ she continued, glancing back at him.

‘Yeah. It m…means the Dead are down there,’ whispered Kai, the low volume of his voice almost instinctively adjusting to the presence of the Dead. ‘They have strings of bells and w…wind chimes hanging from the trees throughout the wood… sort of like trip wires or an early warning system… didn’t they tell you anything when you were checked for b…bites?’

‘I think Norma just wanted to get it over and done with,’ she replied, turning her attention once more to the dark shadows beyond their window. ‘I suppose I should be grateful though… they at least had her do it,’ she went on to mutter, her breath fogging up the glass in front of her face, ‘Sam and I could’ve got one those rancid Nash brothers… now, they would’ve taken their time, for sure.’

‘Are they going to be a p…problem?’ asked Kai, watching as Fran drew the curtain once more and began walking back to the bed, a strange look on her face.

‘What? Erm… no, no, I’ll deal with it… it’ll be fine,’ she replied, waving away his concerns as she suddenly stopped midway across the room; her mind clearly preoccupied with something else. ‘Ah, perfect…’she mumbled to herself, walking over to a heavy looking chest of drawers set against one wall. ‘Give me a hand… we’ll push this in front of the door,’ she continued looking back at Kai.

‘I thought we d…decided this p…place was safe?’ he stammered, reluctantly swinging his legs over the side of the bed to stand.

‘Never… safe… enough,’ she strained, trying to push the heavy set of drawers across the thickly piled carpet. ‘Not with the Dead wandering about a few metres below us.’

‘Fran, stop that. You’ll hurt your b…back even more...’ tutted Kai. ‘Come on,’ he continued, physically moving her out of his way. ‘Just get b…back to bed. I’ll do it.’

With a jerk of his head he shooed her away from the doorway and once he had taken hold of the piece of furniture himself, he started to push.

‘Guess M…mike’s screens can’t come f…fast enough?’ he grunted, his face turning red with effort as the chest of drawers slowly slid into positon, blocking the bedroom door.

‘Kai, I know there’s only one way up onto the walkways,’ began Fran, pulling back the covers on the bed, ‘but it’s all too new for me to relax just yet… and I… I can’t shake the feeling this place is just too exposed. You’ve got to admit it, it’s hardly what we’re used to… Just give me few days and I’ll get the lay of the land,’ she continued, sitting on the side of the bed to offer him the small concession of actually removing her boots before getting into the bed this time. ‘I just need to build up some confidence in the set up they have here… I’ll loosen up a bit then… you’ll see.’

‘Hey, I d…doubt there’s such a thing as too m…much p...paranoia… not these days,’ he admitted, once he had returned to the bed, casually lifting his arm up so she could reposition her body against him; the two of them taking a moment to shift positions until they were both comfortable again. ‘Fran, you know w…what you’re doing and let’s face it, you and Tom have k…kept me alive this long,’ he continued, relishing the presence of her body next to his as he reached past her to turn off the small light. ‘I … I just w…want you to be safe…’ he said, his heartfelt words filling the darkness around them, ‘to be happy.’

‘I am, Kai,’ she whispered in reply, closing her eyes as she desperately tried to blot out the ominous chiming of tiny bells rising up from the forest floor below them. ‘I am.’

***

Fran stood with her chin in her hands, elbows resting on the handrail and looked out at the forest surrounding their new home. Bathed in the chilled light of the early morning sun, the air alive with birdsong, it seemed to her that the very trees themselves, dressed in their autumnal finery were trying their best to bring a warmth to the scene about her. But as the ominous mist circled about their trunks, shrouding the forest floor in mystery and promises of hidden dangers, she couldn’t help but surrender herself to the shudder that suddenly ran down her spine.

‘Cold?’ whispered Kai, stepping up behind her to wrap his arms about her waist; gently kissing the back of her neck while Bob explored the decking, seemingly for once disinterested in what his new found masters were doing.

‘No… well, yes it is a bit nippy but that’s not it,’ she replied, leaning back into his chest. ‘It’s… it’s this place,’ she continued, looking down to the forest below them to follow a darker patch of shadow as it slowly stumbled along the mist covered path. ‘They…’

‘Hey, I thought we w…were going to give this p…place a chance?’ he interrupted, turning her round to face him.

‘No… yeah… I am, I promise…’ she began, forcing a reassuring smile to her lips. ‘I just… Oh, look, it doesn’t matter,’ she went on to say, aware of the look of concern creeping into his eyes. ‘Just ignore me… honestly, it’s nothing… Come on, we’d better get going... we’ll call for Mike and Sam on the way.’

And with that she slipped from his embrace, clicked her fingers for Bob to follow her and began to walk along the walkway towards the cabin she knew the small family had taken as their home.

‘Come on, slow poke!’ she called back to Kai, the forced joviality in her voice sounding a little brittle, even to her own ears. ‘We don’t want to be late on our first day, now do…’

She was about to finish what she was saying when, from somewhere in the mist enshrouded forest below them, one of the Dead answered her call; instinctively reacting to the sound of her voice with its own deathly and imploring moan.

‘Remember,’ she went on to say, changing the subject suddenly; all business and seriousness as the call of the Dead continued, ‘no heroics today… you aim for the legs and just get the job done. Don’t let that Grant Nash make you take any stupid risks… Him, I don’t care about; you, I do.’