Blighted Land: Book two of the Northumbrian Western Series (Northumbrian Westerns 2) (19 page)

Then the door opened. It was the man from the night before but no longer dressed as a woman. He was in an old suit with his hair parted down the left-hand side.

‘Maddy?’ he said.

‘We lost something last night.’

He stepped aside. ‘Didn’t we all?’

I followed her through to the main room, empty of people and the bar shuttered. Its curtains open. The decor was more faded. Less creepy.

At the side of a table was my bag. I went to it and opened it up, raked through. Everything seemed to be there.

She smiled. ‘Happy?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You owe me a drink.’

‘Think I do.’

We walked out and back into the lane, along the passageway to the pub I’d first met her in, the one by the marketplace. There was nothing going on outside but a few men were crowded in the bar watching football again.

‘Is this all that happens here?’

‘Pretty much,’ she said.

I ordered myself a whisky but Maddy cupped her hand around the barman’s ear. Asked for something special. The drinks came, hers in a glass, mine in a tumbler, and we sat on bar stools.

‘That was some evening,’ I said.

‘Sure was.’

‘You always this lively?’

‘Sometimes worse.’

We drank some more and talked. I reckoned Casper and Becky were long gone so there was no rush. No need to worry. I had my bag and time to spend with Maddy. There was just one more thing I needed to sort out. ’Is there anywhere to get fuel round here? Petrol?’

She shrugged. ‘There’s a place down by the old railway station. They sell all sorts…’

‘Fair enough.’

‘You planning on leaving?’

‘Not necessarily.’

She smiled at this.
 

 
As I ordered our third drinks Casper came in.
 

‘Where the hell have you been, Trent?’

‘Here and there,’ I said.

Maddy laughed. ‘Are you sure he’s not your brother?’

Casper flushed. ‘We’ve been all over the place for you. Hung around all night.’

I took a drink, let it go down. ‘You should have gone without me.’

‘Well, I would have. But Becky, she’d have hung around here for days. In this dump.’

‘Tut-tut,’ said Maddy.

Casper was hopping around at this. All wound up. It was only a little fun at his expense.

But it turned sour when Noah came in. He walked over and stood by us.

‘Well, well,’ he said.

I smiled. ‘Hello.’
 

‘Still here. Still here. I wonder why?’ He put his arm around Maddy and she recoiled. ‘Maddy here, she’s like a candle to a fly. Dirt to roach. Isn’t that right, Maddy?’
 

Maddy nodded.

There was swearing from the men watching the football.

‘So what you boys planning on doing?’ said Noah.

‘Not sure,’ I said. ‘I might stay around.’

Noah raised an eyebrow. ‘That so? That so? I’m sure Maddy will have shown you the sights, I don’t doubt.’ He put his arm tighter around her. She shrunk back. ‘Oh, I’m sure Maddy has obliged. Maddy is so very obliging.’

Casper leant forward. ‘We’re not staying, we’re going. Now.’

‘Are we?’ I said.

‘Well,’ said Noah. ‘Seems you boys can’t agree.’ He released Maddy and smiled. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. ‘We have a community round here. See, people like Maddy,’ he smiled and looked at her and she looked away. ‘People like Maddy need watching over.’

‘She seems capable of looking after herself.’ I’d met plenty of tough guys like him before. Little men who liked to push women around.

‘Maybe I’m not making myself clear.’ He straightened up. ‘You should have left yesterday. Not hung around. Now you have to pay your dues. Settle with the townsfolk.’
 

Casper stepped backwards. ‘Come on.’

‘We don’t just let people wander in. Do as they wish. Just as you have, boys. If you come over to my office. Hand over a few commodities we’ll see that as fair. A fair tax.’ He gave Maddy a good looking over.

‘I don’t think so,’ I said, leaning over to Maddy. I was buoyed up by the drink. Not scared of Noah and his rules and I put my hand on Maddy’s knee. This seemed to be too much for him and he turned red and started opening and closing his hands. The rhythmic motion carried on for a few seconds until he flicked a punch out at Casper, catching him on the chest, a weak swing but enough to unbalance him. He reeled back, his hands outstretched as Noah pulled back his arm for another shot. In one move I stood up between them and hit Noah in the face.
 

It was a short right-hander that cracked him under the jaw. I’d not planned to do it but it happened automatically. Without any thought. His teeth snapped together and his head bounced back before he slumped forward. He made some noise like he couldn’t breath and grabbed the bar, his head on Maddy’s thigh. There was a roar from the crowd on the television but the bar was silent. Everyone watching us.

Noah straightened up. His eyes were rolled up in his head so only the whites showed. He banged his temple and his eyes rolled back into place like they’d been jammed. He grabbed Maddy’s glass and smashed it on the bar. The sound was an explosion and everyone stepped back, away from us. The base of the glass was intact with jagged edges.

He moved towards me and Casper.
 

‘Don’t,’ said Maddy, ‘don’t Noah.’ She was behind him, on her feet and she held his arm, pulled him back.

Noah shook her off, waved the broken glass around. ‘Get away you, you whore!’ He turned towards me. ‘You could have gone. You could have walked out and left town, but you had to do this.’
 

‘I think you started this,’ I said.

He touched the blood on his lip and waved the glass. He circled until he was between us and the door.

‘Put it down,’ Casper said. Noah kept waving the glass and Maddy put her hands to her face. Everyone else in the bar watched.
 

Noah lunged at me and I stepped aside as it sliced through the air. ‘You could have moved on and everyone would have been fine.’ He jabbed the glass at me.

‘Just put it down,’ said Casper and he moved back.

I kept back but watched how Noah moved, which way he went with the glass. It was always to his right away from his body. I kept to his left.

‘You had your chance and well...’ Noah moved around and again lunged towards us. He thrust at Casper, to the right again. As he did so I caught his forearm, grabbed it tight. Noah cried out and I twisted, forced him down.
 

‘You can’t do this!’ he said.
 

Then I swung down my free hand and struck him on the side of the jaw, catching him hard. His body went limp and he collapsed onto the floor. The glass thudded onto the floorboards.

Everyone looked at me and Casper. We stared at Noah on the ground. Maddy backed away from him and us. She drifted across the room. Then one man shouted. It wasn’t a word, more some kind of sound.
 

‘Go,’ said Casper.
 

As two men went to Noah I dashed outside, Casper close behind me. We joined the crowd in the marketplace and shoved through.
 

A gang of men piled after us.

‘Run!’ I shouted. We sprinted up the main road, away from the town centre.

T
HE
GANG
CAME
AFTER
us, as we ran past a car park where old cars were dumped, rusted and door less. I thought about ducking in but we’d easily be spotted. The gang were a few metres back but the road was straight. We were exposed.

Casper was level with me. His breath came out in rasps, his hands knotted as he swung his arms out. My chest was tight and the top of my legs stung. But I couldn't slow. The gang shouted and something clattered on the road beside us.
 

‘They’ll get us,’ said Casper.

I didn’t answer, conserving my breath, but he was right. We were ahead of them but we’d not outrun everyone in the gang. Not in a town we didn’t know.
 

We turned a corner, the first one we'd come to and passed an old stone church. There was a churchyard next to it. Leading into it was a track. I swung onto it picking up the pace. I hoped that Casper did the same but didn't wait or look for him. I pushed on over rocky ground between the headstones.
 

I ducked behind one and knelt down. As I took in great lungfuls of air I looked across at the gravestones, all with names and ages. Some were original carved stone but others were bits of concrete with names scrawled on.
 

Casper dropped down beside me. ‘What now?’
 

‘Wait.’

Footsteps thundered past on the road, accompanied by shouts. They’d soon realise we’d ducked out.
 

I raised up onto my haunches. ‘Let’s head off.’ I led Casper off through the churchyard, past the cockeyed stones. We needed to hide out for a while or find another way back to the tank and bike. Get away from the town.

Across the road was a wooden shack with crates of malformed vegetables set in front. I pushed the rickety door open and went in. There were no windows and it was lit by a couple of tallow candles set upon a shelf. An old man stood behind the counter, his filthy face framed by a grey beard, tangled and knotted. The shelves around the room were dotted with tins and jars. Old-world wood with their labels faded.

‘Is there another way out of here?’ I said.

He didn’t reply, his eyes on me, dark pebbles.
 

‘We need to get across town.’

He shrugged but didn’t speak.
 

Casper stepped forward and grabbed him by his shirt. ‘Is there a back door?’
 

The man’s faced twisted up and he jerked a thumb towards the far corner of the room. There were a couple of panels made into a rough door. A piece of rope held it shut. I opened it and stepped out into a dark lane of greasy flagstones. Sludge oozed out of the blocked drains and lank weeds grew out of the brickwork. At the far end was a steel gate that led to a road.
 

Casper followed out, dragging the man. The three of us walked along the lane, our feet sliding on the stones. There was no sound of the gang. The gate was locked with a heavy padlock
 

‘Open it,’ said Casper.
 

The man he pulled out a key and slid it into the lock, rattling it around until it turned, taking forever. Once it was off I pulled the bolt and rasped the gate open.

There was no one on the road so Casper and me walked out onto a pavement of flaked tarmac. The man slid the gate shut behind us.

‘Thanks,’ I said.
 

He didn’t answer, just did up the padlock and shuffled off.

‘Which way?’ said Casper.

I pointed off to my left, what I reckoned was the right way, past rows of terraced housing, many with boarded windows. There was still no sign of the gang. Maybe they’d given up and gone back to the pub. Or run off in the wrong direction.
 

We walked fast but didn’t break into a run. Casper started to skip off but I grabbed his sleeve, slowed him down. We didn’t want to attract attention. The road was empty with only a couple of people on the pavement: an old man sweeping up and a girl sitting on a doorstep. He brushed away and she stared at the clouds of dust. Neither paid any attention to us.

‘What was that about you staying?’ said Casper.

‘Just talk.’

‘You spent the night with that woman?’

‘What do you care?’

He grunted and we carried on.
 

We had to turn off to the right at some point to get back to the Eblis. With any luck Becky was waiting for us. I’d have to take a chance with fuel. At least we’d have some firepower with the tank.

We came to a junction with a larger road. Several old women stood and chatted and a couple of kids jumped around on the pavement. No sign of the gang.
 

‘This way,’ I said to Casper, pointing right. It seemed to be the right way.

Halfway down down the road there were several lads hanging around. They stood by some wasteland, the remains of a demolished building. They had an edginess, a rough look to them. Possibly they were from the gang we were on the run from. There were no side roads between us and them so I kept on walking.

Casper nudged me. ‘Are they from the pub?’

‘I’d think so.’

‘What should we do?’

‘Fake it.’
 

We should have split up and taken different routes. But we hadn’t and here we were. If we ran they’d be right on us, and at best, we’d end up in the wrong part of town. As it was there was a slight chance they’d not recognise us.
 

‘Make small talk; keep walking,’ I said. It wasn’t much of a plan but it was about all I could come up with. Casper didn’t seem to have any ideas.

The lads stopped milling around and gave us an eyeball. One in particular was keen to look us over. At least Noah and Maddy weren’t with them. That really would have stirred it up.

I walked straight ahead as if in a hurry to get somewhere, which I was really.