by Trish Moran
‘No!’ Ket pulled her arm, ‘We haven’t time to rest!’
They continued cautiously along a narrow track through the woodland. There was no light, except for that given by the moon. Suddenly Sel signalled them to stop. There was the sound of voices just ahead of them.
‘Sel!’
‘Please answer!’
‘We can help!’
‘We want to come with you!’
Sel turned to Ket, ‘Jed and Lon!’
She walked towards their voices, ‘Here!’
The blonde twin boys appeared.
‘Abe has discovered you’ve gone,’ Jed told them.
‘He’s surrounding the forest now!’ Lon added.
‘We are to cover from here to the river,’ Jed continued.
‘But we want to come with you,’ Lon said.
‘We’re heading for somewhere Abe will never think to look for us,’ Sel said.
‘Where?’ Jed asked. Both boys looked at her.
‘A town,’ Sel answered quietly. ‘Still want to come?’
‘A town!’ Lon whistled. He looked at his brother who nodded. ‘OK!’
‘We’ll explain everything later. We must move quickly now!’ Ket told them.
Stella was slumped against a tree trunk. She felt utterly bewildered and had long since given up trying to work out what was happening.
Lon looked at her, ‘Come!’ he said and pulled her onto his back piggy-back style.
‘You will delay us otherwise,’ his brother explained.
They travelled for many miles at speed, with Stella running or being carried by one of the blonde twins. After a few hours they reached the river bank.
Ket was judging the best place to cross, when Sel signalled them to be silent. They had just hidden themselves behind some low branches when they heard voices and two policemen appeared on the pathway near them.
‘I don’t think we’ll find her today,’ one was saying.
‘No. The ferals will have her by now for sure,’ his partner agreed.
‘It feels creepy here, doesn’t it? I don’t like going into these woods at all these days,’ the first man shivered.
‘They don’t usually come down this far when it’s light,’ his partner reassured him.
Their voices became fainter as they moved on. Sel peeped through the branches and then quickly withdrew her head and signalled for silence again. The five of them stood holding their breath as girl triplets appeared.
‘Lon and Jed are covering this area, too. They would have found them by now if they are here,’ one of them said.
‘I think they will head up higher. The forest is denser there,’ another said.
‘And there is food to catch,’ said the third, ‘And fresh water.’
Suddenly the first girl signalled them to stop. She tilted her head.
Stella was sure they could hear her heart pumping. The others stood as statues.
‘Policemen!’ the second girl whispered.
‘They are searching for the girl,’ said the third one.
‘They are not heavily armed,’ a second noted.
‘We can take them,’ said the first, creeping forward.
Stella could just make out the shapes of the girls as they disappeared down the pathway the policemen had taken. Shortly afterwards shouts were heard, then giggles. The girls appeared walking back up the pathway; two of them had the inert bodies of the policemen slung over their shoulders.
‘This might pacify Abe somewhat if Sel, Ket, and the girl can’t be found!’ the third girl said.
Stella and the others stood for several more minutes before Sel signalled that it was all clear. They began on their journey again.
‘Why did they kill those policemen?’ Stella asked one of the boys.
He looked puzzled, ‘They didn’t kill them. They would be no use dead, would they?’
His brother turned and nodded at her. Stella still had no idea of what was going on. And it obviously wasn’t the time to ask for explanations.
Ket had gone on ahead to find a good place to cross the river. Stella shuddered with apprehension as they made their way down to the fast-flowing water where he stood.
‘Lon, Jed, guide Stella. I will stay close to Sel,’ he instructed them.
Ket started to wade across the river, feeling his way carefully with his feet. Sel walked behind him, holding her leather bag high above her head. Lon followed, with Stella holding his hand tightly. Jed had his hand on her back as she gingerly stepped forwards.
All seemed to be going well, until halfway across the river Ket disappeared from view. Lon let go of Stella and grabbed Sel to steady her. Ket’s head reappeared and he signalled the group to move further to the left. Without Lon’s reassuring grasp, Stella felt panic rise inside her. She gave a cry and disappeared under the water, thrashing her arms and legs wildly. She felt her clothes dragging her down. Her lungs felt as if they would burst. This is it, she thought, as she knew she could hold her breath no longer. Suddenly she found herself pushed to the surface of the water and gratefully took a huge gulp of air. Jed gave her another hard push which landed her on the river bank where Ket and Lon hauled her to her feet. She pulled a long strand of waterweed out of her hair and looked around at them all, muddy and wet. Only Sel had managed to keep the top half of herself and her bag dry. Suddenly she threw back her head and laughed out loud. The others looked at her with open mouths at first, and then slowly began to smile.
Cold, hungry, and soaking, they travelled on for most of the next day until by sunset they had reached the tumbledown remains of a farmhouse. After checking there was no one around, they made a fire and opened the tins of food Stella had in her rucksack.
Stella was suffering most from the cold and Ket had found an old, rather dirty blanket in the farmhouse which she gratefully pulled around her as she tried to warm herself by the fire.
Sel had taken a laptop from the leather bag as soon as they arrived there and had started work on it. She reappeared as they began to eat.
‘I’ve obtained new IDs for us all,’ she explained as she spooned soup into her mouth. She hardly seemed to realise that she was eating. She nodded at Stella, ‘You can collect it from the post office in Castlewell tomorrow morning in your new name.’ She held out a phone bill with the name Ruby Devon and an address in Nottingham. ‘You must get used to your new name quickly.’
Stella nodded then looked down at her clothes, ‘But I can’t go like this.’
‘Of course not,’ Sel agreed. She looked at the twins, ‘You’ll need to go into the town tonight for new outfits for all of us. And Stella – Ruby – will need to change her hair colour. Anything different to her natural colour. And bring women’s cosmetics. We don’t want anyone recognising her. We’ll need money. I’ve a card set up, I’ll get that.’
She stood up and beckoned to the twins, ‘Come on. I’ve located a FineMart on the outskirts of town. There’s an ATM there I can use.’
She turned to Ket as they prepared to leave, ‘Clean yourselves up. You’ll have to look decent. We’ve an interview with a landlord tomorrow, too.’
Stella watched them disappear down the hill.
‘Wow! She’s really organised!’ She shook her head, ‘All this is happening so quickly! You’ve gone out of your way to help me and you don’t even know me!’
Ket was clearing up the tins and cups. He looked up at Stella, ‘You came to my rescue without knowing me, didn’t you?’
He stood up straight. ‘Anyway, you’ve forced us to do something we have been discussing for some time now.’
Stella waited for him to continue.
‘Sel and I and some of the others consider Abe’s way of thinking a bit too … extreme. We want to help our own kind, but we are looking for a more peaceful solution.’
Stella shook her head, ‘Who are your kind?’
Ket gave a gesture to take in the scene around them, ‘Tomorrow, when we are in more suitable surroundings, we will exch
ange background information.’
They both continued to clear up and then had makeshift showers using plastic containers and cold water.
Sel, Lon, and Jed appeared shortly afterwards. Each had a suitcase. Lon wanted to unpack them immediately, but Sel said they must all be reasonably clean before getting changed. She beckoned Stella to sit by the kitchen sink, once the boys had washed. She produced a box and applied a dye solution.
‘We must wait for thirty minutes for the colour to take,’ she told her. ‘Go and sit outside while I clean myself up.’
Stella sat outside and soon forgot how cold she was as the boys put on a fashion show for her. Soon she was laughing as they dressed in different outfits, fussing over jackets and belts like children with new toys. Often they asked her advice about different ensembles, although she could hardly see the colours in the fading light.
‘Come, Stella. We must rinse your hair again,’ said Sel from the doorway. ‘We must all get some sleep now. Ket, do first guard duty, Lon and Jed can take over in two hours.’
All immediately obeyed her. Stella sat and shivered while Sel poured cold water over her head and gave a sigh of relief when she was handed a towel and was able to rub her hair dry and some life back into her frozen scalp.
Soon she too was fast asleep on the hard kitchen floor, unaware of the changing rota of guards during the rest of the night.
She was woken by Lon gently shaking her shoulder, ‘Come. We must get ready.’
Rubbing her eyes, Stella got up and looked around. The others had dressed themselves in their new clothes. Sel was packing all their belongings into the suitcase.
Jed gave a pile of clothes to her. ‘Give me those clothes. We must not leave anything behind us. For Labs or Non-Labs to find.’
‘You don’t think Abe knows we are here, do you?’ Jed asked. Lon also looked disturbed.
‘No. Not yet. If we cover our tracks and merge fully into our new identities, we should be safe for the moment,’ she replied. ‘But we cannot underestimate him!’
‘We chose well!’ Jed gave Stella a nod of approval as she smoothed the purple jumper down over tight black jeans. She pulled on a soft brown leather jacket and wrapped a sequined covered scarf around her neck.
‘I’ve never worn such lovely clothes!’ she said. ‘What is my hair like? What colour is it?’
‘Red!’ Johnny told her.
‘Like a ruby!’ Leon added, grinning.
She gave a gasp as Lon held a broken mirror up in front of her. Her hair was bright red and uncombed it stood in spikes from her head. She gave a laugh, ‘That doesn’t look like me at all!’
‘It’s not meant to look like Stella. It’s Ruby, remember. Put some of the make-up on, too. You must look older,’ Sel told her. ‘Well chosen, boys.’
‘Yes, thank you, Lon and Jed,’ the new Ruby told them.
‘Leon and John,’ Sel said. ‘And Keith!’ She pointed to Ket. ‘And I am now, or will be when you have collected our IDs, Celia.’
‘I want to be called Johnny,’ Jed stated, glaring at his brother who grinned smugly.
‘John, Johnny – what’s the difference?’ the new Celia asked him.
‘Two syllables! I don’t want to be one syllable! Like all the Labs! Why did you give the others two syllables?’ he pouted.
‘What does it matter?’ Celia shook her head.
‘Hey, I’m one syllable, too!’ Keith said, ‘I like Keith! It has a good sound!’
‘Ce-li-a! Three syllables! And Le-e-on!’ cried the new Leon.
‘No, that’s Le-on,’ said Ruby.
‘Ha!’ Johnny pointed at him, ‘Two syllables! You can’t cheat!’
‘Well, at least I’m a real two syllabler!’ he retorted.
‘Next time we get new identities, I want four syllables, or even five syllables,’ Johnny complained.
‘I hope we don’t need new identities after these!’ Celia said, putting the last suitcase on the table. ‘Go and check everywhere, one last time.’
When Celia was satisfied they had completely eradicated any traces of their stay, the five of them set off.
‘Later today you must go to the Post Office on Main Street, over there, Ruby. Once we have our IDs we will be ready for our appointment with the landlord of the house we will rent. We must impress him. The house is perfect in size and location. But first we must go to the railway station; it is on the far side of town.’
‘Why are we going to the railway station?’ Johnny ventured. Leon looked expectantly at Celia.
‘We must seem to have arrived in town by the normal means. Not just suddenly appeared. We must not arouse any suspicions,’ Keith answered for her.
As they neared the entrance to Castlewell station Celia stopped them once again.
‘We will wait here, out of sight until the train arrives. Then we will join the other passengers as they make their way into town.’
They waited silently behind some trees. Leon looked into the foliage and smiled. He gave a slight cough then smiled again.
Keith frowned at him, ‘What are you doing?’
‘He’s practising smiling. Like Non-Labs do,’ his brother explained. ‘We’ll all have to do that, to fit in.’
‘OK, here we go,’ Celia announced as a train pulled in and people began to get off. ‘Follow the crowd. Look natural.’
Keith started to walk forward, his shoulders stiff, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Ruby linked her arm through his and smiled at him.
‘That was quite a trip! I’m glad the rain held off. I wonder what our new home will be like?’ She turned to Leon, ‘Hey, easy with that suitcase! You nearly tripped me up!’
She gave him a smile to let him know she wasn’t serious.
Finally, with small talk mainly from Ruby, they reached the centre of town.
‘We’ll go to a café while you collect two parcels from the Post Office, Ruby,’ Celia told her.
Ruby glanced at her face. She could see she was trying hard to hide her anxiety.
‘It might be better if I come with you and order some food, then I’ll know where to find you,’ she offered. Celia looked more relaxed.
After installing them in a corner booth with toast, tea, and coffee, Ruby left them and made her way to the Post Office.
She rummaged in her new handbag and pulled out an email receipt. Handing it to the old man at the counter, she smiled brightly.
He looked down at it and went into a room at the back of the building, emerging a moment later with two small brown parcels.
‘Oh, great! I’m so glad they arrived on time! Sometimes it takes weeks for things to get through, doesn’t it?’ she said.
‘I’ll need some ID before you sign for these, miss,’ the man told her putting the parcel on the counter.
‘Of course,’ Ruby began to rummage in her bag again, ‘Oh dear! It looks like my card is in my suitcase! Well, I’ll have to go back and get it! Oh, I’ve got this. Any use?’
She held out the phone bill with her new name on it.
‘I’ll trust you, lass. You’ve an honest face,’ the man replied after looking at the bill and pushing the parcels towards her. ‘So what are you doing in this area? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.’
‘No, I’ve just arrived. I’ve moved here with some friends,’ she smiled at him, ‘It seems like a lovely place. Beautiful scenery!’
‘Yes, the countryside is beautiful. But take care. Don’t go walking around on your own. Especially when it gets dark. The ferals, you know.’
‘Are they here, too?’ Ruby looked surprised, ‘I read about some people in Hambleton, but that’s miles away.’
‘Well, we haven’t actually had any trouble from them so far. But, better to be safe than sorry, eh?’ he said.
At the tinkle of the doorbell, he looked behind her, ‘Morning, Mrs Jarvis. The parcel from your sister in Canada arrived this morning!’
Ruby slipped out as he handed the woman a large parcel.
<
br /> She hurried back to the café and joined the others on the bench.
‘Any coffee left?’ she asked, handing the parcels to Celia.
‘Could we have some more? And some toast?’ asked Johnny.
‘We were a bit too … you know … about asking for anything else,’ Leon added.
Ruby smiled and went back to the counter to order extra food and drinks.
As she sat down again, Celia gave her three plastic cards.
‘ID, debit card, and driving licence,’ she explained.
‘Driving licence? I can’t drive!’ Ruby looked at her.
‘You can learn. It can’t be too difficult. Many Non-Labs do it,’ Celia said. ‘We will all have to learn. It will be a very useful skill to have.’
Ruby slipped the cards inside her bag as the waitress came with their order. Soon, she was biting into the most delicious piece of toast she had ever eaten. The plates were soon emptied again when Celia glanced at the clock on the wall and announced it was time for their next appointment.
‘Ah! One very important thing before we go.’ She opened the second smaller parcel and peeled off a small plastic film. Glancing around to make sure there was no one nearby, she pushed up her sleeve to reveal a small tattooed code near her wrist. She pressed the plastic film over the tattoo. The code was completely covered and the plastic strip became almost invisible. Each of the boys was given a similar strip and carried out the same operation.
‘Hey! Pretty good. Where did you get them from, Celia?’ Keith asked her.
‘A theatrical agency. I found it on the internet,’ she explained.
‘Along with false IDs and driving licences!’ Ruby smiled, ‘How do you find these things?’
‘You have to know where to look,’ Celia said simply.
‘It’s a bit itchy,’ Johnny complained.
‘But better than being spotted!’ Leon told him.
Later that day, Keith had to keep on nudging Leon and Johnny as they were shown around the house by their prospective landlord.
‘Hot water!’ Leon whispered excitedly, turning on the tap.
‘Look at this!’ Johnny could hardly contain himself, bouncing on the sofa.
Ruby and Celia were nodding as Mr Robinson, their prospective landlord, pointed out features and told them the ground rules for his tenants.
