by Benson, Tom
“Yes … just an acknowledgement.” Cherry grinned.
.
Friday 19th August
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Harry was on shift in the Control Room. As usual, he was hoping to either adapt or improve some aspect of life for the community. He was studying the map and in particular, considering the contour lines between Dalwhinnie and the signal box at Achallader. He made a few notes, including one to remind him about speaking to Bill and Cherry.
By the time the buzzer had sounded twice, the scientist had located the flashing red light to confirm which sub-station was issuing an alarm—Aviemore.
Unlike the others, Harry was capable of deciphering a Morse message as it was received.
‘JOSH. SANDY AND FLINT ARRVD OK. JOSH’
Harry smiled and pulled across his Morse key. He sent:
‘HARRY. THNX. PLS CNTCT AGAIN WITH PLAN AT 1800. HARRY’
It took a few minutes for the young man at the other end to decode and then respond.
‘JOSH. WILL DO. JOSH’
Harry responded with a brief acknowledgement, and then he used the intercom to the cafeteria. “Alan, are you free for a moment?”
Alan’s voice boomed clearly into the Control Room. “I’ll be right with you, mate.”
A few minutes later, the ex-businessman was nodding as he listened to the update. “I’ll post it on the main board—a certain person will be happy to know they’ve made it so quickly.”
“Oh, you mean Helen?”
“Yes, and unless a couple of our female friends have got it wrong, this will brighten Helen’s day for more than one reason.”
“Do you think Sandy is aware that she likes him?”
“I know people who are going to make sure with some subtle hints.”
Alan lifted the message he was to pin to the board. “Would you like a brew?”
“Chamomile would be great if you could spare the time.”
“I’ll be back shortly, mate.” He paused at the door. “Ramona is in the kitchen, so it’s safe in there. Talking of safe, are you keeping the beard?”
“Apart from it taking a long time to grow this well, Victoria thinks it makes me look distinguished.”
“Well, you can’t say fairer than that, mate.” Alan went back to the kitchen.
When he was alone again, Harry’s thoughts drifted back to how things should have turned out for him. A few short years before, he’d entombed himself in the disused tunnel and was at home in his four ancient railway carriages. Before the surprise visitors appearing out of the darkness, that train, later to be named ‘Harry’s Place’ would have been where he drew his final breath.
He murmured, “When I ran out of food or the will to go on, it would have been ‘Harry’s Place’ for an entirely different reason.” He thought of Victoria, the ex-student from his lecturing days, and he thought of the two beautiful children they now had together.
The door opened, Alan delivered a cup of chamomile tea and was gone. It was the same flavour of tea which Harry had given his surprise visitors in the tunnel. He smiled as he recalled meeting them in the dark.
13. New Faces
Eagle's Nest Farm
Josh and Quincy arrived back at three o’clock and went straight through to the big garden.
“All good?” Sandy said.
“Yeah.” Josh took a seat and accepted a cup of tea from Emma. “Harry was on shift, and he responded by asking us to return this evening at 1800 with a briefing.”
“Yes, that’s what we’d expect. They’ll be happy that you’ve been able to report our safe arrival and that all is okay. Next up will be for us to formulate a plan and inform our people.”
Quincy said, “Do you have any ideas yet, you know, how we ought to proceed?”
Flint said, “These guys have been filling us in on what you’ve been up to recently so we’ll study the map first. One of us will get out for a quick look around today, now that we’ve been generously fed and watered.”
Josh said, “Don’t you want to rest first after your rapid journey here?”
Flint raised an eyebrow and looked from Josh to Sandy and back again. “Rest—we’ve been sitting around for the best part of two hours.”
The others all laughed, as did both Flint and Sandy.
A short while later, the large scale map was spread over a table in the garden. While Sandy and Flint looked on, Amber pointed out the highlighted locations of the police station in Aviemore. She also showed them the two main areas where boats were tethered on the River Spey, on the other side of the railway embankment. Quincy indicated the approximate locations of the relay installations. Emma used a pencil to point out the site of a field from which a lamb had mysteriously disappeared.
Flint said, “When you say the lamb disappeared—”
“We have dry stone walls bordering the grazing fields,” Emma said. “Although there are gates, they are five-bar with solid beams at the base—neither a sheep nor a lamb would be able to get between the wooden panels.”
Sandy said, “Were there any obvious drag marks or large blood-stained areas?”
“No,” Emma said, “if you’re thinking about a predator or dogs. I asked Amber to take a walk with me around that large field and the neighbouring one. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything, and she was the best person to tackle anything out there.”
Sandy nodded and turned to Amber, the pretty young woman with the wavy brown hair. “You must be the sharpshooter I’ve heard about.”
“I don’t miss.” Amber grinned.
“Okay,” Sandy said, “I think it might be a good idea to have a look around but not make it appear like a search party—on the off-chance that there is a person out there.”
Glen said, “Do you think it could be one person, Sandy?”
“I don’t want to rule anything out, mate, but if it were one person and they’re watching you guys, it will look less threatening if only a couple of people are out strolling around.”
Flint said, “What about you and Amber taking a walk around the farmhouse area generally and then go to the fields to make it look like you’re on a guided tour?”
“I like that idea, mate,” Sandy said. “Are you up for that, Amber?”
“Yes, of course.”
Flint said, “Quincy can brief me on the best routes out to the hills to locate these relay sites. I’ll work out a route to both of the nearest ones, and we can do a recce of one site tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
Five minutes later, Amber was showing Sandy the layout of the farm buildings.
“What’s that place right behind the barn with the girder sticking out above the window?”
“That’s the gristmill where we produce flour to make our bread.”
“I like this place more every time I hear something new.” He grinned. “How much of the farmland and countryside might we see from up there?”
“Quite a bit, and with your binoculars, it’ll be easy to point out the field that Emma is concerned about.”
“Lead the way.”
They went between the buildings, into the mill, and then ascended the narrow stone steps which took them to the top where the grinding wheel and remainder of the workings were to be found.
“This must be the thing that Helen told me about.” Sandy stepped back and squinted when he saw the metal contraption which looked like an old bike had become an integral part of a strange assembly of cogs, chains and rubber belts.
Amber laughed. “I’m sure Helen would be proud to boast about it. This device means one person can sit and pedal to make this wheel turn easily.” She slapped the massive grinding stone. “Josh designed it, and Glen helped him to build it. They were working on it while your friends were here.”
“We all have something to offer,” Sandy murmured and assessed the peculiar invention. “Josh has my respect—this is way beyond me. I’d have been stuck with brute force.”
Amber laughed. “You, Glen
and Quincy would get on well then.”
“From the interaction down in the garden, would I be right in thinking that you and Josh are an item?”
“Yes, and some might think we’re an unusual couple.”
“Whatever anyone thinks, Amber, I’m pleased for both of you.” Sandy peered out of the small opening which served as a window. “There’s nothing wrong with being an unusual couple if it’s because the man is a thinker and the woman is action-oriented. Sexual stereotypes are so twentieth century.” He grinned as he raised his binoculars to survey the land, to the sound of Amber giggling in the background.
Amber said, “If you look towards the woodland on the right, you’ll see an area where four fields are boxed in with a dry stone wall perimeter.”
“Seen—and I can see sheep in one of them.”
“We’ve moved them back—they were in the farthest field.”
“Okay,” Sandy said, “could you get us out there in a roundabout way as Flint suggested earlier?”
“Yes, easy. If you turn to your left, you ought to be able to see the access road to the farm—the way you came in from the main road.”
“Seen.”
“If we go out that way and then along close to the main road, we can walk halfway to the sub-station and then turn right and go along the edges of the farm perimeter. That would look innocent—if someone was observing the farmhouse.”
Sandy glanced at his companion, but her expression gave nothing away. “Let’s do it.”
On the way to the main road, Amber briefed Sandy on the possibility of feral dogs making an appearance. She talked matter-of-factly about them, and not like someone worried.
They walked along the edge of the main road, both spontaneously occasionally looking over their shoulders.
“What’s your status back in the mountain community, Sandy?”
“My status?”
“Yes, you know, relationships and all that sort of thing.”
“I’m a single parent, which in our circumstances might sound a bit strange.” He explained briefly about Chloe.
“Oh my goodness, I remember when your friends explained about that, and Chloe was one of the two forestry people. You must be the soldier that they met when they eventually arrived in that glass corridor or whatever you call the thing.”
“The very same.” Sandy nodded. He went on to talk briefly about Chloe and their son, Peter.
“Losing her like that is so sad—I’m sorry to hear such a thing.”
“Thank you.”
For a while, they walked on in silence.
“We’ll use the next gate, Sandy. This is the southernmost boundary as far as our farm is concerned. We follow this along the edge of all the fields, and it will bring us to those dry stone walls.”
“Okay, I’ve got it.” He looked around. “I think it would be safe for you to forget boundaries.”
Again, they fell silent as they walked, both occasionally taking a look around. There was nothing to see but fields and woodland—the picturesque scenery of the local region. It was alongside the second field when Sandy got down on one knee to check prints in a patch of dried mud. He tested the texture of the prints with his fingertips.
Amber squatted beside him. “Have you any idea what made them?”
“Probably a fox, perhaps a dog but nothing too large—definitely not a wolf.”
“Wow, you’ll do for me.” She glanced at him. “Can you work out how old the tracks are?”
“Has there been light rain recently?”
“Yes, we rarely get more than a shower, and it’s over quickly.”
“I’d say that these tracks have been made in the past couple of days, and I’d guess at a fox because it’s a single animal and not big.”
“We’ll let Flint go back, but you are staying here.” She laughed. “I want to learn all that stuff.”
“Flint is good at it too,” Sandy said and grinned. “Are we good to go on?”
“Lead the way,” Amber said, mimicking Sandy’s phrase from earlier. She looked around, impressing Sandy by aiming the business end of her laser rifle where her gaze fell.
“Good drills,” he said, and nodded towards her rifle.
“Bill showed us how to carry a rifle properly,” she said proudly. “He said that there was no point in looking at something to the east if your weapon is pointing south.”
Sandy grinned as they set off, but he still kept an eye on the areas where prints might stand out more clearly.
They reached the end of the first walled-in field, and after a quick look around, they continued along beside the wall. At the end of the next field, the wall was squared off where it changed direction to border the area in a northerly direction. Adjacent to the grazing fields was a natural meadow which boasted wild grasses, flowers and an abundance of flying insects.
Sandy walked forward to inspect an area of dried mud a short distance along the perimeter of the meadow. He knelt and once again teased the surface with his fingertips. “Interesting.”
Amber squatted beside him. “What do those almost straight marks signify?”
“It looks like a branch or something similar has been brushed across this area when it was damp, but it dried quickly, and instead of the sodden area resting flat, the score marks have set.”
“Would that be the result if someone was trying to hide their tracks?”
“Why do you ask that?”
She brought something from her pocket and opened her palm. “I wondered if it could be the same person who left this behind.”
Sandy looked at the item, glanced at Amber and then lifted the small white solid triangular shape to inspect it closely. “Where did you find this?”
“Beside the wall on this side, on the day I came out here with Emma.” She nodded towards the thing in Sandy’s hand. “I don’t know what type of material it is, but it’s an arrowhead, isn’t it?”
Sandy looked closely at the tiny hole, bored into the base of the pyramid. “It is, and I think it’s a shaped bone fragment.” He didn’t tell her that it might have originated from a human skeleton—possibly even one of her two young friends. The pair who’d gone off on an adventure of their own a couple of years before. “Who else knows about this apart from you and Emma?”
“I haven’t told anyone else, and Emma doesn’t know about it.”
“I thought you were out here with Emma to investigate the missing lamb?”
“I was, but Emma stayed in the field when I climbed the gate to have a look around on this side of the wall. When I picked up that thing and realised what it might be, my thoughts raced, but I didn’t want to cause a panic. I climbed back over the gate and put Emma off the scent. I told her I was sure I’d seen a movement in the woodland over there.”
“Was it your idea to pass the message to us at Auchcarn?”
“Yes. “Bill had told us that if we ever felt under threat or were worried about anything that we should get in touch immediately.”
“I suppose you were all thinking that you’d done okay so far without outside assistance.”
Amber nodded. “That’s what Quincy said, but Imogen, his girlfriend, was quick to point out that until your team from Auchcarn turned up, we’d never seen anyone else in years. She suggested that if there were other survivors out and about, they might not all be so friendly.”
“I think you did the right thing by telling the others you thought you saw someone or something, but not about the arrowhead. It takes a presence of mind and a strong character to handle something that way.”
“Thank you. I know that the others like to refer to me as the action woman because I shoot and I was into sailing, but ….”
“But what?”
“When we were first abandoned, each of us went into a panic phase, and I went to pieces.”
“Amber, from what Helen has told me, you guys were only sixteen years old. I’m surprised you’ve all come this far, and apart from being your tutor, Helen is massively fo
nd and proud of all of you.”
“Helen has been amazing—going from teacher to protector, mother, friend and confidante.”
“Let’s climb over the gate, and we can chat on the way back along the fields.” Sandy stood back and smiled as he watched Amber strap her weapon over her shoulder with the sling and then quickly vault the five-bar gate.
Sandy mimicked the young woman’s technique, and then they both unslung their rifles and walked on along the side of the field. “How did you make such a transition.”
“Of all people, it was Josh who pulled me out of it. I spent days hardly talking to anyone, and I became really insular, you know, just moping around and not eating or drinking much.” She paused to watch a kestrel dive from its hover to claim a furry morsel in the middle of the field. “Josh started work on a big mural on one of the walls in the house, and it featured two yachts racing.”
“Was Josh into sailing before the international missile exchange?”
“Yes, and before we ended up here, apart from our farming course, it was the only other thing we had in common. Emma and Imogen were also keen on sailing, so we knew each other socially in that sense.” She smiled and then went on to tell Sandy about Josh and his devious ploy with the mural of the sailing race.
“Were you friendly or sarcastic in the way you pointed out his errors?”
“I told him quietly because I didn’t want to embarrass him. I knew what a reserved character he’d always been at school and college.”
“You knew him at school too?”
“Yes, strangely, before this, we’d known each other the longest although the others became couples before we did.”
“How did he take the news that he’d made mistakes?”
“Typical of Josh, he was very gracious and thanked me for not making a big deal about it in front of the others. After that brief interaction, I sat and watched him work each day and gradually the sneaky shit got me talking.”
Sandy laughed aloud and shook his head. “Why do you say, sneaky?”
“He didn’t tell me until a year or two later that the whole point of the mural was to attract my attention. He knew I’d spot issues and they would irritate me.”
