Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  'There is only one way out now towards the East,' said one of the men. 'The two other routes are blocked, I just checked.'

  'This has obviously been well-planned,' observed Cath. 'We'll just have to see what happens.' Secretly she thought they were in a good situation. Tanya is too smart to put herself in a vulnerable position, she thought. However, if Thor comes off best in this skirmish we'll be protected as we've done everything asked of us. If Tanya prevails, we'll deny any complicity with Thor.'

  The eight who had bypassed Banksia altogether, in two groups of four, had set two ambushes. As expected the first messenger, a teenage boy, came galloping around a bend after negotiating the rough track. He was halted by a pile of bushes. Trying to pick his way around the unexpected blockage he was confronted by four Settlement troops, cocked rifles pointing at him from ten feet.

  'Off!' said the leader. The messenger had no option but to comply. 'Right, tell us what you're doing.'

  'Looking for some cattle that have stray—' he didn't finish the sentence, receiving a hard slap across the face. 'Strip him, there's probably a note.'

  He was roughly and rapidly searched.

  'Here, I'll read it. It's a bit of a scrawl but it says, "Another large contingent of Settlement people have arrived here at Banksia. All well-armed."'

  'Tie him onto his horse,' said the leader. 'Look sonny, if there is any bullshit at all we will shoot you and the horse and leave you to the dingoes, understood?'

  The boy whimpered, 'I just did what I was told.'

  Suddenly, a burst of gunfire was heard from a few hundred metres away, followed a few minutes later by a single shot. 'It seems Susan has stopped another messenger.'

  The boy looked terrified, but nobody said anything. In an hour they met up with the other four led by Susan. They said nothing until the boy was out of earshot.

  'Stupid sod,' she said. 'Bloke in his thirties, tried to ride over us. We took the horse into the bush and shot it and we buried the man. We found a note. I doubt if anyone will ever find anything. Roger said, "no bullshit", so we stood no bullshit.'

  The next morning the main group joined them. They camped in a suitable spot Susan had found.

  'We will leave in the morning,' Roger instructed.

  Mark, Tanya, Joseph, and the three younger members of the entourage arrived as they had planned, mid-morning, at the main gate of The Vikings. There was a perfunctory but polite greeting from the two gate guards and they were allowed through, to be escorted to an encampment which Joseph had told them was about a kilometre from the gate.

  Tanya looked about sharply, but apart from a few scrawny cows quietly grazing on the side of the track, she noticed nothing untoward. As they approached through the trees, they saw their first awe-inspiring view of the village, consisting of thatched huts set on a hillside, appearing to flow down like a stream to the main hut, dominating the centre. It was all neat and tidy.

  A few dogs rushed out barking, but were silenced by a sharp word from an enormous man with shoulder length hair. He was dressed in animal skins, as were all the visible Viking people. The man stood up as they arrived and dismounted. Even Tanya was impressed and somewhat intimidated.

  'Thor,' he said, extending his huge hand. He was expecting to shake Mark's hand, automatically assuming he was the leader. So he was surprised when it was first grasped by Tanya, followed by Mark, and Joseph. He ignored the others. 'Come,' said Thor. 'First I will show you around and then we can talk. Your people can unsaddle and put the horses in that small paddock over there.'

  Carefully watched by Thor and some followers, Tanya pointedly strapped her short-barrelled rifle around her back, having ensured there was no round in the breech and the safety was engaged. The magazine was, of course, full. The others followed her example. Kim, Rachel, and Jason did as they were told and unsaddled and tended the horses.'

  Tanya was impressed by the orderly village. The main hut was about ten times the size of the sixty-odd other huts, but they were all neatly thatched, with small single entrances, requiring people to bend double to enter. They were all facing downhill towards the big hut, as if they were paying homage.

  'Maybe two hundred people,' Tanya whispered to Mark.

  They were royally entertained for four days, with Thor introducing them to his children. Hercules sported the same physical characteristics as his father, Tanya guessing he was in his mid-twenties, and Venus, a beautiful, slim girl in her early twenties. Tanya was never certain who Thor's wife was as there were several women hovering around in a servile manner, never introduced.

  Thor showed them his cattle, some for beef, others for milk, and his rather primitive milking parlour where the animals were milked by hand. There were extensive vegetable gardens and orchards. Many young men, armed with an array of guns from modern hunting rifles to old Second World War infantry rifles, wandered around in a disorganised fashion. One young man carried a Bren gun. But there was no evidence of any kind of discipline. The young men herded the cattle and moved them to where Thor directed. During their visit, various young men brought in native game obviously intended for the pot. The women milked the cows, tended the crops, and prepared all the food. Tanya could see the young men were itching for something to do, peaceful or otherwise.

  She expressed her opinions to Mark.

  'I agree. I bet Thor understands that perfectly and it fits in with his philosophy. It could cause us some problems.'

  Tanya said to Thor during the second morning, 'We've brought you a complete solar power installation, as a gift. We've been wondering where it would be of most use to you. I think it would be dangerous to have it on a thatched structure, because of the fire risk.'

  'Solar power! We've no electricity here, but we have wooden storage sheds. It would be useful there,' answered Thor.

  A day and a half later, Jason was able to switch on the system, illuminating the extensive vegetable storage sheds, some of which were underground, to maintain a constant temperature. Thor was very impressed and was seen switching the lights on and off from time to time.

  Hercules, completely smitten by Kim, took trouble to show her around and tried to engage her in conversation.

  She told Tanya later, 'He may be quite smart, but he seems to have little or no education and is only interested in his horse and fancy hunting rifle. Hercules, what a fucking name! It gives him all the wrong ideas about himself. And I've noticed everyone is terrified of Thor, Hercules too. But Venus is very interested in everything we've told her. She said she would like to visit us, but she seems to have no concept of how we run our affairs. She is very sweet, but is afraid she'll be told to marry one of her father's lieutenants. I was introduced to two of them—large, smelly, overweight, middle-aged men; a ghastly fate.'

  Tanya laughed at the description. 'They seem to be quite friendly ...' She stopped when she saw Kim's expression.

  'Without doubt, there's something in the wind. I've seen the lieutenants trying to organise something. It's possible they're still trying to decide what to do with us. I also caught a glimpse of a face I recognise, but can't place,' Kim continued. 'He ducked out of sight when I looked his way.'

  'Describe him,' instructed Tanya.

  'Harold,' announced Mark, when Kim had described him. 'I wondered when we would bump into him again.'

  He recounted, for Kim's benefit, the conflict with Harold and how it had been resolved .

  'They certainly see us as a potential threat and they have Joseph's eldest son locked up here, by the way. Venus let that slip this morning. I pretended not to hear. Apparently, he proposed to Venus without Thor's permission, almost certainly an excuse. I suppose Thor can blackmail Joseph at will while his son in custody,' said Kim thoughtfully.

  'No wonder Joseph, the stupid bugger, is behaving so strangely. Do you know where the boy is being held?' asked Mark.

  They were able to talk quite freely since all The Settlement people were housed in one hut. Joseph had insisted on being housed elsewhere.


  'There is a dungeon underneath the food store,' answered Jason. 'I stumbled across it when I was fixing something on the solar system this afternoon. There are about six people there in chains at present, but there is space for at least a dozen more.'

  'This is all a bit of a wakeup call for me, I'll think about it overnight,' said Tanya.

  The Settlement people found the huts warm and comfortable and the mattresses soft. Tanya and Mark quickly fell asleep.

  When the older generation had gone to sleep, Jason asked quietly, 'When are the others due?'

  'Tomorrow afternoon sometime. They won't be far away,' answered Rachel.

  Jason sat up quietly. 'I have no intention of being locked up in that bloody dungeon, and tomorrow afternoon may just be too late. Rachel, come with me now, I have a plan. Kim, could you continue to distract lover boy in the morning. Bet you fancy a shag with him, anyway,' he said teasingly, ducking as his sister tried to cuff him.

  'I'll look after him, don't worry,' said Kim. 'Are you going to find the main group?'

  Jason nodded, 'Smart girl,' he whispered as he and Rachel crept out into the night.

  Everything was quiet. They ran to the horse paddock and tacked up their two horses, hoping the other horses wouldn't make too much fuss about being left behind. They walked the horses until they were out of sight of the village and then cantered most of the way to the gate.

  'Hang on for a moment,' Jason told Rachel, handing her the reins of his horse. 'There is bound to be a hole in the fence somewhere. I'll be back shortly. We don't want to alert the gate keepers, so be quiet.'

  'Yup, Tanya could drive her helicopter through it,' he said on his return. 'Let's find Roger and the mob. Come.'

  Riding slowly after clearing the immediate vicinity of the gate they made enough noise to attract the attention of their colleagues. They were challenged almost two kilometres from the gate.

  'Halt, who goes there?'

  'This is Jason. I need Roger, quickly.'

  'Jason, what the fuck are you doing here?'

  'Rachel's here too. We need to see Roger.'

  Jason explained his plan to Roger. 'Nothing has happened so far, but something is planned for the morning, I'm sure. So we need to move fast. There are two goons on the gate. We've found a hole in the fence, so some of us should return that way, bang the goons on the head, and then let you lot in. If your troop gets to the main camp before eight in the morning I'm pretty sure we'll pre-empt a lot of nastiness.'

  As the dawn broke, Jason, Rachel, and four others crept through the hole. They cautiously approached the two, sleepy guards, banged them on the head, trussed them up, and gagged them.

  Rachel then opened the gate, allowing the troop to enter the base unhindered.

  'Wait here for an hour and then march up the road. Rachel can show you where to go. I'm going back to the village now,' announced Jason.

  Tanya woke up early, 'Christ, I have a headache,' she confided in Mark. 'Do you think they put something in the food last night?'

  'Maybe. I slept well and feel fine. Where are the kids?' he said looking around. 'The beds are all cold. They must have gone off somewhere early.'

  Kim appeared, followed by Jason. 'Breakfast,' Jason said.

  'Where's Rachel?'

  Jason shrugged and said jokingly, 'Maybe she fancied a roll in the hay with one of the Neanderthals. She'll be around.'

  They all got up and walked over to the main hut. They were greeted warmly by Thor, but there was something different in the atmosphere. A number of ragged-looking armed men were standing around trying to look unobtrusive. Tanya helped herself to some fruit and sat down, as did Mark.

  'Joseph told me you helped to recover all his cattle,' offered Thor conversationally, looking at Mark. He had not become used to the idea that Tanya was the boss.

  'I had nothing to do with it,' said Mark. 'Tanya led the group and recovered all the cattle; all Joseph had to do was come and drive his cattle home.'

  Thor looked nonplussed. 'What happened to the rustlers?'

  Tanya drew her forefinger across her throat.

  'What, all of …?' then Thor went pale and his eyes almost popped out of his head. 'What the fuck?' he exclaimed. He was looking down the main track leading from the gate.

  Tanya turned around and saw Roger, with Rachel by his side, calmly leading the troop five abreast, all with their rifles held at the ready in their right hands, with the butts resting on thighs.

  Some of the attendant Vikings started to fiddle with their weapons.

  'Don't be fucking stupid,' muttered Thor. 'Can't you see you would be cut to pieces before you could say asshole. Put those things away.'

  He watched as Tanya marched down to greet the troop, standing to attention on the front step of Thor's magnificent hut. She waved Thor over to stand by her side and held up his hand as if in partnership. The troop each fired three shots into the air in complete unison without a word being said.

  Roger marched up the steps, saluted and said, 'At your command, madam.'

  Joseph's eyes were focussed on the forlorn figure of the messenger boy bringing up the rear, tied to his horse. He worried about how he was going to explain the situation to Tanya. The whole situation had now dramatically fallen in favour of The Settlement.

  Tanya saluted and responded, 'Dismiss and unsaddle. I expect you can camp under the trees over there.' She glanced up at the bamboozled giant towering over her.

  Thor nodded.

  With the faintest smile, she turned and walked back to her breakfast. It was all she could do not to burst into laughter. She refused to catch either Jason's or Mark's eye. She and Roger and the troop had practised that little charade for weeks before they ventured on this expedition.

  They all watched as Roger, with Rachel assisting, put the troop through its final inspection. 'Two horses with loose shoes, one trooper on a charge with a dirty rifle,' announced Rachel so everyone looking on could hear.

  'What does that mean?' asked Thor, watching in fascination. The idea that anyone apart from himself could exercise discipline and impose sanctions was beyond his imagination.

  'Just watch,' answered Mark.

  Once the camp was prepared, Rachel marched the hapless trooper to a flat stretch of track still clearly visible to the spectators. 'Attention!' she barked, and the girl came briskly to attention. 'Hold your rifle above your head. Now run, knees up, knees up, run run run.'

  'But it's a woman,' spluttered Thor.

  'There is no distinction in our Academy. All participants are volunteers, but we have more people wanting to become part of The Academy than we have room for,' Mark told him. 'The discipline is well accepted.'

  'All this just for a dirty rifle?' Thor shook his head.

  'Standards are important. This is an elite group, let one thing slip and you're on a slippery slope to nowhere.'

  To his credit, Thor made no reference to the arrival of the troops, treating them as if they'd been expected. Tanya and Mark were secretly relieved they'd put plans in place to counter any of Thor's.

  An hour later, the exhausted trooper was half carried by colleagues to her tent, then given water and a massage. Another hour passed and she was back on her feet as if nothing had happened.

  Thor was astounded, but determined not to be outdone. He could see the fitness and discipline of The Settlement was beyond anything his ragtag operation could offer, but he had confidence in his own and his people's marksmanship. 'We challenge you to a shooting competition,' he said to Tanya. 'Three of yours against three of ours.'

  'Okay,' answered Tanya, somewhat reluctantly. 'As you can see, we have only brought our short-barrelled rifles with us for use on horseback. Lend us some of your beautiful hunting rifles and we'll take you on. We'd each need a couple of sighters, of course.'

  'Fine,' agreed Thor. He could see the proposed arrangement would give him and his people a distinct advantage. Thor selected himself, Hercules, and another young man Tanya had seen w
andering about the base.

  Mark was asked to select the three from The Settlement. 'Tanya, Roger, and Stephanie,' he said.

  'Stephanie, d'you think she'll be okay after all that running?' asked Tanya.

  'It's what we train for,' Stephanie answered, when asked.

  They were all taken to an informal rifle range in the bush. The group of six, plus two assessors, and a half dozen boys for setting up and managing the targets, walked the few hundred metres. Thor led in his proprietorial way. Stephanie and Roger had selected 30.06 Savage rifles from Thor's extensive gun collection, as they were much the same as the rifles they had used at home. Tanya had found a .300 Holland, which to her seemed perfectly balanced. All were fitted with scopes.

  'Guests to fire first,' announced Thor. 'One of you, then one of us. Two sets of five shots each.' He felt very confident, and whispered to Hercules, 'Fancy choosing women on their team, we will knock spots off them easily.'

  Targets were set up three hundred metres away. The Settlement people were allowed five sighters each. Thor's eyes widened when he saw the close groupings of the sighters fired by each of The Settlement contestants. All the shots were to be fired from a prone position on the ground.

  Stephanie went first. 'Five in the bull,' said the adjudicators, one each from each side. Thor looked surprised, but said nothing.

  The young Viking man produced the same result.

  Roger had five bullseyes.

  Hercules had five bullseyes.

  Tanya had five bullseyes.

  Thor had five bullseyes.

  'Dead even at half time,' announced an apprehensive Thor. Tension was mounting.

  Stephanie and the young Viking had no trouble in repeating the results of the first round.

  Roger had four bullseyes and an inner. He winked at Tanya when nobody was looking.

  A very nervous Hercules stepped up and produced four bullseyes and an outer.

  Thor looked at him furiously.