Tagan's Child (29 page)

“Maybe, but
after last night I don’t regret us stumbling across it, do you?” he
said with a sinful look in his eyes.

Do I regret
spending the night here with Ahran and all but making love with
him? Not one bit and whilst I had no idea where we would go from
here, I would relive those precious moments for as long as I
lived.

He made the
three strides to where I was standing and took my face in his
hands. His lips found mine. I went up onto tiptoe and arched into
his body. The attraction we felt for one another was hard to resist
now that we had crossed the line into the realm of lovers.

Suddenly there
was a clatter outside. The noise brought us to an abrupt halt and
we pulled apart.

“What was
that?” I said, my heart hammering in my chest and not just because
I was worried that someone might have found us out.

Ahran picked up
one of the laser guns lying on the floor by the bed and grabbed
hold of my hand, pulling me behind him. I was reminded that we were
still very much in danger and complacency could get us killed. He
threw open the door and aimed the gun outside.

A pair of black
beady eyes looked back at us in surprise. I let out the breath I
had been holding. They belonged to an unsuspecting ewe who scooted
off as fast as her legs and pregnant belly could carry her.

“I think that’s
our cue to leave,” he announced.

“You’re right,”
I sighed. For about eight glorious hours we had been untouchable,
and as I had lain in Ahran’s arms my fears and worries had drifted
to the background, but the intrusion of the outside world, even if
it had only been by a sheep, had brought them all back. And to add
to my not inconsiderable worries, I was now terrified that as we
left this little hut in the middle of nowhere the little piece of
heaven I had just experienced would shatter into a million tiny
pieces.

I clung to what
Ahran and I had shared last night, but I was also acutely aware
that we couldn’t allow ourselves to become distracted. Our priority
was Toby and we couldn’t waste any time in finding him, he
shouldn’t have to spend any longer in the grasp of Bazeera than he
had to. I was trying my hardest to remain optimistic and
concentrated on the when rather than the if. Toby had been away
from me for two nights now. We hadn’t spent a night apart since
Katie died.

After one last
look over the hut to make sure that everything was back in its
place, it was with a heavy heart that I followed Ahran down the
steps and headed out into the warm morning sun. We began to make
our way around the perimeter of the massive field we were in and
walked for a good hour in silence. Ahran set the pace in front and
I trailed a few paces behind. I tried to keep up with him, although
I knew I was holding him back. To make matters worse, I could feel
him withdrawing with each step we took. I dragged in a deep, shaky
breath and scanned the landscape to see if there was a sign of a
road or anything that signalled we were nearing civilisation. All I
could do was trust Ahran to get us out of here and back on our way
to Toby. I also hoped that I hadn’t just made the biggest mistake
of my life.

Every now and
again Ahran looked back and asked if I was alright. Each time I
nodded and smiled but as the minutes turned to hours he barely said
a word to me. I felt my optimism fading and the vindictive little
voice in my head reminded me of all the reasons why a relationship
with Ahran could never work. I was also starving. Hunger always put
me in a bad mood. We’d had a breakfast of biscuits and a mug of
water but my stomach was starting to ache uncomfortably. There was
something about this place. Whether it was the greater
concentration of oxygen in the air or the lack of pollution, I
couldn’t be sure, but just being outside made you feel hungry. Just
as I thought I might pass out from hunger pains I noticed a moving
speck in the distance. I squinted to try and make out what it
was.

“Is that a car
I can see?” It was the first time either of us had spoken for some
time and my voice sounded hoarse.

“It’s a
livestock truck.”

To me it just
looked like a blurry moving dot on the horizon. This news buoyed my
flagging spirits.

“We might be
able to catch a lift into the town,” Ahran speculated.

This thought
made me uneasy. I had never hitchhiked in my life. Wasn’t it common
knowledge that you had to have a death wish to hitchhike? I’d seen
‘The Hitcher’ and it had scared me half to death. I touched the
laser gun tucked in my waistband it comforted me to know that I
also had Ahran who was a lethal weapon in his own right.

It took us
another twenty minutes to get to the road and I spent most of that
time trying to block out images of slashed throats in my mind.
Ahran took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze; he must
have sensed my apprehension. It was the first contact we’d had
since leaving the lambing hut and I can’t say it calmed my nerves,
it just changed my focus.

“Do you think
this road goes to the town we were about to stop at on the train
last night?” I asked.

“I’m pretty
sure it does.”

“What are we
going to do when we get there?”

“Hire a car or
get the train again if we have to.”

Neither option
thrilled me.

“You haven’t
heard any more from the King I take it?”

“No, the
battery on my phone died.”

I felt
disappointed that we had nothing more to go on and surprised and
frustrated that for all their technological advances Ramians hadn’t
come up with a phone that had a better battery life than the ones
on Earth.

We must have
walked at least a mile and no vehicles passed us in that time until
Ahran suddenly stopped and looked back down the road.

“I can hear
something.”

I strained my
ears, not able to hear anything other than the odd cricket and the
long grass on the verge jostling in the breeze. It was some time
before a vehicle came into view. As it came closer, it turned out
to be another livestock truck, a huge hovering double trailer that
was virtually silent except for its bleating cargo.

Ahran flagged
it down and my anxiety increased. The door slid open and Ahran
leaned in to speak to the driver. A moment or two later he beckoned
me towards him and I walked up to the cab expecting to see an
overweight truck driver with a girly calendar pinned to the cab
wall behind him, but instead the driver was a slightly built,
middle-aged woman dressed in spotless, navy blue overalls.

“Hello,” I
said. Ahran lifted me into the cab. The woman replied in Ramian
with a bright smile. She didn’t seem like a likely throat slasher.
I breathed a small sigh of relief. Ahran jumped up beside me and
the door slid shut behind him. The huge vehicle travelled with the
ease and grace of a sleek limousine rather than a fifty tonne
livestock truck. We made our way along the highway and I listened
to Ahran and our unusual animal haulier making conversation. It was
good to be making faster progress, even if the prospect of getting
on another train or spending endless hours on the road filled me
with dread. I concentrated on the scenery and tried to clear my
mind. The landscape was flat and fairly uninteresting with fields
upon fields of sheep or cattle with the odd isolated homestead
dotted around.

“The town is
only about twenty minutes away,” Ahran said, breaking my reverie.
“Orlena doesn’t seem to think that there are any car hire places,
we might just have to risk taking the train again.”

My heart sunk.
Jumping off a train once was one time too many as far as I was
concerned.

The landscape
became more built up as we neared the town. We hit the main street
and the lorry slowed up and pulled over. We said our thank yous and
jumped down onto the pavement.

It was a
bustling place and not as modern looking as the larger towns I’d
seen in Ramia. It was neat and spotlessly clean and there was an
abundance of hanging baskets, each with a profusion of brightly
coloured flowers cascading down either side of most doorways. The
place had a welcome feel about it but the thought of Bazeera’s
people lying in wait dampened the welcoming vibe for me.

“Let’s get some
food first, you must be starving.”

“Yes, aren’t
you?” I said, surprised that his own hunger pains hadn’t driven him
to distraction.

“I am, but I’m
kind of focussed when I’m on a trail. Will that do?” Ahran said,
nodding towards a bakery a few doors down.

“Perfect!” My
mouth began to water as I fantasised about Cornish pasties. Would
Cornwall’s most famous food export have made it to Ramia? As this
trip progressed, I was becoming harder to surprise.

Ahran enveloped
my hand in his and we headed for the bakers. We were accosted by
the most delicious smell of warm bread and coffee as we entered the
bakery. Two tables were occupied, one by an elderly couple and the
other by a mother and two small children. Neither party looked
remotely like Bazeera’s agents. I relaxed a little. We went to the
counter and I plumped for something that looked a bit like a round
Cornish pasty. Ahran spoke to the woman whilst she served us.

“Shall we sit
down and eat?” he suggested, once he had paid. “I’ve ordered us
some coffee.”

“Great.” All I
could think about was sinking my teeth into the pie. We chose a
table towards the back of the shop, away from the window. I felt a
pang as I thought of my little coffee shop at home and all the
regular customers who had become an extended family of sorts. I had
taken it all so much for granted. I thought about Audrey who was
lying broken in a hospital bed because of me and I felt deeply
guilty for not getting in touch since I had left Earth. She hadn’t
deserved to get caught up in this tragic mess. I vowed to phone her
at the very next opportunity.

The woman who
had served us at the counter brought our coffees over. She put the
cups down and hesitated before addressing Ahran. They exchanged a
few words and he nodded in response. The woman seemed pleased and
returned to her position behind the counter.

I looked at him
with raised eyebrows.

“We might not
have to get the train after all,” he said.

“Go on,” I
encouraged.

“That woman’s
son is selling his car and she wondered whether we would be
interested in buying it,” he reported.

“Are we?” The
thought of travelling by road was marginally more appealing than
the train.

“Maybe,” he
said after finishing his mouthful. “Her son is bringing it here so
we can have a look at it.”

When we had
finished the woman took us out through the back to where her son
was waiting. The car was old and the autopilot no longer worked,
but apart from that Ahran seemed satisfied it was in good working
order and he bought it.

We stopped at a
convenience store on the edge of town and bought some supplies for
our journey. Ahran seemed to think it might take us a couple of
days to get to where the potential sighting of Toby had been. I was
thankful to be moving forward once again. He drove and we settled
into a comfortable silence.

I couldn’t help
wondering where his thoughts were taking him. Was he thinking about
the night we had spent together? Or was he thinking about the trail
we were following? Was he putting his own needs and feelings to the
side to focus on the job in hand? I wished I could be more detached
but there was too much at stake no matter which direction I looked
in. I now not only had Toby to worry about, but I also had the
precarious position my heart had found itself in to agonise over. I
had a flashback of last night.

Had it been the
same for him? Our hearts had sung in that remote shepherd’s hut.
What I was less certain about was whether he felt the same. Since
we had left the hut this morning, there had been little indication
that he did. Sure, he had held my hand a few times, but then he had
done that on a number of occasions before. Maybe he was beginning
to regret our night together. It was a painful thought.

How had I
allowed this to happen? You stupid, stupid idiot Sophie! Why had I
not let Ahran get on and do his job whilst I stayed a safe distance
away?

“Are you
okay?”

How did he do
it? It was like he was tuned into my own personal frequency of
emotion.

“I shouldn’t
have come,” I said quietly.

“Sophie, not
this again,” he said, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

“I’m of
absolutely no use at all, if anything I’m holding you back,” I
said, pleading my case.

He was silent
for a moment and I couldn’t help thinking he was trying to think of
something tactful to say whilst not disagreeing with me.

“There is
nothing I would have done differently if you hadn’t have been here,
I would still be in this same situation.”

I looked at him
disbelievingly. “You’re just saying that.”

“I am just
being honest,” he said in his own defence.

It would have
been easier if he had just agreed with me. I wanted to wrap myself
in a cloak of self-deprecation. I wanted to punish myself for
making Toby’s rescue more difficult than it needed to be and for
falling for a man so out of my league it was ridiculous.

I didn’t
respond and stared out the window.

“Sophie, Toby
needs you. When we find him the only person he will want to see is
you.”

I broodily kept
my silence. He had changed his tune since the King had used a
similar line back at the palace.

“I want you
here,” he said softly.

I turned to
face him and the look in his eyes began to dissolve my doubts.
Maybe last night had meant something to him after all.

“How can you
want me here? I have none of your ‘talents’. I’m an inferior human
being in every way.”