Blighted Land: Book two of the Northumbrian Western Series (Northumbrian Westerns 2)

by Ian Chapman

  ‘You go. I’ll catch you up,’ I said. Having a couple of drinks and meeting Maddy had perked me up. Being stuck on the road with Casper and Becky wasn’t a barrel of laughs. Now we were out of Faeston I was starting to find myself again. ‘Look, Casper, you don’t have to stay.’

  He played with his beaker. Maddy finished her gin and gave me a smile. I was about to get us more drinks when she shifted her head and stared across the room. She moved back, away from me and dropped her head, her hand raised to her temple.

  A man appeared at her side, twenty-something, in a battered suit, shaven headed, scarred face. ‘If it isn’t Maddy,’ he said. His voice was as thin as the rest of him.

  She looked at the floor. ‘Hello Noah.’

  Noah rocked back and forward on his heels, touched one of the scratches on his face. ‘Don’t think I know you boys.’

  ‘We’re not from here,’ I said. I’d met his type before. Big fish in tiny ponds.

  Noah whistled a note as if he had a dog to call.

  ‘We’re on a trip.’

  Casper stared at Noah. Maddy had found something interesting in her glass.

  ‘On a trip?’ said Noah. ‘That’s sounds good. Real fine.’

  ‘We’re just going,’ said Casper, giving me a hard stare.

  There was a cheer on the TV and the men watching sighed and groaned, like they’d no idea what was going to happen.

  ‘Taking a trip is a fine thing to do.’ Noah went into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. ‘Do you boys follow?’ He unfolded it and handed it to me. It was all about God and Jesus. How we had to repent for our sins. ‘We meet every Sunday.’ He smiled and half closed his eyes.

  ‘Great,’ I said. Noah didn’t worry me. I was happy hanging around in the bar. Near Maddy.

  ‘Not sure we’ll be here.’ Casper came round to me, leaned up close. ‘We need to go. Get back.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘We need to go.’

  ‘I’m staying.’

  Casper shook his head. ‘Trent, we need to get going. Meet Becky, you know?’

  ‘You know what? I think I’m staying.’

  He stepped back, lips tight. Then he turned and walked out.

  Noah made the whistling sound again. ‘You boys had a fall out?’

  ‘We’re fine.’ I was happy for him to go. They could leave. I wasn’t that bothered. I was more interested in Maddy.

  She gave me a big grin. ‘Where are you headed?’

  ‘North.’

  ‘You know,’ said Noah. ‘I think you should follow your friend. Carry on with that road trip of yours.’

  ‘Maybe I will.’

  He smiled at this.

  As I moved away from the bar stool he walked backwards, his index finger pointed at me. He said no more and sidled out of the room.

  ‘You’re going?’ said Maddy.

  ‘At some point.’

  ‘Fancy a few drinks? Elsewhere?’

  ‘Why not.’

  She took my hand and led me out of the bar a side way, into an alleyway that ran round the back, along cobbles that stank of piss and vomit, into a narrow lane. We passed men with women, men with men, women with women. Couples entwined as they kissed or screwed on the ground.

  Maddy gave me a smile and led me to a red door with a polished plaque at the side. It had some symbol I didn’t recognise and there was a knob below it. She pulled this three times and the door opened. A large woman in a tight dress let us in. She was heavily made up and equally heavily built. When she spoke I realised she was a he.

  We went along a dark corridor of worn carpet into a long room set with tables. There was a bar at the far end and a small stage to our right, all lit by candles dotted around. She waved to the barman and took us to a table by the wall.

  There was a performance on the stage: a woman dressed as a ballerina held a beach ball and shifted it around. There was no music or pattern to what she did. After a while she stopped and bowed forward and people clapped.

  ‘What do you think?’ Maddy said.

  ‘I don’t think I get it.’

  ‘What do you think of the club?’

  I looked around at the heavy wood furnishings and deep carpet. The dark wallpaper and coving. It had probably been a nice place at one time. Sophisticated. It was rather creepy now. But Maddy was worth being there for. With her slim body in that dress. ‘It’s lovely.’

  She grinned. ‘People like Noah don’t know about this. He can’t get in here.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘It’s our secret.’

  The barman brought a bottle over and two glasses. I poured out a drink for each of us. It was some kind of wine, dark red. Maddy sipped, looked at me, into me.

  I tried the wine. It was strong, sour tasting. Metallic. She laughed at my reaction then moved her chair round so she was next to me.

  ‘I like you Trent.’

  ‘I like you too.’

  She took my hand and put it on her thigh, on the warm material of her dress. We stayed like that for a while. She drank more and tipped some into my glass. I pretended to drink it but spat it back. It really was bad.

  Another act came on, this time a man in a suit but with makeup and deer antlers. He moved around the stage with his hands in front of him like he was riding a horse. It’s was odd but I didn’t really care.

  ‘I need to go to the toilet,’ said Maddy.

  ‘All right.’

  While she was away the man carried on with his act. People came in and went. Some were transvestites like the fella on the door. There were a few gay couples as well. It crossed my mind that Maddy could have been more than she seemed. Maybe she wasn’t quite what I’d thought.

  I took a sip of the wine. Spat it back into the glass. There was a new sound in the room, a deep hum but when I looked around I couldn’t work out where it came from.

  Maybe I should have gone with Casper. Found Becky and left. I still could. The bike was still there. All my gear was in my bag on the floor at my side. But I needed fuel. At some point I’d ask Maddy if anywhere in town sold petrol or similar.

  She slid back into her seat. ‘Miss me?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  I gave her a good looking over, tried to work out if she was an attractive woman or a fella dressed up as an attractive woman. It was hard to say: she had good legs and her tits looked real but none of that proved anything. Her voice wasn’t deep but again, there were ways round that. There was only one real test and that was hard to set up with someone you’d just met.

  ‘You all right, Trent?’

  ‘Yeah. What is this place?’

  ‘Somewhere safe. For the misfits of the town. People who don’t fit in.’

  ‘Right.’

  She took a drink and leaned towards me. ‘I know what you’re thinking.’

  ‘You do?’ I doubted that.

  ‘What makes me a misfit?’ She sat back and smiled.

  ‘Yeah.’ That was close enough.

  The man finished his act and leapt off the stage. Ran through the room and out past the bar. People laughed.

  Maddy took my hand and put it back on her thigh. ‘My problem is I like company too much. Different company. Different men. Women in this town aren’t meant to do that kind of thing.’ She slid my hand into her dress, further up her thigh, to the top. She had no underwear on. There was just soft flesh. Warm. Nothing to worry about. She slid my hand back and let go. Then she moved over towards me, closed her eyes and kissed me.

  When she pulled away her smile and changed. Eyes softened. For a second she stared at me before she took her wine glass, drank it all. Moved over to me again and kissed but this time with a mouthful of the wine. She forced it down my throat so that I nearly gagged. I swallowed it before I choked.

  After that she sat on my knee. Topped up my glass and shared it with me. Bit by bit I got a taste for it.

  She ordered food, a couple of small cakes and a smaller bottle of wine, this time swee
ter.

  ‘What is this stuff?’ I said.

  She laughed. ‘You know what it is.’

  ‘I need to ask you something.’

  ‘Oh yeah?’

  ‘I’ve forgotten what it is.’ I’d lost my thread.

  We drank and ate and kissed some more. More acts came on but they were much better. Similar themes but funnier; sharper. The man with the false head was the best. It was made of wood or something but I found it really funny. Maddy laughed a little but not as much as me.

  Once we’d finished the second bottle she stood up and took my hand. ‘You going to walk me home?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  I followed her out along the passageway. Up the lane and across town. There were several of the law-enforcement men hanging round at a crossroads. One came towards us as we lurched up the pavement but his companions pointed at Maddy and said something. They both laughed and went back to where they’d been. A thought crossed my mind about the tank and Becky and Casper. About the bike. But it was soon gone. The town lurched around us as Maddy led me on. Every now and then she’d stop and drag me into a doorway. Pull me tight against her as she clamped her mouth on mine.

  At last we came to an old building, a tall place that reeled around in front of us. She unlocked the door and hauled me up all these stairs, up and up and up, bursting into a room with a bed and wardrobe and chair and little else.

  Without wasting time she pulled her dress up, flicked it onto the floor and helped me strip off. We flopped into bed and then she was all over me and I was all over her. The room spun around us as we crawled over each other, round each other and into each other. As we twisted and bent into one person that breathed and sighed and groaned together.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Night Over

  I WOKE WITH MADDY lying splayed out in the bed next to me, naked. The sheet was rolled up at the far end. Sunlight shone through the curtains to light the ceiling where wallpaper hung down in curled strips.

  I slid out of bed and stared down at her slim body. As her tits rose and fell. A slight twitch in her left thigh tugged at her skin. She took a deep breath and turned over. I pulled on my clothes and went to the bathroom. My head hurt and the room swayed as I went.

  Only one of the sink’s taps worked and it trickled out brown water. When the basin was half full I dunked my head in, opened my eyes under the water. Stared at the distorted plug. The cold water shocked the pain out of me. For a moment.

  I straightened up and stared into the cracked mirror at my face split and dripping. That had been some night.

  After using the toilet I went back into the room. Maddy had pulled the covers over her. I wasn’t sure what to do: leave or hang around. It had been fun. Maybe I’d stay around for a while. Spend some time in Pleasure Town. They’d be work to do here. I could stay somewhere. Maybe here with Maddy. Casper and Becky’d be really pissed off with me. If they’d even waited.

  I was tempted to wake Maddy. Have some fun with her. But I knew how it was with women, with anyone, when they got woken up too early. There was no point pissing her off. I went round to the side of the bed and grabbed up my clothes and slid them on. I could easily take them off again, if that was what she fancied. My jacket lay on a chair. I slid it on and went through the pockets. There was still a roll of cash. The pistol and keys for the scrambler. I looked around for my bag. There was no sign of it so I dropped down and searched under the bed. Still no sign.

  The bag had to be around. That had my spare clothes in it, the bike battery. A shotgun, crowbar and roll of cash. The Gehenna stuff.

  I went into the bathroom. Then back to the bed. Under the bed. Under her dress. In the wardrobe and under the chair.

  When I turned round Maddy was awake. Staring at me. ‘Trent?’

  ‘I’ve lost my bag.’

  She laughed. ‘Good morning to you too.’

  ‘It’s got all my stuff in it.’

  She flopped back and closed her eyes. ‘It’ll be around.’

  ‘I can’t afford to lose it.’

  She opened her eyes again. ‘Okay.’ She slid out of bed, walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Even her bare backside couldn’t take my mind off the lost bag.

  I checked round the room several more times then sat in the chair and gazed out of the window. There was an overgrown playing field opposite where lads threw something back and forth. The shouted and ran around.

  Maddy came out of the bathroom, still naked. ‘Any sign of the bag?’

  ‘No.’ Part of me wanted to say fuck the bag, let’s spend the morning in bed. But that was all I had. All my stuff.

  She opened the wardrobe and took out a red dress. Dropped it over her head. Then she popped on her shoes from the night before. ‘Ready?’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Let’s go look for it.’

  She led me out of the building and onto the main road. I had no memory of walking along here the night before. We took it slowly and examined overgrown hedges and front gardens. Doorways and alleys.

  At last we came to the club. She pulled the handle and we waited.

  ‘Might be no one there,’ she said.

  ‘Right.’

  Then the door opened. It was the man from the night before but no longer dressed as a woman. He was in an old suit with his hair parted down the left-hand side.

  ‘Maddy?’ he said.

  ‘We lost something last night.’

  He stepped aside. ‘Didn’t we all?’

  I followed her through to the main room, empty of people and the bar shuttered. Its curtains open. The decor was more faded. Less creepy.

  At the side of a table was my bag. I went to it and opened it up, raked through. Everything seemed to be there.

  She smiled. ‘Happy?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You owe me a drink.’

  ‘Think I do.’

  We walked out and back into the lane, along the passageway to the pub I’d first met her in, the one by the marketplace. There was nothing going on outside but a few men were crowded in the bar watching football again.

  ‘Is this all that happens here?’

  ‘Pretty much,’ she said.

  I ordered myself a whisky but Maddy cupped her hand around the barman’s ear. Asked for something special. The drinks came, hers in a glass, mine in a tumbler, and we sat on bar stools.

  ‘That was some evening,’ I said.

  ‘Sure was.’

  ‘You always this lively?’

  ‘Sometimes worse.’

  We drank some more and talked. I reckoned Casper and Becky were long gone so there was no rush. No need to worry. I had my bag and time to spend with Maddy. There was just one more thing I needed to sort out. ’Is there anywhere to get fuel round here? Petrol?’

  She shrugged. ‘There’s a place down by the old railway station. They sell all sorts…’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘You planning on leaving?’

  ‘Not necessarily.’

  She smiled at this.

  As I ordered our third drinks Casper came in.

  ‘Where the hell have you been, Trent?’

  ‘Here and there,’ I said.

  Maddy laughed. ‘Are you sure he’s not your brother?’

  Casper flushed. ‘We’ve been all over the place for you. Hung around all night.’

  I took a drink, let it go down. ‘You should have gone without me.’

  ‘Well, I would have. But Becky, she’d have hung around here for days. In this dump.’

  ‘Tut-tut,’ said Maddy.

  Casper was hopping around at this. All wound up. It was only a little fun at his expense.

  But it turned sour when Noah came in. He walked over and stood by us.

  ‘Well, well,’ he said.

  I smiled. ‘Hello.’

  ‘Still here. Still here. I wonder why?’ He put his arm around Maddy and she recoiled. ‘Maddy here, she’s like a candle to a fly. Dirt to roach. Isn’t that r
ight, Maddy?’

  Maddy nodded.

  There was swearing from the men watching the football.

  ‘So what you boys planning on doing?’ said Noah.

  ‘Not sure,’ I said. ‘I might stay around.’

  Noah raised an eyebrow. ‘That so? That so? I’m sure Maddy will have shown you the sights, I don’t doubt.’ He put his arm tighter around her. She shrunk back. ‘Oh, I’m sure Maddy has obliged. Maddy is so very obliging.’

  Casper leant forward. ‘We’re not staying, we’re going. Now.’

  ‘Are we?’ I said.

  ‘Well,’ said Noah. ‘Seems you boys can’t agree.’ He released Maddy and smiled. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. ‘We have a community round here. See, people like Maddy,’ he smiled and looked at her and she looked away. ‘People like Maddy need watching over.’

  ‘She seems capable of looking after herself.’ I’d met plenty of tough guys like him before. Little men who liked to push women around.

  ‘Maybe I’m not making myself clear.’ He straightened up. ‘You should have left yesterday. Not hung around. Now you have to pay your dues. Settle with the townsfolk.’

  Casper stepped backwards. ‘Come on.’

  ‘We don’t just let people wander in. Do as they wish. Just as you have, boys. If you come over to my office. Hand over a few commodities we’ll see that as fair. A fair tax.’ He gave Maddy a good looking over.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ I said, leaning over to Maddy. I was buoyed up by the drink. Not scared of Noah and his rules and I put my hand on Maddy’s knee. This seemed to be too much for him and he turned red and started opening and closing his hands. The rhythmic motion carried on for a few seconds until he flicked a punch out at Casper, catching him on the chest, a weak swing but enough to unbalance him. He reeled back, his hands outstretched as Noah pulled back his arm for another shot. In one move I stood up between them and hit Noah in the face.

  It was a short right-hander that cracked him under the jaw. I’d not planned to do it but it happened automatically. Without any thought. His teeth snapped together and his head bounced back before he slumped forward. He made some noise like he couldn’t breath and grabbed the bar, his head on Maddy’s thigh. There was a roar from the crowd on the television but the bar was silent. Everyone watching us.