Torchwood First Born (23 page)

More leaves started to drift to the ground, crumbling as they went.

'We will have nothing more to do with you. You
are not our child.'

It was the last thing the Tree said.

Sebastian stood there screaming, but the only sound from the speaker was a rising whine of feedback which ended in a crackle..

More leaves fell around Sebastian, along with rain, pouring through the roof, pelting the tree, shaking the branches bare. The floor of the hangar turned to a mulch of decomposing leaves and worse, a brackish sludge that covered Eloise's body.

Still the leaves tumbled slowly down, and still Sebastian shouted at the barren Tree.

Tom and I held on to each other. There was nowhere to run, no shelter, just this endless downpour.

Eventually, Sebastian stopped shouting. The skeleton of the Juniper Tree stood over him, the air thick with the smell of decaying leaves.

Sebastian turned around, and faced us. He did not look defeated, or sad. He just looked angry.

'You.' His voice was hoarse from the shouting, and rain poured down his face like tears. 'This is your fault. This is all your fault.'

'No,' I told him. 'This is all you.'

Sebastian strode towards me, his face twisted with unthinking, childish rage. Just like Jenny, he was suddenly so very, very human.

Sebastian's walk broke into a run, his arms balling up into fists. I didn't really see him coming.

Or perhaps I didn't know what to do. I was just tired and wet and cold and he was bearing down on me like a lorry.

Tom stood in between us. 'No!' he shouted, but Sebastian struck him aside, and he went down, vanishing in the dead leaves.

Then Sebastian was there, grasping hold of my shoulders, hissing with rage and fury, pushing me down to the ground, his hands sinking into my neck.

It was all happening so fast. Old Gwen Cooper would have done something more than this, at least have fought back. But I was just lying there as he strangled the life out of me. Funny that. The last thing I'd ever do was to let myself down.

The hangar doors swung open. I heard the noise over the pounding of blood in my ears.

Figures walked in. I saw their feet as they crunched through the slush of fallen leaves.

The Children of Rawbone had come home.

Sebastian noticed them, panting with exertion.

His grip on my neck slackened and he stood up, facing them. The smile sprang back to his face.

Tour father welcomes you,' he said.

Tense moment.

You know there are some people who are just out-and-out shits? Life's Teflon-coated weasels. It's never their fault, they did nothing wrong, every breath is a chance to make themselves better and you worse.

They're in every school, every football team, every office. And they're always getting another chance.

The most important thing in that hangar was Gwen. Sitting in the mud. Alive and well. I ran to her, helping her up.

She grabbed Anwen from me and laid her across her shoulder, delighted.

'What are you doing here?' she mouthed.

I smiled. 'Finding out what happens next.'

A neat young man stood over us, his handsome face made ugly by the emotions on his face. You could tell he was a nasty bit of work and he was bloody delighted to see the Scions.

The children of Rawbone walked silently towards him. So was this what had been controlling them?

'Come to Father,' he beckoned. 'I have work for you.'

And they came, kicking up the leaves like it was autumn. He stretched out his arms to them like he was preaching to Saturday shoppers outside Topman.

The children stood, heads bowed, unaffected by the rain still pouring in around them.

'Good.' The man smiled. As well as the triumph, there was a definite note in his voice. A sound that said, 'I am getting away with it.' I decided then and there that this wasn't really the kind of bloke that I'd have much truck with.

Which was, of course, when Jenny stepped out of the crowd.

'No, Sebastian,' she said. There was something in her tone. Disappointment.

He glared at her.

'No,' she repeated.

'You are all my children!' Sebastian repeated.

Jenny shrugged. And all the children of Rawbone shrugged too.

'You don't deserve to be our father,' she said.

'You've made us do bad things. You've destroyed the source of our life.' Sebastian was shaking his head at her, desperate, but she carried on talking. 'You're not up to the job. You're rubbish.'

'What?'

Jenny grinned, a natural, unaffected grin. 'We don't need you any more.'

The rain stopped and the sky above us started to clear, blue forcing its way through the strange clouds.

A little bit of sunlight fell on Jenny, as saintly as a Disney Princess. All she was lacking was a bluebird landing on her shoulder.

Jenny didn't break eye contact with Sebastian.

She carried on speaking. No longer to everyone in the room, just to him. 'We're alone now. They've gone. It's time to grow up.'

Her grin broadened, becoming more encouraging.

'It's OK, Sebastian. It's over. Come here.'

Personally, I'd have happily watched him bugger off, but I guess that's family for you.

Sebastian took it calmly. He walked slowly through the sludge, his head held down, compliant.

He reached Jenny and stood before her, motionless.

Jenny reached out as though she was going to hug him, but stopped. Sebastian didn't respond. Didn't move.

Finally he spoke, his voice a whisper. It is never over.'

He looked up at Jenny then, his eyes narrow with fury. He was literally shaking with rage. A hand flew up to strike her... but then it froze.

Sebastian, Jenny, everyone in the room was staring at that hand. It was withered, an old scarecrow's twig fingers. The sleeves of his coat fell away, the fabric drifting to the ground, exposing a stick-like arm. Repelled, Sebastian flexed and stretched the arm, the fingers of the hands snapping and crumbling, the joints turned to powder. He twisted to face the giant tree above him, and as he did so, one of his legs gave way under him, with a snap. As he fell, his head flew back, vanishing into the wet leaves with a dry rasping shout: 'No.'

'Sleep now, brother,' said Jenny, very quietly. Her voice was no longer empty of expression. There was a gentle sadness to it.

She patted her palms together, as though removing invisible dust from them.

She stretched out her hands, and the other children formed a ring, all standing there staring up at the strangely sad sight of that giant d

Later, she'd stand on the village green, the other children behind her. As the sun rose, those strange plants finally opened their buds up, spreading out the most beautiful flowers, in every colour, and releasing a rich, sweet scent.

'We are orphans now,' Jenny said to the whole village. That is...' And she paused and looked up at the people of Rawbone. Then she smiled that winning little smile. 'If you really want us to be.'

That was kind of it, really.

We'd spent so much time projecting onto those creepy kids we'd made them what we wanted them to be. Somehow wrong. Somehow bad. But they weren't. They were blank slates.

Life got back to normal. Megan Harries started her school up again. Nerys helped out pretty much full time. I'd like to say Rhys and I finally got a decent night's sleep, but miracles don't happen. People just got on with their lives. For some of them, it had been a very long time coming.

I'm not saying it was easy. People don't forget being terrorised easily, even if it was of their own making. Davydd moved away. He wasn't the only one. A few people just slipped off into the night.

They were helped by a sudden and large amount of money.

Tom arranged that bit of it.

Hey Jasmine!

Can I run something past you quickly? Small
thing, but the Rawbone Project is over. Eloise is
dead. Sebastian is dead. The Juniper Tree is dead.

The children are all growing up. They've got a new
leader. One who isn't interested in being a soldier, but
in being a normal teenager. Already they're looking a
bit older, dressing differently. The other day, I caught
one trying to drink cider in the rain behind the bus
shelter.

What I'm trying to say is that Rawbone has
children again. Your experiment has failed.

The other thing you should know is that we have all
your emails. Sebastian - the real, proper Sebastian -

printed them all out and filed them. Along with every
other piece of paperwork associated with the project.

We've used the photocopier in the village shop (five
pence a sheet, receipt attached) and we made lots of
copies. One for each family and child. I think that,
if you ask very nicely, you can come to some kind of
arrangement. They're not greedy people - but you've
done a dreadful thing to them.

That's the other thing. Sebastian found the
records on those old computers of how it was done.

And dutifully printed it all out. How the villagers
were denied children. That was the real start of the
dreadful experiment in Rawbone - over thirty years
ago, a piece of alien technology was tested here, to see
if it really would sterilise an entire village. A very
(well-documented) success. God alone knows what
you've used it for since, but you left quite a mess
behind. It's not all bad news, you'll be thrilled to
hear. Jenny Meredith (that's their leader) has looked
at it all. She reckons there's a way to overcome it. To
give Rawbone real children. But she says it's going
to be costly. Luckily, we've got you to call on, and we
know you'll give this project your full support.

Like I said, the people of Rawbone aren't greedy.

They just want what's due to them.

Don't, by the way, think of sending anyone in.

Some people are moving on from here. And they've
got all the information they need to bury you.

Anyway, I hope all that makes sense and I'd
really appreciate you having a look at this if you've
a moment to spare. Bank details are on the shared
server. Let me know if you have any problems.

Look forward to a quick reply,

xTomx

Pity really. The potatoes I'd planted were just starting to come up. I'd be sorry to leave them behind, but there we go. You can't have everything. The day the phone lines started working again in Rawbone was the day Gwen started packing.

I walked down into the village, to say a quick goodbye to a few people. We knew it wouldn't be long.

Tom and Josh were in, their little cottage full of clutter and half-read newspapers. Tom leapt up.

'Sorry about the mess,' he said, his hair a carroty mess. He even had a small thatch of red stubble. It all goes to pot when you've not got work on. Billy keeps on offering to tidy up, but I've told him there'll be none of that.'

Billy came in, polite and neat. He'd made an effort to wear a hoodie and some jeans, but even the jeans looked ironed. 'Would you care for some tea, Mr Williams?'

Tom rolled his eyes. 'Josh!' he called, fiddling with his phone.

Josh came barrelling down the stairs. 'What now?'

'Talk to the child.'

Josh sighed theatrically. 'OK then, young man.

For a start it's "Kettle's on if you want anything."

And for another thing, you are 15. You don't offer to do anything for anyone. I caught you doing the washing-up again this morning. Never again.'

'Sure,' said Billy. He leaned over Tom and pointed to his phone. 'Surely you can get both pigs with the Boomerang bird if you do this...' He tapped the screen, and Tom's face fell.

'Damn,' he groaned.

'I am sorry,' said Billy.

'Another thing!' scolded Josh, resting an arm on Tom's shoulder. 'No apologising. Just assume everything is our fault. It always will be for about the next ten years.'

'OK,' said Billy. He didn't look at ease with it, but he was trying.

Tom didn't look up from his phone. 'No, say it again, but with muttering.'

'OK,' muttered Billy. He went to the kitchen and made us tea anyway.

Josh flopped down on the sofa next to Tom, who gestured to a chair covered with the weekend's papers. I nestled among the travel pages.

'So...' I said. 'If I'd known I'd have bought a card from the village shop.'

Josh and Tom looked at each other. It was a look that said they'd made the decision, but they weren't exactly comfortable with it.

'Look,' began Tom, and then stopped.

'We had to,' finished Josh. 'I mean... no one offered to take him in.'

'When Davydd left... after what happened... well, no one else wanted him.' Tom stopped. Awkward. 'I felt responsible.'

Josh tutted. 'It's a relief, I suppose. And rather modern.'

'Shaddup,' growled Tom. Turns out having a kid is rather fun.'

Josh poked him idly in the ribs. 'We may actually make good parents.'

'Plus he empties the cat's litter tray.' Tom looked delighted. 'And it allows me to think that I'm not just slobbing around... I'm setting him an important example.'

Billy came in. 'We're out of milk,' he announced curtly, and poured a cup for himself. 'OK if I go upstairs?'

'That's my boy,' laughed Tom. They grow up so fast.' He called out to Billy, 'Have another scrub of your face - I swear you're getting spots.'

'Am I?' asked Billy. 'Would that be normal?'

'Bloody normal,' said Josh. 'It means you're becoming a man.'

'I see,' said Billy, and went upstairs.

'So,' asked Josh, considering me carefully. 'Where are you off to next?'

'I have no idea,' I said, truthfully. 'But we are going. Sharpish.'

'Really?'

'Yes. I think... I don't think we're needed here any more.'