Katie nodded.
“Ella,” she said in a timid voice.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Ella.” Geronimo extended Frederico’s hand to Ella, who took it and shook. “There we are, you see? This is how we make friends. We make friends and we say our hellos and we will know each other for the rest of our lives.”
He righted the boy and patted him on the backside. “Run along, mighty Frederico, and tell Mama we bring hungry mouths to the dinner table tonight.”
Frederico took off at a sprint. He shuffled his feet rather than fully extended his legs.
Large houses peeked out from behind big black gates. Residents waved and saluted in equal measure. Geronimo waved back.
“There are a lot of people here,” Katie said.
“There are a lot of people everywhere,” Geronimo said. “But it is good because we have enough food and water to go around.”
“You don’t struggle to survive here?”
“We do not. Geronimo does not struggle. He forces the situation to his will. There is no reason to fear outsiders, so long as the outsiders fear you more.”
Katie marvelled at the big houses. The kind of places only the rich and famous used to occupy in the old world, those born to privilege or lucky enough to have benefitted from society.
“How did you come to live in such nice houses?” Katie said. “You took them when the EMP happened?”
“Take them? What are we? Thieves? They belong to us, each and every one. But everyone knows they must protect what is theirs if they are to keep it. So, we each provide ten good strong men to protect us. Ten men for whom we provide food, water, and shelter. Everyone is happy here in this little community we have built.
“Many men find military life hard to let go. Not Geronimo. Geronimo pivoted and used what Geronimo learned in war for financial rewards. He got a job in the financial industry and prospered ever since. Geronimo guesses we’re used to dealing with high stakes, with our, and others’, lives on the line. Having a bunch of money – no matter how much – is insignificant next to that.” He spoke to her out the corner of his mouth. “But don’t tell my subscribers that.”
“Subscribers?”
“Oh, yes. Geronimo loves the research. He learned as much as he could on a company or industry and shared it with others – for a small fee, you understand. And they can pick and choose which investments they wish to take, which to ignore. They all know Geronimo takes a position on all the investments he suggests and he had hundreds of thousands of subscribers looking for his little email in their inbox each week. Geronimo was doing the research anyway, so what did it hurt to share it with others? Besides, doing that kind of research takes time and money. It’s good to get reimbursed for it while he does it, no?”
The gates that reared ahead were bigger and blacker and more intricately designed than the other houses. Half a dozen men manned this front gate alone. It made Katie wonder how many men guarded the other entrances and the castle.
“Welcome to Geronimo’s humble home.”
Humble was hardly the word Katie would choose to describe it. Where the other houses were ostentatious constructions, they were nothing compared to the castle that took her breath the moment they reached the top of the road.
Fountains circled the front drive at regular intervals and water sprayed from the cherub’s trumpets. It was a surprise to Katie that anywhere had enough power to make it worthwhile.
Did these people still have some semblance of power in these parts? Or maybe they had access to a large generator or series of generators big enough to power the houses up and down the street?
Beyond them, somewhere high in the castle’s belfry, a bell tolled. Off Katie’s confused expression Geronimo said: “The bells sing. The bells sing for you.”
A crowd awaited them as they ascended the driveway’s incline. A gang of children, some even younger than Ella, rushed down to greet them. The men were armed to the teeth with their dangerous rifles and knives, but bent down with happy, beaming smiles as they scooped the children up and tossed them in the air.
Katie couldn’t help but laugh as the kids rushed around them like water over puddles in a gentle stream. The kids crowded around Scallywag, who backed away, into Ella’s legs. The dog would never bite – he didn’t have a vicious bone in his small body – but he was startled by the approach of so many people.
“Hush now, children.” Geronimo got down on his hands and knees. The children joined him on the grass. “Do you see how the hair on his back is standing up? In the wild, that is to make him look bigger and more vicious.”
Katie chuckled to herself. Fat chance of making Scallywag look vicious.
“And do you know why he wishes to look vicious?” Geronimo said to the children.
“Because he’s a mean dawg?” a little girl said.
The other kids nodded and edged back.
“He is not a mean dog,” Geronimo said. “Look at him. He is small, like mighty Geronimo. Do you think Geronimo is vicious?”
He lurched forward and tickled the nearest children’s bellies. They fell about laughing.
“No!” they all screamed.
Scallywag yapped at Geronimo.
The children’s expressions turned serious at once and they turned back to Geronimo.
“Do you see, children?” he said. “The beast wishes to bite poor Geronimo because he thinks he is hurting you. Is that the action of a dangerous animal?”
“No!” the kids screamed.
“Then if we know he is a good dog and will not hurt us, and he tries to protect us, is he a friend or a foe?”
“Friend!”
Another kid with snot running out of his nose raised a hand. “What’s a foe?”
“A foe is on your foot, silly!” a girl with red hair said.
“No, no, no. A foe is a bad man or dog. Unlike your toe, which is only bad when Geronimo gets hold of it!”
He seized the little boy’s toes that poked out from his sandals.
“The dog is our friend, and what do we do with our friends?” Geronimo said.
A little girl, about Ella’s age, reached into her pocket and withdrew a half-eaten plain tea biscuit.
“Very good, Maria,” Geronimo said. “We give our friends things that we can share. Go ahead. He will not hurt you.”
The girl called Maria leaned forward with her palm out flat, the biscuit remains in her hand.
Scallywag backed away further into Ella’s arms… Until he caught the scent of that biscuit. Then he popped his head up and moved forward slowly, one step at a time until he could lick the biscuit off the girl’s hand and munch on it. He yapped happily and all the kids clapped their hands.
“These are all your kids?” Katie said to Geronimo.
“Now, they are Geronimo’s children. The… what do you call it? The EMP? It left many children with nowhere to live, no food, no water, no place of safety to call their own. Geronimo was once a very selfish man who cared nothing for the needs of others. So long as Geronimo got what he wanted, to hell with everyone else.
“But now, Geronimo is like Robin Hood. He takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Only now, of course, we are the rich and the poor. These poor little children needed somewhere to call home, and Geronimo has all these empty bedrooms to give them. And here, they will read and they will learn, and they will get all the education they need in a world that will have none. They will have food and water and training to make them strong. And most of all, they will have love from a father and mother. My dear wife, Christina.”
A heavyset woman with a string of pearls approached with her flabby arms held wide. “Husband!” she cried.
Geronimo replicated the gesture and wrapped his arms around her – at least, part of the way around – and he turned her to those he had rescued. “Look, my darling. More children for us to care for and raise!”
Christina pressed her hands to her mouth and extended her arms forward. She moved for Jodie first. She paused and backed
away. “She is sleeping. She needs to rest.”
Geronimo spoke conspiratorially. “She has gypsy blood in her. That explains her beauty and her gift of Sight.”
“Poor dear,” Christina said. “The days have been hard on her, but here, she shall find true rest and she will become whole once again. And who are these?”
She bent down to Camden and Hannah. “A beautiful couple, no?”
Camden nodded and grinned. Hannah turned her head and glanced at the muscular man beside her.
Christina smiled at Hannah. “You have fire in you, girl. That much is clear. And you, boy, have the heart of a poet, no?”
“I try,” Camden said.
Christina moved down the line to the twins. “A pair of matching warriors! I have never seen such strong men!”
“I’m a woman,” Tanya said.
Christina patted her on the arm. “You are what you identify as, my dear.”
And then she came to Darryl. “A young man who will become a great fighter one day, I don’t doubt.”
“I’m the fighter,” Camden said. “He’s the poet.”
“Are you sure?” Christina said. “He looks like a warrior to me. Of the mind, yes, but of the arm also. And you…”
Katie rolled her eyes and awaited the barrage. Good or bad words, they were all the same to her.
“You…” Christina shook her head, blinked, and stepped back. “You… are very beautiful.”
But it was clear from her expression that she was troubled by what she saw in Katie. Part surprise, part horror. She faked a smile.
“You all must be famished,” she said. “Please, come inside. Come.”
38
The main hall housed three long wooden benches. The men who rescued them crowded around and chose their seats. Christina and the others brought food out from the kitchens and arranged it around the table. Ella was crowded by the children, who all wanted to feed Scallywag under the table.
“You are just in time for breakfast,” she said. “Please eat what you wish and enjoy. Children! Don’t give all the food to the dog! No matter how cute he is he cannot eat everything you give him!”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Ronnie said. “He seems to be giving it his best try.”
The children peered under the table and chuckled as Scallywag rushed from one extended hand to another, always careful to nibble the food out of their palms.
“Please, enjoy your meal,” Geronimo said. “Geronimo has some important – but boring – issues to attend to. If you have any problems or questions, do not hesitate to ask anyone you see. They will help you in any way they can.”
He wrapped an arm around Christina’s shoulders as he turned to leave the main hall. At one of the entrances to the rest of the castle, Christina looked upset about something. Her husband turned to look back in the dining hall and Katie would have sworn he looked directly at her, before throwing up his hands, beaming, and calming his wife down by placing his hands on her shoulders and allaying her fears.
Katie turned her attention to the food arranged in the large vats before her. Her stomach growled with desire. She could swear she hadn’t been hungry just a few moments earlier.
The men who rescued them sat at adjacent tables, talking raucously and joking with each other as they stuffed their faces. Further along the middle and main table sat the children, similarly gorging themselves on the feast.
Darryl and the twins ate as if they hadn’t eaten a single morsel for months, grabbing the bacon by the handful and scooping scrambled eggs onto their plates. They would have been better off eating with garden forks than the piddling regular implements.
Katie looked at her empty plate. She had some toast, two eggs, two rashers of bacon and one sausage. She knew her own body, and though she would have liked to have gorged herself like the others, she would only end up throwing it all up again later if she did. She moved to the hot drinks table and made herself a coffee. She drank it black and returned to the table.
Camden, Hannah, and Jodie similarly ate slowly. Camden because he was too busy trying to talk to Hannah, Hannah because she kept a close eye on Jodie, and Jodie because she hardly had the strength to raise her fork to her mouth.
Once the locals were done, they stood up, stretched, and left the hall. Probably to retire for the day, Katie thought. They’d been on the nightshift and risking your life tended to take the energy out of you.
“Have you finished?” Christina said.
“Yes, thank you.” Ronnie stroked his bulging stomach. “That was wonderful.”
“Yes.” Tanya belched. “Excuse me.”
“Please follow Nurse Hollis to the medical centre.” Christina gestured to a woman of stern appearance and dressed in an immaculate uniform. It reminded Katie of her nurse mother. “She’ll check you over and help with any aches and pains you might have.”
“I have a question,” Katie said.
Christina didn’t want to look her in the eye. But she put on a good show and smiled politely. “Yes, dear?”
“Are grandfather and Aaron here yet?” she said.
“I’m afraid not. You’re the only new arrivals we’ve had so far today. But don’t lose hope. I’m sure they’ll be along anytime soon.”
Her grin belonged to the Cheshire Cat; bereft of warmth and with more than a slice of self-entitlement.
Katie wasn’t sure she trusted the woman. No, she wasn’t sure at all.
39
Once they’d been checked over by the nurse, they were ushered to the bathrooms where they were allowed to take a bath with hot – Katie could hardly believe it – water. Then they were taken to where they would be sleeping while they recovered.
“Don’t worry,” Katie said. “We don’t have any intention of staying. As soon as grandfather gets here, we’ll be out of your hair.”
Nurse Hollis nodded and smiled, and so far as Katie could tell, there wasn’t a shred of irritation in it.
Katie entered her bedroom. It was a gorgeous, well-appointed room with a large four-poster bed with old paintings on the walls. A wild bird fluttered past the window into a perfect blue sky.
“Are you kidding me?” Ronnie said from down the hall. “Did we just walk onto the set of Downton Abbey?”
Katie shut the door behind her. She lay on the bed to test it. It was the perfect blend of hard and soft. The heavy weight of sleep pressed in on her. She was full, warm, clean, and patched up with half a dozen plasters over her skin – cuts she’d received out in the wild that she hadn’t even noticed she had.
She was naturally pessimistic and cautious by nature but even she was finding it difficult to find fault with this place. Perhaps that was what she was most concerned with. The fact that it was so perfect.
Were these people under some kind of hypnotic happy spell? Everywhere had its bad points, everywhere suffered inequality and suffering, with those at the top sneering at those on the bottom… and yet she’d seen none of that here.
She leaned back on the bed and got comfortable. Then she put her head on the pillow and was gone instantly.
40
It was dark outside by the time she awoke. It took her a moment to remember where she was. One glance at the four posts of her bed made her realize that none of it had been a dream. It had all been real.
Someone had deposited a tray of soup and freshly-made bread on a side table. She hadn’t eaten a lot that morning, so she tore off a hunk of bread and dipped it in the soup. Her eyes rolled back in her head at the delicious flavour as it doused her tongue and ran down her neck. It was quite possibly the best soup she’d ever had. She considered licking the bowl dry before thinking better of it.
She wondered about the others and if they were awake yet. She was wearing the dressing gown she put on after taking her shower and hadn’t even climbed under the sheets before she fell asleep.
Good thing I didn’t, she thought. Otherwise, I’d have slipped into a coma, it’s so comfortable.
The c
lothes she removed during her shower had been cleaned and the holes stitched up. They might not be the most perfect clothes in the world, but they were hers.
She pulled an antique drawer open and poked amongst the clothes carefully arranged inside. She pulled some samples out and checked the labels. The clothes weren’t in her size.
Thank God for that, she thought. If they were, she would have had some serious concerns about this place.
She shut the drawer and approached the door. She cracked it open and peered up and down the hall. The house was as silent as the grave.
She stepped into the corridor and edged down it.
The castle was much larger than Katie thought and she still hadn’t managed to find the dining hall. If the twins were anywhere, that’s where she would find them. She fingered a long tapestry on the wall depicting a forgotten battle, turned a corner, and came to an immediate stop.
Christina adjusted the handle of the big iron kettle so it fit more snugly over the fire. She glanced over at Katie and continued with her cooking chores.
“The problem with limited power is it makes cooking a hearty Sunday roast very difficult,” she said. “It was hard enough in the old world, having to get all the ingredients, but now with so many more mouths to feed, it becomes almost impossible to feed everyone.”
“It’s the middle of the night. Lunchtime isn’t for ages yet.”
“Not long enough when it comes to preparing a decent meal for it.”
She let the hook take the kettle’s weight and stepped back. She wiped her hands on her apron and the sweat from her face.
Katie felt awkward just standing there.
“Why are you here?” Christina said. “You ought to be in bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Still worried about your friends?”
“Always.”
The older woman appraised Katie and cocked her head to one side. “You didn’t come here looking for your friends, did you?”
“Of course I did. I’m looking for the others that came here with me.”
Cut Off (Book 2): Cut Throat Page 13
