by Vance Huxley
“That’s because it’s for a Rambo.” Harold wasn’t too worried now because Rambos weren’t a secret,even if the smith assumption stillseemed odd.
“I called on the GOFS on the way home, and asked about knives.” Harold smiled at the enquiring glance so Caddi continued. “They had some very nice knives and I bought a few, but nothing like those Rambos. That meant someone is being very bashful and keeping quiet about making them, and how many suspects did it leave?”
Harold laughed and shrugged. “One, Caddi. It isn’t a crime.”
“No, but it is intriguing. Could I have a look at that knife you’re carrying please, Harry?” It wasn’t exactly a request.
“Of course, but I’llwant it back. If I lose it I’ll get nagged.” Harold took a good firm grip on his stick as Caddi took the Rambo from him. “Careful, it’s sharp.” Mack snorted from the other side.
“I know, I saw one.” Caddi waved the knife about, presumably testing the balance. Satisfied, he led Harold to astack of salvaged timber and chopped a couple of lumps out of it. At least that brought them back into view of the other Hot Rods. Caddi inspected the edge, making a beckoning motion at his house. “It stays sharp as well.” A woman came out carrying what turned out to be a pig’s leg.
Caddi put the leg on the timber and this time put his muscle into the swing,then again to shear through the bone. “No sign of a nick and it’s still sharp. This is very good work. So I’ll ask again Harry, have you found a blacksmith?” At a gesture the young woman picked up the two pieces of pork and headed back into the Mansion.
“No, Caddi.”
“Are you sure, because Mercedes can’t find the blacksmith the Murphies had, and believe me, she’s looking.” Caddi wasn’t happy, and still unwilling to let go of his theory. “That’s another one I want breathing.”
Harold hoped he’d run far and fast. A blacksmith could get a job anywhere. “What’s he look like?”
“A bloody blacksmith. Six-two and a brick shithouse. Used to shoe horses and suchlike. Now where the fuck is he because I want him!” Caddi sounded bloody annoyed and that wasn’t a request either.
“Running like a rabbit if he knows Mercedes is looking. Nobody like that has come in.” Harold looked the mad bastard right in the eyes. “As your blokes have told you.” He may as well ask. “I thought you’d got a blacksmith?”
“Yeah but this one’s the real deal. The Murphies have got some damn good machetes and knives and he makes them so I wanted him. Shit!” A thought struck Caddi. “So you’ve already got a proper blacksmith?”
“No, Caddi. What I’ve got is good steel that is easy to make into blades. We found some in the ruins but when it’s gone I’m screwed again. In the meantime we’re too skint to keep them all to ourselves.” That was a safe statement.All the gangs thought Orchard Close soldeverything they could, just to get by.
“No machetes made of this stuff?” Caddi indicated the Rambo.
“Just those knives. We call them Rambos and there aren’t a lot of them.” Caddi hadn’t asked about sabres so that wasn’t even much of a lie.
Caddi frowned. “Plus those rifles of course. Fucking great holes at long distance sort of make knives redundant. I got your little message to the lads, the target practice.”
“Just getting the sights right on the new one.” Harold had hoped they’d pass it on. “I wouldn’t want to miss and waste a round.”
Caddi scowled, then switched subjects yet again. “What about the clubs?” He pointed atthe mace Mack carried. “Are they for sale because Mack would love one? It would take the lock out of a door sweet as you like and if he hits anyone, squish.” Caddi had that half-smile back. “Is that more special steel?”
“My metals bloke says it isn’t steel,just shaped iron. Nothing magic.You know us, nearly everything we can make is for sale.”
“But bloody expensive. My bloke tried making one out of a hammer head and Mack tested it on some bricks. Itdoesn’t handle right, the head had dents in it and the ridge things came off. The Freeks reckon yours are hard enough to smash a shield without being damaged,so your bloke does something different.” Caddi held up a hand. “Yeah, and you aren’t telling. Can Mack test that one?”
“What’s up Mack?Isn’t he buying you any toys these days, or did you break them all?”
Mack grinned and brandished the mace. “Not toys like this, ‘Arry. It feels dead right and don’t look breakable. Can I bash something to find out?”
“Yes, as long as it’s not me? You pay for any breakages.” Mack grinned and smacked the woodpile a couple of times. After inspecting the result, he headed for a heap of cleaned bricks, quickly reducing some of them to rubble.
The big man came back wearing a huge grin. “Can I ‘ave this one Caddi?”
Caddi took the mace, inspecting the head before swishing it back and forth. “There’s no dents or damage and the ridges are still all there. How much if I supply the shafts and some hammer heads?”
Harold finally relaxed because if Caddi wanted to deal, he’d got no more complaints. “Depends on the size of the heads, and what else you’ve got, and have you got the wire to wrap the handles?”
“Bloody hell, I may as well make them myself! I’d wait until Mercedes got back to help with the negotiating, but Mack might cry if he doesn’t get one now.” Caddi had a real smile now, heading for the house where they settled down to haggle. Harold made a deal for hammer heads, charcoal, shafts and wire. He came home without either the mace or the Rambo and with orders for more.Harold spent the trip home worrying about Mercedes, as well as the interest Caddi showed in the new refugees and products in Orchard Close. The warlord’s closing words hadn’t helped.
Caddi had actually told Harold about his deal, sort of. “If Mercedes turns up and chucks her knickers on your bedroom floor, then screws you brainless, that’s fair enough. But we’ve got a deal. After the one night, Mercedes comes back or she’s doing a runner. That would break the treaty Harry, and that would be bad.” Caddi actually believed Mercedes would turn up at Orchard Close. Harold knew he wouldn’t even considerturning her away, and he might not insist she left after one night, or ten.
That took care of keeping Harold’s mind occupied on the way home. If Mercedes came to Orchard Close and didn’t want to go back to the Hot Rods, Harold knew he couldn’t make himself insist. Even if he could physically chuck Mercedes out, Harold wouldn’t, because he knew what Caddi wanted the young woman back for. Caddi’s comments about the betting didn’t help. The assholes were betting on whether Mercedes would top the other woman out of hand, or if Tessa would just get the hell out of the way. A few were betting on Harold keeping both, but only because the odds were astronomic.Nobody bet on Tessa backing off Mercedes.
Harold should havea bit of time to think, weeks or maybe months, becausethe Murphies had found a way to slow Caddi up. According to the warlord they had abandoned battle lines or concentrations and were relying on hit and run. The Murphy gang members now hid in the rubble, or among the streets they knew and their own subjects.The abrupt change of tactics had already cost Caddi men and time, and hadstalled the attack. Without anystrongpoints or troop concentrations to hit,the Hot Rods couldn’t find a way to break the resistance.
The lack of fixed lines allowed Mercedes to add to her ear collection, but she couldn’t get to the bosses. The Murphies were bleeding to death but now theywere bleeding Caddi as well, shooting his men from ambush before fading back into the population or the ruins. Caddi suspected somebody new was directing the fighters. The warlord had pushed Mercedes to find the new general, or a weakness that would finish the Murphies and make him irrelevant.
*
While the Hot Rods fought and died,the Orchard Close pickup and vans burned diesel, running back and forth as the railway springs were retrieved. The sets of springs were very heavy, heavy enough that the workers had to take half the back wall down to get them over.Liz kept hopping around like a demented frog during the work. She still
refused to allow anyone to burn through the band holding the spring plates together, or the pins holding them onto the wagons. The rusted pins had to be beaten out with big hammers so no heat cameanywhere near her new steel.
The men might not have realised, but Liz gleefully used the opportunity to audition for trainee blacksmiths. The five candidates were willing enough, because the smith wasn’t the only female eyeing up the well-muscled men stripping off their shirts. Despite a few adventures getting the wagons jacked up and chocked, the last springs were eventually deposited in Liz’s store.Scavengers descended on the wagons, levering up and removing the plywood floors. They also unbolted various bits of ironwork,which disguised what else had been taken.
Liz promised oodles of blades, and selling some of them would buy the extra propellant Orchard Close badly needed. Just in time, because the increasing numbers of refugees made Orchard Close more and more tempting. If Caddi teamed up with the Geek Freeks, the inhabitants would need every weapon and every bullet. The squads trained hard, especially the ones with improved weaponry. Meanwhile,Harold pushed on with building muskets, but carefully with a lot of testing.
*
Some of the Murphy refugees came in broad daylight now, usually along the path through the brambles to the fieldsaround Orchard Close. Harold had to put a score of fighters along the GOFS border to direct them, in case Caddi got creative. After interrogating captive Murphy civvies, the warlord now knew the route, but he couldn’t intercept anyone and Harold knew why.Once inside Barbie territory, at the first landmark, the refugees found a different set of instructions. The new pathtwisted through derelict Barbie and GOFS territory,evenincluding cellars with water if they needed to hide out overnight. The Barbies and GOFS must know about the refugees, but made no attempt to stop them. Harold wondered if they’d caught a few but were keeping quiet.
More of therefugees came with weapons, hidden if possible because sometimes they brought firearms. The best of the visible weapons, Murphy-made machetes and good quality crossbows,would be giving Caddi indigestion. The rest varied from pre-Crash high quality steelto new and often amateur attempts.
Four days after Harold’s meeting with Caddi, the hammers, axes and shafts started to arrive. The refugees had heard rumoursabout them beingparticularly valuable, well worth bringing despite being heavy and unwieldy to carry cross-country. Mercedes must have heard about maces. Refugees now brought any tools they still had, ranging from hand mincersto electric drills, a router, and a professional spray painting kit. Some, like wood chisels or the Stanley stainless steel hatchets, must have been kept well hidden from the Murphy fighters.
It became obvious who Mercedes concentrated on, as only a thirdof refugees were male andthe largest proportion of the females were teenagers. A few had already been abused by Murphies, while others were under pressure to join the brothel. The rest wererunning before Caddi captured their streets.Rumours about how badly the Hot Rods would treat them, and Orchard Close being safer, probably didn’t need much help from Mercedes. At least all those fit young women could go straight out to help Emmy in the fields, allowing the fighters more time to practice.
Two dirty but working nine milpistols arrived with ammunition. Those were carefully concealed and carried in by two separate teenage girls, on different days, and both came with machetes and belt knives. Better still, both came with spare clips, six in all. These women hadn’t been abused, because the gangster pressuring each of them died before he could get physical. The rest of their news brought a little smile to those in the know. The number of Murphies who had died nastily, either in their ‘brothel’ or after grabbing or threatening a woman, must be having an effect. The gangsters had stoppedtrying to replace their brothel, concentrating onfighting for survival.
*
Nearly two weeks after Caddi bought the mace, Alfie called Harold to the Embassy. He arrived to find a limping man, a woman, a young lad and a girl who looked to be in her early teens. Alfie waited with his shotgun. “These are Fredrick, Kathleen and their kids. I’ve not searched them properly, because of what he said. I thought you might want this to be a secret.” Alfie nodded to the man. “Show him.”
Both the man and the woman looked at the kids. “Maybe the kids shouldn’t hear? We’d rather stay here together, if you can find someone from our area to watch them. Please?” Kathleen took Fredrick’s hand as he nodded agreement. “We know some of our neighbours headed your way.”
“Sit down, everyone.” Harold used the phone before he joined them. “Sharyn? Can you come to the Embassy to meet some visitors, please?Not gangsters. I’ll need a refugee to look after a couple of kids. Someone from?” Fredrick supplied their names and the street. “Find one the children will recognise, please.” Harold gestured to armchairs.
“I’d rather stand for now.” Fredrick looked apprehensive but Alfie nodded, so Harold shrugged and sat.
Alfie picked up two big bags, a workman’s leather type and a rucksack, and placed them next to Harold’s chair. “One is carpenter tools. You’ll want to look in the rucksack when the kids have gone.”
Harold waited patiently, trying to ignore Alfie’s mischievous little smile. Emmy arrived with Sharyn, no doubt to cover the secrecy part. “Sharyn didn’t want to bring someone covered in armour and sharp steel.” Since she’d brought Tammy in her carrycot, Emmy definitely looked more reassuring than a fighter despite her pistol and machete. She beckoned to the young woman following her.”A neighbour of theirs. She’s one of my new gardening gnomes.”
Harold didn’t need telling, all the refugees obviously recognised each other. He sent the trainee gnome off to the canteen with the kids,asking her to get them drinks and something to eat. “Fredrick has brought presents.” Emmy and Sharyn’s curious looks moved to Fredrick and then the bags. Once Harold opened the rucksack, he wanted answers as well. There were two pistols in there, both looking clean and well maintained. “I assume you haven’t been keeping these in the attic.”
Fredrick gave a nervous laugh. “Not likely. They came from the new men. I didn’t do anything, honest.” He firmed up. “I was told those would buy a place and keep my family safe.”
“Definitely. I’m very interested in whoever had them.” Harold knew his smile would look happy, because of his next thought. “I’m half sure I know how you got them.” He could already imagine the comments about the presents his girlfriend sent. “Wait a few minutes, drink your coffee, and get your thoughts in order.” Harold checked the bag properly, becoming even more curious. There were four spare clips for each of the pistols, all loaded, two good quality machetes, knives, and two almost full boxes of rounds for a rifle. One box were originals while the others looked to have been reloaded with care, not the usual gangster slapdash. The telescopic sights had to be for the same rifle.
As the women sat,that left only Fredrick still standing.The man opened his coat and undid his jeansin spite of the females present,revealing a familiar shape. He had a rifle down his trouser leg! Harold watched it come all the way out and yes, this would be a secret. “Where do I put it?” The man looked apprehensive, holding the weapon as if it might bite.
“I’ll take it, Fredrick.” Harold took the rifle, checked it over, and found the weapon in lovely condition.
“That’ll cause some competition.” Emmy hadsomething very similar, at home. “It is, um, one, isn’t it?” She bit off sniper rifle.
“Yes, it’s a 7x64 hunting rifle, because this scope and ammo must fit and it’s written on the boxes. Now shush and let Fredrick sit down and talk.” Emmy gave Harold a sour look but shut up.
Fredrick sat and took a deep breath. “I’ll just start at the beginning, right?” Harold nodded. “The Murphies are losing their war. It’s getting close to our house, but we can’t leave. I mean we couldn’t. Didn’t dare.” He took another deep breath and Kathleen leant over to murmur something. It seemed to firm him up. “The Murphies brought two strangers to our house. One man slept in the front bedroom upstairs,
while the other man stood outside the door to guard him. The guard slept when the first man went out. Four Murphies picked him up each day. The Murphies brought food for him but Kathleen had to cook it. They said we had to act normal, not tell anyone about him,or they’d do things to the kids. If he got a stomach ache, well, it would be bad.”He shuddered,that still bothered him.
“We’re safe now.” Kathleen glanced at Harold and shut up.
“Yes you are, Kathleen. If you’d rather miss this, Emmy will take you to sort out accommodation?” Harold had come dressed up as Soldier Boy so the meeting might not be reassuring for her. She shook her head so Harold turned back to Fredrick. “Was there anything special about the man? Something different?” Harold wanted to know if the man had been hired in, and if he maintained his ownweapons. “Did he fix guns?”
“I don’t know. He went shooting, from what the escorts said. He hadn’t any gang markings on his clothes, not even a Murphy shamrock. We never heard a name.” Fredrick shrugged helplessly. “We tried to keep away. I took their food up so Kathleen never went near them. Some nights the Murphies brought women round, you know?”
Harold nodded. “But then?”
“The night before last, a woman knocked on the door. She said she’d come as a bed warmer for the men, but she didn’t have any escort. Some of the women are willing so I let her in.” Fredrick looked nervous while Sharyn and Emmy both had tiny smiles. “She had a long coat on but I could see her face, a pretty young thing with long blonde hair. She took off the coat and, well, she was dressed for, you know? She said to make sure the kids didn’t hear anything which seemed odd, but kind.” Fredrick stopped.
“Tell him.” Kathleen glanced at Harold when Fredrick stayed quiet. “She gave us a lovely smile and went upstairs. We heard voices then the bedroom door. After a bit the door opened again. We heard the guard say something.She answered but it was drowned out by a thud and clatter.” Kathleen stopped and both her and her husband looked pale.
