The Remarkables (The Remarkable Owen Johnson, part 1) (17 page)

19

They walked back along the coastal path, following a route that Katie knew from previous visits that hugged the banks of the river. After a few minutes it joined the path that they had followed along earlier. Turning the corner they saw that Mrs Argyle, Ken and Clive were stood outside of the house, and had been joined by Katie’s sister Fiona. Fafnir and Ellie were absent, presumably still inside.

Clive was the only person facing Owen and Katie’s direction and he pointed towards them as s
oon as they rounded the corner. Fiona turned and smiled at the sight of her sister.

“Here you are,” Fiona said.
“I was going to send out a search party.”

“Hi Fi,” Katie said.
“We just went for a, err, walk.” Katie’s hesitation at describing their brief adventure had the effect that everyone’s eyebrows were raised, accompanied by wide grins courtesy of Clive and Ken.

“At a boy!” said Clive, caddishly.

Owen felt his face flush red. “We weren’t doing anything….” He struggled to complete the sentence.

“If you must know
, Owen jumped off the cliff with me on his back, and we leapt across the sea and saw some puffins,” Katie said matter-of-factly.

Owen thought that
Katie’s explanation should have led to Fiona being incredulous, but she responded with an enigmatic: “So long as you were careful.” Owen assumed that she too must know about their powers, and wondered whether she possessed them also.

Katie gave her sister a smirk and asked
where her grandfather was. Mrs Argyle indicated that he was inside with Ellie, packing a few things up.  “I’ll go and see if they need a hand,” she said, and left Owen outside with a squeeze of his hand and another smile.

“I’ve been learning quite a
bit about you, Owen,” Fi said. “You’re a surprise, I’ll give you that. Your dad never said a peep about you having the same gift as Katie.”

“My dad knew about Katie?” said Owen.

“My parents had to tell him, after Katie fell over and put a dent in his car bonnet and bisected the engine block in a way that an elephant would struggle to replicate,” Fiona explained with a shrug.

Owen remembered his dad having to scrap an old car, but his explanation w
as that a bus reversed into it. “He never told me,” said Owen, disappointed that his father had withheld yet another piece of information from him.

“My folks made him pro
mise not to,” Fiona said simply, “and your dad’s a man who always keeps his word.”

“
Which is why I do not approve of this plan to rescue him,” Mrs Argyle said. “He would have wanted us to keep Owen safe, not lead him into the jaws of the beast.”

“But where is sa
fe?” asked Ken. “How can we know that they won’t come looking for Owen and even Katie wherever we move them to. They found us at Victoria’s; perhaps they know of this place?”

“T
here is somewhere that they could be safe,” suggested Fiona quietly, “I could take them there, if you told me its exact whereabouts.”

“
You know we can’t tell you its location,” said Mrs Argyle. “You of all people should know that we should not seek refuge within the Tower, and Christopher Johnson would not want their involvement with his son’s development. Their success rate of late has been somewhat questionable.”

“Why would their in
volvement be bad?” asked Owen. He was beginning to become agitated at being the subject of yet another conversation that he had little understanding of.

Luckily for Owen though, Fiona didn’t seem to share in the others’ love of mystery.
“My parents died whilst on a mission to see those of whom we refer. They call themselves ‘The Provenance’, as in ‘the origin’, although I’m at a loss as to what they think they are the source of. They are a group of individuals like yourselves,” Fiona pointed at the rest of the group, apparently excluding herself as having powers, “and they know more about how to harness and control your abilities than almost anyone else alive. They are powerful enough to keep you and Katie safe from those that want to use you for their own unsavoury benefit, and their location is, as far as I know, unknown to The Remnant.

“Some believe,” Fiona looked
pointedly at Mrs Argyle, “that The Provenance were the ones that brought down my parents plane. I’m not so convinced. By going there we could not only protect Owen and my sister, but I could investigate the crash, put to rest all of these questions that I’ve had since I lost them both.” Fiona looked pleadingly at Mrs Argyle, who smiled back sympathetically.

“Only a select few are aware of their exact location,”
Mrs Argyle said, “and even that can change now and again.  They've been known to up-sticks and move to an entirely different continent before, to avoid having their location and secrets exposed. Isn't that right, Fafnir?” Fafnir nodded as he emerged from his house, gazing up towards the ruined castle, the top of which could be seen over the cliff nearby, apparently lost in thought and memory.

“So take Katie
and Owen there!” implored Fiona. “All I care for is her safety.”

Mrs Argyle shook her head,
now looking at Fiona with, to Owen at least, suspicious eyes. There followed an uncomfortable silence after which Owen asked Fiona how she knew about this secret organisation.

“My mother was
trying to become an ambassador for them, for want of a better word. She wanted The Provenance to act as an official governing body that could prevent an individual’s powers from being used by the likes of The Remnant. She knew the power that they could wield and she would have wanted Katie to be returned to their care.”

“
The Provenance already act is such a way, but their methods of judgement and punishment are somewhat draconian, which did not sit well with your mother’s, or indeed most of our, views. It’s highly probable that your mother’s involvement with The Provenance was what led to both of your parents’ death, Fiona,” Mrs Argyle said, “even if they weren’t directly responsible. I’m afraid that I do not trust them, and they certainly do not approve of anyone who has spurned their advances in the past, especially your grandfather.”

“
As has already been observed, nobody approves of me, Celia,” chuckled Fafnir as he accepted a large hessian sack from Ellie and slung it over his shoulder, “and I very much doubt – nor hope - that anyone ever will. Now are we going to stand around and ramble on about the politics of a group of people holed up in a forest thousands of miles away, or are we going to rescue young Owen’s dad?

“I
, for what it’s worth, vote for the rescue mission. It’s about time I repaid Christopher for his help in securing me my lovely home. The local council didn’t approve of me living in what they considered somewhere so ramshackle,” Fafnir explained to Owen, “and it was your father that sorted out all the paperwork so that I could stay.” He shook his fist at the village that lay uphill.  “Bureaucratic ba-!”

“Well if it’s going to a vote I say
yes,” Fiona said, cutting off her grandfather’s tirade of abuse. “I know what it is like to lose a parent, and given the opportunity I would have wanted to try and prevent their deaths. If something happens to Christopher, how could we look Owen in the eyes, knowing that we could’ve done something?” Owen smiled at her in gratitude.

“But I still think that the
Provenance is a safer course of action,” she added, “but you’re all big enough and dumb enough to make your own decisions.” Fafnir nodded in agreement.

“
It’s a yes from me,” offered Ken. His opinion was echoed by Clive and Ellie.

“Fine,” said Mrs Argyle, pointing a finger at Fafnir, “but I’m holding you respo
nsible if anything goes wrong. And you two aren’t coming,” she declared, pointing at Owen and Katie.

“Like hell I’m not,”
replied Owen, “it’s my fault that my dad’s being held hostage in the first place.”

“Oh let him come along,” said Clive
dismissively. “We’ll need someone to keep watch, and hopefully I’ll be able to just walk in, grab Christopher, and walk out again. And we need Fiona to tell us how to get into the place.”

“How do you know where
they’re keeping my dad?” Owen asked Fiona.

“I work for the
Remnant,” she explained. “I’ve only got an administrative role, but I’ve been able to dig up enough dirt and info to help out your dad with his investigations.”

“So you know the place that my dad is being held?”

“I’ve been there a couple of times,” Fiona said slightly uncomfortably, “so I can show you the way in. I won’t know for sure exactly where they’re holding him though; I never really got past the front porch.”

“I’m sure they’ll le
t me have a nosey around,” Clive said mischievously.

Mrs Argyle c
hewed her lip briefly. “Fine, everyone comes, Katie and Owen included.”  They both smiled in satisfaction. “There’s no point in being isolated down here, and I’ve always been an advocate of safety in numbers.”

“Okey dokey!” cried Fafnir. “Let’s be off then.
I’ve already chosen my accompaniment into battle!”

“There won’t be a battle,” Mrs Argyle scolded him, “so your musical histrionics will not be required thank you.
We’re going to get close enough so Fiona can show us the way, then Clive can sneak in and bring Christopher back. No fuss, no muss.”  She wagged a finger at Fafnir. “And that means
no
pyrotechnics will be called for, either.”

Fafnir just smiled, and hummed a tune as they walked in file back up the hill towards the campsite.

20

They left in two vehicles. Ken drove his Land Rover with Mrs Argyle, Fafnir, Clive and Ellie on board, Myrtle having being secured in the trailer once more. Owen and Katie were sitting on the backseat of a different car to the one that Owen knew that Fiona normally drove. Owen got the distinct impression that the only reason for the seating arrangements was to allow the others to discuss him without having to hold back any details.

Prior to leaving
, Fafnir and Mrs Argyle went to speak to the owners of the campsite, whilst Fiona went to telephone her work to let them know she needed an extra week off, and wouldn’t be back on Monday as planned. Owen went to Ken’s Land Rover and retrieved his rucksack from the back seat.

The small convoy left the village, with Fiona
leading the way, the plan being to drive as far as a small wood that was near the outer fence of the Remnant’s compound in which Owen’s dad was being held hostage. She had an even more frantic driving style than Ken, and it wasn’t long before his car vanished from view behind them.

“How far is it?” asked Owen.

“A couple of hours,” Fiona replied. “It should be dark by the time we get there, so they shouldn’t recognise me.”

“Won’t they know this is your car
though?” Owen asked, thinking about all of the police dramas he had seen on television, and people being traced based on their vehicle’s number plate.

“This
doesn’t belong to me: we borrowed it from the camp site owners. Your grandfather was very persuasive,” Fiona said to Katie, rolling her eyes. Owen found it odd that she referred to Fafnir as being Katie’s grandfather, rather than both of theirs.

“How did he convince someone to give up their car?”
Owen asked.

“Not the earrings?”
Katie asked her sister, to which Fiona nodded gravely. Katie swore under her breath before continuing. “Granddad’s a bit of a hoarder. In those sacks he has lying carelessly about his place were quite a few old coins and trinkets that he’s acquired over the years. Medals, jewellery; that sort of thing.”

“
A pair of pearl earrings seemed like an appropriate deposit to the lady of the house for letting us borrow their car,” Fiona explained. “Shame really; I had my eye on those.”

“Join the queue,” Katie added, sulking.

“Holding out for heirlooms from your grandfather is a game that only the patient should play,” scoffed Fiona. “Who knows how long he’s had those particular ones? An eternity if that rusty old sword is anything to go by.”

“What’s this place like
where my dad is being held?” Owen asked, imagining observation towers and high metal fences.

“It’s easier to see it than describe it,”
Fiona said. “We’ll be parking up about a mile away and you should be able to see it from there.”

The next two hours went by far more quickly than Owen expected, largely due to the exhilaration of being next to Katie. More than once he cleanly forgot that they were en route to help his father, a guilty lapse in concentration that Owen tried not to repeat, but failed in that endeavour every five minutes or so.

Up until now they
had been travelling on main roads, but now they had slowed down and turned into a narrow country lane, bordered by overhanging trees that shielded them from the light from the full moon.

They
had continued for about four miles when Fiona pulled into a space by the road that functioned as a passing point for vehicles travelling in opposite directions.

Owen peered out of the back window for the lights from Ken’s Land Rover
to catch up. “Where are the rest of them?”

“They’ve travelled along a
slightly different route,” Fiona explained. “The Remnant don’t often send guards on patrol this far out, but if they do seeing two cars parked up together out in the middle of the sticks would get their attention pretty sharpish.

“Ken’s going to park
near a farm a few fields over. I’ve met the farmer before and he’s a drunk. He won’t notice an extra car on his land, and the fact they’ve got a cow in tow should make the guards think they’re on farm business, rather than their true purpose.”

“As long as no-one recognises them or that
particular cow,” pointed out Owen. “She’s quite distinctive, y’know.”

Fiona didn’t answer.
She turned off the ignition and they climbed out. Owen and Katie followed, Owen slinging his rucksack over his shoulders. Fiona fiddled with what looked like the key-fob to lock the keys for a few moments, a blinking light appearing on it but the car not locking. Eventually she settled for locking the car manually with the key.

Owen thought that Fiona seemed a bit nervous and was worried that she wouldn’t be a
ble to drive away in a hurry if things didn’t pan out as they hoped. “Maybe we should leave the keys on top of the wheel or something, just in case we have to make a dash for it, or one of the others needs the car first,” Owen suggested, but actually thinking he’d rather Fiona didn’t drive.

She stared at him for a moment as if she was going to argue, but shrugged her shoulders and placed the keys on the driver’s side front tyre.

“Okay, it’s a bit of a muddy hike, so make sure you take it slow. I wouldn’t want you muddying up your pretty faces.” Fiona seemed to be speaking to Owen and Katie in a much harsher way then she did before, making Owen suspect that her anxiety was getting the better of her.

Keeping close to the hedgerow, t
hey slowly made their way across a field with two hills on either side. The smaller of the two was on the left, and Fiona explained that the building on top, only visible in silhouette, was the farm that the others were going to park at.

The hill
to the right was much larger. It wasn’t particularly high but it was at least a mile long. “Your dad is being kept just at the bottom of that hill,” Fiona said. “You can’t see the place from here, but it’s behind those trees.” She pointed out a dark patch at the foot of the hill, from which a line of trees extended up towards the next field ahead. “We’re meeting the others in the corner of that field.”

The
y scrambled through a gap in the hedgerow and emerged into the field. In the far corner Owen could see a small group of people.  He couldn’t see clearly but there were five figures, so he presumed that it was Mrs Argyle and the others waiting for them; Myrtle however was not amongst them.

They were about ten metres away
when there was a bright light followed by an explosion from the farm at the top of the field. Owen grabbed Katie’s hand and they froze, staring at the fireball that had been sent skywards.

“What the-?” exclaimed
Katie.

“Freeze!”
came a voice that Owen didn’t recognise from the corner of the field, where they had seen the outline of those who he had assumed were the occupants of the other car.

The five
figures were running towards them, and Owen saw that they were carrying what looked like rifles. “On the floor, now!” the voice ordered.

“What’s going
on?” cried Katie. “Fiona?”

Fiona was walking towards the armed men, and patted the one that was doing the shouting on the arm.

“We picked up your signal,” he said, to which Fiona waved what Owen had thought to be the remote key-fob for the car in the air.

“Fi?!” shouted Katie
, her voice trembling.

Ignoring her si
ster, Fiona addressed the man. “Get them inside; I’ll help deal with the others.”

“Fi?”
repeated Katie with a whimper. Owen gripped her hand firmly, holding her back as she tried to go towards her sister.

“Oh don’t start
with the tears!” spat Fiona at Katie. “I’ve put up with your whining for far too long. It was bad enough when my parents were alive, but having to pretend to be the dutiful big sister whilst you and that idiotic old man carry on as if you’re the centre of the universe; you’re lucky I didn’t do the right thing and hand you over when they first asked me to.”

“
How can you stand there with these people? Dad always hated these people, Granddad said so,” Katie cried.

“Granddad?!” lau
ghed Fiona. “That old man wouldn’t know which side his bread was buttered, let alone which side was the right one to take. Mum and Dad sided with him and then those short sighted fools in their tower, when the real power is here. They were killed because of their obsession with where you and your idiot boyfriend came from-”

She was cut off by
another, larger flash and explosion from the farm. Once again they were followed by a fireball, this time headed in their direction. Unlike the first one however, this one seemed to have mass, and within a heartbeat Owen realised it was a car that was plummeting towards them. From the shape, it looked like a Land Rover towing something, both engulfed in flame.

Fiona and the others were staring at the projectile, so s
eizing the opportunity Owen pulled Katie towards the hedgerow.

“Stop them!” Fiona’s voice cried out.

Bursting through the hedgerow, they stumbled into a small stream that ran between the fields. They started back in the direction they had come, faltering on the wet rocks. In front of them a figure ran out and blocked their way, pointing a gun at them.

Owen went
to leap at the man, but Katie grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Owen stumbled and fell onto his back.  Katie brought her right fist up and slammed it into the ground. Water shot up around them and the very ground trembled.  The man staggered and fell forward. In a shot Katie brought her fist back and landed a blow on the man’s chest just as he was about to land on them, sending him hurtling back with a crunch.

Another man burst t
hrough the hedge next to them. Owen leapt to his feet and reaching out grabbed hold of something solid in the air and swung his feet at the man. Before the man could raise his weapon, the full weight of Owen was brought onto his chest and he was knocked against a tree, hitting his head. He slid down, motionless.

“Come on,” sa
id Katie, grabbing Owen’s hand.

They ran down the stream, p
ast the man who Katie had hit. He was moaning weakly, clutching his chest. They followed the stream for about fifty metres before it disappeared behind a metal grate, above it a brick wall blocked their way.

“Freeze!”
came a voice behind them, followed by the sound of a click. “One more move and I’ll shoot.”

Owen and Katie stood still, instinctively raising t
heir arms. The man was too far away for a surprise attack similar to the one that had been effective on the others. Katie grabbed onto Owen’s hand and squeezed. “I’m sorry,” she said, “if it wasn’t for Fiona…” Owen shook his head at her, giving her his most reassuring smile, although he didn’t know how they would escape from this.

The man shouted
over his shoulder for backup. A shadow of a figure ran up behind him and the man yelped, and started to turn around. As he got half way though, he froze, just as he had asked Katie and Owen to do. A few seconds later, the figure behind him disappeared up the bank, seemingly in response to a commotion that had just broken out in the field that they had just fled.

They stood staring at the motionless man for a few moments, before Owen plucked up the courage to take a few steps towards him. As there was no reaction from the man
to his approach, he continued until he could see him clearly. An odd smoke was coming off his body, which was covered in a glistening coating. Owen picked up a stick from the stream’s bed and poked him. It made a clinking sound.

“
What’s wrong with him?” Katie asked as she joined Owen’s side.

“He’s been frozen,” Owen
observed.

Before they could think about this further, more figures appeared much further up the stream so they
headed back towards the metal grate.

They scrambled up the bank to the right and emerged about half way through the
field they had first crossed, and aiming for where the car was parked, they ran at full pelt across the mud. Looking back over his shoulder Owen could not see anyone pursuing them. The hill with the farmhouse was now ablaze, flames showing the outline of the main buildings.

They
twisted through the gap in the hedge and Owen nearly collided with the car. Reaching under the front wing he felt for the keys, but in his haste he knocked them on the ground. As he knelt down to pick them up he heard a scream.

Standing up he saw someone
hitherto unseen had grabbed Katie from behind, a hand now over her mouth. Owen reached out and was about to repeat the kicking attack he had employed earlier when a familiar voice called out “stop!” and he was knocked back by a sudden gust of wind.

He landed on his back and hea
rd footsteps behind him. An upside down face leant down at him. “Calm it, hothead,” Clive admonished. “We’re the good guys!”

Owen stood up and saw Katie running around the car t
o him closely followed by Ken.