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  The smell of coffee wafted in from the kitchen and I followed it, finding Emily and Harriet sitting at the table with their heads together, talking quietly. Dave had left the night before, reattaching his battery and roaring off into the night with the promise to return soon.

  “Morning”, I said, making them both jump.

  Harriet rose with a smile and poured me a cup of coffee. I took it gratefully and dumped several spoons of sugar in it. I had the feeling I’d need the extra energy today.

  “Did you sleep well?” Emily asked as I sat down.

  I shook my head. “Bad dreams”.

  Harriet nodded towards the window. “Better than no dreams at all, Jerry’s been out there all night”.

  I rose and crossed the look out, seeing him sat on the ground with an eye glued to the telescope.

  “I guess I’m driving this morning then”, I said, flexing my ankle. It didn’t feel too bad, only hurting when I pushed it too far to the left. The rest of the time it just felt bruised.

  “Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about”, Harriet said, her tone serious. “Sit down please Malcolm”.

  I sat back down, a faint tingle of worry stirring in my stomach.

  “What’s up?”

  The two women glanced at each other, then Harriet spoke.

  “Once you’ve made it up to Manchester, and …when you find your little girl”, I noticed the silent if but let it ride, “what are your plans then?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Originally I was going to take her back down to Brighton, but I reckon most of it is ash by now”.

  They exchanged another glance and this time it was Emily who spoke.

  “Bring her here”, she said, “there’s plenty of room and food, and there’s a spring in the next field that can give us enough water too. There’s no point you roaming around looking for somewhere safe when we’ve got everything you need”.

  A lump formed in my throat. These people, only a stone’s throw from complete strangers, were offering me a place to stay, a chance to be a part of their community and somewhere safe for my daughter. I had to blink back sudden tears.

  “Really? You’d do that?”

  They both nodded.

  “But what will Ralph say?” I asked, unable to imagine the gruff old man agreeing to having two extra mouths to feed.

  Harriet laughed. “You don’t know him as well as you think you do, it was him that suggested it”.

  My eyes widened at that, and I felt humbled by this wonderful family that chance had allowed us to stumble across.

  “I, uh, I take it that goes for Jerry too?” I asked, realising that I couldn’t abandon him after everything he too had done for me.

  “Of course, although he might have to get his hands dirty once in a while”.

  I smiled as I imagined Jerry digging in the garden, his coat still buttoned up to the neck despite the heat.

  “I’m sure he could be persuaded”.

  Harriet looked pleased. “Well, that’s settled then. I’ll air out the spare bedroom. It’ll be cramped, but not so bad as you’d think. I’d best start making you some food for the road”.

  She got up and began to bustle about the kitchen while Emily and I finished our coffee in contented silence. I sat there for a while longer, drinking up the cozy atmosphere before finally getting to my feet.

  “I need to go and speak to Ralph”, I said, and Emily nodded.

  “He’s out at the woodpile”, she said, “can you tell him that breakfast will be about half an hour?”

  The yard was already uncomfortably hot as I stopped next to Jerry, seeing that several pages of his pad were now covered in his cramped scrawl.

  “Have you moved since last night?” I asked, making him jump.

  “Christ, don’t do that!” He exclaimed, pulling off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He looked exhausted, his face grey and haggard.

  “You look like you could do with some sleep”, I said, squatting next to him. “Learn anything useful?”

  He nodded and showed me the pad as if it would make sense, then patted the green box he’d put over the end of the telescope.

  “This filter is very useful, it allows me to see light at different wavelengths”, he said as he lit a cigarette and slumped back onto the ground. “There’s a lot more activity going on up there than I thought. It works as a daylight filter too, so although I can’t look directly at the sun I can see the edge of its aura, and that’s given me a lot to work on. Is that coffee I can smell?”

  I nodded. “There’s a pot on the stove, looks like you could use some. I’m going to go and speak to Ralph, I’ll see you back in the kitchen, yeah?”

  He nodded and pulled himself to his feet, almost stumbling as he headed for the kitchen.

  Ralph was splitting logs with his usual ease, the axe rising and falling in a steady rhythm as he split one, hooked another from the pile and set it on the block, then repeated the procedure.

  He was facing the cottage and saw me coming but didn’t stop, his arms glistening with sweat where they poked out from the rolled up sleeves of his shirt.

  “Gonna be another hot one”, he said as I stopped a respectful distance away.

  “It is”, I agreed, “but it’s good travelling weather”.

  “The girls talk to you?” He asked, never breaking his rhythm.

  “They did. Wanted to say thank you”.

  “No point you running around with your girl when there’s plenty here”.

  “There is that”. I kept my thanks short, sensing that the old man wasn’t comfortable with outward displays of emotion, particularly between men. “Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it”.

  He nodded, splitting another log clean through, then paused, resting on the haft of the axe and looking me square in the eye.

  “Won’t say this again, so listen up. You’re good folk. You could have run off yesterday but you didn’t, and you put yourself in danger for us. That’s something I won’t forget, so don’t go thinking this is charity, it’s not. Might need a man like you around if things don’t get better in a hurry, so you just make sure you come back quick as you can”.

  He picked the axe up again and continued his work while I struggled to find something appropriate to say.

  “I’m going to head back in”, I said eventually, finding nothing else that wouldn’t embarrass us both, “Emily says to tell you breakfast will be about half an hour”.

  He nodded once and I left him to it, heading back to the cottage and all the while wondering at my good fortune. Against all the odds I had a place to stay, food on the table and a friend who was willing to travel halfway across the country with me, despite the dangers we might face. For the first time since I’d stood on that hill and watched Brighton burn, I felt that we might actually have a chance at a future, as long as we could find Melody and bring her back safe.

  Chapter 21

  “I’m not going with you”.

  I looked up from my breakfast, fork frozen halfway to my mouth as I stared at Jerry.

  “Sorry?”

  He looked down at his plate, surrounded by his notes.

  “I can’t go with you”, he repeated, “I’ve been going through my notes and there’s still something happening with the sun. The problem is that for me to work out what, I need to take readings from the same place each night, and I can’t do that if I’m on the road”.

  I dropped my fork, splattering the table with food but too angry to care.

  “What am I supposed to do? Walk up to Manchester?”

  He shook his head and pushed his chair back as if ready to run.

  “Of course not! Take the car by all means, but I need to stay here. This is important, Malc, really important. There are implications I can’t begin to understand without more readings, I have to do this”. He looked back at his notes. “I’ll probably be more use here than I would on the road anyway”.

  Everyone wa
s staring at me. I let go of the breath I was holding, picking up my napkin and dabbing at the food on the table under Ralph’s stern glare.

  “Fine, I’ll go on my own”. I tried not to sound like a sulky teenager but I wasn’t having much luck. Damn it though, even if he was right he was letting me go out there alone, and the thought scared me.

  “No you won’t”, Emily said suddenly, “I’ll go with you”.

  The silence stretched as I stared at her, unsure what to say. Conflicting emotions were raging inside me, surprise, relief, worry, and I could see at least two of those on every face around the table.

  The silence was broken by the smack of a meaty fist on the table as Ralph pushed back his chair and stood.

  “Over my dead body!” He declared, his face red and eyes bulging. “I didn’t go through all that to get you back only to have you traipse halfway across the bloody country with some man you hardly know!”

  He drew a breath to continue but Harriet spoke before he could.

  “Through all what dear? I thought you just had car trouble?”

  I’d never seen the wind so neatly taken out of someone’s sails, and I would have laughed but for the look he gave me. I put my hands up and shook my head to declare my innocence and he turned the stare on Emily, who looked back defiantly with arms crossed over her chest.

  “Come on, Dad. You asked him to help you come and find me, why should I do any less for him?”

  His mouth opened and shut a few times, his face still red but slightly less than it had been a moment before as he tried to find the right words.

  “It’s not the same”, he said, “I only just got you back! What happens if you get lost, or injured, or the car breaks down and leaves you stranded? What then?”

  She shrugged. “Then I’ll use all that army training you’re so proud of and find my way back here. I’m not asking your permission, I stopped doing that a long time ago. I’m just telling you what’s going to happen”.

  He stared at her for a moment longer, then strode out into the yard without another word.

  Emily looked at me, her face unreadable.

  “Well?” She asked.

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “You did it for me”.

  “I know, but, well…”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me I just had the first row with my dad since I was sixteen and you’re going to say no”.

  I shook my head. “No, I mean yes, well, no, I’d love you to come with me, I just don’t want you to think you have to, is all”.

  Her words came out slowly, as if explaining something to a four year old.

  “I don’t think I have to, I want to. I hate the thought of you being out there alone while I sit here nice and safe, it just doesn’t seem right. So how about you start packing up what we need while I go and talk some sense into my dad, eh?”

  She left the table, stopping only to place a hand on her mum’s shoulder before heading after Ralph.

  I looked over at Harriet, unsure what to say, but she had the resigned look of someone well used to things as they were.

  “He’ll come around”, she said, “he always does. He’s never been able to say no to her, but he worries. Now as they’re outside, give me a hand with the dishes and then we’ll start packing up the car”.

  We worked in silence, clearing up around Jerry who was already buried in his work, eyes scanning his notes and making yet more on a clean piece of paper. Washing up was done by dint of filling the sink from a nearby bucket, then using fresh water from a large clay pitcher to rinse it all off.

  Despite the archaic way of doing things we were soon finished, and Harriet began laying out food for us to take on the journey, as well as a portable stove with two small bottles of gas and a several boxes of matches.

  “I know you shouldn’t be gone more than a day or two”, she said as I looked at the growing pile, “but Emily told me what happened when you went to get her so it’s better to be prepared”.

  I couldn’t argue with that and so began to carry things out to the car, packing them as neatly as I could in the boot. The final tally included a pair of sleeping bags, a small tent, several large bottles of water, food for several days or more if we rationed it, and a rucksack full of anything else Harriet could think of that we might need. Even if we ended up having to ditch the car, something that didn’t bear thinking about, I reckoned that we would be able to fit most of it in the rucksack and Emily’s Bergen, which was now half empty and packed on top of everything else.

  I’d just finished stowing the maps in the back of the car when Emily and Ralph came into view, his broad arm around her shoulder as she tucked herself into his chest.

  “I’ll be fine”, she said, “I promise you”.

  He shook his head, his face a swelter of different emotions, ranging from fear to anger and making several stops in between. He caught sight of me then and stopped, stepping away from Emily and motioning me to one side.

  I’ll admit I was a little nervous. I was beginning to like Ralph, but in many ways he was still a mystery and often more than threatening.

  He took me by the shoulder and steered me firmly out of earshot of the others, only stopping when we reached the fence at the edge of the yard.

  “Two things”, he said without preamble. “First, bring her back safe”.

  I nodded, but he poked me in the shoulder hard enough to bruise.

  “I mean it, not a scratch. If anything happens to her then I won’t be responsible for my actions”.

  “I’ll do everything I can to keep her safe”, I promised, “but to be honest she’s more likely to be the one keeping me alive”.

  “Aye, you’ve got the right of that”.

  “What’s the second thing?” I asked, rubbing my shoulder.

  He looked down at the ground and then back up at me.

  “No funny business. I know she’s a grown woman and all, but she’s still my daughter, and if you try anything…”

  I gave a nervous laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure she’d break me in two the first time I tried to so much as hold her hand. I think you’re ok there”.

  “That’s as may be, but I still need to know she’s travelling with an honourable man”.

  Something in his words stung me and I bit back.

  “I was honourable enough not to leave you yesterday when I could have done; I think I’m honourable enough not to pursue something that’s not wanted!”

  Ralph had the good grace to look embarrassed.

  “Right, well then. Good luck, and come back quick. You’ll be taking one of the shotguns and a box of cartridges with you, but if you’re clever you’ll let her do any shooting that needs to be done”.

  He led me back across the yard, filling my ears with last minute instructions. When we reached the car Harriet gave me a quick hug, then a longer one for Emily before she got into the driver’s side and I the other.

  Ralph reconnected the battery and the car started first time, the noise shattering the peace of the yard and setting Maggie to barking.

  “Come back safe!” Harriet called as we pulled away, and I watched her and Ralph in the mirror, standing with their hands clasped together, until we crested the hill and the landscape hid them from view.

  Chapter 22

  Emily knew the roads well, taking them at a healthy speed that was much more comfortable than the breakneck pace Ralph had set. We talked about small things, such as what I’d done before the flare or how her life had been in the army, and I could almost imagine that we were just two people out for a leisurely drive, taking in the sights of the countryside.

  Our way of life might be in tatters but the sun still shone, the trees still waved in the wind and birds still flew overhead. The world would go on, with or without humanity crawling its way across the surface, and the thought was at once reassuring yet unnerving.

  “So what made you want to join the army then?” I asked, genuinely interested. The thought of
wilfully putting yourself in harm’s way, not to mention living in rough conditions for a good part of your life, held absolutely no appeal for me whatsoever.

  “I don’t know, I just always wanted to be a soldier”, she said after a moment’s pause. “Even when I was little, I was always playing war with the boys, it was just something I knew I was going to be”.

  “So why REME?” I asked, giving her regiment its abbreviated name.

  “I like fixing things too. I didn’t just want to be a grunt, and besides, they don’t let women fight on the front line, so it meant that I could be useful and get on with my job without being restricted by my gender”.

  “Fair point”.

  “How about you, why a journalist?”

  “I’m bloody nosy”.

  She laughed, a pleasant sound after the last few days.

  “No really, come on”.

  I shrugged, trying to decide how best to explain it.

  “I was always good at finding things out”, I said, “I mean really digging to find the truth about something, and I’ve always had a burning need to know why. I thought about joining the police when I was younger, but I would have had to do years fighting with drunks before they let me anywhere near CID, and that was what interested me, interviewing people and catching them out. Having a reason to look into things, I suppose, to celebrate the good and expose the bad”.

  “So you think information wants to be free then?”

  I shook my head. “Not always, sometimes things need to be kept quiet for the greater good and I understand that, unlike some of my more aggressive colleagues, but I do think there’s a lot that goes on in the world that needs bringing to light so that people can make more informed decisions about things that effect their lives”.

  Emily nodded. “That makes sense. We had an aggressive reporter with us the last time I was in Afghanistan, he was determined to find someone mistreating a prisoner, or something equally juicy, and in the end we had to get rid of him”.

  “How do you get rid of someone like that?” I asked, not sure that I wanted to hear the answer.

  “We arranged for him to join a patrol we knew was almost certain to be ambushed”, she said with a grim smile, “gave him a taste of the reason we were really out there. He came back with dirty trousers and a nervous tic, and a few days later he flew back to the UK”.