Aneka Jansen 3: Steel Heart (32 page)

They went out to the east, towards the larger houses. Not too surprising really. They were soon off the main roads, which were tarmacked, and onto narrower lanes with cobbles.

‘This is a crazy way to make a road surface,’ Ella commented.

‘It’s a very old way,’ Aneka replied. ‘It’s very hardwearing, but obviously pretty labour intensive. On the other hand it doesn’t need the heavy machinery that the tarmac does, or something like a Plascrete surface would.’

‘Huh. And the tarmac started, what? Half a kilometre from the town?’

‘Roughly.’

‘That bonded surface you’re discussing,’ Bashford said, ‘isn’t used too much, but there are longer stretches of it further south, according to the maps Drake and Shannon have done.’

Abigail turned off the cobbles, opened a gate into a hedged garden, and made her way up a paved path to the front door of one of the larger cottages. The garden was well kept, the lawn manicured, and there were climbing roses scaling the stone walls of the house. It looked idyllic, almost like a postcard photograph. The door was not locked either.

The door led into a small porch with coat hangers on the wall, and then into a lounge with bright wallpaper keeping up the roses theme. The decoration looked almost new, the furniture, a large couch, one big armchair, and a coffee table, was less new, but well maintained and clean. There was no dust anywhere.

Abigail turned and gave them a smile which actually touched her eyes, but did not remove the hint of nervousness. ‘I hope this is to your liking. I’m afraid our very best guest house was in use last night and I haven’t had a chance to clean it thoroughly.’

‘This appears to be quite suitable,’ Ella replied, smiling back.

Looking a little surprised, as though she had expected a rebuke, Abigail went on. ‘There is a small kitchen at the back with fresh water and tea. Upstairs are the bedrooms and bathroom. We have running water, hot and cold. The master bedroom is ready for use.’ She looked uncertain. ‘I could make up another room if you need one. Citizens usually travel with a, uh, sleeping companion, I…’

‘One bed will be sufficient,’ Ella assured her. ‘For my survey to be accurate I need to disrupt your town as little as possible, Abigail. That means that I don’t want to take you away from any other duties taking care of me.’

Again the surprise showed briefly. ‘Oh, it’s no trouble. Keeping up the houses and taking care of visitors is my duty. I’ll let you settle in and go to get your food.’

Aneka took off the rucksack she was carrying and her rifle case, placing both in the space under the stairs which led up off the right-hand side of the room, and then removed her gun belt before heading into the kitchen. It was a slim room leading from the lounge to the back door, with one inner door which, on inspection, led to a utility room. Given that the utility room, with its washing machine, drier, and cleaning implements, was undecorated she got the feeling that the guests were not meant to use it. The kitchen on the other hand was light and airy, with white cupboards, a refrigerator, and a small cooker. There was an old-fashioned, stove-top kettle on the worktop beside the cooker and Aneka smiled, eagerly searching the cupboards.

‘They really have tea!’ she enthused over the radio.

‘Tea? Well, we have tea,’ Ella replied.

‘No you don’t. Pretty soon you’re going to realise that. I’m making some.’ She was busy filling the kettle as she spoke. ‘It does beg the question of where they got it from though.’

‘Another import?’

‘Tea grows in India, Ceylon, China, certainly not in the English countryside.’

‘So we continue to see trade with other parts of the world, despite there being no way for it to get here,’ Gillian commented.

‘Uh-huh. Right now, I’m more interested in drinking real tea.’

‘The bedroom is nice,’ Ella said. Obviously she had gone upstairs. ‘More of this flowery paper on the walls…’

‘It’s called wallpaper,’ Aneka supplied.

‘Oh, right. The bed looks comfy. Sheets and blankets. I’m guessing this place isn’t that well insulated. The bathroom is… Well, there’s no shower, and the bath isn’t especially big, but there are two taps marked H and C.’

Aneka laughed. ‘You really sound like a girl from the future. This place is not really much different from any house from my time. We got by fine.’

‘Huh. Did you notice she seemed a little uncomfortable about a same-sex relationship?’

‘Yes. Well, I’d have said it was more like surprise. She’s not used to it. She expected us to use one bed though.’

‘More contradictions.’

Aneka turned at the sound of the door opening in the lounge and stepped out of the kitchen. ‘Abigail’s back.’ Aloud she said, ‘Hello again.’

Abigail glanced around the room and then gave Aneka the most genuine smile she had seen so far on a townsperson. She put the wicker basket she was carrying on the table and began taking plates out of it. ‘Uh, there’s cheese, some fresh butter, and bread baked this morning.’ Aneka’s nose was detecting the last of those already and she sighed. ‘I hope that’s good enough for some lunch…’

‘Anything is better than travel rations. Ella will be pleased. She’s upstairs.’

The girl blinked and lowered her voice. ‘She lets you use her first name?’

Aneka kicked herself. ‘Insists on it. Wait for her to tell you to, but she will. You might want to warn your father.’

‘Oh… A-and you and her… I mean they
hate
being alone so she’d want you to sleep with her, but do you… It’s just that some of the men have wanted… If she likes girls I…’

Aneka stepped forward and put a hand on Abigail’s shoulder, stopping the stream of steadily worsening gibberish. ‘I’ve been with her for a while. What she wants here is to gather her data and move on. You don’t have anything to worry about, and neither does anyone else here.’

In the kitchen, the kettle began to whistle. Abigail smiled uncertainly. ‘You were making tea? I’ll do that, you cut the bread.’

‘Okay,’ Aneka replied. Inside her head she said, ‘You hear that?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella replied. ‘This is going to be a lot harder than I thought if none of them trusts me.’

Aneka found the bread knife and cut into the cob loaf; the smell of fresh bread filled the room. ‘We’ll work on it. I suggest you get down here and try this food because the bread smells wonderful.’

There was the immediate sound of footfalls on the stairs and Ella let out a sigh. ‘Oh, that bread smells wonderful,’ she said, repeating Aneka’s words. ‘I am
really
going to enjoy this.’

Abigail walked in from the kitchen carrying a tray with a teapot and some cups on it. ‘Thank you, Citizen.’

‘Please call me Ella. If possible, I’d like to talk to your father this afternoon, about my survey.’

Abigail put the tray down, gave a little curtsey, and started for the door. ‘I’ll tell him, Cit… Uh, I’ll tell him, Ella.’

Ella watched her leave before sitting down with a frown and accepting the slice of bread Aneka handed her. ‘This is really going to be hard.’ She bit into the cheese and bread, chewing thoughtfully. Then her face relaxed. ‘This is… At least the food is good.’

Aneka chuckled. ‘We’ll think of something to make it easier.’

~~~

Abigail was a chatty drunk, which was useful. The conversation with her father had been full of agreement with whatever Ella wanted to do, and also very stiff and formal. So when Abigail had returned with the evening meal, and it had included a bottle of wine, Ella had insisted that the girl stay to have a drink and talk. She had been a little reticent until half the glass had gone into her; she had worse alcohol tolerance than Ella.

‘We’re quite proud of our flocks,’ Abigail was saying. ‘You’ll see tomorrow. Best sheep in the country, we think. It’s our main income, though Dad is trying to expand a little. We’re building a cattle herd down near Carsington Water. It’s a bit of a distance away, but we’re working with the villagers in Wirksworth. We’ve got the market, see? And they’ve got the land, so it’s a good match.’

‘That’s very progressive,’ Ella said. ‘You seem to trade with a lot of people too. For tea, for example.’

‘Oh that’s traders up from the Prime City. You’d know that, of course, cos you’re from there. They come through every month and we trade for what we want.’ She giggled. ‘Tea is a favourite. Everyone likes tea. And fuel for the tractors comes in monthly. Bridger can handle repairs mostly, but he can’t make parts or fuel.’

‘Bridger?’

‘He runs the garage. He’s a good mechanic. Best in the area.’

‘And what do people do for entertainment around here?’ Aneka asked. ‘It seems very quiet.’

‘On a Sunday, in summer, we all meet in the town square.’ Well, that confirmed that that had been Sunday then. ‘We have books, music… I like singing.’

‘She was the one singing at the party,’ Aneka said silently. ‘I thought I recognised her voice.’

‘Sing for us,’ Ella said, smiling.

‘Oh, I’m terrible, especially without accompaniment.’

‘I bet you aren’t. I’d really like to hear you.’

Blushing, Abigail sat up straight, lifted her head, opened her mouth, and sang. It was a soft, almost melancholy song, perhaps a lullaby, and they sat there and listened to it in silence. Aneka did not recognise it, either the tune or the lyrics; people were composing new music still it seemed. Abigail had a clear, strong voice, maybe a soubrette. It was really quite beautiful, and the silence when she ended lasted long enough that she was starting to look a little worried when Ella spoke.

‘That was amazing. You’ve got real talent, Abigail.’

Abigail’s eyes dipped and she went scarlet. ‘Oh, I don’t…’

‘Yes, you do,’ Aneka said. ‘I don’t recognise the song…’

‘It’s something Mum used to sing to me when I was younger and scared of the ogres in the hills.’ Her face went still. ‘And then they took her.’ Looking forlorn, she finished her wine. ‘I should be getting back… We’ve an early start in the morning.’

‘You’re coming with us?’ Ella asked. They had arranged to go out to see one of the flocks in the morning, but there had been no mention that Abigail was coming.

‘Yes. It’s my job to make sure you’re tended to and, well, the others aren’t used to talking to citizens. I’ll be back in the morning to make breakfast and get you up.’

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Ella replied.

~~~

‘Do you know what an ogre is?’ Ella asked.

Aneka gave a little shrug and the bathwater shivered around them. The bath was big enough for two if they both sat up or, as in this case, one lay in the other’s lap. ‘An ogre was a fairy tale creature. Big, strong, not very nice. I think they’re supposed to eat babies. Unless you believe in Shrek. Uh… don’t ask about Shrek.’

‘Okay, so Abigail thinks her mother was taken by monsters.’

‘Well, there are those groups of Humans in the hills that the Hyde spotted moving around at night. The dead sheep with the crushed skull. I’m guessing that there are bandits out there who dress up and scare people by playing on the ogre myths.’

‘Makes sense.’ There was silence for a few seconds. ‘You know, I think I could get used to this.’ She was currently using Aneka’s breasts as a pillow. ‘Maybe I should get a bath put into the apartment.’

‘There’s no room, love.’

‘It’s warm and comfy, and a bit weightless. I’ll see if I can make room.’

14.9.526 FSC.

Aneka opened her eyes, making out the shape of Abigail edging through the dark room, guided by a tiny torch. Assuming the usual twenty-four-hour day still applied, it was four-thirty in the morning and Aneka was glad she had insisted on Ella going to bed early.

Abigail stopped at Aneka’s side of the bed, started to reach out, and then stopped. ‘You’re awake,’ she whispered. ‘We need to get going soon. They’ll be heading out as soon as the sun is up. There’s breakfast downstairs.’

Aneka nodded and turned to Ella, giving her a light shake. ‘Time to be up, Ella.’ The shaking and the words probably would not have worked, but the signal to her embedded computer was not something her brain could ignore.

Groaning, Ella reached out to turn the bedside lamp on, pulled the sheets aside, and climbed out of bed. ‘Don’t get in my way. I’m going to the bathroom before I change my mind and go back to bed.’

Aneka grinned and slid her legs free of the sheets. She looked up to see Abigail staring. ‘What?’ Aneka asked.

‘Uh, you’re both… very attractive. And naked.’

‘Thank you. Does it bother you?’

‘Uh, well, no. I’m just not used to… I’ve never seen a Citizen who looked so fit and you… the muscles…’

‘She believes in keeping her body healthy. I’m sorry, we’re not very modest.’

‘It’s all right. Really. I should go down and put the breakfast on plates.’

Aneka rose to her feet and started for the door. ‘And I’ll make sure she hasn’t fallen asleep in the bath.’

~~~

The three shepherds they were out in the fields with were named David, Mark, and Marie. David and Marie were brother and sister, and there seemed to be something going on between Marie and Mark. Ella figured that they had been working together for a few years, which would either breed contempt or the opposite. It made some sense. Aneka got the feeling that the trio had been bribed to take on the two outsiders and Abigail by virtue of the large amount of food the Reeve’s daughter had brought along, apparently for all of them. Aneka had taken the heavy basket off Abigail almost immediately. The complaints lasted until it was noticed that Aneka seemed to be barely feeling the weight on the end of her arm.

They had reached the field in which the flock had been penned the night before about half an hour after sunrise. It seemed to surprise the shepherds that they had not been slowed up by the two visitors.

‘David,’ Ella said as they walked through the flock towards a set of wooden poles which were set up in the corner of the field, ‘what are you planning to do today?’

‘Uh… Well that depends. Lambing’s done, shearing too. We check the flock, see if the ogres got any in the night. Open the next field up to them. Then it’s mostly just watching. Before nightfall we’ll pen them up again.’