As she cooks, we sip our tea and I tell her about the previous night’s unwelcome encounter. She listens without speaking; just nodding or shaking her head at the appropriate times.
‘And then I woke up and saw you with your cows in the field,’ I say, my story complete.
‘Unfortunately, your tale doesn’t surprise me,’ she replies, as she serves up our delicious-smelling English breakfast and joins us at the table. ‘When we go into the village, we always hear some awful tale about run-ins with the raiders. It’s getting worse and there’s no one to keep them in check. I don’t feel as safe here as I used to.’
‘Are they your children?’ I point to the photographs on the dresser.
‘Yes, that’s Freddie Junior and that’s Melissa.’
‘How old are they?’
‘Freddie’s nineteen now and Lissy’s sixteen.’
‘Same age as me,’ I say. ‘I’m sixteen.’
‘When’s your birthday?’ asks Jessie.
‘Beginning of May.’
‘Same as Liss.’ There’s an awkward silence.
‘This is absolutely delicious, Jessie,’ says Luc.
‘Mmm,’ I agree. ‘It’s so kind of you to go to all this trouble.’
‘Not at all, it’s my pleasure.’ She smiles. I like her face. It’s kind and sweet. But she looks sad. I suppose it’s a hard, lonely life. I wonder where her children are.
We’re on to our third cup of tea and all but licking our plates clean, when Fred comes in through the scullery door.
‘Finished?’ Jessie asks him with a smile.
‘As if!’ Fred replies.
‘I’ll give you a hand after breakfast. Wash your hands and sit down. Yours is in the pan. I’ll serve it up.’
‘Lovely.’ He turns to us. ‘I see you’re enjoying the produce - all home-grown you know.’
‘It’s fantastic,’ I say.
‘Really good,’ Luc agrees. ‘Thanks so much for inviting us.’
‘You stay as long as you like,’ Fred offers. ‘We don’t get many visitors.’
‘You forgot to remind me about the comfrey root!’ scolds Jessie. She takes a cloth and soaks it in the brewed tea. Then she places it on Luc’s head.
‘That feels great,’ he says. ‘Really good. Thanks.’
After breakfast, Luc goes back to the AV to check it’s still safely hidden from view and to do a more thorough check for damage, while Jessie gives me a tour. Fred says he has farm business to attend to, but will see us later this evening.
The farm is a decent size and they’ve got cattle, pigs, a tiny flock of sheep, ducks, chickens and rabbits. They also have an enormous kitchen garden which is charming, as well as practical.
Luc returns at about 10.30am. We offer to help out with the chores, but Jessie won’t hear of it and tells us to go into the lounge, take a sofa each and have a sleep. She brings us in a couple of quilts, covers us over and draws the curtains.
‘Help yourselves to food and drink. I’ll be out in the yard if you need me.’ And she closes the door behind us. We’re alone again and I want to talk to Luc, but I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.
‘She’s nice,’ says Luc.
‘I know,’ I yawn. ‘They don’t even know us. They’re really kind people.’ I snuggle down onto the soft floral sofa, pull the quilt up to my nose and sleep.
Chapter Eighteen
Riley
*
I awake to the sound of the grandfather clock striking four. I’m completely disorientated. The events of the past twenty four hours unfurl slowly. Daylight spills in from behind one side of the heavy velvet curtains so it must be four in the afternoon.
Luc’s still asleep on the sofa opposite me. Fred and Jessie haven’t even asked who we are or why we’re on the road alone. They seem such nice people and I feel we owe them an explanation, but I get the feeling they wouldn’t approve of what we’re doing. Luc stirs and interrupts my musings.
‘Hello,’ I say.
‘Hi,’ he replies. And we both fall about laughing at the bizarreness of the situation.
Later, we sit at the kitchen table and help Jessie to prepare the vegetables for dinner. She clucks around us like a mother hen, asking us to sample various delicious foodstuffs. The room has warmed up considerably and is thick with steam and cooking smells.
‘We’ll be stuffed before we even start dinner,’ says Luc
‘I know,’ says Jessie. ‘But you have to try a couple of slices of this cucumber, it’s really good.’
We still haven’t seen any sign of their children and I don’t like to ask. Maybe they’re off visiting family or friends. It’s odd they haven’t said where they are. But then I suppose it’s also odd we haven’t told them what we’re doing. So I decide to mind my own business and just be thankful we’ve met this hospitable couple.
Soon dinner is ready and Jessie calls to Fred, who’s upstairs getting changed out of his work clothes.
I feel relaxed and well-rested. I’m not so worried about Luc’s health anymore. He seems to be recovering really well, although the bruise still looks nasty.
Jessie’s telling us about the surrounding area. ‘There’s a compound just north of here, but we always preferred to be independent. We do some good trade with them and nowadays they’re friendly enough, not like it used to be at the beginning. In any case, we have to stay here just in case …’
Fred walks into the room and touches her arm gently. ‘We’re in a bit of a situation here,’ he says to us. ‘Something happened a while ago.’
‘You don’t have to explain anything to us,’ Luc says.
‘No, it’s okay. We’d like to tell you. You might’ve thought it strange our kids aren’t around.’
I’m intrigued, but neither of us speaks.
‘It happened nine years ago,’ continues Fred. ‘We’d gotten used to the way things were, with all the troubles and everything. The place was secure; locked tight against raiders and looters. We’d already abandoned a lot of our land over the years and most of our livestock had been stolen. We’re lucky to have what we got really. But at the time, we were seriously considering moving out of the farm and into the compound so the kids could go to school and we wouldn’t be so cut-off.
‘Freddie was ten and Liss was seven. One day ...’ He broke off and paused for a moment. ‘One day, Jess and I were tending to the animals as usual. We asked the children to sweep out the yard and feed the chickens. Jessie came back down to the house to cook breakfast, but the children weren’t in the yard and it was still unswept. She got cross and went into the house to see what they were playing at, but they weren’t there neither. She assumed they must have been with me, helping with the cows. They weren’t, and we never saw ‘em again.’
I realise what he’s telling us – that their children have gone missing. There’s a heavy silence. Luc breaks it.
‘So they disappeared?’
Jessie sighs. ‘We didn't have the same security measures on the farm then that we have now. We were stupid, naive. It’s the not-knowing that eats you up inside. I mean they could be anywhere. I refuse to believe they’ve gone for good. This morning. We thought, well for a second when Fred saw Luc ...’
‘Oh God!’ I say, comprehending. ‘You thought we could have been them coming home! I’m so sorry.’
‘That’s right,’ Fred replies. ‘We wouldn’t normally invite total strangers into our home, but we saw you two and we thought of our children and Jessie’s a big softie and begged me to invite you both in for breakfast. So you see, we can’t move on to a safer location in case they manage to find their way back to us.
‘The local compound is very secure now, with home grown provisions and a lot of new amenities and we wouldn’t have to live on our nerves like this. They’ve already offered us a cottage that’s just come available, but we can’t leave because we have to be here when Freddie and Liss come home, else how would they find us again? We’re stuck here, in limbo. Waiting.’
/>
I feel awful and don’t know what else to say. The rest of our dinner stays cold on the plates. I get up to put my arms round Jessie, who gives me a kiss and pats the back of my hand.
How will they ever be able to move on with their lives when they don’t know what’s happened to their children? I don’t want to think about it. Instead, I think about my sheltered upbringing and compare it to the majority of the population who live in fear and uncertainty, like this poor unlucky couple. I’ve seen nothing on our journey that comes close to the taken-for-granted life I’ve led so far and I feel an overwhelming gratitude to my parents.
Then I get a stab of guilt. Aren’t they too, worrying themselves stupid about our safety? They don’t know if we’re alive or dead. I feel guilty. The note we left them will do nothing to calm their fears; it will only make them worry more. I decide to contact them as soon as we can. But the next opportunity to do this probably won’t be until we reach Century Barracks in Warminster.
Then something occurs to me. Something so obvious, I wonder why I didn’t think of it the moment Fred and Jessie started to speak of their children’s disappearance. It must have occurred to Luc too, because we look at each other and mouth the same word, ‘Grey.’
I’m itching to tell them what we know, but I wonder if it’s the right thing to do. It’s too late to keep it from them though, as they stare directly at us, having missed nothing of our unsubtle exchange.
‘Do you think it might’ve been James Grey’s lot?’ I ask Luc, not sure if I should have spoken.
‘Who?’ Fred and Jessie answer in unison.
‘Umm.’ I start to feel nervous about what I’m going to tell them, but I continue anyway. ‘James Grey. From Salisbury.’
‘Never heard of him,’ says Jessie. ‘Fred?’
‘No. Doesn’t ring any bells,’ he answers. They turn to look at me, as Luc still hasn’t spoken.
‘Please, tell us what you can,’ says Jessie.
I hesitate. Not sure where to start.
‘Tell us.’ Her voice is barely a whisper now. She’s shaking and tears roll down her cheeks. ‘I don’t even want to let myself hope there’s a chance you might know what happened after all this time.’ She pushes back her chair and stands up unsteadily. Fred rises and put his arms around her. He turns to face me and Luc and there is anger in his eyes.
‘If you know something, please tell us. I like you two kids, but you better not be upsetting my Jess for nothing.’
‘I’m sorry,’ says Luc. ‘We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to raise your hopes by guessing. It’s just, what happened to your children happens quite a lot in this area and my father has some theories about who’s behind the abductions.’
‘Spit it out, lad.’ Fred speaks more gently this time and guides Jessie back to her chair. He sits next to her and holds her hands in his.
I feel uncomfortable that I blurted out Grey’s name without thinking. But it’s too late and anyway Luc seems to be gearing up to tell them about James Grey, Salisbury and the rumours.
Chapter Nineteen
Eleanor
*
With thousands of people either dead or missing, we gave thanks, hourly that our loved ones were still beside us. My emotions fluctuated between a blissful euphoria that Connor and I were so consumed with each other, and the growing worry that world events were about to catch us up.
The centre to everybody’s lives had shifted. Priorities changed. The tainted summer air held a mixture of urgency and recklessness. Samuel decided to join up. The military had issued a public announcement for more people to defend our besieged country and the TV advert gave a list of recruitment offices where you could just turn up to enlist.
Samuel was sold on it, and Abi was all at once, proud and distraught. She’d taken to calling him, My Samuel. They accepted him on the spot, pending his security checks and, all being well, he would go through fast-track basic training and then start serving.
He took to his new career like a cockerel to a five-barred gate, crowing loudly to Abi and me about his new responsibilities. I suppose at the time, I thought he was basically a loyal, good-hearted bloke - just not a very bright one. And he was easily seduced by power and beauty. He wanted to be at the heart of the action, the first to know everything and he craved the status and power newly up for grabs. It became harder for me to like him, however, as he openly hated Connor.
One afternoon, Connor and I were walking back from the corner shop to my parents’ house. It was quite chilly and we were looking forward to getting in out of the gusting wind. He had his arm around me and I leant into his body, revelling in our closeness.
‘Still in your civvies, Connor. Not gonna help out your country then?’
We both turned around and saw Samuel with a couple of his army buddies. Connor ignored him and we carried on walking. A thousand and one retorts hovered on my tongue, but I couldn’t spit any of them out.
‘Talking to you, mate,’ Samuel called out. I heard him say something to his buddies and they all laughed.
I prayed Samuel would leave it alone. We carried on walking, but I felt Connor’s stride slow down. We could hear them close behind. The road was quiet and I had a stomach-lurching feeling this wouldn’t end well.
‘Connor! Mate! Is it because you’re a coward? Is that it?’
Connor gave me a reassuring smile. He didn’t appear at all worried. He seemed calm and unbothered.
‘I said. Is it because you’re a coward?’ This time, Samuel’s voice was right behind us.
‘Ellie,’ Connor spoke to me quietly. ‘You go on home. I’ll be there in a bit.’
‘No way,’ I replied and turned around to face the three soldiers. The wind whipped my hair around my face and I pushed it behind my ears. ‘Samuel Bletchley, you’re being a twat. Why don’t you just shut your ignorant mouth.’
This provoked laughter and jeers from him and his mates.
‘Hey, Connor! Guess that proves it then. You really are a coward. Gotta get your woman to fight your battles.’
‘Is that what this is then?’ Connor asked. ‘A battle?’ He dropped his arm from around my shoulders, stood in the middle of the pavement facing the three of them and took a long swig from his can of lemonade.
Samuel and his mates didn’t reply, they just smiled and nudged each other like the immature idiots they were.
‘So. You think I’m a coward, yeah? That’s what this is about?’
‘Pretty much,’ Samuel replied.
‘That’s an easy issue to sort out, Sam.’
‘Only my mates call me Sam.’
‘And what are your two mates called?’ Connor asked.
A look of confusion passed across Samuel’s face. ‘Them?’ He gestured to his mates.
Connor nodded.
‘Mark and Rich. What’s that gotta do with anything?’
‘Mark, Rich,’ Connor looked at the beefy soldiers. ‘Why don’t you two do one so I can prove to Samuel I’m not the coward he thinks I am. But if all three of you stay, I think that would prove you are the cowards. We can settle this one on one or you can all three start laying into me and we’ll know for a fact I’m right.’ Connor stared hard at Samuel, not breaking eye contact for a second.
Samuel looked away first. He smiled and shook his head.
‘You wanna fight me, Connor? Nah, you don’t wanna do that mate. You might get hurt.’
He patted Connor on the shoulder and then all three of them barged past us and carried on down the road.
I glanced at Connor and saw a brief flicker of cold hate in his eyes, but then he instantly softened and winked at me. He draped his arm back around my shoulders.
I was still really unnerved though. I knew Samuel still thought Johnny had been wronged and Connor was to blame. He wouldn’t accept it had been my decision to end the relationship, and Johnny was too dignified to pursue the matter. As a loyal friend to Johnny, Sam still wanted his revenge and, as
we were soon to find out, his new career put him in the perfect position to exact it. Samuel just couldn’t help himself.
Chapter Twenty
Riley
*
Luc and I heard the history of James Grey’s rise to power from Luc's Uncle Rufus, who’s one of the few people outside Salisbury to have met the man. Salisbury Cathedral is the focal point for many devout Christians across the country. The reason it’s such an important building, is that it’s now the very last cathedral left in Britain. Because of this, after the main terror attacks, Salisbury attracted many pilgrims who travelled through the unpredictable countryside to reach its endangered walls and help preserve it against looters and vandals.
We all knew the rumours surrounding one of these pilgrims - Mr James Grey. Luc’s uncle once had the misfortune to dine with him a few years ago, as a guest in his grand house in the Cathedral Close.
Luc's Uncle Rufus is based at our Perimeter, but only ever comes home about once a year, as he’s heavily involved in the family business. He spends his time managing perimeter security around the country, but also in his more secretive occupation of weapons production.
Rufus was hand-delivered a request to dinner, by one of James Grey’s personal messengers. Rufus assumed he wanted to discuss perimeter business and so he accepted his invitation. He arrived on time at the heavily guarded Cathedral Close.
They passed an interesting evening where Grey told Rufus his story or, as he liked to call it, his ‘epiphany.’
‘I was called to save the people,’ he said.
But Rufus told us there was something manic about Grey. He got the feeling he was more than slightly unhinged, that it was obvious to see the fearful respect everybody paid him.
It turned out it wasn’t security Grey was after from Luc’s Uncle, but information on weapons production. Rufus was shocked that Grey knew anything about it, as it wasn't supposed to be common knowledge.
Grey suggested it would be mutually beneficial if Rufus were to set up a munitions factory within Salisbury's walls. Grey said he knew it wasn’t a very Christian business but it was a necessary evil needed for protection. Rufus lied, politely denying all knowledge of the weapons industry and beat a hasty retreat. But he left behind a very angry man.
Rufus now has strong opinions on Grey:
‘He’s a man who is wholly sure of himself, an evil dictator disguised as the saviour of mankind. He’s the worst kind of charlatan, but unfortunately he’s got that place sewn up tight with his priestly warriors, disciples and slaves running around doing his bidding. It’s a closed society and it’s fuelled by fear.’