Blighted Land: Book two of the Northumbrian Western Series (Northumbrian Westerns 2) (29 page)

When I went back inside Daniel was at one side of Casper while Becky sat at the other. He was breathing more steadily. Maybe he’d pull through. I dropped the wood by the fire. It was warm now but it would cool down later. Especially this far north.
 

‘I might check the Scrambler over,’ I said.

‘Can I come?’ said Daniel.

Becky stayed with Casper and I led Daniel outside.
 

He was like a puppy at my side. ‘What’s the Scrambler?’

I laughed. ‘My motorbike.’ I led him over to the Eblis. ‘Here, look.’

Daniel touched the bike, running his finger through the dirt. ‘Needs a clean.’

‘It does that.’ There were a few marks on the tank and dust all over the paintwork. When I prodded the back tyre it was soft, low on pressure. ‘You going to help?’

‘Yep,’ he said.
 

We undid the straps that held it in place and he helped me set it on the ground. There was part of the fuel tank clear of dust and petrol seeped out. An arrow was jammed in the cooling fins and assorted bits of gravel wedged in nooks and crannies.
 

‘Let’s wash it,’ I said.

Daniel fetched a pan and a tea towel to use as a rag and we wiped the Triumph down.
 

Once it was clean I got him to hold the bike as I removed the back wheel. There was a piece of shrapnel jammed in the tyre and I patched the inner tube. At each step I explained what I was doing to him. I sealed the hole in the side of the fuel tank with tape as a temporary fix. We put the wheel back on then cleaned and adjusted the brakes. The sump was still full of oil so other than that it was just a case of adjusting and lubricating. Topping up the juice from the jerry can.

By late afternoon the bike was looking reasonable. We gave it a final wash and as it dried out Becky called us over to eat. She’d cooked up the second packet of pasta and added a tin of beans.

W
E
SAT
BY
THE
fire and had our food. Casper was still rolled up on the floor. He hadn’t moved since we’d removed the arrow but his skin had pinked up and he was breathing better.

‘How is he?’ I said.

‘I think he’s going to be all right,’ said Becky.

‘That arrow was in deep.’

‘There’s a lot of flesh around that part of the back.’ She picked on with her food. ‘It’ll be cold tonight. We’ll have to stack the fire.’

‘There’s one half-decent room upstairs.’

‘We’ll be better off down here. We can’t move Casper.’
 

‘Fine,’ I said. It wasn’t that bothered.
 

After we’d eaten I helped clean up then went outside with Daniel. The sun had dipped into the mist that now rolled down the glen. ‘Let’s start the bike,’ I said.
 

It took a few jabs at the starter but it fired up on the third shot. He jumped back as I revved it up. For couple of minutes I let it run and warm itself. It was all fine apart from a thread of fuel that leaked from the tank. The patch I’d put there had failed. I switched off then used a piece of spare fuel line to siphon the petrol back into the jerry can. Once it was empty I cleaned the hole. It was a good centimetre wide. In my spares I had a collection of bolts, nuts and washers. I found a combination that fitted and I tightened it up to plug the hole.
 

Then I refitted the tank and refilled the fuel. Daniel stood close by me and sucked his teeth as the petrol sloshed around.
 

Once it was all done we went to gather more branches from the darkening woods.
 

‘Are we staying here?’ said Daniel.

‘Just for a while.’

‘Where are we going next?’ Animals scurried off as we crunched on the leaf litter.

‘I’m not sure.’

Daniel pursed his lips, didn’t ask anymore but it was clear he wanted a plan. I’d brought him along so now he was my responsibility. I wasn’t going to ride off after sunset so we were going to be here for at least one night.

We took the wood into the hotel. Becky had set out the bedding, hers next to mine and Casper’s over at the far side. Daniel’s was in the other corner. He went straight over to his and moved it around.

‘You sure about us all being in the same room?’ I said.

‘Seems sensible.’

Daniel yanked his shoes off and slid into his bed. ‘I’m tired,’ he said.

‘It’s only early evening,’ I said.

‘I’m tired.’ He lay back and stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t long before he was snoring.

Becky laughed. ‘He knows his own mind.’

‘Seems to.’

‘Should we go into the other room? We need to talk.’

‘Right.’ This sounded serious.

She checked on Casper. His breathing had settled down and he was lying stretched out rather than curled up on himself.

We grabbed some of the wood and she took her sleeping bag. We went through to the lounge, made a fire and sat on the settee, the only piece of furniture. Though it smelled damp it was relatively clean.

‘We’ll be okay here for a couple of days,’ she said.

‘Yeah.’

‘Then we’re on the home straight. Not far to the loch. To where Arcadia is.’

‘I suppose.’

‘You’re still on for it?’

‘Possibly.’

She sighed. ‘What’s going on Trent? What’s locked in that head of yours?’ She moved up so that we were close together on the settee.

‘Nothing really —’

‘Come on. You picked up that lad to bring along and you’ve not asked anything about where we are going. Are you still in?’

The fire crackled and rippled on her face. This seemed familiar to me, like situations I’d had with Sophie. Questions with no right answer. This time I was going to be straight. Tell the truth. ‘Maybe I’ll drop off before we get there.’

Becky stood up and went over to the fire. She leant against the mantelpiece and twisted one leg behind the other. ‘We need you, Trent. We need what you can do.’

‘I can’t do anything.’

‘Of course you can.’ She stared at me as the fire popped and hissed on the damp wood. ‘I didn’t just invite you along for the fun of it. You’re good in a crisis. When it gets tough. There are still challenges ahead.’

‘Right…’

‘Think about it, at least.’ She moved away from the fire and stood by the settee, hands on her hips.

‘All right. I’ll think about it.’
 

She smiled, and without saying anything else, leant forward and kissed me. She lowered herself down wrapping her arms around me and holding our bodies close together.

After a minute she moved away.

‘What was that for?’ I said.

‘Just for you.’ Then she took off her shirt and trousers, down to her underwear. She slid into her sleeping bag, one edge of it held open to show her long legs and slim torso. Then she shifted around and took off her knickers and bra. Chucked them onto the settee next to me. ‘Well?’
 

I slid my own clothes off and joined her, as the fire crackled and the building creaked around us.

B
ECKY
WAS
UP
BEFORE
me in the morning. I rose and dressed then went into the dining room to find her there. Daniel was awake as well, standing by her as she tended a pan of water on the fire.
 

‘How are you?’ I said, all bright and cheery.

‘Fine,’ said Becky. ‘We need more wood.’ Her face was expressionless. Flat.

Daniel poked at the fire.
 

‘How are you?’ I said to him.

‘Good,’ he said.
 

‘Sleep well?’

‘Yep.’ He wasn’t very chatty either. Maybe he was hungry. Maybe we all were. I went over to Casper. His eyes were half open and his breathing regular.
 

He grunted and pushed himself up. Becky appeared with a mug of warmed water. She almost pushed me out of the way to put it to his lips, letting him sip the liquid. Then she patted him on the head, holding him up, smiling at him with warm eyes. ‘I’m going to heat up some of the tinned meat we’ve got. Fix a good breakfast.’
 

‘I didn’t know we had tinned meat,’ I said.

‘I’ve kept it safe.’ She returned to the fire and opened the tin.
 

I went outside. The sun fought its way through the morning mist that filled the glen and hid the mountains.
 

The Scrambler was where I had left it, parked behind the Eblis. There was time to give it a test run before we set off. I wasn’t bothered about breakfasting with Becky if she was going to be a pain in the arse.
 

I went back in. Daniel was at the far side of the room as Casper and Becky chatted. He seemed to have made quite a recovery. My pistol was on the mantelpiece so I grabbed it up and shoved it in my jeans. ‘Fancy a ride on the bike, Daniel?’ I said.

He glanced over at the other two before he spoke. ‘Is it safe?’

‘Yeah. It’s fine.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah. Come on.’

‘Okay.’

‘Where are you going?’ said Becky.

‘Off on the bike.’

‘You going far?’

‘Not sure.’

I led him out without saying anymore. Maybe it would shake her up a little. Shake the pair of them up.

I slid onto the saddle and told Daniel to get on the back.

He hesitated then swung his leg over. For a second it seemed he was going to slid off then he grabbed me and pulled himself into place. His hands were tight around my waist.
 

I turned the bike’s engine over and it coughed but didn’t catch. It started on the second prod and I revved it, holding it at two-thousand revs for a minute, letting it warm before dropping to tick-over. It was a familiar feeling holding the handlebars, pulling the clutch in and twisting the throttle. As I slipped it into gear it gave the usual thud, hiccupping a little as I pulled off. I took it slowly along the track, as it bounced over the ruts made by the Eblis, the exhaust note roaring back off the trees.
 

Daniel had his whole body pulled up tight against me. At the end of the track I stopped. ‘Are you all right?’ I said to him.

‘Yep.’

On the open road I let it rev up, right round to four-thousand rpm and the engine picked up cleanly. It slid into second then third. As I wound it up some more Daniel banged me on the back of my head. He shouted something so I slowed and pulled in at the side of the road.

‘What’s up?’ I said.

‘I don’t like it.’

‘You just need to get used to it.’

‘No. I don’t like it.’

We stayed put as the bike idled. ‘Maybe we can go a little slower, let you ease into it…’

‘No. Don’t like it. I want to go back.’

‘Let’s just take a short run. Up the road —’

‘No. I don’t like it.’

So I swung the bike round in the road. We rode back in first and I slipped the clutch on the rutted section to keep the speed right down. Maybe I’d overdone it. Or maybe he just didn’t like bikes.

As we approached the Eblis I turned the engine off and coasted in neutral to save fuel. If he didn’t like riding the bike we really were stuck. I’d have to get hold of a car, or walk. Or leave him with Casper and Becky.

I stopped the bike. ‘Get off,’ I said. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t like the bike but I was still pissed off with him.

He swung his leg over and stumbled off the saddle. I put the stand down and slid off myself.

Daniel stood there like he didn’t know what to do.
 

‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s go eat.’ I guessed Becky would have prepared some food. Maybe I’d take Daniel out later. Or just sit him on it without moving. Something to get him used to the idea of it. There were options.

As we approached the hotel there was movement from the dining room, odd and rhythmic, the kind of thing that attracted attention. I pulled the pistol out and went up to the window. Becky was there with Casper. She had her back to me and it was her head I’d seen, bobbing up and down.
 

She was naked and astride Casper, riding him. Like she had me the night before. Now it was him she was having sex with. Her brother.
 

I stayed like that for a while, as she moved and he made noises, until they’d finished. It wasn’t the kind of thing I normally did but this wasn’t a normal situation. I’d not even noticed that Daniel was beside me. His mouth open.
 

I put the pistol away, grabbed his hand and led him round to the entranceway. He went to say something but I put my hand over his mouth. I could hear Becky and Casper talking. She was muttering on about how much she wanted him but he was warning her, saying I’d be back soon with Daniel. That they’d get caught. There was no talk of this being wrong or weird, just that they might be found out.