The End of Everything | Book 8 | The End of Everything

by Artinian, Christopher

  “It’s just … y’know … a little Enid Blyton.”

  “Okay, now you’re worrying me. I saw Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I know all about replicants. The real Robyn never made a literary comparison in her life. Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

  “Hilarious. All I’m saying is it’s a bit twee.”

  “Okay, now you’re really worrying me. I’ve never heard you use that word before in your life either.”

  “Ugh!” Robyn’s shoulders drooped. “It’s like, ‘Don’t worry, Grandpapa, me and my sister are just going on a rollicking adventure. We’ll have a whale of a time and come back with enough cream buns and lemonade for everyone.’”

  Wren looked at Robyn and burst out laughing. “I suppose it is. I’ll start again.”

  “No. It’s fine. It says what we need it to, I suppose.”

  Wren folded the paper in half and wrote, “GRANDAD,” in big capitals on the back. “We’ll have to be quiet,” she said as they walked back down the long corridor. The door to the room they had been sleeping in was ajar. The hotel was well beyond capacity, and they were sharing the room with Candice and the girls who Robyn had rescued. Directly across the hall, George, Wren and Robyn’s Grandad, was sharing a room with Aiden and the boys.

  Wren signalled for Wolf to stay, which he did as obediently as ever, and the two sisters tiptoed into the room. The girls were all sound asleep. They had been through so much, and even though there were still uncertain times ahead of them, the prospect of being part of a large, safe community had sent them to sleep with more hope in their hearts than they had experienced in a long time.

  Wren picked up her rucksack and left the note on the floor where she had been sleeping. One of the girls was bound to see it and make sure it got to George. Robyn picked up her swords. The bow and quivers were still on the back seat of the car. It would be a big ask; but she was really hoping there would be no need to use any of the weapons on this trip. They headed back out of the room, along the corridor and down one of the two grand staircases. They stopped at the entrance and looked out into the night.

  “Are you sure about this?” Robyn asked.

  “No. Are you?”

  “No.”

  “Well, at least we’re both in agreement over that.” Wren smiled and squeezed her sister’s hand. “I know you, Bobbi, and I know what it’s like having that kind of doubt in your mind, probably better than anyone. You need to do this, but you don’t need to do it alone.”

  “I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you. But we’re back together now, and I will never let anything separate us again.”

  They walked out to the car and opened the back door. Wolf leapt in as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Wren placed her rucksack in the front footwell, and Robyn put the swords at the same angle as the bow in the rear footwell. They glanced towards the wall, expecting to see the lookouts leap to attention, but as they quietly shut the doors, they realised that the man and the woman were leant against each other sound asleep.

  “Great lookouts. Top quality people you’ve got here.”

  “They’re pretty new. I don’t really know them that well. They came up from Kyle of Lochalsh when they got raided.”

  “Nice to see they’re repaying the favour of you taking them in with such commitment.”

  “Don’t be so hard on them, Bobbi. You wouldn’t believe what we went through yesterday.”

  “Err … yeah, I would. The last few days haven’t really been a picnic for me y’know, but when people depended on me, I didn’t fall asleep at the wheel.”

  Wren was about to fire something back, but became overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pride. Her sister had really changed. She’d become the woman Wren always knew she could be. “Y’know what, you’re right. They’ll wake up soon enough when you start the engine,” she said.

  Robyn turned the key in the ignition, and the engine coughed to life. The two lookouts almost fell off the wall as they stirred, desperately trying to understand what was going on. The lights switched on full beam, and the confused figures threw their hands up in an attempt to shield themselves from some of the blinding glow. The tyres slowly began to turn, and the car headed towards the entrance, pulling up beside them. There was still a look of shock on their faces as the passenger side window lowered.

  “Wren?”

  “Hi, April. If you’re tired, it’s probably an idea to get someone else to take over your shift.”

  “Err … yes, sorry, I suppose it just crept up on us.”

  “If I were you, I’d be grateful that’s all that crept up on you,” Robyn said, leaning forward. “There are like five hundred people in there who are depending on you two. Throw some cold water over your face or something.”

  “Err … yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

  “Where are you going?” the man asked, pushing in beside April.

  Wren opened her mouth to answer, but it was Robyn who spoke. “What, are you in charge here or something?”

  “No, I was just—”

  “We won’t be long. Make sure you don’t fall asleep again, there are kids in there for God’s sake.” Without even giving them time to respond, Robyn pulled around the corner and onto the road.

  Wren looked in the wing mirror as she raised the window once again to see they were both still standing there looking a little bewildered, but she soon lost sight of them as they went around the first bend. “I can’t believe you said that to them.” It wasn’t anger in Wren’s voice but awe.

  “They had it coming. What kind of tossers fall asleep on lookout duty?”

  “Yeah, but telling them off like that it was … I just didn’t expect it, that’s all. You’ve changed.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Wren’s nose twitched. “But obviously not that much. Phwoar, Bobbi, that’s gross.” She started wafting her hand in front of her nose.

  “What? I haven’t.” Robyn sniffed at the air too. “Jesus, that’s foul. Don’t bloody fan it over here. God.” She lowered the window. “What the hell has your dog been eating, rotten cabbage?”

  “Actually, I did catch him chewing on some plant or other earlier on.” Wren swivelled in her seat. “Are you alright, boy?”

  “Never mind him. He’s bloody alright; it’s the rest of us that are under chemical attack. I think I’m gonna hurl,” Robyn said, pinching her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

  “Don’t you listen to her, boy. You can’t help it, can you?”

  “I’m going to pass out.”

  “Don’t be such a drama queen.”

  “God, that’s almost as bad as one of yours.”

  “Yours.”

  “Yours.” They both started giggling. For all that they’d changed over their time apart they still shared the same childish sense of humour when they were together.

  “It is pretty bad,” Wren said, lowering her window to let the cold, fresh night air in.

  “At some stage, we’re going to have to get some petrol. We’ll be okay for a little bit. Shame we didn’t think to siphon some back at the hotel.”

  “I’m pretty certain that wouldn’t have gone down all that well.”

  “Suppose not.”

  They made good progress, and for a while they just travelled in a comfortable silence, contemplating what lay ahead for them. The more Robyn thought about it the more anxious she became, and she was the one to break the silence in the hope that she could forget about their mission for a little while at least.

  “So, come on, now Grandad’s not here, and it’s just us two sisters together, what’s the story with you and that Mike fella?”

  “What do you mean? What story? There is no story.”

  “Oh yeah. Yes, Mike. Thank you, Mike. Be careful, Mike.” She made a loud kissing sound. “So, are you and him … y’know? Have you done the bow-chicka-wow-wow yet?”

  “What? What the hell’s the bow-chicka-wow-wow?”

 
; “You know, I’m your sister, you can tell me. Have you bumped uglies yet?”

  “Bobbi! What is wrong with you?” Wren asked in a high-pitched voice, colouring up. “He’s got a girlfriend. Well, woman friend, Lucy, she’s a doctor and really good looking and—”

  “You want to, though, don’t you?” Robyn asked with a grin, taking her eyes off the road for a minute to look across at her squirming sister.

  “Err … no.”

  “Liar.”

  “Look, can you just concentrate on driving, please?”

  “Chill. You don’t have to be embarrassed, it’s me. I can help you with this. It can be our project.”

  “I’ve died and gone to Hell,” Wren said, turning to look out of the passenger side window.

  “We’ll see if we can find you an outfit while we’re out and about.”

  “What? An outfit? What the hell are you talking about? I’ve told you. He’s with someone, and I’m not interested.”

  “Don’t worry, mum’s the word. That’s exactly the right thing to be saying, and then, when he least suspects it—BAM. You’re leaning forward in front of him, he gets a peek at your pom-poms, and he loses control. He’ll be putty in your hands.”

  “Oh, God. Please stop. Please, I’m begging you.”

  “You’re right. Not the time or the place, we should get our game heads on now. But when we get back there, I won’t rest until you two are doing the funky monkey.”

  “I’d forgotten how unbearable you can be.”

  “Yeah, unbearably right. Wren and Mike, sitting in a tree, B-O-N-K-I-N-G.”

  “ENOUGH!” The shout was almost deafening, and it was followed by a long pause.

  Robyn turned to look at Wren to see her little sister was almost in tears. “I was only kidding around.”

  “I told you to stop.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Just drop it.”

  “Oh shit! You really like him, don’t you? I mean … more than like.”

  “I said drop it.”

  “Okay, sorry, Sis.” She reached across with her left hand and took Wren’s right. It felt warm and clammy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just playing.”

  Wren looked down and placed her other hand over Robyn’s. “I’ve been surrounded by people for the longest time, and there hasn’t been a minute when I haven’t felt alone,” she said quietly.

  “You had Grandad.”

  “I know, but I wanted my sister.”

  “Well, you’ve got me now. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Wren squeezed Robyn’s hand a little tighter. “Promise me.”

  “I promise you.”

  “Say it. Say it out loud.”

  “Wren, I promise you. From now on, we’re always going to be together.”

  chapter 3

  They continued to speed along the narrow country lanes, and despite hitting the odd pothole, it was a smooth journey. Of course, they both knew that, at some point, that would all change.

  “There’s a wind picking up,” Robyn said.

  “Oh God, Bobbi, it’s bad enough that Wolf’s—”

  “Not that kind of wind. I mean there’s a wind picking up. I can feel it on the steering.”

  “Oh, right. I see. So … this Mila, she was the one who taught you to drive.”

  “Yeah. She taught me to drive, she taught me to fight; hey, I can even read a map now.”

  “You?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Read a map?”

  “Yeah and a compass.”

  “A compass?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You?”

  Robyn giggled. “Yeah. I wouldn’t have believed it either. It’s so easy. How come you never showed me?”

  “What?” Wren almost screeched. “How many times? How many times did I offer to show you? It was always, ‘Stop, you’re giving me a headache.’”

  “Yeah, well, I suppose some of it might have been my fault.” A few drops of rain appeared on the windscreen, then more, and suddenly they were in the middle of a squalling downpour. “Crap.”

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay driving in this?”

  “Yeah. Bad memories, that’s all. We got stuck in a huge storm. A bridge washed away, we ended up having to abandon the car. I suppose I’ve got a bit of a phobia of storms now.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Wren replied as the rain hammered down on the roof.

  “Thank you.”

  “What for?”

  “This.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. This woman saved your life. There are a few people in Safe Haven who have saved mine. I get it, Bobbi. But like I say, we’re just doing a recce, yeah? We’re going to figure out what the situation is.”

  “Yeah. I understand.”

  “Promise me.”

  “I promise. I’m not going to do something that puts you in harm’s way.”

  “Good, ’cause when…”

  Robyn carried on driving, expecting Wren to carry on, but when she didn’t, she turned to look at her. “When what?”

  Wren let out a breath. “We went to look for you in Loch Uig.”

  “And?”

  “We were just doing a recce, only it ended up not being. Things got out of hand, quick, so that’s why it’s important that you promise.”

  Robyn pulled the car to the side of the road. “What happened?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does. You went looking for me. I want to know.”

  “That guy, Mike. When he found out you might have been there, he pushed for a group to go, to see if the place was still up and running, to see what we’d need to get in there, to launch a rescue if we had to. Well, when we got there, turned out they had better defences than we expected. But rather than getting out of there, Mike decided to take them on.”

  “And what happened?”

  “Well, we made it out, but it was literally by the skin of our teeth. At one stage, they had Emma, Mike’s sister, and Jules on a table ready to operate on them.”

  “Operate? What are you talking about?”

  “Never mind, long story. But the upshot is we need to be careful. We’re going to try to find Mila, but we just need to make sure that if she has been taken by someone, if it is what we fear the most, they don’t find us first.”

  Robyn let the words sink in for a moment and then nodded. “Don’t worry. What happened in Loch Uig won’t happen to us. I’ve got pretty good instincts now. If it looks too dangerous or like a lost cause, we head back, we help your friends retake the town or whatever, and then I’ll throw myself at their mercy and ask for their help.”

  “Good. Thank you.”

  They travelled for several more minutes, and the wind and rain eased off a little. “Looks like we’re leaving it behind us,” Robyn said, looking into the darkness of the rearview mirror.

  “That’s good.”

  “So … this Mike, he was the one who stood up for you?”

  Wren let out a long sigh. “Don’t start this again.”

  “I’m not starting anything. Just making conversation, that’s all.”

  “Yes, Bobbi. He went to bat for me. No, he doesn’t have feelings for me beyond friendship, and, no, I have no interest in you being my mentor in how to win him away from his girlfriend. Please, end of discussion.”

  “Okay, okay. But I think thou doth protest too much.”

  “What? Who are you? You’re quoting Hamlet?”

  “Err … no.”

  “Bobbi. That’s Hamlet. You’re quoting Shakespeare. What the hell?”

  “I … I didn’t know.” She carried on driving, and even in the dashboard light, Wren could see the embarrassment on her face.

  “What is going on with you?”

  It was Robyn’s turn to let out a long sigh this time. “When I was locked in that room, there were some books there. Different things, kids books, romance books. I kind of got into the habit of reading. Then, when we esca
ped, there were full bookcases to choose from. One of my favourites was a period romance called The Cavalier’s Lady. I know it’s cheesy, but I really enjoyed it. I read it a couple of times. That line was in there. I didn’t know it was taken from Shakespeare.”

  “That is so cute.”

  “Cute? Oh, God. It is not cute. I am not cute. Look, there was like nothing to do in that place of a night. I had to do something.”

  “Uh-huh. So your something was reading about cavaliers wielding their rapiers left, right and centre.”

  Robyn giggled. “Well … yeah. It wasn’t like I could get any, was it? So reading about it was the next best thing.”

  “There’s part of me that’s really pleased that you started reading and part of me that’s mortified that you were reading pervy period romance.”

  “It wasn’t pervy, it was … okay, some of it was pervy, but it was fun too. You should try some.”

  “Oh yeah, like that will ever happen.”

  “Who knows, you might learn a few moves … if you know what I mean.”

  “Oh, God! You are unbearable.”

  “What are little sisters for if they’re not for teasing? It’s not like I could tease Mila, she’d just brain me.”

  “Didn’t she have a sense of humour?”

  Robyn thought for a moment. “Actually, she did. She had a brilliant sense of humour, just different to yours and mine. She was like really clever sometimes.”

  “None taken.”

  “No, I mean she’d come out with something really funny, really witty, y’know, like that show Mum and Dad used to watch about the psychiatrist.”

  “What, Frasier?”

  “Yeah, like that. Then she’d come out with something really silly and immature and clap her hands like a little kid. But there was like this real badass side to her as well.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I mean I had the odd argument with her, but we never went proper hammer and tong. If we did, I’m pretty certain she’d have pummelled me.”

  “This is useful to know. If we find her, I don’t want to go saying the wrong thing.”

  “If we find her, I’m pretty certain you’re going to like her.”

  “Well, hopefully, we’ll all find out soon enough. How far do you think we’ve come?”